That afternoon, the scoundrel Robin sat in the drawing room with his best pitiful, teary act on full display. His father, he explained, was far too old-fashioned, and would not pass down the title until he was engaged. So he was hoping — only for a little while, only as a small favor between friends — that Juliana might agree to pretend to be his fiancée.
Lily, five years old and sitting exactly where nobody thought to look, heard every word of it.
She had read this story before. All of it, from the first page to the last. She had gone to sleep in one world and woken up in another, in the body of a little girl inside a reverse harem fantasy novel — a useless young lady of the house with no magic at all, who was nevertheless doted on like a precious treasure by a sister who adored her endlessly. Unfortunately, that sister was hopelessly blinded by love. With countless outstanding suitors clearly lined up for her, she still went and married a scoundrel with her eyes shut. After the wedding, she was miserably cheated on, and even abused physically by him.
Wanting to protect her angelically kind sister, Lily was determined to bring that jerk down and handpick the perfect brother-in-law instead. A resourceful and scheming grand duke. A genius mage carrying a touch of madness in his devotion. Or a pure, sweet knight as gentle as a puppy. One of those three, whichever of them proved worthy.
But Lily, who had already devoured the original story, knew full well that this fiancée business was nothing but a scheme dressed up as a favor. In truth, it was just another step toward claiming her sister for himself. And she absolutely could not let this villain get what he wanted.
And so the little girl put on her most innocent face and asked, "Sister, what exactly is an engagement? Does being engaged mean you and that man are promising to be together forever?"
Lily seized the moment, letting the tears stream down freely.
"Boo-hoo-hoo. Does that mean you don't need Lily anymore? I don't want to be away from you."
Who could possibly bear this? Being someone's little sister and going through this?
Juliana quickly pulled Lily into a hug and comforted her. "There, there. Sister isn't going anywhere."
Right after, she turned to look at that scoundrel with an apologetic expression. This time the jerk panicked, and hastily insisted it wouldn't take up too much of her time at all.
Seeing him still clinging on like a leech, Lily had no choice but to unleash her final ultimate move.
"Sister, I feel so sick. My head is spinning so much."
Juliana's face instantly turned pale. She completely ignored the scoundrel standing right beside her, scooped Lily up, and rushed straight into the bedroom.
You silly fool. Only in your dreams could you ever fool my beautiful sister.
Lily thought it smugly to herself, not forgetting to stick her tongue out and tease the wretch one more time on the way past.
But the little girl quickly regretted using illness as her excuse, because Juliana, desperate to treat her, ended up summoning every single doctor in the capital to come and examine her. Afterward, seeing Lily looking so gloomy, Juliana even brought out a small teddy bear to cheer her up.
And yet, the better her sister treated her, the more it hit home that Juliana's real little sister had already stopped existing long ago. All that remained now was someone like her — a soul that had transmigrated into someone else's body.
But who on earth would believe such an outrageous story if she told it? Since that was the case, she would simply play the role of a little sister well, loving her big sister deeply in place of the real one.
Just as the two sisters were embracing warmly, Juliana suddenly seemed to remember something and asked curiously, "Oh, right, Lily. Didn't you always love playing hide-and-seek? Ever since you got seriously sick last time, why haven't you asked me to play it with you anymore?"
To fully play the part of a little sister, Lily had no choice but to grit her teeth and dive into a tense, dramatic round of hide-and-seek.
However, the moment she slipped into her hiding spot, a deep, intimate male voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
"You're Juliana's little sister, aren't you?"
The one who had just arrived was none other than the youngest grand duke in the story, Michael. Michael, who as the eternal runner-up of Deline Academy had fallen head over heels for the top student, Juliana, at first sight. A classic case of a scheming, resourceful man spending a whole year setting the stage.
But since this was their very first encounter, Lily had to play innocent and ask, "And who might you be?"
The man simply began introducing himself in a straightforward manner, claiming he was a friend of Juliana's, and even casually complimenting how Lily looked just as pretty as her sister.
Lily pursed her lips disdainfully. "Don't think a few compliments are enough to win me over."
But the very next second, she gulped audibly, clearly losing face.
"This is a special cake uncle bought just for you. Would you like to eat it with me?"
And so the scene shifted immediately, with Lily happily settling in to enjoy sweets in the living room. Sadly, before she could finish more than a few bites, her sister confiscated the whole thing, citing health concerns.
Michael spoke up in her defense. "Children who are still growing need to eat plenty. That's the only way they'll grow up strong."
Oh my, what a heartwarming thing to say. Affection points plus one.
But the little girl still greatly underestimated just how cunning this man truly was. She watched as Michael handed a piece of cake to Juliana.
"Juliana, don't you love sweets, too? Actually, this chocolate cake —"
But before he could even finish his sentence, the cake had already been snatched clean out of his hands by Lily.
"And you still dare say it was specially bought for me? It's clearly meant for my sister. Typical of men. Nothing but sweet lies to trick people."
Michael's expression didn't so much as flicker, and he casually changed the subject. "I heard Robin came by today."
Juliana didn't dodge the question at all and simply nodded. "Yes. He asked if I could temporarily pretend to be his fiancée for a while."
The moment those words left her mouth, the smile on Michael's face died instantly, and he could no longer force a smile back onto it. It was as if the sound of a heart shattering into pieces could actually be heard.
"But I refused."
Hearing that, the man's eyes lit right back up.
Afterward, Michael finally revealed the true purpose of his visit today. He wanted to invite Juliana to discuss the council's project together. Since Juliana would be joining the council soon anyway, he could reveal some internal information to her ahead of time.
Faced with the invitation, Juliana looked hesitant, since accepting would mean she couldn't stay by Lily's side to take care of her at all times anymore.
At this point, Lily could clearly see her sister's inner struggle. But the little girl understood something. Her sister was the most brilliant genius in the entire empire, and she had her own ambitions, too. She couldn't let her own selfish need hold back her sister's career.
What's more, if Michael kept visiting regularly, the little girl would get plenty of delicious sweets out of it, too. This was truly killing two birds with one stone.
But there was one thing she needed to confirm first. "Sister, people always say helping others is a good thing. Will you have to go somewhere very far away?"
Michael quickly waved his hands, cutting in. "No, no. Uncle will bring the pastries all the way here, so we can discuss business right in this house."
Lily secretly thought to herself, This man truly deserves his reputation for being incredibly cunning and perceptive.
And so she flashed a gentle smile. "Well, that's good then. That's really good. I hope you'll be able to help this uncle out, too, just like how you always help me."
And so all three of them got exactly what they wanted.