That said, Michael's cream cakes turned out to be so delicious that just a few days later, Lily was already craving sweets like crazy. At that very moment, she was wandering around the kitchen like a zombie, desperately searching for something sweet.
Suddenly, a deep, husky voice rang out from behind her. "Hey, kiddo. You're Lily, right? Want some cookies?"
Lily spun around in confusion to look. The next instant, her face turned deathly pale with fear.
It was a floating hand. A hand that could talk.
"Ah — sister, help me! There's a ghost in the kitchen!"
Seeing this, the hand suddenly panicked, hurriedly explaining that it wasn't a bad person at all. It was just that the barrier Juliana had set up was far too solid. His wall-phasing spell could only squeeze one hand through at a time.
With that, the hand waved a little cloth bag. "There are cookies in here, the ones you like best. So, are we friends now?"
Lily gulped audibly, drooling in temptation, while also vaguely piecing together who exactly this hand belonged to. Someone who could use magic, yet still liked pulling such bizarre, unheard-of pranks. This guy could only be the academy's most notorious madman, Ellen Raulell.
With that thought, she instantly took off running for her life. There was absolutely no way she'd let this lunatic anywhere near her sister. He had to be eliminated at once.
A little while later, Cedric, his face full of regret, spoke up to beg Juliana's forgiveness, blaming himself for failing to stop Ellen.
Lily looked at the refined, gentle Cedric standing there, then glanced over at Ellen, who was acting all carefree and couldn't care less. She genuinely couldn't understand how her sister and Cedric could possibly be friends with someone like Ellen.
Besides, wasn't this guy here to see her sister? Why did he keep staring right at her instead?
"I came here specifically today to apologize."
The moment those words left his mouth, Juliana's expression darkened terrifyingly, leaving even Lily, standing beside her, too tense to move a muscle. This was the very first time she'd ever seen her sister this furious.
It turned out that back when Lily had fallen ill, Juliana had asked Ellen to come and look after her, only for him to vanish without a trace, not saying a single word.
At that moment, Lily couldn't help but think, If only Ellen had treated her in time back then, maybe she never would have transmigrated into this body at all.
And as for today, Ellen had gone out of his way to come and apologize for disappearing without a word of farewell. He explained that fierce fighting had broken out at the border at the time, and healing mages were in desperately short supply, so he had been urgently summoned to the front lines.
"Then, at the very least, you could have written me a letter."
"Since I was truly swamped at the time, I —"
Lily was utterly speechless hearing this. No matter how busy someone was, they could still find time to write one measly letter. This was no different from those terrible men who always used work as an excuse to ignore texts.
You've officially been eliminated.
Compared to that guy, the mature, calm Cedric standing beside him was by far the brother-in-law candidate Lily favored most. Even so, the little girl couldn't force her own preferences onto her sister.
To show his sincere remorse, Ellen declared he would visit regularly from now on to check on Lily's health, and take the opportunity to play with her while he was at it.
Lily was well aware of this guy's slippery tricks by now. On the surface, it was all about her, but really it was just an excuse to get close to her sister.
And what about Cedric, then? What excuse would he use to keep coming around?
Noticing everyone's eyes suddenly turning toward him, Cedric's face flushed bright red, from his neck all the way to his ears.
"Well, I just need to see you doing well, and that's enough for me."
In the original story, Cedric's presence had been rather forgettable due to his overly reserved personality. But contrary to that quiet exterior, his swordsmanship had reached an incredibly masterful level. Despite his young age, he had already risen to the rank of captain of the Royal Knights. That was precisely why this young man had made the list of male leads in the story.
But now, seeing the real person right in front of her, Lily found herself pleasantly surprised at just how much she approved. He was practically born to be the perfect match for her workaholic sister.
Seeing Cedric stammer and hesitate, unable to speak up, Lily decided to give him a helping push.
"Big brother, come play with me again next time, okay?"
Everyone present gasped in astonishment at those words, because up until then Lily had lumped both Michael and Ellen together and simply called them uncle. And yet Cedric alone was granted the sweet exception of being called big brother. This clearly spoke volumes, showing that Lily favored this image far more than the others.
And so the three candidates began coming up with every excuse imaginable to visit the house regularly. Michael would come to discuss council proposals with her sister, while Ellen would come to check on Lily's health.
Only Cedric provided a striking, quiet contrast. Despite being the captain of the Royal Knights, he'd simply sit there quietly, knitting.
"Aren't you busy with work, big brother?"
The moment he heard that, Cedric visibly deflated, his disappointment plain for everyone to see. "Doesn't Lily want me to come play?"
Now it was Lily's turn to freeze up. She'd only meant to ask if he was genuinely busy, with absolutely no intention of pushing him away or disliking him at all. She quickly waved her hands and shook her head vigorously.
"Of course not. I like big brother the most, honestly."
"Is that true? I like Lily a lot, too."
Even now, Lily still couldn't quite believe it. Could someone this soft-hearted really handle being captain of the Royal Knights?
After that, the little girl flopped down onto the sofa with a thud. Her eyes remained glued to every single move Michael made. After all, there was still someone just waiting for the perfect chance to close the distance with her sister.
Thankfully, her sister was also extremely vigilant about matters like this.