That said, Lily never expected that the very first person to drive her absolutely mad would turn out to be some snot-nosed little brat.
That day, Cedric arrived with a bright golden-haired boy in tow. He introduced the boy as his nephew, Joshua. On the surface, he looked perfectly well-behaved. Who would have guessed that the very first thing out of his mouth was, "I refuse to play with anyone ugly."
Lily bristled instantly, like an angry hedgehog, upon hearing this. Even after transmigrating, the thing she took the most pride in was precisely this face. How dare he call her ugly. It looked like she'd have to teach this brat who was really in charge around here.
She immediately clung tightly to her sister's arm, whining, "I hate him so much. And I hate big brother too, for bringing him here."
Joshua was every bit as stubborn and hard-headed. "And I don't like your ugly face either."
"Say that again if you dare."
"How could I not dare, you ugly thing?"
The two kids traded insults back and forth relentlessly. This whole ordeal left poor Cedric standing right beside them in agony. He hastily bowed his head to apologize to Juliana, explaining that he truly hadn't meant to bring his nephew here just to provoke Lily. Normally, Joshua wasn't like this at all.
But Juliana didn't seem bothered in the slightest. She simply said, "As long as Lily is all right," while turning to observe her little sister's reaction.
Lily responded with a bright, beaming smile. "I'm fine, sister. Don't worry, because he's actually even uglier than I am."
Juliana could only sigh helplessly and rub her forehead. It seemed she'd been worrying over nothing.
Afterward, Lily waddled off on her short little legs to make her escape. This young lady needed to go back to her room and enjoy some sweet cream cake. She had no energy to waste bickering with some snot-nosed brat.
Sensing his chance, that sly fox Michael seized the opportunity at once. "Lily, dear, would you like uncle to take you out for some newly bought sweets today?"
"No thanks. Trying to buy me off with that, huh? Don't even think about it."
Still fuming, Lily had originally planned to storm off in a huff, but noticing Cedric's expression, looking as if he was about to burst into tears any second, the little girl's heart softened in the end.
"Come along with me too, big brother."
At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder in her head, How could someone as gentle and kind as Cedric possibly have such an odd-tempered nephew like that?
A little while later, in the living room, what should have been a pleasant afternoon tea gathering turned into something else entirely. Lily felt as though the sky itself was about to come crashing down on her head.
All because, faced with a table piled high with irresistible sweets, her sister Juliana had issued a strict decree limiting her to just two pieces. No matter how much she pouted and whined, Juliana's resolve remained absolutely unshakable.
But what infuriated her even more was that her sister went and shared some of the cake with that random stranger of a boy.
How infuriating. Didn't this guy just finish insulting me a moment ago?
This was provocation, plain and simple. He was clearly trying to provoke her.
She gazed up at Juliana with her most pitiful puppy dog eyes. "Sister, he ate my cake. Look."
Who would have guessed? All she got back in return was a firm, unwavering lecture. "Friends are supposed to share with each other. And besides, you're only allowed two pieces today anyway."
"I won't allow it. We're not even friends."
"Lily, that's incredibly rude."
Lily felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. Her own sister. Calling her by her full name, and even scolding her out loud like that. How could she possibly treat her this way?
"Wah, wah, wah. I'm never going to speak to you again unless you let me have three more sweets today."
With no hope left of relying on her sister, she had no choice but to turn to that sly old fox Michael instead. Instantly, the little girl pointed at the plate of cakes on the table and asked softly, "Big brother Michael, these cakes were specially bought for me, weren't they?"
As she asked, she made sure to say the word brother in an especially sweet tone. And with that, everyone present gasped in shock, eyes widening.
That's right. For the sake of protecting her precious snacks, Lily had decided to upgrade Michael's title. Straight from uncle to big brother.
Michael's reaction was lightning fast, too. "Yes. Yes, that's right. This cake was bought by big brother just for Lily."
Wonderful, and absolutely satisfying answer.
The very next instant, she raised her chin and looked at Joshua with an air of utter arrogance. "All this cream cake belongs to Lily. If you want any, you'll have to praise how pretty I am first."
How could the little boy possibly stand for this kind of teasing? His face instantly turned bright red. "No way, you ugly thing."
Hearing this, Lily could see straight through him. It turned out this little brat was all talk, but deep down he was thinking something entirely different. And so she pulled the plate of cream cake closer toward herself.
"No compliment, no cake for you."
Juliana, seeing this, was about to step in and discipline Lily. But Michael cut in before she could, insisting this was just harmless, childish play. "As adults, we'd best not get involved."
Truly deserving of his reputation as a shrewd, remarkably intelligent young man. Lily mentally awarded him ten points.
Right after, she smacked her lips loudly, savoring the delicious food right in front of Joshua, even deliberately chewing extra loud to grab his attention.
"Say, 'I'm pretty,' and I'll let you eat all of this sweet cake."
Hearing this, drool literally began dripping from the corner of the boy's mouth. It turned out that despite being from nobility, Joshua's family discipline was so incredibly strict that he rarely ever got to eat sweets. Now, faced with such an enormous temptation, the boy simply couldn't hold back any longer.
"Pretty. You're pretty."
Just those two words, yet they seemed to have drained every last ounce of his willpower.
But Lily still wasn't satisfied. "And don't you think I'm incredibly adorable, too?"
This line hadn't even been part of the original deal.
"But this cream cake, I'm the one giving it to you."
The boy once again found himself caught in an intense internal struggle. A long while later, he finally managed to squeeze out two words. "Adorable."
Hearing this, Lily promptly honored the agreed deal and handed over the cream cake. As for herself, she happily hummed a little tune, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
Watching her little sister behave like this, Juliana beside her genuinely couldn't bear to watch.
Michael nodded approvingly. "I keep feeling like Lily is a bit like me, you know."
Lily instantly felt a pang of guilt, turning her face away, thinking to herself, No matter how much you help me on this front, I still won't be handing my sister over to you so easily.
That afternoon, Ellen once again used a health checkup as his excuse to drop by. That said, the necessary procedures still had to be carried out properly. He told Joshua to step back a little, since he needed to check Lily's physical condition.
Seeing Joshua still standing there sulking, Lily's love of teasing others flared right back up.
"Joshua, listen closely. I'm about to go through something incredibly painful and terrifying. If you get even a little too close, you might just get hurt to death. I'd strongly suggest you back away as far as possible."
Posing dramatically, she waited. Ellen looked at Lily's utterly serious expression, then glanced over at Joshua, trembling from head to toe. He instantly caught on to this mischievous joke and played along, nodding gravely in agreement.
This time Joshua was scared pale with fright, and Lily seized the opportunity, jumping up to give him a good scare. The next instant, the boy's terrified scream echoed throughout the entire mansion, mixed with Lily's gleeful, uproarious laughter.
After this whole ordeal, Lily finally understood why adults loved teasing children so much. It turned out to be surprisingly thrilling and fun. Whenever the little brat was upset, she'd just bribe him with cream cake. And once that was settled, she'd go right back to teasing that snot-nosed little thing again. Truly an endless machine of amusement.
Not far away, Juliana couldn't help but sigh. With a personality like this, what on earth was she supposed to do with this little troublemaker?
Suddenly, she seemed to come up with a brilliant idea.