And so, the very next day, Juliana brought over a total of three boys, counting Joshua. She named this plan Operation Best Friend, with the goal of teaching Lily how to get along with other kids.
Lily understood exactly what her sister meant. She was simply worried her social skills weren't up to par. To ease her sister's worries, Lily took the initiative to introduce herself first. The other kids followed her lead.
"I'm Aiden. Uncle Michael's nephew."
Lily was slightly taken aback. Was this kid really Michael's nephew? He seemed way more like Ellen's type.
"I'm Luca. Ellen is my big brother. Lily, you're way too cute. You look exactly like a mini version of big brother Ellen."
If someone told her right now that this kid was actually Ellen's son, Lily would have believed it without a second thought.
After the brief round of introductions, Juliana told Lily to behave and play nicely, since she still had work to attend to. Lily immediately protested fiercely. She still needed to deal with those men eyeing her sister, after all. Unfortunately, her protest was completely dismissed.
At this moment, Cedric gently patted the little girl's shoulder. "Come play with me, Lily."
Lily froze on hearing this. Why on earth would she play with him? Wasn't his whole job right now supposed to be competing with those other two men? So she frantically signaled with wild hand gestures. Aren't you going to go with sister?
Cedric smiled gently. "I don't want to bother Juliana. I think playing with you kids sounds fun, too."
"I really do appreciate it, Cedric. I was actually a bit worried there'd be no one to watch the kids."
Sensing the sweet atmosphere between the two of them, Lily suddenly snapped to attention. Clever. Cedric's approach was exactly the right move. Genuine sincerity truly is the ultimate weapon.
And after that came Lily's time to really let loose. How should she go about teasing these kids anyway?
Watching Joshua keep flinching backward in fear, Lily couldn't help but ask curiously, "Joshua, do you really hate me that much?"
But Joshua just pressed his lips together tightly, not daring to answer.
"Well then, guess you really do hate me. I suppose I won't tease you anymore from now on then."
No sooner had she said this than Joshua's face crumpled into visible disappointment for everyone to see. Lily threw up her hands. How strange. Not teasing him made him even sadder.
After the whole group had spent a while comforting him, Joshua suddenly asked everyone's ages. Upon learning he was a year older than the others, the boy insisted that from now on everyone had to call him big brother.
Lily remembered that in this world, ages were calculated based on actual birth date. Her sister had once mentioned that Lily's own birthday was in July. So what month was Joshua's birthday?
Luca quickly chimed in. "April."
"And right now it's May, so that means I only have to call you brother for two more months."
Hearing this conclusion, the whole group couldn't hold back and burst into fits of laughter. Lily even ended up rolling on the ground, laughing so hard she couldn't get back up.
And then, following the direction of the boys' gaze, they noticed Joshua hanging his head low. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks. Probably realizing everyone was staring right at him, the boy suddenly burst into loud sobs, and the crying quickly caught the attention of Juliana, who had been busy working.
This time, Lily truly panicked. If her sister found out this was caused by her teasing him to tears, she'd surely be banned from sweets forever after this. In her panic, she started wailing loudly, too, thinking this would help her get away with it, only to end up receiving the ultimate death sentence from her beloved sister.
"Anyway, from this moment on, you're forbidden from eating sweets."
From that very moment, Lily's life officially entered its darkest era. To launch a fierce appeal against this ruling, she left behind a farewell letter and hid away in the study, hoping this childish trick would force her sister to reverse the punishment.
Who would have guessed that instead of Juliana's apology, which never came, she got caught by that passer-by Aiden instead.
"Lily, why are you hiding here? Everyone's in a panic looking for you. Let me go get them."
"Hey, wait." Lily immediately lunged forward to block the boy. "Don't you dare go telling anyone, or I'll steal every single one of your snacks."
Faced with that threat, Aiden had no choice but to obediently comply.
After some back and forth questioning, she finally learned something. It turned out that the moment Aiden heard Lily had gone missing, his very first thought had been to sneak off to the study and read a book.
Hearing this left Lily utterly speechless. I go missing, and your first instinct is to go read a book? She never expected this guy to be so heartless.
Right at that moment, she noticed the title of the book Aiden was hugging to his chest. Kingdom Etiquette and Political Systems.
"Aren't you the same age as me? Do you even understand any of that?"
Yet Aiden just scratched his head and answered as if it were obvious. "I'm sure everyone else studies the same things I do, right?"
What a lie. Who on earth would want to be like you?
Not wanting to disturb this little genius from his studies, Lily decided to find somewhere else to hide. Who would have guessed? The moment she stood up, the boy pulled her right back down.
I happen to possess a stunning beauty, just like my sister's, after all. No one could ever resist falling for it. "There's just no dealing with you. Fine, then. For your sake, I suppose I'll graciously stay here and play with you a while."
As a token of thanks, Aiden asked if Lily wanted some sweets. He offered to go fetch a bit and bring it back. Hearing that, that greedy little kitten's eyes lit up instantly. Really?
She instantly took back everything she'd said about him being heartless a moment ago. This guy really was a total angel.
Right after, the little girl lunged forward and planted a loud, smacking kiss on the boy's cheek. "Hurry up and go. This is your reward for being so sweet."
The boy's face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple. The next instant, he covered his face in embarrassment and darted off in a hurry. Watching this, Lily couldn't help but cover her mouth and snicker to herself. Childhood crushes really are unbelievably adorable.
A good while later, once she'd finished thoroughly enjoying her sweets, Lily stretched out with a deeply satisfied sigh, then casually rested her head on Aiden's lap without a shred of hesitation, drifting off into a deep, contented sleep on a full stomach, ignoring the boy's worried glances entirely.
Right before closing her eyes, Lily couldn't resist one last tease. "Oh dear. You really do like me that much, huh? Well then, better drink plenty of milk. And once you've grown up a bit more, come find me again. Who knows? By then, I might just change my mind."
No one knows how much time had passed, but Lily, deep in her dream, suddenly jolted awake. She thought she'd just heard her sister's voice.
"Lily, wake up, sweetheart."
Just as she was hesitating over whether to keep pretending to sleep, Juliana added another line. "No need to fake it anymore. I already know you're awake."
Hearing that, Lily forced an awkward laugh. She'd expected to get a fierce scolding from her sister this time, but to her surprise, Juliana simply pulled her into a worried embrace instead.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? Do you know how worried I was?"
This unexpected show of concern left Lily feeling a bit flustered. What should she do? How should she react? She never expected her little prank would worry her sister this much.
No, actually, she knew perfectly well. But in the end, she still stubbornly acted like a child, causing her sister to cry with worry over her.
"Sister, I'm sorry. Please stop crying, okay? Lily promises to behave from now on."
"It's good that you know you were wrong. Well, it's partly our fault, too, for not searching the study more carefully. Next time, you're forbidden from just disappearing like this without warning."
Those words were without question meant to comfort her. Yet every single one landed like a sledgehammer, striking straight into Lily's heart. Because only she knew the truth. The real little sister her sister once had had already ceased to exist long ago. For her sister's sake and happiness, she would do everything in her power to protect her.
Thinking of this, she glared resentfully at Michael. It was all because of that mess she caused earlier that this scoundrel had gotten a chance to get close to her sister. Now it was Lily's turn to step in and rein him in.
No sooner thought than done. She immediately hugged Juliana tight and acted clingy, saying she wanted to stay right by her side and watch her work quietly. Having just gone through such an emotional reunion, Juliana happily agreed to her little sister's request at once.
Excellent. Next up would be the second phase of her plan.