A Stepmother’s Marchen - Chapter 65

The sound coming from inside the thick wooden wall was strangely constant and repetitive. Like the rattling noise, even the groan rang at regular intervals.

Not surprisingly, Rachel Von Neuwanstein, who turned 13 this spring, was struggling to breathe and listen, while at the same time reaching out her arms to the window just above.

She managed to make it. After hitting the window with her small fist, she paused and breathed in, and the noise from the inside also stopped. And then, “…Oh, my God, Rachel, it’s you again!”

With the loud, ringing footsteps behind her, the blonde girl started running away with her tongue out.

As she ran down the narrow and steep stairs and entered the yard brightly colored by the greenery of early summer, a terrifying voice resounded from behind, “Why do you keep peeping at small things?! Where are you running?!”

“Who is peeking?! I mean, it’s just that I was just interrupting you from doing something pathetic, right?! Which house is this Young-ae from this time?!”

“Why do you care?!”

Young-ae, who was holding her breath in the warehouse quickly slipped out with her clothes on  while the boy, whose face was red like the color of his hair, circled around the yard to catch his only sister.

The girl’s chirping scream, which was finally caught after a breathless tug-of-war, resounded brightly under the summer sky, “Let go of me! Let go of me! You smell! Get off me!”

“What’s wrong with you?! Don’t interrupt me in the first place!”

“It’s weird, it’s weird! How do you flirt with that face of yours!”

Did they even look like a brother and sister who grew up together?

Elias thought about giving a speech about his outstanding looks for a moment, but decided to stay quiet. He let go of his sister and sank down on the grass, breathing heavily. Rachel also sat in front of him, tongue-tied.

“Mom will be terrified if she hears.”

“Why do you worry about that and complain every day?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Mother said that you are acting weird.”

“Weird? Then are you the same as when you were a kid?” Elias, who muttered softly, lightly shook his long tied red hair.

Whilte thinking that it looked like a real pony tail, Rachel spat out her original purpose, the reason why she came out to find her second brother, who had been hiding in the warehouse since broad daylight and acting strangely, “Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday. We should discuss what we’re going to do.”

“You and Leon took all the brains, so if you decide on your own, the best idea will come out.”

“Hey! Leon said he needs something unique and refreshing. Do you have any good ideas?”

Good idea. Elias swallowed for a moment, groaned and scratched his head. How could they make it unique and refreshing?

“What do you say? I haven’t asked my oldest brother yet, I’ll ask when we go back.”

“Discuss it with your oldest brother then. I don’t have a clue.”

“How can a playboy not know how to put his head in that direction?”

“Ha! Even if I stay still, I will only gain popularity, right? Even if I don’t give trivial gifts or go to annoying events, they will come to me!”

It was a statement full of confidence. If Jeremy was there, he would certainly have hit him. Rachel’s jaw dropped and now a bitter sigh came out of her mouth.

She felt sorry for the woman who would marry her brother later. She was sure that she would run away in less than a year.

“Worry about yourself, pig.”

“Why am I a pig? How can I be a pig? I’m a red beet! There’s nothing useful about it! Hey, aren’t you being too harsh on me when I said I have no clue?”

“It’s nothing serious, it’s true! Just know that your existence itself is causing serious harm to me and Leon’s emotional education!”

“Serious harm? You should be grateful that you have a wonderful brother like me!”

Rachel began to shake her head at Elias’s proud response with his hands on his chest. She thought that it was her fault for expecting something from this human being.

“It was a mistake to expect even the slightest bit of idea from hyung from the beginning.”

The person who said that looked just like Jeremy when he was thirteen, but was thinner and more intelligent. These were the words said by Leon Von Neuwanstein, with the most tragic tone. Rachel nodded her head indicating that she couldn’t agree more.

“Right, do you remember what my brother gave mom on her birthday last year?”

“How can I forget that? It was terrible.”

The twins shivered side by side as if it was terrible just to remember what happened that day.

“How on earth would anyone think of giving a mature woman like my mother a doll?”

“It’s just that my mother is soft hearted and doesn’t show it. Why would she be blind? Sure enough, we are the brains of the family.”

“That’s right.”

The twins, who happily shared their self-praise with each other, now began to ponder together with the same worried expression.

Because of their brains, they must think of a way to save other foolish people.

Rachel couldn’t sleep that night and kept thinking until late. Whilst muttering to herself about when her eldest brother was coming, Rachel got out of the bed and started sneaking down the stairs shrouded in silence.

If she needed something, she could have just pulled the rope by the bed and called the maid, but now she wasn’t out to drink or eat anything.

Large emerald eyes shone anxiously in the darkness.

Fortunately, the first floor and backyard of the mansion were empty that night.

“I’m sure she’s not doing it again.”

Despite her worries, luckily the first floor and backyard of the mansion were empty that night.

Still, she looked around carefully again just in case, but at this time, there was nowhere to see the pink hair that would normally be shining pale in the darkness.

A sigh of relief escaped between her plump, rosy lips. Fortunately, that night seemed to be fine.

She remembers how surprised she was when she found their guardian wandering through the house in the middle of the night in her sleeping clothes. When the maid came out to find her, at the sound of a cautious call, Rachel thought Shuri was just enjoying a night walk. But, no matter how many times she called her, there was no sign of looking back, and she realized that something was wrong when she saw her wandering around as if she was possessed by something… When Rachel sneaked a peek at her the very next day, Shuri didn’t seem to remember anything about it.

Rachel, who told the knights to let her know if something like that happened again, soon thought it was a good thing… …because it didn’t stop at once.

The doctor said it was clearly sleepwalking. Of course, she and her brothers secretly called the doctor and asked.

He showed no indication to the person concerned. The knights and maids were also asked to join the team thoroughly. They thought that if she found out that she was sleepwalking in the middle of the night, she would surely be terribly embarrassed…

“Ugh ……!” Rachel, who was moving to return back with confidence, almost screamed at the next moment

“…What a surprise! Did you plan to scare people to death?”

Regardless of when he appeared or when he had been there, the person sitting on the sofa in the dimly lit hall in outing clothes was definitely her older brother.

In addition to the splendid epaulets around the wide shoulders, the waist-clad sword and hair were flashing in the same gold color.

“What about Shuri?”

“She seems to be sleeping well tonight. Why? Did you miss your mom so much?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” He shamelessly answered.

With a flick of her tongue, Rachel swung up to the side of her brother who was sitting like a lion lurking in the dark.

“Have you thought about mom’s birthday gift? It’s her last birthday as a teenager, and we need something special.”

“What have you got in mind?”

“My brother, as always, insisted that he had no idea, and me and Leon…I decided to give her my drawing and Leon decided to write a letter.”

“Aha, is that something special you guys came up with?”

“You are like that guy!”

Jeremy shrugged nonchalantly at Rachel’s furious words, but soon smiled and folded his arms, “I think winning the National Foundation Day swordsmanship competition is the best gift I can give.”