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Chapter 3
“Ugh……. The first and second plans failed! They really aren’t easy opponents.”
Serina opened her diary and crossed out the failed operations.
“The next plan is…… a hunger strike!”
At that moment, growl—
Her stomach loudly announced its hunger.
When she looked out the window, the sky had already turned orange from the sunset.
“Huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything all day.”
After returning to her room, Serina had immediately tried to go back to the office, but the servants watched her so closely that she was practically trapped inside.
Because she was so focused on escaping the room, she naturally skipped breakfast and lunch.
“Now that I’m thinking about food, I’m even hungrier. Ugh, a hunger strike like this might be impossible.”
Serina flopped onto the bed.
“And how am I supposed to resist delicious snacks? Not eating dessert once a day is a crime, right, Tosoon?”
Turning onto her side, she lifted up her beloved sky-blue rabbit doll.
“So what should I do?”
Serina closed her eyes and thought deeply.
Then she suddenly remembered something hidden under her bed.
“Ah, right! My snack box! Merrily’s nagging actually helped for once!”
There had been a time when her snacks were limited because Merrily constantly worried about her health.
After that day, Serina secretly collected snacks from the maids, servants, and even the chef.
She quickly crawled under the bed and pulled out a blue box.
Inside were white chocolate cookies, caramel candies, colorful sweets, and many other snacks.
“Hmm……. I wonder how many days this can last.”
Serina took them out one by one and counted them.
Knock knock.
“Miss Serina, it’s almost dinner time.”
It was Merrily’s voice.
“Just a moment!”
Serina hurriedly shoved all the snacks back into the box and slammed the lid shut.
Then she kicked it back under the bed.
Soon, the door opened wide and Merrily entered.
‘Good. She didn’t notice.’
Having hidden the box just in time, Serina sighed inwardly in relief.
“Merrily, you know… I’m not eating dinner tonight. Please tell them that.”
“No, you can’t. You already skipped breakfast and lunch. You absolutely must eat dinner.”
“I’m not hungry, so it’s fine!”
Contrary to her words, her stomach let out another loud growl.
“……That was just because I was bored! It definitely wasn’t because I’m hungry!”
Serina hurriedly made excuses.
Merrily simply shook her head.
“Actually, that sound came from my stomach hurting. Ahh, my stomach hurts so much!”
Serina quickly changed her story and grabbed her stomach dramatically.
She was giving it her all in her acting.
“I don’t know why you’re refusing to eat, but being stubborn won’t work.”
Merrily had cared for Serina like a nanny ever since she was born.
To her, Serina’s health was extremely important.
In the end, Serina was dragged away by Merrily’s hand.
“I told you I’m not hungry! I said I can’t eat!”
Serina resisted at the entrance to the dining hall, refusing to go inside.
A servant who had been watching carefully opened the door beside her.
As her body tilted forward, Serina quickly regained her balance to avoid falling.
‘Huh?’
Before she realized it, she had naturally stepped into the dining hall.
Blinking blankly, Serina began thinking of a way to deal with this unexpected situation.
‘At this rate, I’ll just show them my hunger strike right in front of them!’
Serina walked to her seat.
She climbed onto the prepared footstool and sat down.
Watching her quietly, Merrily smiled softly and left the dining hall.
Even after some time passed, Serina still didn’t touch her utensils, simply sitting still.
Her family stared at her.
“Serina, what’s wrong? Hurry and eat.”
“I’m starting a hunger strike today. Brother’s engagement is a very serious matter to me! I won’t eat until you listen to me!”
Serina hmphed and turned her head away proudly.
“Serina, no matter what, you still need to eat.”
Nereus, who had stayed silent even while she threw tantrums in the office earlier, finally spoke.
His low voice echoed through the room.
Serina hesitated for a moment, but she refused to back down.
“I’m not joking. I’m serious. Even if Father tells me to eat, I won’t.”
Then the rest of the family joined in one by one.
“Serina, you know there won’t be snacks if you don’t eat, right?”
“Serina, stop this and eat dinner with us. Today’s dessert is pudding, your favorite.”
Serina’s eyes slowly turned toward the trolley beside the table.
Custard pudding sat there with an irresistible glossy shine.
It looked soft, smooth, and bouncy.
Even from far away, she could smell the sweet caramel scent.
Her stomach, already starving after eating nothing all day, desperately craved the food in front of her.
And of all things, it just had to be her favorite pudding.
‘N-not eating snacks is a crime though…….’
Serina swallowed hard.
‘W-Wait! No, I can’t!’
She could always eat custard pudding another day, right?
She was a mature adult who knew how to endure things!
Serina shook her head strongly and resisted the massive temptation called pudding.
‘For the sake of my goal, I have to endure this!’
Serina successfully survived dinner time and hurried back to her room.
After carefully checking that everything around her was quiet, she quickly pulled out the snack box.
“Just in case, I should secretly eat while hiding.”
Serina hid beneath her blanket and curled up like a caterpillar.
Carefully making sure crumbs wouldn’t fall, she took a bite of a cookie.
Sweetness instantly filled her mouth.
After quickly finishing several cookies, Serina crawled back out of the blanket and let out a satisfied breath.
“Hehe, they’ll think I really went on a hunger strike, right?”
Hiding the empty cookie wrappers in a corner, Serina smiled brightly.
Proud of her successful fake hunger strike, she happily fell asleep.
“What’s that smell?”
The moment she woke up, a sweet scent drifted in from somewhere.
Looking around, she noticed her bedroom door was slightly open.
Serina quietly approached it.
Her eyes widened.
Through the crack in the door, she could see a trolley.
The trolley was stacked with limited-edition strawberry desserts from Dulcis, her favorite dessert shop.
Serina gulped.
She had eaten cookies yesterday, but they hadn’t completely filled her stomach.
As if enchanted, she slowly opened the door wider.
Lacus was standing beside the trolley.
Startled because she hadn’t noticed him, Serina flinched.
Lacus smiled brightly and pointed at the trolley.
“Ta-da! Your big brother specially prepared this for Serina. What do you think? Surprised?”
“But… I’m on a hunger strike……”
Serina’s eyes remained locked onto the desserts.
“Serina, hunger strikes are bad for your health. I reserved these for you several days ago. Are you really not going to eat them?”
Lacus looked at her with the expression of a drenched puppy.
‘Ugh…….’
After struggling internally for a moment, Serina finally grabbed the trolley handle.
Then she spoke with a proud expression.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Since Brother is worried about me, I’ll eat them. It’s definitely not because I want to, okay?”
Having lost the battle against temptation, Serina desperately tried to justify herself.
“Mmhm, of course. Our Serina is such a good girl.”
Lacus held back his laughter and patted her head.
Quickly dragging the trolley into her room, Serina immediately picked up the strawberry pudding first.
After taking a huge bite, she chewed like a hamster while writing something in her diary.
- Hunger strike (Since they always say growing children need to eat, maybe they’ll give up?)
→ Stopped because Brother worried about me. It couldn’t be helped since I’m nice.
“Then…… only the final method remains now.”
- Throw things around the house (Absolute last resort! Prepare to get scolded!)
“……I’m really, really scared, but I still can’t give up!”
Imagining Aura with devil horns angrily scolding her, Serina trembled all over.
Hugging Tosoon tightly on the bed, Serina shouted,
“Tosoon, your big sister is going to do her best!”
“Hmm……. Which place would be best…….”
Serina wandered around the mansion, searching for the perfect place to cause trouble.
Before she noticed, she had arrived at the library.
‘The library?’
A place filled with things to throw around, and even if it became messy right now, it wouldn’t need immediate cleaning.
It perfectly matched the conditions she wanted.
“Good. I’ll choose the library.”
Serina quietly sneaked inside and looked around.
After confirming nobody was there, the neat interior caught her eye.
Luxurious decorations. Shelves packed tightly with books. A giant chandelier in the center. Famous paintings hung on the walls.
A clean soft rug, expensive sofas, and spotless tables.
On the table sat a tray filled with snacks and a decorative flower arrangement.
“Ummm……. It feels wrong to throw things here.”
Seeing how perfectly maintained the library was, Serina hesitated.
“I’ll just mess things up a little instead. I’ll only throw one book hard enough to make noise.”
If things broke, the servants would struggle to clean it up and replace them.
Serina began placing the nearby decorations crookedly on the floor.
She laid a flower vase sideways so water slightly spilled out and scattered petals around.
She crushed some neatly wrapped snacks on the table and even took down a few paintings from the wall.
After pulling several books from the shelves and finishing the arrangement, Serina wiped the sweat from her forehead proudly.
“Phew……. This should be perfect.”
Finally, she picked up a thick book and prepared to throw it hard onto the rug.
“One, two, three!”
Using wind magic to strengthen the force, Serina slammed the book down.
Boom!
The book hit the floor with a loud crash.
Even Serina herself jumped in surprise at the louder sound than expected.
Soon after, hurried footsteps rapidly approached.
Her heart pounded quickly with both fear and excitement.
“Uwaa……. I’m going to get scolded so badly, aren’t I?”
