USML 03

Chapter 03

‘What…?’

Plop.

The cherry tomato that slipped from Sherry’s mouth landed on Dave’s plate. Normally, Dave—who was strict about etiquette—would have scolded Sherry, but his next action was no different from hers.

Clang!

Dave dropped the cutlery he was holding.

A moment later, after staring at me with a blank expression, Dave abruptly pushed back his chair and left. The Count watched him go, then groaned and said he would decide on recuperation after consulting a physician.

Looking back, their reactions were strange, but I convinced myself they had simply been startled by my sudden remark.

“So what. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Unless there was some major family event, I wouldn’t be seeing them again. The only remaining reunion would probably be on the day of Sherry’s wedding to the male lead.

I scratched my cheek with a finger and furrowed my brow. Still, something felt off. What was that last look in Dave’s eyes?

“Well, whatever.”

It’s not like we’ll meet again. Humming lightly, I rested my elbow on the window frame. The unfamiliar scenery passing by outside the carriage lifted my spirits.

“You seem to be in a good mood, miss.”

Donna, sitting across from me, smiled brightly.

“Yeah. I am. Really good.”

At last—worries over, happiness begins.

“Vanessa.”

Sherry, who had been gazing wistfully at the receding carriage, muttered under her breath and ran toward the mansion’s front gate. This was all Dave’s fault!

She felt like she’d only feel better if she smacked Dave square on the back.

“M-miss! If you run like that, you’ll fall!”

Sherry turned back to warn the servants following her.

“No one follows me except Father!”

That timid brother—this called for a three-way confrontation with Father. The Count trailed after Sherry with slumped shoulders, letting out a sigh.

“I’ll be back.”

“Please return alive.”

The butler clasped his hands together, praying for his master’s safety.

Thud, thud, thud!

Sherry charged up the stairs and stopped in front of a familiar door. Hanging from it was a crooked nameplate that read “Vanessa.” Sherry’s eyes softened sadly.

‘Vanessa, I made this for you!’

Ten years ago, Sherry had made that nameplate for Vanessa. Vanessa had treasured that old, shabby sign ever since.

“Vanessa…”

After calling her name tenderly, Sherry’s eyes suddenly flew open as she glared at the door.

Bang—

She threw Vanessa’s door open. A room without its owner didn’t need permission.

“Dave!”

Dave, who had been staring vacantly out the window, jumped straight up like a startled cat. His eyes wandered through empty space before finally landing, with great effort, on their destination. There stood a ferocious figure disguised as his younger sister.

“Sh—Sherry.”

Dave recalled a paper he’d written during his days at the academy. The “monster of illusion” described there—perhaps it looked something like this.

Sherry narrowed her eyes at him.

“What do you mean, you’re not coming home?”

Intimidated by the murderous glint in Sherry’s eyes, Dave took a step back.

Dave knew very well what people in the merchant guild called him: a bloodless, tearless vice–guild master who drove his secretaries mercilessly day and night; a devil of a boss who tormented his subordinates until he got the results he wanted.

If his employees knew he crumbled at a single glare from his sister, they’d laugh themselves sick.

Grinding her teeth, Sherry marched into Vanessa’s room. Was there a massive stone weighing down her instep? With every step she took, Dave had the illusion that the ground itself was shaking.

“I told you.”

“……”

“I said that if she left this time, she’d never come back!”

Her snarling shout was laced with a tremble of tears.

Dave swallowed hard, unable to move closer or farther away. To an onlooker, he might have seemed cold, failing to comfort his crying sister—but in truth, he was simply frozen in fear of her.

Meanwhile, the Count approached with his hands clasped behind his back. Unable to step inside, he lingered awkwardly at the threshold, observing the scene.

This was Vanessa’s private space—a room he hadn’t entered even once since showing it to her ten years ago.

‘What’s so hard about crossing this single threshold?’

“Honestly, the men of this family!”

The Count, who had been mustering the courage to step forward, froze at Sherry’s voice. Dave wasn’t the only one afraid of her.

The Count lifted his gaze and met Dave’s troubled eyes.

‘See? She takes after her mother—such a fiery temper.’

‘Indeed.’

Their silent exchange was broken by Sherry.

“The physician said so, didn’t he? There’s nothing wrong with her body—it’s an illness of the heart!”

“……”

“What’s so hard about being the one to approach her first?”

It wasn’t hard—it was frightening. What if she rejected them ten times out of ten?

“Hoo…”

“Hoo…”

The Count and Dave met eyes and sighed deeply.

The Count had wasted ten years without truly looking at his daughter. They said ten years could change mountains and rivers, yet her cold, indifferent reactions were the same as ever. Did she hate him that much?

Dave followed suit, lowering his head gloomily. His normally composed face twisted.

When he first met Vanessa, he hadn’t been happy. She’d felt more like an unwelcome guest. Had she sensed his thoughts? Vanessa never set foot anywhere outside the spaces allotted to her, and even when spoken to, she rarely replied.

‘Vanessa.’

‘……’

‘Vanessa.’

‘Yes? What is it?’

‘If you want, you can use my study.’

‘……But that isn’t my space.’

She acted as though she were an outsider—fully aware of it. Every time Dave saw that, he wanted to throw his former self, who’d thought of her as an intruder, straight into a pit of fire.

It was normal not to see her all day; sometimes, they wouldn’t cross paths for months. Unless Sherry had been pestering everyone for days to have a family meal, it was impossible to see Vanessa at all.

Dave recalled a conversation he’d overheard between his father and an aide nine years ago.

‘They say she was bullied at the orphanage.’

‘What?’

‘A powerful clique would take her meals, so she often had to steal food from the kitchen in secret…’

Thank goodness Sherry hadn’t known—otherwise she’d have stormed the orphanage and grabbed the headmaster by the collar on the spot.

Perhaps that was why Vanessa had always looked thinner and more fragile than girls her age.

The greatest shock had been when the physician diagnosed her illness as one of the heart.

Only then did Dave realize—they couldn’t leave Vanessa like this.

Dave and Sherry worked together to try to draw Vanessa out of her room.

‘Vanessa, shall we go for a walk together?’

‘I’m sorry, I want to rest.’

‘Vanessa, would you like to go on a picnic?’

‘I’m uncomfortable at gatherings like that.’

But it always ended in failure. Worried she might have dark thoughts, Sherry and Dave sometimes stood guard outside her room all night.

To them, Vanessa was a butterfly—if they took their eyes off her, she might disappear; if they approached, she might fly away.

Sherry advised him to approach her no matter how much she ignored him, to talk to her, to hold on to her—but how could he do that?

What if Vanessa truly came to hate him? That could never happen. Never. He wouldn’t survive it.

“Haa…”

Dave buried his face in his hands, storm clouds gathering over his head.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Sherry clicked her tongue, looking at him pitifully. Suddenly, she recalled the gentle, soft voice she’d heard for the first time when they were young.

‘Sister, I’m sorry, but may I say something?’

‘Mm-hmm. What is it? Do you need something?’

‘You taking care of me like this…’

‘To say thank you? Ah, it’s nothing, Vanessa. Don’t wor—’

‘It’s bothersome.’

With an angelic face and a gentle voice, Vanessa drove a nail straight into Sherry’s heart. But Sherry didn’t give up. Even when rejected, she charged straight ahead—again and again. Of course. That’s why I’m the best here.

Nodding to herself, Sherry suddenly clapped her hands.

“Oh! I tried to persuade Donna to report Vanessa’s every move, but she wouldn’t budge. So I assigned someone to her.”

It was a bit irritating, but if you’re serving Vanessa, that’s only natural—absolutely. Sherry smiled in satisfaction, but Dave let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, Sherry.”

Sherry blinked at him slyly.

“Why so shocked?”

“What if she finds out?”

“It’s fine. We can just destroy the evidence.”

Dave was horrified. Sherry, who’d learned swordsmanship to protect Vanessa, looked utterly serious—even if you watched her doing a somersault.

‘How did she end up like this…?’

Dave reminisced wistfully about the Sherry he’d once adored. When she was young, every birthday wish she made was for a younger sibling.

‘Father, please give me a little sister as my birthday present!’

‘Sherry, siblings don’t just fall from the sky.’

‘How would Dave know!’

‘…I just do.’

Before they found Vanessa, Sherry sang the same refrain every day—that she wanted a sibling. When she learned she already had a younger sister, one who had gone missing, the shock and sorrow had been immense.

‘I’ll go find Vanessa!’

Sherry had dashed into her room, stuffing simple food and jewels into a bundle, declaring she’d set off to find her sister. The Count and Dave had broken into a cold sweat trying to stop her.

A year later, like a miracle, lovely Vanessa appeared—hair like a cluster of grapes—and Sherry fell in love at first sight, as if by destiny.

Sherry was blindly devoted to Vanessa. To what extent, you ask…?

On Vanessa’s eleventh birthday, when she refused a party and presents and said she wanted to spend the day in her room, everyone in the Feard family—who had been anticipating her smile—was shocked.

Toys and fairy-tale books brought from foreign lands were piled up in storage, and the reservation at the capital’s most famous restaurant—booked exclusively—was canceled.

When Sherry begged her to at least say what she wanted as a gift, Vanessa replied as if annoyed,

‘I want to eat a dish made from a freshly caught fish.’

Looking back now, Vanessa had probably just said whatever came to mind. But who was Sherry?

‘Sherry, where are you going?’

‘To catch fish! It’s Vanessa’s birthday present, so of course I have to catch it myself!’

Sherry tried to board a fishing boat, insisting she wanted to catch and cook the biggest, freshest fish in the world for Vanessa.

‘I’m coming too!’

Dave tried to join her, only to be scolded for being an older brother who not only failed to stop her but joined her in causing trouble—a secret he’d carry for life.

To be honest, Father had no right to scold him either.

Even now, nine years later, Father still believed Vanessa liked fish dishes. Whenever they ate together, he’d barge into the kitchen, insisting on cooking fish himself, much to the chef’s distress.

Of course, Sherry was no less extreme.