CH 5

As if admiring the fish caught in her fishing rod, Laiya smiled on the inside but pretended to see nothing on the outside.

Her third brother’s sword seemed to have slowed at a glance.

Laiya gently shook her head.

She then blinked her eyes innocently, as if she had accidentally turned her head and saw.

“Brother! Would you like to eat together?”

She waved her hands. Go, spread. Spread.

The scent of delicious meat spread just as she wanted it to.

Besides, her brother was a warrior with sensitive senses, so he would have easily smelt it by now.

It seems he had looked blankly in her direction for a moment.

It seemed that he doesn’t take good care of his meals.

She had been kicked out the day before, but in secret, she observed her third brother from afar.

What she had found was the fact that her third older brother didn’t seem to take care of eating his own meals.

Apparently, the boy trained without taking a break for lunch and worked hard immediately after breakfast and before dinner.

Somehow, he is a little sad.

In this affluent mansion, the descendants of the BlackWinter family were given the highest quality items, so how could it make sense to starve voluntarily?

“Are you hungry?”

Laiya grabbled a sandwich as she tilted her head.

She then stood while smiling brightly, and ran to Roy.

“Eat this, brother! I brought a lot.”

She held a sandwich in one hand and a whole basket full in her other.

Inside her basket laid her second secret weapon.

“Brother, would you like some dessert?”

Laiya opened the basket wide and showcased the organized dessert inside.

Fufu, how about it now? Not bad, not bad, right?

[T/N: fufu – like a smug laugh]

Meant and sweet after sweating. As a human being, there was not way he could resist and she can finally pull it off.

Hmm, he’s like a cat.

The gaze of Roy’s was full of vigilance.

He was like a black cat whose ears stuck out of his black hair.

Moreover, if his vigilant figure drew closer, it looked as though he would be glaring at her.

Roy BlackWinter, the one who now has to face a well-planned confrontation alone…

He turned his head away.

“…I am not going to eat.”

It was then that it something happened.

Gurgle. Gurgle.

A very pleasant sound rang out.

Laiya’s eyes widened as she stared at Roy.

“Brother, I heard a sound!”

Ha-ha, I can hear the sirens in your stomach, don’t you, cute Oppa?

Holding in her laughter, Laiya raised her head and froze.

Whoosh. The wind tickled the bangs of her brother, and beneath his dark hair, his face was a blushing red.

The cute older brother of hers stared back at her, his face flooded red.

Wait, tears? Tears?

Laiya’s eyes grew round.

Am I wrong?

Before she could double check, a loud clang was heard as Roy dropped his sword.

Wow, I didn’t expect that.

The sound of the sword sounded nothing like how a wooden sword should have sounded.

By the way, did my third brother actually put down his sword? Great!

The BlackWinter family regarded their swords as their lives. They have wielded their swords ever since they were children.

But now, no matter how upset her brother could be, he still threw down his sword. So, Laiya found it difficult concealing her surprise.

Did he just run away?

Roy BlackWinter had run away.

She blinked.

What is this?

Roy BlackWinter had turned around and ran back to her.

What… What?

You don’t want to actually come back here and punish your little sister, huh?

Laiya couldn’t understand when exactly did her plan begun to go wrong.

She had just suggested to eat something, but it wasn’t like it was medicated or harmful.

As her brother approached her, Laiya tightly shut her eyes … well, she pretended to have them tightly shut. In fact, she was peeping.

He slowed down.

Roy stopped and watched her like a vigilant cat. Thinking that his sister’s eyes were closed, he came a little closer… He picked up his sword and left.

Huh?

Laiya stopped pretending and watched her brother who had already covered a considerable distance.

Taking in his running back, her mouth hung open blankly.

…What a cute creature.

She quickly turned around.

She fiddled with the basket, acting as though she was fine. If she didn’t, she thought her laughter would burst out at any moment.

How, how are you so cute, brother?

Laiya managed to subdue her laughter, though, the shaking of her shoulders proved too much for her.

Unfortunately, she held her laugh in for too long and coughed. It was like a ball of heat inside her.

“Cough. Cough. Cough!”

As she bowed her head to the side and coughed, she felt his gaze on her.

In the distance, the boy stood and watched.

What are you looking at?

Ugh.

Laiya smiled softly as she stroked her chin.

She knew about the BlackWinter’s physical abilities. They could hear and see well from such a massive distance.

“Brother!”

The little girl waved her hands, she then grabbed the backet and ran to and fro.

“You don’t want to eat right now, huh?”

Roy began to wield his sword once more, but Laiya knew that he could still hear her.

She consciously made a gloomy expression as she took an item from the basket.

She neatly wrapped up her belongings on her mat and closed the basket, leaving the item of food out.

“Hey!”

When she quickly called out, her voice sounded hoarse.

“If you don’t want to eat it with me then I’ll put it over here for you!”

She shouted loudly, vigorously, so that her brother turned to her.

Well, I tried.

So… There’s nothing else to do now, right?

She tried to pretend as though she was alright, but she was truly depressed on the inside.

What can I do on only the second day? I will bravely look up and not give up.

With a grunt, Laiya lifted the basket and set it to the side.

She decided to sit in her seat and act out a scene of reading a book.  

Without any enhanced physical abilities, she was unable to know if Roy was watching her as she fake read.

After acting for a bit more, she abruptly got up.

Gazing back, she watched her brother train in samadhi.

[T/N: Samadhi means a deep state of concentration which you achieve through meditation.]

Laiya then rolled up her items on the mat and hugged them to her.

She then checked in on her brother.

Tempt him. Catch him.

She hoped that like a stray cat, she could catch her brother with food.

***

The next day, when she arrived at the training arena at her designated time, the basket was in the exact same spot she had left it.

The contents inside were still the same.

She was not disappointed though.

Yeah, because I’ve known all along that he was a cat.

Yesterday, she had used meat, today was freshly baked bread.

It was white bread with nothing inside it, but she had also brought with her a lot of butter.

As well as fresh milk and cool fruit juice.

The smell of the white bread spread.

This time she even got the chance to see her brother’s shoulders twitching.

But he still did not come.

Though, even if it was subtle, it seemed as though he was swinging his sword a tad closer than before. It might also be possible that it was her illusion.

But I am a positive child! And I will think positively.

***

The day after that, Laiya brought with her sweets that smelled like Deli Manjoo.

[T/N: Deli Manjoo is a sponge cake filled with custard and is shaped like a mini ear of corn.]

And cookies topped with figs that were sweet and tasty.  

Hahaha, little black kitten, resisting must be hard for you!

Suddenly, she felt like boasting in front of her third older brother.

He was smaller than the other two brothers and above all, he behaved as a cat would.

The black kitten was a successful bid!

It was perfect.

Alas, that day, her Deli Manjoo was ignored.

Aww, but why? How were you able to just ignore this smell?!

Just like a damn cat!

***

Four days had passed.

Four days of Laiya refusing to give up.

Well, she wasn’t sure if she would die in a few years, so how did it matter if she spent a few days doing as such?

Following the previous failures and using them as examples, she tried a variety of foods.

First of all, they all failed.

But that’s okay. She just found four types of food that were not his type. It was not a failure.

Black kitten, I’ll look for more. One of these must be to your tastes!

Laiya clenched her fists subconsciously, not realizing that she had indirectly become an obsessive male lead in one of those romance novels.

***

Six days had passed.

At that point, the time had come where she should have received a response.

Contrary to her expectations, the distance between them remained.

If she was lucky, maybe she could admit that her brother’s training spot was noticeably closer to her.

Today, I will rule your tastebuds.

For her new menu, she had a sandwich.

But it’s not just any sandwich!

Now, the kitchen staff did not panic as she entered. It was all thanks to her frequent habit of going in and out of the kitchen.

“…The chocolate and peanut sauce you mention, well, it seems possible.”

Though he was still reluctant, the head chef still commented. But, without making eye contact.

With this, she would be able to stamp her mark on her brother.

You won’t be able to sleep without thinking of me now!

Without her notice, Laiya had begun to mumble the lines of an obsessive Gwanggong from romance novels in her head.

[Gwanggong is a term for characters who are madly obsessed with their relationships.]

She arrived at the training arena as she lightly hummed.

Then she froze.

Roy BlackWinter?

Roy BlackWinter had her basket!

The basket was opened!

At Roy’s feet laid the lovely black cat she had seen on her first day at the arena.

It wasn’t acting cute, but there was no fuss as it rubbed its forehead against his legs.

Wow, two black kittens?

Her expression turned cold as she watched her brother’s next move.

That’s too much! Did you think my basket has cat food?

But what she saw was true. Roy BlackWinter was giving the food from her basket to the cat.

No, no. This is too much!

Laiya couldn’t control her anger, so she stomped her way to her third older brother and paused.

…Why are you feeding the cat with the food I gave you? Eat it by yourself.

After watching over the past ten days, her brother refused to touch her lunch.

She had sneakily asked the kitchen staff about it and learnt about a key piece of information. Roy didn’t eat breakfast or dinner as much as she though.

Even though it was a time in which he was growing up.

Is it because Kyle BlackWinter must be trying to kill him?

She remembered the face of her first brother who resembled a hardened villain in her heart.