Chapter 7: 7

“I didn’t expect Clara to have that talent. That’s amazing.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

In just two months after changing the garden, our new garden has been transformed into an amazingly beautiful greenhouse.

Yes. Clara was actually very well-versed in plants. After the garden incident, Clara became interested in herbal medicine as she looked at the species.

In the future, she’ll use her knowledge to support the male lead and become a known herbalist, creating and selling her own medicines.

“You’re amazing. The last time Louis had an upset stomach, Clara found a good herb so he recovered soon.”

“Did that happen?”

“Yes, mom. She’s amazing.”

For Clara, I climbed onto my mom’s lap after a long time and started to praise her.

My mother, Duchess Valentine, was still young and beautiful to the point where it was embarrassing to say that she already had four children.

The myth that jewelry pours from the long eyelashes of an extremely beautiful woman every time she blinks, seems to be true. Mom smiled happily, stroking my head on her lap.

“So that’s why my princess was in a good mood.”

In the original, the Duchess was shocked to see her beloved daughter’s execution and lost her sight.

My mother always followed Ciel in the original story. I feel sorry for her because I spend most of my time with my sister. So today, I willingly hugged her and acted sweet.

“Mom smells good. Smell it too, Clara.”

“But I…”

“Come here.”

The Duke and his wife are by no means bad parents, This means that they pay little attention to Clara. When I made such a small opportunity, the Duchess called Clara, sat next to her, and hugged her shoulder tightly.

“Feel free to tell me if there’s anything you want to do. Clara, you’re my daughter, too.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Watching Clara blush shyly, I felt somewhat proud.

It must have been upsetting to see me being loved right next to you without any reward.

Clara didn’t show it, but she must have been feeling that way.

“I love you, mom and sister.”

Sitting on my mother’s lap, I slipped into my sister’s arms.

Even if we’re not blood-related, we are a family. Mom smiled at me and Clara, sitting side by side.

“It’s already time for the seasons to change. Clara, you have to prepare for your social debut now.  I’ll have to get a new dress.”

“Me?”

“Sure. Fourteen is old enough.”

 Something’s wrong. Clara didn’t make her social debut at 14. This wasn’t in the original.

Oh, my. I made her realize her talent so early that the original plot started to twist rapidly.

 

──・・✧・・──

 

My mother, Duchess Eveness Valentine, is the beauty of the Empire.

Perhaps because she’s a beautiful woman; she’s pretty good at dealing with other aristocrats in the social world.

But God was fair. Apart from her appearance, her ability in managing state affairs was quite mediocre; so she was always tired due to excessive overworking.

It was Mrs. Lisbon who helped the Duchess and was one of the pillars of the Valentine family.

Although it’s good, excessive loyalty is an issue.

The problem is that Clara’s quality of life completely depends on how Mrs. Lisbon plays in the middle.

“I have a headache.”

I went to bed early, but I couldn’t sleep. According to the original story, after the party of my eighth birthday, Clara immediately became a nuisance for Ciel.

And she’s forgotten for a while. Not even their parents could stop Ciel’s harassment, and rather than going out into society; Clara became invisible.

She made her social debut four years later at the age of sixteen. The beginning of the novel was when Clara realized her talent by growing herbs in the abandoned garden.

Realizing her talent, Clara goes out of Valentine’s Dukedom and sells herbs to become independent. Then, villains who aim for her abilities will offer Clara a political marriage.

Despite Ciel’s opposition, the Duke and Duchess of Valentine hurried their stepdaughter to make her social debut.

Alex, who met Clara years ago at Ciel’s eighth birthday party, said that they saved her just before she was sold to the bad guys.

Perhaps because I broke a flag in the middle,  what had to happen after, happened sooner than I thought.

So if I move, the future will change? I don’t know what the changed future is like.

Then what should I do from now on? I couldn’t sleep at all, so I got out of bed and turned on the magic lamp.

As I woke up rubbing my sleepy eyes, I wrote down the original story in my notebook so I wouldn’t forget it.

For now, it’s certain that the events that will take place in the original plot have been advanced. I checked the content in the notebook once again, at least it’s known that Clara has a natural talent for dealing with herbs.

The problem was that some herbs include hallucinating drugs. And villains try to kidnap Clara and encourage her to grow drugs that are difficult to raise.

While investigating the drug problem, Alex finds out about the villain’s plot and saves Clara heroically.

Of course, I’m not sure when that event will happen, or if it will happen at all.

However, since they already know each other, I have to think about what to do to connect them.

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My head hurts. God, why are you giving me such a hard time? It was not until dawn that I fell asleep.

As soon as I got up from bed, I called Mrs. Lisbon to hear about the preparations.

“The preparations are going well?”

“Of course, miss.”

I nodded at Mrs. Lisbon’s attitude, which has become stiff.

According to the original, the Duchess naturally had fewer opportunities to meet Clara since her relationship with Ciel deteriorated.

Mrs. Lisbon, who took care of the children instead of the busy Duchess, would avoid the Duchess’s eyes and torment Clara.

If I can really change the future, let’s start with minor changes. I’ll survive if I save the main character.

“I’ll go to the Glass Garden.”

The Duke of Valentine praised his daughters’ new hobbies and built a huge glass greenhouse in the newly overturned garden. Since then, the abandoned garden has been called Glass Garden.

“What are you doing here?”

I ran into Theo who was taking a walk in the garden just in time.

I changed my mind a little bit since my last birthday. I’ve been into the fun of teasing my big brother; but the only person who can guarantee my position, after breaking all the death flags in the future, is the next Duke, not anyone else.

In order to do so, I have to let Theo know that we are on the same side. I approached and bowed to him.

“Theo, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve got a little business to attend to.”

I’m guessing he was looking for Clara. Even if he doesn’t show a single thing in his face, you can clearly see Theo’s heart.

“Don’t go around running like that. Everyone will be worried if you get hurt.”

I hate you for saying that, but it’s just that I’m not honest, so I asked Theo as if I didn’t know anything.

“Brother, I have a question. If Clara makes her social debut, who will be her escort?”

If it goes as it did in the original, the Duke of Valentine, who briefly went to another region to do business on Clara’s debut day, will be caught in heavy rain.

So, of course, Theo tries to escort her, but Ciel forces her big brother to choose. Threatening him with never seeing him ever again.

‘It’s me or that adopted child!’

Under the pressure of the family, Theo is forced to escort Ciel, and Clara goes to the ball without a proper escort.

And just then, the male lead appears heroically and escorts Clara.

“If anything happens to our father, it’s up to me, the eldest son.”

I nodded. Let’s twist the plot again. In the original novel, Ciel was a wicked woman who was obsessed with jealousy and gave her sister Clara a hard time and bullied her.

It is said that making a social debut becomes a precious memory since it happens only once in life. In fact, at Ciel’s debut party the following year, she showed the appearance of a Queen with her father and brothers in both hands.

Those were the things that made Clara sad. No matter how much the male lead loves her, he can’t fill in for the family’s lack of affection.

What if I give Clara a good memory here? Another death flag will disappear.

Clara will be happy to have good memories, and I’ll be happy to keep my life. I’m glad to have a good sister; and to have a good life eating and living as I want,  I mobilized my brothers to propose a surprise for Clara.

“It would be the best if it’s father, but you never know. Just in case, I’d like my brother Theo to escort her.”

“Me?”

“Yes, Theo himself! It’d be better if brother Isaac is with you so that her position would be stronger.”

I think he was surprised by my words, but Theo, who was quick-witted, seemed to have roughly figured out why I was saying that.

“Ciel, did you know about that?”

“About what?”

“That Clara is not our real sister.”

The fact that Clara was an adoptee was an open secret of the Valentine’s Dukedom. Especially for Ciel.

The Duke and Duchess of Valentine were not discriminating against their child just because she was adopted. Compared to the other sons, except for Ciel, whom they spoiled; they never gave less{1}.

In addition, loyal employees never talked about it in front of Ciel, for fear of being hurt.

But Theo must have been very curious about how I found out. I decided not to take much time to tell the truth.

“Brother Louis said sister Clara was adopted. Are you talking about that?”

Theo frowned at my lack of tactlessness. I knew that, sooner or later, Theo would call Louis and scold him. Then he’ll come to his senses.

In fact, from the first moment he saw his adopted sister, who suddenly appeared one day, to the last minute; Theo became Clara’s shoulder{2} and continued an unrequited love that he couldn’t express.

Clara’s biggest ally is Theo. I decided to go after that point.

“Brother, I’ll hate it if she’s ignored by others.”

“That’s true.”

Theo nodded. I held my brother’s hand and emphasized it one more time.

“So, whether she’s adopted or not, I don’t want anyone to bully her.”

My thoughts remain unchanged since I first opened my eyes here. And to be honest, I didn’t really understand why the original Ciel was so mean.

In fact, even if related by blood, there were many siblings who were worse. 

Compared to that, our house is simply peaceful. When I readily said this, Theo, who had originally been on Clara’s side, nodded with a happy face.

Notes:

{1} They treat all the kids equally except Ciel

{2} he was the one who comforted her

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