During a night of thunder when lightning strikes and rain falls like a downpour, he would have nightmares and sweat.
Then I would give Heinrich a side of my bed and pat him all night long, singing lullabies.
I remembered it all.
Still drowsy in sleep—
“…Are you sick?”
As I rubbed my eyes and lifted my head, Heinrich, who was at the door, shook his head.
“No…”
“Come here, Heinrich.”
As soon as permission fell, Heinrich cautiously walked inside.
When I gestured for him to bow down with my hand, he quietly squatted down in front of the bed and put his forehead on it.
I realized he had a slight fever when I touched his forehead. Very faint.
Seeing that his shirt and hair were wet, he seemed to be sweating.
I sighed quietly. It was obvious.
“Did you wake up from another nightmare and can’t sleep?”
“…….”
“How old are you, but you still have nightmares and can’t sleep?”
Heinrich looked a little shaky.
‘You really didn’t grow much.’
‘What am I going to do with you, Heinrich?’
Back then, I left with a lot of worries because of these aspects.
‘Do you have the same childlike habits?’
Heinrich crouched down at my bedside.
He certainly looked pretty tall, being over 180cm, but when he lowered his body, it felt like the size of Noah with a little excess.
“…I’ll be right next to you in a little while, Sister.”
Heinrich looked at the wall and leaned his head against it.
Dun, dun.
Then thunder roared loudly. Hmmm, I could see Heinrich’s body hardening.
Without realizing it, I laughed out loud.
“…What a baby, baby.”
Heinrich looked genuinely angry for a moment.
“Sister, why am I a baby? I grew this tall. I’m even the richest and most powerful ‘man’. I’m probably the number one groom in the empire.”
“Yes, yes~”
I smiled as I answered dryly.
What did you do while you were growing up, Heinri?
Even now, it was still a mystery how he became a grand duke when he could be defeated by thunder.
I shook my head and gave up one side of the bed, tapping with the palm of my hand.
“Come up.”
For a second, there was a gleam in Heinrich’s eyes.
His white teeth were slightly exposed as he straightened his face like he could not smile openly.
“…Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
If possible, I would just pretend I don’t know, but in fact, I actually remembered everything.
When he was young, on days when he had a low fever like this, he used to persevere by saying that he was okay, but then the fever would rise so much that he would get very sick.
‘I was worried that he wasn’t better even after I used all the fever reducers.’
He had a sensitive body, so there was no suitable medicine.
Surprisingly, Heinrich didn’t usually have minor illnesses, but was very ill once he got sick.
How much did I stomp my feet back then… The 12-year-old Annette was very upset.
…I wished I was the one who was sick instead.
It occurred to me how much I liked Heinrich.
“It’s because you’re not okay. If you keep doing that next to me, I won’t be able to sleep.”
“Okay.”
‘Is it because it’s been a while and it’s awkward?’
The tip of his ear that was lying next to me was a little red.
Heinrich lay down, clutching the blanket with his large hands and closing his eyes.
‘Cute.’
I smiled and patted his back.
“Heinrich, you’ve been very hard to take care of since you were little.”
“…….”
The handsome face lying face to face with me quietly opened his eyes.
Now that I looked at it, the color of his eyes seems darker than before.
It became stronger and more profound.
It was still shining beautifully and arrogantly.
“You liked me like that.”
“Right.”
I graciously admitted it.
“I liked taking care of you, Heinrich.”
“…….”
“When you are happy, I’ll feel happy for no reason.”
Such was the existence of the ‘favorite’.
He didn’t know.
Still, wouldn’t my efforts for Heinrich’s happiness be quite successful?
“That’s why I loved how you became so wealthy, Professor of Magic Tools, and even a Grand Duke.”
“What? Pfft.”
“Really.”
How pitiful you were in the original work I know.
I narrowed my eyes and said,
“…Honestly, I raised you very well.”
“That’s right, Sister.”
Heinrich’s expression mirrored mine.
We looked at each other and laughed like children for a moment. Like a long time ago.
Heinrich whispered, in case I was really sleeping.
“Sister, sing the lullaby.”
“Hey, didn’t you say you’ve grown up?”
“…I really wanted to hear it. Every time it rained, I kept thinking of it all night long.”
“…….”
“When I couldn’t sleep, I tried to fall asleep while thinking of Sister’s voice.”