My Sister Picked up the Male Lead

This must have been because I was nervous. As I glanced at him anxiously while I swallowed my saliva, I waited for Knox’s answer. But the answer never came.

Instead, he spoke naturally and neutrally.

“Don’t tell me…”

From my palm, I raised my head, until I was looking into his eyes. 2

He remained motionless. Since he was not moving at all, it seemed as if he was really deep asleep this time.

I gave out a sigh.

‘If I moved right now, he’ll wake up, right?”

Yeah. I think so.

Unintentionally, I stayed up the entire night and the sky was already slowly turning scarlet. The sigh that I just gave just came out naturally. I should have gone back to our room before my sister woke up but… why did I feel so sleepy?

I was really sleepy. I didn’t know whether my body was relaxing because I was tired from the tension just now but it’s not good how I was falling asleep so easily like this. I slapped and even pinched my cheeks to stay awake, but my eyelids were so heavy and my eyes were slowly closing…

The last thing I saw was the sun rising at a distance from behind the mountains before I finally closed my eyes.

***

“Amy! Amy!”

When I opened my eyes again, a dazzling light blinded me.

kkang kkang kkang.

Why was it so noisy?

After rubbing my eyes and opening them again, I saw my older sister with a soup ladle in one hand and a spoon in the other.

kkang kkang kkang.

It looked like I found the source of the noise.

“…Uhm, Diana.”

“I didn’t notice this morning so I went to do the laundry. But then I wondered where on earth you went! My goodness. Who knew you liked Knox this much?”

“What are you even talking about?”

Looking at me still half asleep, my sister squatted in front of me and tapped my forehead with the tip of the soup ladle.

My sister then looked at me dumbfounded.

“Oh my goodness. If you continue cuddling him like that, this older sister of yours is going to be disappointed.”

“…Uh?”

Blinking my eyes innocently, I tried to look for where I could feel body heat. And at that place…

A child Knox was snoring lightly, being held tightly by me.

I got up in a hurry.

“Diana? Wait… I can explain this.”

“A-hyoo*, it was just a joke. What explanation are you talking about.”

*T/N: It’s like a sfx to describe a sigh when you’re like frustrated?? HAHA that’s the best I can put it.

My sister grinned mischievously.

“No, Diana. There is one.”

Embarrassed, I could barely speak and continued to shake my head before my sister dropped the bomb.

“I seriously can’t stop you. Then just sleep in the same room from now on. Sleep with Knox.”

…What?

“Sleep in the same room.”

“What?”

“Come to think of it, it’s not such a bad idea. Knox is still quite young so he would like it if someone stayed by his side. Don’t you think?”

I jumped up as if I saw a thief in the middle of the night.

“W-what are you talking about? Diana, he’s!”

“Hm? Knox is? What about Knox?”

My sister just blinked innocently. Looking at my sister tilting her head to the left as if I was strange, I wanted to explain. No. I couldn’t.

“…a child.”

“Yup. He’s at most a 7-year-old child.”

This kid was actually a man who used his huge body to trap me yesterday. The words that I wanted to tell my smiling sister got caught in my throat. Despite the fact that I still felt conflicted, my unknowing sister patted my head.

“It’s nice how you care for him like this.”

“…”

“Your older sister is glad that you have a younger sibling now. Knox hasn’t been here for very long but he’s going to be just fine here, right?”

“…Y-yeah.”

My sister is related to me by blood but had a slightly different hair color. So she liked my hair which was orange like the sunset. Since I was a child, she had been patting me like this, saying I was cute.

My sister, who was stroking my hard, suddenly got up.

“Then, quickly come for breakfast.”

I stared blankly at the closed door.

Didn’t I have to fix this misunderstanding? No, how did she expect me to sleep in this room? I hoped she would take back her words but I knew she would never take them back.

I held my face and let out a big sigh.

“…Amy?”

Before I noticed, a pair of sparkly purple eyes looked up at me. Knox had a puzzled look on his face, probably because I was in front of him.

The young boy just blinked his eyes innocently and continued gripping my clothes. I burst into a fit of laughter dejectedly as I watched his hands grab my clothes.

“…Why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying.”

…This sister* is now going to be sleeping with you under the same roof.

*T/N: she’s referring to herself in the third person

I mean, in the same room.

***

Half a day had passed after meeting the ‘Mad Grand Duke’ Knox firsthand.

I couldn’t sleep during the day, so I carried out the day like a crazed person.

I almost ate my own cup while doing the dishes, I didn’t throw the dirty water away while doing the laundry and I even hit my own nose while dusting the house…

My sister saw me losing my mind the entire day until it was already time for Knox’s class.

“Amy, is something wrong? Does it hurt anywhere?”

After putting down the basket of herbs, my older sister strode towards me.

“Are you sick?”

Even in my sister’s eyes, I looked crazy. My sister put her hand on my forehead before muttering about how I didn’t have a fever.

I grabbed my sister’s hand and tapped her.

“Of course I don’t have a fever, I’m not even sick.”

“Then what’s going on with you?”

My sister tilted her head as she looked at me while I just shrugged.

“I’m just not feeling my best today. Other than that, I’m completely fine.”

My sister then looked at me strangely.

“You’re holding the book upside down.”

“…Honest mistake.”

Trying to mask my embarrassment, I laughed awkwardly, flipping the book around.

“Is it because it’s hard for you to teach Knox?”

“Nope.”

“It’s good to work hard, but don’t overdo it.”

“It’s not like that. As I said, it’s just that I’m not feeling my best today. More importantly, did you go someplace further to collect the herbs. I see, in the basket, you brought some Alten herbs.”

The Alten herbs my sister found were like pepper. Outside the forest, it would be considered a precious spice. Acting as if it was natural, after looking into the basket, my sister just shrugged and nodded.

“Yup. I went to an abandoned house. It’s still as creepy as ever.

The ‘abandoned house’ my sister was referring to was another ‘safe place’ that was not far from here.

It was believed that the house was where a wizard resided in the past, so a variety of wild vegetables and herbs grew near the house.

My sister said that the plants grow because of the magic that the wizard left behind. She also told me that since wizards prefer to live in places with fewer people, they often live in ‘safe places’ within the Dark Forest.

“It was spooky like a ghost could show up anytime, but what else could I do? There was nowhere to collect herbs from.”

After saying that, my sister leaned back, rolling her round eyes around before they landed on me.

“More importantly, Knox, Amy’s going to get a hole in her cheek.”

“…”

Only then did I notice Knox who was staring at me. Knox who was grabbing the hem of my clothes then spoke out.

“Amy, sick?”

“No, I’m not sick. It’s just because I didn’t sleep well. Well… I should be better after a good night’s sleep? How about this one next? Let’s read this one.”

I spoke vaguely and opened the book. Today, like any other day, we had classes.

The only difference is that I saw his real form yesterday. Fortunately, Knox followed where my finger was pointing at and stared at the pictures in the book.

“Ventus.”

“Yup, it means air.”

Looking at him now, he was very gentle.

I felt strange, seeing the cold look from the Knox the night before, and the one now.

I didn’t know what to do anymore.

In the novel, my sister was very kind to Knox.

But I didn’t know how and what I should do to be nice to him.

Just like how flowers and trees grow differently, aren’t there many ways to raise and be kind to people?

I needed to try to match Knox’s tastes and preferences to the nest of my ability.

Before realising it myself, I was holding up my head with my hand and watching him diligently read.

What could I do to become closer to you in the future?

In fact, Knox in child form was a dazzlingly beautiful young boy. His eyes looked as if they were glass beads and his skin was so pale, just as if he were a prince from a fairytale…

His beauty was something that could not be hidden even though he was wearing my old clothes. Easily, I started thinking about his appearance when he grew older.

‘…I couldn’t believe how such a gentle kid could become such a big and scary man.’

I ended class earlier today. It was a good thing I did because I couldn’t concentrate at all.

“…Amy.”

Before I could go help my sister to make dinner, Knox pulled my clothes.

“What’s wrong?”

Knox, who looked as if he couldn’t decide what to say, looked only at the ground.

Starving, I wanted to quickly get up so I tried to carefully move away, but the boy swiftly stood in front of me and grabbed my clothes again. Then his other hand, that was grabbing the book we were reading from before, started fidgeting.

Finally, his small lips opened.

“…Don’t get sick.”1

“Huh. O-oh, yes, thank you.”

Knox, who was hugging the book I read for him today tightly, blinked his eyes innocently.

At that moment, he made the decision.

“If you’re sick, I’ll take it away for you.”

“…For me?”

Nod.

The little boy nodded his head.

“Yup. Since I’m used to painful things.”2

“…Why are you used to them?”

“I don’t know.”

At that moment, my heart ached.

He was scarred by his childhood. He had been beaten the breath out of him by his own father.

No wonder, he was as used to pain as he was used to air. Although he didn’t have his memories, perhaps he could feel it instinctively?

It was heartbreaking to see a child who couldn’t remember anything instinctively say that that he was used to being in pain.

The way he answered so nonchalantly and so detached made me feel so much pity till my heart hurt.

“Don’t be sick.”

Despite his ignorant eyes, I couldn’t deny the truth in his words so all I could do was to nod carefully.

***

Even before it was early dinner, Knox had already feel asleep after eating his dinner. As the boy went to sleep quietly, I continued doing the chores. I washed the dishes and folded the laundry for a while… no, maybe it was for about 2 hours?

Where the boy fell asleep, an unfamiliar man lay.

It was Knox but in the form of the ‘Mad Grand Duke’.

I sneaked a peek in front of the ajar door to check. After collecting so many herbs, my sister had already entered her room and turned in for the night.

As long as I didn’t make any loud sounds, she wouldn’t notice, right?

It was going to be midnight soon. Desperately pleading, I raised my head, hoping I could return back to the room without waking my sister. After a while, Knox who sleeping in front of the window moved.

“…Look who’s here.”

Knox’s eyes widened in surprise after being awoken by my shadow. While sitting up on the bed and stretching his long legs out, he slowly spoke.

“I guess whatever you said was true.”

Behind his cold yet shimmering eyes, I could see the moon hanging on the sky behind his shoulder. The curtains flapping, haphazardly against the open window.

He reached out to me with his hand.

“Come here.”

Gulping nervously, I suddenly recalled the child Knox’s eyes.

…Why was there such a big difference?

The boy and the man were in fact the same person but why do they act as if they were completely different people?

It was probably because of his childhood where he was raised amidst abuse and neglect, causing him to become like this.

It may be the reason why Knox in the form of the ‘Mad Grand Duke’ may act so coldly, but not for the child Knox in the day.

Unintentionally, I tensed up. As I approached him though, I slipped on a basket on the floor.

That surprised me.

Something grabbed my hand, preventing me from falling. I looked up bewildered only to find out that it was Knox who swiftly saved me from slipping.

The sky outside the window had turned dark without my knowledge, with the stars twinkling one by one.

“…T-Thank you…”

Knox acted as if he didn’t hear my words and pulled me till I was sitting on the bed.

Realising that we were sitting in that exact same position we were in the previous night, I swallowed my saliva nervously. However, Knox, instead of doing anything, just stared at me quietly.

“Anyways, yes, it seems like whatever you said wasn’t bullshit.”

“Ah… y-yes.”

…I guess it was right to say that as long as you were good-looking, anything you say couldn’t be bad.

No matter how I looked at it his eyes were cold and he seemed heartless but at the same time, I couldn’t feel offended by his gaze because of his good looks.

“Tell me everything you know.”

Knox tilted his head whilst he continued to look at me.

“What I said yesterday… was all I knew though…?”

He gave a slight frown.

“I wasn’t asking about that. I mean, the situation I was in for you to pick me up, what I was doing in this house this past few days—talk to me about that.”

Well, to be fair, it was my sister that picked him up so I had no way of knowing exactly what happened. There was the explanation my sister gave after she picked him up… My eyes jittered before I opened my mouth to speak.

“…Uhm. I don’t really remember? I just picked you up.”

“…”

“I’ll think harder, sir. I think I’ll remember if I think about it harder, sir.”

Looking at Knox’s piercing gaze, I quickly regretted what I said and took back my words when I spoke again.

Faced with such a fierce gaze that looked as if it could hurt me, I mustered the ability to make up things that never happened on the spot.

“I was the one who brought you here. You were wandering around alone in child form, so you were out of breath when I found you. That night, there was a full moon. Even my older sister said that it was a miracle for you to even be alive.”

Come to think of it, Knox came at a time when the forest was quite dangerous. How did Knox manage to survive in this forest in child form for such a long time?

His image of the ‘Mad Grand Duke’ came not from the fact that he was actually a demon but from the fact that he was cruel and heartless enough to cut down even his grandfather.

However, in child form, he was weak and all he was able to do was to helplessly escape the Crown Prince’s raid. The fact that this was his only weakness was fascinating.

I mean, this was all according to the author’s will.

The curse weakened him immensely.

In the novel, the curse on Knox was used to give him his first love and at the same time, a tool to become closer and fall in love with the female lead.

Despite thinking of his first love that took care of him when he was in child form whenever he was with Serena, he gradually fell in love with her in the end.

As his curse was lifted, the mechanism behind how the curse came to only haunt the House of Ilberk was never revealed.

However, it seems to be related to some wizard.

“Your older sister? I thought you lived ‘alone’.”

“Yes, I live together with my sister and during the day you’re a child so… Uhm… I guess you can say that?”

“Tell me more.”

“You’ll regret it though.”

“What?”

A semi-important T/N:

Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only

hi uhm I have threethings I’d like to say.

Firstly, I think I need a proofreader. HAHA I’m not sure if you can tell but sometimes as I’m translating I mix up the languages and get confused with grammar so I spend some time reading through my translations wondering whether it makes sense. I don’t mind doing it myself but sometimes it takes very~~ long and I’d be able to post faster if someone wouldn’t mind doing it so I humbly request for help HAHA

Secondly, it has come to my attention that there are people who would like to support the purchases of the raws to help. Uhm, I never really thought that there would be people who would like to help but this is getting pretty expensive, so if you’d like to help message me privately, that way I can get to you faster.

Lastly, I’m not sure if y’all know but this novel has a total of 190+ chapters HAHA and we’re only at chapter 5. If you’d like I don’t mind cutting the chapters shorter so that I’ll post more often and you won’t have to wait 1 week for another long-ass chapter but I’m afraid it will ruin the flow of the plot? so yeah, tell me what y’all think?