“Ah. Except Gyeon Jioh.”
“W-what—how does that even make sense!”
Im Ji-ae was baffled and wronged. Maybe even a little hurt.
For words from the prince she’d fallen for at first sight on the siblings’ first day at the mansion, it was a brutally cold rejection.
“Then what! Your only friend for life will be your noona? If you get a little sister, that makes two, then three, huh? If your mom doesn’t have lots and lots of younger siblings for you, you won’t even have ten friends!”
“I already have a younger sister.”
“Huh?”
“I do. A little sister. She’s in the hospital, so I’ve only seen her a few times.”
As children do, Im Ji-ae pivoted quickly and latched onto the new topic.
“Lucky you. I want a little sister too… Huh? But up to now you’ve only talked about your noona! What’s that about!”
“Hey, idiot. You really are dumb, you know that? I just said I’ve only seen her a few times.”
“Still…”
Im Ji-ae trailed off, hemming and hawing.
By a little girl’s standards she couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but she felt an indescribable oddness—maybe a sense of distance.
It was what she’d vaguely felt whenever she saw the siblings from afar.
“If…