11. pity(?)

Anyway, Yuki felt a bit of pity(?)

'it didn't hurt to do one good deed a day', thinking like that, she called out to him, "You can sit beside me", she patted on the sofa.

Well, she didn't have anything else to do, she was bored and it didn't hurt to have some company and when his parents searched for him, they will be able to find him faster with her by his side, in the end, she was the Young Miss and the maids were checking her out once in a while.

The boy paused for a second before trotting towards her with his small legs, at his highest speed, he felt like if he made her wait, she will change her mind.

The boy came up to her chest at most and hence, it took him some effort to get on the sofa, but the serious look on the childish face that still had some baby fat on it, as he tried his best to get up the sofa, made Yuki smile.

Who in the world didn't like beautiful things, Yuki was no exception, as weird as it may sound, she thought that this kid was really cute.

After climbing up to the sofa, the boy first sat on the farthest corner, but after a while, he wiggled a little closer towards Yuki before sitting straight, he peeked at her and seeing that she didn't have any averse reaction, he scooted a bit closer,... then a little bit closer ...then a little bit more... this continued till he was just a palm's distance away from her... Finally happy with the distance, he had an innocent smile with a look of pride and fulfilment... and then he concentrated on the food.

Yuki had seen his amusing act but didn't say anything...

Nor did she ask him to sit closer, nor will she push him away so, when she saw him stop which was just a distance she was perfectly comfortable with, she almost felt like praising this small fluff ball and it was then that she saw him having some problems in peeling the chocolate wrapper, his muscles were not coordinating well.

In a rare good mood, she thought of helping him again, even she wasn't sure why she felt like that?

Before this day, she was very sure of her personality; she didn't like to do such things before, ' hmm....was it because this kid was very cute', she glanced at the chubby cheeks of the little fluff ball and the soft pout he had, he also had a very small frown as he was having a hard time unwrapping that chocolate, his softly curled rose gold hair bobbing due to his movements and those plump tomato cheeks... 'Yes! It was probably that... 'Cuteness is justice?' '

Well, once decided, if she wanted to do it, she will do it!

She was never a child to quibble with her own way of doing things, she was very straight forward in doing what she felt like doing.

She directly asked him, "Do you need my help? "

This time even the boy didn't feel that shy, he was aware of what he could and couldn't do.

He looked at her face with a shy look and said, "Yes, please." Though a bit childish, Yuki could see that, he had eloquence, he was taught well, she almost thought that maybe he was a noble-- wait!

Even she wasn't sure of it why, but she had a weird gut feeling.

Now that she took a closer look at him, this boy was wearing clothes in a proper manner, they were well ironed and though simple, were definitely branded; even the way he sat was good, though a little unrefined, he was just a kid so it was acceptable, his posture was really pretty for his age, he was probably copying someone else?

The sitting position of a certain person flashed inside her head, she thought of that person because unconsciously her own posture was similar to her,.... it was the same posture she had seen when she was just born.... it was similar to that of the 'Duchess'...

She stared at the boy, she didn't want to keep guessing and directly threw the ball, ".. Hmm.. Can you tell me your name, first? Oh! Wait let me introduce my self first. My name is Yuki Winterdale"

The boy hadn't expected the question and he wasn't ready to say his name, but when he heard her introduce herself, particularly the name, he gave her a bright smile and his previous gentle tone had a child-like innocence now , " Wah! Onee-chan, we have the same family name. My name is Selene Aki Winterdale.* "

Hearing his name- no family name, she stiffened and had a hunch.

The Duke who had been standing on the stairs for a while now, proved it to be true, "He is your younger brother by 2 years, Yuki. hmmm....but It seems you were not aware of it? "

It was his assistant who answered him because both the kids were staring at each other with pure surprise, Yuki was purely surprised and for some unknown reason felt a tingling pain in her head, the pain was too hard to bear but she bit her lips to suppress the moans, she didn't want to show any weakness to anyone present; she was, after all, the child of the Duchess, in a way she wanted her pride to remain intact at all times.

In contrast, Aki was more happy than surprised, he didn't have enough knowledge yet to know that it was abnormal for siblings to meet for the first time like this, considering that they were children from the same pair of husband and wife was weird... it was natural for them to grow up together, but it was the first time they were meeting, this situation was not normal!

But years after this incident, when Yuki saw the pure eyes of the boy without a shred of malice or hatred towards this world for he was neglected for 4 years of his life and wasn't aware that he too had a family, she felt gratified that he was a normal kid who didn't have much memory before the age of 4 and that he grew up to be a dazzling star.

...

* Selene is a Greek Lunar goddess.

Aki is 'Autumn' in Japanese.