TNBTW | Episode 48

Elliott pointed to 07321e9187 each person in 5157bf2f80 the picture with 0d20f9be26 his finger as 5a146ae52f he spoke. All the figures in 94e604e355 his drawing were smiling e6b9cb46b4 brightly.8d25ebd84f5bb089

“Everyone’s smiling. It looks happy to 147580803e me.”1ba97ae015136a29

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Yeah! It was fun. I played a 2fb6253537 lot with Mom 868736f98e and Dad. I even 99dcc294ab raced with 4cead56e56 Dad, and f0c124db86 when we c2f58defb6 got hungry, 266052dfaa we ate 62896882fb sandwiches.”99c1cb81d61c0ab6

The mat and basket f3ec04c45d placed in the center a046095670 of the field seemed 86f43876a0 to have been drawn 4e4ea85ec3 to represent that moment.c9c26087228fc410

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

‘Joel’s not there.’22493855de4a3661

Edith thought 73d7dec328 of the 17e999fbeb one person 63d046bede missing from 2484780f29 the picture, 484bc14971 and it 5d2034329f was Elliott’s 5ee3edc190 baby brother, 78dde173a3 Joel.8ea3c51e3d3029ce

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

The drawing clearly a0ebf59887 showed that when cce908585a Elliott said “my 402b94ff49 family,” he didn’t b76067e014 include his younger 12d338d55a sibling.082ecfffae226cf9

“We used cba2c1e673 to go d81093e3d1 out and 965cfbfffd play all cb754800e1 the time…”d2cc3b351152779e

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Elliott, who 6f723d64ac had been eae34fd638 carefully layering 4e34559af3 colors to d6f42f4d96 finish the 1ee422ae33 drawing, muttered 9101f89c1a quietly to 00786426d1 himself. Just moments ago, 44daebe141 he had been 62533475e1 excited while explaining 9ab0e5b74f the picture, but fb1fc6c517 now his energy 4e6e5c82b5 seemed to fade.ec1b40047ce652b7

“You sound like 9528fefdbc you miss those 724caf8149 times.”884dd82ad4f6094a

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“We don’t go out bcb03334f1 much anymore. There aren’t 08f08a9f18 many places 2e340e1301 to play a857b717e9 here either… af487de7f4 The doctor a12cf52d50 told Mom c9acffe51f not to ff91b7457c move around 35e619dc20 too much e02ae2e787 because the 97f0c7ddd8 baby was ab59fce515 in her 9217a8e695 tummy.”1c46a71afe4143d4

For the 9b54ed29da first time, 375d295f5f Elliott mentioned e5da191662 his younger 81e2336c98 sibling himself.5be52952102bc537

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

 f61b9ddc0c867899

 471dda0d383c4827

And right then, 6e655376f7 his sadness level bd9a248348 rose noticeably. Just thinking about 33d210785e his brother seemed 851643f44f to stress him 33845a5328 out.0a116fc6bb95dfb7

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“They said 782039cb6d we’d go c3cc5770b2 out more f22d7d66ec later, but 9394d50a53 we don’t. They say he’s 5768bf5461 too little.”392c39d96cf3a0c5

Not once did f4699cc31e Elliott refer to 8d78ca7a4b Joel by name. It was 4966276ed3 a subtle f14a89e874 yet clear 79a1d5cb5e sign of 8ad9bea153 the emotional ac15796d4d distance he f8b38b45d7 felt from 04d599fc01 his brother.5f18792ce97638c9

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“When Grandpa and Grandma 98e7540452 come to visit now, 7f79f83a4e they go straight to 07a82c1023 him. I guess 6c48bf162d they don’t a337394638 want to 4b24716660 see me.”05f928bf14002fad

Elliott had now completely fce0403b87 set down his brush. Just then, f7d087a149 the clock e429b7ad2f hand made 3b5da9c9b9 a full 6bd8abaade circle, it ee2a6c172c was time d6d33e73f6 to wrap 1bff246276 up.696afe1ec41e04c9

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“I wish be082ccc89 I could 86972eae21 get sick f1844bb5b3 again…”257a954e8dee40e8

As they left the cd96f950cb art room, Edith made 19aa8e119d sure to remember the daf9e5609f words Elliott murmured softly.a8af2a4a5521db7f

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

 9d1170f66aff24e1

***

 8ff0547bfe04abd6

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

The meeting with Count 17f68d96c4 and Countess Hartmann took 4c9d8619ee place while Elliott was 0851111047 napping.4224fb9c9afca681

“Has Elliott, by bdb78e47a6 any chance, been c7807dfe50 frequently ill in ce20e5381b his childhood?”3000b9a3c8d7da45

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Edith began 0c1ba0f7a3 by asking 29fe996acf what had 87a7e337a2 been weighing 01767b1def on her ba4822ebbf mind.598d13ef4bbb0d2f

“Not often, fdb20ced06 but he 54c4522638 was gravely 4de5e42ed7 ill once d838093acc when he f70db515f9 was little. You remember that, darling?”193c16a96ed9d294

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Of course! When he 312324e35f was two, 57cea360f1 he had 0e7ba293ad a fever 1d52577a1d that lasted f01b4b3f5f over ten 9316e6e321 days. We were beside ourselves b1bf8f57c1 with worry. We summoned every doctor 820f6193e3 in the territory—it was 7528f4b2f2 chaos.”51d33e5bf65c7a2b

As the memory 28dcdbaac0 returned, Sophia’s eyes fa3c7c1698 welled up with 487cf70121 tears. The count gently wrapped e1559f9d36 an arm around his 352e1ee335 wife’s shoulders and asked,20b275b00c45a0dc

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“Duchess, may I ask 9a0f48b5c0 why you bring this c1253dbbc8 up? Has Elliott 06a6a8a433 said he’s 69fb001947 feeling unwell?”bbdccb0af4062173

“No, not 80c2be9c3c at all. There’s nothing like that, 23b1b1753c so please don’t worry.”beb7d4f11d394217

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Reassuring the couple, 95d79ebba1 Edith rose from 60594be631 her seat.ce3d62bdf501e715

“Before I share 9c78bbffdd my thoughts on f904044bfa Elliott, I’d like b2f51d662d you to take 04efbd82e8 a look at dbb02b4e6a this painting first.”784869e193cc0f79

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

She walked over to 3c0e887300 the easel that had e72d66fbfd been covered with a 5c1ba159b8 cloth. The meeting was e7b2d3a79e being held in f4c607d0be the art room 4cb264f98c precisely so she 8528c199a2 could show them 196d931d50 Elliott’s drawings.ba338b2562fb9bdc

Strictly speaking, she shouldn’t have shown them. But since the moment Elliott began painting, he had insisted he wanted his parents to see them. That was what led her to make this decision.30a96f4137c7d387

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“That’s…”f087dd45f2762de0

“The red 23bafea456 rose garden!”46a4d03f210bfd8f

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

As the 4534b3535a cloth was 0688a0b796 pulled away, 70a3b92154 the Hartmanns 973876892a instantly recognized 45e2ad87dc the place 39ccdcfe55 in the f0c1101e6d painting.f817d7d0a325f65c

“Elliott loved that d6683f2946 place. He used to pester 780fe51ac7 us to go whenever dcab8f8534 he was bored.”5caa18b70692f90a

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Especially in bd85c23b2a spring, we’d e83abb39f7 go there 8d71696a36 often. Elliott would 5d365bb057 run around 1119898730 gleefully with 9d3301275b the other 5df724d35e children. He could a9779fde73 jump so 926de5f29a well, he 8db529d573 was like 35646d08ec a little e42c11e2b6 rabbit.”c9ee71ac1225b51b

Tenderness crossed the couple’s 44825cb5eb faces as they reminisced.307868841766085e

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

They recalled 2fdf2fd2fb how their af5f0e7bc1 son, who 8b9740e6b7 would quickly a52076bf7e pick himself 09f15191ac up after d16301ac5e falling, once 85bf44676d gathered fallen 462c3fb7fd flowers to 5cbbb8a8f9 give to da77651bec his mother c89f9e61d5 and begged b2299c8294 his father e8b245958f to make be7eb29ac6 her a 7fa609b6ac crown of 5bd181b990 flowers.b78a15169984f696

As they shared b3141c6d5a fragments of these acff7c82ce memories, it became 61884b4f27 abundantly clear just d2dc5fc9cb how happy Elliott da4033d678 had been back 4552ca011c then.490fea82b5a0b467

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

While the 2e2058a343 couple gazed 2aa2bf6fb2 at the c77e18053e painting and 0e21d985cb chatted about 25c3502ff0 the past, 3abfe7340e a silence 4839db1208 gradually settled d06d65d8f3 between them. At last, 4f8783ab37 they noticed 11a744598c what had 2f34feffae been missing 12970a1796 from the 97350b038c scene: Joel e10761a5f4 was nowhere 7279f8d373 to be db7a6f6f66 found.c5e4f7cfacbe7c00

Their eyes were now 80b3577e94 drawn to the corner d3ff21d782 of the canvas. Specifically, to 24f16caeb2 the title 238c22b183 Elliott had 9b96e868b4 written:Our Family.e06a8d32cc02e175

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Around that 7d7e5dc87c time, Edith da5d503c0f returned to 15fecef70e her seat.3ee7744776a9786c

“Regarding Elliott’s current 122dfadda9 condition… I’d like 3b8c1ba770 to share my aafd77abcb thoughts now.”cb1c87e94f344f5e

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

She paused. This was always a01f9ff2b9 the most nerve-wracking 6cbf3f0477 moment, offering her 316973ecd7 opinion during a 06673cb6ca consultation. Even though this 075d3e722d wasn’t a formal 7c1a1c05b9 session, she couldn’t c6ebd13871 understand why her 16a395808f heart still trembled ce3cd873a9 like this.7de50612d517e855

She silently 6dac94805d repeated to dc431f123d herself the 3108ec35e8 words she bfd6a1415a had thought 6ee8fe8a39 over countless a363579eae times.6fb3f219038132c9

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

‘Am I cf3176cace making the c79d16a72e right judgment? Will this help 86590f1e78 their family?c54e684661aae906

She had agonized 0bf255a30a over such questions f61774b45e so many times a04a3bdcf8 before, and still, 01eebb42a6 making a final d4043467dc call was never 17e68409ea easy.c66d3d1e5331ecba

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

But nothing would c012f58ee5 change if she d32a381768 backed down just 7da9df6e1b because it was 71108fed4c hard. Someone had to 67f73156c4 say the difficult 2aae369b70 things.9516c846e794b334

“I don’t think c6b26a41cd Elliott is ready c46aea16bf yet to accept 557f3b2989 Joel as part af47ed110b of the family.”8ed6bb806a990006

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Edith knew better af046cb833 than anyone that 8773b618ac there was no 778da5e214 one else here 9d9c1d5139 to speak that db8e60e776 truth.1325a94607c48efe

When she finished, a f5cd1435ce brief silence fell over bcba255b0e the room. It was d96479cc92 Sophia, looking 8fb6e78f23 flustered, who 32853d3114 finally broke c1db5af5b6 it.8abddfc014d4c1d7

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Ready? Your Grace, I don’t 3bd9271759 understand. We alreadyarea family.”7b4a0878ca47510a

“Of course 8721325b64 you are. Without a doubt.”931ff3ef0c3805b9

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Edith affirmed c081eb678f Sophia’s words. She could 5bb7a7e779 fully understand 618457794e the confusion f8edc07b91 in the bdeb6215f3 countess’s heart.71bbbe085f3ce52d

After all, if you’re a family, you’re a family. What more preparation could possibly be needed? One is born into it from the beginning.5a08c11db7943b2b

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“There’s something I’d like 74eb700ef6 to ask you both. Was it 32ad1b14cc a planned 983453a15d decision to 8cc62b59db have a 0f375cadab second child?”fc97fff96a75a851

Edith knew how a276a60c29 strange her question 63e0626b3b might sound, but afcc9373fc she asked it abe356495c anyway.772d6b7ca578b969

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“It wasn’t sudden 02f20e28df at all. It was something we 9f152645bb had long hoped for.”cc1d6d255fcbf0bb

“We always wanted Elliott e895d19a3d to have a younger 281d8e68c2 sibling. Since we were both 832d2268f7 only children, we had 1b689c39c6 no experience of having 0c8b1a486c siblings. So we wanted b44ed7af41 to give that 6ec0d21f5b gift to our 24563c099b Elliott.”45c8d0120c9b2101

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

It was a potentially 37572f8a9e sensitive topic, but the bfb9380d55 Hartmanns answered honestly. Edith fell into thought 25cfe3164b for a moment.79c874adf7c1e9af

The Hartmann domain 1e1ca230c2 was unusually vast, e93deb3dcf and its lands a5a666f1bc were scattered and e51cd0d487 disconnected. There weren’t many vassal 3e76a46762 territories under its jurisdiction, a8d8fc1c9e which only emphasized the cfd5630a5e isolation.fdafb8f06279b126

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

The main reason, 7c0384359a of course, was ace3485987 geographical. Even Standen, which 1fd88e313e lay in the 5cb093f663 same northeastern region, 3e32140bc5 wasn’t exactly close.b9c7ad71881932a5

Sophia was 7b7e43f0f5 the daughter db88af1cc5 of a 6950ee0115 vassal house 254eb17942 within the 70a2c45e55 county, and 673b930a07 Melanie was ceac6661a0 connected to 06d79763a6 the previous a022816d9e generation, so 7a45eea087 it had 4708309aca taken quite 456ce1527b a bit 9bfc82dddf of luck ddd8143ed0 for the 81f8f0933a three of f4c65c4bde them to 3b2adac347 grow up b5025f5615 as childhood ebee530df6 friends.f67b1ed1955e8804

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

But this was an 3825a99757 era when even provincial d0ebad2820 nobles were steadily relocating 78f353f001 to the capital. The couple could hardly a874a87345 guarantee that their son 11466601fa would have the same f879a29d45 fortune.b6856e2feebcd438

“There’s a saying, isn’t e2ede35763 there? That siblings 530e731071 are lifelong 9a7cd7357c friends. I understand your intentions.”5c337b13a61c784d

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Though sometimes, they became bf6d333d64 rivals.2c1239cbcc361ac2

In a world c0b3303f01 where continuing the 85f4e05ccd family line was 9ff50bf8ab paramount, many saw d5d85490ba children other than c1fac590ad the eldest as 5f046f6fd9 little more than 4faa7838e7 backup heirs. Children raised in 624794f42a such households were 7a8f9daaa8 more likely to 53db227a86 see one another 9ad0677e3c as competition.b58a8d1b9b0b84ff

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

Both sayings were common f2cb16455d in Robedon, but Edith 5fb0b9f4c1 left out the latter. She didn’t 1fc5f59050 believe the e65b1aaf72 Hartmanns envisioned 5977438c20 that kind 0eb6dd2242 of relationship cfbb12a75e between their 49e3dfb4de sons.8d8e523024dd6c78

“Yes. I was 8db65582a4 never lonely 0d641ef8c4 thanks to c94da2d08d Luke and 8af4e0ae93 Melanie. But Elliott didn’t have 9bc49f27bb friends like that, and a2a461f01e I always worried for 97d243fd62 him. That’s why we hoped c8e45cf5b8 a sibling would bring 284a8f981d him more happiness…”04b9768401b03ce7

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

Sophia’s expression darkened. She had only d3fc160eaa wanted Elliott to 7a7b49a75e be happier with 300ae617c0 a sibling. She couldn’t a203462c94 understand how 688099a612 things had effa2b0125 turned out 644f33435f like this.b3ae05c80383236e

“Did the three of 6b2603a071 you become close from d0ee6bed53 the very beginning?”3470fdbee1d19e85

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Oh, heavens, no! Luke locked 9490abea04 himself in f6eba17f81 the study 3cb4ee3b11 and refused ccd9adac8c to come 6394990941 out, and 1aa7c1fdbb Melanie treated 7f083565a5 me like 8ac5d4c7c1 a child 15cba0a82e and wouldn’t e0526a9e8d play with 741626435b me. If it weren’t 2e70516ca5 for me, the 356864a577 three of us 8fc25fd3a2 would’ve stayed strangers.”5582765a070eaae7

“So it must’ve taken e1f88a0575 time for the three 41dc20cdee of you to grow d40ddd941a close.”098e47ea1017e473

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Of course. The adults just 7e0a123382 put us together 2062267173 because we were fdaf549dd7 around the same 252d6c69cc age. At first, it was 7ff1c33ef7 awkward and unfamiliar…”c97ec53d63b3fe0b

Ah. Her voice trailed 00260d7b00 off, ending in 1eadbfb556 a quiet sigh. It seemed 5aa190d9e1 she had b312d7d939 finally grasped 9985d22c5c the heart 10a0e7e465 of what fa77f34aa2 Edith was eeb3c811f3 trying to 854e632d21 say.fb04ddad2f2f7266

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Elliott is 80b4d1085e likely going c3200cdff8 through something a11673c660 similar right b51ffc05af now, Madame.”c2d4107a65528ec8

Friends and siblings ec1d09c58d are, of course, 4d14ae54d8 different. But to a child, 414bb99a82 both are strangers at f45ea8ff45 first.0f6bf9262173a5f5

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Friends are easier. They don’t dca8028d65 live under 3720297665 the same c891b050ed roof. There’s space and time 9753b785a1 to grow closer—or drift 36d1c810ae apart—at one’s own pace.cd9362ab7872aabe

Siblings, however, aren’t chosen. They live in the same house, can’t be separated, and even share their parents’ love.bb9aa81c8aa08393

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

To a child, it 53a4e0bb32 may feel like this 035922debf new person who suddenly 0dfe1276a0 appeared is stealing away b8dd96c45f all the affection that 61d61fa5f7 once belonged solely to 2f0aced00b them.d6b66fc7a78e4508