"Big brother, look at the sky! Isn't it beautiful?!" I exclaimed, my voice bubbling with innocent excitement.
My fingers curled around his wrist as I tugged him onto the balcony outside my room. The night air was cool, crisp, and carried with it the faint scent of moonflowers from the garden below. Above us, stars shimmered like scattered diamonds on velvet, untouched by the time of worry.
I pointed upward, eyes wide with wonder. "Hehe… even after all these years, the sky stays the same, doesn't it?"
He did not speak at first, but I caught the soft twitch at the corner of his lips, a fragile mile, there and gone like a falling star. I beamed at the sight. That smile, even when small, always made my chest feel warm.
Then, I heard it.
"Lyunette?" His voice broke the silence gently, quietly, and carefully.
"Mmm?" I hummed, still staring upward, letting the night swallow my thoughts.
There was a pause. A long one.
"Can you… tell father how the maids treat me badly?"
