"It seems that Osen doesn't dislike Liter." Lucius was relieved to see the close relationship between the two brothers. "Osen is such a good child."

"Mhm." Mary nodded. Although she was the current Duchess Diana after the death of the former Duchess, Lucius's second wife, neither Osen nor Liter were her children. But if she had to choose between the two, she would undoubtedly choose Osen.

"With Osen, the Stranick family is already blessed." Mary smiled. "As for Liter, let's take care of him and get rid of his rustic manners."

"Mhm." Lucius nodded, then turned his gaze to the nobles behind him. "Thank you all for your hard work. Take a rest in the hall."

"It's a great joy for Young Master Liter to return. It's no problem for me to stand outside for a while." Several nobles waved their hands and smiled.

...

On the other side, Liter, who was being held like a princess, buried his face in Osen's arms.

His delicate nose sniffed the scent on Osen's body softly.

The fragrance was pleasant, and he couldn't help but sniff it a bit more.

But then, he seemed to realize that it was impolite to do so and covered his face with his hands.

What was he doing, acting like this towards his older brother right after entering the house? It was too rude!

At this moment, Osen was focused on what was in front of him and didn't notice Liter's little action in his arms.

To be honest, his little brother was really light.

Sigh, living in the countryside for so long really made the child skinny.

No wonder he was bullied in the original book.

From his temperament to his physique, nothing about him resembled a nobleman, but he received the treatment of a nobleman. How could others not be jealous?

Suddenly, he seemed to hear Liter whisper a few words in his arms and quickly lowered his head to look at him.

"What's wrong, Liter? Are you feeling unwell?" Seeing the slightly flushed cheeks of Liter, Osen thought he might be sick.

"No, nothing..." Liter weakly replied, then asked, "Uh... Brother Osen, if you hold me, your clothes will get dirty, and I don't smell good either..."

Osen looked at Liter in surprise, then smiled and rubbed his head.

"If the clothes get dirty, we can change them, and besides, Liter is not dirty at all."

It had to be said that Liter's current appearance easily stimulated people's protective instincts. Osen couldn't understand how the Osen in the original book could bring himself to harm such a cute younger brother.

Then, he carried Liter into his own room.

"Your room is still being tidied up. This is good. You can change into a new set of clothes first in my room." Saying this, Osen placed Liter on his bed and began searching through his closet for clothes from three years ago.

Osen's height wasn't particularly tall, around 1.8 meters, but Liter's height of 1.6 meters was noticeably short.

Once Liter entered the room, he was stunned by the furnishings inside.

Everywhere were decorations he had never seen before in the countryside.

Especially the bed, when his body touched it for the first time, he could hardly believe it was a place to sleep.

It was too soft!

And it seemed that the entire room reflected Osen's taste. Since entering, Liter had been able to smell a faint and elegant fragrance, like some kind of flower, but he didn't know what it was.

A few minutes later, Osen pulled out a set of clothes from the closet that he had worn three years ago. After comparing them with Liter, he decided to use that set.

"Alright, the clothes are chosen. Now let's take a bath."

"Huh? Bath... take a bath?" Liter's expression immediately became panic-stricken upon hearing this.

"Mhm, after all, your hair is a bit messy." Osen pointed towards the partition in the room. "Let's use my bathroom. I'll teach you how to use the stuff inside."

Saying this, Osen took Liter, who was spinning his eyes, into the bathroom."Liter, take a look. This is a magically activated showerhead, powered by magic stones. Even if you don't know magic, you can still use it. Just press the button and hot water will come out."

"Then, this knob is for adjusting the temperature. Come on, give it a try." Osen said as he held Liter's hand and pressed the button.

Soon, water sprayed out of the showerhead on the wall, cold water soaking Liter's hair and getting it wet.

Of course, Osen, standing behind Liter, was not spared either. At this moment, his dress shirt also got wet.

Osen turned off the button.

"How is it? Interesting, isn't it?"

Liter turned around and saw Osen's wet clothes. He apologized in a panic, "I'm... I'm sorry, Osen, I didn't mean to, I..."

"It's okay." Osen shook his head. "I asked you to try it, didn't I?"

Saying that, Osen used magic. In an instant, steam evaporated from the clothes, and the wet dress became dry again.

"What!? Liter looked at everything in astonishment, unable to understand for a long time.

"This is magic. One day, Liter will be able to learn it too."

Saying that, Osen walked to the door.

"I don't need to teach you the rest, do I?"

"Yeah." Liter nodded. "Thank you, Osen..."

"No problem. We are family now, no need to be polite." Osen said, opening the bathroom door and walking out.

This should leave a good impression on the protagonist, Osen thought to himself.

...

On the other side, Liter was sitting in the bathtub, burying his face in the water.

His face was red, as if steamed by the water vapor, but only he knew what was really going on.

On the day when he was contacted by Albert, his foster parents were also very happy.

The child was going to be taken to the city to live a good life, and they would also receive a substantial amount of wealth. It could be said to be a win-win situation.

But then came the sadness.

After all, Liter had been their child for eighteen years. Suddenly, he was going to be taken to the city, and it was impossible for there not to be any reluctance.

Liter still remembered the day of departure, when his foster mother took out the clothes she had made herself and handed them to Liter.

But even so, in the eyes of those noble families, these clothes were still lowly and they asked her to change.

She wanted to wear this dress to meet her birth father and mother, at least.

After all, if she really entered the family, she probably wouldn't be able to wear the clothes made by her foster mother anymore.

Sure enough, when Liter saw the look of joy turn into a hint of disappointment in Lucius and Mary's eyes, she knew she had messed up.

Should she have listened to Uncle Albert's words and worn a more appropriate outfit to please her parents?

Thinking like this, Liter looked at the basket of clothes next to her.

On one side were her own clothes, and on the other side was the outfit Osen had picked out.

Liter vaguely remembered the response of her foster parents when Albert came to their house.

"Is your child your own biological child?"

"No... we picked him up. He was born with a jade bracelet, and we thought he was unwanted by some noble family..."

"Well, indeed, but he isn't unwanted, he was actually lost by the Duke."

"Is that so..."

"We are willing to give you a thousand gold coins. You can buy a house in the city, open a shop, as long as you are willing to return the child to the Duke."

"... We are willing." The foster father considered for a long time before saying.

"By the way, the child's name is Liter, right? He's truly a good boy."

"No, actually she is..." The foster father was about to speak, but was interrupted by the foster mother.

"Sir, you really have a discerning eye."

On the night of running away, the foster mother called Liter into a room alone.Afterwards, she took out a white cloth and passed it through Liter's chest and under his armpit, wrapping his chest up.

"Liter, when you get to the city, make sure to tell them you're a boy so they won't bully you," the adoptive mother said with great seriousness.

In the countryside, the tradition is to favor boys over girls, so they assumed it would be the same in the city.

In order to prevent their daughter from being bullied in the noble family, they resorted to this plan.

...

Liter got up from the bathtub and walked towards the laundry basket, picking up the white strip of cloth and wrapping it layer by layer around his chest.

Fortunately, his current size was still small, but what would he do if he couldn't conceal it in a few years?

Just thinking about the gentle look Osen gave him from outside the door, Liter's heart couldn't help but kept bouncing.