Fortunate to Have You This Lifetime

Alexander Summers laughed, “I’m indeed not good at dressing.”

What he implied was that he was good at undressing.

Purple had become numb to his shamelessness. She undid the buttons and re-fastened them properly, saying, “Alright, now get going. Tomorrow is such an important day. Having bags under your eyes will look terrible, and I need to sleep too…”

Alexander had finally squeezed out some time to come back, so how could he be willing to leave? He picked up Purple and laid down on the bed, holding her intimately in his arms.

“There will be many guests tomorrow, and you will be with Sarah,” Alexander chatted with her about the next day’s family feast. “If someone tries to hit on you, ignore them. You’re also not allowed to drink and chat with strange men. I will arrange for someone to protect you…”

Purple sarcastically said to him, “You’re about to get engaged to someone else, and you’re still worried about me. Aren’t you tired?”

Alexander pinched her nose, not allowing her to speak angrily.

Purple glared at him, puffed up with anger.

Alexander then laughed, leaned down, and kissed her on the forehead, saying, “I’m not tired. I wish I could die on you, the exhaustion would be worth it.”

“You’re disgusting!” Purple raised her hand to hit him. Her soft punch landed on his chest, neither painful nor itchy.

Alexander grabbed her hand, and seriously discussed with her, “Once Sarah is pregnant, Lily Howard and Sarah will return to France. Let’s go too. There, as long as you are at least fifteen years old, you can get married. We could register abroad first and then, whenever you turn eighteen, we could have another ceremony at home…”

He really couldn’t wait any longer.

Purple leaned into his embrace, her eyes twirling, and then she broke into a bright smile, “I don’t want to! I’m still a child!”

Alexander rolled over on top of her, gritting his teeth as he threatened, “But I’m not.”

“Well, I don’t care.” Purple said with a smile, pursing her lips. “Anyway, I won’t go. If you can’t wait, you can find someone else to marry.”

“You little rascal.” Alexander retaliated by sealing her lips with his, their bodies pressed tightly together, as if wishing to meld into one.

The two fooled around for a while and both grew a bit tired.

Purple, leaning on him, dozed off in a daze.

Alexander held her for a while but woke up in the middle of the night and gently let her go.

In her sleep, Purple stretched out her hand and fumbled in the air, catching nothing. With her eyes closed, her lips puckered, as if she felt a bit aggrieved.

Alexander then stuffed a pillow into her arms. Purple felt something solid in her embrace, settled down, and lay still.

In Alexander’s chest, there was a warm current trickling out. He felt that might just be happiness.

“You love me, right?” He gazed at Purple’s quiet and innocent sleeping face, feeling utterly content.

Finally, he kissed her cheek gently before turning to leave, heading back to the manor.

…

The next day, when Purple woke up, she found that Alexander was not there.

The place next to her was cold, which meant he had left in the middle of the night.

She sat up, and noticing that she was holding a pillow, Purple was completely confused, having no memory of what she had done the night before.

After getting up and washing up, she went downstairs for breakfast.

Atra Blanc asked her confusedly, “Purple, did your brother come back last night?”

Purple lowered her head and sipped her porridge, “…I don’t know.”

Atra Blanc became even more puzzled, “I heard voices in your room last night and thought your brother had come back. I made an extra portion of breakfast this morning just for him, but there was no one in his room…”

Feeling guilty, Purple explained, “You must have heard wrong. I was video chatting with a classmate last night.”

“Oh, is that so…” Atra Blanc nodded thoughtfully.

Then Purple felt she couldn’t eat anymore.

Rushing through a few bites, she went upstairs back to her room. Looking at the beautiful dress hanging on the coat rack, Purple’s mood unaccountably sank a few degrees, as if plunging to the bottom of a lake—cold, suffocating.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle was not the so-called engagement reception.

…But rather the actual social status of being siblings that weighed heavily above them.