"Alright then, where do you expect me to host it? Every stall in Market Town is taken. Do you expect me to stand by the fountain?"
"Trust me, you can make some sacrifices."
"Any other options?"
"In front of the palace?"
"I think I'll stick with the fountain. At least I won't embarrass myself there." Ressa closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment.
A knock echoed at the door, and Jane, Ressa's maid, called from the hallway, " Lady Ressa, this afternoon Young Master Theodore and Young Master Gabriel return from the academy. Madame asked me to inform you."
"Alright, thank you, Jane."
Ressa paused, "Theodore and Gabriel?"
"Your second and younger brother, they delayed coming home because of exams."
"System, do you think they'll think that my illness is not recovered but exacerbated when they come back and find out that I've run off to start a talk show next to the fountain." The corner of Ressa's mouth twitched slightly; just the thought of her having to stand next to the fountain to attract viewers with her identity as Miss Earl, Ressa simply hated to go straight back to her original world.
"It won't happen; when the time comes, you do some covering, as long as you don't say anything, knows you're the Earl's lady; no one will know for sure; I guarantee it on my reputation!"
Ressa's intuition was always inaccurate, but for some reason, she had a gut feeling at the moment telling her that the system was punking her.
In the evening, a carriage slowly approached in front of Ressa's eyes, two figures stepped down; one in a silver-white uniform, handsome and cold, and the other had a warm smile and a mischievous look in his eyes when they saw Ressa, a smile immediately appeared on the other's cold face, like the warmth that appeared after the sun melted the icebergs, Ressa was shaken by the two smiles and almost couldn't come back to her senses.
"Ressa-!" "Sister!"
The system whispered in her ear, "Ressa, don't go drooling, they're calling you."
Ressa wiped her lips, "You lied to me!"
Suddenly, Theodore and Gabriel both heard Ressa talking to another person, they exchanged a puzzled look, but it was only Ressa and thought nothing of it as they thought they had misheard.
" Brother, Gabriel, welcome home; I'm Ressa," she wanted to get reacquainted with her family on behalf of the person she was before and the person she is now after she realized that she was also here.
"Though he still wore that frosty exterior, cracks spread through his composure. Tears streamed down his face as he crushed her in an embrace. "You're finally back... We've waited so long."
Ressa returned the hug, warmth blooming in her chest. "I'm home."
Gabriel feeling left out, "What about me? Sister, I'm here!" Ressa saw it and gave him a hug as well, "How could I have overlooked you, honey."
"Ha ha."
Ressa held Theodore in her left hand and Gabriel in her right hand; both handsome boys were beside her, and it is her second brother and younger brother, her whole being were happy, "Let's go; the mother is waiting for us inside."
Arriving in the living room, the Countess watched as Ressa came in holding her brother and sister and felt that the image that had only appeared in her mind for years had finally come true.
"Mother."
"Welcome back, you didn't run into anything on the way, did you?" The Countess looks at them with a smile and walks up to Ressa, and gently removes the leaf that fell on her sleeve, "There's your favourite crème brûlée for dessert after dinner."
Ressa's eyes light up at this and she takes the Countess's hand and says sweetly, "Mother is the best to me!"
The Countess was a little surprised, but then came the surprise: Ressa had rarely spent time with them since she recovered and had been more than a little distant, making them all a little lost, and now it seemed that she had adapted to her surroundings before letting her guard down against them.
"No, Mother, the journey was fine, just a bit noisy." Theodore replied with a smile.
Gabriel heard this and immediately retorted, "I'm just excited! I miss my sister, and don't think I didn't notice you asking at least five times how much longer until we got home!"
Theodore shot him a mock glare, Gabriel hid behind his mother and sister.
"Why don't you two go wash up? We'll meet you in the dining room." Ignoring Gabriel's pleas for help, the Countess dragged Ressa to the dining room to see what was for dinner today.
By the time Theodore and Gabriel reach the dining room, the Countess and Ressa are already seated at the table.
Gabriel looked at the two missing places on the table and asked curiously, "Where are father and big brother?"
"Your father is at the palace on official duty, your big brother has a mission in Devon, he'll return in about three days, come sit down and eat."
"System, what does father do at the palace?"
"Your father is serving as Lord Chamberlain at the palace, responsible for the daily operations of the entire royal family, court ceremonies, noble arrangements, and so on."
'Clang', a maid dropped a bowl with a loud clatter, eyes wide at the revelation.
"Miss, you ..."
"Alright, go down." Looking at the scene and the surprised and speechless maid, the Countess directly let her go down.
At the same time, everyone at the table looked at Ressa and noticed everyone's gaze, "What's wrong?" Ressa and system were curious.
"Ressa, you just xxxxxxx!"
"What?" Ressa frowned at Gabriel .
"I heard xxxxx!"
"What did you hear? Too tired to hallucinate?" Ressa looked at Gabriel worriedly, "System, is my brother too tired and hallucinating?" "No, I'm showing that he's not sick, he's probably too hungry."
Hearing the system Ressa looks at her brother, "Eat up, it's all worn you out."
Gabriel looks at his mother then at his second brother and notices a look of surprise on both their faces, then seeing the actions of the serving girl just now they both realise something,
'We can hear Ressa/sister's though!'
Theodore puts down the fork in his hand and wanting to prove his guess asks, "Ressa, we all just heard xxxxx." This was the moment everyone knew that while they could hear Ressa's thought butcan't repeat it.
"Theodore, are you hallucinated too ? Mother, do we need to call the healer? They must've gotten sick from pure exhaustion."
After hearing this, the Countess nodded her head and said "Good, I'll call the healer after dinner, and you need to come along too." Although she doesn't know why everyone can hear Ressa's heart, it's still a good idea to call the healer in to check and see if there could be any hidden problems.
"Why, Mother? I've recovered!" Ressa couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the healer with a very large needle when she first woke up and opened her eyes.
The Countess also knew what she was afraid of and laughed, "This time it's just a checkup, no needles, don't worry." After hearing these words, Ressa was relieved, her mother would never lie to her.