Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Monster was in anguish.

He waved at her to follow him.

The two walked down the dark corridor. After a while, they arrived in front of the locked room. He said something while picking the door with a key.

“First of all, this isn’t a room for sacrifice.”

It’s not?

Leticia stood nervous at the door.

Then what is it?

She was surprised when she looked inside.

The room was full of silver luster.

The moon illuminates the room from the wide window.

The northern moon was exceptionally bright. There was a soft, bright light that shone through the whole room.

The inside was cluttered, but she could still recognize it.

The walls on all sides were now being repainted.

Something has been sketched on the ceiling. Perhaps it was trying to portray the forest and animals.

What about the altar?

It was next to a bed with a pink insignia.

It certainly looked like an altar earlier, but now that she saw it closely, it wasn’t.

It was a big desk with a small backrest chair that was in full swing and had the same height as the desk.

That was it.

It was ridiculously far from the cruel scenery she imagined in horror.

Leticia looked around the vicinity with puzzled eyes.

“Then what the hell is this room…?”

“It’s your room.”

“Eh?”

“I asked Mrs. Alexa to make it quickly. You’re our guest at the castle, you are also the first guest they met. Even if you stay for only a day, we have to treat you properly.”

The Monster Lord said bluntly.

‘It was my room?’

I never imagined.

Leticia walked into the room altogether.

The window was lined with wooden dolls. Thanks to them, the scenery of the wilderness in the darkness beyond seemed a little more cordial.

There were small, round footboards scattered around the room. They thought that Leticia, who is still small, would need them for reaching things.

It was all that way.

They even considered the little things Leticia might have trouble in.

They decorated the room with all of their heart, even though she was a coward child who was never going to run away.

‘You don’t know anything, and you’ve got a ridiculous misunderstanding!’

She scratched her cheek awkwardly.

There is no such instance. She had to apologize immediately to the owner of the castle.

But he looked very rigid. When their eyes met, he spoke in a stiff tone.

“Of course I know it’s too shabby. It’s like a maid room for a Countess’ lady like you—.”

“What?”

Leticia was surprised.

Only then she understood.

From the moment he brought up the room, he became very blunt. It was because he expected that Leticia would be very disappointed to see this room.

That’s why the maids were flustered when Leticia pried.

A shabby room for a Count’s daughter that is from the capital.

Everyone assumed so. They never dreamed what kind of cold treatment that Leticia received in the attic that is half of a room.

“We’re not neglecting our guests, but this is the best we can afford.”

He said so and threw his head down.

Leticia was speechless.

He was looking at her as a finely grown noble. He thought she was a noble daughter of a count.

‘I wish I had been like that.’

Leticia wanted to be such a precious child, too.

For a moment, she felt like she wanted to be misunderstood continuously.

Where no one knew who she was, she just wanted to look beloved and raised as a daughter like Naemi.

But—

Such vanity prevented her from her hurting others.

“Oh, no.”

Leticia quietly said something.

“Everything here is new.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never had a new one.”

She confessed with a quivering voice.

After she said that, she felt more insecure. A mixture of shame and embarrassment heated up her face.

‘I think I’m going to cry.’

She bit her lips hard, but it didn’t work. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“…?”

The Monster Lord stared in amazement, he seemed more embarrassed than any other.

A 12-year-old child suddenly cries and embarrasses her partner.

This was a really stupid situation. Leticia then hurriedly wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Then, she heard the door slamming somewhere outside.

Maybe someone came out of the room. It’s probably one of the old ladies.

“For now, we’d better get out.”

The Monster Lord hurriedly took the lead with his lamp.

After locking the door back, I walked in the dark and returned to the study room.

The air had become a little chilly. He put some firewood in the furnace and then looked at Leticia.

“Why haven’t you had a new one? Isn’t there a mansion in the capital besides the countryside? Then, is the aristocratic family framed up?”

“That’s right.”

“So your parents tend to be mean to their children?”

“It’s not that.”

Leticia replied.

It didn’t add up to what he heard. I wonder how strange it sounds to the Monster Lord.

Although he is fifteen, he has a sense of lordly hypocrisy.

‘I don’t understand, so you have to make me understand.’

He used such an attitude unconsciously and naturally.

Leticia knew she couldn’t fool him anymore.

“To be honest, I’m a foster daughter.”

She gave up and told him everything honestly.

“Count Grey now is my uncle, not my father. My uncle and aunt didn’t want to send my two cousins north. So he made me his foster daughter and sent me here instead.”

“How could it be?”

He was startled.

“Your parents allowed that?”

“My parents aren’t here. They passed away 10 years ago. Right here in the north. They visited this area for business and they accidentally came into the devil’s land.”

“What? That’s even worse. Then you wouldn’t want to be here anymore, would you?”

“That’s right.”

“But why did you obey your uncle? I don’t think he was ever nice to you. You didn’t take the child support money, did you?”

“I did, but my uncle thinks he has to pay back a huge sum of money to my family. My family invested all my family’s wealth in the mine, which was inherited from my grandfather. But when he died, he lost the certificate of ownership.”

“That’s nonsense! Did you let your uncle make such an absurd claim? Aren’t there any relatives who’d help you? Did no one help you until you ended up being sent here in the north?”

“There’s no one on my side.”

“Then you should have run away!”

“I tried too, but—.”

Leticia hesitated.

‘I ruined it because I didn’t want to marry you.’

It’s the relay of the story that is the problem. The threat of my uncle and aunt is also a problem. Even in her young heart, she was ashamed of her family.

But I couldn’t leave that part out.

This Monster Lord was quite sharp. His ability to discern reason is as good as most adults. She couldn’t deny it.

“It’s embarrassing, but my uncle and aunt threatened me. If I don’t do my part properly, I’m going to lay a hatchet on the graveyard where my deceased parents rest.”

“……”

He remained silent for a long time.

Leticia just stood still.

It was rather pleasant to talk about all the embarrassing stories.

Her tears were cool a while ago. Now she thought she could accept any fate that might come.

“It was really bad of me to deceive you with my identity. You have no choice but to be sent back to my uncle’s house, right?”

“I was going to.”

He said.

“As I told you before, by the time the count’s daughter arrives, I was going to take the form and send her home after a fake marriage and divorce. But I changed my mind.”

His voice was filled with anger that he couldn’t contain it.

“Your uncle and aunt don’t deserve to raise you. They’re not human beings. They are demons in human form. We, Halstead, don’t hand over any humans to the devils. It’s been like that for a hundred years now.”

He declared proudly.

“You asked me for protection. So you can stay in my castle as much as you want. I guarantee it under the name of the Lord. Now that I’ve said this, no one would dare defy me. Not Even your uncle and aunt, they can’t touch you in front of me.”

There was no difficult word or formal expression in his declaration. But there was dignity and grace in his words.

There was also confidence and arrogance. She couldn’t believe that a 15-years-old boy would be able to say that. Anyone won’t have a choice but to obey.

Leticia was able to breathe out in relief.

Ever since I heard threats from my uncle and aunt, I have always felt pressure in the corner of my mind. It was like there was a terrible nightmare that gnawed and tormented like a snake in the back of my mind.

But it was driven out far, far away, without a trace.

‘Now I’m alive.’

I was shaking and suddenly I felt like I was given a big and warm blanket.

Leticia pondered out of relief for several times.

But that wasn’t the end yet.

“Come here.”

He called Leticia to his desk.

She approached him without a thought and found a very cute book on top of books.

It was a picture book full of rabbits living in the rabbit village. made her neck stuck out.

He was glad to see Leticia likes books.

“Wow, that’s really cute! Whose book is it?”

She shouted casually and then hesitated.

That’s the sight she saw as soon as she entered the study room, which was neglected in her head like a lantern.

The Monster Lord was reading a book. Then when Leticia came in, he put the book down on his desk.

So that was the book…?

It is too late to deny it.

There was already an awkward atmosphere between the two.

The Monster Lord spoke solemnly.

“It’s a research book.”

“Ah, yeah…”

I see.