Note: This chapter consists of kkp episodes 2 to 20.
The Kendall Orphanage did not differ much from other orphanages which were on the outskirts of the capital.
It was a place where meals were provided in a poor living environment and were inadequate to help children grow properly. A place where a snake-like director led over a hundred children, keeping strict watch over them.
The only reason why this orphanage, which seemed to have been cut from the same mold, was special…
“Once again, you, as wizards, have a duty to defend this empire with all your body and mind in the future.”
The point was that this orphanage only took in children who would become wizards in the future.
“That is why Grand Duke Nacht comes to see orphans like you today. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
In the midst of a hundred children saying in chorus, a green-eyed child shed a bleak smile.
‘Oh right, it was a place like this.’
Just a few days ago, Sienna had come back to the past.
Having woken up on a hard, shabby bed in an orphanage for the first time in many years, she felt sorry for herself.
Although it was unpleasant to live her life twice, this time there was hope.
Fortunately, Sienna and Loreina were not biological sisters.
To put it bluntly, the two were just guardians supported by the same family.
(P/N: Guardians are wizards who guard the empire.)
Even after the Hangma War of the founding era, the world was still fighting their enemies.
The empire strove to defend the human land, drawing borders and calling the occupied areas of the beasts as ‘separates’.
The foreign powers tried to destroy the human capital at all costs.
It was an instantaneous quasi-war situation, and civil wars took place in various places, and sweeping operations were conducted periodically.
Those who could use magic in this situation were an important resource. For this reason, nobles and even commoners, could become guardians if they had excellent talent.
They didn’t care if they were orphans if they had really outstanding qualities.
Being sponsored meant complete incorporation into an aristocratic society. This was because, in the empire, it was common for aristocrats to marry their children to guardians.
‘To build a more powerful bloodline of wizards.’
Sienna and Loreina were the guardians of a particularly great family.
In the empire, there were three great guardians which were known for being above nobility and even above the royal family.
Euros Change.
Ferrato Changhae.
And the Grand Duke Nacht.
Change and Changhae respectively defended their airspace and waters, while Nacht defended their territories.
The ruler of the time, Grand Duke Nacht, was the head of the Army of Hades, which consisted only of wizards.
No matter how you looked at it, he was not in a position to support ordinary people and orphans.
Nevertheless, he offered to sponsor Sienna.
‘I haven’t done much for you.’
No, it would be more accurate to say that she was not capable of doing something because she was in the city.
“She’s the one sponsored by Lord Nacht, but isn’t she worse than a junior in the military academy?”
“It’s already ridiculous to be sponsored by Nacht when she’s only a commoner orphan.”
Being sponsored by Nacht meant being able to marry one of Nacht’s sons..
“That’s what I’m saying. It’s not even as likely as her having good etiquette.”
In any case, it was a completely different matter from what was and was not possible. And it drove people crazy.
“You, a mere orphan, received an opportunity that even my child and I weren’t able to get!”
People accused Sienna of being a shameless orphan who didn’t even appreciate her luck.
Especially since Loreina was next to Sienna.
Unlike Sienna, who was lacking in many ways, Loreina was the light of the historic Count of Minangsi, and was so gifted that she could be called a genius.
Therefore, people praised Loreina in order to criticize Sienna.
Now that she thought about it, if it weren’t for her as a shield, Loreina could have been exposed to threats and criticism.
No, Loreina was flawless. Wouldn’t she be okay without her…?
Sienna shrugged indifferently.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s going to be unrelated to me anyway.’
Fortunately, it was easy to avoid her at this point.
‘This time, I don’t need to be sponsored by the Nacht family.’
If you couldn’t win, avoid it.
Now that she was back in the past, one might thought she would have a bigger dream, but Sienna knew it well.
She stood no chance against Loreina. Even dreaming of revenge was beyond her reach.
‘I’d lose either way.’
While Sienna was lost in thought, the director’s speech continued.
“Thank you very much for your visit to the inspection today, Grand Duke Nacht, the head of the Army of Hades which consists of ten thousand wizards…”
Kendall’s director’s lengthy explanations left his son’s eyes dull. In the end, the director chose a more straightforward method.
“Wake up! If he frowns, orphans like you may die in an instant!”
“Hui…”
“Do not make a fuss, do not cry, do not do anything! There is no possibility that he will support you anyway. If you don’t want to die, shut up and stay quiet!”
Although it was scary, the director’s policy was not very different from Sienna’s thoughts.
‘Let’s not stand out.’
It was because of her distinct behavior that Sienna had become the so-called “Child of Nacht,” sponsored by the great ruler.
In the past, Sienna made a grave mistake when she tripped and fell in front of Grand Duke Nacht, who had been on an inspection trip to an orphanage.
Instead of punishing her, he offered to support Sienna.
At that time, she was only glad that she didn’t get scolded by the director.
She didn’t know what she would go through in the future.
‘Anyway… so this time, you just have to be invisible.’
Sienna calmed her heart that was about to beat out of her chest.
Orphans who are not sponsored usually enter military academies and serve as soldiers.
Sienna was this time thinking of going down the same path as other ordinary orphan wizards.
“Your Highness, you’re here!”
The heavy sound of footsteps ringing through the space.
‘Let’s calm down.’
If nothing else, Sienna was confident she would not make such a childish mistake like falling down because she lost her footing.
The only thing left was to wait for Lord Nacht to leave after his inspection.
With more than a hundred children holding their breath, the sound of footsteps grew closer.
‘It’s all right, it’s all right.’
Sooner or later, it will be over with a little patience.
As she held her breath anxiously, Sienna waited for the sound of Lord Nacht’s footsteps to pass her.
But….
“….”
Tck, the sound of footsteps stopped. They had stopped right in front of Sienna.
The duke, who was carefully strolling in front of the children, stopped right in front of her.
Bump, bump, bump.
Her heart, which had been trying to keep calm, began racing.
‘Oh my god….’
She didn’t think so. Maybe she was just imagining things…?
Fortunately, Grand Duke Nacht had only stopped in front of Sienna, but did not apathetically declare, “Let’s do this child,” as he had done in the past.
‘It’s just an coincidence,’
Sienna eagerly waited for him to move his feet once something caught his interest.
But the strange coincidence did not end there.
“Oh, my God, Your Grace…”
Something more unbelievable happened.
Grand Duke Nacht knelt on one knee in front of Sienna.
“…..”
The Grand Duke lowered himself as low as he could, but still failed to make eye contact with Sienna. He had such a large frame that small, skinny Sienna was a distinct contrast in comparison.
However, she felt something even though she didn’t look at his face.
‘Just standing close to him you can feel powerful magic…’
A chill that spreads the cold like a person who comes home through the misty dusk.
An overpowering sense of oppression.
All from Grand Duke Nacht.
‘But, Why…’
He’s in front of her… why?
Sienna was so surprised that shheeven forgot to breathe.
“…What’s your name?”
“…..”
She didn’t want to answer.
The child next to her, unable to see Sienna’s face, which had hardened, elbowed her hard.
“…Sienna greets your Majesty.”
Thanks to the director, the words he made us practice tumbled out despite my unwillingness.
At that moment, Grand Duke looked somewhat relieved.
However, Sienna did not see.
“Yes, Sienna.”
“……”
“By any chance….”
The Great Duke drew out his words hesitantly.
But soon after, he asked,
“Why don’t you come with me to Nacht?”
“…..”
This guy…
What did he just say?
She felt dizzy.
“Sienna?”
She could hardly hear the calls of the Great Duke over the sound of her pounding heart.
As if he felt that something was wrong, the Duke carefully tried to reach out to Sienna
“Ah..”
At that moment, Sienna unwittingly avoided the hand of the Great Duke.
“..euk!”
Then, she made a loud noise and fell back.
“Sienna! What are you doing!”
The director was shocked and sharply rebuked Sienna, but neither the Grand Duke nor Siena paid attention to the words.
Awkwardly, she couldn’t reach his hand which stopped in the air, and the Grand Duke was staring at Sienna, who had fallen to the ground.
‘…Aren’t you embarrassed…?’
It seemed so unrealistic.
‘No, it must be an illusion.’
Sienna clenched her trembling hands
Anyway, she had to answer. She stuttered with her dry mouth.
“I’m….”
Honestly, she hated this.
The castle of Grand Duke Nacht was Sienna’s grave. Sienna lived there like a ghost for nearly a decade, and was never loved by anyone. She was then betrayed by her older sister, who she thought loved her and took her own life.
‘The place where my miserable ending is scheduled.’
She never wanted to step into that castle again. No, not even just that, she wanted to leave this capital and go to a faraway place even if she would die in the process.
‘Even if I end up dying, that’s not bad either.’
‘I have to make those words sound polite and spit them out.’
Her mouth couldn’t move.
It was to be expected. Unlike Sienna’s mature spirit, her body was still eleven years old. Her terrified child’s body was almost in a panic.
As she sat on the floor where she had fallen in a cold sweat, stuttering her words, the Grand Duke attempted to reach out his hand once again.
First of all, he was thinking of raising a child…
“…Heuuk.”
“Sienna!”
“N-n…”
Sienna couldn’t even say the word no.
However, she was overwhelmed by an indescribable fear that made her faint before his hand could reach her.
“…..”
“Oh my God, Sienna!”
While the frightened director approached and took care of the fallen child, the Grand Duke froze in place with his hand left hanging in the air.
‘Just now..,’
Her actions clearly spoke ‘rejection’ more clearly than words could.
* * *
(Flashback, when Sienna was unconscious.)
It’s been like that for a long time.
Next to the perfect Loreina, Sienna was seen as being less than what she was.
But paradoxically, Loreina was the only one who was good to her.
A long time ago, at their first meeting…
“Oh, my god, you’re Sienna!”
“N-Nice to meet you, Miss Loreina. I’m…”
On the day they first met, Loreina held her hand in the city and said,
“What do you mean Miss Loreina!”
“We’re guardians of the same family. So let’s be sisters.”
“Yes?”
Watching Sienna’s eyes widen in disbelief, Laureina burst into laughter.
Her laughter was so clear and sweet.
It seemed to be the sound that a silver bell would make if it were shaken by a breeze.
“I’ve always wanted a younger sister. So why don’t you call me sister?”
And so, Sienna became a sister to Loreina.
“Sienna, I’ll be staying at my family’s villa this summer. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Sister…”
“My parents were also very curious about you when I told them I had a sister. Let’s go, shall we?”
The summer she spent with Loreina was fun.
“You must be Sienna.”
“Thank you for coming along with Loreina.”
Lorraine’s parents were also warm to Sienna, who was just a commoner.
But that was not the only surprise.
“Sienna, are you sleeping?”
One late night in the summer, Loreina visited Siena.
“I came here to do something with Sienna before I go to bed.”
“What is it?”
Sienna always did her best to play with Loreina.
She wanted her sweet sister to enjoy her time with her, so she would do her best to respond to Loreina’s suggestions, even if it was a little too much.
“Let’s do this together.”
Loreina opened an old book on the bed.
It was a book made of leather. The old, spot-stained cover seemed unappealing to young Sienna’s eyes, but Loreina seemed excited.
Since Sienna couldn’t read, Loreina told her what the book was for..
“Here, there is a way to share mana with others.”
“Yeah?”
“Shh! You can’t get caught, Sienna. I want to give you mana. I’m afraid you don’t have a lot of it.”
“Really?”
Sienna had to be a useful wizard. Otherwise, it would have disgraced the face of the grand duke who had chosen her.
But she didn’t have much mana……
Loreina soothed Sienna, who had paled as she became anxious..
“It’s all right, Sienna. I can give you some. I have a lot of mana.”
“But….”
The sensible Sienna thought that Loreina having a lot of mana and sharing it with Sienna as two separate matters.
“No, no. How can you… That’s how you lie to other people.”
“Do you want to go back to the orphanage, Sienna?”
Sienna became speechless at the painful question.
“I want to be your sister forever. Don’t you?”
“Sister…”
Sienna’s eyes dimmed in an instant.
No one has ever been as friendly as Loreina.
Sienna nodded because she wanted to stay with Loreina.
So Sienna and Loreina secretly held the ceremony..
“It’ll be a secret that only we know.”
A secret.
She remembered her heart started pounding at the words.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep this secret, Sienna.”
She should have known then.
There was no turning back from that point on.
‘No, it doesn’t matter if you knew.’
Things had already reached an irreversible point.
At that time Sienna wanted to be next to Loreina at any cost.
At that time, she didn’t doubt if it was worth it.
‘It was all a mistake….’
How naive she was to trust and expect something from others.
‘So, I can’t be like that this time.’
Sienna slowly began to wake up from her nightmare.
‘I don’t think waking up means the end of the nightmare.’
It was time to go back to a nightmarish life that she could never wake up from.
* * *
While Sienna was unconscious-
(P/N: After this, it describes what happens while Sienna is unconscious. ????
“Mr. Marnan Kendall.”
The Grand Duke was questioning the orphanage director.
“You may not know this, but very few children are born with the gift for using magic.”
The director, who shook and bowed his head, was severely criticized.
“Though these children are the guardians who will serve the Emperor and the Empire’s people, I will say this.”
“R, Royal Highness…”
“Neither I, nor these children here, are the military resources of the Empire. They should not be damaged or exploited for any reason.”
Director Kendall swallowed visibly and scrambled to make an excuse.
Though he had always scolded others with an arrogant attitude, he had never experienced it himself.
And in the face of an opponent such as the Grand Duke of Nacht, it became even more difficult for him to respond properly.
‘Damn it… you humiliated me just because that girl fainted!’
Sienna had fainted after hearing the Grand Duke’s suggestion to go with him.
The Grand Duke looked down at the fallen child with a stiff face.
It was as if she had fainted, refusing to touch him…
‘I must be wrong.’
The timing was terrible, but there were plenty of other reasons for the child to fall.
‘Either, you’re very nervous…’
Still, he was a grand duke who was called King of the Underworld. It wasn’t impossible for a small frightened child to pass out because of him.
‘…However.’
However, it seemed that the child who fell in the arms of the Grand Duke was a bit skinny, and her complexion didn’t seem too well.
Despite having bathed and put on clean clothes, the fact that she was malnourished could not be hidden.
Even the condition of the children around her didn’t seem all that different.
‘Ha…’
Every year, a considerable amount of subsidies and donations are given to orphanages. However, the money was never completely spent on taking care of the children.
Of course, they were not going to be abused. This was because one day they would enter a military academy, or if they’re lucky, have aristocratic sponsors.
The management philosophy of most orphanage directors was to provide the minimum amount of care without abusing their charges.
To the grand duke, it seemed that Mr. Kendall was far more faithful to management than other directors.
“As the director is found to be incapable of performing his duties, he shall be suspended from his duties for the time being. Then keep your head above water and wait for the final judgement.”
(T/N: ‘keep your head over water’ is an idiom.)
“Come on, hold on! Your Highness! I’m sorry, I…!”
“Take him out.”
“You can’t do this! This orphanage is my private property! No matter how you accuse me… Hey, come on!”
The friendly-looking aide covered his mouth forcefully. He then warned Kendall who was about to stomp on his foot.
“If you keep your mouth shut, or else you will lose your life as well as your property.”
“….!”
The Director and the nursery teacher, Lisa, who was holding Sienna, trembled at the sincere warning.
It was a good opportunity for Sienna, who was searching for the perfect time to wake up.
“Euu…”
“Oh, Sienna! Are you awake?”
Sienna slowly opened her eyes while rubbing them. It wasn’t acting. It was because I wanted to delay meeting with the Great Duke face-to-face for as long as possible.
However, if she kept pretending to be unconscious, she could have been dragged into a mess which she wouldn’t be able to remove herself from.
“Ha…”
Sienna opened her eyes and met the red eyes of the Grand Duke who looked at her.
At that moment, the Grand Duke frowned a little, as if he had seen something unpleasant.
‘Ah…
Sienna was very relieved. It seemed that the Grand Duke did not like her.
‘Maybe…’
Sienna carefully guessed.
The Grand Duke regards wizard orphans as military resources.
‘He declared that he was going to take me on a whim, but it turned out that I was a weak child, so I wonder if he wants to take back his words.’
This was an opportunity.
She had never acted like this before in her life, but now was not the time to pretend to be brave and cover herself like a strong minded child.
With her trembling hands, she tightly gripped the edge of Lisa’s clothes.
“No, no…..”
“Sienna?
“I’m scared….”
Sienna’s acting was very realistic.
It was because she was not acting completely, but acting one percent with the rest being her body’s honest reaction.
Sienna’s small body trembled with the thought of being dragged into a mess and overwhelmed with fear, quickly shed tears.
She seemed to be close to fainting again, but Sienna held back and shed her tears silently.
“Sienna…”
When Lisa saw that the poor child, who had already passed out once, was crying without making a loud sound, she was heartbroken.
But she couldn’t let her continue crying like this. She could offend the grand duke.
“Sienna, you can’t cry.”
“Li-Lisa. Can I not go?”
Lisa tried to soothe the child, but Siena began to cling to her desperately, as if she were the only one in the room.
“I’ll, I’ll be a good girl. I’ll only eat a little, and take good care of the younger ones. Yeah?”
Lisa held the unconsolable child tightly in her arms. She then began console the grand duke in hopes that he would be understanding towards the child.
“Oh, she’s still a child, Your Highness. She’s probably scared to leave since she’s attached to this place. If you talk to her to help her understand…”
“Hueengg…!”
Sienna began to cry out loud, as if she was being taken by force..
‘Really?’
At first, I closed my eyes and made a loud noise, but I burst out crying more naturally than I thought.
Sienna’s face quickly turned red as she cried so loudly that she forgot she was acting.
“Oh, my. No, no, no, sir, forgive her, please?”
“Sienna, if you keep crying…”
Before she knew it, Lisa’s face was red, too.
On behalf of the sighing duke, the aide quickly stepped out.
“Teacher, if you cry, the child will be more surprised. Both of you dislike the Grand Duke, don’t you?”
It sounded like something directed at Lisa, but it was for the child to listen to as well.
“Huh?”
As expected, Sienna’s cries died down a little.
The aide quickly looked at the Grand Duke.
‘Tell him you won’t take me!’
“….”
However, it was frustratingly silent.
Again, tears began to form in Sienna’s green eyes. She began wondering if her eyes would be red if she cried more frequently.
In the end, he declared with a displeased look.
“Let’s just leave her here for now.”
“Haha.”
Sienna’s cry stopped, but laugh was noticed.
‘Ha?’
No matter how great the Grand Duke was, he could not help but be stunned.
“….”
Sienna slipped back into Lisa’s arms, pretending to cry.
Fortunately, the Great Duke didn’t say anything more about the child.
After a while, the sound of footsteps moved away from the director’s office. Siena sat dazed, listening to Lisa’s voice to say goodbye to the grand duke.
She was not going back to that mess.
Not that easily.
“….”
She was successful, but she wasn’t happy.
Those miserable times, what was the point of it all?
‘It was something that could be easily avoided…’
It all ended in vain.
‘What will happen to me now?’
An 11 year-old orphan. No longer protected by Nacht.
No older sister who would love her all her life.
For the first time in her life, Sienna was feeling lost.
“Sienna, are you okay?”
Lisa approached Sienna, who was staring blankly.
‘Even though I made a fuss like that…’
Lisa wasn’t displeased with Sienna.
Her honest worries and regrets were seen in her eyes that were looking at Sienna.
“Teacher….”
“It’s okay, His Highness is gone. So let’s stop crying now. You should show your pretty face.”
Sienna realized once again with the sweet words of comfort.
Compared to Lisa, Sienna knew that Loreina hadn’t treated her well very much.
Her words were sweet and her laughter was gentle, but she was unlikely to act any further than that.
What she thought was kindness was actually a sneaky trick to get Sienna at her beck and call.
That was why she made the proposal to share her magical powers with her.
‘A sneaky trick.’
Sienna recalled a conversation with Loreina, who had come to defeat her until the last minute just before she died.
“That’s right. I took poison and framed you. To kill you.”
It was an expected answer. Of course, just because she expected it didn’t mean she wasn’t disgusted.
“I can’t help it. You tried to leave me.”
It was true. Sienna no longer wanted to have anything to do with Nacht and Loreina. So even if she was to work as a maid or a tutor, she decided to accomplish it on my own.
“Sienna, you cheated with me at that summer retreat. How can I trust you if you try to leave me? Was that your plan all along?”
“…then I’ll ask you one more question.”
Sienna asked calmly.
“At that summer retreat… Was it really me who recieved the mana?”
Loreina’s smile spread around her mouth. Her beautiful green eyes glistened like a snake.
“…you finally noticed, my stupid sister.”
‘I know.’ Sienna laughed in vain. Indeed, there was nothing to say even if Lorraine called her stupid.
“You stole my mana, Loreina.”
“I can’t say it wasn’t fun fooling you. But it was so easy to fool you that it was detestable.”
“One more thing, sister.”
Sienna wanted to check for the last time, even if she was deemed pathetic.
“…you framed me because you were afraid of getting caught?”
“It’s not only because of that.”
Her sister laughed. It was the smile of an angel that Sienna loved.
“I hate you enough to want to kill you, Sienna.”
She was compelled to admit that…
Actually, she wasn’t loved for a single moment.
At the end, the emotions did not change. Loreina hated Sienna from beginning to end and was only thinking of using her.
‘I was stupid,’
Just admitting that fact made her heart feel as if it was burning.
Rather than being sad, she couldn’t stand it because she was starving to the point of losing her life because of it.
(P/N: She was starving for love.)
Perhaps she would never love anyone else again.
Her previous life had ruined her desire for love.
At least, this way she wouldn’t be so miserable again. That fact gave her a small amount of comfort. Seeing Sienna lost in her thoughts, Lisa felt uncomfortable with the situation.
“Sienna, what are you thinking?”
“…Teacher Lisa.”
If she had met her in my first life, maybe she would’ve ended up a little different.
It was meaningless to think about it now.
“Today… thank you for your help.”
“Yes, yes….”
Although Sienna was a sincere person, Lisa was not comfortable not knowing the circumstances.
In fact, Lisa thought she had no idea how big of an opportunity Sienna had just thrown.
‘I think she’ll regret it.’
Lisa was so embarrassed that she was just trying to calm her down, but wouldn’t a really good teacher be supposed to grab her by the pants in front of the Grand Duke and take her away?
‘But how can a child cry so loudly…’
Among the three guardian families, the Nacht family was the most notorious. A little bit of an injury or an extra tax. This was due to the brutal suppression method of Hell Army, which would not tolerate even the simplest minor situation.
‘Once this has happened, there’s nothing we can do.’
Anyway, thanks to this, the director who brutally squeezed the orphanage dry had disappeared, so for the time being, we will be able to raise children a little more leisurely.
Sadly, however, her little hope didn’t last long.
“Where’s the beggarly girl!”
Kendall was not fired.
By law, all the wizard orphanages in the capital belonged to the emperor. To be exact, ‘management rights’ were owned by the emperor.
The Grand Duke was not able to judge Kendall, who ‘paid for the right to manage for the emperor’s possession.’ It was because it was beyond his authority.
As a result, Kendall managed to escape the law by offering a bribe.
Of course, he needed far more bribes than usual because he was a prisoner who was reported by the Grand Duke personally.
In order to survive, Kendall had to squeeze 90 percent of his assets out of his pocket
Then, he still had ten percent, right? He didn’t even have that. The remaining 10 percent was taken as fines for quick indictment.
Kendall, who became penniless overnight, lost his sanity.
“You! You cost me all my property!”
As soon as he entered the orphanage, Kendall, who found Sienna in the building, grabbed the child’s hair without hesitation.
“Don’t do that, sir!”
“Hey, get out of the way!”
Kendall pushed Lisa out of the way.
“Ah, oww…”
Kendall gave an slimy smile to Sienna, who couldn’t even give out a scream.
“You stupid little girl, if I don’t sell you to a slave dealer by the end of the day, I won’t be Kendall but a dog!
“Ugh….”
Sienna stared at him with tears in her eyes.
Of course, Kendall wasn’t empathetic. He even smiled.
“You’ll fetch a good price with your face, then…”
“Your hand….”
A rumbling voice that sounded as if it crawled up the stomach of an animal
“Can’t you let go right now?”
While telling him to let go of his hand, he didn’t give him the chance and kicked Kendall’s head.
Pang!
“Whoa..!”
The sound was so loud that my ears were ringing.
Boom, Boom, Boom!
Kendall rolled to the end of the hallway and finally stopped. At the unbelievable sight, Sienna blankly blinked her eyes.
It was a boy in a pure black suit with a white face dressed up from head to toe. He was gritting his teeth and was struggling to calm himself.
His white neck was stiffened like a sculpture. The red and blue veins on his forehead had popped out, wriggling like a snake.
…His red eyes were like some kind of evil spirit.
‘Wait, red eyes…?’
I had never seen him so angry, so I didn’t realize it right away, but he was definitely someone Sienna knew.
‘Grand Prince!’
He was the eldest son of Grand Duke Nacht, Ashiel.
* * *
Ashiel was not alone. He was also with the Grand Duke.
As soon as they heard that Kendall had not been fired, they came in and solved the situation in person.
The fainted Kendall -if the head and neck are depressed and bleeding can also be called fainting – couldn’t even scream and was dragged away to a place of no return
Sienna didn’t feel relieved.
She felt hopeless.
Sienna just endured.
It was not Loreina who betrayed her, but the orphanage director who made her situation look worse than it was.
This was the only way to avoid Loreina.
‘What kind of life….’
But as soon as the great duke appeared, the situation was solved like magic.
She laughed in vain.
Sienna finally realized the meaning of what was called ‘a child protected by Nacht.’
In any case, she could survive without starving or being sold until she was betrayed by Loreina.
“Sienna….”
Lisa called out to the surprised child.
However, despite her affectionate touch, the child seemed to have lost her sanity.
“Why can’t I cry, today…”
She was sorrowful even when she cried sorrowfully, and the appearance of sitting listlessly under the shock was enough to make her [Lisa] heart bend.
The Grand Duke remained silent with an uncomfortable appearance. Ashiel, who had hidden his anger, had his arms crossed with an unfathomable look in his eyes.
“Keuk-haa.”
At that time, the archduke’s aide, Devon, coughed gently.
“It looks like the child was quite shocked. I think it’ll be difficult for her to remain in the orphanage…”
“Sienna.”
It was the call of the Grand Duke. Sienna, who didn’t know how he knew her name, was furious and looked up at the Grand Duke.
The duke, who she thought would be emotionless, surprisingly had an expression on his face.
No, rather than an expression…
Should he say that there was something like a barely decipherable sign of discomfort from enduring a small throbbing pain.
Anyway, there was something like a very thin emotional shadow.
It was such a face that Sienna had never seen before.
“Don’t ask again.”
“…..”
“Will you follow me through these troubles?”
Why does this person persistently ask me to go with him?
It seemed that her original self was greater than she had thought when Loreina stole her mana.
That was the only reason she could think of.
‘I was disappointed that he brought me only to see this little…’
For daring to be Lord Nacht’s guardian even though she was only a commoner orphan, there was no one who looked at her favorably.
The housekeepers were not on Sienna’s side.
But Lord Nacht was indifferent to all that.
It was okay though. At that time, Sienna was so grateful that he didn’t kick her out because she believed she was deceiving the public by stealing her sister’s mana.
‘I felt so guilty at the time that I was cheating these people……’
Sienna had struggled to find something she could do, even if it was insignificant.
But for all her effort, the Grand Duke was only silent.
The Grand Duke was very annoyed and said:
“I know what you’re trying, Sienna. Your efforts are worthless.”
He was right. Sienna was a useless woman making useless efforts. Now that I had been foolishly robbed of what was mine, I no longer deserved to be a child of Nacht.
‘Even as useful as I am now, I lost my purpose.’
When Loreina was framed, the Great Duke promptly imprisoned Sienna.
‘…that’s how it ended.’
Anyway, this gave Sienna one more lesson.
The future had to be changed little by little. It becomes difficult to adapt if a large part of my destiny changes all at once like now.
‘What if I reject the offer as it is now?’
The orphanage will probably have a new director instead of Kendall.
But he may also be the one who purchased management rights with huge amounts of money.
Those running a wizard orphanage receive subsidies from the country and donations from nobles.
The tighter the orphans, the faster they can receive money.
The more orphans they rounded up, the faster they can receive ‘funding’.
There was no guarantee that someone better than Kendall would come. It’s rare, but there were orphanage owners who set foot in full-scale human trafficking.
‘On the other hand, if you go to Nacht…’
After half a year, she would meet Loreina.
The older sister who betrayed her completely.
‘Unnie….’
She was betrayed by Loreina. No doubt.
But now?
Sienna’s dull eyes twinkled suddenly.
‘I might not know anything now, But I know for a fact I can’t be betrayed.’
Sienna would no longer believe Loreina.
The younger sister, who loved her sister more than her own life, was now dead and gone.
Sienna lost her life because she loved Loreina more than her own life.
…She would no longer be betrayed by those she love.
When she realized that fact, she felt a little relieved.
‘When I’m 15, I can enter an academy. I just have to endure it for now,’
Fortunately, the act of taking away mana could never be done without Sienna’s cooperation and consent.
‘Then…’
How about going to the Grand Retreat and living within a reasonable distance between Loreina and the Grand Duke’s family, then entering the academy and being appointed as an officer and then independent.
Was it because he had already thought about becoming independent once in her previous life? Sienna was able to plan without difficulty.
But she had something that bothered her.
‘Miss Lisa…’
If she went to Nacht, she would have to stay away from her.
Lisa opened her mouth, noticing Sienna’s hesitation.
“Sienna, how would you like to follow His Majesty the Grand Duke?”
“Teacher….”
“I’m sorry, Teacher is lacking and couldn’t keep Sienna safe. I mean… I want you to seize the opportunity that the Highness has given you.”
Then Ashiel blurted out.
(P/N: Maybe I’m trippin’ but, where did he come from??? Ok, I’ll be serious. If you were like me and were wondering who this person is, Ashiel is the heir that they’ll be referring to later on. He is the eldest son of the Grand Duke Nacht.)
“Why don’t we let Ms. Lisa Melanche become the director of this orphanage?”
“Yes?”
Surprised by the sudden remark, Sienna and his highness’ aide, Devon, quickly met eyes with Lisa.
“That’s good! In addition, the castle is not far from the orphanage. You can come and go from time to time if you want.”
Sienna had not yet become the guardian of Nacht, but he was already polite. However, instead of being smart with her words, she just nodded, “Hmm.”
“Say…”
All right, if Lisa becomes the director, Sienna would want to stay in the orphanage.
But unfortunately, it’s under the condition that Sienna become a child of Nacht.
It seemed she was fated to walk the same path as her previous life
‘Is this…?’
Did you think Sienna’s hesitation to accept was because of such extraordinarily favourable conditions?
‘Am I just that talented?’
Well, she would have to be talented. After all, Loreina took her mana away for a reason.
Anyways, there was no reason to hesitate anymore. Sienna nodded softly.
“….Then shall we head back?”
An orphan without a place to go became a child of Nacht.
The atmosphere was not good even though such an unprecedented event had taken place.
The child had a dark face as if she had lost all hope, and the Grand Duke and the Heir were also hesitating strangely with a blunt face.
‘Oh dear.’
Devon only ticked his tongue inside. He thought the atmosphere was very strange.
‘It looks like the young lady has been through a rough patch, and now you’ve lost your nerve. how nice it would have been if you could have gotten along with me easily?’
‘Would it be nice if either of you held out your hand first and took her with you?’
It was decided without words that Lisa hugged Sienna and took her to the carriage while the Grand Duke and the heir followed behind.
Lisa was sweet while holding Sienna for the last time.
While he was walking, Devon worked hard behind the scenes to give Ashiel a hint.
Whispering, “In front of the carriage! When we get there! Like this! Hug her!”
She couldn’t help but notice the signal given by the 30-year-old aide.
The Grand Duke sighed. However, she did not hate the sight of his reluctance.
When he arrived in front of the carriage, he turned awkwardly, saying, Hmm.”
(P/N: The ‘he’ being mentioned here refers to Ashiel, the heir.)
Sienna was still cuddled close to Lisa.
Fortunately, Lisa was not oblivious, so she tried to hand Sienna to the Heir naturally. But…
At this moment, Sienna wrapped her arms around Lisa’s neck and clung to her as if she would never let go.
“Sienna….”
She is very mature. She isn’t a child who would act like this.
Lisa thought that she was afraid to go to a strange environment away from a familiar person.
‘This isn’t going to work.’
“-Your Grace, excuse me,”
Eventually, Lisa boldly ignored the powerful men standing there and walked into the carriage with Sienna.
“Teacher….”
“Sienna, let me set a date to meet with you.”
Holding a small box of Siena’s few belongings in her lap, Lisa asked.
“Your teacher will visit Sienna often, so be well. All right?
“….”
“Be nice, be cute, be happy… “
Sienna, who had been told to be cute to the Grand Duke, burst into a small laugh.
“…Thank you for your concern, miss.”
Unlike her words, her laughter was not as innocent as a child and was dry. Lisa’s heart fluttered at the moment as she looked on with a blank expression mixed with deep resignation.
‘This child… Is it all right to send her off like this?’
She hesitated too late, but there was nothing more Lisa could do.
All Lisa could do was pat Sienna’s head a couple more times before getting out of the carriage.
Soon the Grand Duke and the heir got in the carriage.
Siena sat silently, hugging the little wooden box Lisa had given her.
There was only silence in the moving carriage.
Sienna, who had been living in good health for more than 20 years, thought to myself, “Should I say thank you to these two people saving me?”
‘….I’m tired.’
‘Everything is annoying.’
She didn’t want to try hard to be a good girl. There was no reason for that.
Sienna clasped the wooden box without a word. And soon, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
* * *
So Kendall orphanage became the Melanche orphanage overnight.
The white-and-pale orphans, still confused and unaware, will be able to start a better life starting tomorrow.
Sienna also became a child of Nacht overnight.
Better than the bright future of orphanage.
It was a place where a much brighter future and comfort were promised.
But the orphan who took the good fortune, holding only one old, dirty box…
“…She’s sleeping.”
“I know.”
…I was only asleep
For some reason, Ashiel felt as if his mouth had dried.
Finally, the carriage arrived at the residence and stopped.
“Father, I…”
“No, it’s okay.”
The Grand Duke slowly reached out and raised Sienna, asleep. The sensitive child made a groan of “Mmmhh..” Making the two nervous, but fortunately, fell asleep again.
“What about the room?”
“The butler would have prepared everything in advance. Isn’t he like a ghost?”
Ashiel grasped the handle, feeling anxiousness for some reason. The Grand Duke looked back at his son and asked,
“Ashiel, aren’t you busy?”
He knew. It was going to be asked.
At this point, he could go back to his business, but strangely, his steps did not divert.
“…It should be alright,”
“Hmm.”
It was an insincere answer, but fortunately the duke was focused on hugging the child who was held in his arms instead of questioning his eldest son more.
“Father!”
Then, a young boy who appeared running down the stairs shouted.
“Oh, Young Master!”
“Is that her?”
Michael, who came down the stairs in an uncharacteristic hurry, was impatient.
“That’s not like you. Be quiet, Michael.”
“…….”
Leaving his noisy youngest son with his mouth shut, the Grand Duke headed to the room he had prepared for the girl in his arms.
Behind the Duke, Michael said to his brother, “How old is she? Is she staying at our house from now on?” A steady stream of questions was asked.
Ashiel answered the first question, “She’s a year older than you.”
Michael blinked his red eyes and nodded.
“I thought she might. Anyway, she’s staying at our house, right?
He couldn’t ignore the question twice. Ashiel sighed for a moment and replied:
“Yes, she is.”
“……”
Michael was staring at the scene where his father laid the girl in bed carefully. It wasn’t a small thing for them to be interested in somethings.
Micheal wasn’t the only one who thought it was strange. It’s not like he had ever been against a child before. Although Ashiel was known to be the only person in the family who was friendly, He was never nosey. It was not like him to place too much of his attention on such useless information.
‘…No, that man did not deserve such a thing.’
As soon as he remembered it, the deepening that he barely calmed down felt like a fire raging within him.
However, if it had been normal, I would not have turned my eyes like that and went out from my own actions.
…Perhaps?
All of the men in this family, including him, were behaving strangely. The strangest thing was that even though I was aware of it, I couldn’t control it.
‘Why?’
Even though he was pretending not to be, he was a very talented child. But that alone could not explain their behavior.
I tried to put on an emotionless face, but the agitation I felt did not cease.
‘This time… definitely.’
Leaving the two children in silence, Ashiel withdrew from the room with the Grand Duke as he made a pledge to himself, despite not knowing why.
* * *
Sienna was having a dream.
‘Sienna.’
‘Sienna, I hate you.’
Stop it, sister. I know now. I know very well that you’ve been dreaming for my death.
I wanted to say that, but my mouth couldn’t open.
‘Sienna, answer me.’
‘Are you happy to take my place?’
What does that mean?
Sienna, who had never tried to take Loreina’s place, was being treated unfairly.
She wanted to insist on her innocence, but her voice wouldn’t come out.
In her dream, Loreina began laughing madly when seeing that Sienna’s faces paled upon realizing she couldn’t say anything.
“Heuk…”
Breathing in, Sienna finally opened her eyes in the dark.
‘Is it a dream…’
In the pitch-black darkness, Sienna briefly blinked.
Her pupils quickly expanded and adjusted to the darkness. Little by little, the view opened up, and familiar landscapes began to come into Sienna’s eyes.
This is…
“…….”
Gulp. Sienna swallowed. If her eyes weren’t wrong now, this place was…
“Loreina, sister….”
It was Loreina’s room.
As soon as she realized it, she got goosebumps from head to toe.
When she first entered Nacht, Sienna was given a room of a very mediocre level.
Of course, it was just mediocre by Nacht’s standards, but for Sienna who had previously shared a room with seven orphans younger than her in Room 6 of Kendall Orphanage, it was the best thing ever.
A desk, mirror and closet, plus a plush, clean bed.
I loved the room I could have to myself for the first time, so much that I didn’t even notice that the room was in a little shadowy corner in a wide castle.
Unlike Sienna, Loreina received the ‘Cradle of the Moon.’
The Cradle of The Moon was the best room in the castle except for the one used by the Grand Duke and the Heir.
Unlike Siena’s room, where the bed and desk were placed in the same room, The Cradle of The Moon room was equipped with a study, a bedroom, a drawing room, a dress room and a bathroom, as well as a small bedroom for a trusted maid.
When Loreina had first stepped foot into the Duchy, she begged him to let her use it after taking a liking to that room. This was unlike Sienna, who would have accepted any room given to her. However, the Grand Duke did not refuse the request.
Maybe it was from there that she knew for sure Loreina and her were in different situations from then on.
But then why was she in this room?
There was no way Nachts would give Sienna this room. Perhaps…
“…Did I crawl into this room while asleep?”
Sienna believed it was possible, in her last life she spent more time in Loreina’s room than in her own.
The bed containing warm sheets was comfortable and flames were rising from the fireplace, but Sienna began to tremble like a cold person.
As she heard in her dream, Loreina’s voice seemed to ring in her ears.
‘Are you happy to take my place like that?’
This room was not hers.
It wasn’t a place that she dared to occupy.
Sienna did not enter Nacht to take Loreina’s place. I didn’t want to win against my sister, nor did I want revenge.
“I’m just going to stay quiet for a few years and then run away to the academy.’
I can’t believe I’m in this room….
Sienna quickly pushed the blanket.
‘You shouldn’t make unnecessary misunderstandings.’
If Sienna was found sleeping in this room, everyone may misunderstand that she was having indecent and presumptuous ideas.
If you think about it a little bit, you might have noticed that there was a water bag in the bed, and that the bonfire that was lit was comfortable and helped me sleep.
Sienna, who had just woken up from a nightmare, was simply in a state of confusion.
Sienna quickly got out of bed in a pair of pajamas, struggling to make the bed before going back to the bed she slept in my last life.
As soon as Sienna had made the wide bed with her weak arms, she ran out of the room without even thinking about taking a lamp.
‘My room… My old room.’
The little barefoot girl began to run down the cold corridor. Sienna was in a hurry to find her old room…
“….Uh!”
I slipped on the ground despite there being nothing and fell down.
‘It hurts….”
Sienna groaned and held her sore knees.
She couldn’t see it, but it felt like blood was starting to seep from her knee.
But she didn’t have time to sit here and take care of the wound. She quickly got up again and limped to the corner, where ‘her room’ was.
‘Next, Next…. Ah, This one.’
Was it because it’s night or because it’s an 11-year-old child’s body? It was only after a while that Sienna could find her room.
The door opened with a squeak. She didn’t care, It was unpleasant for her, but Sienna was glad to have come to her old room.
She closed the door with her back and slid down.
The corner room had not been cleaned for a long time, so there was a chill in it. The sight of white cloth covered with furniture covered in dust instead looked like a dead place…
“…This is my room.”
Her heart, which was pounding, gradually subsided.
Maybe it’s because she had arrived at the place where she had stayed for more than a decade, but, Sienna was greatly relieved. After that, she began to feel drowsy from the effort it took to leave the room she had found herself in .
“Euu….”
Sienna rubbed her eyelids. And went up to the bed as if she was accustomed to it.
There wasn’t a cozy blanket, but it was good enough to grab and cover herself with one of the nearby dust covers.
“Haaaam…”
Shortly after yawning a little, Sienna fell asleep.
* * *
The next morning.
Having become Nacht’s new head maid, Madam Deborah began her routine early in the morning.
Not long ago she heard a very surprising story from the butler.
“Deborah, as you only know, the Grand Prince has brought in a guardian.”
“Yes… Really?!”
Madam Deborah was surprised.
“Well, that means that we are finally going to have a future Grand Duchess…”
“No, no, That’s not it. This time, the guardian is from an orphanage.”
“Ah, I see. A child. From an orphanage.”
She still regretted it.
‘It’s a great opportunity to see the future of the potential future grand duchess when she comes in as a guardian.’
Madam Deborah had a plan.
She plan to serve the future grand duchess from a young age to be trusted in the duchy, and to remain in power as a loyal maid of this house until she dies!
Unfortunately, the opportunity hadn’t arrived yet.
The butler said,
“Anyway, His Highness the Grand Duke has shown deep interest in the young lady, and ordered for her to be taken care of.”
“She seems to be a very talented person. Give her The Cradle of The Moon.”
“What? The Cradle of the Moon?”
Madam Deborah frowned. Just because she’s talented, he wants to give her such a nice room?
‘Why would a commoner orphan be given a room suitable for a good noble lady?’
It was a bit of a surprise, but once the instructions were given, she couldn’t help it.
Madam Deborah arranged the room for her. And yesterday, the orphan finally took the room.
‘Tsk. I was wondering if I’d be taking care of the Grand Duchess in the future…”
Apart from being uncomfortable with planning, she was curious about the orphan’s face and how she was. So she got up early, finished her morning routine, and ran to the room.
“Hmm.”
Madam Deborah coughed, and knocked on the door.
But was quiet in the room.
‘Hm.’
She’s been asleep since she came yesterday evening. Is she sleeping still?
She seemed to be lazy. Madam Deborah opened her door without asking for further permission with a stern face.
“…..Oh my goodness?”
However, instead of a lazy orphan sleeping like the dead, a neat empty room greeted her.
Her bed was neatly arranged as if it had just been put in order by a skillful maid, and her cold water bag lay on her armchair.
“What?”
Madam Deborah hurried around but nothing changed, she was gone.
Eventually, the other maids were called in to search the women’s room, the reception room, the study room, the dress room, but…
‘Not here.’ ‘Not here. I even opened a box that I don’t use.’
The child literally disappeared like smoke.
“Ha…”
She couldn’t believe she was giving her trouble this early in the morning.
But even if she was angry, she couldn’t hide it.
“I have to go see the butler.”
“Sorry? But ma’am, then the other maids….”
“Let’s look for a little more.”
“You guys.”
Madam Deborah looked at the maids who were saying stupid things.
“Are you out of your mind? The lady was brought by the Grand Duke last night and was given the Cradle of the Moon room. Wouldn’t it be strange that the maids couldn’t find the lady if the fact that she disappeared in the morning was hidden?”
Madam Deborah had great ambition that showed in her even in her greater judgment.
“Ah….”
The maids who had not thought of that point shut their mouths at once.
Madam Deborah clicked her tongue.
“I can’t believe that all these things are happening all at once. Especially during my time as Head Maid.”
She felt like she had a lot of work to do as the new head maid.
‘…We’ll have to find her first.’
She didn’t know where the girl was hiding, but please be found safely.
Madam Deborah tapped her feet nervously.
“Tell me again.”
When he heard that the child had disappeared, the eyes of the Grand Duke grew cold immediately.
“I’m ashamed, Your Highness.”
Madam Deborah bent down deeply. “The child’s disappeared from the castle.”
The sigh of the Grand Duke was as heavy as thunder.
“Just how negligent can you be. Do I have to order you to have someone to stand by the child at night? Can’t you at least think of that much before receiving an order?
The Grand Duke was a man who usually did not scold his subordinates for making mistakes. But this time it was different.
“I…I have no excuse.”
It was to the point where the head maid, who expected a harsh admonishment, was in cold sweat.
It was clear that this orphan was much, much more important to the Grand Duke than they had expected.
Madam Deborah fell to her knees without hesitation as soon as she realized so.
“I’m ashamed of myself, Your Highness! The servants are going through the house, so we will be able to find her soon.”
“Ha…”
The underground castle was renovated from an old castle during from an ancient era
All around the castle lying dormant was dangerous magic that has not yet been clearly identified. It wasn’t a place to let a child go around on their own.
“I will go too,”
“…Yes?”
Madam Deborah, kneeling down on her knees, suddenly raised her head.
What did I just hear…??
“I said that I will find the child with you.”
It was an emergency.
It has been like that for 30 minutes; but it was a real emergency from now.
* * *
While Madam Deborah was reporting to the Great Duke, the servants were searching the whole house at the butler’s instruction.
“She wouldn’t have gotten on the wrong foot and dragged into the sewers right?
The butler shook his head.
“Of course not. The ones on duty would have found her by now if she had.”
“For now, it would be better to start searching from the near vicinity of the Moon’s Cradle. “
“We’d better search the Cradle one more time. It’s quite a big place… Huh?!”
One of the servants let out an unsightly scream. The butler, who was about to reprimand him…
“Your Grace?”
“Your Highness said he would search for the missing lady together.”
The butler was a bit surprised by Madam Deborah’s words. However, the veteran butler quickly regained his composure.
“Everyone! Do not be intimidated and do what you have to do!”
Don’t be intimidated? The servants yelled in dismay.
‘Just what is so special about that orphan!’
‘Perhaps it’s not just an orphan, but a hidden bloodline of a high-ranked royal family?’
It was a situation where the unbelievable would sound believable. It was because there was no way the grand duke would search this anxiously for an ordinary orphan. .
“Your Grace? Where are you going? The third floor has not yet been searched…”
“Hush.”
The butler stopped Madam Deborah. The others didn’t even have the thought of stopping him.
When he finally arrived at the end of the corridor on the third floor, the Grand Duke carefully pushed the door. The unmaintained door slowly opened with a creak.
“……”
Chilly air was emanating from the walls and floor of what seemed to not have had a fire lit for a million years.
A dust cloth was crumpled on the bed that lacked even sheets.
…As if someone in this cold room used it to cover themselves.
“The child was in this room.”
She was given the best unused room in the castle.
(T/N: It still was a good room, Just was never used nor cleaned.)
So why did you come to sleep in such a room?
The Grand Duke bit his lips unconsciously. He felt strange because it was like he could see a child sleeping soundly in this dusty room… it felt weird
‘My heart…’
If I had to choose a word, it seemed to be crushed by something huge. To the point where I forget to breathe for a moment.
“…wait.”
There were unusual traces on the white cloth on the bed.
It was a trail of blood.
The child must have been hurt.
“Call the servants here. Search the perimeter as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
* * *
Grand Duke and Butler came out of the room to search the third floor in earnest.
Madam Deborah was just about to follow suit.
Creak (Sfx: Door creaking)
“!”
The closet door, which had been tightly closed in front of Madam Deborah’s eyes, slowly opened. And in there…
“…Ah…Miss?”
“Shh”
A girl with a white face and strangely calm green eyes stood her index finger on her lips.
“I’m trying to hide my presence.. Could you speak a little bit softer, please?”
“….Why are you hiding in such a place?”
You must be in trouble because I’m missing, I thought it would be worse if the Grand Duke found me himself.
As soon as Sienna woke up, things were different from her past life. Just as she had guessed.
This room was obviously the one she used in her last life. And no matter how she looked at it, it wasn’t ready to greet people.
‘It’s weird….’
It was the grand duke that told her to ‘go sleep on the ground’ twice.
It didn’t look like I was going to be sleeping in this unprepared room.
‘Ah.’
That’s why I had a nightmare last night, when I opened my eyes in Loreina’s room.
Though I was half asleep, I remember visiting my original room because of how startled I was at that time.
Sienna let out a sound.
“I’m done for….”
Of course, the maid would not have a good impression of Sienna because of her disappearance. However, there was no way she could think well of me when I disappeared without a word and ended up in a place that was not even my room.
‘If I want to live peacefully, I have to maintain an amiable relationship with the maids.’
Sienna was about to go out and greet him herself. But at that moment, the maid shouted, “Your Highness!” and a loud approach was heard.
There was no time to think. Sienna quickly hid before being found by the Grand Duke.
Fortunately, even if she didn’t know anything else, she was good at hiding her presence.
‘I’ve gone through a few moments like this before when I didn’t want to bump into you.’
Anyways, Sienna hid safely in the closet and waited quietly.
I was going to act as if the maid had suddenly found me somehow.
“In a moment, bring me out and say you found me”
“Are you trying to help me?”
“No”
She couldn’t possibly be doing this to be kind.
She just hope that she wouldn’t need to put on an act with Madam Deborah.
Sienna assessed herself for such a rational act..
“…… ”
Madam Deborah looked at Sienna with an inscrutable expression, and nodded her head as she sighed lightly.
“I understand, it’s not a bad suggestion.”
* * *
Madam Deborah brought Sienna out a moment later, pretending to have found her.
“Where…”
“She was in the closet.”
The gap between his eyebrows narrowed.
‘You hid right there and I didn’t know?’
“I think you need treatment because you’re hurt.”
Ah, yes, the first priority is to treat the wound. He quickly forgot about his suspicions thereafter.
“Give me the child.”
The Grand Duke stretched out his arms to take Sienna. But at that moment, Sienna shivered and grabbed Madam Deborah’s sleeve.
No matter how you looked at it, it was clear that she was afraid of the Duke.
Before the atmosphere became tense, Madam Deborah quickly asked for permission.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll carry her carefully.”
“…Yes, do that.”
They headed to the nearest living room. An armchair was placed near the fire and people wrapped Sienna in blankets.
Soon the doctor arrived at the order of the Great Duke. Sienna was treated by a doctor who treated her as carefully as a feather.
‘Um….’
I thought it would be uncomfortable to be an uninvited guest in this house, but I realized that it would be uncomfortable to be treated with the utmost care when I had never received it before.
“Oh my god, you fell hard.”
The wound became more serious than expected as a result of neglecting it for one night. Still, I could concentrate only on the pain when the disinfectant was applied.
“You did well, young lady. Would you like a candy?”
After bandaging it, the doctor even gave out candy. Sienna, who didn’t expect this kind of kindness, was a little surprised and looked at the candy
“No…”
She smiled unconsciously and shook her head.
‘I’m not a kid anymore….’
Also, it was not good to relive the past which she had buried.
In the past, no one called for a doctor even if Sienna was injured. This would be the first time.
It was to the point where the maid would be reluctant to give her medicine.
But now she was being treated so wholeheartedly by a doctor and offered candy.
‘Perhaps, I didn’t go back in time but entered a new world?’
I couldn’t even imagine this nonsense.
Unexpectedly, the doctor, who offered candy after seeing the child handle the pain without a fuss, gave up and left.
The Grand Duke, who watched the whole scenario, asked.
“…why did you go to sleep in such a small room?”
Sienna, who had nothing to say, answered honestly.
“When I woke up, it was hard to believe that such a nice room could possibly be mine.”
“….”
The straightforward words left little room for imagination. It was heard by the Grand Duke and others that the young child was injured while wandering around the castle in the middle of the night in search of a shabby room to avoid being scolded.
“Oh my…”
“Oh my god, child.”
Sienna thought while looking at the face of the Grand Duke who was looking at her while sighing.
‘Again. That’s the look he made at the orphanage yesterday.’
An expression of patience with slight annoyance.
It looks like you had a reason behind why you gave such a nice room to me.
‘Well, I don’t want to ask you about that….’
Now, Sienna didn’t want to get emotionally involved with the Grand Duke’s employees. She set aside the questions she had heard and left it as it was.
‘Whether I’m an orphan or spoiled…’
What are you doing, is it because you know the reason for the different treatment?
It is just a fantasy that will disappear like fog when Loreina arrives.
Sienna knew. There was a deep gap between her and Loreina that could not be filled with talent.
So she just wanted to live quietly in this house until she turned 15 and became eligible to enter the academy.
It’s best not to have useless questions and worse to have useless hopes.
‘I hate it.’
Sienna decided to wrap things up neatly at this point.
“I’m sorry. I won’t make a fuss like this again.”
“Why did you….”
No, it’s not. The Grand Duke shook his head and sighed.
It was the maid’s fault that she failed to select a nanny to stay by her bed. The error of the servants below is also his fault.
Sienna did not need to be questioned, nor was an apology needed from Sienna
“You don’t have to apologize because it’s not your fault.”
“…..”
“It’s your room from now on, so just start getting used to it.”
Instead of answering, Sienna only looked up at the Duke.
“…do you have anything to say?”
Sienna hesitated for a moment.
‘Should I or should I not say the room is too good for me?’
The Cradle of the Moon was for Loreina, not for Sienna.
‘If she were to come back, I would be annoyed when I would have to give it back to her.’
Should I tell you or not?
Thinking about it made me feel annoyed. Sienna shook her head in silence.
If Loreina comes and asks for the room anyway, Sienna will naturally be able to go to another room.
‘I wouldn’t be the one bothered in the process.’
If you show yourself giving up your room and leaving, Loreina will at least know Sienna has no intention of confrontation.
‘Nothing bad will happen.’
Come to think of it, there was at least one space in the room that she was familiar with. She could just stay there quietly. After she was finished considering the situation, Sienna shook her head quietly.
The Grand Duke looked at the child, who quietly shook her head, with a puzzled look on his face.
When he first saw her at the orphanage, she was still like a pitiful child, but she didn’t look like one when she spoke maturely.
‘It’ll take a little more time to adapt.’
Even though it was unclear, he thought he had no choice but to think so now.
* * *
Madam Deborah brought Sienna back to the Cradle of the Moon.
The room decorated with fresh sky blue and white was the most beautiful when the sun poured down on the windows filled with high floors.
A child who wakes up on a dusky night and is surprised by a nice room. Wouldn’t they be even more surprised now?
Curious, Madam Deborah glanced at Siena. But Sienna…
“…hoo.”
She just sighed as if looking at a messy room.
A child who seemed to have a headache just by being in the room.
‘Such an odd child.’
Madam Deborah thought to herself. As she had no intention of downgrading a child who seemed to be cherished by the Grand Duke, the most powerful man in the family, she said in a polite tone-
“Then, my lady, I will bring you a meal while you rest.”
She’ll probably be surprised no matter what she’s given. She’ll grow quickly if she’s spoiled rotten, so she’ll soon forget about her past and enjoy being a child of Nacht.
Madam Deborah believed so.
It took less than ten minutes to prove that the judgment was hasty.
“…miss?”
It took Madam Deborah about ten minutes to return with a maid pushing a cart with breakfast.
But in the meantime, Sienna disappeared again without a trace.
‘You’re not going to be in that third floor room again right…?’
As soon as the head maid began to frown, a small door inside the bedroom opened.
“You came back already?”
“Did you only go there?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a ladies’ room, but…”
“Did you?”
Sienna blinked her eyes naturally.
“I didn’t know. I felt better when I was in there.”
“It’s not a place for you to stay. Come out here and I’ll attend to you.”
Instead of insisting on eating in that room, Sienna complied and came out.
‘You don’t have to be so stubborn.’
She decided to stay there as long as she could. Every time Madam Deborah or the Grand Duke say something, she can answer back, saying, “I feel comfortable in there.”
I’m not going to leave that room because I’m an orphan who knows her place.
‘If you keep insisting, they may prevent you from living there.’
Sienna made up her mind to give in a little to prevent a messy event from occuring.
“It is so comfortable to not try.’
It was a new realization that would help in a very positive way in the future.
“Please have a seat over here.”
It was a very carefully prepared diet, most likely to soothe the anxious child. Soft, tender omelettes were in small children’s dishes.
It looked warm and delicious, but I didn’t have an appetite. Oh, come on.
“……aaham.”
She was so sleepy that she could yawn.
“You’re sleepy because you didn’t sleep.”
Madam Deborah persuaded Sienna and urged her to hold the table.
“Just have a little. When you’re done eating, I’ll take you to bed.”
“Yes…”
With a child’s body, rebelling against an adult is useless.
Siena finished a small prayer and cut the omelette into small pieces and brought it to her mouth.
Madam Deborah’s eyes glistened.
‘She’s got good manners for a child who’s never even seen etiquette.’
Whatever was the young ladythinking?
‘I’m sleepy….’
Sienna kept feeling sleepy.
That’s odd. Was she supposed to sleep this much?
She tried to recall her childhood, but all she could remember was being suddenly dragged into the mess and panicked and scared about everything.
‘Well, they say children are supposed to sleep a lot… I guess.’
Anyway, as she was sleepy, the speed of chewing food naturally slowed down. Sienna ate slowly with the momentum to melt a bite of an omelette and eat it.
Eventually, Madam Deborah surrendered.
“Would you like to stop eating it?”
“Yes please.”
The head maid ordered the servant to eat as much of the leftovers as possible and clean up afterwards.
“Wake up nicely.”
‘Milk.’
Sienna gently touched the head maid and laid on the bed she had previously touched the night before.
Even when she was sleepy, she still felt a little resistant the moment I laid on Loreina’s bed, but I didn’t show it.
“Go to sleep.”
“…..”
Sienna seemed to have fallen asleep in an instant, as she was restless without a big moon to shine through the window.
“Keep your eyes open.”
“Okay, ma’am.”
The same thing should not happen earlier, so the head maid left the room leaving the maid behind.
The maid kept her head straight at first, but…
Quietly.
Seeing the child sleeping well made the maid wonder what all this was about.
‘Oh, my God, I’m not a babysitter, and I’m protecting a child I don’t know if I carry you on my back you’ll just weigh me down.’
As she was looking at the child who was sleeping well in a soft chair, she slowly started to fall asleep just by looking at her eyelids.
After a while…
Sienna opened her eyes.
‘And another nightmare.’
This time again, Loreina was sarcastic, asking if playing with a girl was fun.
‘I think I’ll keep having nightmares if I fall asleep in this bed.’
She noticed that the maid watching her was completely asleep and snoring even through her small nose.
“…… ”
Sienna silenced the sound of her feet and snuck into the little bedroom.
There was an attic above which luggage was stored, so it was a room with a low floor height. The furniture included a small bed, a table, and a washbasin.
“Haa.”
It was literally a small room, but Sienna was finally comfortable.
Is it because she used this room more often than her own when she was on good terms with Loreina and so unilaterally believed that we were close?
‘Reminds me of bad memories.’
When she believed that she was deceiving others by stealing Loreina’s mana, Sienna steadily mastered various cultivations.
She practiced to bleed and bend her fingers to learn graceful handwriting, write a letter for Loreina, and even learn to braid her hair and sew a handkerchief to take on the role of Loreina’s maid.
“You don’t seem to know this subject well, right?”
“Hey, I use it all the time! When Lady Loreina becomes the grand duchess, she will ask me to make her a maid!”
“Oh my God, if you are going to be a maid of the Grand Duchess, you should at least be a lady who is more than a self-sufficient writer, right?”
It didn’t matter what people misunderstood. Sienna returned from her outings and did her best to brush Reina’s golden hair by pouring out her joyful things.
“I wish Sienna could have come with me.”
“Thanks to you, I rested well at home.”
“Well, Sienna’s quiet and shy. It would have been uncomfortable if I went. Everyone.”
When you hear something that is unexpected, your heart aches as if you were stabbed by a needle.
Sienna laughed vaguely and swallowed her inside. Loreina didn’t seem to notice.
“But I’m so happy to have Sienna.”
The small disappointment melted away with just a few words.
“Would you like to sleep with me tonight, Sienna?”
“Yes, I’d love to.”
Somehow, Sienna thought Loreina was the only one.
The only person who is willing to accept Sienna’s humble efforts, allowing her to be called an elder sister.
A grateful person who helped me not to be kicked out of this house by handing out a piece of mana.
When she was next to Loreina, she felt like she was of some help to the world.
..Weird. Thank you. She was sure she was grateful. Sometimes she wanted to run to the lake, far outside the mansion’s fence, or farther away.
If she could do it, she wouldn’t survive through the ruins, terrible monsters that infested the borders….
‘…Do you want to disappear?’
It was unknown.
She thought so at the time.
‘I was naive.’
At the time, Loreina’s word “let’s sleep together” meant Sienna was going to grow up in this room.
The more I thought about it, the more she didn’t notice that Loreina hated her, and thought she was great.
When Loreina comes to the mansion’s ground half a year later, what would she think when she sees Sienna, who was currently occupying the cradle of the moon, which originally should be hers?
‘…I hate to think about it.’
Sienna curled up even more on her little bed.
Then she fell asleep again sometime later.
Fortunately, she didn’t have nightmares in that familiar room.
* * *
Fortunately for Sienna, shortly afterwards, the Grand Duke launched a punitive operation with an appearance at the capital.
Ashiel returned to the academy, and Michael did not show any interest in Sienna.
It was fortunate that Michael was at least the same as he was in her memory.
‘The problem is that all other people are acting weird….’
Representatively, there was Madam Deborah.
In the past, Madam Deborah regarded Loreina as an ideal Grand Duchess, and she didn’t say much about Sienna, She didn’t dare to.
She said, “I can’t help it if Lady Loreina will have her by her side, but I won’t sit down if she’s acting or being presumptuous.”
She was a maid who used to give this kind of warning whenever she had the chance.
Sienna believed Madam Deborah would hate her again this time, I’d didn’t doubt it.
‘No, I don’t think you like me very much right now, but…’
However, it would be too blunt to say “I don’t like her.”
“Lady, you’re in here again.”
“Madam Deborah.”
Especially since she’s visiting me, who was stuck in the small maid’s bedroom.
“I’m…”
“Stop. I’ve heard that you’re comfortable staying in your room. I’ve already told you, right?
The head maid who raised her glasses looked much stricter than usual.
“You’d better spend less time in that room and get used to your position here.”
“That’s….”
There’s no need to get used to it because it’s not my place.
It was only a pity that I could not be honest.
“You are lacking in effort. Come on.”
“Well… .”
Due to repeated conversations, Sienna came out of the comfortable room as as if she were a snail’s shell.
‘This is definitely weird.’
Sienna thought that Madam Deborah would be the antagonist and go stop her a few times and then let her do whatever she wanted.
Or take a more active step forward and suggest, ‘Since you’re not getting used to it, so we should give you a simpler room instead of the cradle of the moon.
‘I didn’t expect this to happen.’
At this point in the past, the problem was that she couldn’t compare Madam Deborah’s past attitude because she couldn’t remember well.
‘…Maybe Madam Deborah is more faithful to the orders of the Grand Duke than I thought.’
There’s something uncomfortable about it, but Sienna didn’t want to dig deep.
So I memorized a magic spell once again.
‘Well, these people are acting weird right now, but whatever the reason is, it’s all going to be over when Loreina comes.’
You just have to endure up to half a year.
Before that, you might be disappointed in me and stop bothering me.
Let’s not think too deeply.
The one who thinks deeply always ends up with losses.
“Whoa.”
Her mind calmed down again.
But as soon as Sienna finished her meal, Madam Deborah began to rush her with a disapproving face, proving that such a wish was far from being realized.
“Are you going to stay in the room doing nothing else?”
“It’s not like I’m doing nothing…”
Sienna read her with a clumsy smile. She had read thousands of books, but Madam Deborah was not in the mood to leave this time,
“You’re planning on going to sleep in that windowless bedroom again aren’t you.”
“It’s comfortable there….”
“If you’re constantly comfortable in that humble place, you’ll have to accept it as an insult to the Nacht Duchy.”
“What?”
By the time the conversation reached that point, Sienna thought this was absurd.
‘No, so can I take that as an insult to me, too?’
‘I’ve lived here for half my life before I died….’
Unable to say that, Sienna sighed again.
“You’re just sighing because you’re in such a gloomy place. Come on, let’s go.”
“Ah….”
“Today I must show you what a great place this castle is.”
No, I really do not want to know. I know most of the rooms already.
Is there anything else?
“Let’s go out and get some sunshine, have a good look around, and drive out the darkness.”
Madam Deborah took Sienna to the second floor hallway.
‘Ah.’
Sienna had a rough idea of where the head maid was taking her.
There was a simple exhibition room on the second floor of the castle.
“Of course, simplicity is based on Nacht, but…”
Grand Duke Nacht was also one of the richest men in the country. As he protected his territory, it naturally took up a lot of trades from the territory.
From grains that grow and take root in the soil, to many of the copper, iron, and gold treasures.
Nacht’s simple exhibition hall meant that the large corridor on the second floor of the castle contained portraits of the family’s ancestors. It also displayed various kinds of art as well as numerous medals. The exhibition even changes quarterly to match the theme.
“Originally, I was going to give you a formal tutor, but I’m not going to let you miss out on this family exhibition. Oh, my Little Prince?”
Unfortunately, there were people in the exhibition room.
A boy whose cheeks are still round and big like a cat and whose eyes are slightly raised. It was
Michael Nacht, the second son of the grand duke.
‘Oh, my God.’
Should we say hello?
But she and Michael had never been on good terms before. More precisely, Michael unilaterally hated Sienna.
Her worries did not last long. Sienna grabbed Madam Deborah’s skirt and hid herself.
“My lady? Say hello to the second young master.”
Sienna remained steadfast despite Madam Deborah’s persuasion. There was a reason.
Michael hates the weak. He has a habit of saying a few harsh words and leaving first when he is offended.
In other words, Sienna’s sudden pretense to be scared contained this meaning.
‘He’ll get mad and then disappear quickly.’
However, Michael’s reaction was not as expected.
“……Okay. You’re here to see the showroom, aren’t you?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
“Then you can go now. I’ll show her around.”
“Yes?”
‘I’d hate that’
But Madam Deborah reacted faster than her.
“Good for you, Second Young Master is more qualified to be a guide than I am. All right, my lady.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
Pushing Sienna to the young boy, Madam Deborah left quickly after the brief greeting.
It was clear that she believed that they would become close if they were alone.
Anyways, it was too late. Without any time to do anything about it, Sienna was left in front of Michael, who blinked his pretty red eyes.
“Would you like to say hello?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Young Master.”
“…..”
Michael stared at Sienna with a glare, unable to understand what she was thinking. Sienna thought she would have been quite nervous if she was really eleven.
“Ye-.”
“Yes?”
“I advise you, don’t think about staying in this house for long.”
“…..”
She was wondering what he was going to say.
She could not feel hurt. It was the same as the past. He still hates me even in this unknown world.
‘It’s nice to see you again.’
Michael, looking at Sienna, questioned her with suspicion.
“Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Sienna nodded mildly and kindly repeated it.
“You told me not to stay here for long.”
“If you understand, why didn’t you answer me with your opinion?”
“Well, that’s what I am thinking.”
“…..”
Michael opened his mouth with a straight face. Sienna realized one thing at this time.
‘Wait.’
This can be an opportunity to be comfortable with Michael.
We do not need to like each other, but we also do not need to be as unfriendly as we used to be.
‘I’m afraid I’ll bother you.’
Sienna decided to think about what Michael will like to hear. The answer would be found in the past.
Come to think of it, Michael hated her the most when she worked as hard on chores as if she was Loreina’s maid or a Nacht’s family maid.
‘You’ve been fed up with it, telling me not to let it show.’
He said exactly this.
“Why don’t you just get out of this house if you know you’re humble enough to take away the maid’s work?”
Then what she had to say now was…
“Don’t worry. I know that being a child of Nacht is too great for an orphan like me. I’m going to apply to the academy when the time comes.”
“…What?”
“It means that I will go out and become self-reliant without embarrassing the Nacht’s name.”
Rather, it was quite the childish response, but it would make sense considering it was coming out of an 11 year olds mouth.
“I’ll be a little noticeable, but I’d appreciate it if you can ignore me until then.”
Sienna thought it would be close to the answer he wanted to hear.
But…
“You…!”
Unexpectedly, Michael’s face was upset.
“How could you say such nonsense? I can’t believe you want to get out of here!”
“Pardon?”
What are you talking about?
She didn’t say it in words, but the sentence “you’re the one who told me to get out?” was shown on her face.
“Ugh!”
Michael, who was not a fool, soon noticed his contradiction.
He turned red at that moment. Sienna tilted her head as she saw the colorful face turning blue.
‘What’s wrong with you?’
“Hey, let’s talk about this later.”
Sienna had nothing to talk about with him, even until ‘next time’.
However, it was not important to let him know, so she just nodded her head.
‘He’s offended anyways, so he’ll be out of here soon enough.’
That was what Sienna expected. But Michael did not leave.
“…Young Lord?”
“……Follow me.”
“Err yes?”
No, why the hell?
Thanks to the distracting items in the exhibition room, Michael didn’t see the look of annoyance on Sienna’s face.
“I made a promise to the maid to show you around here!”
“You don’t have to…”
Should I have him continue? Sienna was in a bind. So she decided to throw a fastball.
“You don’t like me, do you?”
Let’s get on our way, please.
“That’s…! Come on! I can’t be a man who doesn’t keep his word.”
“Hmm, that…”
Was that the problem? Sienna was convinced.
‘I’m bothered, but I can’t help it.’
Come to think of it, if Michael leaves right away, the head maid will ask what had happened.
It was entirely Sienna who will be at a disadvantage if it was revealed that she offended the young lord by messing around with words.
“You’re shameless.”
“…Follow me.”
* * *
“You can think of the portrait in this corridor as going back to the Nacht’s genealogy from the inside out.”
Obviously, he had come to hate Sienna as perfectly as before, but Michael’s explanation this time was very sincere.
“This is my grandmother. She is the sister of the present Emperor.”
When she thought about it, it seemed that Michael was the least flexible among the three men in this family.
“This is my great-grandfather, but two portraits are hung on it because they are two of…”
No, it wasn’t like ‘that’, it was definitely accurate.
‘If you think about it, the young lord has always pointed out all the things that just went over in history, and that’s true….’
She used to be a quiet and timid person, but at that time she couldn’t evaluate calmly because she was overwhelmed with luxuries.
Anyway, if she was the same Sienna in my first life, she probably would have listened to him even if she did not know what he meant, but it was a pity.
Sienna, who was scheduled to enter an academy at the age of 15 and finish her education at the end of that same year, only listened to Michael’s easy explanation with one ear.
Naturally, her eyes began to wander elsewhere, but not at the portraits.
‘Huh?’
Then, something shiny caught Sienna’s eye.
“……”
It was a beautiful necklace in the center of the corridor. It was an item that was familiar to Sienna, even though she was not interested in jewelry.
‘What…?’
I’m worried about this feeling of desperation…
“You aren’t paying attention to my explanation, and where are you looking now… Oh, you’re looking at that. You have good eyesight.”
“Yes?”
Michael pointed to the portrait he had been talking about so far.
“That’s right. That’s the necklace my great-grandmother was wearing.”
“…….”
She wasn’t focusing on the explanation enough to recognize the necklace in the picture, but she decided to make an attentive expression. Sienna nodded sharply.
“I see.”
“Would you like to see it up close?”
Perhaps he liked that Sienna was focusing on his explanation, as Michael’s attitude was quite relaxed.
‘It’s awkward, though.’
It was a hundred times better than yelling and picking a fight.
The two stood in front of the exhibition table in the middle of the building. On it, a scarlett, fair-cut jewelry the size of a baby’s fist.
“The flame of Hesaros, one of the Named.”
“Named…”
“You know? It’s a famous construction. A new thing sealed in a millennium box. Ancient legacies that only submit to qualified people.”
“Ah yes. That.”
“There are thirteen eligible, and there are four of them in Nacht alone.”
Michael raised his nose.
“Two belong to my father and brother, but I do not know who the other one belongs to. But one of them is special. They say it has never been subjugated to others yet.”
Listening to his explanation brought back a blurry memory.
‘You almost got in trouble when you touched this before.’
(P/N: The ‘you’ in here is referring to Loreina.)
It was not long after Sienna and Loreina’s unforgettable summer events.
Loreina, who came to see the gallery exhibition room alone, touched the jewel out of curiosity, fell down, and had to lie down for about two weeks.
Later on, Loreina said she almost died.
‘What did she say? Her magic was so powerful that when she came into contact with it, something like a collision happened.’
The jewel that drove Loreina to the brink of death was also not safe, and broke in two on the spot.
For that matter, Loreina became famous as a “genius who the body of a millennium box couldn’t even handle” and the Named Hesaros disappeared from Nacht.
That was why Sienna did not recognize the object that threatened her sister’s life at a glance.
‘…wait.’
Sienna suddenly thought.
If Loreina’s mana almost killed her in a collision, wouldn’t something similar happen if she touched it?
Not dark blood reds like ruby and garnett, but the fiery jewel caught the eye.
‘Maybe I’ll die….’
Huh….
The more you look at it, the more you seem to see it, the more it seemed like a fire that was trapped in a clear glass, the more mysterious and powerful it seems to have the power to kill at least one person.
“…What is it? You’re going to touch it?”
“What?”
At Michael’s words, Sienna came to her senses and was confused.
‘Uh.’
And she realized that her hand was just above the red jewel with only a finger’s distance left.
“I’m sorry, I do not dare too…”
When Sienna quickly pulled her hand away, Michael shrugged it off.
“You can touch it. Touching doesn’t mean anything.”
Whether or not Sienna listened to his explanation well, he was very generous.
Sienna smiled and shook her head.
“……No, I’m okay for now.”
Yet.
She was worried she was going to die right now. But she did not want to yet. Sienna decided to keep in mind that there was such a way for now and bit her hand back.
“Hmm… well, if you don’t like it.”
Michael, who had no idea what she had just thought, tried to lead her and continue guiding her to the exhibition room in earnest after that.
But in a moment…
“Hey, you’re…”
“…Ah.”
When Sienna heard the explanation, she suddenly fell asleep. It was a major accident.
“I’m talking, and you’re falling asleep? You must have been bored.”
“Well, I’m sorry…”
Sienna rubbed her eyes
That was too much. Michael seemed to have been completely offended by the dry apology.
“That’s enough! It’s not like I even know you well enough!”
Michael shouted and left the exhibition room.
Do I have to hold onto him? She had that thought for a moment, but Sienna soon changed her mind.
‘We’re not meant to be.’
Fortunately, Madam Deborah soon came to pick up Sienna.
“How are you?”
Unfortunately, the head maid hoped the two children would become moderately close, and had arranged a place for refreshments to promote friendship.
“He left first.”
Sienna who was young but honest, confessed, “He was explaining everything well, but he was angry because I fell asleep.”
“Oh, I see. You must be disappointed.”
No way. Sienna laughed silently.
“But today was rather good. Because you have to prepare yourself again later.”
“…what?”
She had a bad feeling in an instant.
“I just got a telegram. I heard that the operation ended very successfully. His Highness will return home early, so there will be a family dinner for the first time in a long while.”
“Oh dear.”
Deborah’s eyebrows twitched at my sincere words that came out unconsciously.
“What did you just say?”
“Pardon?”
Sienna tilted her head. It was an innocent gesture. Madam Deborah looked at her with suspicion, but instead of continuing to question Sienna, she led her into the room.
“Well, that’s all right. You might be out of words. Anyway, you have to hurry. Hurry up and get ready.”
It seems, each and every one of the strict maids are excited?
“Well…, ma’am, I’m still not very well-mannered. I’d like to eat alone in my room like i do now, until I finish studying…”
“Absolutely not. His Highness has ordered you to prepare for your first dinner with them. Besides, a very good thing is waiting for you.”
There’s no way out. Sienna clicked her tongue secretly inside.
“Oh, Young Master Ashiel will also attend.”
That just made things worse.
“The Young Master has even been granted permission to stay here to welcome you. You should be grateful.”
‘Why the hell are you so…’
I didn’t want to go before, but now I am against going even more now.
‘Would it hurt.’
It was only but a dinner meeting. If she avoid them today, there would be tomorrow, and waiting till tomorrow would cause even more problems.
Sadly, there was no way out. She would just have to deal with it.
* * *
Night was the same wherever the sun went down, but the night that came to this castle was unusual.
A toxic, heavy, solem, and deep night.
As if the daytime, which seemed to be a place where people lived, was a joke. Delicate air flowed everywhere that made people as wary as prey.
Even the shadows cast in the corridor were like swamps, so if she went in the wrong way, it seemed to be entangling her ankles.
The memories of falling asleep while crying softly every night when she first came to this castle, loomed.
‘It doesn’t happen as often now, but…’
After she returned to the age of 11, she began to try and adapt, but this darkness was beginning to feel creepy again for the first time in three years.
“Come on, Miss. Follow me.”
Without anyone opening it, the door to the dining room opened.
“…Are you here?”
“Yes…”
We have eaten here together several times before.
But today’s atmosphere was somewhat different.
At the top of the long table sat the Grand Duke, on the right side of the table were his two sons.
“Sit down.”
Would it be an illusion if everything in the dining room was polished more brightly than in her memory?
The furniture wasn’t exceptionally shiny. But The Grand Duke and his sons were all dressed up regally.
‘You’re dressed embarrassingly…’
On the other hand, Sienna was dressed up in the orphanage’s clothes because her new clothes were not ready yet.
All the clothes went through Madam Deborah’s hands, but the leftover rough cotton fabric could not be transformed into silk.
She was past the age to be ashamed of one’s clothes anyways. But she was a little curious about their intentions.
‘Are you doing this to kill me?’
The Grand Duke, Ashiel, and Michael were also silently watching Sienna sitting on the left side. Sienna sighed inside.
‘Yes, I know. Even if I don’t look at them, I know very well myself that I’m a foreign object that doesn’t fit in this place.’
Anyway, she didn’t want to make eye contact with any of the three, so she began to open the centerpiece of the table.
‘It was not a common flower.’
It was a fruit. On a golden embossed plate like a giant fountain, fresh khaman grapes were hanging on it like the water of the fountain, and a large pomegranate that was cut open appeared above it, showing red beads.
The Nacht crest contains pomegranates. Perhaps that is why it was adopted as an ornament instead of a flower.
“…Let’s begin.”
Seeing Sienna concentrating on pomegranate seeds one by one, the Grand Duke gave up and called over his servant to say something.
Rumble, bang.
A roar sounded like a huge earthquake. The butler clicked his tongue.
“Suddenly it’s raining heavily.”
Lightning flashed one after another along with the sound of rain.
“I think it’s going to interfere with your meal, so I’ll pull down the curtains.”
As heavy velvet curtains covered the windows of the dining room, the sound of thunder and rain disappeared.
“I’ll bring out the appetizer.”
“Seafood delicacy soup.”
Sienna’s small silver plate also contained a ladle of unknown soup. It was steaming hot, but Sienna thought cynically.
‘Sitting with three out of four people, who don’t want to sit around a table, and eating something with unknown ingredients in it. I’m dying of joy.’
It’s a relief if you don’t have an upset stomach.
“If it doesn’t suit your taste, you can leave it.”
The Grand Duke hinted as if he had seen through her thoughts. But Sienna interpreted his words as this.
I’m telling you to have a drink.
She had no appetite, but she couldn’t refuse. Sienna picked up a heavy silver spoon and dipped it into the soup.
Only then, as if time had stopped moving, did the Grand Duke and his sons also pick up their tableware at once.
“You said that the extermination with the monsters was going to be pretty rough, but you came back early. Father?”
“I’m glad it was over before the weather got bad.”
“Yes, The beasts tend to get worse when the weather is bad. It’s not a good conversation to talk about at a meal, though.”
Sienna decided to taste the food instead of listening to the conversation.
‘Hmm.’
The soup she had taken less than a spoonful of was surprisingly not bad.
‘The spoon is a bit heavy.’
She tried to hold it with her small hand, but the silver spoon only repeatedly confirmed to her that it was still heavy to handle.
It may be overly self-conscious, but it seemed that only her plate was making excessive noise. She didn’t want to attract attention, so she moved the dishes as quietly as possible, so it seemed as if she was eating.
‘Well, I didn’t really want to eat it anyway.’
“Potato puree and grilled sea bream.”
“It’s a steak with cresson, grilled cauliflower, and pomegranate sauce.”
Sienna focused on listening to the rest of the conversation and pretending to eat the food set in turn.
“…You don’t seem to like it.”
Startle.
‘I didn’t think I’d get caught…’
Actually, Ashiel took things as they came, but kept an eye on everything.
“I’m eating.”
“You didn’t touch the meat.”
As Ashiel pointed out, Sienna had not touched the main steak, but had only a slice of asparagus.
Have you ever observed me before? Sienna awkwardly apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Ashiel narrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to hear her apology. He felt terribly wrong.
“You don’t have to apologize for the food you don’t like.”
“Butler.”
When the Grand Duke intervened, the butler came. He received the words without hesitation.
“Yes, I’ll remind the chef to pay attention. What else would you like on your plate?”
Sienna shook her head gently in the eyes of the Grand Duke.
“That’s all right.”
‘If I eat anything more than this, I’ll have to get digestive medicine in about an hour.’
“Hmm….”
If she said that they didn’t need to do that because of her, she would need to try to persuade them, but she couldn’t say anything, so she just cut it off and said it was okay.
“…Tell the maid if you are hungry later.”
Sienna nodded her head calmly, but she strongly felt that the Grand Duke would never do what she asked him to do.
‘It’s too soon… I didn’t know you prepared this kind of event.’
She belatedly thought he was being hasty, but she couldn’t help it. The Grand Duke hit his glass twice to signal he had finished eating.
The servants cleared the traces of their meal. But…
‘What is it?’
Instead of bringing dessert, the butler brought four small gold plates and put them in front of the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke nodded and ordered.
“Bring the pomegranate.”
“What?”
The butler moved the ripe pomegranate from the golden plate of the centerpiece onto the gold plate of the Grand Duke.
‘…Wasn’t it just a decoration?’
It was a pomegranate the size of Sienna’s head, but it looked like a small orange in the Grand Duke’s hands.
It occurred to me that it didn’t seem to be just about sharing pomegranates.
Does the pomegranate mean anything? In a way, it’s more like a main dish than a meal.
In a room that was still enough to hear the sound of candles flowing, the Grand Duke cut the pomegranate in half along the open grain. Then, the broken pieces were carefully divided into two.
As he was tearing the pomegranate with his bare hands, red juice fell on his hands like blood.
The butler placed a piece of it on a gold plate and put it in front of Sienna. A kind smile filled his face.
“Congratulations, Miss.”
“….”
“In Nacht, when welcoming a new member, there is a custom of eating pomegranate handed out by the patriarch himself. It means to enjoy as many blessings as this pomegranate.”
Well, in Sienna’s view, the torn pomegranate in front of her looked like bleeding flesh rather than a symbol of blessing and hospitality.
Is this what Madam Deborah said?
…This is?
‘Their hospitality has a little bit of a barbaric aspect to it.
It was as if the wolf pack was sharing the prey the captain had been hunting. She was not the same as a wolf, but I was trapped and got a piece of raw meat, so she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
No, she wasn’t the only one who was in trouble.
‘I’ve never heard of or experienced anything like this when I was with Loreina.’
“I’ll hold it..”
While she was embarrassed by the first custom, her thoughts were cut off there. At the words of the Grand Duke, Ashiel and Michael began to eat pomegranates without a care.
Does not raising an objection mean that Sienna was welcomed, or does it simply mean that everyone agrees with the Grand Dukes’s decision?
It was just a few pomegranates, too little to find fault with. All together in this atmosphere, I couldn’t dare to question, “Why?”
Besides, it doesn’t mean that I could just eat this and get out of here, but it means welcome, so what objections should I even have?
Inevitably, Sienna roughly swallowed some red grains into her mouth.
Before I knew it, the Grand Duke, Ashiel, and Michael were watching Siena eating the pomegranate.
The three pairs of eyes were as red as the pomegranate seeds mashed in Sienna’s mouth now.
I got goosebumps.
‘…Stop eating.’
When I cleaned my hands with the napkin, the butler congratulated me by clearing the dishes.
“Good job. Now only the deep night and the power of Nacht will protect you.”
“Thanks.”
I don’t think it’s a good thing, but the congratulations only made me feel uncomfortable.
‘I feel like I’ve joined something I shouldn’t have…’
It was ominous. A few pomegranates now seem to lie within me now.
The Grand Duke words only showed how he misinterpresented Sienna’s quiet attitude.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand right now. We only need to understand the custom of recognizing you as Nacht’s child.”
“…For what reason?”
Sienna tried not to ask, but she couldn’t hold it in…. Really, she had endured enough.
“I’m just an orphan. No matter what your expectations are, I won’t be able to live up to them.”
“Hey! What do you expect from us…”
Michael, who had managed to stay still until now, finally raised his voice, but the Grand Duke raised his hand to block him.
“…That’s not an appropriate thing for a child to say.”
His red gaze was cold. Sienna thought that the criticism of being ‘insolent’ would fall roughly upon her.
‘You could now be cold-hearted about the favors you’ve already given.’
Or at least that’s what she hoped for. Sienna was determined and waited for his next word. But-
“Call Madam Deborah.”
He missed my expectations.
“It seems like someone has been talking, presumably, the head maid. I’ll ask the head maid and ask her personally.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She tried not to, but Sienna opened her eyes like a surprised rabbit.
“That….”
Without any time for Sienna to say anything, the maid waiting outside the dining room door immediately arrived.
“Well, Madam Deborah.”
When the butler delivered the message with a perplexed look, the head maid was startled.
“What?” Quickly, Madam Deborah bowed her head.
“Your Highness, I swear that Deborah never said that. I haven’t seen her for a long time, but she is calm and clear, unlike her peers, so the Grand Duchy’s judgment is correct. Please believe me!”
“……”
Sienna, who was worried for a moment that Madam Deborah might get a punishment, was speechless. It was inevitable that she was embarrassed.
“Then why did the child think that way? Don’t you have any idea?”
“I didn know she thought that way, but is there any chance…”
Madam Deborah replied, gritting her teeth.
“While she was unavoidably away, I might have been mischievous and impolite.”
All eyes were on Sienna.
“So, have you ever heard anything? It’s all right, tell me.”
If she had to pick the one who said the most, it was Michael. However, instead of pointing out the fact, Sienna kept her mouth shut like a statue and shook her head.
Ashiel sighed instead.
“It’s no use questioning the child, Father.”
“Well.”
The Grand Duke ordered Madam Deborah to see if she felt the same way.
“Be careful with your words. We will determine whether your actions were appropriate or not.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Calm down, Your Grace.”
The butler intervened softly to soften the suffocating atmosphere.
“From how this old man sees it, since Lady Sienna has received the pomegranate, no one will be able to say anything about it.”
“…Yes.”
The Grand Duke nodded with mixed eyes.
“With all due respect, Your Grace, may I have a word?”
At that time, Madam Deborah intervened while looking around.
“As I said, I haven’t seen you for a long time, but your qualities are not unusual. If you’ve given her a pomegranate, why don’t you find the right tutor for her?”
Sienna was surprised. Education, tutor?
‘Already?’
In the past, due to Sienna having trouble adapting and the insensitivity of the Grand Duke, it wasn’t until nearly three months later that she began to be educated.
Compared to then, everything was happening too quickly now. But she seemed to be the only one who was surprised. The Grand Duke, the butler, and even Ashiel were nodding their heads.
“There’s no need to delay the education.”
“Well… You can take a class with me if you need to.”
Ashiel is usually the one who would say that kind of thing, but Michael is being really weird.
‘I’m sure he told me not to stay in this house for a long time at noon today.’
In many ways, it was ridiculous, but the Grand Duke was already nodding his head.
“Yeah, there’s no need to postpone it. I’ll put you on the list for seeking potential tutors. And…”
The eyes of the Grand Duke looked at Sienna again. Everyone’s eyes were on Sienna, to be exact, her dress.
“…I think we need many other things besides teachers.”
“Honestly, Your Grace. It really is needed.”
Madam Deborah was flattered. The Head Maid, who appeared like a strict private teacher at a girls’ school, was proving again and again that she was surprisingly very talented in femininity.
“We’ll try to allocate the necessary budget.”
…Budget?
No, but to Sienna, who is now starting to get sick of being surprised, the Grand Duke said.
“You are the child of Nacht that I acknowledge. I don’t know what nonsense you’ve heard, but don’t just hold it, forget it.”
“….”
Sienna’s expression, which was puzzled by the words, calmed down serenely.
Forget it…
Ironically, his words stabbed the deep memories in Sienna.
‘Don’t hold it in, forget it.’
Yes, Sienna can’t get over her sad and painful experiences.
‘But I wonder if Sienna wanted to include such a thing in me?’
(Q/N: The current Sienna was wondering if the past ‘her’ would want to still remember those experiences, since she technically has a second life now.)
‘I never wanted to go through any of it.’
If it was something I could do on my own, I would have thrown everything out right away.
…No, let’s push this dread to the side. Would I feel better if I did that? My heart was pounding. It was just probably my imagination, but I didn’t seem to be feeling well.
“Wait…”
At that moment, a really intense feeling of nausea squeezed into Sienna’s guts.
If you throw up like this, it would be a big accident. Sienna tried hard to bear it because she didn’t want to show a dirty image.
“Wook…”
“Oh, my lady!”
Sienna, who was white as snow when forced to endure, bent down hurriedly. The frost was rumbling, and the golden plate and pomegranate on top rolled the floor.
“Are you all right, Miss?”
Madam Deborah hurriedly helped Sienna. Meanwhile, Sienna’s foot, which slipped from the chair, unintentionally trampled on the fallen pomegranate, but no one cared about it.
“Suddenly, what the…”
“Doctor, I’ll call a doctor!”
“Lady!”
Sienna kept on feeling nauseous, but she couldn’t get anything weird out.
“Ugh…”
“Lady!”
Someone grabbed Sienna’s shoulder, while she was wriggling along the floor in agony. She could see the face of the man who had grabbed her, biting his lips in embarrassment.
It was a great achievement….
‘Oh, to the very end…’
Sienna closed her eyes tightly. The Grand Duke consoled Sienna after interpreting it as just her being “sick.”
“Hold on, I’ve called a doctor…”
I would rather have him leave me alone than call a doctor. However, the Grand Duke could only use his trembling hands to calm Sienna’s body and lean her against his chest.
Careful actions, like he was taking care of something precious. Sienna trembled because she hated it so much.
Maybe someone thinks she’s grumbling happily over all of this happening. Sienna, who was in pain, believed that someone might ask what’s wrong with her.
Being friendly doesn’t mean you don’t have to choke me.
(T/N: She’s being sarcastic.)
‘I don’t like it here.’
Every moment in this castle, my miserable past was a wreck. I started to feel so ashamed of myself that I didn’t even want to think about it again.
Sienna cried a little because she was sad.
Why.
‘How wrong am I in this humble life, how wrong am I to go through this…’
Fortunately for Sienna, she was slowly losing her sanity as if she was suffocating.
I hope I lose my mind and hope this place is rather a dream than reality. That’s what I thought, but at the same time, I knew very well that it couldn’t be.
Even what I thought was death was not death.
So I hope it’s a nightmare… But of course it’s real.’
It’s terrible….
* * *
There was a great disturbance surrounding the child who was in pain because of some trouble with her body.
“There’s no particular abnormality. I guess you’ve often been in long-term pain.
The doctor’s diagnosis surprised the grand duke.
“Do you walk on the streets because you’re in a state of tension?”
(T/N: The Grand Duke meant that people who are in pain, would they still walk even when they know the pain they would have to endure?)
“Those… Some young children can.”
“That’s ridiculous. My sons have never had this when they were young.”
The doctor only expressed his opinion about the situation, but the Grand Duke’s reprimand came out of the blue. The butler stepped in because he could see the doctor was in a bind.
“Please understand, Your Grace. The princes are very strong, just like your majesty.”
Both sons looked exactly like the Grand Duke and lived with all kinds of good things. Such Guardians and orphans who grew up in poor conditions could not be compared.
“You look so small and skinny, and I think the doctor’s words are reasonable.”
“You didn’t do a rough examination?”
(T/N: ‘Rough examination meaning something out of conduct.)
“What? No way!”
The doctor jumped. He was in his right mind. The Grand Duke was watching with his eyes clearly open, and there’s no way he’ll be able to see a doctor lie.
“I speak to you in my honor as a doctor; I’ve never done such a thing.”
Besides, he’s not from an orphanage. The doctor quickly protested.
“She’s never eaten greasy food before, so there’s a high possibility that she might have a stomachache.”
“She didn’t eat that much to the point of getting sick.”
The doctor’s voice grew louder due to Ashiel’s cool-headed comments.
“Then it’s probably because she’s nervous because it’s her first time here! The reason she fainted is because she is weak because she doesn’t usually have a nutritious diet!”
There was no room to refute.
“That is, I was forced to treat a weak and unprepared child to dinner, and I got upset. The sound of… Eup.”
“Michael, shhh.”
Ashiel sighed and blocked his brother’s overly honest mouth, but it was too late.
“…Your Grace, why don’t you let her rest for now?
Madam Deborah was entrusted the duty of taking care of Sienna with the traffic control of an experienced butler.
(P/N: Traffic control as in directing people; telling them where to go and determining what should be done in any circumstance.)
“You’ll open your eyes tomorrow. Lady Sienna, from now on, Madam Deborah will take care of you so that you can adapt slowly. I’ll pay attention to this insensitive butler.”
“……Please.”
The Grand Duke sighed. For some reason, he thought it was going to be a long night.
However, contrary to the promise, Sienna woke up two days after that.
Sienna was dreaming. Most of her dreams were based on her old memories. Therefore, most of Sienna’s dreams were nightmares.
In her dreams, Sienna saw herself during her pathetic days, who tried to help everyone in any little way she could.
After spending the summer at Loreina’s house, Sienna was often anxious.
Originally, she felt unqualified to stay in Nacht, but the guilt of secretly sharing her sister’s mana and deceiving others gradually ate into Sienna’s conscience.
Loreina often pretended to soothe the anxious Sienna, but changed her attitude after several similar exchanges were repeated.
“Sienna, you looked so anxious. I was thinking of you, but… Was it too much for you?”
Loreina, who blinked her bright green eyes as if she was disappointed, looked very upset. Sienna had no choice but to shake her head, saying, “I’m not”, in a hurry.
After that, she began to calm herself down and to not worry Loreina.
From then on, Sienna suffered from terrible nightmares.
‘How dare you!’
You’re such a disgusting bastard!’
‘How lovely Loreina is!
‘Parasite!’
After the ceremony, geometric patterns remained on the bodies of Loreina and Sienna.
Sienna trembled with her clothes sticking to her skin, thinking about how she stole Loreina’s mana. She had dreamt of leaving behind traces which would lead to her being found out.
I couldn’t adapt to seeing the same dream hundreds and hundreds of times. As time went by, I would wake up with a cold sweat every time.
The guilt of stealing from my sister and deceiving our benefactors.
Time passed and she turned 18, but the guilt only grew greater and greater. Rather than disappearing, it was crushing Sienna.
To forget that feeling of guilt, Sienna worked tirelessly. She tried to do whatever she could do.
While receiving the same support, she unilaterally served Loreina as a maid. In addition, Sienna tried to do her best for Grand Duke Nacht and his sons.
Even though all she could do was very little.
Making a harness to help them go out to the battlefield every time, heat up a cloth to cover their wounds…
“At most, you act just like a maid, you’re barely a guardian.”
“Well, that’s not enough, actually. It’s impossible to be an employee of Nacht if you’re an orphan with an unclear origin.”
To be a servant of a noble family like Nacht, one had to be a person whose background, growth and survival could be estimated by his or her immediate family. Of course, there should also be a letter of recommendation from a reliable person.
An orphan who couldn’t even dream of becoming a maid. Sienna tried to understand exactly where she was and be humble. Sometimes she had put in more effort than she should have.
It was the same with making magic tools. Loreina gave away, or to be precise, left a very small amount of magic behind for Sienna to make low-level self-defense tools. While Loreina herself made grand items for the Grand Duke and his sons.
Even that required self-studying for a long time due to her lack of proper education, and there was no one to guide her, so it had to go through trial and error until it succeeded.
Mana is a force that can be used by both magicians and guardians. The difference was in the way that power was handled. Guardians born from stagnant mana, and only a few other people were allowed to possess and deal with it.
In short, that can be called “the talent to become a sorcerer”.
Anyway, the nature of magic was chaos, and it was a power that was easily stained by greed. Sometimes humans could turn into demons when their power became completely dominated by their greed.
To use magic, that is, to become a magician, means that you are exposed to the risk of being stained by darkness. And that you are always at risk of turning into a beast, or going crazy.
Speaking of prejudice, sorcerers are quite the closet lunatics. For them, self-defense tools act as their pain reliever, just like panadol is for migraine sufferers.
However, the Grand Duke of Nacht, who was a magician specialized in healing magic, which was also known as purification magic, had no need to be paranoid about being stained by darkness or have a need for self-defense tools.
It was Loreina who encouraged Sienna, who could discern that much.
“Sienna, I thought you were doing the best you could, but you really don’t have anything else to do, so wouldn’t it be better for you to show some sincerity? You’re in a position where you’re indebted to the Nacht family.”
They were words that subtly pricked Sienna’s heart, that was racked with guilt.
‘My sister was a person who knew exactly how to strike a person’s heart.’
In hindsight, I started to see things I hadn’t seen before.
Anyway, since then, Sienna steadily had more self-confidence.
After all, self-defense did not seem to deviate much from Sienna’s personality.
Even though most of her efforts didn’t produce fruit, Sienna spent days and days to make things right.
Especially if you knew the ending of that life.
It was not pleasant to watch the days of that sincere idiot who would never give up.
After a while, the scene changed and Sienna was standing in front of Ashiel.
“Your Highness…”
No, I was standing. There was a little bit of a gap between them. It was because Ashiel, who led a group of his men, went straight past her.
He didn’t even pretend to know, let alone say hello, but she couldn’t tell whether he had not seen Sienna, or he had ignored her while he was busy.
“Oh, Miss Sienna! There you are. Would you please clean up Asie’s room when you have time?”
(T/N: Asie is Ashiel’s nickname.)
Sienna, who had no family and was now a noble’s guardian, was more reliable than the average employee.
And Sienna was trying her best to become a guardian bride, that she had left a gift under Ashiel’s desk everyday.
(P/N: In case y’all forgot, guardians often become the spouse of their benefactor’s kids.)
“……”
‘….You were mistaken.’
Sienna, who brought trash and amulets, climbed the stairs helplessly. I saw it.
“Michael-nim.”
“Good for you to be busy.”
Sienna held back a sigh, and smiled as if it were plastered on her face.
“Because it’s something I can do.”
“Is this something no one told you to do?”
The boy stared.
Ashiel didn’t show any signs of disrespect for her, while Michael clearly hated Siena.
“Why don’t you get out of here if you think you’re humble enough to take away the maid’s work?”
Sienna quickly lowered her head, wondering if she was showing that her feelings were being hurt.
“…I will be careful.”
“Well, that can’t be true. I’m having a false dream that doesn’t fit my personality, and I can’t miss the chance to stay close to you.”
I seemed to have some ridiculous misunderstanding, but I didn’t have the energy to answer.
‘No, it’s actually a misunderstanding.’
I didn’t want to bother you.
Sienna didn’t want to do anything but eat in this house like a plant and remain on her own.
I wanted to do something that I could do even if I was struggling.
I don’t even dream of being loved or recognized. If I could be a little useful, that would be enough.
But is even that an unreasonable dream?
Michael probably wanted to say that, Sienna thought.
“…I’m sorry.”
“How brazen.”
Michael left with words of contempt for Sienna, who repeatedly apologized.
That was the situation for Sienna at that time.
“…..”
Maybe it was because I had such a dream, and thus fell asleep for two days.
Sienna barely opened her stiff eyes because she had been suffering for a long time. It was past midnight.
No wonder I thought my dream was harsh, I was lying on Loreina’s bed again. Surrounded by lavishly soft and fluffy bedding, Sienna sighed with disdain.
I simply fainted and woke up. I had no energy at all. My back was wet with sweat and my eyes were very stiff.
In fact, two days had passed since the dinner incident, but Sienna didn’t know that yet.
Looking around, the fireplace was burning warmly, and Madam Deborah was dozing off in an armchair next to it.
“…… ”
Sienna came down from the bed carefully. She didn’t want to sit in Loreina’s bed after that dream.
Even after considering that it was now Sienna’s.
It was amusing just imagining it.
With or without Loreina, nothing was Sienna’s.
…Nothing.
Sienna just walked towards a bed where she could sleep without having nightmares. A fluffy carpet hid the sound of Sienna’s little feet.
Unlike the previous room, which was warmed by expensive coal in a fireplace and tangpa, the bed in the small room was cold.
(P/N: a tangpa is like a bed warmer.)
Sienna dragged herself into the cold bed, laid flat, sniffing the familiar smell of dust.
And fell into a deep sleep again.
“…Hey!”
Sienna opened her eyes wide in surprise at the sound of a loud roar.
“Why are you sleeping here?”
“Calm down, Young Master. Aren’t you surprised?”
Madam Deborah stopped him, but it didn’t work. Michael was rather furious.
“What are you talking about? Why is she sleeping here?”
“Haven’t you been sick for two days because your fever was bad? You must have come to this room while sleeping….”
“Why is she leaving the nice and warm bed?!”
Sienna sighed, rubbing her eyes. It was surprising that she was sick for two days, but she wondered what kind of manners it was to scream in front of a person who was sick for two days.
“Head Maid, you didn’t just pretend to be good in front of my father but tell her to grow up here, did you?”
“Oh my God, that’s not true!”
Eventually, an arrow went all the way to hit Madam Deborah. I didn’t think I could just lie down anymore.
“…Stop it, Michael.”
Sienna rose quietly.
“As the Head Maid said, I’m the one who came into this room on my own.”
“…Are you asking me to believe that?”
What will you do if you don’t believe us? Sienna, who had been sick for two days, was very tired.
“Why would I lie?”
“It would be to cover the maid’s foolishness.”
That’s a naive thought. Sienna shrugged.
“No way. I’m not so good that I’d be deliberately covering up for a person who is condemning me.”
“Lady….”
“…..”
Madam Deborah seemed to have been moved by something unusual, but Michael felt like he had a strange desire to refute the statement. It was a regrettable feeling, and he does not know the reason himself.
“…Then why did you leave your room alone and get stuck in a closet like this?”
Sienna sighed. This person and that person are all like that, and why is everyone complaining about these things.
‘It would have been nice if we had a sense of the problem before things became like this.’
I’m sorry but I won’t be buying their pity anymore. It’s over now. This is not just an emotional problem.
‘Even the ending where I had nothing was miserable.’
It was clear that if you had something presumptuous or received good treatment, you would fall further into the abyss.
Sienna repeated the excuses she had made to the Grand Duke the other day.
“Because that room is a very nice room. This is similar to the place I used to have, so I keep coming here to sleep.”
“……”
“Sorry for making a fuss.”
Michael, who had lost his words, had an impressive expression on his face.
Q/C: In this case the ‘impressive’ is used in such a way which emphasizes the exact opposite meaning of the word. As in, Michael has a thunderstruck, a very surprised/shocked, expression.
“…It’s similar to the place you were in?
“Yeah. You know, I’m from an orphanage.”
Sienna’s attitude was calm even though it was a story of a person who once was ashamed and humiliated. Her calmness was excessive but yet she seemed confident.
“That, but…”
When Michael heard that, he was rather embarrassed.
The boy stuttered and tried to persuade the young girl.
“Eh, not anymore. You’re a child of Nacht now, and you’ve gotten blessings from the pomegranate. Don’t you remember?”
Oh, that.
“I remember.”
There is no disease and you cannot forget what you endured. It’s a problem because it makes me sick rather than deeply moved and grateful.
Unaware of other people’s speed in comprehending, Michael began giving a speech about how great was the pomegranate that Sienna received.
“I don’t know if you know, but my father doesn’t give the pomegranate to anyone. I mean, it’s complicated to explain…”
“You mean you’re going to regard me as family, right?
“Yes, that’s right! We are about the same.”
Michael nodded vigorously at her well-timed aid. ‘So what do you make of that?’, he seemed to express as he looked at Sienna with confidence.
Sienna blinked her eyes.
“…..”
“Thank you…?”
It was a great honor to be a member of the Grand Duke’s family. Unfortunately, however, some people do not want that honor.
‘If that’s true, I just want to throw up all that’s already digested in my stomach.’
Once again, I couldn’t be honest.
Madam Deborah intervened.
“Your Majesty, this is how it is. She’ll get used to it.”
“But…”
“Moreover, now I think you’ll have to step aside so that the lady can change and rest.”
“Ah.”
I left early in the morning when Madam Deborah was dozing off. She must have been so angry that I was sleeping in the maid’s room when she opened the door.
“그….”
“That…”
Michael, who was ten years old but regarded himself as a gentleman, wanted to hide like a mouse in a hole.
“Your Highness?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I-I-I will go back.”
The boy hurried back with his face reddened. “It’s finally peaceful,” she thought deeply.
‘I don’t want to see you any more today.’
If Michael knew her thoughts were like this, he would have cried, but fortunately, the Young Master didn’t have the talent to read people’s minds.
* * *
Soon after, a doctor came and examined Sienna, who had been ill, and diagnosed that there was nothing wrong.
“I’m glad you woke up safely.”
“Thank you.”
Sienna only knew the doctor who treated the wound in front of the Grand Duke, but the doctor who came today was someone else.
‘Well, doctor, you didn’t even know me before.’
If the Grand Duke doesn’t force you to do it again, you wouldn’t want to examine an orphan. Sienna thought so trivially.
The doctor of the Nacht Duchy disappeared from his workplace because he couldn’t estimate Sienna’s age, but even Sienna couldn’t even imagine a way to figure it out either.
Rumors began spreading among the employees of the castle due to the demotion of the doctor, that the orphan girl was despised, and then a big rumor began to spread.
“Lady, you haven’t eaten in two days, so do you want a quick bite before you take the medicine?”
“Yes, please.”
“A soup boiled with potatoes, a soft egg dish….”
I didn’t feel like eating anything, but when Madam Deborah picked up something to eat, my mouth began to water.
Sienna, who was not even in a state of hunger, nodded her head gently.
“I want some soup.”
“It’ll be ready in a minute.”
Soon, a steamy potato soup was placed in front of Sienna. When I smelled the savory smell, I had an incredible appetite.
Come to think of it, I have never eaten anything properly since I came to Nacht Castle. Sienna picked up a small spoonful and began to drink the soup quickly.
“You’re done eating!”
Madam Deborah exclaimed.
“Good job, Miss.”
I can’t believe you complimented me for eating all the food I was given.
But Madam Deborah did not stop there. But she brought an apple and began peeling it with a silver spoon.
“Since you’re eating well, you should eat dessert, too.”
“Oh, goodness.”
The treatment I had never received before was more irritating than good. At this time, I was a little fed up.
Apple juice scraped by someone in the position of overseeing the employees of Nacht Duchy. It was a treat that even Loreina didn’t receive.
‘I can’t eat it because it’s embarrassing….’
Tired, Sienna shook her head, saying she was full. But Madam Deborah told her the apple is good for her, and begged her to take a bite.
“Just try one bite, okay? If it doesn’t suit your taste, I won’t recommend it any more.”
‘Why the hell…’
Why is she trying so hard?
In the end, Sienna was embarrassed, and after losing the fight, a bite of a sweet, softly peeled apple was forced into her mouth.
‘…I thought she was a person who was very sensitive to power and figures of authority….’
She wasn’t one who would treat orphans so seriously just because the Grand Duke was merciful.
Madam Deborah fed the apple to Sienna, squeezing it into her open mouth.
‘Oh.’
After being absent-minded and taking in a few bites, the apple was sweet and now hard to refuse.
I can’t help it. Madam Deborah scraped an apple for Sienna, who gave up and ate it well.
“What a great improvement!”
Madam Deborah, who succeeded in feeding her a bowl of soup and an apple, proudly praised Sienna.
“I’m sure that Ms. Deborah’s sincerity has touched you.”
No, instead of raising your nose, it seemed to me that you were more proud of yourself rather than complimenting Sienna.
“Now that you’re done eating, shall we get up? Actually, I have something very important to do today.”
“Ah….”
How did I not expect anything? However, look of anticipation in Madam Deborah’s eyes made Sienna inquire.
“What is it?”
“I called the tailor to fit the lady’s clothes,” she said.
Just in case, it was me. It was clear that the reason why she opposed going to the tailor was not because of her health, but because of their schedule.
‘You look tired.’
It didn’t mean that the process of measuring and matching clothes was annoying.
(T/N: She’s being sarcastic.)
But God, it’s irritating enough.
In the eyes of Sienna, who was stuck tagging along, the gift of clothes did not come from pure goodwill.
“If you take off your clothes that don’t suit the grand public, the restrictions on your appearances in private events will be removed.”
If you are not a shame to be seen by others, various troubles would be awaiting for Sienna.
“I’m going to get a bunch of pretty clothes for you. You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you?”
“Yes…”
Sienna crawled into the bed.
“I-I don’t think I’m feeling well, as you said. Please let me rest a little more…”
“Young Lady?!”
Instead of answering, Sienna flipped under the blanket. Madam Deborah tried persuading her from flipping over to the side of the small bed.
“No, you can’t! The Grand Duke called the tailor himself!”
Really? Sienna was surprised and disappointed.
She wanted to take the medicine off herself, who had been sickened from attending the important dinner table and had a horrifyingly heroic struggle.
Unfortunately, Michael and the Grand Duke are much better than I thought. It looked like she had to have a strong stomach.
‘I can’t believe I’ve been so mean and unresponsive.’
Why on earth did they hate her so much in the past? Because her talent is terrible?
“Come on, wake up!”
Unable to overcome Madam Deborah’s touch, Sienna stopped thinking and stood in front of the dress room mirror.
“It’s an honor to see you, miss. Now, would you like to come over here?”
Led by a tailor, Sienna stood on the main platform of the Tuleraint Room.
“What beautiful green eyes. Her hair is bright, so it’ll look like a nice gold in the sun.”
To be exact, it’s just grayish brown hair. And compared to Loreina’s fresh green eyes, Sienna’s was just a dark green with gray mixed in.
“Your skin is white, and you have a milky white texture too, so you look good in lemon or apricot or pink. Oh, my God.”
“Unexpectedly, you look good in red.”
“That’s what I’m saying. She’s a lucky lady. It’s not easy to match any color.”
“Hmmm.”
The maid shrugged her shoulders with a proud look. But the tailor tilted her head.
‘That’s weird. What a dull look on her face.’
Usually, if a tailor came to you like this and gave you a lot of praise, no matter how self-contained a child is, they would always end up excited. But Sienna didn’t look too happy, let alone excited.
An expression that was dull, and looked like it was going to collapse if you touched it. Instead of a child, it almost seemed like she aged a decade more.
‘No, no of course not.’
She, who had been dealing with the aristocrats for a long time, knew well. What she had seen, heard, and felt in such a place should not be floating around. She even had to be careful about his own thoughts.
While the tailor was being careful with his words, Sienna stood on a small platform and glanced at herself in the mirror.
Loreina, who was standing on this beautiful platform, came to mind. Throughout her life, she enjoyed such wealth, and was so skilled and lovely.
However, it was not Loreina, but her, who stood on the golden platform and had herself reflected in the three-sided mirror.
A child who is still wearing shabby and rough clothes. A pale and thin complexion that seemed to be fresh from the orphanage.
…I felt like I was imitating Loreina on such a subject.
‘There are going to be a lot of misconceptions.’
The world had been going a little strange now, but Sienna was still Sienna.
If you live unnoticed, the world that was already moving will regain its original story.
By that time, Sienna planned to enter the academy quietly, maintain an ambiguous grade at around three percent of the total rankings, and then at the end join the regular army, where the full salary is adequate.
The more she thought about it, the more it was a perfect life plan. If her dreams of her humble life were just this much, no one would be willing to try and disturb her.
Just when Sienna was satisfied with the conclusion.
“Are you there?”
With a neat knock, a young servant appeared. He was holding a huge bouquet of flowers that overflowed in one arm.
“Oh, my God, what’s going on?”
“Don’t you see it, Madam Shue? It’s a bouquet.”
The man grinned and held out the bouquet of flowers to Sienna.
‘Me?’
Sienna unexpectedly received a bouquet of flowers. Instead of being distant, she was excited instead.
The unusually red sunset-like color was enough to distract the eyes. The petals were gathered together to form a round bloom, which itself was very colorful.
It was only pretty as each and every one was chosen perfectly. A beautiful bouquet of flowers without any injury or damage…
“Oh.”
“Lady!”
It was very heavy.
On behalf of the weak Sienna, Madam Deborah instead gave her the card which was inside the bouquet of flowers.
“You have a card.”
Sienna received a card from Madam Deborah. It was written in a familiar handwriting.
– I pray for your recovery, Ashiel.
“…..”
“The Young Master must have cared.”
“Oh, my God, it’s romantic… I’m sure he just spent at least one gold coin for one of these gifts.”
It looks like I’ve received at least 50 gold coins. I would have appreciated it if I had just gotten the coins directly.
Enter the military academy and commission.
However, it would not cost me any living expenses, so I just needed money, even if it was not urgent right now.
‘A flower that is not in kind, but less valuable every minute.’
Above all, it was a gift from Ashiel.
‘Huh? Wait.’
At that moment, there was a thought that passed through Sienna’s head.
“Hey, it can’t be that way. You’re having a dream that doesn’t fit you at all, so there’s no way you have the chance to be stuck near my brother.”
Ah….
Suddenly, at this very strange time, I noticed why Michael hated her back then. It seemed that Michael had a ridiculous misunderstanding that she dreamed of marrying Ashiel.
‘Oh, my God, that doesn’t make any sense.’
Sienna, who became as detached as she possibly can to the world, was lost for a moment. How broad was his imagination to think of her in that way?
‘Is it possible that Loreina…?’
It wasn’t without impossibility. Loreina stole Sienna’s mana and secretly manipulated her actions with subtle ways of speaking.
It wasn’t strange that she used other kinds of tricks in the middle.
“…..”
Since I was fooled by Loreina, I don’t think it’s possible to be close to her from now on and throw it to the back of my mind.
Rather, my head cooled down much more than before.
‘If you’ve been deceived once, you can be deceived again.’
There is one more reason for Sienna to get out of Nacht’s shadow.
First of all, what’s urgent now was the handling of this bouquet. Maybe it’s the source of trouble that can lead to useless misunderstandings.
“Lady?”
“Please say thank you for the gift to His Highness. And…”
Fortunately, there were many people around today. The people who joined to assist the tailor, a maid and the Head Maid.
“I think it’s too pretty and there are too many flowers for me to just have by myself.”
“Oh, you want to share?”
This was important. She could have given the impression that she would rudely refuse the gift given by the young master.
“In the orphanage where I was, when I got a good present, it was always divided… Can’t we do that?”
“No way. Being generous is a virtue that one should have as a superior. It’s nice that you know even if I don’t teach you.”
Madam Deborah spread the bouquet of flowers on the table, praising Sienna for such a minor things.
Confrontation could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings and hostility from Michael, so it was almost like a curse in Sienna’s eyes.
As she began to break up the bouquet, Sienna quickly stepped in.
“I’ll do it.”
Sienna divided the number of scarlet flowers into bundles according to the number of people.
PR to QC: no such thing as dog hali flowers lol so I just put scarlet since it can’t be confirmed what exactly it is.
QC: Kekeke welp. Scarlet it is.
“Thank you so much, My Lady.”
“Thank you!”
The maids were shocked, and could not hide their smiles and gratitude.
Flowers were a luxury. Anyone could have wild flowers grown on the street, but the common people had to go through a lot of hard labor to get these flowers that bloomed beautifully from the care of human hands.
There was no reason to refuse, as such pretty items could decorate rooms, or decorate hats or clothes, or drying them well for incense, or making colors made of pressed paint.
Anna, the tailor, also happily received the bouquet from Sienna.
‘I don’t know, but this type of flower probably wouldn’t be sold unless it was a noble with a certain level of status… Huh?”
Anna looked around. Everybody, up to the attendant who was assisting Madam Deborah, was given a bouquet of flowers. Except Sienna.
“Oh my goodness, but there’s nothing left for you.”
“I just need one thing.”
“But….”
“I also got a card.”
It was a neat answer with no need to dig into it strangely. The maid just laughed happily at the young lady’s generosity.
“I got a very precious gift out of nowhere. I’ll have to pay him back… Benny, would you please open that trunk?”
Nacht’s head maid was thorough. She wasn’t one to overlook the amount of time it takes to make custom clothes.
From the time Anna was wanted, Madam Deborah asked for some ready-made clothes that were roughly Sienna’s size. They were the one in the trunk over there.
“Let’s see!”
Anna rummaged the trunk with an ambitious attitude. She wasn’t calm, as she hoped to make the solemn child that seemed somewhat depressed a little brighter. Thus, she pulled out a dress in the color of a cute chick, which looked like a terrifying youthful yellow to Sienna.
“No, there.”
There were no likes or dislikes about clothes, but Sienna knew. That wasn’t her taste.
“As you know, there’s nothing special about ready-to-wear in our dressing room. But at the request of the Grand Duke of Nacht, I brought some sample clothings.”
The sample clothes that were presented by season showed a good representation of the fashion of the year and the ability of the dressing room.
Naturally, it was made from the highest quality of fabric and subsidiary materials, and it was a garment made with a sentimental touch from the owner from the beginning to the end.
“It’s a piece made with effort that is fit to be the clothes of a queen or a princess. I’d like to give it to you as a present.”
“Thank you very much! If you have those clothes, you can start your classes tomorrow.”
Like a bolt out of the blue again?
“…So fast?”
Sienna’s words meant ‘what exactly…’, but Madam Deborah understood it in a different way and raised her nose.
“It’s all thanks to my sympathy that this Deborah urgently considered your education.”
Thanks to me, the tutor said that he got attached so quickly. Sienna was just laughing.
Thanks to me, a tutor was found quickly. Sienna was laughing.
‘Lets see if you’ve changed, my tutor…’
Sienna’s former tutor was a wizard who belonged to the Hell Army under the command of the Grand Duke.
Like Sienna, he was a great person from an orphanage who entered the military academy and succeeded in joining the Hell Army, but Sienna had no good memories of him.
“The Grand Duke of Nacht is the most courageous and loyal to the Empire.”
The tutor hated Siena, too.
“I have given you mercy for an orphan like you. Remember that I have been gracious.”
When I recalled the dim memory of a tutor who was gritting his teeth, I realized something.
‘He was jealous of me.’
He was an orphan just the same, but he took the entrance examination to the military academy with all his might, and while it was with difficulty that he stepped into the Hell Army, he failed to get ahead, thus becoming a teacher for orphans like Sienna.
On the other hand, Sienna was rumored to have been lucky to have caught the eye of the Grand Duke.
‘It’s a more difficult condition for the truth not to be distorted.’
Well, it can’t be helped. It was not something that Sienna could not understand, that he was jealous, because she thought she was lucky without knowing it all.
The problem was that he spent more time pouring out his feelings of inferiority than teaching class.
‘His Majesty happened to like you… You’re lucky. Thank him for the rest of your life and it will still not be enough!
Every hour, Sienna was repeatedly educated about how great Nacht was and how great it was for such a humble orphan like her.
It was an education accompanied by insults and smacking.
‘I was always threatened that if I didn’t become a useful wizard, I’d be kicked out and sent back to the orphanage.’
However, he did not give much help for her to become a useful wizard.
While Sienna was lost in one thought or another, Anna and Madam Deborah decided to match all of Sienna’s clothes together and reached a near-perfect agreement.
Five outdoor dresses, five casual clothes, three pajamas, a cape, a riding suit, and a variety of other clothing. This was the amount agreed to prepare for the first time, and it cost so much that I didn’t even want to know about it.
Madam Deborah even counted all the money in the blank checks given by the Grand Duke.
“You can go to the top of the Nacht Street and claim what you want.”
“Oh, my God…”.
Anna’s hand trembled when receiving the first blank check of the Grand Duke Nacht, but surprisingly, Sienna was not very shaken.
I already knew well enough that there was money to rot in the Nacht family. It was an enormous size that could be wasted on useless things, and it was not Sienna’s will to stop it.
‘You’ll all know.’
Anyway, these clothes were justly received by me, so I thought I could take some buttons with me when I enter the military school later. It was much better than Ashiel’s random flower gift.
Madam Deborah, who was satisfied after the long session, declared.
“Have a good rest today, as you’ll be taking difficult classes starting tomorrow. I’m sure the Grand Duke has given you a good teacher.”
It was something you could say because you didn’t know the situation. But Sienna had no intention of telling her in advance.
‘I’ll have to experience it tomorrow anyway.’
Maybe this time, since I am getting a teacher three months early, a different teacher may come.
Whatever it is, it is clear that it is not important for Sienna.
* * *
The next morning was bright, and Sienna ate as she was told, and then was dressed up in a chick-colored outfit that seemed to make her look crazy.
“You look better than I thought. The color of your eyes and the color of your hair look like a bloom of forsythia!”
Sienna, the main character of the praise, looked gravely in the mirror and swept the hem.
Delicate frills and lace with a small saw-like shape of cherry blossom petals. In the meantime, of course, the cute and lovely design of the dress with ribbons hanging lightly like waltz dancers was not new.
‘I don’t know what the button on this side is made of, but it’s some kind of gem. I have gold trimmings, ribbons of high quality silk, and expensive lace.’
Even if it was a bit out of fashion, it could be sold out as a whole. Even if they sell subsidiary materials in pieces because they failed to do so, they would be able to take a proper amount for them.
At least you don’t have to worry about the monthly rent for half a year.
Thinking about it like that, I thought that I could not stand this lively color that makes people smile.
‘Half year’s rent!’
For Sienna, this dress felt more reassuring than the armor worn by knights on the battlefield.
There’s no such thing as an insane person who thinks about the design of armor on the battlefield.
There’s no crazy guy who thinks about the design of armor on the battlefield.
Sienna pledged to love the clothes for half a year, and without prejudice and discrimination in the future.
“Now, shall we go.”
“Yeah.”
Satisfied, though each with different thoughts, Madam Deborah and Sienna soon set out to study.
But Sienna, as it always happened in the past few days, faced a situation outside of the current situation.
In a sunny room, a blackboard and podium were placed and a desk was seen. It was a good room, where carpets and cushions were placed in the corner so as to not forget creating a comfortable atmosphere.
“…My lady?”
“What, Why.”
The problem is, there were two desks for small children, and one of them was for Michael.
“I have to study for class, too.”
“No….”
Of course it’s something that I was going to get from a tutor, I couldn’t question further.
I have to do it, but it was annoying to choose words and talk to look like a child.
(T/N: Remember she originally was older in her past life, So she has to start over now and speak like a child, despite her older mentality.)
“What are you doing? Hurry up and don’t sit here.”
“Okay….”
I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t do much. Sienna sat next to Michael.
Michael stared at Sienna to the point that it was starting to become a burden.
‘…Is he a cat?’
His beautiful eyes were raised up and the static, unblinking expression really looked like one.
It didn’t mean he was cute. Then and now, Sienna didn’t like small animals like cats.
“…You said you’d buy new clothes.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s less disturbing.”
(T/N: He’s expressing his distaste for her old clothes, He’s actually being nice and wanting her to have nice clothes.)
(P/N: Such a tsun.)
Sure, but it’s half a year’s rent. Despite being a good match and not a good match, it should not be worth the cost of a village. That way, it would be worth spending money.
While Sienna was so convinced, Michael turned his head in excitement.
“You two have gotten along well.”
For Sienna, each of Madam Deborah’s conclusions were at a level that she didn’t want to correct. I didn’t want to know why Michael didn’t refute, instead having a shy expression.
Fortunately, the tutor in question appeared at that point.
“Excuse me, I’m… Hmm?
He was a man who looked more neat than I thought. My memory was blurry, so I couldn’t clearly tell if he was my old home teacher or not.
The tutor muttered with a confused expression.
“I’m sorry, but I heard that I will only be in charge of education for the girl here….”
“Young Master came to observe.”
“Ah.”
Michael shrugged. It was clear that he liked the title of ‘observer’ given by Madam Deborah.
“Oh, I see.”
I didn’t know what it was, but the tutor hurriedly nodded as if he thought it would be better not to interfere.
“I am Samuel Lowell, who will be in charge of her classes from today. You can call me Mr. Lowell.”
She heard the name, but nothing came to mind.
“Mr. Lowell. Take good care of me.”
“You’re welcome. Please also take good care of me. Then, I will start the class right away.”
As her class was about to begin, Madam Deborah quietly left.
“We will solve a few questions first to start the class in earnest.”
Roy presented the questionnaire. Upon receiving it, twenty-six letters were drawn for the consonants and vowels of the official language of the kingdom.
“Could you write the letters you know?”
Next to her, Michael immediately began moving his pen with a serious attitude.
Perhaps, if it was the old Sienna, she would have been embarrassed by this questionnaire and be greatly discouraged by Michael’s flaunting appearance…
‘…How much should I do to make it look like I’m struggling like a normal kid?”
Now, Sienna was getting embarrassed for a different reason.
Sienna had been dedicated to the role of Lorraine’s Head Maid. It included learning perfect handwriting by practicing until calluses formed on her hands so she’d be able to write Loreina’s letters.
I don’t think it should be too perfect, but I wasn’t confident that it wouldn’t be perfect.
‘I should pretend to not know my letters…’
…But it was a bit embarrassing to do this next to a 10-year-old who had already completed his questionnaire and was looking this way.
Anyway, I grabbed a pen because I wanted to give it a try. Fortunately, the necessary muscles needed for writing were still underdeveloped, and poor handwriting was shown.
“Yes, yes, try a little more. No, you have to lean in a little more from here.”
It was so naturally crooked that Michael, who sat beside her, taught her.
“Good job!”
When Sienna finally completed the writing of 26 consonants, Michael was greatly relieved and even praised her.
“You’ve never learned it properly, but you know the letters. You’re amazing.”
‘I was praised by a 10-year-old for writing.’
That’s cool. Sienna, who sighed inwardly, returned the answer sheet to Mr. Lowell. Lowell nodded slowly.
“…Yeah, well, fortunately you know how to spell. You’d better practice for a while. so that others can recognize what they are reading.”
It was just then.
“Little duke! Oh, you were in class. I’m really sorry.”
“Oh, why are you…?!”
“Why not?”
The gentle-looking young man who suddenly appeared replied with a vicious smile.
“Since the little duke didn’t come to class, I came to find him myself.”
No wonder. I was wondering if he came here because he had time to kill before his class, but I guess he was skipping.
Feeling helpless, Michael blushed as Siena looked at him blankly.
“Che, don’t get me wrong! Did you think I came here because I was worried about you?”
“No, it’s not…”
“Now, stop, stop it.”
The young man entered with a smile.
“Let’s stop interrupting the class. If you haven’t forgotten your spelling, get up right away.”
“….Tch.”
Michael stood up with a pout. But he didn’t go out right away and sent a warning to Lowell.
“Teach her properly. I won’t stay still if you tell her unnecessary things.”
“Oh, my God! I wonder if they’ll take care of themselves. Are you not going to come over? Do you want me to grab you by your ears and drag you out?”
“Okay, okay, okay!”
Following the teacher, she could hear Michael asking, saying, ‘What will she see me as if you talk to me like that!’, the sound of protests went down the hallway and disappeared.
As the whole place became quiet and they were left alone, the tutor looked down at Sienna with a cold look.
“You’re an orphan who came out of nowhere and you even annoyed the little duke…”
Oh. Sienna lamented a bit. She still couldn’t recall his face, but that look in his eyes was familiar. It seemed this was the same tutor she had in the past.
“It’s terrible that you’re so brazen and clueless. It’s even worse than a beggar.”
Listening to the abusive language, Sienna thought.
‘It’s good that there’s someone who hasn’t changed.”
This blatant hostility was better than those who acted sweet but went crazy, as if they were being strangled with silk
Since that is the case, I just hope the hostility will remain consistent in the future.
“I don’t know how full of yourself you are, but you’d better get your head on straight.”
I thought it was great, and I was going to cooperate with you…
“He’s the descendant of the great Grand Duke, who is connected to the blood of the Great Empire, and you’re just an orphan of unknown origins.”
…The more he spoke, the more he was getting out of line.
Suddenly, I thought, it is good my attitude did not change since I won’t be confused by his words.
But do I need to be listening to all this nonsense?
In the past, I held back no matter what happened, but that’s when I was scared.
As long as the grand duke didn’t know what she was doing, there’s no way she’d be scared of the tutor.
“…I have a question, sir.”
“?”
“If you keep on calling me an orphan, does that mean it’s your weak point?”
“What…”
“I understand then.”
Sienna smiled nonchalantly. It was a gentle smile, though there seemed to be something missing. Even so, the words she spoke were not in the least bit gentle.
“It turns out, people know that the most painful part of themselves can hurt others. Because teacher is like that too.”
He had thought a cotton ball was flying towards him, but instead, he was suddenly hit on the head with a brick. The face of the tutor, who belatedly understood the slanderous language, quickly heated up.
“So arrogant…. I’ll teach you a lesson!”
The man who couldn’t overcome his anger strode up and raised one hand up high. Sienna clicked her tongue.
‘I’m in trouble.’
I wanted to avoid it, but I thought it wouldn’t be bad to just take the slap and change her teacher. Sienna closed her eyes in preparation of the incoming shock.
It was then.
“Enough!”
A voice which sounded like a low roar. There was a heavy sound of a cane hitting the floor. Kangg!
Sienna’s eyes flew open upon hearing a voice which she shouldn’t have been able to hear at this time.
“…Your, Your Highness the Grand Duke!”
The Grand Duke stood at the door.
‘Ah.’
Sienna was unknowingly relieved.
It was one thing to rush out just because you were not afraid of death, and another to be subjected to violence.
“I, Your Grace, this is not it…”
“Young lady!”
Madam Deborah called Sienna from behind. Sienna quickly escaped in her direction.
“You are mistaken, Your Highness! Why would I hit the child for no reason? I’m telling you, that kid first insulted me with words that are not suitable for you to hear!”
This was complete nonsense. What could an eleven year old say to make an adult lose their reason and want to slap them?
Even if the child cursed at their late parents, it would still be the adult’s fault for losing their reason.
However…
In Sienna’s eyes, the Grand Duke was someone who could believe that nonsense.
Being behind his back, it was hard to guess how the grand duke was taking these words..
She was rude to the tutor. Although Sienna wouldn’t be in any big trouble for now, she didn’t want to be misunderstood anymore.
I’ve had enough of being framed. I hate it as much as I did when I died.
There was no time to think deeply. Sienna walked out from Madam Deborah’s arms and approached the Grand Duke. And…
“….!”
I grabbed the hem of the robe with a small hand.
‘Not. Not even slightly wrinkled…’
It was a rather passive gesture to claim innocence, but this was her best bet.
The Grand Duke looked down at the tiny, fluffy duff of a child holding onto his robe, and lost his words for a while.
‘This kid…’
Are you hiding?
Grabbing my clothes…?
It was unbelievable. No matter how he looked at her, she was the child who would freak out and faint whenever she saw him.
Though, it didn’t seem much different this time. Her hands on the hem of my clothes looked like feathers, which made him think they would fly away if he made the smallest mistake.
The handsome face of the Grand Duke cracked in moments.
‘How many times have you scared this child in this short period of time?’
How deeply would it be that the child would have to overcome the fear and think about hanging on to him?
‘It seems she thinks it’s safer to hide behind me…’
Thump. That small bit of trust weighed down on his whole heart.
She didn’t put down her guard or laugh at him. Her trust was to the extent that she believed him to be capable of solving this kind of situation.
However, that alone shook the rock-like heart of the Grand Duke.
Maybe it was because he had only raised sons who weren’t afraid of anything. He had no immunity to the feeling of a small fluffy chick tickling his ribs from the inside. He was utterly helpless against it.
It was a small piece of faith sent by a child who trembled at the sight of him.
I thought I’d die if I didn’t repay you.
“I, Your Majesty, I, I’ve been wrongly accused…”
He didn’t want the child to see his appearance when speaking to the tutor. The Grand Duke raised his hand and coldly cut off his words.
“Devon.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
The aide replied with a friendly smile.
“Don’t mind it. This Devon will take my time to find out whether that guy has an extra life or an extra liver to spare.”
“Your Highness, I’m sorry! Your Highness!”
“Oh, my God, don’t be so mean, sir.”
“Just because of a few words from an orphan, I’m…!”
“Yes, I know. There has always been controversy and disagreement over the legal status of the defendant. In some homes, children are treated like cheap servants, especially young girls, but what should I do?”
The middle-aged aide overpowered the arrogant man with power and dexterity that did not match his caring face and continued to explain, covering his mouth.
“Geez, Nacht is a place that treats orphans like their own children.”
“But, Wait!”
“Now, let’s stop mistaking this girl for a servant and go to the army to pay the price.”
So Mr. Lowell was dragged out like Kendall.
Sienna’s hand slid off the skirt of the grand duke. The grand duke gazed at her small hand falling from him with his red eyes staring in a manner that was hard to understand.
Unfortunately, she was a fearful child. She could not be burdened with adult greed and impatience.
This was supposed to be the start. There will be plenty of time ahead.
…It was supposed to be.
Skillfully hiding an urgency that she could not even understand, the grand duke gave a brief order to the maid.
“The child must have been very surprised, so pay special attention.”
“Worry not, Your Grace. Don’t worry.”
Before leaving, the Grand Duke looked back at Sienna once more.
Faded green eyes stared at him. It was like someone who was seeing daylight for the first time in their life.
“……”
It seemed like the Grand Duke had something to say, but gave up. He wasn’t the best speaker.
“…Take a break.”
It was best he create a line in between them both to not burden Sienna.
After the grand duke had left, Sienna also had a strange feeling and looked down at her hands for a long time.
‘It’s not as realistic as anything that’s ever happened.’
When a rock is thrown into the lake, the lake embraces the rock and drowns it.
Who threw it, for what purpose, what does it mean? Why?
But what if a sack of stones falls in?
So Sienna neatly gave up.
‘Let’s not think about it.’
If she tried to put meaning into it, things wouldn’t end there. Sienna felt this instinctively.
There’s a certain limit to the things she can handle.
The more she thinks about it, the more she will destroy the maximum capacity.
She wasn’t confident of holding out when the limit would run out.
Yet.
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