Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I couldn’t breathe for a moment.

The grand duke opened the box and showed me the jewelry inside.

The locket on the string was a great work of art that it was impossible to tell the price at first glance.

“It is a treasure that has been given to the girls in our family from generation to generation. It had been sealed since the last female child was born 100 years ago.”

The grand duke asked me to receive such a valuable item.

As such, it was seen as evidence that his will is firm.

My lips trembled, not knowing what to answer.

“Quick! Answer quickly!”

Deleign shook my bed and urged me.

To be his daughter?

The grand duke will be my dad, and Wyndert and Deleign will become my brothers?

“You’re free to do anything. Even if you don’t become my daughter, I will protect you.”

The grand duke hung the locket necklace around my neck. If I want to refuse, then I can ask him not to put the necklace on me.

“If you really become my daughter, we will take a family picture and put it in that locket. Think carefully.”

“Gwand Duke…”

I didn’t know what to say, so I looked only at the locket.

I have always wanted this to happen.

But what if I put the grand duke in danger? If these kind people get hurt because of me…

I couldn’t say anything. However, whatever the future may be, it must be filled with my happiest moments since coming to this world.

3. How to welcome a new family

Lucy gave me a red cape with white fur that is parted in the middle.

I immediately felt hot as soon as I put the cape on.

I touched the cape, its soft fabric slipping through my fingers. In the gap between the cape, the locket necklace shook.

Lucy’s gaze was fixed on my chest.

She seemed to know the meaning of this necklace.

“Does Lucy know about this?”

“Of course. I went through the management of the heirloom and became the chief.”

“I see…”

I nodded a little and raised the locket slightly.

Lucy put a brooch on the cape’s gap near my neck to prevent it from gaping.

‘Does Lucy want me to be the child of this family?’

Maybe she has that hope inside her head, as often she told me she liked me.

Not only Lucy, but the eyes of the employees have been blatantly staring at me over these past few days.

Scorching gazes as if asking me to become the lady of this house.

It is a position that has not been decided yet so it was a little burdensome, but it wasn’t bad.

That said, I’m grateful that I am well-rooted in this house.

“Alright, it’s all done, milady. It can be cold, so please wear gloves.”

As Lucy had said, I put on my red gloves.

It was handmaid gloves in the shape of an undivided finger.

The only finger I could move at will was the thumb. It was quite fun for the remaining four fingers to move at once.

‘It looks like a sparrow’s wings.’

I flapped my palm a few times.

“Aw, I thought you were reluctant to speak. You’re so cute.”

Lucy burst into laughter as she looked at me flapping my gloved hand.

As she said, my body condition improved quickly after the day the spiritual powers were properly awakened.

My condition quickly improved because I just didn’t know the words before, so my pronunciation was lacking and my body staggered because of my legs.

‘It was because of the spiritual power.’

It seems that the reason why I was more sluggish and cannot speak well was not that I did not eat good food to grow, but because I kept losing my powers.

Since the awakening of my powers, my body has improved a lot, and now I can pronounce well.

Taking too much spirit power is no different from taking my life.

Anyway, I liked it because I felt a little healthier and calmer.

“I am confident.”

“Yes, milady is very polite.”

Lucy, who looked at me with warm eyes, looked out the window and urged me.

“Ah, milady. I think they were a little delayed. The young masters are already out there.”

“Ah!”

It wasn’t until I heard Lucy’s words that I took my mind off my thoughts and ran outside.

The bells on my shoes jingled as I moved my feet.

“Brothers!”

As I ran to the first floor, I saw Wyndert and Deleign waiting for me at the entrance of the mansion.

As I expected, Deleign is holding a picnic basket in one hand.

“I can hear you even when you’re still far.”

Wyndert said with a happy face. He was the one who made these shoes for me.

I looked down and turned my toes round and round. Every time I moved, I could hear a continuous jumble.

Since the last time the director abducted me, I have worn shoes that sound like this everywhere.

It was a shoe with bells running and a jingling sound, and a crackling sound at the peculiar sole.

It was devised by Wyndert after thinking that I might be put in danger if I go outside.

“The shoes seem to stand out too much.”

I muttered, feeling a little dissatisfied.

I have to go around, making jingling noises.

“It will be a bigger deal if you disappear.”

Wyndert responded calmly and hugged me.

“That’s right, Shushu. It’s hard to find someone as small as you!”

I was fluttering my limbs and feet, but Deleign grabbed my squeaking shoes and shook them louder.

The kids seemed to have been quite disturbed by the empress’s messenger and the director kidnapping me. Even the grand duke seemed wary.

It’s because they know there’s a force that threatens me.

Somehow, the people of the grand duchy seem to be in league together to protect me…

‘If you’re worried about this, it’s okay for me to just stay in the mansion.’

I wondered if I had to go out of this kind of situation, but the grand duke was quite stubborn.

‘You have the right to do whatever you want. I will protect you no matter what.‘

…He said coolly.

The words that I shouldn’t give up on what I have to enjoy in this world sounded my heart.

“Have you never been out of an orphanage?”

“No. The only time I left an orphanage was when I moved to another orphanage.“

Even at that time, I was put in a carriage with a blindfold on.

Other than that, I would squat next to the trashcan in the back alley.

I didn’t know anything about the world.

I don’t remember, but I have to come here to learn something properly.

‘Shuelina was the same.’

In the original, Shuelina was a character who had not learned well.

The world in which young Shuelina saw and grew up was only a small courtyard of mourning.

The first place she ran away from the orphanage at the age of six was next to a trash can in a back alley.

To overcome the chilly weather, she barely wrapped herself in ragged rags and squatted.

And soon after, the Marquis of Bertilde also found her.

Even as the emperor’s family, he did not take proper care of Shuelina.

Rather than running out of the orphanage with my feet, I thought I would rather be locked up and extract my abilities.

‘The room was very cold…‘

I trembled as I recalled the secret room of the marquis where Shuelina was kept locked up.

She could meet a few people properly, and she had to remain confined until she reached the age of ten.

She was barely eating proper food that was on the verge of rotting and almost had no education.

Looking at it now, it seems that she was intentionally abused.

I fully felt the malice of treating me like a doll.

It was a time when I thought I was going crazy because of too much loneliness.

Suddenly, my whole body vividly remembered that the memory in that room was excessive.

‘Is this also a memory imprinted on the body?’

I suddenly felt chills and trembled.

“Shushu, are you cold? Shall we go back?”

Wyndert, who knew me, whispered as if he felt my trembling.

He seemed to be worried since I am trembling to an unusual degree.

“No. This is my first picnic and I want to go!“

“Then let‘s get in the carriage.”

Wyndert got into the wagon, hugging me so that I would not be hit by the wind.

After that, Deleign jumped inside the carriage and took his seat.

I touched my two shiny, red shoes that covered my feet.

I was a little tickled, but I left it be.

I like it, I don’t know what to do, and I want to reach here and there.

I didn’t feel bad anymore as my heart seemed to heal even when recalling bad memories.

* * *

The wagon stopped sooner than I had expected.

It was because today’s destination was a small villa near the grand duchy.

I got off the carriage. I saw a small log cabin.

The house was really small.

It was sized for children and looked as if it could barely fit adults.

But it wasn’t a cheap-looking cabin.

The exterior and the flowers planted outside made me guess that it was a very expensive cabin.

‘Look at those petals twinkling. Maybe it’s made of jewels, not raw flowers.’

The jewels are spread out like this, don’t the people sneak into the forest and try to steal them…?

I was a little embarrassed, and I sneaked a jewel flower out of the gap between Wyndert and Deleign.

Seeing that it wasn’t easy to pull, I could tell that something special was done.

“This is…!“

“It was built when I was born. It’s the only one left by our mother.”

I was surprised and admired what Wyndert had said.

A house built 11 years ago. It was a wonderland for children, built for the baby Wyndert.

But the grand duchess died.

I suddenly felt sad for him, but I couldn’t ask, so I just grabbed Wyndert’s arm.

“Let’s take a look inside, please!”

“Yes, the chance to come here is really rare!”

I was struck at Deleign’s words.

So, the villa that we came to for a picnic is Wyndert’s secret base, where Deleign doesn’t often come.

‘Is it alright to show me such a precious place?’

But I just decided to be grateful enough for Wyndert’s goodwill.

“Come in.”

Wyndert opened the door like Edgar, the butler of the estate.

Deleign and I held hands as we entered Wyndert’s cabin.

“Wow!”

Unlike the distinctive and beautifully stylish exterior, the interior was quite aesthetic.

‘I think Wyndert’s mother had a foresight. Certainly, this wooden style suits Wyndert better.’

Wyndert’s study room and office, which I had been to many times, also felt like this.

At first glance, it was a design that seemed like a god, insisting that a successor should be a minister.

“Shushu, are you hungry?”

After a while, Deleign asked, opening the basket. When he opened the lid, the savory and delicious scent came up.

“I’m hungry too! I shall prepare!”

No matter how I look at it, Deleign looked the most hungry here.

I sat in front of the table, helping Deleign not to get hungry and angry.

“Because you are a guest, stay still.”

Wyndert and Deleign made me sit and then they put the tables together.

They showed willingness not to let me work.

‘This is how they always act, but they seem to be more gentle to me than usual.’

After a long preparation, they both look like they have something to say to me.