I stared at the man. What on earth were you thinking when you said that?
As he climbed the stairs, he just matched my mother’s pace and didn’t seem to be struggling at all.
The arms holding
down were still strong and his breathing was calm.
“No, the mansion is nice. Who wouldn’t love this kind of place? It’s you whom I dislike.”
Unfortunately for Mom, this house, and the Duke of Chelsiers were part of a bundle. If you want one, you must have the other.
Duke Chelsiers responded without raising an eyebrow.
“I’m glad it suits your noble taste, Your Highness.”
Mom was fed up.
“You did this on purpose since earlier. I know you hate that title. Can’t you stop? I’ve been dethroned anyway.”
The servants pushed the huge
door hard. It slid open without the usual squeak or sound.
That was why the man’s low voice was heard even more clearly.
“No.”
My mother’s steps, which were about to enter the
door, stopped.
“Your Highness remained the granddaughter of Richula III, the cousin of His Majesty the current Emperor, and a legitimate mber of the imperial family. You were not dethroned.”
Mom turned around and looked at the man, looking like she couldn’t understand.
“How… no, no. Let’s go in and talk. Put the children to
bed and tell .”
Then she hurriedly walked again.
My mother’s figure from behind actually looked like running away. Although she seed to not notice.
How could my mother remain a mber of the imperial family, and what had happened in the anti?
What on earth did Duke Chelsiers do exactly to protect my mother’s identity?
Because once she knew, she couldn’t help but hesitate before running away from him.
However, the man who followed my mother was not so obedient.
“I asked to pardon you in exchange for erasing my na from the list of contributors in public record.”
The man’s voice was calm.
Just like that voice, he was still holding
firmly. He didn’t waver at all.
“You’re crazy.”
The
door closed and my mother turned around sharply.
The employee who was guiding my mother had a perplexed look on his face, but my mother cried out loud as if chewing the food and spitting it out.
“Who asked you to do that!”
“No one asked for that. It’s my decision.”
“How can you be so confident …?”
When the employees’ faces went beyond embarrassnt and turned pale with fear, my mother forced her mouth shut.
I didn’t say anything because I was particularly concerned about them. Then my eyes t with my mother’s.
“Claire, go up and sleep with Eciel. Mom will co to you soon.”
I spoke after pondering.
“Mom, promise that you won’t say anything you’ll regret later.”
The artificial smile disappeared from my mother’s face.
I sighed lightly. The words ca out sowhat haphazardly.
“I thought I was strange until now. I was curious why I was so different from other children, even from Eciel, who was my own twin.”
“…”
Needless to say, I conjured the wind.
In the wide, enclosed space where the windows and
doors were tightly shut, the air currents turned, sweeping away people’s hair, collars, and feet.
The fierce and agile montum swung around the people once and then naturally subsided.
Mom pronounced my na in a shallow moan.
“Claire…”
“I’ve never told you this before. I was already a weird kid to begin with, so I didn’t want to make it any harder for Mom.”
“…”
“I don’t want Mom to worry, be in pain, or be hurt. But if you keep talking to him like this, you may say sothing that you’ll regret.”
“Claire, Mom is…”
Mom couldn’t speak for a mont as I looked at her calmly.
My mother was proud to the point of being selfish, but at the sa ti, she was a person who always accumulated a mountain of worry and pain inside her mind.
Among my mother’s many worries, the biggest one was .
By the ti Eciel could barely say ‘mama,’ I was already talking in complete sentences and having a conversation.
‘When I was a little older than that…’
At that ti, my world was already complete, and I wasn’t like any other child, even to the point of inhuman.
Mom must have been in pain.
More than the difficulties faced by a young woman wandering around with her two daughters without a husband, there was also
at that ti.
My mom never expressed that in front of .
However, after she put Eciel and I to sleep, I often heard muffled sobbing.
At that ti, I could not understand Eciel, my mother, or the people around .
The nanny said that I was creepy because I neither laughed nor cried, so she ordered
to be thrown away at a facility run by the temple.
My mother cried because of
every night, but when she heard those words, she went on a rampage and fired the nanny.
Eciel was completely different from , but she tried to include
in anything.
Very slowly, I learned empathy, social skills, and emotional connection. And all that learning ca solely from Mom and Eciel’s affection.
So, I didn’t want Mom to be sad anymore since she had already cried enough because of .
I asked quietly.
“Mom, can I ask you sothing I was curious about today?”
Mom nodded, followed by a slightly muffled voice.
“Okay… Claire. I’m sorry. I’ll put Eciel to
bed and we’ll talk together.”
My mother hugged my younger sister and walked away, guided by the hired servant who had finally found sothing to do.
In the awkward silence, I was left only with the Duke of Chelsiers, who was like a brace holding , and a few people who seed to be high-ranking vassals or employees.
I resisted the urge to sigh again.
‘Oh, it’s awkward.’
It was really awkward. But more than this awkward atmosphere, I felt more uncomfortable when Duke Chelsiers stared at
intently.
I was sure that this person was as horribly inhumane as
when he was young.
Even now, his face didn’t look like a human.
The savior of this unanswerable situation was, of course, soone else.
“Pardon , Your Excellency. May I introduce ourselves to the young lady?”
Until now, I only assud that he was either an employee or a vassal. He wore round-rimd glasses and a neat uniform.
He took a step forward and smiled. His face looked sleek, but he also seed unrealistically compliant.
The way he naturally stretched out one hand forward and waited for
to place my hand on him made
feel like he could be trusted.
‘He must be popular.’
The duke frowned slightly, but eventually just watched as I gave him my hand.
The wise savior bowed politely and placed his forehead gently on my hand.
“Thank you, lady. My na is Viscount Luis Rezena, the counselor. I have served by His Excellency’s side since I was a child.”
The other people were the butler of this house, the duke’s bodyguard, and the head maid who guided us earlier.
He spoke like a patter and said with a friendly smile, “I will lead you to the family room so you can have a conversation comfortably.”
His smile seed like the epito of social skills, so I was a little impressed.
‘It’s impossible for
to have that skill even if I die and resurrect.’
Despite my admiration, Duke Chelsiers still did not let
down as he walked. I found it convenient to tour the interior of this house in this position.
‘It’s my first ti entering the mansion of a great nobleman…’
At least in my eyes, it was a noble and elegantly decorated mansion.
Walls, floors, and ceilings with bright patterns and craftsmanship. Porcelain vases with gold fras, huge landscape paintings in large fras, delicate glass, gold, and silver work.
The interior of the mansion looked more like a gigantic work of art than an inhabited ho.
‘The thing at the end is a sword and a gun.’
Beyond the beautiful decorations I had seen so far, a pair of long guns and a pair of swords were hanging on the wall at the end of the corridor.
The swords’ blades were sharp, and the guns were sparkling.
As soon as I saw them, I knew that you could use both pairs right away.
It was a composition that reminded one of who owned this noble mansion. It was aningful yet harmonious, arrogant yet proud.
I looked at Duke Chelsiers again.
‘This person is the Astariol of Judgnt?’
“We have arrived, miss.”
Viscount Rezena opened the
door.
The interior of the family room was equally elaborate and elegant, but I was no longer interested in decoration. The duke finally sat
down on the sofa and sat across from .
Almost at the sa ti, the butler who had been introduced earlier ca in, pushing a trolley filled with tea and desserts.
A piece of cake topped with pretty sugar crafts, clear fruit jelly, and soft milk pudding. There were also chocolate cookies that were still warm as if they were freshly made.
‘I would have really liked it if Eciel was awake.’
Although I felt sorry for the kitchen, which must have been busy making dessert in the middle of the night, in the end, my heart went for my younger sister first.
I asked Duke Chelsiers a favor.
“When Eciel wakes up tomorrow, can you give her sothing similar to this?”
It seed like he didn’t expect
to speak first.
He nodded with a slightly surprised face. It might have been a bit funny, but thanks to his smooth face, it wasn’t.
‘Mom, maybe she was taken in by that amazing face…’
It had been three months since I turned nine. Considering my age and the average age of marriage, this man was at least in his early thirties.
‘I’m sorry about all the n in their early 30s I’ve seen so far, but they all just looked like they were in their 40s compared to him.’
No. Perhaps it was the trait called Astariol that had created such a transcendently beautiful and youthful-looking face.
According to the Bible, Astariol was a demigod who descended to earth.
When I looked at the duke with that thought in mind, he smiled briefly. It was a smile that looked more like a person than a god.
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