Chapter 9
***
“Are you really a little lamb? Do you only eat when the master tells you to?”
lody shook her head while holding a spoon.
“Sheep don’t wait for soone to tell them to eat; they graze on their own.”
“You seem even worse than sheep. Hurry up and eat.”
lody looked at the large plate of food given to her, then spoke to the grandmother again.
“I can’t eat this much.”
“Are you asking
to prepare the al again!”
“Just reducing it would be fine. They say if you leave food, you have to eat it all in hell.”
“Then leave it and eat it in hell. You probably haven’t stored up any food to eat there anyway.”
That’s true.
If lody goes to hell, she’ll starve. She’s never left any food before. There wasn’t even anything to leave behind.
So, lody began eating, following the grandmother’s wise advice.
Unfortunately, she failed to store up food for hell this ti too. It was too soft and delicious, so she ended up eating it all.
Her stomach swelled up, and she felt like her skin got thinner.
“You don’t even have the luck to eat. You’ll starve even in hell. You might as well go to heaven.”
The grandmother muttered as she cleared the plates.
“Grandmother.”
lody cautiously started a conversation, looking at the busy grandmother’s back.
“What is it? Don’t tell
you want
to bring you a fairy tale book.”
“No. I just wanted to apologize for using your bed.”
“My bed? You think I would let you use my bed? This is a guest room.”
“A guest room?!”
lody was shocked.
“It’s absurd for
to stay in a guest room!”
“What else do you expect? Should I carry you to the barn?”
The grandmother’s reply was sharp, but she softened a bit after seeing lody’s expression.
She seed to expect lody to prefer the barn.
“Anyway, the Duke called you a guest, so it can’t be helped. Stay here quietly. You’re not planning to defy the Duke’s will, are you?”
“Well…”
But still.
lody replied weakly, watching the grandmother and carefully asked again.
“Really, is it okay for … to stay here?”
Warm baths, als in bed, and a fancy room.
It almost felt like lody was the protagonist of a romance fantasy.
“Hmph, having one lazy lamb in the Ducal House won’t change anything.”
“I can be useful too!”
lody quickly listed her strengths. At least she didn’t want to be known as ‘doing nothing’.
“I can read and clean well. And also…”
What else am I good at? How can I be helpful?
“I talk well! I can talk all day!”
“We don’t need a chatterbox lamb in the Ducal House.”
lody felt more urgent at the blunt response.
She kneeled on the bed, trying to think of more strengths.
“I’m fast at running. Actually, I’m pretty sturdy. I can move even if I haven’t eaten for three days. That could be useful!”
Her voice grew louder, filled with desperation.
The grandmother silently stared at the child’s face for a while, then turned away, murmuring.
“Your voice is certainly loud.”
“Yes, I have a loud voice!”
“Hmph, I was the sa when I was young. When I yelled from the second floor, all the maids on the first floor bowed. Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Amazing. I can’t do that.”
“Of course. Now you see? Before you act all high and mighty, you have a mountain of things to learn.”
The grandmother picked up the organized tray.
“If you know your place, get ready. Maybe your chatty mouth will quiet down a bit if you sleep deeply.”
“I can clear the plates. Please let
do it.”
lody crawled out of the bed and spread her arms wide in front of the grandmother, indicating she wanted the tray.
“Are you still not repentant, trying to show off? What did I just say?!”
“…That I have a mountain of things to learn.”
“Yes, you do understand. You’d do well to rember the sight of
moving gracefully with this tray. Got it?”
lody nodded.
“And about the candy jar beside the bed…”
“I never touch other people’s things! Never!”
“Don’t state the obvious. And rember, if you eat and don’t rinse your mouth right after, you’ll be in trouble.”
“Does that an I can eat the candy?”
“Yes, but if you eat it right before alti, I’ll spank you so hard your behind splits in two.”
But a behind is already two parts.
lody kept the words that rose to her throat to herself.
The grandmother warned, “Don’t wander around on your own, or you’ll get a scolding,” and then left the room, closing the door behind her.
lody spun around the room, admiring the decorations and book covers, and then yawned lengthily.
It seems the fatigue from the long journey hadn’t eased off yet.
Without eating any candy, lody went back to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
***
lody woke up.
She pulled down the blanket that was up to her head and looked outside the large window. Judging by the color of the sky, it was still dawn.
“Hoo…”
Then, a familiar sound ca from behind lody. It was Loretta, who was deeply asleep and occasionally murmuring.
lody quickly turned around to check on Loretta sleeping behind her.
The little girl seed to have had a similar day to lody.
She was washed clean and dressed in fine clothes, having received all the care due to the precious daughter of the Ducal House. This eased lody’s mind a bit.
“I also received very good care, Loretta. Thanks to you.”
lody neatly spread Loretta’s blanket and closed her eyes again.
Listening to Loretta’s peaceful breathing, lody’s heart softened, and she felt sleep approaching once more.
The two girls slept close together on the large bed, feeling each other’s warmth, just as they used to do in lody’s old house.
***
Morning ca.
Due to a long-standing habit, lody slept with the blanket pulled over her head. This way, her nose was a little less cold during the harsh winters…
At the Ducal House, lody wouldn’t have to worry about her face getting cold, but old habits die hard. She opened her eyes thinly within the thick blanket.
As she hovered between sleep and wakefulness, she heard soone stirring beyond the blanket. It wasn’t Loretta, as the sound ca from beside the bed.
‘Is it the grandmother?’
Thinking she should get up quickly, she heard an unfamiliar voice.
“Really ugly.”
It was a young boy’s voice, slightly childish with an unmistakable spite.
lody felt she knew who it was without needing to see his face. The information was already sufficient.
In the novel “Ducal Children,” Loretta’s three brothers appeared. The eldest, Claude Baldwin, lody’s favorite character from her past life, was currently at the academy. The youngest, Jeremiah, showed rare magical talent for a noble and was being educated at the mage tower.
Thus, the only young boy who would be at the mansion at this ti was the second brother, ‘Ronny Baldwin.’ He was known for the longest yet shortest phase of denial about his obsession. No matter how much ti passed, nothing pleasant ever ca from his unpleasant mouth. Yet, in truth, he had thought Loretta incredibly cute from the mont he saw her, wishing she were really his sister. A true ‘love at first sight’ in the novel.
“What’s this, so tiny… Is this really a Baldwin?”
He continued to grumble discontentedly. Despite his words, he was actually overwheld by how adorable Loretta was. For an eleven-year-old, he was remarkably insincere.
“Why sleep in the next room instead of your own? Such a pathetic girl.”
lody was delighted by this new information. Loretta was assigned a neighboring guest room, indicating a significant connection between her and lody.
While lody was moved, the boy’s muttering continued.
“Why so dull? I’m here, and not even a thank you, just sleeping. Such bad manners.”
He moved closer to the bed.
lody suddenly rembered a part of the novel.
This spiteful boy, about to pinch the sleeping Loretta’s cheek until it turned red. It was an incident sufficient to sour the newly t siblings’ relationship. That unfortunate history must not be repeated. Especially since Loretta was exhausted from the carriage ride, she deserved undisturbed sleep.
Just as Ronny leaned on the bed and reached out his hand toward Loretta,
“Wake up, you lying little… huh?!”
His hand never reached Loretta’s cheek. A girl from under the blanket pile behind Loretta had suddenly popped out and grabbed his hand.
Ronny, still holding the girl’s gaze, was unfamiliar with such a simple act of making eye contact. As the second son of the great Baldwin Ducal House, everyone he t usually bowed in respect, especially girls of his age who were well-mannered and never made eye contact.
But this girl, how dare she make eye contact with a Baldwin prince!
It was unforgivable. No matter how pretty the girl, he couldn’t let it pass.
“How dare…”
Just as he was about to assert his identity, the girl pressed her left index finger near her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
Ronny, who hadn’t seen such a gesture since he was six, was at a loss for words again.
As he shut his mouth, the girl looked down at the child sleeping on the bed with a gaze full of care.
Sothing felt off…
Ronny felt an inexplicable sensation wriggling in his stomach.
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