No matter how much time passed, I still didn’t feel any pain in my back or the back of my head.
When I slowly lifted my eyelids, I was met with pitch-black eyes that seemed like they could swallow everything.
“Phew… Young Miss, that was a close call. I think we should lay a soft carpet here tomorrow. No, maybe it would be better to prepare a children’s desk and chair instead.”
The culprit who startled me was none other than Finn.
He was holding a tray piled high with macarons and cookies in one hand while supporting my chair with the other and gently setting it back.
Unlike him, who seemed calm, my heart was pounding nonstop.
“Finn! You scared me half to death! I thought I was going to fall!”
“A fall, Young Miss? You shouldn’t use that word for a young lady… Haha.”
Trying to calm my racing heart, I let out an irritated sigh, but Finn just laughed and set the tray on my desk.
“You only had the pound cake earlier and didn’t even touch the cookies or macarons. So, I thought I’d bring them for you. Which would you prefer, milk or juice?”
“Uh, milk.”
“Got it.”
He immediately began pouring milk from the glass bottle into a cup. Even though he was simply pouring milk, his movements were so skilled that for some reason, it looked cool.
“Chef Helen bakes the cookies really well. I’m sure you’ll be surprised if you try them, Young Miss.”
I nodded, acknowledging him, but then suddenly Finn stared at me intently.
I flinched at his unreadable gaze.
“Young Miss, you don’t have to use honorifics with me… or with the other servants.”
“Ah….”
“If the Duke sees this, he will be quite upset.”
Even though he said that, it wasn’t easy for me to speak casually to an adult. For me, dropping the honorifics would be difficult for the time being.
When I couldn’t answer and just fumbled around, Finn snapped his fingers and spoke cheerfully.
“If it’s hard for you to speak casually right away, how about starting with me first?”
“Huh?”
No, speaking casually to you is even harder! It would be far easier to do it with Ellie.
“Well then, from now on, you’ll speak casually to me, right?”
Having made his own conclusion, Finn placed the milk cup in front of me with a satisfied look on his face.
“By the way, Young Miss…”
He then turned his gaze to the side. More specifically, he looked at the paper I had been writing on.
Following his gaze, I was shocked and widened my eyes. In my anger towards Herald, I had carelessly used the Empire language instead of Korean.
Finn is going to notice this…!
In my panic, I started nervously scratching the inside of my arm with my nails, and I heard Finn’s voice full of suspicion.
“This is…”
As expected… My heart felt like it was being crumpled like paper.
At five years old, I had just started learning to write. I was at an age where I couldn’t even write proper sentences, let alone spell correctly.
It was strange for a five-year-old to be able to write such a long sentence so skillfully.
What bothered me most was the sharp critique of Herald that I had written at the end.
I suddenly felt a surge of emotion and let out a stream of curses without filtering them.
What if Herald finds out I wrote this and tells him…?
He already thinks I talk too much. I muttered to myself while looking at Finn’s smiling face, which didn’t seem like it was going to falter.
“This… is really impressive, Young Miss!”
“…Huh?”
I was taken aback by the unexpected praise.
“You invented this code before even learning the proper alphabet… Is it safe to say Erayton is different from the very beginning?”
“….”
What? Code…?
At this unexpected compliment, my ears grew hot with embarrassment.
A baby’s finger is short and chubby, and it has no strength at all.
Because of that, my handwriting was all over the place, a mess. This meant that no one but me could possibly decipher the letters I wrote.
I had forgotten that for a moment and got scared. How could anyone understand these scribbles that looked like dozens of worms squirming around?
Ah… so embarrassing…
To cool down my red ears, I gently tugged at my earlobe with my finger.
Whether he knew my feelings or not, Finn lifted the notebook and started to decipher the writing with a serious expression.
“This is really hard to decipher. Su, su-rae-gee…? What is this…? Young Miss, did I read this right?”
“Ah, no… That’s…”
Crazy, how did he even read that? It seems Finn has exceptional decoding skills.
In a panic, I rushed toward him before he could decipher the rest of the paper.
“Stop looking! I mean, stop!”
“Oh my. It’s a secret, huh? I’ll be careful, Young Miss.”
I snatched the notebook from his hands, and Finn, looking flustered, apologized repeatedly.
It was oddly uncomfortable, and I felt like I wanted to avoid him…
I made up my mind to avoid Finn from now on and tightly gripped the notebook.
First, I had to make sure he understood that these weren’t real letters. “I… I don’t know how to write, so I made this up…”
Actually, this worked out better. It would be better if he thought I created a code to write my journal.
If he found out about all the curses I wrote about Herald, my plan to confront him directly would fall apart.
No matter how much he’s my biological father, there’s no way he’d listen to what I said about him being garbage.
“Really impressive, Young Miss.”
Finn clapped his hands, but something about it didn’t sit right with me. Regardless, it was crucial to keep the existence of this paper a secret.
I cautiously leaned in and whispered to him.
“I can’t tell anyone about this… No, you mustn’t.”
“Yes, Young Miss. I’ll keep it a secret. I was a little oblivious.”
Finn nodded in agreement, lowering his voice.
Good, he didn’t have the look of someone lying. Before long, he had organized my desk and was setting up desserts and tea.
I accepted the cookies he offered and slowly observed him.
His movements were smooth, and his smile natural. He seemed like the perfect servant, but for some reason, I felt uneasy.
“Why? Do you have something you’re curious about?”
“Finn… What exactly are you?”
Ah… I blurted out the question I’d actually been curious about. He blinked quickly, looking slightly surprised before quickly composing himself.
“So you were curious about me! I’m really touched, Young Miss.”
“Ah, no…”
“Alright, let me explain about myself. First, my birthday is…”
“Wait a second!”
Before I could get any unnecessary information, I interrupted him.
“I’ll hear about it later… but wait…! Can you tell me about the Duke?”
“Huh? The butler spoke about the Duke and you yesterday…”
“No, no! Not about my mom, just the Duke!”
I needed to know about the enemy before attempting anything.
“Hmm… I can tell you, but… why?”
“….”
I quickly racked my brain for what to say.
Then, I finally blurted out,
“I want to get closer to the Duke! When is he free?”
That’s all I could come up with.
“The Duke? The Duke is busy every day. I’ve barely seen him rest.”
“Ah…”
That makes sense. It would be strange if the Duke of Erayton had free time.
It was a rushed excuse, but it was a really terrible question.
Seeing Finn, who usually smiled, look flustered for once, only made me feel more self-conscious.
“Do you want to meet the Duke?”
I nodded slowly.
“Then, just go see him whenever you want! You’re the Duke’s daughter, after all. Don’t be shy about it.”
“But…”
I already had an encounter with Herald, so it didn’t feel right to just visit him again without any plan. So, I decided to gather information from Finn and others around me…
“You want to get closer to the Duke, right? He’s a bit gruff, but I’m sure if you approach him first, he’ll really appreciate it.”
“Heh…”
I didn’t really want to get closer, though.
But it seemed like, if I wanted to make a connection with the Duke, the best way would be to follow Finn’s advice and visit him first.
