It appeared.
The big mountain.
Finally, the big mountain was in front of her.
Suppressing her tension, she spoke while pressing her hands firmly against her thighs.
“Can you give me that child? The one I wish to save.”
“Hmm?”
“Father is correct. I really liked that child. I really want to…… have him.”
“…….”
“Please, Father. If you give me the child, I won’t expect a birthday present next year. No, I don’t mind not receiving a birthday present for the rest of my life.”
Laila, with an earnest voice, remembered the decision she made in the forest, speaking words befitting a ten-year-old.
While carrying the arrow-struck child and walking, she thought and thought again.
What should she do now?
What should she do differently to change the future?
There was only one answer.
The plan to take the arrow in place of the child, becoming the child’s ‘lifesaver,’ was now impossible.
In other words, the only way to ‘quickly’ win the child’s heart has vanished.
What Laila can choose to survive…
‘To patiently wait for the other person to open their heart to me someday, and consistently make an effort for months or even longer. That’s the only option.’
Of course, there was a problem.
During those ‘months or even longer,’ the child must stay alive.
Laila kneeled down, contemplating,
‘If I want to keep him alive for a long time, I need to change his situation, and the best way to do that is to make him mine…….’
But can she really get the child through this method?
Maybe not.
As Laila anxiously pondered, the Marquis opened his mouth.
“What will you offer in return?”
“What?”
“I asked what you’ll give me in return if I hand that brat over to you.”
Laila, lifting her head, met the gaze of the Marquis and tightly sealed her lips.
In her mind, she wanted to hurl colorful curses.
“I’ll be a good… daughter. Better than anyone else.”
“Hmm.”
“…….”
“I’ve got plenty of good children; I don’t think I need one.”
Laila realizes, in hindsight, that what she said was pretty stupid.
A good daughter or son.
Could there possibly be someone among the Marquis’ children in this castle who doesn’t fit that description?
No. Certainly not. Or if there was one, they wouldn’t be in this world anymore.
Laila sighed and pondered intensely.
‘What should I do?’
What could she possibly offer the Marquis?
She’s only ten years old, and he’s a villain with more than enough money and power to go around…….
“Have nothing to offer?”
As the Marquis’ demeanor became more ominous, Laila widened her eyes and hastily spoke,
“I have!”
Her hand trembled slightly.
She had something.
Honestly, she’s not too thrilled about it, but yeah, if it’s this…
“It… It’ll please you, I guarantee.”
“Really? Tell me.”
“I will… within this year…”
When Laila finished speaking, the Marquis’s posture changed.
With an intrigued expression, he leaned towards Laila, opening his mouth.
“Is it a statement you can take responsibility for?”
“……Of course.”
“And if it’s a lie?”
“You can verify it within this year. If it’s a lie, then you can take my life.”
Was that too bold for a ten-year-old to say?
Laila hesitated a moment too late, but the Marquis seemed indifferent to such matters. He straightened the posture he had lowered.
“Very well, then.”
“…….”
“I’ll trust your words, and he’s yours to take. From now on, he belongs to you. Do as you wish.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“Ah, of course, this deal and the punishment for your recent mistake are separate matters. You understand, right?”
Laila forced a smile, tugging at the corners of her stiff lips.
“Yes.”
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Bastard.
That was Laila’s initial thought upon leaving the study, but she quickly corrected herself.
“No, it’s a good outcome. After all, I got what I wanted.”
The child under the Marquis’s control was now hers. Now, the boy’s life wasn’t hanging by a thread anymore.
‘What I spat out in the heat of the moment, I can deal with that later…… Yeah…….’
Oh, dizziness.
Walking down the hall, Laila staggered near the stairs and steadied herself against the wall.
That’s when it happened.
She coincidentally glimpsed a maid emerging from a bedroom. It wasn’t a particularly noteworthy scene, except for the bandages in the maid’s hands, soaked in blood.
Laila absentmindedly hid on the stairs, recalling Marie’s voice.
“Oh, that guy! He’s in the bedroom on the first floor now.”
…This is also the first floor.
Laila immediately realized this. That must be the bedroom Marie mentioned.
Her expression suddenly turned serious.
‘There was too much blood on the bandages…’
Was the wound not properly hemostatic? Or even if it was, was the injury so deep that such bleeding was inevitable?
It’s hard to say. As mentioned before, Laila had never learned about medicine.
The maid slipped out of the bedroom and headed away in the opposite direction of the stairs Laila was hiding on.
Laila waited until the maid’s footsteps in the hall became inaudible, then quickly emerged from the stairs.
She headed straight to the bedroom where the maid had exited.
‘I’ll just check his condition. If it seems critical, I should call a doctor.’
The child now belongs to Laila. So, even if Laila caused a bit of a stir to save the child, there shouldn’t be any issues.
‘Elvin said there wouldn’t be any harm to his life, but just in case…’
People can look fine for one minute and then suddenly stop breathing. Laila had read about it in books.
Laila walked into the bedroom, feeling anxious.
The room was well-lit, allowing Laila to spot the child lying on the bed immediately.
Standing on her tiptoes, she creeped closer to the bed. The child seemed completely unconscious.
With bandages wrapped around the shoulders and chest, the child lay still, showing no signs of movement except for a slow rise and fall of his chest.
‘Is his breathing too weak?’
Laila, filled with worry, checked the child’s condition. Fortunately, the newly applied bandages seemed clean.
There didn’t seem to be excessive bleeding from the wound.
‘The hemostasis seems successful… Wait, why is he sweating?’
Laila, focusing on the child’s skin, paused.
Upon closer inspection, the child’s forehead and neck were entirely soaked. If this were outdoors, one might think he had been caught in the rain.
‘Could it be a fever?’
When people are seriously ill, they often develop a high fever. She had read about this in the books.
Growing anxious, Laila quickly reached out to the child’s forehead, pressing her hand against it.
“…….”
Soon, a sense of unease lifted from Laila’s face.
‘It’s not hot.’
Although she had expected it to be scorching, the child’s forehead surprisingly had a normal temperature.
‘Is this all just cold sweat then?’
Laila thought as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe away the sweat on her hands.
When does cold sweat appear again…
Well, it’s probably better than having a persistent fever, right?
Laila sighed in relief.
As she was about to put the handkerchief back in her pocket, she hesitated, looking down at the child.
His chest and shoulders were covered in white bandages. His face was almost as white as the bandages.
And finally, his forehead and neck were covered in cold sweat…….
“……Ah, really.”
Muttering under her breath, Laila tightly clenched the handkerchief.
“I probably should’ve been born in a temple. I must have a priestly constitution.”
Laila had never been to a temple or met a priest.
But when she thought of priests, she somehow felt a comforting feeling of goodness and devotion.
Grumbling based on such biases, Laila hesitated before taking the handkerchief to the child’s forehead.
While nervously wiping the child’s sweat, she secretly hoped the child would wake up, but that didn’t happen.
“You need to wake up so that I can show off…”
What is this? It’s not like I’m doing volunteer work without anyone knowing.
Despite her grumbling, Laila continued to wipe the child’s sweat. When she had wiped all the sweat from his forehead, she moved the handkerchief to his neck.
“…Cecile.”
