“But if the two men here were trying to hurt Miss Laila and not the slave,…… wouldn’t it have been because of personal feelings, not because of Young Master Thomis’ orders?”
“Personal feelings?”
“Yes. I can’t comprehend it, but occasionally, there are lowly individuals who harbor very ill intentions towards those they serve.”
“…….”
“Perhaps these two fall into that category.”
There was genuine regret in the voice, which flowed calmly and without agitation.
“At any rate, Young Master Thomis never intended to harm Miss Laila. Young Master Thomis only turned eleven this spring. He is far too young to be plotting wicked schemes to harm not just anyone, but a sibling with shared blood.”
“…….”
“I implore you to consider this, please. Marquis.”
“I-I also request the same.”
As the maid’s words continued, Thomis nervously looked around, and he finally spoke firmly.
Marquis Hildegarde sat back in his seat, stared at him, and then spoke.
“Do you repent?”
“Repent? What do I need to repent for? Surely not for Laila’s slave…”
“He sincerely regrets it. In fact, he’s been regretting it ever since the carriage left this morning. Isn’t that right, Young Master?”
“…Y-yes. That’s correct. I truly repent.”
As Angela first bowed deeply, as if her head would touch the ground, Thomis followed suit by slightly lowering his head.
The Marquis’s gaze flickered between Angela and Thomis.
Then, with a snort of laughter, Marquis Hildegarde spoke again.
“I have made a decision. The punishment for Thomis Hildegarde is…”
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“Don’t think you’ve won.”
Upon hearing the provocative remark, Laila shifted her gaze.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thomis grinding his teeth as he stared at her with a frown.
Laila turned away, not bothering to respond.
‘What’s the point of winning when there was no fight to begin with?’
In Laila’s opinion, Thomis had never faced her head-on in a formal confrontation.
He just keeps arguing with himself.
Fortunately, that seems to be over now.
‘Three days of confinement. Then grounded for a week.’
That was the Marquis’s punishment for the wolf incident at the lakeshore.
Confinement and grounding. It was a mild punishment, but Laila had no complaints about it.
She never expected a severe punishment in the first place.
Just…….
‘And please don’t provoke any more sibling fights; it’s unsightly.’
Laila had been waiting for that statement.
A word firmly restrains Thomis from crossing the line again.
With the Marquis of Hildegarde’s added condition, Thomis would never cross the line again.
For now, Laila was satisfied with just that.
“Aren’t you going to respond? You didn’t win, Laila Hildegarde!”
Laila walked away without looking back.
In truth, there was another option besides not responding like this.
She could have bent over to Thomis just once.
Thhomis may have had a terribly wicked temperament, fearing no one but ‘Hildegarde,’ but as the maid mentioned earlier in the office, he was just eleven years old.
He was young.
If Laila pretended to lose while trembling in fear, perhaps he would be satisfied and retreat.
It could have been as simple as that.
But…….
She remembered Sion’s broken wrist. Then, she remembered how severely swollen it had been.
She bit her chapped lips lightly. Laila quickened her pace.
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As soon as Laila entered the infirmary, Elvin informed her of Sion’s condition.
“It’s broken, but it’s a clean break, and with his body, it’ll heal quickly.”
That was a relief. Of course, just because it heals quickly doesn’t mean a fracture isn’t a serious injury.
Moreover, when he says “quickly,” it doesn’t mean it’s a simple injury that will heal in no time. It would naturally take at least a few weeks for the bone to fully mend.
Feeling complex emotions, Laila headed to Sion’s room.
“Sion, I’m coming in.”
Would there ever be a day when she said this at the door and received a response?
Laila thought to herself as she opened the bedroom door.
And as she stepped inside, an unexpected sight greeted her.
“……Sion?”
Sion was asleep.
Silently, Laila approached the bed where Sion lay.
As soon as she realized that the situation wasn’t all that unfamiliar, a memory flashed through her mind.
‘Come to think of it, it’s the second time.’
She had seen Sion asleep in this room before.
What did she do then? First, she brought him a meal and placed it on the table that day, and then…
‘His drawing.’
That’s right. Laila discovered the crumpled drawing Sion had discarded.
‘And…….’
Laila’s gaze landed on Sion’s bedside table.
More precisely, on the first drawer of the bedside table.
She had tried to open it before, but Sion had grabbed her wrist….Thinking back, it was eerie.
She wondered what was inside that made Sion react like that, but Laila decided not to touch the drawer.
She was afraid that if she did, Sion might suddenly wake up again and grab her wrist like last time.
Laila brought a chair from a distance away and sat down. Then, silently, she watched over the sleeping Sion.
As she gazed at his closed eyes, her gaze shifted slightly. She saw his wrist, wrapped in a splint and bandages.
Laila blinked slowly.
Very naturally, memories of what had happened by the lake just a few hours ago came flooding back.
The wolf that had appeared out of nowhere.
Sion confronting the wolf.
Surprisingly, the wolf, frightened with its tail between its legs, fled.
The scene flashed in her mind first, followed by an influx of emotions.
Laila recalled her despair first.
Yes, despair.
When she encountered the wolf by the lake, Laila was consumed by despair.
The moment she sensed death, she felt swallowed by a pitch-black pit.
It was a deep pit from which she was certain she couldn’t escape with her own strength.
The reason Laila fell into despair was simple. Looking back now, she could explain the reason more clearly.
At that moment, Laila lost faith in herself and in her abilities.
For the first time, she had the defeating thought that no matter what she did, the same outcome would be waiting for her.
That’s because the death Laila faced at that moment wasn’t caused by Sion.
When did it start?
Subconsciously, she had believed that as long as it wasn’t Sion, she wouldn’t die.
She thought she could live to be ninety if Sion didn’t target her for revenge.
But it was a mistaken belief.
She was wrong. Laila was weak. She was powerless.
Even if it weren’t for Sion, Laila’s life could easily be taken by the smallest malice harbored by another person.
Her eyes darkened as she realized how helpless she was.
Doubts surged.
Was I, in fact, clinging to the impossible?
Maybe survival was never meant for me in the first place.
The promise I made to my sister.
Maybe I was never meant to keep it in the first place.
It became difficult to breathe. She surrendered her body to despair, drowning in the darkness of her emotions.
“Hey.”
She felt a touch on her shoulder.
Then, a strong force pulled her up.
As if being pulled out of despair.
Laila stumbled to her feet and raised her head.
“Hold still.”
She could see Sion’s back.
A back not much different from hers.
But why did it seem so big from this angle? No, it wasn’t because of that. In any case, in that strange moment, the back that occupied her field of vision seemed very large.
Now, it wasn’t the back of a ten-year-old child just starting to gain weight, but it felt like the back of an incredibly strong hero who had fought evil and saved the world.
No, in that moment, even if just for an instant, Laila saw not the back of a child but that of a hero.
And at the same time, she realized.
Even though it might be an illusion, it was the first time she had seen this back.
It was a strange sensation.
Laila felt the despair that had engulfed her quietly receding.
Instead, a sense of relief welled up from the center of her chest.
