She had a gentle face with brown hair and brown eyes, which was very common. However, perhaps because of the color of her hair and eyes, her face and the atmosphere she saw in the mirror were completely different. Somehow, the eyes seemed a little small, and the nose seemed a little low. At first glance, it wasn’t a pretty face, but if you look closely, it looks a little cute.
Returning to the guild, she laughed when the officers who saw the portrait she was holding added a word or two saying that they were very similar. Deep down, she felt like she finally got to know herself. But still, the strange feeling of embarrassment did not go away. So she impulsively asked the master who was just passing by.
<Master. Even in Master’s eyes, I look like brown hair, right?>
<…>
He didn’t even answer.
She couldn’t see the expression properly, but it must have been a face that was dumbfounded. At the time, she hurriedly left because she thought she had asked an embarrassing question. Oddly enough, now she was very curious about the answer.
* * *
“Are you here?”
“…”
“Missi!”
“Oh sorry.”
She found it funny that she was distracted by the child’s lighthearted remark that she was pretty, but her eyes were still burning, so she kissed Diana’s soft cheek for no reason. It tickled Diana and she burst into laughter.
Not only was the cold-blooded Duke of Elad pampered, but even the Grand Duke and his wife, the owners of the Duchy of Belus, were admiring Diana’s lovable figure, claiming to be her godfather and godmother. It was strange that the famous princess, who was being courted by her brothers, who was overprotective of her arms, and who had been given a knight’s oath by Jack, one of the three great knights of the empire, was lying on a bed in an old nursery school.
“But come…”
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
Diana asked, waving her little finger.
The child’s finger pointed to the mysterious red bead necklace hanging around her neck.
“Oh, this.”
It was something she had been wearing since she was abandoned in front of the nursery school, and it was like an amulet that she had never taken off her body.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
It was also something she had cherished very much for a long time, thinking that it might have been left by her parents.
“Ugh…”
Diana pursed her cherry lips and stared at her beads without blinking. Suddenly, the mysterious light inside the marble seemed to spin rapidly.
“Uh?”
And she hesitated and quickly took the necklace in her hand.
“When did this break?”
A sad voice escaped from her mouth. It was because of the discovery of gold on her necklace. It was something she had never shown to anyone, let alone the director, because she thought it might be taken away. She thought of it as one with me and cherished it so much that she forgot she had it hanging around her neck, but she didn’t know when it cracked.
“…Well, it’s all useless now.”
The reason her necklace was precious was that it might be an important proof that she could meet her parents. But after 10 years, nothing like that happened. It was a necklace she had been wearing all her life, but for some reason she thought it was useless now.
She had no intention of throwing away the only valuable item she had, so she bitterly tucked the necklace into her clothes.
* * *
“Missi, how about twine?”
While eating her meal, Diana tilted her head as she stirred the soup with barely any ingredients on her spoon.
“…What is he saying now?”
“Dana, Dana! You said you were hungry. Let’s eat.”
“Yes!”
She hurriedly tore off a little piece of hard bread, avoiding the eyes of the children flocking to her innocent words. Fortunately, Diana didn’t think further and stumbled on the bread she handed her to her mouth.
“That’s right, eat well. You have to chew it thoroughly.”
It was very proud of her to eat so deliciously even though it was not the white, fluffy bread or luxurious food that a child would normally eat. In particular, it was very cute that her white, chubby cheeks moved together whenever she wiggled. It looked like a baby bird eating it with its mouth open. But the problem was…
“Are there any more?”
The cute little 4-year-old had a much bigger appetite than she expected. Diana, who was staring at the soup bowl that was already bottomed, turned her head to look at her soup and bread. Looking into the child’s twinkling eyes, she couldn’t help but say that she had nothing to eat.
“…Eat this too, Dana.”
She thought she would be very hungry like yesterday, but she was an adult anyway, so she pushed the bowl in front of the child, thinking that she could of course endure it. However, one important fact has been overlooked here. No matter how mature her mind was, her body was immature and weak, that of a child.
“Omg… Huh.”
‘Lord, I think I’m going to die!’
Now, less than a few hours after mealtime, she was really out of breath. She felt very stupid for having even packed a bucket of water to wash and fetch water. She never thought that her stamina would be so weak.
‘Come to think of it, it was ominous from the first time I entered the forest.’
She hadn’t even walked a few steps before she felt short of breath. She couldn’t even feel the mana in her body properly, so she felt like she was going to collapse if she even used magic here.
“Missi, water! Water there!”
As her eyes whirled around, Diana, who had good stamina, jumped up and pointed her finger at the lake. After finally arriving at the destination, she wanted to lay down and rest immediately, but she held on with her mental strength and went to the water’s edge to drink. Then she carefully brought her washed hands together and brought them to Diana’s mouth.
“Come on, Dana. Drink water.”
As she came, Diana took a gulp of water, as if she was thirsty.
She asked Diana, who had drunk her fill, to sit on the soft grass beside her lake.
“Just be quiet here while I do the laundry.”
“Yes! Goya!”
Diana, nodding her head kindly, saw the other children playing house in her nursery yard, crushing her grass, making similar mimics with her little hands. She smiled at the sight and took a deep breath. Drinking plenty of cool water and the fresh air of the forest made me feel much better. Then she stared at Diana’s dress in a stern way and started washing it vigorously. After a while, the laundry was almost finished, and finally, she squeezed it hard to remove the water from her, and then she heard a gurgling sound as she brushed it off. Presumably she was tired of playing house by herself, small droplets of water splashed on Diana’s face. Embarrassed by that response, she vigorously brushed off her clothes several more times, and burst into laughter as if she wasn’t tired. It was time she laughed at the child’s innocence. A sound suddenly reached my ears.
“Dana, shhh.”
She put her finger to her lips and whispered, and the clever kid followed, “Shhh.” and put a finger to her lips. She stroked her hair and said, “Good job,” and slowly turned her body in the direction of the sound.
* * *
“Haap!”
She knew it. As expected, the hero of the cheering sound was Jack. She had been training her body since she was young, so she didn’t know at all because she wasn’t close to him in the past.
She silently hid behind a tree, picked up a branch, and watched Jack practicing his sword swing. The opportunity to see the training of one of the three greatest knights of the empire in the future would not be common.
‘Even though he’s never been properly taught, he’s honest without a single bad habit.’
Since he was young and not being asked by anyone, his posture could be disturbed, but Jack maintained a correct posture to the extent that he felt stubborn. With this kind of grit and talent, would he become a sword master later on? She was amazed inwardly. Well, being born with mana in the first place was a blessing. This was because mana was a basic requirement for manifesting not only magic but also ‘aura’.
She heard that the amount of mana in the body was greater for nobles than commoners, especially for nobles and high-ranking nobles. Come to think of it, Jack and she were born with a rare talent.
“Whoa.”
Then Jack stopped himself and let out a sigh with a clear annoyance on his face. She flinched for no reason and hugged Diana’s shoulders behind a tree. Her talent was optimized for concealment, so she was confident that Jack, who was still young and couldn’t handle mana properly, would never find out.
* * *
‘Is that what you’re hiding? I’m not stupid, just hiding my body is enough?’
Jack turned his head slightly, dumbfounded. The hem of her dress, which she couldn’t hide by the tree, fluttered as if she had washed clothes in a nearby lake. Seeing Lia’s clumsy appearance, Jack sighed and opened his mouth.
“I can see everything hidden, so come out.”
“…Did you know I was there?”
At his words, Lia, who came out in front of the tree, asked in her embarrassed voice, and Jack wrinkled his face involuntarily. Yesterday she acted suddenly and surprised people, and today she was stupid as usual.
‘That’s how I’m going to live in this harsh world from now on.’
“I knew from the start.”
“Omg! Mi-sorry.”
“…”
Even the look of surprise covering her mouth with her hand was stupid. Jack let out another deep sigh and suddenly looked at Lia’s small hands and frowned at her. Lia was a girl and she’s 2 years younger than him, so her hands were small…
‘Even if it’s small, it’s too small.’
All of a sudden, Lia, the thinnest and smallest of the children in the orphanage, was very dissatisfied with her body. Even if she ate well, she would be kind to her plate and pass out food like an idiot.
“Why did you give all of yourself to that kid again today?”
Diana, who was next to her, widened her eyes and blinked as Jack asked in an off-the-cuff tone.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
Next post will be released on May, 15.
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Thanks for translating this novel!! I was always fascinated with the premise and can’t wait to find out more about her “secret” past/real identity before she became an orphan.
Oh my, I can promise you will be surprised
Thank you for the chapter!