Perhaps it was because of hearing the unexpected name, her body stiffened and her heart beat uncontrollably. As she stood still, the sound of footsteps approached.
“Hmm? They don’t look alike at all.” said the red-haired boy.
“Lucio, take a look and see if it’s not your sister. She looks young because she is small. Her clothes too…”
She looked down at her dress, which was too good for a maid to wear, and tilted her head at the apron around her waist. Then she heard a nonchalant voice from behind.
“My sister has the same silver hair as me.”
“Aha.” the boy nodded and asked her.
“Then who are you?”
Frozen, holding her breath, she clenched the soft flesh in her mouth. She wanted to answer quickly, but she didn’t even think that her hair was white and her mouth was sweet. It was just when she was about to open her mouth.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen your face.”
Just like the moment she died, he stood in front of her. She blankly looked up at Lucio.
His silver hair shimmered to the point where her eyes hurt, and his cool blue eyes peered through them. It has a cold impression, as if it breathed life into a statue made of ice, but it has beautiful features that make you bewitched just by looking at it. However, he had a much younger face than she remembered.
“Is this the child your mother brought?”
Lucio asked her, but she couldn’t answer. Then he gently narrowed his eyes.
“But why are you shaking like that?”
At that moment, she was pulled back into the past.
* * *
“Lia, did you hear that?”
<What?>
“There is a person who was scared at that time.”
Eh, L… It was a Duke, no matter what. She gave the impression that Emily couldn’t remember her.
She asked softly.
<…Duke of Elad?>
<Oh, right! That scary duke.>
<Why is he?>
<The Duke’s son goes to the academy here.>
<Then is he the crybaby’s older brother then?>
At Emily’s words, the children from the orphanage next to her joined the conversation one by one.
<What if I call you a crybaby? You said you were a princess.>
<Ha! We won’t meet again anyway, so what about the princess?>
<Jack is good. It looks good to him, so I’m sure you’ll get your back warmed up by now.>
She turned her head in a daze at the words of envy from the children. From the mountain where the nursery was located to the village, and from the village again to the capital. They wandered around for a few months and settled here, in the Soyton district, where the palace and Academy were located. As befits a place where students who would become the future of the empire stay, the streets were clean, there were no harsh adults, and above all, it was a good place to beg. Perhaps because he wanted to pretend to be a benevolent and dignified aristocrat despite his young age, students sometimes gave him large sums of money.
‘Of course, unlike this, there were many nasty kids who harassed us with contempt.’
Anyway, there was a park near the academy, and there was a drinking fountain in it, so you could fill your hungry stomach with water.
‘There were guards, but it’s a perfect place to live if you avoid their eyes.’
If she had been caught by the guards, she would have ended her life as a vagabond and entered any nursery school. The children and she, who were young and ignorant at the time, felt the fear that they might die if they were caught by those people. It was also because they believed the words of the beggar gang who accepted them.
<Anyway, the son of the Duke. What was the name roo… ah! He said Lucio Elad.>
Then Emily clapped her hands and said. Lucio Ellard. She called out that name in her mind once. No, several times. But she had no idea. The thought that she would meet that person.
* * *
<Roo… tooth…? Hmm.>
As she wrote letters on the ground with a twig, she scratched her confused head.
“I thought it would be easy, but it’s difficult.”
Living without even knowing the existence of letters, she came out of the nursery school to find out that there was such a thing as letters. However, it was all the same that there was no one at the nursery school or on the street to tell them. Still, there were signs in the world. She was matching the words and letters that came out of people’s mouth little by little.
<I liked my name because it was easy.>
Of course, no one could confirm that what she wrote was correct, but she was content with being able to write her name anyway. And with a hole in it, she learned the letters while thinking about the names of the children in the nursery school. Then, suddenly, she wanted to write Lucio’s name. The reason was simple. Because it seemed easy. But she could only write ‘Lu’.
“Lucio. Lucio Ellard.>
She mumbled the name several times for no reason, getting sullen at the difficult letters than she thought. It’s a pity. Why did she call that name that day?
<Who are you?>
She was startled by the sudden voice behind her, and she turned around and immediately met the blue eyes. At that moment, the downy hair all over her body stood out, and her eyes spun. That scary guy she saw at the nursery school!
<Because you keep calling my name.>
…No, it was his son Lucio. In an instant, she realized who he was because of his resemblance to Duke Elad. Lucio took a step closer to her.
‘Oh, what should I do? He must be angry that a beggar like me called his name on his own.’
There were noble boys who would get angry at her for dirtying their eyes just by looking at them. Besides, he was the son of the terrifying Duke of Elad, who made her heart flutter just by thinking about it. She froze on the spot and said nothing. The boy with a careless and drowsy expression slowly frowned. And he asked again as he looked at her stupidly.
“But why are you shaking like that?”
* * *
“Lucio, could this kid… Could it be that she can’t hear?”
It was the red-haired boy who lifted her up from the past into reality at once. She hurriedly lowered her head and said.
“No, no. I was so taken aback that I was rude. Sorry, please forgive me.”
Lucio was also a great aristocrat that she couldn’t even look up at, but the person next to him was a person who was apologetic for even talking to me like this, so she apologized with a sincere attitude. She was worried that they would think that the Duke of Elad couldn’t properly educate their servants because of her.
‘Maybe I’ve already been caught with the way I dress.’
“Can you tell me who is she? I haven’t heard that there is another lady in the Elad duchy other than the youngest princess.”
He must have thought that the Duke had chosen one of his vassal daughters and brought her to the capital.
“You misunderstood. I am a maid who works for a ducal family.”
“A maid? But why…”
He couldn’t believe her words, so he looked at her with a puzzled look. Suddenly, Lucio stood in front of her and said,
“Your Highness, I’m not very happy that you treat people in my house like that.”
“What?”
Then, the boy called His Majesty, Nicholas Lakshten, burst into laughter.
“What did I do? I just saw it because it was strange that there was such a young maid.”
“If you look for it in the imperial palace, you should be able to find it.”
“Anyway, I won’t say a word.”
She made an uncomfortable expression between Lucio, the eldest son of the Duke of Elad, and Nicholas, the prince of the Empire. Since the identities of the two were so great, it was impossible to leave the place like this, and it was ambiguous to continue listening to their conversation. It was then.
“Have you met me before?”
“…pardon?”
She made a surprised expression at Lucio’s question. She couldn’t bear to answer, and when she was in a daze, Nicholas suddenly said with a smirk.
“Lucio. You said it was the first face you’d ever seen. Are you working on him now? Your taste was such a child!”
Nicolas laughed at Lucio as if he were a pervert with low-level maneuvers, and Lucio looked at him like a bug. It was a time when I was the only one in the middle who was in trouble.
“Brother!”
When she turned her head to her unexpectedly welcome voice, Allen was running out of the main building holding Diana’s hand.
“Why are you here so late? Do you know how long it has been since Diana and I arrived in the capital?”
“I couldn’t help it because it was the exam period. But I came right away as soon as it was over.”
“Really! So, are you going to sleep tonight?”
“I plan to stay for a while.”
“Wow!”
Allen raised his hands in delight. It was the first time she had ever seen him so brightly liked.
‘It’s different from when I was with Diana. He’s like a real little brother.’
Well, Lucio, who was 6 years older than 11-year-old Allen, must be a big brother. Then Nicholas clicked his tongue and said.
“Oh, I don’t care about the tearful reunion of the brothers.”
“It can’t be. Your Highness the Prince, how are you?”
Allen greeted him, but Nicholas kept her sullen expression.
“It’s okay to lie down and receive me. After all, I came to see the rumored youngest princess anyway.”
Then he turned his head and opened his eyes wide. Diana, who had come with Allen, clung to her as if her older brother, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, didn’t matter.
“Oh, Lia! I’ve been looking for a while, but you’re here?”
Unlike Nicholas, who seemed surprised, Allen looked at her as if he was familiar with this image and said casually.
“It’s been a while since you’ve worn that outfit. You want to play dolls with Diana?”
She smiled and nodded at Diana, whose eyes twinkled as soon as he finished speaking.
“Aha. It was the princess’s play maid.”
It was when he took a breather thanks to the prince who understood it on his own.
“By the way, what about Ascal? Didn’t he come with you?”
“Ascal said he was tired and went back to the dormitory.”
“No way. I was going to show you our Diana. Big brother Ascal has never seen Diana before.”
As Allen made his sullen face, he said with a laugh that Nicholas, who was listening, said:
“Haha. Prince Allen, if you keep bragging about your sister to the Prince, you’ll be hated.”
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Translator Note:
Sorry for any problem during the migration ^^,
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
Next post will be released tomorrow.
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