‘Please look. Look at the flyer.’
He happened to be sitting in a spot where he could clearly see the wanted flyer. Was he slowly noticing it? The man looked at her closely.
‘Look carefully. An old brown rabbit doll. It’s a little worn, but you can clearly see that the dress is yellow, right? Plus this pink nose and soles! You can become very rich now.’
The longer he stared at it, the more her hope of being able to go back grew.
“Why is it sitting here?”
The man picked her up sitting on the apple. That’s not the point!
“Oh, you. Do you know who this doll is? It was on the forest road in front of here.”
It belongs to the Grand Duchy. The Grand duchy!
The man showed her to an acquaintance and asked. The other man also looked at her. She hoped this person saw the flyer.
“I don’t know.”
Hope was extinguished.
“Then I guess I’ll just go.”
“See you next time.”
The man put her back on the apples and climbed on the end of the cart, grabbing the straps attached to the mule.
‘I can’t do this.’
She quickly jumped out of the cart before it started.
‘I should lie down here in front. Then someone will see and take me to Luca.’
She sat down and leaned against the wall where the flyer was posted.
‘Thank you.’
It was a time when she just said bye to the man who was walking away and looked at the people on the street, waiting for someone to recognize her. A carriage as luxurious as the Grand Duke’s stopped in front of her and the door opened.
* * *
At the same time, there was a long line of people at the police station in another village. The only thing that these people have in common, with different appearances and clothes, was that they all hold a brown stuffed rabbit in their hands. Even the dolls’ appearance and clothing were different.
“Last time it was a frog, but this time it’s a doll.”
Another thing they had in common was that they all tilted their heads at the Grand Duke’s strange arrest order.
“Even though I don’t have any clothes…”
After waiting for a long time, the man facing the Grand Duke held out a doll, but Luca shook his head without even looking at it.
“No.”
He didn’t even need to look properly. The doll, handmade by his mother, was a one-of-a-kind item in the world. The point was that no two shapes were the same. Luca went out the door of the police station and walked along the long, long line.
“It’s not.”
He knew it even without seeing it. The rabbit doll that could faintly feel Hazel’s energy was not here. The Grand Duke’s residence had been in the mood of a funeral since Daniel, with a guilty look on his face, delivered the news that Hazel had been taken by eagles last night. His brother immediately went out to look for Hazel. He probably couldn’t sleep at all. After the sun rose, the soldiers and he were searching each eagle’s nest in the Black Forest. His older sister is in charge of the mansion instead of his older brother, and she is in charge of investigating Hazel’s whereabouts in the surrounding villages.
‘It’s fortunate that she won’t be eaten because she is a doll, but what if we never find her like this?’
Luca, who had been watching her at the end of her path with worried eyes, returned to the magistrate’s post. Not long after, a luxurious carriage passed by the police station.
“Joe. It’s Rhea Rabbit.”
“Miss, it’s dirty. I’ll wash it and give it to you.”
“Nah.”
A girl who looked to be about three or four years old snatched me from her nanny’s hands and held her.
“This is Leah’s.”
No. She belongs to the Grand duchy?
“There are a lot of dolls at home.”
The nanny sighed deeply.
“But do you really need to pick up old things that others have thrown away?”
“It’s all Leah’s.”
It was a little while ago. As she was sitting under the flyer waiting for someone to spot her, a very expensive-looking carriage stopped.
‘Omg! Could it be that he came from the grand duke’s residence?’
However, there was no emblem of the Grand Duchy on the carriage.
‘But you still recognized me and stopped, right?’
It was true that she saw her. As soon as the door opened, a cute girl with curly brown hair jumped out and picked her up.
‘If only the nanny had seen the flyer…’
She stared at the nanny sitting across from the child. She looked at the nanny and also at her. However, her eyes only showed disapproval of the dirty, old doll.
‘Uh? It’s a village close to my cabin.’
A familiar scene passed by outside the window. She wished she was a child who lives in this town. However, even that wish did not come true as the carriage left the village and ran through the fields. Fortunately, it didn’t go very far. The carriage went to the next village and passed a large gate guarded by a gatekeeper. When the child got off the carriage, he whispered to her in her arms.
“This is our home.”
The child’s home was a huge mansion. Of course, it was small compared to the grand ducal residence, which was the size of a village, but it was rare to see a mansion this large and luxurious.
‘You’re a kid from a really rich family.’
As soon as the child got out of her carriage she ran into the hall on the first floor of the mansion and shouted so loudly that it echoed throughout the stairs.
“Mom! Dad! Leah’s come!”
Then a middle-aged maid, who appeared to be the maid, approached her and spoke to the child.
“Master and Madam went out for a while.”
“Again?”
The child who was smiling brightly quickly became sullen. An expression of pity for the child flashed across her maid’s face for a moment.
“Did you have a good time with Norma?”
The maid immediately brightened her expression and asked in a friendly voice.
“Her grandmother drinks a lot.”
The child patted her plump belly.
“Oh my, you must have had fun.”
The maid, who was smiling brightly, suddenly frowned.
“What is this doll, lady?”
With those words, the child proudly lifted me up.
“Remy.”
No. She was Lulu. There was a time when it was Toto.
“…Did Noma give it to you?”
She could hear the suspicion in her maid Jang’s voice that Lady Leah couldn’t have done that.
“She picked it up on the street.”
The nanny standing behind her answered with a sigh.
“Oh, girl. Did you pick it up again?”
The maid Jean touched her forehead and extended her hand towards Hazel.
“Give it to me. I will wash it cleanly and give it to you.”
No!
“I don’t want!”
Well done, baby.
She soon found out why she was complaining that the maid Jang had picked it up ‘again’.
“Ugh, how can it not be a live rabbit?”
Why did she mutter these words? As soon as the child returned to her house, she was led by the nanny to change her clothes, and then she held me and she headed to a room. The moment the door opened, she was startled. Colorful eyes turned towards them from all over the large room with the greenhouse, and dozens of tails stood up.
‘A dog, and a cat too?’
The number of animals in this room seemed to be twenty at best. As soon as everyone saw the child, they were happy and came running.
“Hello, Mimi. Did you write this well? This is Remi. Say hello.”
The child greeted the animals and introduced her. It was amazing to her that she could memorize the names of so many animals. She suddenly realized that she was greeting the animals. There was not a single expensive-looking breed cat or breed dog. It seemed like everyone were picked up children wandering on the street. She was a little prejudiced after hearing the child say that the room was full of nice clothes, dolls and toys, and that it was all hers.
This kid was greedy.
But it turned out that she was a very good and greedy child. The child took her around the mansion, greeted the residents, and then headed to the playroom. Then he called her a baby and laid her down in the cradle and played mommy.
‘Is she an only child?’
The only person who played with her was her nanny. There was no other brother in sight. Then, before she knew it, evening came. The only person at the large table was a child.
“What about Mom and Dad?”
“They say they would eat outside.”
“Again?”
As she sat across from her at the end of the table, she could clearly see the child’s shoulders drooping.
‘I feel sorry for you.’
When she was young, she remembered Luna and Luca, who had to eat alone at the large table when Elliot was away from the mansion, and the tip of her nose wrinkled. She wanted to talk to her, play with her, and eat with her. But if she did that, things would get worse, so she just sat quietly and watched the child eat.
“When will mom come?”
“She will come when the lady is sleeping.”
However, the child’s parents did not return even at night. The child, who was cheerful when her nanny read her a storybook, showed her sad heart as she was alone in her dark room.
“Mom…”
When she saw the child sucking her fingers and sniffling, her heart also became sad. Why were her parents so busy that they didn’t come back? If you leave a child like this in the care of someone else, you will wonder whether he or she eats well or slept well.
“Again?”
Now that she thought about it, the child asked this question when she heard that her parents were going out and that they were eating dinner outside. It meant that today wasn’t the first time.
‘Could it be that the parents are neglecting their child?’
They left the sweet child alone like this. Also, this was the most beautiful time.
“Leah, have a nice dream.”
She managed to wipe away the tears from the eyes of the sleeping child and patted her on the back.
‘I have to sleep here today.’
How sad would it be if she opened her eyes in the morning and found her not there? Elliot would be sad without her, but…
‘Sorry. Just wait one more day, Elliot.’
That was when she apologized to him and continued to pat the child. She heard footsteps outside the door…
Squeak.
The door opened. She stopped moving. Someone came into the dark room. She could hear the hem of her skirt brushing against her, and she saw that it was a woman.
‘Is she the child’s mother?’
…The moment she thought that, a black hand came up and snatched her.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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