Episode 44

I looked at Edwin with slightly surprised eyes.

‘Is he worried about me?’

After all, it wasn’t a sight suitable for a five-year-old.

But contrary to his concerns, I was perfectly fine.

‘It’s not like I’m actually five years old anyway.’

Even if I were truly my age, I wouldn’t have been that scared.

I’d seen far worse things at the temple.

“No, I wasn’t scared at all!”

“…”

“If I were you, I would’ve just sewn that woman’s mouth shut!”

I must have looked quite villainous because Edwin frowned.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

I answered twice to emphasize that I was sincere.

Unlike Edwin, who had the power and authority as the heir to the Kallios family, I regretted that I didn’t have the same.

“Hah…”

Edwin chuckled.

“You’ve got quite a temper…”

“…”

“Yeah. That’s more like you.”

He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

‘More like me…?’

I wondered what he meant by that.

‘Does that mean I wasn’t myself before?’

As I pondered his words, Edwin’s smile faded.

“…Father has handed over part of the Shadow Unit to me.”

“Um? Shadow Unit…?”

“Yes. I won’t be helpless anymore.”

He repeated the words as if making a vow.

His golden eyes glinted with an unfamiliar intensity.

‘It seems like Edwin has awakened because of that bastard and Emma!’

It was a good stance to take.

It meant he was one step further from becoming a pushover.

“Yeah!”

I smiled brightly, agreeing with his resolve.

Then, in a hurry, I pushed the teddy bear I was holding forward.

“I’ve got a guardian too!”

“Did Father give it to you?”

“Yeah!”

I had worried that he might react with annoyance, wondering why Father would give something like that to me.

“What did you name it?”

Edwin simply asked, standing beside me.

“Teddy… Teddy Bear.”

“Teddy bear?”

“No. Teddy, Teddy Bear.”

“Teddy-teddy bear?”

“Yeah…”

We started walking down the corridor together naturally.

“It has a giant mode too, so you can use it to reach high places later.”

“Giant… mode?”

I was surprised by Edwin’s familiarity with the bear.

“Edwin, have you used this before?”

“Yeah. When I was younger, I used it to sneak over walls a lot. Father eventually banned me from his office because of it.”

“Wow…”

“The troublemakers could use it in any way… ahem.”

I remembered the Duke’s words when he gave me Teddy-teddy bear.

‘So Edwin was a troublemaker when he was younger too.’

I found this very interesting.

I often thought Edwin had always spoken with that irritating noble tone since birth.

Even in my past life, no matter how much I liked him, I never got used to his formal way of speaking.

‘So, was Edwin the previous owner who set up that weird assassination mode?’

I glanced at Edwin, who spoke with a rather serious expression.

“Don’t use it to climb walls or anything.”

It felt endearing that he was giving advice as if he were much older than me.

‘Maybe I’m not much better myself.’

‘Yeah, it’s better to be the one in control rather than being controlled!’

Deciding this, I asked,

“What did you name it, Edwin?”

“Me? Hmm… I think I called it Fart Bear.”

“Fart Bear? What’s that? It sounds weird.”

“Well, so does Teddy-teddy bear.”

“Teddy-teddy bear is way better than Fart Bear!”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

Edwin nodded half-heartedly, as if humoring a child’s words.

“Iit’s frustrating! Anyone would agree that Teddy-teddy bear is better!”

As we walked and chatted, before we knew it, we had reached the central staircase.

Edwin’s room was on the first floor, so I thought we would part ways at the staircase.

However, he silently followed me up to the second floor.

It was not until he had escorted me to my door that he finally said his goodbyes.

“Just go in. You haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you?”

“Umm…”

I didn’t want to part ways upon reaching my room.

It seemed like we had just started to become friends.

But as I hesitated, Edwin chuckled and patted my head.

“I’m going.”

I stood there dumbfounded until he completely disappeared down the corridor, then I muttered gloomily.

“Edwin, do you want to have dinner… with me?”

Of course, there was no response.

***

The next day.

After finishing my usual healing session with Joshua, I returned to my room to find it filled with an enormous number of packed boxes.

“Sir! Where should I put these?”

“Put them over here! No, below here!”

The butler, Tara, and a few maids were busy unpacking and organizing the items in the boxes.

I entered the room and exclaimed in astonishment.

“What is all this?!”

“Oh! Miss, you’re here?”

Tara greeted me cheerfully amidst the chaos.

“Well, you see, the Duke and the Young Duke…”

“Is this really the room where Miss Belzé is staying?”

It was then that someone entered through the wide-open door.

“Yes, that’s right!”

“Hello! I am the delivery manager from Leviah Trade. I have received permission from the butler to come up and greet the lady. I look forward to working with you!”

Behind the politely greeting man, workers and servants from the duke’s estate rushed in, placing packed boxes.

But that was not all.

“Hello! I am from the high-quality Mariantua Shop!”

“We are from the Milton Workshop located at 3 Main Street…”

One after another, deliveries from various places followed in a procession.

The room was filled to the middle with colorful wrapping paper, making it dizzying to look at.

“What is all this…”

“Miss, would you like to open one?”

Tara handed me a small red box from among them.

I absentmindedly accepted it, slowly untied the ribbon, and unwrapped the paper.

Inside the box was.

“A… headband…?”

It was a headband adorned with numerous small, white butterflies.

Tara nodded with a moved expression on her face.

“Yes! These were all personally chosen by the Duke and the Young Master when they went shopping yesterday!”

“…”

“Seems they saw your headband was broken yesterday. How romantic and meticulous…”

At that moment, the words Edwin had said to me last night suddenly flashed through my mind.

 

“I’ll buy you hundreds of better ones, so don’t cling to these shabby ones.”

 

‘No way. Seriously……?’

My mouth slowly opened.

“Then, are all these…… headbands?!”

“Hey, do you think it’s just headbands?”

Tara proudly displayed the delivered items.

Clothes, dresses, shoes, accessories, various toys, and trinkets…….

A mountain of items suitable for a young girl was piled up.

Of course, the most overwhelming quantity was headbands.

It seemed like they had swept up every headband in the capital.

‘Did they have a competition to see who could buy the most headbands?’

I muttered in disbelief, staring at the box overflowing with headbands.

“Who’s going to use all these……?”

“Don’t worry about it, miss.”

The butler, busy giving orders to the maids, noticed me and smiled brightly.

“It’s a small gift prepared by the Duke and the young master to welcome you to the duchy.”

“Small……?”

“Ah, ‘small’ means a little.”

“…….”

“Don’t worry! It won’t take long to sort it all out!”

I closed my mouth with a stunned expression.

If they call this small, I might be buried under the gifts.

Moreover.

‘I’ll grow up before I even get to use all these…….’

Even if I wore a different one every day, would I manage to use them all before I grew out of them?

With a mix of excitement and fear, I watched the items being neatly arranged in the dressing room.

***

I sat at the table by the window, eating the melon sherbet that Tara brought me.

Contrary to the butler’s assurance that the sorting would be done quickly, the number of piled-up boxes showed no sign of decreasing.

It was impossible to fit them all in the dressing room attached to my room.

As a result, the idea of storing them in the empty room next door was proposed.

“What if we just tear down the partition wall and combine the two rooms?”

“That’s too inefficient. Besides, you can’t just destroy a wall imbued with the history and culture of Kallios! That’s absolutely unacceptable!”

Tara and the butler engaged in a heated debate over my room.

‘Right. That makes sense.’

It was a ridiculous notion from the start.

Breaking down a wall to combine rooms just because there’s no place to store items?

Nodding in agreement with the butler’s rebuttal, I took a big spoonful of the melon sherbet.

‘Mmm~ This is delicious! Did you go to the market?’

“What are we going to do, then? The young lady can’t go back and forth to the next room every time she needs something, can she?”

“Hmm…… That’s a problem too.”

“There’s a larger room on the third floor that combines two rooms. It’s originally meant for high-ranking guests, but it hasn’t been used for a long time.”

“That sounds great! But, is it okay for us to use such a room?”

“I’ll go ask the Duke! I’m sure he’ll agree!”

“Alright! Then we’ll pause the sorting until then, butler!”

‘Please, both of you, stop!’

I finally jumped out of my chair to stop them.

“Huh……?”

Suddenly, I froze at the sight outside the window.

A carriage was approaching the mansion, having passed through the main gate.

Judging by its luxurious and ornate appearance, and the fine horses pulling it, it was likely a noble’s carriage.

As it came to a halt, I squinted at the crest on the side of the carriage.

‘I’ve seen that crest somewhere before……’

Just then.

“Oh my, young lady. You’ve finished your sherbet already?”

Tara had approached me after ending her discussion.

“Yeah. Where’s the butler?”

“He went down to discuss something with the Duke. He’ll be back soon.”

I sighed at Tara’s words.

‘He actually went……’

I worried a bit about bothering the Duke over something so trivial.

“I can just leave them in the next room. Or the storage……”

“What are you saying, young lady! Do you know how much all that costs? And honestly, I thought your room was a bit lacking too.”

I pouted at Tara’s retort.

‘What’s wrong with my room?’

Though it was just one of the many guest rooms on the second floor, I was satisfied with it.

In my past life, I had complained to the Duke about being given such a small room……

‘Maybe I’ve grown attached? This is enough.’

Perhaps it was because my treatment in this life was significantly different.

‘Even if the Duke agrees, I’ll say I prefer this room!’

Just as I resolved to do that, I let out a small laugh.

It was amusing and strange to see how naturally I expected the Duke’s permission.

“Young lady.”

The butler soon returned from seeing the Duke.

I tilted my head at the strangely stiff look on his face.

“Did the Duke refuse?”

“I apologize, but I didn’t get to speak with him. Instead……”

The butler said with a troubled expression.

“We have a guest.”

“A guest? For me?”

“Yes.”

Upon hearing the identity of the guest, I barely stifled a scream.

“Lady Diana from the Marquess of Barelotte is here.”

TL/N: Edwin named the teddy “Gomtengbanggu” is a playful and nonsensical name that Edwin might have come up with as a child.

– **”Gom” (곰)**: Means “bear” in Korean.
– **”Teng” (탱)**: This part doesn’t have a direct meaning in Korean; it could be part of a child’s playful language or an onomatopoeic sound.
– **”Banggu” (방구)**: This word means “fart” in Korean.

So, “Gomtengbanggu” roughly translates to “Bear Fart,” which is a humorous and silly name a child might invent for a stuffed animal.

TL/N: I wanna cry with the teddy bear name what should I do guys I can’t leave Belze teddy like this can you guys suggest me if I could change it.