Chapter 44

* * *

Ruby was startled to see Damian brought into the room by Doha.

“Oh, why is he here?”

“Could you get some bathwater ready?”

“Huh? Here?”

No, upon further thought, parenting (?) would be her responsibility from now on.

Doha straightforwardly opened the bathroom door and went in, saying, “I’ll do it.”

As she turned the faucet with a ruby-colored mana stone embedded in it, hot water gushed out.

Doha adjusted the water temperature to lukewarm with a blue mana stone-embedded faucet.

Ruby, who had hurriedly followed her, whispered in a low voice.

“Madam, even so, it doesn’t seem appropriate for the lady to bathe in her chambers…”

Judging by Ruby’s demeanor, it seemed like the same pattern of admonition she had seen from the knights in front of the main palace was about to begin.

Not wanting to drain her energy with another useless argument, Doha took the lead.

“Ruby.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve heard many times that my eyes resemble rubies.”

“Wow! I…I thought so too!”

“And your name is Ruby. How could such a coincidence happen?”

“That’s right! I’ve thought the same thing!”

“And even our thoughts are similar. Maybe we were destined to meet?”

“Oh my!”

She smiled at the maid, who seemed about to faint in surprise, as if she were melting like soft serve ice cream.

Ruby’s heart, already full of affection for Doha, was about to burst.

“Be my personal maid.”

Currently, Candice was temporarily taking on the duties of a vacant maid.

If she impressed Lady-in-Waiting Sina with this incident, she might be officially appointed to the position of maid-in-waiting.

Instead of Candice, who would be extremely busy, Doha needed another maid to take care of her basic needs.

Ruby was suitable for that position.

“Me? But I’m clumsy, not good with my hands, and often stumble…”

“What good is that? We’re bound by destiny.”

“Madam, my heart is beating too fast.”

“Well, you should calm down a bit.”

After drying herself off, Doha took Ruby’s hands and said, “Go and tell Candice that you’ve become my personal maid.”

“…”

She handed Ruby over to Candice.

Ruby hesitated, wondering if it was okay for things to go so smoothly.

But she couldn’t refuse Lady Doha’s sweet words here, and they made her feel so happy.

“Lady, I’m weak. I’ve always wanted to hear those words…”

“So, do you dislike me?”

“No, of course not!”

Grumbling, Ruby ran off with a flush of joy.

Then she tripped and fell flat on the floor again.

Even Damian, who rarely showed emotion, looked at Ruby with a puzzled expression.

“Cute?”

“Like a dog.”

“…”

There was indeed a puppy-like aspect to her.

Sometimes, when Ruby rushed over, he couldn’t help but feel like she was wagging her tail frantically.

That’s why he hoped she would become the personal maid.

Moreover, when he looked at her from the perspective of astrology or physiognomy, there was no chance she would suddenly change her mind and conspire against Lady-in-Waiting Doha, starving her or isolating her.

She was an extraordinary child who had an unusual desire to protect her own people.

Considering such overwhelming advantages, her clumsiness was a minor issue.

The more he watched her, the more adorable she seemed.

Thinking of the loyal Ruby, Doha glanced at the surly Damian and spoke.

“I’ll ask the servant to prepare clothes for you to change into. Go and take a bath.”

“…”

“Need help with washing?”

Damian just stood there blankly, so she added jokingly, “Shall I wash you?” Then the door slammed shut with a bang.

Was it really that annoying?

Doha chuckled, then quickly sobered up.

‘How much does the Empress know?’

Doha had ensnared the Countess into this situation.

‘Since the Duke erased the evidence, it would be difficult for her to catch on to the situation.’

But she might already have a grasp of the situation.

Doha didn’t know much about the Empress. But she could guess that she wasn’t ordinary.

‘Let’s assume the worst-case scenario.’

If the Empress had figured out everything.

The assassination mission had failed. Not only that, if she realized that the prince, who should have died, was alive and well in the Kredel domain?

‘I can’t do anything right away.’

Kredel was not something even the Emperor could handle lightly. He couldn’t immediately approach and threaten them to hand over the prince.

Moreover, despite being a succession struggle, the Empress wasn’t straightforward.

Even if she knew that the Emperor’s bloodline was in the trash, she couldn’t boldly admit that she had tried to assassinate him.

It was a completely different matter between everyone knowing but keeping silent, and admitting it oneself.

‘But Damian wouldn’t admit that he’s the prince.’

At least, being in Kredel would keep them safe from the danger of assassination.

Time was bought.

But it didn’t seem like that much time was left.

There were many things to accomplish during that time.

Then the firmly closed bathroom door opened again.

“The clothes are all wet.”

Doha scolded Damian as water dripped from his hair.

“So what?”

Then she snatched the towel from the child’s hand, who was about to explode with frustration.

“Turn around.”

“Why?”

“You’ll catch a cold if I don’t dry your hair.”

“I won’t catch anything like that.”

Instead of answering, Doha covered the child’s head with the towel.

“You’ll have no time to be sick while you’re getting healthier.”

“…”

“You have to be healthy to do anything.”

Then Damian, who had been biting his lips, asked.

“Did Dane do this for you too?”

“Huh?”

“Did he do this for you, like you’re doing for me?”

Doha couldn’t understand what he meant, so she couldn’t answer.

“The things you’ve been saying to me all this time, darkness, rabbit stars, sun, destiny, choices, all those things. Did you hear them from Dane?”

“…”

Damian remained silent for a while, then asked with a lowered voice.

“Did Dane, the person who protected you when you were alone, say those things to you?”

No, that was Grandma…

For some reason, Damian seemed to think that Dane was a real person.

Only now did Doha realize that she had been too emotionally involved, recalling Grandma when talking about Dane.

She had acted so realistically that she even fooled her allies.

“That’s not it.”

“…Lies.”

Damian had quite a keen intuition.

It seemed like he had already caught on to the fact that Doha’s words so far were echoes of what someone else had said.

Upon reflection, it made sense.

Doha recalled all the words of comfort and encouragement she had said to Damian so far. All the words she had spoken to him were mature and experienced, not something that would typically come from a child’s mouth.

‘How do I explain this?’

Doha pondered. There was no need to mention the benefactor she had met in her past life. Saying that she came from another world would only undermine her credibility.

“I don’t have a name like Dane, but there is someone who I keep thinking of when I see you.”

Whenever she looked at Damian, she wanted to say the comforting words she had heard from her grandmother.

Doha inwardly smiled at the thought.

“So, who is it?”

“My benefactor.”

“Is that all?”

“The person I respected the most in the world, the one who was my everything.”

“…”

As Doha mentioned her grandmother, Damian clenched the end of the towel tightly in his hand.

Water droplets fell from his damp hair, devoid of any delicacy.

“It seems like they’ve passed away.”

His tone was so devoid of delicacy that it was impossible to find even a hint of tenderness.

Hearing those words hurt a bit. Both Park Doha and her grandmother were dead now, and she couldn’t even wait for her grandmother in the afterlife.

‘Well, am I the same?’

Doha remembered how she had rambled on as much as she could when he was momentarily distracted by the loss of his mother. She must have rushed to save him, digging into his mind, inadvertently destroying some wounds.

Now it was time for karma.

She muttered bitterly with a faint chuckle.

“Well, at least we can’t meet forever.”

Then, in a much lower voice than before, the child replied.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Anyway, I didn’t call you to my room just because I wanted to talk to you without any questions. I think I need an explanation.”

“Speak.”

“I think you may have already guessed, but I am not Ophelia.”

Damian said without any hesitation.

“I’m Bunny.”

“Right. And I’m ten. I’ll be eleven soon because I was born in winter.”

“…”

“Don’t you call me big sister?”

“Enough.”

He was brusque.

“I’m an orphan, a beggar, a commoner, but I was adopted to become a sacrifice for the Kredel family curse.”

“A curse?”

“I don’t know what kind of curse it is. It’s supposed to activate when I become an adult.”

In fact, mentioning his winter birth was also about Ophelia’s birthday, not Bunny’s. Damian himself didn’t know Bunny’s exact birthday.

Looking at Doha intently, Damian spoke.

“Are you hoping I’ll take it out for you?”