“Are you awake?”
Our position changed and Eden was sitting in the chair I was sitting in before sleeping, and the words that flowed from him were so kind.
“…yes?”
I wondered if I hadn’t woken up yet, so I reflexively asked Eden.
“Ah!”
But even for a moment, as soon as I came to my senses, I raised my upper body from the bed with a shallow scream.
Then I stupidly moved my arms wide and my elbows hit the wall.
“Ugh!”
“Are you okay?”
Eden hurriedly stood up from the chair and the chair fell back with a thud.
However, Eden didn’t care at all and carefully grabbed my arm in question.
The action was so unfamiliar that I looked at the arm he was holding for a moment, then returned to Eden.
“Ah yes. Are you okay.”
I barely came to my senses and answered.
However, the sudden touch made her heart beat like crazy with tension, which she could not control.
“Here’s your arm….”
First of all, I thought it would be better to get away from Eden, so I asked him to let go of his arm.
Then the large hand that was tightly gripping my arm moved away.
Taking advantage of that gap, I stuck close to the bed wall and looked at Eden with wary eyes.
His face hardened slightly as he looked at me, as if he didn’t like my behavior.
“When did you wake up?”
I tried to ignore Eden’s persistent gaze and started a light conversation to calm down.
“…Not long ago.”
“That’s right. If you wake up, you can wake me up, and even go to the trouble of moving it to bed….”
Saying it wasn’t necessary, I deliberately hit the wall with him.
For a moment there was silence in the room.
Fearing that Eden might hear the sound of my still beating heart, I continued to open my mouth and talk.
“You must be feeling unwell. Even fainting Are you okay now?”
“It’s okay.”
“What a relief. Do you remember what happened?”
“Yes. I remember.”
“Then I don’t need to explain how I got here.”
“I made a mistake.”
“No. It was a road that I had already passed, so if I hadn’t heard it, I would have been in big trouble. I’m so glad.”
I waved my hand saying it was nothing.
“By the way, I guess your place is nearby.”
“No. Just…I was just going somewhere for a while.”
“Yes. Okay.”
Fortunately, as I talked with Eden, the sound of my heart, which had been beating all over my body, calmed down.
So I ran out of luck to ask what I was really curious about.
“However…Were you strangled by the necklace?”
I thought that if I said this, Eden would definitely show a look of embarrassment or discomfort, but surprisingly, his expression didn’t shake at all.
Maybe he expected me to ask that question.
“Why do you think so?”
Even so, Eden stared at me with sharp eyes.
“Because you kept holding your neck in pain. And I remember you saying that when I asked if the necklace was pretty. It’s pretty, but it’s dangerous.”
He clearly said this.
It’s a necklace that’s pretty but dangerous, holding the line of one’s own life.
So I guessed that the necklace was causing the pain.
“You’re right.”
He agreed sooner than expected.
“Then why are you wearing that necklace? Shouldn’t it just be removed?”
“If that were possible, it would have been.”
It was only then that I realized that my question was a very stupid one.
After all, who would wear it because he likes to inflict pain on himself?
I can’t pull it off myself, so I guess I’m doing it.
But he didn’t say anything about the necklace anymore.
It meant I didn’t want to talk anymore.
I was aware of that, so I didn’t ask more about it.
And I kept quiet about what I felt earlier.
As I saw the light coming in little by little through the window in such a silent space, the day was gradually brightening.
Eden stood up from his seat.
Looking at him at the sudden movement, the expression was quite subtle compared to the light movement.
“I have to go and see.”
“Ah yes.”
“Perhaps in an orphanage- no, no.”
I don’t know what he was trying to say, but Ethan cut himself off.
“Thank you for saving me again. We wish you a pleasant trip until the end.”
Ethan hurriedly headed for the door.
“Go carefully.”
I nodded slightly and saw Eden off at the door.
And I kept staring at him until his back figure disappeared, and when I couldn’t see him anymore, I entered the room.
‘Maybe I’ll never see her again.’
Coincidentally, they bumped into each other quite often.
However, when I suddenly thought that there would be no such coincidence in the future, I felt a sense of regret.
However, thinking that he was someone I didn’t know from the beginning and that it wasn’t such a special relationship, I was able to shake off my regrets easily.
That morning we left Yulita as scheduled and, as I expected, I no longer saw him.
And in the blink of an eye, another year passed.
* * *
We were eating in a restaurant for lunch while riding in a carriage.
Now I can sit at one table and eat comfortably without hesitation, but the process has not been easy.
To them, I was the owner, and it was clear that eating with the owner would have been something they had never even imagined.
But as I continued to insist, it became awkward not to share a meal.
I looked at each of the three people sitting around the table for a moment.
Mary, William, and Ryan.
Since Mary and William were adults from the beginning, they did not see much change from two years ago.
Is it different that the two people’s eyes contain love for each other?
On the other hand, Rihanna has grown quite a bit from being a child to being a boy.
I stared at Lian, who was eating bread in front of me.
Then, Ryan also put down the bread he was eating and fixed his eyes on me.
When I first saw Lian, I must have guessed the child’s age incorrectly.
Or maybe I didn’t eat well, so I was smaller than my peers.
It’s only been 2 years, but the current Lian looks like he’s about 16 on the outside.
“I think your age is wrong.”
“Yes?”
With a face that didn’t understand what Ryan meant, he asked me back.
“Is not it?”
“Actually, I thought so too.”
Mary agreed with my words, and stood by Mary’s side, taking care of William’s food.
Looking at the two people’s friendly appearance, I thought that I should make their love come to fruition when I return to the capital.
“When I first saw you, I thought you were about twelve years old.
Then you are fourteen now, but no matter how I look at it, you don’t look like fourteen years old.”
“Lian’s ability to learn is also very good for a 14-year-old.”
William agreed with me.
“Then how old am I?”
Ryan said with a puzzled expression.
The voice was also much lower than that of a child two years ago.
“You still don’t remember anything?”
“Yes. Sorry.”
“What are you sorry about? I’m not trying to force myself to remember….”
There was a reason I brought up about Lian’s age like this.
I was thinking of going back after this long trip.
‘The original is so….’
Now I don’t remember the contents perfectly, but I remembered exactly when this original work ended.
It was about a year ago.
In the original story, Belita noticed the relationship between Kane and Adela and bullied her for half a year.
The bullying really brought Adela to the brink of death, but she was the heroine.
So, at the same time that Adela got out of the crisis, Adela’s younger brother, Aiden, who had been away, also returned.
And after learning everything, Aiden killed Belita with his own hands,
and a war broke out between the three families.
The war lasted about three months.
The Baltheus Empire was uniquely an empire in which the priesthood was stronger than the imperial authority.
The emperor was almost a scarecrow, and it was the dukes of the three families who actually seized the real power.
Thus, the war between the three ducal families devastated the empire.
In the end, after a long civil war, the Heitz family collapsed, leaving
only Maxius and Byan to survive.
And the end of the story ended with the marriage of the two, as always.
Since the original work was already finished, I could go back anytime.
By the time I met a man named Eden, the original work would have been finished around that time.
But since I knew deep down that this kind of time would never come again, I wanted to do everything I wanted to do and go back.
That’s why I went around for another year after the original work was finished.
But now the time has come to return.
I wrote letters to my mother and father from time to time, but I could see how much they cared about me.
Two years ago I was twenty, and now I am twenty-two.
And when I went back, I had to be clear about Lian’s future.
Perhaps thanks to William’s teaching, Lian’s skills have improved.
Since he learned swordsmanship from an official knight, especially an excellent knight, he was skilled enough to join the knights.
However, there was one thing I overlooked.
I don’t know about other families, but in our family, only people over 15 could join as knights.
If Lian’s age was set at fourteen, he couldn’t be a knight of our family now.
Fortunately, though, Lian didn’t look like fourteen at all.
Of course, there are 14-year-olds who look mature, but Lian looked at least a year or two older on average.
“Sir William, is it true that our family is over 15 eligible to join the Knights Templar?”
“Yes. You’re right.”
I once again confirmed the information I knew with William.
“How does it look? Do you think Lian has enough qualifications to join the team?”
“I don’t think it would be a problem if I raised my age to 15 or 16, let alone my skills.”
Hearing William’s words made it clearer.
“Then I think it would be better to set it to sixteen. What do you think, Lian?”
I looked at Lian and asked what he was thinking.
“I will do as you wish, my lady.”
From the time Ryan decided to follow me two years ago, he has been unfailingly loyal to me.
There was no law against me, and he followed my words so well that he even pretended to die.
“Hmm….”
Realizing that if I asked him what he thought anyway, I would not get a proper answer, so I thought for a while and then opened my mouth again.
“Good. Then let’s make it sixteen.”
“Yes. I will.”
The question of Rihanna’s age was settled that way.
After finishing our meal, we left the restaurant.
And finally I announced to them to go home.
At that, the wagon was going in the opposite direction, not in the direction it had been before.
I opened the window and poked my head out, beckoning Lian, who was following me on horseback, to come.
Lian slowed the horse down and brought it closer to the wagon.
“What is it, lady?”
“Are you prepared?”
“What resolution do you mean?”
“When I go to the capital, it will be much busier than now. The training will be more difficult and there will be a lot of things to do.”
Merina William wasn’t too worried because they were going back to where they were.
But now, Lian had to live in a new place, bumping into more people.
Along with that, it was clear that I would never be able to take care of him like this from now on.
“As you know, I am an aristocrat. That’s why I can’t be by your side and take care of things like before. You probably won’t see it often. So, you have to stay alert and live. Understand?”
“….”
“Why no answer?”
“…All right.”
Ryan’s voice was quiet.
I guess it was because I heard that I couldn’t see her often anymore.
“Okay. Still, you’ve done very well so far.”
I looked at Lian, who had followed me well up until now, and smiled broadly.
“Come and see.”
He asked Ryan to come closer and wiggled his hand.
Ryan came closer, but still seemed out of reach.
“Keep your head down.”
At my words, Lian immediately lowered her head and put it to the window.
Then, while gently stroking her hair, which had a much better texture than two years ago, she whispered softly in my ear.
“When we get back, let’s go see the younger siblings we spent together. Understand?”
Lian looked at me with her eyes wide open, like someone who had heard something unexpected.
Then he smiled and nodded his head slightly.
After a while, I closed the window and turned my head inside the carriage, where Mary stared at me.
“Why?”
“I think the lady is quite special to Lian.”
“Because I got that kid. So take responsibility and take care of it until the end. If I had a brother, I think I would feel the same way.”
“Well, I also have a younger brother with a difference in age, but when I look at him, somehow I can’t stay still. I think it would have grown quite a bit when I go back and see it this time.”
“Did you have a brother?!”
I didn’t know.
Well, there’s no way that a noble lady would even know about the family relationships of maids and servants….
“Yes, there is a seven year age difference, but they are very cute.”
“I must have missed you. I haven’t seen you for two years because of me.”
Why didn’t I think they had a family too?
I blamed my indifference and looked at her with an apologetic expression.
“Oh no, no, lady. I followed this trip because I wanted to go. Thanks to the lady, I went to places I couldn’t go to in my life. So don’t make that face.”
“I’ll give you a long vacation when I go back this time, so go see your family.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll pack plenty of presents for my family, so bring them with you.”
“Thank you, lady!”
When I got back, I had a lot of work to do.
The most urgent thing was to pay Mary and William enough compensation for being with me and take a vacation, and I also had to prepare for their wedding.
And I need to find out where Lian is.
‘I must be busy.’
However, since I did my own thing for two years, when I go back, I will now live as a princess of the Heitz family.
I made a promise and remembered the things I had to do in the future one by one.
* * *
It took about a week to get home.
The duke’s residence stood tall in front of his eyes, unchanged at all from when he left.
“Finally back.”
After being away for two years, somehow this place became awkward, and I was looking at the mansion from the carriage, but there was a commotion in front of the door.
“Belita?!”
“My daughter is back?!”
To surprise my parents, I didn’t say anything in the letter that I was going back.
So, as if they were surprised to hear that I had come, my parents were rushing towards the wagon.
I quickly opened the door and got out of the carriage.
Then, I ran to two people who were a little older than two years ago and hugged me.
“Mother!! father!!”
“Belita!!”
My parents couldn’t believe that I had returned, so they held me in their arms, looked at my face again, and hugged me again.
I quietly left my body as my parents did, then secretly lifted my head from my arms and opened my mouth.
“How are you?”
“We had a good time. So, did you enjoy the trip?”
“Yes, it was fun.”
“Honey, let’s not do this here, let’s go inside and talk.”
Unbecoming of her who is calm in everything, my mother hugged me tightly with a flushed expression and refused to let go.
Then my father led us to go inside.
We went into my father’s office and sat on the sofa.
Originally, my mother always sat right next to my father across from me, but today, as if she didn’t want to be separated from me, she sat close to me.
And he kept stroking me, looking over and over again to see if I was hurt.
“Mother, I am well.”
I replied with a broad smile so that my mother would not worry anymore.
“I missed you, Belita.”
“I also missed my mother and father very much.”
“And how…No, I just want you to come back.”
Saying that, my mother hugged me tightly again.
“So, are you done with organizing your mind now?”
My father asked me straight-forward.
“Yes, now I have let him go from my heart. It’s to the point where I don’t mind seeing the duke.”
Since I had absolutely no feelings for Kane from the beginning, I was confident in pretending nothing was wrong when I saw him again.
“Good thing. Yeah, where did you go? Let’s talk.”
When my father told me to talk about travel, I vividly told my parents about the places I had been to one by one.
What I saw there, what I ate, etc. I talked about everything I experienced in as much detail as possible.
And at the end, I also talked about Lian, but fortunately, my parents readily agreed to let Lian join the Knights.
The first day I came home like that, I spent the whole time with my parents.
* * *
From the next day, I did the things I had to do step by step.
I couldn’t afford to look into Lian because I was busier than I thought, but I made a promise to Lian.
So a few days later, I called in Lian through a servant who was to wait on me instead of Mary, who had been on vacation for a long time.
Smart.
“Lady, I brought the knight.”
It was the sound of Ryan coming.
“Come in.”
When the door opened, Lian, whom he hadn’t seen in a few days, entered the room.
I looked at Lian for a moment.
It was a new feeling to see Lian wearing a knight’s uniform, now a dignified and dignified knight.
And after two years of being together every day, it was nice to meet someone I hadn’t seen in years just because I hadn’t seen them for
a few days.
“Rian.”
“My lady, did you call?”
“Come on. Come over and sit down.”
I quickly approached Lian’s side, took her hand, and led her to the sofa.
Ryan felt a momentary flinch.
“How have you been? Anything uncomfortable? Who doesn’t bother or make it hard? Do you need anything?”
After sitting Ryan on the sofa, I went directly across from him.
But before he even sat down, he poured out the things he was curious about to Lian.
Lian’s expression, which was hardened at first, softened slightly at the sight of me.
“I am doing well. The people of the duchy are also nice to me.”
“Thank god. Eating, does eating go well with your mouth?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Huh?”
“How have you been, my lady?”
“I’ve been fine. It’s my house.”
Saying that, I smiled broadly. And slowly, he brought out the main topic.
“Do you remember when I told you to go to the orphanage?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Now that I’ve finished cleaning up to some extent, I’m thinking of going tomorrow.”
Ryan’s face brightened in an instant.
“Thank you, lady. But I want to see my younger siblings from afar.”
“Why? Still, wouldn’t it be nice to say hello? Your younger siblings will also be curious about how you have been.”
“Perhaps by now everyone will forget me and get along.”
I thought I knew what Ryan meant.
Even if they met, they couldn’t be together anyway, so it seemed they didn’t want to disturb the children’s hearts.
“It is enough for me to see that my younger siblings are doing well.”
“Okay, then let’s do that. Let me know if you ever change your mind.
Understand?”
“All right.”
* * *
The next day we set out from the mansion to go to the orphanage.
I told my parents that I was going out for a while and accompanied Lian in the name of an escort.
The village of Hemoa, as the man named Eden had said, was a very small village located to the northeast of the capital.
I arrived about three hours after leaving, and it was a pretty and modest place with flowers and trees blooming everywhere.
And because the orphanage is located in the place where the sun shines the best in the village, more and more flowers bloom around the orphanage.
I could see the affection and interest of a man named Eden for this orphanage.
I looked outside the orphanage entrance alongside Lian.
Some children were running and playing in the yard.
“Uh?!”
And among them, I found familiar children.
“Right?”
I looked up at Lian and asked with a bright smile.
“Yes, that’s right.”
There was no shade visible on the children’s faces.
He was running around with a childlike bright face.
“You seem to be doing well. Yes?”
“Yes.”
When he talked about his younger siblings, Lian’s face, which was
full of worries, finally seemed to clear of worry.
“Are you really not going to see me?”
“Yes, just seeing you get along is enough.”
Rihanna was stubborn.
So I didn’t say anything anymore and just looked at the children.
Suddenly, the children pointed their fingers at us.
Then they started running and in an instant surrounded us.
As the children approached right in front of her nose, Ryan turned to the side so they couldn’t see him.
“Uh? Isn’t that the sister then?”
The only girl I saw then recognized me.
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