She had understood the situation to do that.
Ayla knew nothing but the name of her enemy, Byron, just a name. She even didn’t know what his last name was.
It was truly absurd. After all these years, the only information she had about this man she had called her ‘father’ was his name, and she only heard it from someone else’s mouth shortly before his death.
At the age of two, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess disappeared. For fourteen years, she lived as the daughter of Byron until she returned to the mansion at age 16.
She cursed herself for only knowing about his favorite drink, favorite food, and how to make him happy and get his complement. She realized that these were the only things she knew about him, while she remained oblivious to his true identity.
She couldn’t be that pathetic.
Nevertheless, it was very different from her previous existence. She is aware of who she is and who her actual enemy is.
At least she won’t be swayed by that devil, Byron, anymore.
“Lady, are you sure you’re not falling asleep? What’s taking you so long? If you do this, Your master will get angry.”
Laura urged, pounding on the old door with the intention of breaking it down. It seemed like she wouldn’t even give her time to gather her thoughts.
The truth is that nothing changed when she was left alone in that room with her thoughts. She lacked sufficient knowledge and had no idea about her age or location at that moment.
“I’ll be out soon.”
Ayla, who responded to Laura, splashed cold water on her face. As the icy water made contact with her face, she felt a jolt to her senses. The sensation was so strong that made her truly alive.
Ayla wiped her face with the towel that Laura left on the table and then changed the clothes placed next to the towel. It was a riding-style training uniform that she always wore when she was young.
After taking a deep breath and mentally preparing herself, she went out of the room and was greeted by Laura grumbling.
“Why the hell are you so late? You don’t want to train early in the morning? Why are you doing something different than usual? Lady, I have no choice but to notify your master if this happens. I wonder how disappointed your father will be in you.”
Even as she got older, Laura always acted as if she were her master.
Ever since Ayla arrived at the Duke’s residence, nothing had changed. Laura maintained proper behavior in public, but her true self emerged when she was alone.
At first, she didn’t find it strange to only see Laura and Byron’s subordinates. But when she noticed the staff of the duchy who truly cared about her, she felt extremely strange.
If Ayla was really Byron’s daughter, she wouldn’t have been treated like this. Even if they didn’t follow her with all her heart as the dukedom’s people did, They would at least give her at least some human respect.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes. I’m listening.”
If she had been in the past, she would have been restless and would have looked at Laura’s observation. According to Byron, the most frightening thing in the world was his disappointment in himself.
No, she may not have moved slowly initially. However, Laura may have noticed and scolded her for it.
Laura looked puzzled at Ayla’s appearance, which was different from usual.
Since the dog used to obediently wag its tail in response to its owner’s mood until yesterday, the sudden refusal to listen to commands can be attributed to a specific situation.
Okay, let’s talk about the dog.
Ayla was little more to Byron than a hunting dog. Get rid of it when the hunt has ended and hound his dog. She was such a fool that she didn’t realize her owner was trying to get rid of her as she was wagging her tail.
Currently, things have changed. She is behaving like a mischievous puppy, seeking every chance to nip at her owner’s neck. Nevertheless, outwardly, she continues to act the same and wag her tail.
‘Who is this man, Byron?’
She needs to determine his motives.
Every single thing he did was too suspicious to say he was just trying to assassinate a Duke. It was only when she was trusting him blindly that she had no idea. Now that she thinks about it, he is extremely suspicious.
Even though the attack took place at the peak of Ayla’s birthday feast, it was unexpected, and it was successful against the Duke’s home.
She has learned a lot about the duchy while pretending as a princess for two years. According to what she has learned, the Weishafen duchy has done an excellent task of protecting the Peles Empire and has a massive amount of knights and troops.
The mansion she resided in, located in the capital, had superb fortifications. However, it was not as robust as the knights who guarded the vast northern region of the empire. He appointed several skilled knights to protect her mansion.
But, it is strange that someone with this level of military power could overcome that defense while hiding in a living room and acting like a burglar.
And there was something else suspicious.
Byron lived a luxurious lifestyle despite being in a desolate location.
‘Where does his constant wealth come from?’
When she was young, she had no knowledge of economics. However, after receiving an education as a princess in a duke’s home, she was able to understand the high cost of the items that Byron wore, consumed, and used.
‘There’s definitely something. Something I don’t know ‘
Ayla thought so and clenched her fists.
The sky was still dark as Laura led her outside the old fortress, indicating that it would be a while before the sun rose.
She looked around, but all she could see were endless, dense forests and tall mountains.
When she thinks back to her childhood, it was always like this. In an unknown forest. They hid in abandoned forts or mountain huts and left every few months to find another place.
It would be difficult for a child to escape this forest, let alone become a duke, even if Byron were killed.
Even if she rode a horse, it seemed like she had to travel for a full day to see it. It would be impossible Since she was unable to ride a horse in the very beginning.
It was extremely funny now that I think about it. Although Byron raised Ayla to be a human weapon, he did not teach her how to ride a horse.
There’s a good chance it was done to stop her from escaping. so as to tie her feet to his side.
From the beginning, Ayla grew up with complete trust in Byron and never even thought about leaving him.
‘Even though it’s still morning, the atmosphere is a bit hot. Is it summer?’
She searched for clues to deduce how old she was and what her situation was. Her memory wasn’t bad, but since she lived in so many places with similar environments, it was difficult to know what time it was just based on her surroundings.
At first glance, she looked like she was about 11 or 12 years old, but she couldn’t tell for sure.
‘It would be nice to have some clue.’
However probably not wrong to assume that the season was summer. She was wearing thin clothing that Laura had bought her, and the water she used for washing was cold.
Even though Laura and her subordinates treated her poorly, she did not neglect her food, clothing, or health.
She was most likely being raised for assassination as well. She won’t be able to build up a strong physique, no matter how much she trains, if she eats poorly. Another reason would have been taking care of one’s health.
“Are you here, lady?”
How long did I walk like that, lost in thought?
Ayla was able to see a face she hadn’t seen in a long time.
It was Cloud, her teacher, and Byron’s loyal shadow.
For Cloud, it was a face he saw every day, but for Ayla, who had not seen him for the two years she lived in the duke’s mansion. She had not seen that face for a long time.
Unlike Laura, who looked down on Ayla. Cloud seemed to treat her quite humanely, but she wasn’t happy to see him after a long time.
It was unclear how much Cloud knew, but in any case, he was participating in deceiving and using her.
“You are late. Did you oversleep at least?”
“Sorry, I’m late.”
It wasn’t a demanding tone. But Ayla, who couldn’t raise Laura and Cloud’s suspicion any longer, hid her true feelings and apologized.
The sky wasn’t fully lit up yet, so why are they saying it’s so late?
As if she knew she was going to get scolded, Laura glared at her, who apologised with a downcast face, and then went back inside the fort, saying she would help prepare the meal.
“You have to eat with your master, so you will only do physical training in the morning. Weapon handling training will be done after dinner.”
Cloud said in a low voice. It may not have been a big deal to him, but it was a pretty decisive clue to her.
‘Training to handle weapons?’
She realized something and looked at her hands again. She had overlooked them before without thinking, but there were fresh wounds all over her small hands.
It was around the summer when Ayla turned twelve that she started using weapons such as daggers and bows, having only received basic physical training. Since it was her first time handling a weapon, she remembered the hardships she suffered from injuries here and there.
Sometimes she gets bruised by being hit by the bowstring, and sometimes she gets wound by the sharp blade of a dagger.
It felt strange to see the wounds again, which had healed so long ago that not even a scar was left.
‘Then I’m twelve now.’
She was twelve years old. There were four years left before she could become a duke.
Four years was such a long time for Ayla, who wanted to go back to her parents and apologize for what she had done, but if you think about it, it could have been a good thing.
During those years, all Ayla needed to figure out exactly what Byron’s plan was.
With her hands covered in wounds, Ayla tightly clenched her fist.
