chapter 06
I turned around with a strange expression and stepped into the mansion.
The moment I noticed the front doors of the lobby standing wide open, I frowned.
They had been closed earlier. Leaving aside the fact that someone had opened them in the middle of this freezing winterā
“…Is that tiny speck way over there the main gate?”
No wonder the guards had insisted on sending us by carriage from the gate yesterday. If you tried walking, it would literally take all day.
And I had only just learned from Maya that the carriage was reserved for the servants traveling between the mansion and the gate.
Even amid the chaos of arriving here with my siblings yesterday, I had thought the estate was enormous.
But this was honestly beyond shocking.
Will all of this bloom with flowers when spring comes?
That would be quite a sight.
The thought brought a smile to my lips.
Flowers always reminded me of Mom.
She loved flowers.
They suited her better than anyone.
And whenever she danced at a flower-filled festival, she looked like a fairy.
It was also at one of those festivals that she met her first love.
“He always came looking for flowers.”
With a smile as bright as a blossom, my mother had spoken those mysterious words.
On that day, she cast aside her dancer’s costume.
She became nothing more than an ordinary woman, took my hand, and went out into the square to enjoy the festival.
No matter how much her fellow dancers complained, no matter how many new men she met, I was the only one she ever danced with at that festival.
Perhaps she saw someone else in me.
…
I looked down at my small, soft palm.
I had been happy.
I had enjoyed it.
Mother’s hand had always been warm.
If possible, I had wanted to learn more dances from her.
But somehow, I never wished to learn swordsmanship.
“…Guess I didn’t inherit that part.”
A faint laugh escaped me.
Still, maybe learning some self-defense would be a good idea.
Suddenly, the unwelcome visitors from this morning came to mind.
Along with that chilling killing intent.
I need to be able to protect myself.
Even if I had knight escorts, there would always be limits.
Whether they could stay by my side every second was one issue.
The bigger question was whether I could truly trust them.
Those visitors were all among Ambrose’s closest associates, after all.
If someone who wanted me dead was hiding among them, how could I trust anyone?
Still, objectively speaking, I didn’t seem like someone with talent for swordsmanshipā
“Ahhh! Young Master Hui!”
The maids suddenly screamed.
The terrified cries came from the garden to the right of the front entrance.
My vision instantly went white.
I bolted forward.
Hui? What happened to Hui?!
My foot tangled on the short staircase leading from the entrance, and I crashed to the ground.
But I didn’t even have time to feel the pain.
I scrambled back up and ran again.
This wasn’t the time to be worrying about my own safety.
Not in a house where people directed killing intent at their own blood relatives.
There was no guarantee that my siblingsāwho weren’t even blood-related to this familyāwould be safe.
“Hui…!”
“Miss Bebe! Look over there!”
Hearing my shout, several maids emerged from behind a bush in the corner of the garden and pointed somewhere.
The scene reflected in my tear-filled eyes wasā
Peaceful.
Hui was climbing a towering tree.
Dido stood beneath it, blinking as he watched.
And perched on a branch above them was a trembling kitten.
…Again?
This was simply another ordinary day for Hui.
Despite his stoic appearance, he was kind and loved animals.
Good grief.
I thought my heart had stopped.
Panting heavily, I called up to him in an exhausted voice.
“Be careful.”
“Okay.”
The maids stared at our calm exchange as though wondering whether this situation was really fine.
Feeling like an irresponsible guardian, I waved both hands.
“Ah, don’t worry too much. He’s always been very athletic…”
Wait.
My words trailed off as a thought occurred to me.
That’s right.
If anyone in our family had physical talent, it was Hui.
He had always been quick and surprisingly strong for his age.
Even though he was gentle by nature, we’d grown up in a rough neighborhood, and people occasionally picked fights with him.
Yet somehow he always came home victorious without a single scratch.
Every time, I couldn’t exactly praise him for fighting, so I merely pretended to scold him and let it go.
But what if he became a knight?
Then he’d be the knight I trusted more than anyone in the world.
Noābefore that, he’d at least be able to protect himself.
And someday he’d become not only my brother but a distinguished knight admired and respected by everyoneā
Calm down.
I was getting way ahead of myself.
What was I even thinking about a five-year-old who was currently climbing a tree to rescue a kitten?
I took a deep breath and suppressed my parental ambition.
Honestly, I was already becoming greedy.
At first, all I wanted was for my siblings to be healthy and happy.
But now that our circumstances had improved, I was shamelessly dreaming about their futures too.
“But there’s a very high possibility that our Hui is a once-in-a-generation geniusā”
“Miss!”
The maids gasped again after hearing my muttering.
“You’re bleeding! What happened?”
“Ah… I fell.”
At their fussing, I looked down at my palms.
The skin was scraped raw.
Only after noticing the wounds did I start feeling the stinging pain in both my hands and knees.
But more than that, I noticed my dirty clothes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh? For what?”
“For getting the dress dirty. It was pretty…”
The maids looked touched.
No, really.
I wasn’t trying to act like a pitiful, well-behaved child this time.
I just sympathized because I’d worked as a maid myself.
I knew how difficult it was to wash and repair expensive fabricsā
“It’s fine! The outfit was put together in a hurry anyway. We were only planning to use it today!”
Right.
How foolish of me to compare myself to Ambrose.
As I smiled bitterly to myselfā
“Meow!”
The kitten, trying to escape the steadily approaching Hui, suddenly leapt from the tree.
“Oh!”
Without thinking, I stretched out my hands.
Squish!
The kitten’s soft paw landed on my scraped palm.
Then it casually climbed over me and scampered down my body.
A second later, it dashed into the bushes and disappeared.
Dido, sucking on his index finger, watched it leave with obvious disappointment.
“Kitty…”
“Yeah, the kitty left. Hui, you can come down now.”
“Okay.”
After pulling Dido’s dirty finger out of his mouth, I watched Hui jump lightly from the tree, his ash-gray hair fluttering.
His hair had gotten quite long.
Hui hated feeling stuffy.
I should cut it for him soon.
And since he was clearly a genius after all, perhaps I should have him take swordsmanship lessons day and nightā
I snapped back to my senses and shook my head vigorously.
Greed was dangerous.
I’d finally been given the chance to raise them properly.
At this rate, I’d end up pushing the child too hard.
Meanwhile, once Hui landed safely, the maids sighed in relief.
“We’re sorry, Miss Bebe. They seemed bored, so we took them for a walk…”
“It’s okay. Thank you for looking after them.”
Smiling, I wrapped an arm around both Hui’s and Dido’s shoulders.
I worried about them, but I couldn’t lock them in a room forever.
Besides, no matter how many fancy clothes we wore, we somehow looked more natural covered in dirt like this.
“More importantly, let’s get your injuries treated right away!”
Dragged along by the maids’ scolding, I returned to my room.
Soon afterward, an elderly man appeared.
He was introduced as Ambrose’s chief physician.
As always, a red badge was attached to his collar.
By now, that badge had become something that reassured me.
“…It’s nothing serious. Just disinfect it and apply some ointment.”
However, he barely bothered greeting me before pulling medicine bottles from his bag with an indifferent expression.
He splashed disinfectant onto my wounds and then smeared on a thick layer of some unidentified ointment.
Ow…
I frowned at his rough treatment.
Maybe it was because I had spent my whole life being treated by the careful and gentle Morgan.
I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed that the longer someone had worked for Ambrose, the less friendly they were toward me.
“Oh my. The injuries looked much worse earlier. I’m glad they’re not serious.”
The maids, who had been watching from behind, sighed in relief and said there wouldn’t even be a scar.
They were right.
Now that the blood had been washed away, the wounds looked much lighter than before.
The physician soon finished and stood up.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Ah, thank you for your help.”
“…Tch.”
Did he just click his tongue?
