Chapter 2
The carriage arrived at a beautiful and grand mansion.+
Olivia looked up at the mansion. She had just begun to feel intimidated by its opulent exterior when a large carriage pulled up in front of the entrance. The carriage door opened, and a man stepped out.+
He was handsome enough to capture anyone’s attention at first glance, but what truly seized Olivia’s gaze was his silvery hair, cold and luminous like moonlight.+
It was the first time she had ever seen hair the exact same color as her own.+
So Olivia blurted out,+
“Are you my father?”+
She didn’t need an answer—her intuition was already certain. This man was the father her mother had spoken of. Slowly, the man’s eyes turned toward Olivia.+
The moment their eyes met, Olivia felt something deep inside her drop heavily. That man—her father—+
did not welcome her.+
“…I’ll need to assign her an etiquette tutor right away.”+
His cold voice reached her ears.+
The brown-haired man quickly signaled to the people standing beside the front gate. Immediately, the door opened silently.+
From the ceiling lamps glittering like jewels to the carpet laid across the floor, the mansion exuded a warm, pleasant scent. Her father strode briskly inside, and Olivia, unsure what else to do, followed behind him.+
“Jio, you’re here.”+
Just then, a gentle voice abruptly cut off. A beautiful woman descending the stairs stared at Olivia with wide eyes.+
Aside from her mother, Olivia had never seen such a beautiful woman.+
“Jio… who on earth is that child?”+
“Hazel. Didn’t I promise I’d never send our Esela to the imperial palace? We needed someone to send in Esela’s place.”+
An incomprehensible exchange passed between them. The woman, clearly shocked, ran back up the stairs.+
“Hazel!”+
Her father followed after her. Left alone in an instant, Olivia clenched her fists tightly.+
People appeared from somewhere and began whispering.+
“She must truly be of Madelaine blood—just look at that lustrous silver hair.”+
“What on earth is going on? I never imagined His Grace would do something like this.”+
“Green eyes, too? That such lowly blood should mix into the noble Madelaine line…”+
Though Olivia didn’t fully understand their words, she knew their meaning wasn’t kind. Just then, someone appeared with the sound of crisp clapping.+
“Everyone, return to your posts and get back to work.”+
At the elderly gentleman’s arrival, the crowd quickly dispersed. The old man met Olivia’s eyes.+
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss. I am Albert Ranchaison, the Madelaine family’s steward.”+
His voice was kind, but his eyes held no warmth.+
“…I’m Olivia.”+
“You must be tired. Let me show you to your room first. Anna.”+
At the steward’s words, an older woman approached.+
“Bathe the young lady and take her to her room.”+
That was the end of the conversation. Olivia hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner, yet no one asked her about it. She missed her mother.+
“Well, just look at those eerie eyes—her mother must have been a street performer. She’s clearly in a different class from Miss Esela.”+
Anna spoke haughtily to the servants gathered around her. One of them noticed the silk anklet beside Anna.+
“But what’s that? It’s pretty.”+
“Did you bring it? It’s from Turningbell, isn’t it?”+
“Does it belong to that girl? Ugh, how filthy.”+
One of the laughing servants tossed the silk anklet into the trash bin and added to Anna’s story.+
No wonder she screamed and cried yesterday—her nature is simply wicked. Lowly blood is lowly blood, after all.+
In no time, rumors about the newly arrived young lady and her mother spread throughout the duke’s estate.+
Upon hearing the steward’s report, the duke gave his order as though tidying up an object.+
“Assign her a tight-lipped nanny to stop all this useless gossip.”+
“Yes, sir.”+
The steward bowed his head. A quiet and cheapest nanny available—the fact that this nanny had been dismissed from her previous household for mistreating the young master was none of the steward’s concern.+
The hands brushing through her hair were gentle. Olivia blinked her anxious eyes.+
The room decorated in pink and sky blue was lovely. Even the mice that used to climb onto the bed were gone.+
Yet Olivia felt no joy. Here, she had nothing of her own—not even her silk anklet. She couldn’t leave the room, and the only person she saw was the nanny who’d arrived just a few days ago.+
Olivia spoke cautiously.+
“Nanny… I’d like to go outside today.”+
The nanny replied sweetly,+
“I’m afraid not, Miss. You know why.”+
“…Why not?”+
“His Grace is heartbroken whenever he sees you.”+
Olivia hunched her thin shoulders. The nanny spoke even more gently.+
“You do know Her Grace has taken to her bed, don’t you?”+
Olivia stared wide-eyed at the nanny. Could Her Grace be that beautiful woman who’d run upstairs that day?+
“I… didn’t know.”+
“You probably didn’t. Or rather, even if you did, you ought to say you didn’t. Because of you, this noble Madelaine ducal house has become a laughingstock.”+
“What… do you mean?”+
“You didn’t know that either?”+
The nanny covered her mouth and looked at Olivia with pity. Her hands, brushing through Olivia’s hair, grew rougher by the moment.+
Ah, ah—Olivia let out a small whimper, but the nanny only muttered, “Poor little miss.”+
“My, it seems no one’s told our young lady the truth. Then this nanny must speak up.”+
The nanny smiled faintly.+
“It’s all because you came into this house.”+
“…”+
“The duke and duchess, who never argued in their lives, are now fighting.”+
“…”+
“The eldest young master is walking on eggshells, and the second young master has started crying every night.”+
“…”+
“Poor Miss Esela, once the cherished only daughter, has been demoted to second daughter.”+
Olivia’s heart pounded.+
No. A feeble denial slipped from her lips, but the nanny drove the point home like hammering a nail.+
“It’s all because of you, Miss.”+
“No, it’s not.”+
“Miss, didn’t I tell you on the very first day? This nanny never tells lies.”+
The cunning words slithered into Olivia’s heart again and again.+
On that first day, the nanny had said, with that kindly face, that she would never lie to her.+
That day, the nanny had bathed her in warm water, given her white bread, soup, and fruits she’d never seen before, and even read her a fairy tale at bedtime.+
Could it really be true? Olivia kept shrinking smaller and smaller.+
Was it all really my fault?+
Her young face was filled with confusion. Seeing this, the nanny spoke coaxingly, sweetly.+
“That silver hair doesn’t suit you at all, Miss.”+
“My hair?”+
“Silver hair is the mark of the Madelaine ducal house. It’s not meant for someone like you. It’s precisely because of that hair you were brought into this house.”+
Olivia couldn’t fully grasp what the nanny meant.+
“But… I came here because I’m Father’s daughter.”+
“No. It’s all thanks to that silver hair. Do you really think you’d ever have dared set foot here without it?”+
The nanny’s eyes flashed. Then she gripped Olivia’s arm painfully. “Ah!” Olivia gasped, but the nanny didn’t loosen her hold.+
“Shall I cut this hair off today?”+
“No, I don’t want to!”+
Olivia struggled to pull free. It was the hair her mother had always lovingly combed. With the silk anklet already gone, she couldn’t bear to lose another trace of her mother.+
The nanny let out a soft sigh.+
“How selfish you are, Miss. Do you really wish for His Grace and Her Grace to keep suffering just so you can keep that silver hair?”+
Olivia, swallowing back quiet sobs, finally burst into tears. No one comforted her, and the nanny kept coaxing her.+
In the end, Olivia’s hair was cut.+
At the sight of her patchy, mouse-gnawed hair, Olivia cried again, but the nanny laughed, saying it suited her best this way.+
After that, the nanny no longer brought proper meals. Once a day—that was all: coarse barley bread and a cup of water.+
Such days continued.+
Dust swirled through the uncleaned room. No one paid Olivia any attention.+
Olivia remained constantly hungry and thirsty.+
One night, the nanny didn’t return. Olivia quietly slipped out of her room.+
She was starving. If she could find the kitchen, there would surely be something to eat. She didn’t know where the kitchen was in this house, but anything was better than staying in her room.+
But as soon as Olivia stepped into the hallway, she regretted it. The wide, silent corridor was dark and frightening. Feeling her way along the wall, she tripped and fell.+
Normally, she would have brushed off her knees and stood up, but not now. Lying on the plush silk carpet, she felt as if her mother might appear at any moment. Just as she longed to see her mother and burst into loud sobs—+
“Who’s there?”+
At the beautiful voice, Olivia slowly lifted her head. The flickering lamplight drew closer as someone approached her side. Blinking against the bright light, Olivia gasped in surprise at the face before her.+
“You…”+
It was the duchess. To Olivia, the duchess—with her lustrous brown hair and brown eyes—looked somehow gaunt, as if in pain.+
The nanny’s words echoed in her mind.+
“You do know Her Grace has taken to her bed, don’t you?”+
“You’ve fallen.”+
“I’m… sorry.”+
Their words came out almost simultaneously. While Olivia trembled, unable to properly hear the duchess, the duchess tilted her head slightly in confusion.+
“What was that?”+
“I’m sorry.”+
Olivia apologized in a tiny, faltering voice.+
“What are you sorry for?”+
“For you being unwell… It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”+
“…Who told you that?”+
“…The nanny.”+
The duchess let out a quiet sigh. That sigh frightened Olivia even more, and she bit her lip tightly. But then a warm touch landed gently on her head.+
“Why is a little child wandering alone at this hour?”+
It was strange. The nanny had said the duchess was bedridden because of her—and that she must hate her deeply.+
Yet the voice asking her this sounded oddly warm. Slowly, Olivia lifted her head. A flicker of hesitant hope stirred within her.+
And the moment their eyes met, Olivia found herself saying without thinking,+
“I’m… hungry.”+
As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly. At the sound of her empty belly, the duchess patted Olivia’s head once more.+
“Right. You need to eat something first. Can you stand up?”+
Olivia nodded. As she rose, the duchess, who had been looking downward, straightened her posture and held out her hand to Olivia. Olivia glanced uncertainly between the outstretched hand and the duchess’s face.+
Then the duchess took Olivia’s small hand in hers. Her hand felt so soft and warm—Olivia thought her own must surely defile it.+
She tried quickly to pull away, but the duchess held her hand more firmly.+
“The stairs are even darker. You’ll get hurt if you fall.”+
The duchess’s voice was warm. Olivia walked behind her, head bowed. Just moments ago, she’d regretted leaving her room—but now she felt glad she had.+
On the table sat soft white bread, soup brimming with meat, fresh salad, and golden fruit juice. Delicious food filled the table, yet Olivia hesitated to pick up her fork.+
“Go ahead and eat. You look hungry.”+
The duchess, seated right across from her, spoke. Yet even after hearing this, Olivia only lifted her head slightly to gauge the duchess’s expression.+
“Don’t you like bread?”+
“I do—very much.”+
“Then eat. You won’t grow if you stay hungry.”+
“If you eat more, you’ll grow tall. If you stay hungry, you won’t grow.”+
Strangely, over the duchess’s words, Olivia thought she heard her mother’s playful voice. So she reached out and took the bread without thinking. She’d never tasted anything so sweet and delicious.+
Her eyes stayed fixed on the food. Thus, she never noticed the duchess’s gaze falling upon her painfully thin arms or her strangely shorn, patchy hair.+
After finishing her meal, Olivia sipped orange juice and blinked contentedly.+
“What happened to your hair?”+
The duchess spoke first. Olivia hesitated briefly before answering.+
“…I cut it.”+
“Who cut it like that? It was neat when I saw you a few days ago.”+
“…The nanny.”+
“Your nanny?”+
“Yes.”+
One of the duchess’s eyebrows arched upward. Olivia fidgeted with her fingers. Somehow, the duchess seemed angry—and it was all her fault.+
“…I’m sorry.”+
Her voice was barely a whisper. She felt the duchess’s gaze but couldn’t lift her head.+
“The nanny said she should cut more, but I refused, so she only cut a little.”+
Apparently, she should have let the nanny shave it all off when asked. Still, she’d wanted to keep even a little.+
“…What exactly did the nanny say to make you cut your hair?”+
“…She said if I kept my hair as it was, both of you would suffer.”+
“…And did the nanny say anything else to you?”+
“…That both of you are struggling because of me. That everything falling apart here is all my fault.”+
A light sigh escaped the duchess. That sigh felt heavy, as if settling onto Olivia’s shoulders.+
She wanted to see the duchess’s expression—but also didn’t. She wished to flee back to her cold room, to hide somewhere no one could find her.+
Just then, a gentle hand stroked her cheek. At that warmth, Olivia lifted her head. The duchess was looking right at her.+
“Let me be perfectly clear.”+
“…”+
“This isn’t your fault, little one.”+
“But… she said it was my fault.”+
Olivia mumbled. It was strange. The nanny had insisted it was all her fault—but the duchess, who’d supposedly fallen ill because of her, was saying it wasn’t. Olivia clutched the hem of her dress.+
“No.”+
The duchess’s voice was firm. Her hand, gently lifting Olivia’s chin, was careful and tender. She wasn’t smiling, but neither was she angry.+
Olivia’s lips trembled. That day, the duchess’s face running upstairs had clearly shown immense shock.+
“Really… I didn’t do anything wrong?”+
At that moment, the duchess gave a smile that seemed almost tearful. Without realizing it, Olivia closed her mouth. The duchess slowly stroked Olivia’s cheek and answered,+
“Of course not. You’ve done nothing wrong.”+
The fault lies with her.+
A quiet murmur followed, but Olivia couldn’t understand its meaning. All she knew was that this warm comfort, felt for the first time in so long, felt good—and that the beautiful duchess, who said it wasn’t her fault, felt good too.+
Perhaps because her tension had eased, her eyelids grew heavy. She tried to force them open, but they kept drooping shut. She thought she’d have sweet dreams tonight. Faintly, she heard the duchess’s voice.+
“Bring this child’s nanny to me at once.”+
