Chapter 08
“Then there’s no point in you going home.”
“That’s… true.”
Yulias tilted his head, as if wondering why she was hesitating when she already knew the answer.
It wasn’t wrong, but somehow it still felt strange to say it out loud.
Elisia brushed off her awkwardness with a faint smile.
“If anything happens, report it to Hylmaiten first.”
“Understood.”
After Yulias left, Joshua, who had been nearby, looked up at her.
“Is the Grand Duke busy?”
“Yes. Very busy.”
Elisia recalled the piles of documents in his office.
It was clearly an amount of work impossible to finish in a single day. Was being a Grand Duke always like that?
“When does he rest?”
“I’m not sure… I don’t really know.”
He must sleep, right? Humans needed sleep to function.
Elisia smiled and gently patted Joshua’s head.
Back in the room together, Elisia continued talking with Joshua as usual.
“So then Hylmaiten said—!”
Whenever Joshua led the conversation, Elisia mostly listened, responding and asking questions.
And Sheila simply watched the two of them in silence.
Sitting at the desk, she stared like a stray cat keeping its distance.
“Right! Lady, your hand!”
Joshua clapped as if remembering something and turned to Sheila. Their eyes met, and the child flinched, shoulders tensing.
“Lady, did you treat it?”
Elisia and Joshua both looked at Sheila. The child startled, shook her head, then quickly wrote something on a sheet of paper on the desk.
[Don’t mind me]
The handwriting was messy due to how quickly it was written, but still readable.
Come to think of it, they had never actually heard her speak. Did she not want to talk?
While Elisia looked at the note, Joshua continued.
“I gave him ointment! Hyl-maiten uncle gave it!”
“You applied it too?”
“I don’t need it! Look!”
The lively atmosphere filled the room.
Sheila felt the warmth of the cheerful mood, something she had never experienced before, like a bonfire.
After a while, Joshua grew tired and lay down on the bed, soon dozing off mid-conversation.
As Elisia and Sheila quieted down, Joshua fell deeply asleep.
Seeing him asleep, Sheila stood up from the desk and opened the door.
“Good night, Lady.”
Elisia greeted her, but the child glanced back without responding and left the room.
Elisia quietly looked at the closed door.
“Does she… not want to talk?”
During Joshua’s conversation with her, Sheila hadn’t said a single word.
She had flinched when their eyes met, but she hadn’t avoided them—just watched quietly, as if observing.
“Umm, sister…”
Joshua mumbled in his sleep, and Elisia, regaining her focus, carefully tucked the blanket around him.
Then she turned off the light and lay beside him, watching Joshua until she fell asleep.
The next morning, Elisia woke up early and immediately headed home.
She planned to return to the Grand Duke’s mansion before Joshua woke and started looking for her.
More importantly, based on the timing, it was clear they would come today.
When she reached the door of the shabby house, she stopped, catching her breath.
“The door is open…”
Realizing that, a chill ran down her spine. She quickly pushed the door open and went inside.
A familiar man was there.
“Elisia, I thought you ran away.”
The rough-looking man tapped a ledger in his hand. The house was already in disarray, as if it had been ransacked.
“Isn’t this a bit early to come?”
“You’re behind on payments. Don’t tell me you’re going to ask for three more days again.”
The man standing before her looked down crookedly. Elisia lowered her head, recalling what she had said earlier.
“Just give me three more days. My brother’s treatment is still…”
“So what if one more kid drops dead? The world won’t stop.”
Remembering his cold words, Elisia’s hands trembled slightly. She pulled out the money she had repeatedly checked in her pocket.
“Here.”
“Belan? How did you get such a large amount?”
“It’s all settled now, right? Don’t come here again.”
“Ha.”
The man laughed and flipped through the ledger.
“The principal is settled. But what about the interest?”
“Interest?”
“Hey, Elisia. Don’t act stupid. Do you know how much has piled up because you couldn’t pay on time? You’ll need three more Belans.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
As she shouted, the man gave a thin, mocking smile.
“We’re not a charity. Want me to make things even more ridiculous?”
He stepped forward, and Elisia stepped back. An old table scraped and toppled with a crash.
She forced down her fear and gritted her teeth.
“That’s still better than this not being a legal organization. Neither of us wants this going to court.”
“You don’t even have money for a lawyer, and you still talk big. Principal’s paid, now only interest remains, miss.”
After the man left, Elisia quickly searched through the house.
A few utensils and kitchen items remained. Clothes and anything sellable had already been gone.
All that was left were a few books and childhood storybooks they used to read together. The margins were filled with scribbles, the edges worn.
“My princess, what book would you like today?”
“Elisia, books are fine, but it’s time to sleep. Hurry and lie down with Joshua.”
Elisia stroked the books.
They held not only memories of her brother, but also of her parents.
Closing her eyes tightly and opening them again, she carefully wrapped the books into her bag.
“This… isn’t to make money. It’s to survive.”
For a moment, her eyes burned, but she did not cry. She simply breathed slowly.
She silently hoped no one would buy these books.
Elisia quickly headed to the used bookstore in the neighborhood.
Ding.
“Please buy all these books. Please.”
She placed her worn bag on the floor.
The shop owner’s expression softened as soon as he saw her face.
Her situation was already well known in the neighborhood.
“…These are in really bad condition. And all the scribbles.”
He flipped through a book and closed it again.
Elisia, watching, spoke desperately.
“I know they’re basically worthless. But… even if it’s just one Ren per book…”
One Ren was barely enough to buy a piece of bread or fruit.
The owner sighed after looking at her for a moment.
“Fine. I’ll give you one Ren each. I was going to throw these out anyway.”
“Throw them out?”
The shop owner reached under the counter and pulled something out.
It was a flat silver metal plate.
Dust covered its surface, faint golden lines intertwined across it, and it had a folding structure like a book.
“…What is this?”
“I don’t know. It’s been here for decades. It’s not a magic book, and it doesn’t seem to have mana either. Nobody ever bought it.”
Elisia took it in her hands. The moment she touched it, a strange sensation passed through the cold metal.
She placed it in the empty space in her bag.
And she left behind the books filled with memories that could never be regained.
When she returned home, dawn was breaking.
The object—whether a book, a magical tool, or scrap metal—was unclear. But Elisia felt strangely drawn to it.
When she placed it on the table and unfolded it, a faint blue light swept across its surface.
“What…?”
As she tried to pull her hand away in shock, words appeared on the screen.
“Starting Counseling Journal No. 00!”
“What… what is this? What in the world…”
She leaned back in alarm, holding her breath.
With tense hands, she read the inscription on the bottom of the metal plate.
Even though she had never seen the language before, she somehow felt she could read it.
“…Laptop?”
