OAP 06

Chapter 6

Siona, dressed in a blue muslin gown and a shawl embroidered with lilies, walked slowly through the garden.

The air was thick with the scent of ripening apples—it truly felt like summer. Among the withered vines, red and white roses were in full bloom.

As the fragrance of roses drifted on the breeze, a hum escaped her lips.

“I wish every day were like this.”

A day without any worries or pain.

Gazing at the lush red roses, she naturally recalled someone’s crimson eyes.

Why do I keep thinking about that lowly one?

Siona shook her head lightly and bit her lip.

In truth, even while she lay ill in bed, she had thought of that child constantly. To be precise, she recalled his eyes.

Those red, jewel-like eyes wouldn’t leave her mind. After pacing in place for a moment, she soon found an answer.

It’s because I haven’t seen anyone my age in so long.

After her mother passed away at Regbel, not a single ball or tea party had been held. She had no contact with relatives or other guests. The only peer she had any companionship with was her older brother, Eli.

I was always alone.

Not only did she have no friends, but Siona didn’t own a single toy of her own.

She always had to make do with whatever Eli had grown tired of or broken.

Staring intently at the red roses, Siona reached out without thinking. A sharp thorn pricked her finger, drawing blood.

“……Ah!”

The sharp pain made Siona sink to the ground. The thorn was so thick it felt like it had punched a large hole in her finger.

What am I doing, acting like a fool?

As she stared pitifully at the flowing blood, she heard the sound of grass rustling nearby.

“……Ah.”

The figure standing with its back to the sun felt very familiar.

He’s grown.

Despite the barren atmosphere of Regbel, he had flourished. It hadn’t even been a year since he arrived, yet his appearance had changed considerably. Perhaps he wasn’t her age but older.

Yes. It’s awkward to call him a boy anymore.

Looking at his broad shoulders, which were developing into a man’s frame, Siona thought so.

Then she quickly hid her injured finger behind her back. After all, she was his mistress; she couldn’t keep showing such a foolish side.

“It’s nothing. Go away.”

Siona tried to speak with a dignified tone. But at that moment, a single teardrop clinging to her lashes rolled down her cheek before she could wipe it away.

“……!”

He wore a plain but clean white shirt and navy blue trousers. Without a word, he knelt down beside her. He gave off a cool, refreshing energy mixed with the smell of sweat.

Looking down at his stubborn, set jaw, Siona snapped angrily.

“How dare you! Why won’t you listen to me?”

Even as her blue eyes blazed with anger, he showed no sign of backing down. He reached out his large hand and seized her wrist.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?”

“Stay away from that boy no matter what.”

Hadn’t there been talk of a slave who had defiled a noble lady?

She didn’t know why Martha’s warning came to mind right now.

“If you dare do such a thing…!”

She wanted to curse and threaten him, but she didn’t know any proper insults, so her voice trailed off. Siona struggled to free her captured hand, but she couldn’t overpower him.

Staring at her pale face, he brought her bleeding finger straight to his own mouth.

It happened so quickly that Siona’s body froze.

“……!”

Suck, suck. The sound of him sucking her finger enveloped the space between them.

The sensation of his tongue wrapped around her finger was truly strange. She had never felt anything like this before.

It felt like falling off a cliff, or plunging into a deep lake. No—it felt like thousands of wildflower seeds were blooming inside her chest.

After a moment, he stopped sucking her finger and abruptly turned his head away. Looking down at her finger, wet with his saliva, Siona’s cheeks flushed deep red.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

When she got pricked by a thorn, Martha would do the same. But this felt completely different.

“Y-you… do you want to be beaten again…?”

Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn’t even finish her sentence.

How dare he, a lowly servant who did nothing but chores, touch her precious body?

She should be angry. So why was her heart racing so wildly? She had no idea.

“I’m talking to you! Where are you looking?!”

He had sucked her finger without hesitation, but now his ears were red and he couldn’t even look her in the eye.

What? Is he embarrassed?

How could he act so boldly and then react like that? Had he finally realized his mistake?

Seeing him cower before her, a strange sense of satisfaction spread through Siona’s chest.

“I am a generous mistress, so I will forgive you this once. But next time, I won’t let it slide.”

At Siona’s warning, he, who had been staring only at the ground, nodded. His gesture was one of perfect obedience. Siona lifted her chin.

“What are you waiting for? Pluck me a rose.”

When she commanded him in an arrogant tone, he sprang up, broke off the most fully bloomed rose, brushed off its thorns, and held it out to her. Looking down at the rose, Siona smiled brightly.

“That’s much better. From today on, you will be my personal attendant. Got that? Everything I order is to be done by you. Understood?”

Truth be told, she didn’t actually need a personal attendant.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

When she asked again, inhaling the rose’s fragrance, he nodded once more. There was something in his smile that she couldn’t quite read, but he’d always been a little strange, so she let it slide.

“I’m going for a walk. You will escort me from behind.”

Gripping the rose tightly, Siona began to stroll as if she were walking down a crowded boulevard.

Even though it was summer, Regbel’s garden felt desolate. Behind Siona, a man a head taller than her followed close at her heels.

From that summer onward, the two of them spent more and more time together. Siona called for him constantly.

“Did you forget what I said? That you are to come immediately when I call?”

He came running at Siona’s summons, even in the middle of his work, out of breath.

The annoyance flickering in her blue eyes sparkled like starlight, and he found himself staring blankly at her.

“Don’t be insolent.”

There was no slave who would dare look at their master’s face like that. Siona pretended to stomp on his foot, and only then did the slave lift his head.

“Today, we’re going up that mountain over there.”

At her plan, he frowned. Martha’s warning came back to him.

“Don’t do anything that might provoke young master Eli. Understand?”

Martha still disapproved of him, but it seemed she couldn’t break Siona’s stubbornness.

When he showed a moment of hesitation, Siona put her hands on her hips and looked utterly relaxed.

“It’s fine. Brother won’t be back until dawn, and he won’t wake up until evening.”

And so she passed through the rear garden and stepped onto the path leading to the mountain.

Summer had already passed in Regbel; the shadows of winter now covered the land.

The wind brushing past her nose was biting cold, and the flowers along the path had long since withered.

Even though it was a gentle slope with no undergrowth, her dress kept getting caught. She lifted the hem with both hands, grumbling all the way.

“We’re here!”

From the summit, which had taken them an hour to climb, she could see Regbel spread out below.

Stone houses dotted the landscape, and the endless fields were tinged with yellow. In those vast expanses of yellow bushes, sheep and goats grazed lazily.

“……Huff.”

He was panting—perhaps the climb had been too much for him. Siona burst out laughing at the sight.

“Go on, swallow your saliva. It’ll make breathing a little easier.”

When he followed her advice, the pain that had felt like it might tear his ears eased slightly.

Siona spoke as if to herself.

“This is the closest place to the sky in all of Regbel.”

Standing at a proper distance behind her, his eyes grew deeply shadowed.

Her wavy brown hair, reaching down to her waist, spread out in all directions in the wind.

His gaze fell upon her smooth, round forehead as she stared blankly up at the sky, not even bothering to hold down her fluttering skirts.

Siona Evgeniya was truly unique. More than any woman he had ever seen.

The day he had arrived at Regbel, when Josef had removed his cloak. The sudden light had blinded him.

As his vision slowly returned, the first thing he saw was Siona. Pale skin, an oval face, rich brown hair, slender shoulders.

And in her blue eyes, fear of him had been blooming.

……Irritating.

Étienne gazed at her brown hair, swaying gently in the wind.