Chapter 10
Sasha of the Grenfell Ducal House
Wheeeeee— wheeeeee— wheeeee—
A dreadful alarm rang out. Sasha slowly opened her eyes. Everything was dim; she couldn’t see anything.
It was just like that day. The day the bombs fell. The alarm echoing through the streets of Porus. The harsh smell of gunpowder, the pale haze, and the faint scent of blood.
After the bombing stopped, Sasha’s entire family joined the line of refugees. And then another massive explosion sounded. The refugees’ screams followed. Sasha had crouched among her family.
“—Sasha! Sasha! Snap out of it!”
Sasha, overwhelmed by the shock and terror of that day, suddenly opened her eyes wide. She was already in the arms of the major, being carried somewhere.
It was another military vehicle.
“While we’re moving, don’t look at anything and don’t listen to anything. If you understand, just nod.”
“……”
“Do you understand?”
Barely holding back her tears, Sasha nodded several times. The major placed her on a seat at the back of the spacious vehicle.
“Depart.”
“Yes, sir.”
At his command, one man in uniform and one man in a suit moved in perfect coordination.
And then, coldly, the man turned his back on the child.
“—Ugh! W-wait! Ahh!”
As the car door began to close, the child shouted in anguish, trying to block it. The major, who had been walking away, turned around blankly and looked at Sasha.
For the first time, his usually expressionless brow showed the faintest crack. It was as though he was asking, Did you really just make that sound?
Why did she feel so uneasy?
“—Hngh! W-wait!”
Sasha resented and frustrated herself for being unable to speak properly.
Just once. Please. Just once, she wanted to tell the major.
“Don’t push yourself to speak. It’s okay. I’ll be back soon. So, just grow up strong.”
Fearing he would leave, Sasha quickly grabbed his collar and opened her mouth with all her strength.
“Th-this!”
The major’s lips relaxed slightly. At that moment, Sasha managed to say a single word.
The child handed him the cross she always carried—tied with a rubber cord.
“……Hoo. In Inperna, we believe in God. H-heaven is a good place, but I—I hope you don’t go there yet, sir.”
With trembling voice, she carefully pronounced each word and placed the necklace in his large palm.
“……Then should I go to hell instead?”
Whether it was because of his faint smile or the awkwardness of such a joke in that situation, Sasha strangely felt slightly relieved and could no longer hold onto him.
“M-Major! Please come back quickly! S-Sasha will wait!”
Her voice was swallowed by the ever-ringing alarm. The car door closed.
Inside the vehicle, Sasha kept thinking about when the major would return.
Outside the window, the city gradually turned into a sea of flames. After some time, the violently shaking vehicle began to stabilize. Sasha looked through the small window in the back door.
The spire of Porus—the one that had still been standing—was collapsing.
Above the pitch-black sky, pale mist and faint blue dawn light settled down.
And finally, three jets heading toward Porus appeared, followed by a massive explosion.
Tears dampened Sasha’s pale cheeks in the darkness.
The child looked up at the man in uniform sitting stiffly beside her.
“Th-there’s a fire. We—we should help…”
“No, that is not allowed.”
“But that’s where the major is! The major! He’s the commander!”
Sobbing, she grabbed the man’s sleeve.
“No, that is not allowed.”
Hearing only the same mechanical reply, Sasha ran to the back door and pulled it.
Clack. Clack. Clack!
No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t open.
“M-Major! Major!”
Giving up on the door, she pressed her face against the window.
“Sir… you said you’d come back…”
The child cried out loud. Her voice filled the quiet interior.
After a while, the man tried to calm her. Sasha trembled as if she might faint, still pounding the locked door.
She remembered the major’s face when she first met him.
She thought he was beautiful. A large, beautiful person. In fairy tales, characters were usually small to be beautiful—but he was the first large person she thought was beautiful.
Even in the rain, when visibility was poor, she could keep looking at him endlessly.
Maybe that was why he was the first to notice her.
And that large, beautiful man was inside the burning city.
The child, who had never cried out loud before, finally released her despair.
“What does Sasha mean?”
“It means ‘comrade.’ From the moment you received that name, you became my comrade.”
Sasha recalled their conversation.
“Please…”
Please return safely.
Unable to hold herself together, her vision faded to black. Tears streamed down from the corners of her closed eyes.
* * *
The child, who arrived safely in Salvatore with her speech intact, became “Sasha of the Grenfell Ducal House” from that day on.
When she first arrived, summer in Salvatore was in full bloom.
She traveled to the estate in a dark green, fully enclosed automobile sent directly from the Grenfell Ducal House.
Even along the endless road, poplar trees—familiar from Inperna—lined the streets and cast shade.
On her first day at the ducal house, Sasha looked at the poplars and imagined the major standing beneath them.
She swallowed her tears. It was the only way she knew to suppress her sorrow.
At the end of the road, the pure white Grenfell mansion finally came into view. The roof wasn’t just a roof—it was surrounded by numerous square and pointed towers.
Holding the hand of a middle-aged woman wearing a white apron, Sasha stepped inside the massive residence.
She had never imagined such a place existed. She kept turning her head left and right in awe. To see one wall, she had to look from one end of her vision to the other. The ceiling was so high it made her dizzy. A dazzling chandelier hung overhead.
She saw paintings lining the walls—mostly naked baby angels singing or playing trumpets. There were also depictions of God’s image. They were similar to those in Inperna’s chapel.
This must be heaven.
At least, that’s what she believed—until she met the woman who seemed less like an angel.
Gloria Herbert Grenfell clicked her tongue upon seeing Sasha.
With her hair pinned up tightly and silver spectacles, Sasha thought she looked like a scary grandmother.
She had been staring at her ever since Sasha arrived.
“Where did you bring this child from… Honestly, that Herbert fellow must have taken a bullet to the head.”
She waved a decorative fan in irritation.
“Th-that’s not true. He didn’t get shot. He promised Sasha he’d come back alive…”
The nervous child tried to speak. Gloria narrowed her eyes.
“Sasha?”
“Yes. I’m Sasha.”
“So Herbert brought home a pup named Sasha.”
Not understanding the meaning, Sasha only blinked.
Later, she realized the truth after seeing a large elderly dog lying on a cushion in the room. The dog barely moved.
Gloria always called the dog “Sasha.” Sometimes the child answered when she heard the name—and was scolded.
“Major Herbert Herbert Grenfell.”
Only then did Sasha learn the major’s full name.
“What should I do now? I’ll work hard at anything! I’m especially good at gardening.”
“Flower arranging, you say?”
“No, I meant I want to be a gardener…”
“Tsk tsk. A boy who came from who knows where. We’ll need etiquette lessons immediately.”
Hearing this, Sasha closed her eyes tightly and finally decided she could no longer hide anything. Since she would remain here, there was no choice
