Chapter 06
I bit my lip.
Even as empty flattery, I couldn’t say this fried rice was good. Because too many eggs had been added, it was soggy, and the spring onions and bacon were chopped all wrong.
I hadn’t even dared to try preparing the raw shrimp and had given up on that long ago.
And the crucial part – was it even fried well?
Burned on the bottom, undercooked on top.
It was a complete mess.
I’d pushed the relatively decently cooked portions toward Melissa, but even those were terrible.
Still, Melissa ate well.
So well that she scraped up the very last grain of rice.
“……”
A realization suddenly came to me.
The reason I had given up my holiday to take care of this child wasn’t because of anyone or anything else.
Because I was the Deputy Director of the Child Protection Agency?
What sense of duty would I have for a hollow title like that?
Because I felt sorry for Melissa?
It wasn’t as if there were only one or two pitiful children in the world.
From the start, I hadn’t asked the Grand Duke for anything, so there was not a single benefit for me in caring for Melissa.
Even so.
‘It’s for my own sake.’
Not for the sake of who I am now.
But for the sake of my eighteen-year-old self who had woken up five years ago in a unfamiliar, single-room flat reeking of mold.
Back when I was Tessa Harrington, an orphan the same age, barely scraping by on odd jobs and desperately struggling to survive.
What I had wanted more than anything back then was a person.
Just one person who would understand my desperate situation and offer me a shoulder to lean on.
Of course, such a person never did appear.
But.
‘For Melissa, there’s me.’
And I will not let go of this small hand until the wounds this child received at far too young an age are healed.
“Sister, are you crying?”
Melissa’s voice was a little frightened.
“Did… did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“You didn’t do anything wrong at all, Melissa.”
“Really?”
Melissa looked up at me with a confused face.
Seeing that, I could feel all the confusion and pain she must have been through, and my eyes became teary again.
I barely managed to answer, my voice tight.
“You see, I guess tears come out because I’m so happy.”
“……Happy? Why?”
“Because I’m eating fried rice with you. Actually, here… I’ve never eaten a meal like this with anyone before.”
Melissa hopped off her chair and came toward me.
She leaned close to my ear and whispered as if telling a secret.
“Me neither. Here, eating with you is the first time.”
Time flew by.
After Melissa and I had cleaned up the fried rice, we spent the whole day sharing memories.
Thanks to that, I learned a lot about Melissa.
The name of her closest friend, the age of the neighbor’s Maltese that got along well with Choco, the elderly grandmother at the senior center who always gave her candy when she said hello, even the last family vacation spot she went to.
Of course, we didn’t just talk about personal things.
Melissa knew all the latest songs of popular idol groups by heart, and she even sang and danced for me.
I didn’t know the songs, of course, but I was just happy to learn new songs from familiar singers.
“You’re good.”
I clapped and laughed.
For now, Melissa looked like an ordinary third-grader, class 7 elementary school child.
Melissa pouted her lips.
“The dances they teach here are weird. No fun at all… So I showed them the dance I’m best at, and after that, the dance teacher stopped coming.”
“……”
I barely held back the laughter threatening to burst out.
How shocked must that dance teacher, who usually taught noble etiquette, have been after seeing Melissa’s unconventional idol dance?
But I couldn’t take Melissa’s side.
“That was your fault, Melissa. The teacher came to teach you the kind of dance you could dance at a ball.”
“……Is that so?”
Melissa looked at me with innocent eyes.
“So, from now on, I can’t dance the dances I know well?”
“Not in front of others.”
Melissa would have to live in this world from now on.
Like it or not, as a young lady.
Thinking of the child’s future, I couldn’t indulge her forever.
“But when it’s just the two of us, you can dance anytime.”
Fortunately, instead of crying or throwing a tantrum, Melissa hugged me tightly.
“I’m glad I have you, sister.”
Time flew by, and soon it was time to go back.
“Ugh…”
Melissa looked at the clock and made a face.
“Sister, will we meet again next Saturday?”
“That depends on the situation. Of course, I want to see you, Melissa, but there are things that can’t be helped.”
“Hmph, ugh…”
Large, clear purple tears began to well up in Melissa’s eyes.
“I don’t want to say goodbye to you, sister…”
“Me neither. But we can see each other again, right? If we can’t meet next week, I’ll write you a letter.”
…Whether that letter would actually reach Melissa safely, of course, I didn’t know.
But I had to find a way to communicate with Melissa, no matter what.
Because only by cooperating with Melissa could we prevent that terrible future.
Clop, clop. The sound of horseshoes hitting the hard stone floor came, then stopped precisely in front of the door.
‘He came faster than I thought.’
I took Melissa’s hand and opened the door.
“……?”
Naturally, I thought it was a servant coming to pick us up…
But the person who alighted from the luxurious carriage bearing the northern coat of arms was Grand Duke Karditsa himself.
He looked much better than when I’d seen him at the ball, but he still seemed somehow troubled and gloomy, with a deeply concerned air.
…And still handsome as ever.
Especially today, his hair was pulled back, which accentuated his perfect head shape and created a different kind of atmosphere.
He wore a simple coat instead of the splendid formal attire from the ball, which actually highlighted his cool charm much better.
‘…What am I thinking?’
My face flushed hotly.
Was I always this… susceptible to visual stimulation?
“Uh, sister…?”
Melissa said in a small voice, gripping my sleeve tightly.
My face, already flushed, grew even hotter.
I was so flustered with myself for constantly looking at him that I just found myself staring blankly at him.
‘How embarrassing.’
I quickly composed myself and lowered my head.
“G-Grand Duke. I apologize for my rudeness.”
I hurriedly greeted him, but the Grand Duke acted as if I didn’t exist, walking straight toward Melissa and kneeling on one knee.
“Melissa.”
“B-Brother…”
I winked at Melissa.
‘We practiced enough. You can do it, Melissa.’
I poured as much of my heart as I could into my gaze.
Did my feelings reach her?
Finally, Melissa spoke in a trembling voice.
Still holding my left hand, she extended her right hand toward Grand Duke Karditsa.
“I… I… I missed you…”
An ordinary third-grader.
Her favorite food: shrimp fried rice from the Chinese restaurant. Her best friend in the world: Choco the poodle. Her future dream: to be an idol.
This was the first moment this utterly ordinary child, since becoming ‘Lady Melissa’, had reached out first to Achilles Karditsa.
“……Melissa.”
Grand Duke Karditsa was so surprised he couldn’t even properly take her hand.
He took it awkwardly, but he himself didn’t seem to quite believe the situation.
“You… said you missed me.”
Instead of answering, Melissa let go of my hand. She spread her arms wide and bravely stepped forward, throwing herself into Grand Duke Karditsa’s embrace.
“……!”
The Grand Duke’s purple eyes widened and shook violently. His eyes, the same violet as Melissa’s, grew moist as he looked at the child, as if in disbelief.
“Melissa…”
No more words were needed.
The Grand Duke couldn’t bring himself to embrace his sister, but Melissa held onto her brother tightly and didn’t let go.
“Brother…”
Melissa whimpered.
“You won’t abandon me, will you?”
“……Why would I abandon you.”
My feelings toward Achilles Karditsa couldn’t possibly be good.
After all, he was a villain even now, planning a course that would lead himself, and the entire nation, to ruin.
But.
“You are my sister. My one and only, precious sister.”
I couldn’t help it – tears welled up in my eyes.
That was hardly befitting the reputation of a heartless, ruthless villainess
