Chapter 48

 The young master’s celebration day had been proceeding steadily from a week before. They brought in handcrafted artifacts and furniture made in the workshop of the northern archdiocese for the ceremony, selected the site to bury the placenta jar that had been storing the young master’s placenta and the seeds of the guardian tree, and then stored them on a shelf. Then they sent out invitations to the families participating in the ceremony and rechecked the ceremonial clothes that the young master would wear on the ceremony day.

 The family seal was not only sewn onto the young master’s ceremonial clothes but also decorated the duke’s. In general cases, that is, if the duke’s consort was the young master’s birth mother, the seal would also be sewn onto the hem of the duke’s consort’s skirt, but the problem was that Ella was not a duke’s consort.

 It was unclear how far to show respect, how far to show respect without violating etiquette, and at the same time, how to pay proper respect to the birth mother. In such cases, everything was decided according to the duke’s will, and Larque, the biological father of Eselmund and the master of his mother, ordered that the family seal be sewn onto the hem of Ella’s skirt, just like a duke’s consort. For this reason, Durac’s gray dragon was peacefully sleeping on Ella’s pearl-colored ceremonial clothes.

“Ella.”

 The man’s fingers traced her nipple. His fingers circled the mound of her br*ast before grasping it. Goosebumps spread over her whenever his snake-like hand kneaded her br*ast and stroked the thin bones beneath. Ella woke from sleep and looked up at his bluish chin.

 She took in a handful of the scent embedded in the smooth skin that enveloped her and blinked, then the fingers that had been touching her br*ast pressed firmly between her eyebrows. When she narrowed her eyebrows, he smiled faintly and gently massaged her earlobe.

 “Today the priest from the diocese is coming.”

 “I know.”

 “Who else is coming?”

 “My servants and the child’s relatives will come.”

 “Then Lady Lucretia will come too.”

 Lucretia. Ella unconsciously tensed and kept her mouth shut. Larque looked at her quietly and slowly stroked her head.

 “Are you afraid of Lucretia?”

 Ella, who had been looking at the pouring sunlight, turned her gaze. Lucretia was Larque’s aunt. She was the sister of Grand Duke Carlisle and Endymion’s mother. Unlike her son with his splendid and dissolute face, Lucretia was a woman with jet-black hair and a stubborn impression. A different kind of firmness from Gwendel of the west. Her eyes, cold as the north wind, made one’s mouth go dry.

 “I……”

 The rest of her words wouldn’t come out. To tell the truth, she was afraid. Lucretia didn’t like Ella. But that woman didn’t like anyone. She always had a cold expression and an arrogant gaze, and like people with such impressions usually do, she treated everyone as inferiors. Nothing would change just because she was the woman who gave birth to her nephew’s child. No, because a lowborn had produced the heir to his family, Lucretia would be even more disgusted.

 A week after giving birth to Eselmund. Ella recalled the day she had met the woman. It was a gaze that seemed accustomed to measuring and judging people. If she had openly shown her anger, Ella wouldn’t have been this tense. But it was just a few days. She didn’t want to waste emotions on someone who would stay only a few days and then leave.

 “Don’t worry about it.”

 “Yes.”

 When she answered weakly, Larque looked at her quietly again. Ella looked at the man’s eyes, which had sunk like submerged flotsam. Recently, he had been staring at her like this frequently. It was frustrating that she couldn’t read his emotions or thoughts, but it was difficult to ask why.

 “Ella.”

 “Yes?”

 “Have you ever heard about your biological father or mother?”

 “What?”

 “I mean. Your deceased mother, or father. Since the woman who raised you was your foster mother, you must have a biological father too.”

 “……That’s right.”

 “Aren’t you curious?”

 “About my birth mother?”

 Ella asked back. The man looked at her quietly and shook his head weakly. Then why? She looked at him with puzzled eyes. He had never once asked about her parents. She was curious why he was suddenly asking such a question. Perhaps it was because Eselmund’s celebration day was two days away. But……

 “Your father and mother. Perhaps siblings you might have.”

 “……”

 “Have you never been curious about them?”

 “Why are you suddenly asking such a question…… I’m not sure. Before, when I was very young, I missed my mother and father, but now, now they might be dead.”

 She rolled her lips. Come to think of it, since becoming the duke’s servant girl, she had never longed for family. When she was with Sarah in Roland, she always missed her mother and father. Once upon a time, siblings who might exist in the world. As Larque said, even if they had different mothers, she might have brothers or sisters, so someone who shared the exact same blood as her might exist in the world.

 No, in fact, she had thought about it often. That her father might come looking for her, as Sarah had said. According to her, although her mother had passed away, her father was still alive. So, so she thought he might come looking for her someday.

 But he never came looking. If he had intended to find her, wouldn’t he have done so long ago? Her mother, whom she couldn’t remember, loved Ella so much, so her father must have loved her too. But he never came looking. Perhaps only her mother loved her. Maybe her father didn’t care what happened to her.

 Ella, born in Roland, was a woman who had become accustomed to somewhat negative thoughts, as if her nature was pessimistic. Even if she tried to turn her poor imagination in a positive direction, it was difficult to dream of the future with fine imagination like Sarah. How vibrant could the imagination of a child who slept in a brothel be? She acknowledged that her temperament was rough, but she didn’t want to change it.

 Nevertheless, she still carefully kept the small pendant she had received from her birth mother. It was a precious item that couldn’t be obtained from a poor prostitute. Therefore, Ella had never worn it around her neck. Her mother had entrusted her to Sarah, making sure she kept it with her when she was wrapped in swaddling clothes.

 ‘The baby’s father will come looking. He will definitely, definitely come looking……’

 She supposedly said something like that. She couldn’t remember. Literally, it was when she was a newborn baby. It might be a fragmentary imagination made up by Sarah. But why would Sarah make up such a thing? She had handed it over to her, saying she didn’t make up something that never happened, and that it was the evidence.

 But her father never came looking. Anyway, that’s all that mattered. Sarah had taken care of her for 12 years, but never once did a man come looking, claiming to be her father. So there was no reason to keep the pendant and wait for the biological father who had abandoned her. Twelve years after birth. Sarah sold her foster daughter as a maid to a noble house. Because she didn’t want her to live the same life as herself. Because she knew how futile that life was…… After entering San Parvale, she no longer looked at the pendant.

 ‘Ellaria.’

 It was a grand name. Too noble for a prostitute’s foster daughter to have. And so it eventually became a name cut in half. Ella mumbled the name that was breaking diagonally. The name cut in half was easier to pronounce and easier to remember.

 “Why did you suddenly ask?”

 “Well, it just came to mind.”

 There was no room to smile under his staring gaze. Although it was a topic that should have been passed over by now, they just stared at each other. Suddenly, the man grabbed her soft br*ast. And he kissed the nape of her neck where her bright hair was disheveled. The scent of wild roses and violets that permeated her skin and hair was deep.

 Larque traced her thin bones with his palm. The sensation of her hair disheveling strand by strand between his fingers was ecstatic. The woman was staring blankly at him as he embraced her without replying. After kissing her smooth forehead, he bit her round earlobe.

 “If, if…… Never mind.”

 “Do you have something to tell me?”

 His tongue stiffened and wouldn’t move. As he recalled the blood relatives of the woman he was holding, strength entered his arm embracing her back. Alexander…… Her only brother who survived the calamity……

 “Master.”

 “Where were you trying to go that day?”

 “Wh-what……”

 It was an unexpected question. But his attitude indicated he would definitely get an answer. She was looking at him with bewildered eyes when the man persistently repeated.

 “That day, when you were running away from me. Weren’t you trying to escape after conceiving my child?”

 “Why…… Now.”

 “Tell me. Where were you trying to go?”

 He released his arms and grabbed her br*ast again. As he teased the mound of her br*ast and stimulated her bean-sized nipple, Ella let out a low nasal sound. Her body, stiff with tension, suddenly tried to push away his chest. His sturdy chest didn’t budge at all. Nevertheless, Ella was struggling to break free.

 “Ella.”

 “Don’t call me.”