Chapter 24

 “His Highness seems to like you very much. He says he’ll give you a sarasa dress as a gift.”

 Ella, who had been chewing the dry bread, looked at Anna. Anna smiled gently.

 “A tailor even visited at noon. There are several tailors in San Parvale, but none match the imperial tailors. But even he apprenticed at San Parvale’s clothing shop before being selected by the imperial family.”

 So our castle is the best. That was the interpretation. Anna snorted as she said this. Ella looked at the woman with a flat expression and then cast her gaze toward the terrace. Two sandpipers that had been flying in the sky perched on the terrace railing and pecked at the floor.

 “Why do you look like that?”

 Lila asked. Lila, who was said to be a year or two younger than Anna, had a more innocent personality than Anna, with whom she worked. She looked more excited than Ella about what was good, but Ella couldn’t understand what she was happy about at all.

 “It’s nothing.”

 “Aren’t you happy?”

 “Pardon?”

 “His Highness favors you so much, but you always look like you’re barely surviving. If it were me, I’d be dancing with joy.”

 Ella composed her expression. Lila always nagged that she had a blank expression every day. She would say things like smile a bit, or with such a pretty face, what are you always worried about, and it wasn’t wrong. Even thinking about it herself, a tiny young child walking around with a gloomy face every day probably wouldn’t look very good. However, for Ella, smiling was an awkward and uncomfortable act.

 Even when living with Sarah, she had always been told she was expressionless, and it didn’t seem like a smile that wasn’t there before would suddenly appear here.

 Besides, was a life loved by one’s master a happy life? She didn’t know. Ella wanted to live as Ella. The most ordinary life was what she desired most. When would she be abandoned by her master? A life of struggling not to be abandoned wasn’t the life she wanted. A life like someone’s loose thread is anxious.

 Someday the Duke would marry. Pretty. Pretty. No matter how much he cherished and coaxed her, eventually he would marry another woman and start a family. And that woman would be someone who could meet his gaze as an equal. So she wouldn’t have to live with constant anxiety. Having a family to return to when carrying a burden is fortunate. But Ella had nowhere to go back to. Having no escape route is a weakness. Because she had to live looking only at the Duke for her entire life.

 It would probably be more disadvantageous if she became pregnant. She would be more careful in her behavior for the sake of the child. She would become miserable, focusing all her attention on her beauty that blooms for only one season, and feeling sad for not being loved.

 “Stop it, Lila. She must have her own thoughts.”

 Anna rolled her eyes. Lila snorted. Ella swallowed the rest of the dry bread. She had only eaten half, but she felt full. As Lila got up to clear the empty plate, she suddenly shouted.

 “Oh my! Miss! What are you doing here? Where are the maids? Where’s Tanya?”

 At Lila’s commotion, which was like a scream, Ella quickly turned her head. There was indeed a tiny child at the doorway. Ella froze and stared at her. The appearance was familiar. Though she was seeing her for the first time, the eyes, nose, and mouth set in the small face the size of a bean were not unfamiliar.

 “Tanya. Leave that alone!”

 Lila made a fuss and approached the child. The child, who had been hiding her body like a cat while holding onto the doorframe, flinched at Lila’s reaction and disappeared behind the door. Anna belatedly called “Lila!” but the child was no longer visible.

 “Sigh……”

 Anna sighed. Ella watched her walk behind the door and then swallowed dryly. Not long after, a tiny child appeared. The child, whom the Grand Duke was said to love and treat as a legitimate daughter, was much thinner and smaller than her known age.

 “Miss. Say hello. This is Ella.”

 Larien was following behind Anna, clinging to the back of her skirt. Anna introduced Ella with a kind smile toward her master, who was holding onto her skirt hem and not letting go.

 “Didn’t you want to see Ella?”

 Larien shook her head. However, her glancing eyes were full of curiosity, and Ella realized it wasn’t the truth.

 “Oh, dear. There’s no need to be shy.”

Anna slowly pulled the child to her side and made her face Ella.

 “Say hello, Ella. This is Miss Larien. His Highness’s only sister.”

 *** 

 Larien. Larien Ophelia Le More von Durac. The only daughter of the late Duke Carlisle. Larque’s half-sister. The only trace Cecil left behind…… If she ever had a daughter, would she look like this? Though not a drop of her blood was mixed in, Ella felt affection for the girl. A servant girl feeling affection for her master. Even a passing dog would laugh at that. But it couldn’t be helped.

 “Hello, Miss. I’m Ella.”

 She bowed first. When she straightened her back, the girl smiled faintly. It was a smile that felt soft like dried persimmons. Ella slowly examined the girl. Except for that sublime gray that symbolized the North, the siblings seemed to share nothing.

 “Lari. I’m Lari.”

 Larien pointed to herself and murmured. Ella glanced at Anna. The maids called the girl Miss Larien. Hermel did the same. Yet the girl called herself Lari. Who called her ‘Lari’? The Duke?

 “Yes, Miss Lari. Nice to meet you.”

 Larien smiled brightly at Ella’s greeting. With her lemon-bright hair reaching her waist, cloud-white face, honey-colored eyes, and peach-colored cheeks and lips, she was a child who took after Cecil completely. She was a perfect example of maternal inheritance, but if there was one thing that distinguished her from her mother, it was her straight hair. While Cecil had curly blonde hair, Ella had straight hair like the Grand Duke.

 “Want to see Mimi?”

 Suddenly, the girl approached and led Ella. Ella looked at Larien’s hand holding her arm. It was a loveliness that couldn’t be refused.

 Mimi was a cat. Larien called it Mimi because the cat meowed “mimi.” Ella looked at the back of the girl who was holding onto her. The Duke’s sister was ten years old. Considering that the Duke was now twenty, they were siblings with quite an age gap. Ella thought of the deceased Grand Duke. Larque’s father. The man who had brought her to this castle died in a war he went to right after Cecil’s death. Larque didn’t discuss the reason and process of that death with anyone in the castle, and he alone kept everything hidden, as if inheriting it from him.

 So this child probably doesn’t know either. She wouldn’t be able to know.

 “Here it is.”

 Larien turned around. The girl’s bedroom was one floor below the Duke’s. Down the stairs, across the hallway, half of the west wing. Half of the west wing, consisting of a bedroom and a greenhouse garden, was the girl’s space. Unlike at first, Larien now had a bright face without hesitation.

 “Mimi.”

 It was a soft whisper. Ella looked at the white cotton ball sitting on the windowsill. The huge cotton ball that wouldn’t be strange if it rolled over suddenly turned its head. The cat had different colored eyes. The right was wall-colored, the left was amber. She had heard it was a precious tribute that the Grand Duke had imported from a distant foreign country for Larien’s fifth birthday, and indeed, it had a splendid and exotic appearance worthy of an expensive tribute.

 “Mimi. I brought a guest. You don’t mind, do you?”

 Larien tiptoed over. Unlike its appearance, which seemed quite sluggish due to its size, the creature was agile. Mimi, who had jumped down from the windowsill, walked toward Larien. It had a proud and arrogant demeanor like a princess in a royal palace. Larien held Mimi in her arms and smiled brightly at Ella.

 Animal fur fluttered on the yellow silk dress said to be comparable to a queen’s satin. Ella stared at the girl. For her, Larien drew more attention than the expensive cat she was seeing for the first time. As Lila had said, if someday a daughter were born between the Duke and herself, would such a child be born who looked nothing like her half-brother? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

 “Isn’t she cute?”

 Larien held out the cat to Ella. The girl seemed desperate for Ella’s attention since earlier. Not understanding why she welcomed a stranger so warmly, Ella just smiled awkwardly.

 “Yes. She’s really cute.”

 In truth, Larien was cuter. But Ella couldn’t say that you are cuter and prettier. Suddenly, the cat in the girl’s arms jumped down. But Larien didn’t pick up the cat again. She only brushed off the animal hair on her skirt hem. A maid who had been watching approached. Larien obediently received the maid’s attention while fidgeting with her fingers.

 Ella looked at the jewels and roses fixed to the right side of the girl’s head. From the crown of her head to above her ear, her hair was tightly braided with emerald jade inserted between the braids, making her look no different from any noble lady.

 “Is it done yet?”

 Larien, who had been standing still under the maid’s touch, asked in a sulky voice. The maid who had been fixing her hair immediately stepped back. Larien fluttered like a yellow bee and walked back to Ella. The two entered the greenhouse like friendly sisters.