Chapter 26. Unusual Signs

Rasiel was quite intelligent and clever.

At first, she seemed to wander a bit, but once she adapted to a certain extent, when taught one thing, she understood ten.

It had been a month since Rasiel began learning to read and write from Rapellian.

Rasiel could now write compositions skillfully and read even rather difficult classical literature novels fluently without any trouble.

Because of this, Rapellian was beginning to enjoy teaching Rasiel.

Before he knew it, he found himself waiting for Rasiel to visit him every day.

If she happened to miss a day, he felt quite empty.

‘It seems she won’t come today.’

Rapellian, who had been listening to Calyx’s report, moved to stand in front of the glass door leading to the terrace and looked outside.

Not far away, he could see the twins and Rasiel with the ducal residence’s guard dog.

“And next is a matter concerning Miss Rasiel.”

“Did you find out?”

“Yes. Based on the pickpocket leader’s statement that Miss Rasiel was found on the beach seven years ago, we investigated that time and found there was a shipwreck.”

“It must have come from the south. Rasiel still has a slight southern accent.”

“Yes. It was a merchant ship from Sizelin in the south, belonging to a merchant group secretly engaged in slave trading.”

Rapellian clenched his fist.

Though he had expected this, hearing it directly made his blood boil even more.

“What about parents, have you found any?”

At his question, Calyx shook his head.

“She was abandoned on the street at a very young age and taken in by a pickpocket den in Sizelin as well. Tragically indeed.”

“Are you certain?”

“Miss Rasiel has quite distinctive features. Despite much time passing since she came from Sizelin to Abelon, there were people who remembered her. And we confirmed it several times.”

“……”

As Calyx described Rasiel’s tragic fate, Rapellian was momentarily at a loss for words.

He sighed deeply and massaged his temple.

“It seems she occasionally went to noble households in Sizelin to do menial work, but her life there appears to have been not much different from here.”

“I imagine so.”

“It would have been better if she had grown up in a proper care facility.”

“In such places, it’s easy to brainwash children, and with a little violence and verbal abuse, they would find it convenient to use children who obediently follow orders, so they probably never even considered sending her to a care facility.”

There was a hint of anger in Rapellian’s voice.

Calyx watched Rapellian cautiously while tasting bitterness in his mouth.

Rapellian watched Rasiel playing disc throwing with the twins before turning his gaze back to Calyx.

He smiled with unprecedented cheerfulness as he spoke.

“I’d like to wipe them all out.”

Rapellian didn’t want to leave behind anything that had held Rasiel back.

Whether from the north or south. Whether pickpocket dens or slave traders.

Calyx thought it strange that he would say such things while smiling so handsomely, but without revealing his thoughts, he simply bowed his head.

“I will take care of it.”

“Good……”

Rapellian, taking his eyes off the bowing Calyx, narrowed his eyes as he trailed off.

A disc, thrown forcefully by the twins, was flying toward Rasiel.

Because of this, the guard dog was leaping fiercely toward Rasiel.

Without hesitation, he rushed out through the glass door, stepped on the terrace railing, and jumped down three floors.

Calyx blinked at the sudden event before quickly following him out and gripping the terrace railing.

“Y-Young Master……”

“Why are you so careless!”

Somehow Rasiel was now in Rapellian’s arms.

Rapellian, who had tucked Rasiel under his arm just before she could have a close encounter with the ground, raised his voice at Briel and Riello.

The guard dog, which had merely chased the flying disc, cowered, flattening itself to the ground before rolling over to show its belly.

“We were wrong.”

“We were wrong.”

Briel and Riello admitted their fault, their strength completely drained as if they hadn’t even had a bowl of soup.

Hearing their dejected voices, Rapellian noticed the twins’ complexion.

They must have been quite shocked as their faces had turned pale.

Rapellian, realizing his mistake, moderated his voice.

“I told you beforehand that Rasiel is different from you. There’s a big difference in strength and size, so you need to be careful in everything.”

“We’re sorry.”

Feeling Rapellian’s anger, Rasiel tugged at his coat.

When he looked down at her, Rasiel spoke with drooping eyes and a gloomy voice.

“It was, it was my fault for not dodging. And brother and brother probably didn’t know the disc would fly toward me. So……”

“No. Rasiel is not at fault. I’m sorry. I apologize, elder brother. We failed to be careful enough.”

Briel interrupted Rasiel and shook his head.

Playing together was fine, but in their excitement, they had momentarily forgotten the differences between themselves and Rasiel.

They could have handled such an incident sufficiently, but for Rasiel, it could have resulted in serious injury.

“That’s right. Rasiel is not at fault. We were wrong. I’m sorry.”

Following Briel, Riello also bowed his head to Rasiel.

Rapellian sighed softly and decided to wrap up the situation. After all, it was an unfortunate incident that occurred because the brothers, who had always played just the two of them, now had a fragile companion.

“I know you were just doing what you normally do. But things have changed now, so please be more careful.”

“Yes. We’ll keep that in mind.”

“You must have been shocked too. I’m sorry for raising my voice.”

Rapellian stroked the pale faces of his two younger brothers, not forgetting to apologize along with his admonition to be careful.

“We know you shouted because you were startled. It’s okay.”

“No, elder brother. We’re fine. Please check if Rasiel is injured anywhere.”

“Alright.”

After patting his younger brothers’ shoulders, Rapellian put Rasiel down and examined her thoroughly.

Though he had caught her before she fell, it was better to be thorough just in case.

“I don’t have any pain. Because you caught me well.”

“Fortunately, it seems there are no injuries. However, Rasiel.”

“Yes.”

Rapellian held Rasiel’s arms with a serious look in his eyes.

“Rasiel, I don’t mind what you do, but you need to be careful. You need to be careful yourself to avoid getting hurt. Unfortunately, you can’t be the same as these guys.”

“I wasn’t careful because I was looking at the dog. I’ll be more cautious from now on.”

“That’s good enough. Go back and continue playing.”

Now that he had cautioned them, they would be more mindful while playing together.

Rapellian pushed Rasiel’s back, sending her toward the twins.

Briel and Riello carefully watched him before each taking one of Rasiel’s hands and looking at the guard dog lying on its back.

“You go too. Be careful.”

“Woof!”

Rapellian rubbed the dog’s belly and patted its rear.

As if understanding his words, the guard dog barked briefly before going to stand beside the twins.

Rapellian, who had been watching this scene intently, turned toward his office, realizing the children wouldn’t play freely if he remained.

Then, a sudden thought made him stop in his tracks.

‘How long has it been since Rasiel came to our home?’

Rapellian roughly counted the days in his head.

It had already been about two months since Rasiel started living in the ducal residence.

He frowned deeply and turned around.

“Rasiel.”

“Yes?”

“Could you come here for a moment?”

“Yes.”

At his call, Rasiel let go of Briel and Riello’s hands and ran to him.

Rapellian silently examined Rasiel for a while before spreading his arms.

“Let me hold you once.”

Though Rasiel couldn’t understand why Rapellian was suddenly doing this, she didn’t refuse and entered his embrace.

As Rasiel came into his arms, Rapellian lifted her and paced a few steps.

“Hmm……”

He made an indecipherable sound and put Rasiel down.

“What is it?”

“You don’t have any pain?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Then it’s fine.”

Rasiel looked up at him with questioning eyes, but Rapellian didn’t offer any further explanation.

He simply told her to go back and play, then silently headed to his office.

On his way to the office, he wore a somewhat serious expression as he thought.

‘Why is there no difference?’

This was his impression after just holding Rasiel.

Rasiel’s face had a glow, her complexion was good, and she was full of vitality—things he hadn’t fully realized until now—but there was no significant change in weight from when he first held her.

Rapellian, as he walked, gazed toward where Rasiel might be.

‘This seems ominous……”

This was the first unusual sign he had sensed in Rasiel amid what had seemed like an uneventful daily life.

⁕⁕⁕

Rapellian even arranged for Rasiel to see a doctor under the pretext of a regular check-up, but no major problems were found.

Nevertheless, Rapellian couldn’t completely set his mind at ease and behaved more sensitively than usual.

“Rasiel.”

Rapellian called out to Rasiel while in the middle of discussing work with Calyx.

Rasiel was nodding off while holding a book, looking as if she might fall forward at any moment.

“She seems tired.”

“This has never happened before.”

“It appears Miss has become completely comfortable in the ducal residence.”

“If that’s the case, it would be welcome news, but.”

“It’s normal to sleep more during the growth period.”

“That doesn’t seem quite right……”

Rapellian trailed off as he approached the couch where Rasiel was sitting.

He gently removed the book from her small hands, placed it on the table, and carefully lifted her up.

“She should be gaining weight by now. And it doesn’t seem like she’s grown taller either.”

Rapellian frowned at Rasiel’s weight, which remained unchanged.

Despite having quality meals every day, Rasiel’s weight and height showed no signs of changing. Even now, as she was asleep and completely limp, she felt light.

Rapellian had put aside his concerns because Rasiel’s health didn’t appear to be deteriorating, but now that she was doing something unusual, he became quite worried.

“She lived in poor conditions for a long time, and even after coming here, she’s been through a lot—recovering from injuries and adapting. Plus, she’s been playing with the young masters who are very active. Things should improve from now on.”

Calyx, reading his concerned intentions, spoke hopefully, suggesting there was no need to be hasty.

Nevertheless, Rapellian wasn’t completely reassured.

He took Rasiel to her bedroom, laid her down, and instructed Jane.

“Keep a close eye on Rasiel. If there’s anything unusual, inform me immediately.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Following Rapellian’s instructions, Jane watched over Rasiel with even more dedication. Rapellian also remained on high alert.

But despite their concerns, Rasiel occasionally dozed off unexpectedly but continued her life without any particular problems.

Rasiel continued to learn in various fields.

She often rode horses following Rapellian and played freely with Briel and Riello.

Because of this, everyone believed everything was going smoothly.

Rasiel became more integrated into the ducal residence day by day, and the family members of the ducal residence increasingly took Rasiel’s presence for granted.

Public interest in Rasiel also gradually subsided as the ducal family consistently maintained a non-responsive stance.

Rapellian also began to think his worries might have been unfounded and tried to set aside his unnecessary concerns.

However, all problems arose when they let their guard down.