Chapter 25

 While waiting for the person said to be the imperial tailor to find her, Ella played with dolls with Larien. For Ella, who had never mingled with peers or had experience taking care of a sister four years younger, it was quite burdensome to keep a ten-year-old child company, but Ella was a girl more mature than her age and had excellent patience. But the same was true for Larien. Cecil and Carlisle’s daughter was sometimes innocent but inexplicably serious and precocious.

 “When Ella grows up, will you marry my brother?”

 Larien, who had been playing house with a doll in her arms, looked up. She was a child who assigned the mother role to a doll with blonde hair and green eyes, and the father role to a doll wearing a helmet like a soldier. Ella thought she could roughly guess how she appeared in the girl’s eyes. Since she wasn’t wearing a dress made of cloth and was staying in the Duke’s bedroom, Larien probably thought of her as the Duke’s fiancée.

 “The master will not marry me.”

 “Why?”

 “I, I……”

 “My mom married my dad.”

 Ella moved her lips. She didn’t know what to say that would be an appropriate response. Cecil was not the Grand Duke’s wife. They were not married, and for the same reason, Cecil could not be the Grand Duke’s legitimate daughter. But she was ten years old. Ella didn’t think a ten-year-old child could distinguish between marriage and common-law marriage.

 “I am not.”

 “Really? Lila said my brother will marry Ella. And have many pretty babies.”

 Larien whispered quickly. Even though there was no one to hear except Mimi who had climbed back onto the windowsill, she murmured quickly and quietly. Ella couldn’t respond. She thought of the rose she had left at the bedside. A rose blooming in the Duke’s garden. Those luscious red petals under the morning sunlight…… Anna had placed that rose in a glass vase on Ella’s behalf and put it where her eyes could reach.

 “If you have babies, I’ll love them. I can play with them well.”

 The Duke’s half-sister smiled. The transparent smile in her bright honey-colored eyes was unmistakably Cecil’s. Ella lowered her eyes, avoiding the girl’s gaze. She didn’t think of that rose as a substitute for an engagement ring. Because she couldn’t attach words like engagement or betrothal to herself and the Duke.

 It was better not to have unnecessary expectations. If she started thinking she could live a better life than now, she would soon become unhappy as if it had never happened. That’s what greed is. She wasn’t foolish enough to get excited along with the reactions of those around her. Larien continued to chatter. She couldn’t say anything to a child who believed her mother and father were married. She could only sit quietly holding the doll until the play house game ended.

 *** 

 “Miss Larien seems to like Ella.”

 “Is there anything to like about her?”

 “Doesn’t the Miss like everyone? And strangely, Ella somewhat resembles Cecil.”

 “That girl?”

 Only then did Larque turn to look at Hermel. Hermel, who hadn’t shown any sign of being out of breath while climbing the stairs, froze slightly. Larque turned his head again. He had been told that during the day, Ella had been with Larien.

 “Would you like to see the Miss for a moment?”

 Hermel asked. He thought about whether he had any reason to see his half-sister. He was giving his sister as much as he could afford to give. Since the life of a servant’s child typically varies in position according to the father’s treatment, Larien could have been driven to the east wing at any moment now that her father had passed away. But he wasn’t harsh to his sister. He had heard that the head of some noble family drove out his father’s servant women and half-siblings to a hovel as soon as his father died. But he had no reason to do so.

 “And Ella? How was Ella?”

 “Well. Isn’t she a child who doesn’t show her feelings?”

 At Hermel’s unsatisfactory answer, he slightly furrowed his eyebrows. Before climbing the stairs, he stood in front of the main door of the bedroom where his sister was staying. He had been told that Larien liked Ella. If Ella didn’t like Larien, it was meaningless to him. So there was no need to find that child. But he couldn’t pass by his sister’s room, reminded of his girl who had been glancing at Cecil.

 Having eaten dinner early, Larien was leaning back in an armchair, dozing off. Despite the servants trembling like mice encountering a wildcat at the master’s sudden visit, the child’s eyes were drowsy with sleep.

 “Lari.”

 His sister rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Her honey-colored eyes blinked and turned toward him.

 “Brother?”

 “Did you enjoy your dinner?”

 “Is it really you who came?”

 “Yes. It’s not a dream. Are you still sleepy?”

 “No, no.”

 His sister stood up. He quietly watched what the child was doing. Because of Larien who had risen from her seat, the servants who had been dozing off watched her with anxious eyes. Although she was the beloved only daughter of his deceased father, to Larque, she might just be a mule born between his father and a servant girl.

 “It’s true. Brother came to see Lari.”

 “I told you it’s not a dream.”

 Larque pushed his sister’s forehead. His sister grinned. Suddenly, she hugged her much older brother. Hermel swallowed dryly. Everyone liked Larien. Although she was a bit shy, she quickly became friendly even with people she met for the first time. But Larque……

 “You met Ella today?”

 Larien, who had been hugging her half-brother, looked up. Larque, who had been calmly stroking his sister’s back, stopped his hand.

 “She was like an angel. She’s older than me. Did you know?”

 “……”

 “I want to keep living with Ella. Ella said she likes me too. Since you and Ella will marry later, we can keep living together, right?”

 Her lips, which were babbling incoherently, were plump. Larque stared at Cecil’s daughter. Unrelated ramblings poured out of the girl’s mouth like a machine gun. The more cheerfully the girl chattered, the darker the servants’ faces became. And……

“Lari.”

 “Yes?”

 Larien looked at her half-brother. Half. Half. What did half mean? The following word was easy. But the word half is unknown. The girl stared at the gray eyes that resembled her father. A cold abyss cast in lead. Those empty eyes curved slightly.

 “A servant girl doesn’t marry her master.”

 “……”

 “So leave the angel alone. You shouldn’t touch your brother’s jewel carelessly.”

 *** 

 The servant girls of Kylaq wore cloth dresses tied along the neckline with completely exposed shoulders. The women, who wore colorless head veils while keeping their hands neatly folded, were not allowed to possess valuable jewels or wear decorated wreaths. They couldn’t even braid their hair, just letting their long tresses hang down, yet despite this, the servant girls were always as beautiful as fully bloomed summer flowers and attracted attention regardless of gender.

 “My goodness! How! She’s truly like a fairy!”

 “A princess among fairies! Just like the princess of Lake Male.”

 Ella glanced at the women exchanging admiration one by one. Lake Male was a lake located in Male Forest in the southern part of the kingdom. The lake, famous for its beautiful scenery, was said to be home to a fearsome fairy queen who, though as blue as if made of ice, was helplessly affectionate only to her daughter. However, the queen’s mischievous daughter, that is, the fairy princess of Lake Male, was so cruel despite her extreme beauty that she would seduce boatmen crossing the lake and make them throw themselves into the mirror-like water.

 It was a folk tale that arose because young boatmen occasionally failed to return when crossing the lake, but the two maids who were dressing up the Duke’s servant girl thought as they combed down her long silver hair. Truly, truly, whether she was the fairy princess of Lake Male or an angel sleeping in the jade forest. In any case, this girl would be more beautiful than all the legendary beauties of the kingdom.

 Isn’t it helpless beauty? They say all knights’ ladies are beautiful, but the girl before them was a peerless beauty. What kind of noble beauty was this for a girl who supposedly came from a brothel, yet looked nothing like a prostitute? Why did she grow more beautiful as she matured?

 Even if she became beautiful, at best she would be the Duke’s secondary wife. No. No. What kind of nobleman was Durac? They are a great noble of Kylaq. In reality, they are the royal family of the North and no different from the lord of the northern nobles, so it wasn’t fleeting. It was beauty that was by no means in vain.

 “Ella. Isn’t that right? Well, you see this face every day when you look in the mirror. What’s there to be impressed about? You impudent thing! That’s why you have such a blank expression, right?”

 Lila was being spiteful again. She was a woman who frequently said that if she could live with this beauty, she would gladly die right away. Ella looked in the mirror, ignoring the woman’s grumbling words. Tired of seeing it every day…… Perhaps that might be true. She blinked once. The lightly applied white powder and rose oil. Crushed safflower and seaweed. Rouge mixed with pearl powder made her features stand out more.

She looked at the puff sleeves that covered two-thirds of her shoulders, along with the pearl beads adorning the neckline. The indented waistline and the wavy sleeves adorning her wrists. The princess-line dress that fell lightly was exactly the same style as the girls in the royal palace.

 Ella examined the mirror with a somewhat heavy gaze. The hair that Lila and Anna had groomed for hours was similar to Larien’s. No. It was even more twisted and braided than Larien’s. She noticed the accessories inserted between the tightly braided three strands from the right side to above the left earlobe. Ella raised her hand to touch the braided hair. There were six diamond hairpins shaped like snowflakes encasing rubies.