LFDD 03

Chapter : 3

Unlike her pounding heart, she could not move her body properly.

It became difficult to breathe, as if someone were slowly tightening their grip around her neck.

Then a gentle voice spoke.

“It’s alright. It’s me.”

Red eyes glowed within the darkness.

Only after seeing that red light and feeling relieved did Hiazelki finally let out her shaky breaths.

“I did not mean to scare you. I’m sorry.”

“……It’s okay.”

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see his face more clearly.

Ciel smiled faintly and stepped a little closer to Hiazelki.

“I came back because I forgot to give you this.”

Ciel held out a pocket watch shining amber, the same color as her eyes.

As Hiazelki reached to accept it, she quietly looked toward the maid sleeping peacefully in one corner of the room.

“Don’t worry. She will not wake up.”

“……Why?”

“Well…… because…… I decided so?”

What in the world was that supposed to mean?

He only kept saying strange things, making Hiazelki feel frustrated.

When she puffed her cheeks and pouted, Ciel laughed softly.

Then she remembered that he had left her alone in the castle and puffed her cheeks out even more.

“I came to explain things properly, but it seems I did not explain enough. I put her to sleep because I did not want others to know I visited again tonight.”

‘You should’ve just said that from the beginning.’

The child carefully accepted the pocket watch from him.

“What is this?”

Instead of answering, Ciel gently stroked Hiazelki’s coral-colored hair as she sat on the bed.

“Hiazelki, I hope you will be happy in this castle. That watch will become your strength.”

Hiazelki blankly looked down at the pocket watch in her hands.

It was a heavy pocket watch engraved with a dragon. The carving was so detailed that the dragon looked as though it might move at any moment.

“Dragons cannot harm you. For someone as lovely as you, this place will be the safest. This time, please…… may your life not end so shortly and meaninglessly.”

His tone sounded as if he knew how short her past lives had been.

When Hiazelki raised her head to ask about it, no one was there anymore.

Several months passed since Hiazelki began living in the castle.

The Dragon of Judgement treated her as if she did not exist.

For Hiazelki, that was actually more comfortable.

Kael rarely even came out of his room, so no matter how much she wandered around the castle, they almost never met.

Because they never met, she sometimes even forgot that this was the castle of the Dragon of Judgement.

“……”

But now that she had run into him again, she could feel it clearly once more.

“……Why are you here?”

After quickly adjusting to life in the castle, Hiazelki had recently been exploring all around the castle.

Of course, she only started doing that after confirming over the past few months that Kael hardly ever left his room.

Wrapped in a thick coat, Hiazelki had been quietly walking down the hallway—

Until Kael suddenly appeared before her.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly looked around.

After confirming that no one besides Hiazelki was there, the crease between his brows deepened even further.

‘Did he get angry because I wandered around by myself?’

The Dragon of Judgement already gave off a cold atmosphere, but when he frowned, his presence became even more overwhelming.

Startled, Hiazelki slowly stepped backward.

Kael silently stared at her before taking a step backward himself.

“Albert!”

Then he loudly called for the butler.

The sudden loud voice startled Hiazelki, making her flinch.

Seeing that, Kael frowned and stepped back another few steps.

‘……This feels like a very awkward distance.’

As a result, the two of them ended up standing in the hallway with a strangely awkward amount of space between them.

“Albert!”

When Kael shouted once more, Albert appeared from the end of the hallway.

He hurried over, but the moment he spotted Hiazelki, he rushed even faster.

“M-Master, did you call for me?”

“Why is that child wandering around alone?”

At Kael’s question, not only Albert but even Hiazelki herself turned pale.

‘Wait, I’m not allowed to walk around alone? Was I being watched?’

Though honestly, she had been left alone so much that it did not feel that way at all.

Thinking she was about to be scolded, Hiazelki trembled all the way to her fingertips.

“I-I was just looking for the young lady downstairs a moment ago.”

Kael stepped closer to Albert and lowered his voice.

Though Hiazelki could still hear everything.

“Were you not the one who said human children should not be left alone?”

“……That only applies when they are very young children……”

“She still looks very young to me.”

“A-Ah, of course she is still very young, but……”

“Then she should not be left alone.”

“……You are correct, Master.”

Under Kael’s sharp gaze, Albert began sweating nervously.

Hiazelki quietly looked at the two of them and fell into deep thought.

‘Should I just run away?’

But that would probably only make things worse later.

On the other hand, if she apologized first, she might get scolded a little now, but things would likely improve afterward.

“Phew……”

After calming her breathing, Hiazelki stepped toward Kael.

‘I’m not living only for today.’

Just as Hiazelki slightly bowed toward him—

Kael noticed her approaching and immediately stepped back several paces.

Hiazelki, who had been about to apologize, felt a little strange.

‘……It’s probably just my imagination?’

Thinking that, she walked toward him again.

But Kael widened the distance once more.

Hiazelki stared up at him with a shocked expression.

“Ahem……”

Kael awkwardly cleared his throat and avoided her gaze.

‘Why…… why are you avoiding me? Why does it feel like you’re running away from me……?’

Her confused eyes turned toward Albert, but he avoided her gaze as well.

For some reason, Hiazelki suddenly became stubborn and walked toward Kael again.

But the same thing happened repeatedly.

Finally, letting out a deep sigh, she bowed from a distance.

“I’m sorry for wandering around alone.”

“……”

Both Kael and Albert simply stared at her silently, looking shocked.

‘Heh, I’m a woman who knows proper manners.’

Feeling secretly proud of herself for apologizing properly, Hiazelki slowly straightened up.

Both men still looked surprised, but Kael’s expression was especially worth seeing.

“……She is surprisingly polite.”

Still looking unable to recover from the shock, he muttered to Albert.

And honestly, it made sense.

Other than the people living in the castle, every human Kael had ever met was a sinner.

“……The young lady has been polite since the very first day she arrived. Did she not greet you first, Master?”

Although he had been just as surprised, the butler spoke proudly, as if he had known this all along.

Since Hiazelki mostly spent her time with Lisa and Yuri, Albert had not actually seen her very often either.

Hiazelki scratched her cheek while looking at the two men before lowering her brows.

‘Make the saddest face possible.’

Clasping both hands together, she looked up at Kael and Albert with an obviously disappointed expression.

“I’ll go back to my room……”

“Ah, no……”

Seeing Kael looking slightly flustered, Hiazelki secretly smiled inside.

“Ah!”

Then she suddenly tripped over absolutely nothing and fell to the floor.

After collapsing with a loud thud, the child slightly lifted her upper body and frowned deeply.

‘That hurts so much…….’

She had intentionally planned the fall, but because she lacked experience, it genuinely hurt quite a bit.

“M-My lady, are you alright?”

When she saw Albert trying to help her up, Hiazelki quickly regained her composure and lightly shook her head.

Then, deliberately making a small groaning sound, she stood up on her own.

“I’m okay……”

At that pitiful sight, Kael’s red eyes shook slightly.

‘……The Dragon of Judgement is softer-hearted than I thought.’

Successfully learning something useful, Hiazelki continued acting gloomy until she turned the hallway corner and disappeared from their sight.

‘Now I should ask Yuri for snacks~.’

Of course, the moment she rounded the corner, she immediately skipped away happily.

Life in the northern castle was more satisfying than anything she had experienced before.

She did not shiver from the cold.

She did not go hungry.

She did not tremble in fear.

And everyone in the castle adored Hiazelki.

Because she adapted quickly, she soon became used to their kindness as well.

After all, she had always survived in terrible environments, so getting used to people treating her kindly did not take long.

She had never once been loved this much before.

She had thought this fourth life would also end quickly, just like the others.

Yet somehow, she was still alive—and even living in such a luxurious place.

Suddenly, voices from the past echoed through her ears.

‘It must be because that child is in this village……!’

‘But what wrong has this child committed……!’

‘Do you want everyone in the village to die?’

‘So you’re telling us to sacrifice this child…….’

‘If we all want to survive, there is no other choice!’

She still remembered those voices clearly.

And also the parents who had tried to protect her at first.

Though that kindness had only lasted in the beginning.

The village where Hiazelki was born was a small farming village.

Because of a plague that swept through the village, she was chosen as a sacrifice to offer to God.

No one opposed it.

And just before she died, Ciel rescued her.

“My lady, where are you going?”

Yuri quickly approached after spotting Hiazelki toddling down the hallway.

“I’m going for a walk!”

Hiazelki looked up with wide eyes while answering, making Yuri smile warmly.

“Even the way you answer is adorable. How can you be this cute?”

At the gentle feeling of Yuri stroking her hair, Hiazelki smiled shyly.

It was an affectionate touch she had never received, even after repeating life and death over and over.

Of course, it also helped that this life seemed to have given her the prettiest appearance out of all four.

“Shall I come with you too?”

“Yes!”

Hiazelki smiled brightly with sparkling eyes, making her unbearably cute.

When Hiazelki held out her hand first, Yuri’s entire expression melted happily.

“Ah, here you are!”

While Yuri covered her mouth in emotional delight, Lisa and Albert hurried toward them from the other side of the hallway.

“Yuri, come with me for a moment.”

“Huh? But I was about to go on a walk with the young lady……”

“Hurry, let’s go, hurry!”

Yuri, whose walk with Hiazelki was suddenly ruined, whined as Lisa dragged her away.

‘Hm? What’s going on?’

Hiazelki tilted her head, since she had never once seen Lisa act like that during her time in the castle.

“My lady, how about reading a book instead of going for a walk?”

Left behind alone, Albert bent down slightly and smiled as kindly as possible.

In his hand was a folded piece of paper.

Hiazelki quietly looked at it before asking back,

“A book?”

“Yes. Master is not in the library right now, so it should be alright for you to use it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We even prepared picture books especially for you, my lady.”

The child’s eyes immediately sparkled.

Even in her previous three lives, she had never disliked books.

‘I should go see what kinds of books they have.’