Chapter 6

I soon turned around with a strange expression and stepped back into the mansion.

The moment I noticed the grand front doors standing wide open in the lobby, I frowned.

They had been closed earlier.

Leaving aside the fact that someone had willingly left the doors open in the middle of winter…

…Is that tiny speck in the distance the main gate?

No wonder the guards had insisted on sending us by carriage yesterday.

If someone tried to walk back and forth, it would literally take all day.

And I had just learned from Maya that the carriage between the mansion and the gate was reserved exclusively for servants.

Even yesterday, when I was distracted by everything happening around me, I had thought the estate was enormous.

But this was beyond enormous.

It was absurd.

Will all of this be covered in flowers when spring comes?

That would be quite a sight.

The thought made me smile without realizing it.

Flowers.

Flowers always reminded me of Mom.

Mom loved flowers.

They suited her better than anyone.

And when she danced at flower festivals, she looked like a fairy.

It was also at one of those festivals that she met her first love.

“He always came looking for flowers.”

With a mysterious smile, Mom had spoken those words.

On that day, she had set aside her dancer’s costume.

She became nothing more than an ordinary woman, took my hand, and enjoyed the festival with me.

No matter how much her fellow dancers complained or how many men approached her, she only danced with me during those festivals.

Perhaps she saw someone else in me.

I looked down at my small, soft palm.

I had been happy.

I had enjoyed it.

Mom’s hand had always been warm.

If possible, I wanted to learn more dances from her.

But as for swordsmanship?

I didn’t feel any desire for that at all.

“…I guess I didn’t inherit that part.”

A small laugh escaped me.

Still, maybe learning enough to defend myself wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Suddenly, I remembered the visitors from this morning.

And the murderous intent I had sensed.

I need to be able to protect myself.

Even if I had bodyguards, there would always be limits.

Whether they could stay with me every second of the day was one issue.

Whether I could truly trust them was another.

After all, those visitors were all people close to the Ambrose family.

And yet one of them wanted me dead.

In that case, who could I trust?

Still, objectively speaking, I didn’t exactly seem like someone with talent for swordsmanship—

“Eek! Lord Hui!”

The maids suddenly screamed.

The sound came from the garden outside the front entrance.

On the right.

My vision instantly went white.

I broke into a panicked run.

Hui.

What happened to Hui?

My foot caught on the front steps and I tumbled hard.

But there wasn’t even time to feel pain.

I immediately scrambled back up and kept running.

This wasn’t the time to worry about my own safety.

Not when we lived in a household where relatives wished death upon each other.

If that was true, there was no guarantee my siblings, who weren’t even related by blood, were safe.

“Hui!”

“Miss Bebe! Look over there!”

Hearing my shout, several maids emerged from behind a cluster of bushes and pointed somewhere.

The sight reflected in my tear-filled eyes was…

Peaceful.

Hui was climbing a towering tree.

Dido stood below, blinking as he watched.

And perched on a branch above them was a trembling kitten.

…Again?

This was simply another ordinary day for Hui.

He always looked quiet and reserved, but he was kind-hearted and loved animals.

Good heavens.

I thought my heart had stopped.

Panting heavily, I called up to him.

“Be careful.”

“Okay.”

The maids stared at us as if asking whether this level of concern was really enough.

Feeling like a neglectful guardian, I waved both hands.

“Ah, don’t worry too much. He’s always been very athletic…”

Wait.

I trailed off as a thought struck me.

That’s right.

When it came to physical talent, Hui definitely had plenty.

Even as a child he had been quick and surprisingly strong.

Our neighborhood was rough, and despite his calm personality, people occasionally picked fights with him.

Yet he always came home without a scratch.

Every single time.

Of course, I couldn’t exactly praise him for fighting, so I’d pretend to scold him and leave it at that.

But…

What if he became a knight?

Then he’d become the knight I trusted most in the world.

No.

Before that, he’d at least be able to protect himself.

And one day, not only would he protect himself and his family, he’d become a skilled knight respected and admired by everyone—

Calm down.

You’re getting carried away.

He’s only five years old and climbing a tree to save a kitten.

What are you even imagining?

I took a deep breath and suppressed my parental ambitions.

Honestly, I was already becoming greedy.

I had always thought I’d be satisfied as long as my siblings were healthy and happy.

Yet now that our circumstances had improved, I was already dreaming about their futures.

“But there’s a very high possibility that our Hui is a once-in-a-generation genius—”

“Miss!”

The maids gasped again.

“What happened to your hand? You’re bleeding!”

“Ah… I fell.”

At their fussing, I finally looked down.

Both palms were scraped raw.

Only after noticing the wounds did I begin to feel the stinging pain in my hands and knees.

But what caught my attention first wasn’t the injury.

It was my clothes.

They were dirty.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh? For what?”

“For getting the clothes dirty. They were pretty…”

The maids immediately looked touched.

No, really.

I wasn’t trying to act pitiful this time.

I had simply worked as a maid before.

I knew how difficult it was to wash and repair expensive fabrics.

“It’s okay! We only prepared those clothes in a hurry anyway. They were only meant to be worn today!”

Right.

Who was I trying to sympathize with?

The Ambrose family.

I smiled bitterly to myself.

At that moment—

“Meeow!”

The kitten, trying desperately to avoid the approaching Hui, suddenly leapt from the tree.

“Oh!”

Without thinking, I stretched out my hands.

Squish!

The kitten landed briefly on my scraped palms with its soft little paws.

Then it scampered across my body and jumped down.

A moment later it disappeared into the bushes.

Dido sucked on his index finger as he watched it leave.

“Kitty…”

“Yeah, the kitty left. Hui, you can come down now.”

“Okaaay.”

I removed Dido’s dirty finger from his mouth and looked at Hui as he landed lightly on the ground, his ash-gray hair fluttering.

His hair had gotten long.

Hui hated anything uncomfortable.

I’d have to cut it soon.

And since he was obviously a genius, perhaps swordsmanship lessons day and night—

I suddenly snapped back to reality and shook my head vigorously.

No greed.

I finally had the chance to raise them properly.

At this rate, I’d end up exhausting the poor child.

Meanwhile, once Hui was safely on the ground, the maids finally relaxed.

“We’re sorry, Miss Bebe. The young masters seemed bored, so we took them for a walk…”

“It’s fine. Thank you for looking after them.”

I smiled and wrapped an arm around each of my brothers.

I worried about them, but I couldn’t lock them in a room all day either.

Honestly, even dressed in expensive clothes, they still somehow suited being a little messy.

“More importantly, we need to treat your injuries!”

The maids fussed so much that the moment we returned to the room, an elderly physician appeared.

The chief physician of Ambrose.

Like the others in senior positions, he wore a red badge.

At this point, the sight of those red badges had become oddly reassuring.

“…This much only needs disinfectant and ointment.”

The old man barely greeted me.

With an indifferent expression, he pulled medicine from his bag.

Then he roughly poured disinfectant over my wounds and slathered on some unknown ointment.

Ouch.

I frowned at his rough treatment.

Maybe it was because I’d spent my entire life being treated by the cautious and gentle Morgan.

I wasn’t completely sure.

But it felt as though the rule that longtime Ambrose employees were kind to me had suddenly broken down.

“My. The wounds looked much worse earlier. It’s a relief they’re not serious.”

The maids, who had been watching anxiously, finally relaxed.

They were right.

Now that the blood had been washed away, the injuries looked less severe.

The physician soon finished and stood up.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Ah, thank you for your hard work.”

“…Tch.”

Did he just click his tongue?