DHDF 07

chapter 07

After leaving the library, I guided them around the orphanage: the small garden, the dining hall, the storage room, the punishment room, the bathroom…

It wasn’t a particularly large place, so it felt like we’d seen everything in less than thirty minutes.

“Are you not going to show us Miss Verjene’s room?”

“My room… there’s really nothing to see,” I replied.

It wasn’t just me being modest—it was the truth. The furniture consisted of only three bunk beds and two wardrobes.

Other kids seemed to decorate their rooms with this and that, but I hadn’t.

“If you don’t mind, though… it’s this way.”

The Duke and Arthur didn’t comment at all on my stark room. Even to my eyes, I seemed like someone always ready to leave at a moment’s notice. I hadn’t meant to feel embarrassed, yet somehow I did.

“Do you sleep alone?”

The Duke asked after glancing around the room.

“There are plenty of beds, but no traces of anyone else.”

“Ah… yes, that’s right. Somehow, it ended up that way.”

“Does it have to do with your ‘curse’?”

His tone was calm, as if asking whether I’d brought an umbrella on a rainy day. But the content was entirely different, and I froze on the spot.

My mind went completely blank. I couldn’t think of what to do. My lips were parched.

“…‘Curse’?”

“Another kid mentioned it.”

I immediately realized.

‘Margaret must have said something.’

Blood rushed to my face.

As with all secrets, I knew my ‘curse’ would be discovered eventually. But I hadn’t imagined it being exposed like this.

I quickly admitted it. It was clearly my fault.

‘Should I have just gotten rid of Margaret when she was teasing me last night?’

Maybe I should have. But thinking about it now would do no good.

I opened my mouth, then immediately shut it. No sound came out.

Instead, my eyes grew hot, and tears streamed down my cheeks.

My face quickly became wet.

“My goodness, Your Grace. How can you make a child cry like that?”

“…Yes. I was careless.”

The Duke knelt to meet my eye level and embraced me.

It was the first time anyone had hugged me, and I flinched in surprise.

He patted my back with his large, familiar hands. Even though the tears didn’t stop, I felt a sense of calm.

Is this why everyone asks their teachers for hugs?

I barely managed to speak.

“I’ll accept it even if you withdraw your offer to take me with you.”

Honestly, I thought that might be better.

Knowing my original fate, I didn’t want to be emotionally manipulated and used again.

‘Anyway, I have Plan B.’

I could hire a surrogate guardian with money. At twelve, I couldn’t manage many things alone, so I needed someone to do it for me. There was even a way to ask the administrative branch uncle for help.

But the Duke seemed to have a different idea.

“Listen carefully, Miss Verjene. I will leave with you.”

“…….”

“And didn’t I promise to protect you?”

Since the secret was already out, that alone wasn’t enough to satisfy me. Squirming in his broad embrace, I asked cautiously:

“Will you respect my free will as well?”

“Free will… yes.”

Honestly, it was hard for me to trust the Duke. Besides his role as the hidden antagonist in the Edenvale works, I’d only known him personally for a day.

But the warmth enveloping my entire body whispered that it would be okay. It would be okay to follow him…

“Alright, understood.”

When my tears finally stopped, the Duke released me. He looked at my tear- and snot-streaked face for a moment and wiped it with a handkerchief.

I hesitated, then forced myself to speak.

“As you’ve heard, I really am ‘cursed.’ From birth, anyone who stays near me or comes into contact with me falls ill.”

“So the poison you traded…”

“It’s in my tears.”

I almost mentioned that I used to have tear fights alone, or later, used stolen onions to make myself cry, but he didn’t seem curious about that.

“May I ask a few questions, Your Grace?”

Arthur, who had been quietly observing, asked, and the Duke nodded.

“Then Miss Verjene, does it apply to other bodily fluids as well? I mean… fluids…”

“I know what you mean. It would probably work.”

I had already experimented—sweat, snot, blood, saliva. I hadn’t drawn blood on myself out of fear, but otherwise, I had tested everything.

I answered vaguely, not wanting to dwell on the unpleasant details.

“According to Miss Margaret, there was a teacher who took care of you closely.”

I could guess what nonsense Margaret had been spreading.

I was glad I had steeled myself. Otherwise, I might have followed Arthur’s lead and only gotten hurt.

“There was. They couldn’t work long because their health deteriorated, though.”

I was younger then, so the toxicity was minimal. Looking back, it was only possible that I affected them a little.

“I see. That must have been tough.”

“It’s in the past. It’s fine.”

Arthur asked a few more questions: could I control it, how much influence did just being near me have, how had I used the curse until now…

I answered them diligently, like someone at an interview.

“Now it’s done. Seems like everything is okay.”

They seemed satisfied that I had passed their assessment.

“Then Miss Verjene, the procedures to take you are complete. I’ll come for you tomorrow.”

He reminded me to eat well and sleep soundly tonight.

I went out with the Duke and Arthur to the gate, then, before they boarded the carriage, I hurriedly grabbed his sleeve.

“Could you keep my ‘curse’ a secret from others?”

Even for me, being feared or scorned by others was too much.

Honestly, until a little while ago, I didn’t care. But after seeing that the Duke’s attitude didn’t change even knowing my curse, I realized I couldn’t be complacent.

“I’ll be careful not to harm anyone. I just want to get along with others…”

Of course, if the Duke forbade it, I wouldn’t insist. I was just bringing it up just in case.

He glanced at me briefly, then, as if it were no big deal, said monotonously:

“Very well.”

I watched the carriage leave before going back to my room.

That night, Lahes appeared in my dream.

“My Verjene.”

Lahes knew how to say names with such tenderness. Even in a dream, it made my heart ache.

“Do you wish for anything? Say it, and I’ll grant it all.”

The broad back standing against the sun, slightly messy hair, delicate hands removing garments alone without a servant’s help—

After the coronation, it was just Lahes and me in the room.

“I want a mansion where I can see the sea.”

I loved Lahes so much that my only wish was to stay by his side and die peacefully. The lines I had repeatedly written in my will flashed through my mind:

I will use an undersea cave as my tomb, and the waves as my requiem.

I woke up just like that. A question suddenly came to mind:

Where, exactly, was Verjene’s body buried…?

My mind was so restless that I couldn’t sleep again, so by the next day, I was in terrible shape. My complexion was very pale.

‘What if I look like I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited?’

Soon, I concluded it didn’t matter. I had indeed been excited, but that feeling didn’t last long. The dream had sobered me.

‘I know nothing about the Duke’s family.’

I had only seen the Duke twice, and how could I trust him to keep his word?

‘He might even live up to his reputation as a hidden villain.’

I couldn’t just be manipulated like Verjene and die. I muttered it like a mantra: don’t act naïve.

I dozed off by the window, then saw the carriage and immediately grabbed my bag of money and went outside.

“Unlucky.”

A whisper cut across the playground and stopped me. It was Margaret.

“Look at that grin.”

It was ridiculous, but I didn’t want to just ignore her. She reminded me of what she had done to me.

I turned and approached Margaret’s group. Her increasingly dark expression was satisfying to see.

“W-what is it?”

“You. You told Your Grace about me.”

She puffed up and grinned mischievously.

“Yes! I did! You should know what you’re picking up!”

My heart almost swelled with tears at her thoughtfulness.

I couldn’t hold back and hugged Margaret tightly.

“Thank you. I’ll never forget this.”

“Ugh! Let go! Let me go! Someone get this monster off me!”

The other kids didn’t know what to do and didn’t touch me. Margaret struggled wildly, probably realizing no one would help her, but I held on tighter.

“We’ll definitely meet again. Got it?”

Eventually, Margaret fainted.