IBMDF 16

Chapter 16

While I was secretly feeling relieved, Brandon placed a bundle wrapped in paper into my hands.

“And I think this was sent along by your aunt as well.”

“What is this?”

I unwrapped the package around the unknown item. Something smooth slipped down into my hands with a soft rustling sound.

“Clothes?”

Brandon picked up the garment that had fallen and handed it to me.

“It says this in the letter: ‘P.S. I repaired one of the dresses your mother wore when she was young and am sending it to you. Lizzy, you’ve probably grown as tall as Eliana by now, so the length should fit perfectly.’”

After finishing the letter, Brandon looked over the dress and said,

“I see! It’s a very pretty green dress. I think it would suit Miss Lizzy’s eye color very well too!”

Amid Brandon’s praise, I stood there quietly holding the dress.

‘Would it really be okay… for me to wear this?’

I scratched my chin as I thought.

The dress Lizzy’s aunt had carefully preserved for so many years carried a wonderful scent.

It felt strangely as though the lingering traces of Eliana Swan—Lizzy’s mother, whom I had never once met—were still woven into it.

‘If only that accident had never happened… she wouldn’t have died, and Lizzy Swan wouldn’t have lost her sight.’

And I never would have possessed this body either.

For a brief moment, bitterness lingered in my mouth.

Although I had never met Lizzy’s mother in person, I had heard stories about her through the aunt.

‘It sounded like she lived quite a difficult life…’

Until reaching adulthood, Eliana Swan had been an innocent young woman who had never even left her village.

Then one day, she suddenly ran away from home, throwing the entire village into chaos.

Her parents had tried to force her into marriage with a wealthy older bachelor from the village, and one day she vanished without a trace.

At the time, all kinds of baseless rumors spread throughout the village.

“You know the second daughter of the Swan family? They say she abandoned her parents overnight and fled to the capital all by herself!”

“No, I heard she eloped with some blond young man!”

“What are you talking about? Someone saw it with their own eyes! Eliana threw herself into the village river!”

Whatever the truth was, one thing seemed certain:

Eliana Swan had truly left the village.

Maybe she would never return.

And then, three years later—

The village, which had finally settled down, was thrown into an uproar once more.

Eliana, whom everyone thought would never come back, suddenly reappeared.

Pregnant with a child whose father no one knew.

Her shocked parents interrogated her day and night to discover the man responsible for her pregnancy.

But according to the aunt, Eliana never revealed who Lizzy’s biological father was.

Not even until her parents died of old age.

And after Lizzy was born, Eliana raised her daughter entirely on her own.

The aunt had urged her to go find the father, unable to bear watching anymore, but Eliana refused.

Then, in the year Lizzy turned seventeen, the tragic carriage accident happened…

‘What a cruel fate. The carriage slipping off a cliff because of sudden torrential rain…’

I gently ran my fingers over Eliana’s dress as I thought.

She spent her life protecting only her daughter while enduring endless disgrace.

Yet even now, after her death, the father had never once appeared.

‘How could someone be that irresponsible?’

Without realizing it, I frowned.

“U-um, Miss Lizzy. Are you alright? Your expression suddenly…”

Seeing me standing there with a grave look, Brandon asked carefully.

I hurriedly erased my expression and answered,

“O-Oh, it’s nothing! Anyway, Mr. Brandon, thank you for bringing the package all the way here.”

“It was nothing.”

Brandon answered cheerfully before adding,

“Next time, I’ll definitely come with a reply from the academy. So please try not to worry too much, Miss Lizzy.”

“Was it obvious I was anxious?”

“Of course. You seem even more nervous than our young master.”

At his words, I could only laugh awkwardly.

* * *

“You’re not worried, Young Master?”

“About what?”

“That your report might not get approved… Ah, never mind. I shouldn’t say unlucky things.”

“You already said it, so what’s the point?”

Kalios replied incredulously.

“Why are you more anxious than I am?”

He asked while watching me nervously tap my fingers against the table.

Good question.

Even the person directly involved was waiting this calmly.

It had already been two weeks since we started waiting for a response from the academy.

Brandon had said we should wait patiently, but I couldn’t stop feeling restless.

Unlike me, Kalios quietly waited for the result without much concern.

Though come to think of it… it was a little ridiculous.

Why was he so relaxed?

Was it confidence in his own abilities? The confidence of a male lead?

While I grumbled inwardly, unaware, Kalios had been steadily weaving a reed basket.

It was a pastime I had taught him, since he had to sit quietly in a dark room all day.

“Is that fun?”

“Yeah. It’s interesting.”

Contrary to his words, Kalios answered in a flat tone.

His hands moved almost mechanically.

“That’s good. Actually, this unique pattern was developed by my aunt.”

I spoke while recalling Lizzy’s aunt, who had taught me basket weaving.

“She made the best reed baskets in our village. She was also the person who helped me when I sold baskets at the market.”

“You sold these? How much could you get for one?”

Kalios, unfamiliar with commoners’ lives, asked curiously.

“Five copper coins.”

“Five copper coins?”

His hands stopped abruptly.

“For something that takes this long to make?”

“Oh, that’s only because you’re slow, Young Master. The women in our village can make five or six baskets in a single day.”

As I spoke, I reached toward the table to inspect the baskets Kalios had made.

Wait… what is all this?

Several reed baskets were piled on top of each other.

‘How many did he make?’

And in the next moment, I realized:

Although he acted calm, Kalios was just as anxious as I was while waiting for the results.

Sigh… so he’d been pretending not to worry.

Seriously, his pride was incredible—always trying not to show when he was hurting or anxious.

I shook my head and started organizing his baskets when—

I stopped at the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

The footsteps were getting closer.

‘Did Mr. Brandon finally arrive?’

There was no one else likely to come all the way here.

He must have brought the academy’s reply.

“Why did you suddenly stop?”

Unlike me, Kalios couldn’t hear anything and asked in confusion.

“Just wait a moment!”

I had to go escort Mr. Brandon before he got lost again and turned back!

Without time to explain, I quickly grabbed my cane and went out into the corridor.

But the moment I stepped outside the room, I froze.

The footsteps didn’t belong to one person.

At least three or four.

A group of people was walking toward Kalios’s room.

Who could it be?

This was the first time so many people had come looking for Kalios, so I couldn’t guess who they were.

I hesitated, took a few steps forward, and asked the unidentified visitors,

“Who’s there?”

At that moment, one person from the group seemed to step closer.

Then warmth spread around my face.

It seemed the other person had raised a lantern to examine me.