LFDD 13

Chapter : 13

She hadn’t lived many years in this life yet.

When this year ended, she would be six years old. Yes, just six.

So in a situation like this, running away seemed acceptable.

Tap.

“Ah, miss!”

Albert’s hurried voice called after her, but Hiazelki ran toward the castle with all her strength.

In the end, even if she ran away, they would return to the castle soon anyway. It wouldn’t really change anything.

But still, she felt it was better to escape for now.

The atmosphere had been terrifying.

And Albert’s expression had been especially frightening, which made her even more scared.

She ran into the castle and quickly rushed into her room.

Yuri, who was just preparing cookies and tea, opened the door to greet her.

“Oh, welcome. I was just about to go bring you myself.”

So she had escaped for now.

‘Yuri… I feel like I just saw something I wasn’t supposed to… is this going to be okay?’

Instead of saying it out loud, Hiazelki ran into Yuri’s arms.

“Miss?”

What if they hate me? What if I can’t stay here anymore? What if I can’t live with everyone anymore?

She had already grown too used to life in this castle.

The thought of being alone again made everything feel dark.

As she sat there with a downcast face, Yuri’s gentle touch reached her.

The warm smell of freshly baked cookies brushed past her nose, and Yuri softly patted her back.

That alone made her feel a little calmer.

‘…Ah, it smells so good.’

Even while being distracted by the sweet scent, Yuri noticed the child glancing around nervously.

Kael and Albert should have returned by now, but they hadn’t shown up. That was worrying.

If they did appear, that would be troublesome—but not appearing was also troubling.

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

Hiazelki answered immediately when Yuri asked while stroking her head. It was almost too fast, making it suspicious.

Yuri narrowed her eyes, and Hiazelki quickly turned her head away.

Knock knock.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Hiazelki turned toward it, thinking it might be Kael and Albert. She felt relieved, but also nervous.

She stared at the slowly opening door with a complicated expression.

“Are you here, miss…?”

Seeing Albert enter, Hiazelki tried to speak, but closed her mouth again.

She had wanted to apologize for following them secretly, but his face was still completely pale.

So the child quickly hid behind Yuri.

“Miss?”

Albert’s face turned even paler at her reaction.

“Miss… please… just for a moment…”

His outstretched hand trembled slightly.

‘What do I do… I couldn’t even say sorry… what if I can’t live in this castle anymore?’

Sharp voices from the past echoed in her ears.

“How many times do I have to tell you? Do you want to be thrown out of this house?”

“I don’t have time for you. We’re busy!”

Hiazelki flinched and tightly grabbed Yuri’s skirt, curling her body up.

Anyone could see she was trembling in fear.

Seeing this, Albert slowly lowered his hand.

“W-what do we do… what do we do about this…”

The butler looked exhausted as he held his forehead.

Yuri, now even more confused, asked Albert,

“What happened? Why is the miss like this…?”

“It seems she… saw what happened in the Judgment Room…”

“Ehh?!”

Yuri’s mouth fell open as she looked down at Hiazelki clinging to her leg.

‘Ah, so I wasn’t supposed to see it… I… I can’t stay here anymore…’

The fear that she might no longer be able to stay here rose again, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

Panicked, Yuri quickly knelt down and hugged her.

“It’s okay, miss.”

Pat pat. She gently patted her back, and the child buried herself deeper into Yuri’s arms.

“…And the master?”

“He seems quite shaken. He didn’t come here and went straight to the library. I came first to check on the miss…”

Hiazelki, still in Yuri’s arms, looked up in surprise.

‘Shaken…?’

She had been worried he might hate her. Or be angry.

But “shaken” sounded different. It confused her.

She blinked her large eyes a few times, then gathered courage and slipped out of Yuri’s arms.

Albert quickly knelt down as well to meet her eye level.

“Miss, you must have been very shocked, but what you saw earlier—”

Albert stopped mid-sentence.

He had no idea how to explain that to a child who was about to turn six.

“So…”

“Papa went to the library?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. The master is in the library.”

“Why?”

“That is…”

“Is Papa angry at me now?”

“Eh?”

Seeing her teary face with drooping eyebrows, Albert hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, no, absolutely not!”

“Then what?”

“W-well… are you… afraid of the master?”

Albert regretted asking even as he said it.

Kael had changed recently—he had softened. He even smiled sometimes now, and read books with the child in the library.

If Hiazelki feared him again… that peaceful change might disappear.

But contrary to his fear, Hiazelki slowly shook her head.

“Papa’s work… I saw it for the first time today, but I already knew.”

“Eh? How…?”

She didn’t answer and looked away.

But Albert didn’t press further.

The white dragon, Ciel—the child he brought.

If that was the case, it was believable that she knew.

Once Albert realized Hiazelki wasn’t afraid of Kael, relief washed over his face.

“Miss… but why did you run away earlier?”

He asked while holding her hand tightly.

After a moment of hesitation, Hiazelki avoided his gaze.

“…Because Albert had a scary face.”

“……”

“I was scared I’d be hated… so I ran away.”

“……”

Albert froze for a moment, then suddenly looked around nervously.

There was no one behind him.

After checking a few more times, he sighed in relief.

“…Yuri, this must not leave this room…”

“I will keep silent.”

Before Albert could even finish, Yuri answered immediately.

“If the master finds out… I might die…”

“Y-yes, probably…”

Albert had been deeply shocked that the child ran away because of him.

Just imagining Kael finding out made chills run down his spine.

Hiazelki, quietly listening, tugged Albert’s sleeve.

“Can I… go see Papa?”

“Eh? Of course! You may go—”

Albert nodded quickly, then suddenly stopped her again.

“Ah, miss.”

“Yes?”

“P-please… don’t tell the master that you ran away because of my face…”

“…I’ll be right back!”

Hiazelki dodged his gaze, gave a bright reply, and ran off.

“Miss! Miss!”

“This isn’t something we can keep silent forever…”

“If I die, send all the books in my office to House Humphrey…”

“…Is that the master’s records?”

“….”

“I think that might be even more dangerous if discovered.”

It was essentially a diary Kael had been keeping for a long time as part of the Humphrey family tradition.

Since Hiazelki arrived, there had been more to write, so the volume had increased greatly.

Albert buried his face in his hands, still insisting he couldn’t abandon the records.

Footsteps echoed through the long hallway.

Hiazelki slipped through the slightly open door.

Inside the quiet library, she walked carefully on her tiptoes.

Breathing in the scent of books, she looked between the shelves for Kael.

His black hair was loosely tied, strands sticking out messily as always when he came here.

Peeking from behind a bookshelf, she called softly.

“Papa.”

Kael, who had been reading with a serious expression, flinched at her voice.

When he saw her, he stepped back.

It was just like their first meeting.

Remembering that, Hiazelki quickly ran and grabbed his clothes.

“Hi, Hia…”

Unlike usual, Kael moved awkwardly, not reaching out his hand.

Hearing that he was deeply shaken, she lowered her head, not knowing what to say to comfort him.

She didn’t know how to fix feelings—she only knew how to apologize.

So she spoke, almost nervously.

“Master?”

Kael panicked and immediately lifted her into his arms.

“Hia, I told you not to call me master.”

“But everyone else calls you that.”

She said it innocently, pretending not to know.

“Just don’t.”

“Yes, Papa.”

“……”

Even then, Kael still looked slightly dissatisfied.

After a moment of thought, he spoke quietly.

“You can call me however you like.”

“Huh?”

“…You can call me Geel’s way, by my name… or even ‘Dad’…”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes. If it’s you… it’s fine.”

He had always disliked humans calling him by name. But somehow, with her, it felt acceptable.

Hiazelki hesitated, then slowly opened her mouth.

“…But I like Papa.”

Too shy to say “Dad,” she hid her face by hugging Kael’s neck.

“I’m sorry… I won’t go watch Papa working again. So… please don’t hate me.”