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Chapter 9
Lucilea blinked and looked up at the boys.
That gaze.
“And this situation.”
It didn’t feel unfamiliar.
“They’re exactly like the kids in Mille Village.”
Cookie, hearing Lucilea’s thoughts, nodded in agreement.
[I thought being a chosen child would make a difference, but I guess kids are just kids. How do such little things learn only bad habits!?]
“Exactly. Their eyes are full of hostility.”
The look was sharpened to a fine edge.
Perhaps it was because they had abilities and were in a position to be recognized at the Ducal House.
From these children, she even felt a twisted sense of superiority.
Most of the looks she’d felt while leaving the room and descending to the first floor had been the same.
“They looked surprised when they saw Mei, then their eyes sharpened when they looked at me.”
Especially the chosen children.
Even though the staff’s gazes weren’t exactly kind, the children’s were particularly sharp.
“I should have asked Mei why they were glaring at me like that.”
But Mei was too innocently cheerful for her to bring it up.
“Could it be that the chosen children compete against each other?”
But what had she really done?
She had only spent one night at the Ducal House. She hadn’t demonstrated any remarkable abilities, only received a few dresses and accessories as part of the support that everyone else supposedly got.
“I haven’t done anything to draw attention, nor do I intend to.”
Lucilea’s goal was clear.
She wanted to gain what she could from the Ducal House, maximize her abilities, and become independent.
She had no desire to climb over anyone in competition.
She didn’t want the heir’s position, nor did she crave her father’s affection.
So this kind of friction was unwelcome.
Lucilea casually rose and brushed the dirt off her dress.
“This dress was picked out by Mei…”
Seeing the dust and torn frills hurt more than the scraped palms.
Still.
“I’ll endure it.”
She had decided to live quietly and patiently, slender and long, as it were.
“It’s my official first walk in the Ducal House; I don’t want to make a fuss already.”
Lucilea exhaled a short sigh and spoke.
“Sorry, was I in your way?”
With a harmless smile, she pressed herself closer to the pillar.
“Go on, pass by.”
The boys just snickered, stopping in their tracks, and began hurling insults at her.
“You look stupid. Are you really chosen?”
“If you weren’t wearing that dress, we wouldn’t even recognize you among the servants. Maybe it was given to a servant by mistake.”
“Do you even have abilities? Can you get them these days from rummaging through trash?”
The boys giggled among themselves.
“……”
Lucilea clenched her teeth.
“I’ll endure it.”
They had pushed her down; her palm was scraped; childish insults and mocking laughter poured over her.
“I can’t get angry at kids who look barely over ten.”
She was the older sister, mentally.
Of course, her depth and patience, aided by memories of her past life, didn’t surpass that of her eight-year-old body.
Still, she decided to wait and see.
“Such criticism is just ticklish compared to what I heard in Mille Village.”
Lucilea forced a small smile.
Then the red-haired boy in the middle stepped forward.
He seemed to be the leader of the three.
“Hey, you. Can you still smile after hearing this?”
“……”
Lucilea spoke, hiding her thoughts, fearing that not laughing might provoke more curses.
“I’m still adjusting to life at the Ducal House… I want to get along with you. Or, even if we don’t, I don’t want to fight like this.”
“Oh, so that’s why you were hiding like a mouse? Because you didn’t want to fight?”
“A mouse…?”
The word “mouse” seemed to trigger laughter in the other two boys, who burst into laughter.
Lucilea looked down at her dress and skin.
Her carefully arranged dress and clean skin…
If someone had called her a mouse before entering the Ducal House, she might have accepted it.
But now, adorned in all the ‘precious’ and expensive things of the Ducal House…
“Mei worked hard to make me look nice.”
How dare they belittle Mei’s effort?
Still, she endured.
For the sake of long, slender life at the Ducal House.
They say enduring thrice can even save a life.
“Then I’ll endure up to three times.”
Being long and slender in patience was important at the Ducal House, but if she were to endure like in Mille Village, entering the Ducal House would be meaningless.
Being pushed without apology, mocked for being “stupid,” and belittling Mei’s efforts by calling her a mouse…
“That’s three times I’ve endured.”
No more chances for you, little ones.
Then the red-haired boy spoke again.
“Let me ask one thing. What trick did you pull?”
“A trick?”
“I’m asking why you went straight to the fifth floor as soon as you arrived at the Ducal House.”
“……”
The fifth floor? Why? What was so special there?
It seemed her room was not an ordinary one.
“This is bad.”
The anxiety she had been ignoring became real.
Lucilea had felt uneasy since waking up at the Ducal House.
Because of what Mei had told her.
-“Usually, those chosen by the elite squad have a verification period of at least a month.”
-“But in just one night, you were approved by His Grace the Duke.”
Everyone at the Ducal House had been surprised.
“Procedures finished faster than others, and my room is on the fifth floor…”
The thing she feared most seemed about to happen.
“Could my ability really be that special?”
Enough to allow her to take that remarkable fifth floor?!
Many questions arose, but the truth was unknown.
“No, that can’t be. My ability can’t be special…”
Special abilities were for protagonists, after all.
Lucilea managed her thoughts and smiled innocently at the boy.
“I don’t know. I just woke up there. No one explained it to me, so how would I know?”
“Liar.”
“Not a lie. If you don’t believe me, let’s go ask His Grace the Duke ourselves.”
“……What?”
Lucilea smiled brightly.
“It’s best to clear up misunderstandings quickly. Let’s ask directly, okay?”
The three boys exchanged glances, flustered.
“Not stupid, just… crazy?”
“Well, no one in their right mind would say that.”
Lucilea suddenly grabbed the red-haired boy’s hand.
“Let’s go! Let’s hold hands and ask directly! I’m curious what trick I supposedly pulled to make His Grace approve so quickly!”
She added that once the misunderstanding was cleared, they could ask the Duke for a treat, and maybe for some playtime too.
The boy, shocked, quickly pulled back his hand.
“Yo-you’re crazy!”
“Huh? Why run? I said let’s go. We’ll clear this misunderstanding together, okay? I told you, I don’t want to fight. I want to get along!”
“G-get away from me!”
Lucilea didn’t back down; she moved closer. The flustered boy raised his hand.
Eek! Lucilea flinched, but then glared at him.
“Fine! Hit me if you dare! I’ve grown up getting beaten daily by drunken adults, so a brat like you won’t scare me!”
Then.
Snap! The boy’s hand was held mid-air.
“Hey, that’s not allowed, young masters.”
It was Mei.
She had appeared and grabbed the boy’s wrist.
Lucilea felt relieved, and the boy turned pale upon seeing Mei.
“M-Mei?!”
“Yes! It’s me, Mei!”
Mei smiled brightly and walked over to Lucilea.
“……Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine. I almost got hurt, but Mei saved me.”
“Sorry I was late, Lucilea.”
Lucilea shook her head.
“It’s okay. Nothing happened.”
“……”
Mei’s gaze shifted to Lucilea’s palms.
“You truly have a big heart, unlike me.”
Huh? Lucilea blinked quickly. Mei smiled at the red-haired boy.
“And Teshian, you should watch your tongue. It hasn’t even been half a day since your punishment ended; if you do this again, there will be consequences.”
So his name was Teshian.
Lucilea glared sharply at Teshian.
“I’ll remember you.”
Teshian scowled, rubbing his wrist.
“I-I didn’t! I didn’t hit her! I didn’t try to kill her! What’s all this about me!”
“Oh my, if I hadn’t stopped you, you would have.”
“……”
“And our small, delicate Lucilea might have lost her life from a single slap from Teshian.”
“What?”
“No, she definitely would have. Our Lucilea is like a soap bubble.”
“W-what bubble?”
Mei looked at Teshian and continued.
“Violence and murder. Don’t you understand? You almost did both just now. That’s what’s important.”
“N-no! That girl started it—!”
“Started? Fine. Shall we see who really started from the beginning?”
Mei gently pulled Lucilea close, treating her like a precious vase.
“Of course, such a delicate, bubble-like person wouldn’t start trouble first.”
“……”
Bubble again.
“I’m not that fragile…”
But she didn’t dislike it. Somehow, being treated as someone to protect made her chest tingle.
Truly like a soap bubble floating in the air.
As Lucilea shyly fidgeted in Mei’s arms, Mei continued.
“She just entered the Ducal House. If something happens to her, a report naturally goes to His Grace the Duke. Do you, who know this well, really want to see His Grace angry?”
Watching Mei smile cheerfully, Lucilea thought.
“Mei isn’t exactly normal either.”
Those chosen by the elite squad had authority equivalent to an imperial baron.
“Even though a baron is the lowest noble rank, no servant could defy or oppose them.”
Yet Mei blocked Teshian’s hand without hesitation and spoke words that could upset him.
“Most importantly, that Teshian… he can’t do anything to Mei.”
Rather, he seemed cautious and intimidated.
Lucilea nestled even closer into Mei’s arms and hugged her waist tightly.
Then she looked at Teshian and grinned mischievously.
I have Mei. You don’t, do you?
