🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 15
For one thing, the woman’s hair as described in the work was curling purple. Though as evidenced by the pupil-less eyes, she had no intellect—a form closer to a complete monster.
Yet this girl before me did not look particularly ominous. If anything, she seemed fragile as a feather. So delicate that she might crumble at a single touch.
Though she was bound tightly enough that she could not move, the girl’s face with closed eyes was soft and peaceful. So much so that it almost seemed the tree was protecting her.
“Mmm, mmm…….”
Should I just leave her and go?
After fidgeting and deliberating, I moved a little closer to the sacred tree. Then my foot caught on a tree root hidden by the grass.
“Eek!”
I let out a pathetic scream and fell flat on the ground. Fortunately I caught myself with my hands, but the fingers scraped on the rough tree root stung terribly.
“Ouch, ouch…….”
As I was about to get up, on the verge of tears, a bright light blazed above my head. The moment I looked up, I let out a cry of astonishment.
“Huh?”
Light radiated from the vines wrapping around the girl, and soon they thinned like rotted rope and snapped apart. The small body that had been bound to the trunk fell from the air toward the ground.
I ran with all my might and barely managed to catch the girl’s body, rolling across the grass.
“Huff, huff. What is this?”
Is she hurt anywhere? As I examined the child’s body this way and that, I met eyes with the girl who had just lifted her eyelids.
The moment I saw those vivid purple eyes, a chill ran down my spine. Wait a moment—is this real? Is she really that boss monster?
Surely I have not just made a huge mistake?!
“Uh, well…….”
As I froze, unable to continue, the girl stared at me blankly, then raised a small hand and grasped my arm. Then she softly closed her eyes again.
I looked at the child sleeping motionlessly with bewildered eyes, then cautiously lifted the arm she had grabbed and paused.
The scrape on my palm had disappeared without a trace.
“Madam! Madam! Where are you-!”
Fiona circled the forest anxiously, calling for Wendy.
She had only closed her eyes for a moment when the wind suddenly blew strong, and Wendy, who had been walking ahead of her, had vanished without a trace.
She thought Wendy had simply gone a little further ahead, but after completing the usual path and still not finding her, something had clearly happened. At the very least, she was lost.
“Wh-what should I do? Should I tell the master?”
Fiona thought of the cold-faced handsome man and soon grew tearful.
However much it was a political marriage, the Grand Duke and his wife did not have a good relationship, to put it mildly. Nearly three months had passed since the wedding, and she had never once seen the two spend time together affectionately.
Since the first night, they had never spent a night in the same room, and basically the Grand Duke seemed entirely uninterested in his wife’s daily life. To put it a bit harshly, they were like strangers who merely lived in the same house.
With a master that cold, he might just say “Oh, is that so?” and dismiss the news of his wife’s disappearance indifferently.
Among the servants and maids, this was already becoming a topic of gossip. Of course, Fiona scolded those who talked behind their backs every time.
She had thought this since she first became the lady’s attendant, but the Madam was truly lovely and beautiful. Her personality was as warm and bright as her appearance, and she was generous, making her easy to serve.
As the saying goes, a good-looking apple tastes good too—there was no greater fortune than serving a pretty and kind-hearted mistress.
Though she did have some peculiar aspects.
Just then, Fiona spotted a figure walking from afar and her eyes went wide. Wendy, too, met Fiona running toward her and tilted her head.
“Fiona?”
“Madam! Where did you go!”
Fiona was about to cry out in relief that she was safe when she noticed the child Wendy was carrying on her back and her eyes went wide.
“Oh my, who is that child?”
A girl in a white dress resembling a chemise was slumped on Wendy’s back, sleeping soundly.
“I do not know either.”
Wendy, wearing a rare complicated expression, spoke with a sigh.
“Let us go to the village for now.”
“There is no threat to her life. She is simply asleep.”
The physician who finished the examination spoke with a hearty laugh. Having watched the examination process anxiously, I asked quietly.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. She will likely wake after sleeping enough.”
With that, the physician said he would send a simple medicine, kindly told me what foods would be good to feed the child when she woke, and took his leave.
In the room that grew quiet, I quietly looked down at the girl lying on the inn bed.
The girl sleeping soundly had nothing different from a human except for her unusual hair color.
Her limbs were properly attached, her skin was warm, and she had no body parts different from a human.
Is this child really going to become that utterly wicked monster in the future?
But the power that healed my wound earlier was real. Given that my palm, which had been scraped badly enough to bleed, was now completely clean.
That is why, though I hesitated, I ended up bringing the girl with me. I do not know what will happen in the future, but for now she might still be an ordinary child.
Besides, abandoning a frail young child is an act that would anger heaven and man alike!
Suddenly recalling my time at the Ducal House, I let out a hollow laugh. There were days when, precisely because I was too ordinary, I could not help but be pointed at.
Even now, I myself am not particularly special. Just suited to being an extra whose name is not even mentioned once in the original work.
Still, am I not at least someone capable of saving one child like this?
Just as I thought that far, I met the eyes of the girl staring blankly at me and screamed.
“Eek!”
No, give some sign first. Opening your eyes suddenly without any warning?
In any case, she was clearly no ordinary child. I swallowed once and spoke gently.
“Um, you are awake?”
When I greeted her awkwardly, the girl’s purple gaze followed my finger.
“My name is Wendy. What is your name?”
“…….”
“I saw you collapsed in the forest and brought you here. I am not a suspicious person, so do not worry! Why were you there? Do you have a guardian?”
“…….”
“Are you hungry, perhaps? Would you like something to eat? If there is something you like, I will have them buy it. If you have been hungry for a long time, soup might be best.”
I said this and that, but no answer came back.
But I, Wendy, am a woman with a husband so taciturn that it is hard to get even a word or two out of him. This much is child’s play.
“If you do not particularly want anything, I will ask them to make bean soup. If you do not want to say why you were there, you do not have to.”
Honestly, I am not sure I could handle the reason even if I heard it.
“Let us discuss things slowly after you regain some strength. Then I will prepare…….”
“Sherry.”
“Hm?”
Startled by the clear, bell-like voice, I paused, and the girl added one more word.
“Name.”
“Oh, oh, Sherry. What a pretty name.”
Somehow even her name brought flowers to mind.
“I do not remember, anything.”
With that brief utterance, the girl closed her mouth. Her expression looked confused, so I made an excuse that I had something to do for a moment and left the room.
At times like that, one needs time alone, right? I understand that feeling well!
Recalling when my memories first returned, I felt anew how far I had come. Back then, I had been at a loss as to how on earth to navigate my situation.
Fiona, who had been waiting outside, clasped her hands together and spoke.
“How is that child, Madam?!”
“She woke up a little while ago. Could you ask the innkeeper to prepare some simple soup and white bread?”
“Yes!”
Seeing Fiona’s back as she quickly descended the stairs brought a smile to my face. She had said she had younger siblings around Sherry’s age—she must have been quite worried indeed.
That aside.
“……What should I do about that child?”
Leaning against the door, I fell deep into thought.
Bringing the child in is one thing, but now the question is what to do going forward.
If it were an object, that would be one thing, but a person stands out regardless. Very much so. Especially a child as pretty as that with such unusual features.
Even setting aside whether she becomes a monster, she clearly possesses some kind of special power.
Truly, this could not be more of a total mess.
“If only my situation were just a little better-.”
I covered my nose bridge with both hands and let out sigh after sigh.
Honestly, right now I am barely managing to take care of myself, and I have no capacity to look after this young girl as well. I do not even know what will become of me three years from now.
They say if you are going to adopt an animal, you should first think about whether you will outlive it. And Sherry is a human, no less.
Moreover, I was not confident I could properly care for this girl in my current circumstances.
In any case, I have only a temporary truce with Kaien, and I am already fully aware that he does not welcome me.
If I were to say I wanted to take in an extra mouth to feed, he would certainly find that suspicious in itself.
Above all, if this is a child with the potential to become a top-grade monster in the future, it was also dangerous for me—someone with almost no knowledge of magic and no abilities whatsoever—to keep her. It meant I would have difficulty responding if something happened.
So.
“So.”
Inside the inn room, the person wearing a black cloak removed the hood and revealed their face. The man with vivid blue hair, Sei, opened his mouth with a dumbfounded expression.
“Surely the thing you wanted to entrust to me is not this child?”
