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Chapter – 26
“How is it? Is it not too heavy?”
“Of course not. It’s light.”
I snorted, the books held in my arms.
Seriously, it’s nothing but light.
‘Kyle, the problem is you worry too much.’
This much is nothing.
The books are only slightly thicker than picture books, after all.
More importantly, I’m not an ordinary 4-year-old!
Inside here is the soul of a 20-year-old adult who could lift anything with ease!
Hmph.
“Please be careful on your way, Young Lady. Do visit again.”
“O-okay. See you la…ter, Mister.”
I tried to wave goodbye, but then realized both my hands were occupied by the books.
What do I do?
I don’t know, I’ll just wave something.
Instead of my hands, I vigorously shook my head back and forth, then turned around briskly.
Alright, now let’s hurry back to my room!
Someone said it.
That humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
That human greed is endless, and repeating the same mistakes is proof of that.
And here.
“Ughhh.”
One such piece of proof is breathing.
Right here.
It’s me.
“Melony y’see. Big y’see…”
Kyle, you were right.
‘Even after going through all that trouble at Bramashua…!’
Back when I went to give the blanket as a bribe to win over Uncle Oliver—no, the Duke’s favor.
Didn’t I experience a similar situation then?
The memory of being crushed under a weight a 4-year-old couldn’t handle, drenched in the sweat of regret and frustration, is still vivid…!
The weight of these three books was, if anything, more than that, not less.
‘Haa, I miss Jeanne unnie…’
As I sat here alone, groaning and struggling, I suddenly missed Jeanne unnie for no reason.
I missed Ricky oppa too.
The longing I had been trying to suppress began to surge over me like a tidal wave, triggered by these three books.
For some reason, the wind felt cold too.
My nose felt icy cold and I kept sniffling dryly.
Sniffle, sniffle.
‘I need to be strong-willed.’
I couldn’t just carelessly put down the books I borrowed from the Ducal library, nor did I have the energy to carry them any further.
Stuck in this dilemma, unable to move forward or back, I felt like I was about to cry.
‘The tear ducts of a young body are just too weak, that’s the problem.’
Sniffle-snuffle!
I mustered all my strength and swallowed my tears.
Then, I moved my steps towards the wall I saw next to me.
“I’ll just ask someone who passes by here later for help…”
Leaning my back against the wall and squatting down made me feel a bit better.
Just as I was waiting there like an abandoned rabbit for someone to pass by…
“……?”
“Hey.”
A shadow fell over my head, accompanied by a clear, ringing voice.
Blink blink.
‘Who is this boy?’
The owner of the cast shadow was some boy.
He had slightly upturned eyes and the kind of looks that would probably make many girls cry when he grew up.
He kinda looks like a cat…
“W-what, what are you looking at, pipsqueak!”
Hmm, a wildcat, then.
“I’m not a pipsqueak, I’m Melony…”
I tried to answer defiantly, but my underlying cowering state leaked through.
“Melony?”
“Meh-l-lo-nee.”
“Ah, Melony!”
“Yeah! Melony!”
The boy stood still, chewing over my name a few times.
Melony, Melony…
The boy, who had been repeating the name under his breath, suddenly stopped. Then.
“I never asked for your name?!” he shouted, his face turning bright red.
After that, he put his hands on his hips again and looked down at me.
He clearly thought that was the coolest pose.
The boy jerked his chin up and said.
“So you’re the one they say is Uncle’s daughter?!”
Huh?
‘Uncle? Daughter?’
That means, this kid must be…
“Orabeni?” (Brother?)
It seems he’s one of the Duke’s nephews he mentioned.
Looking at him more carefully now, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it sooner—he had quite a few resemblances to the Duke.
His hair, a bluish grey with a strong blue tint.
His blue eyes.
Above all, his striking good looks were exactly the same. Enough to believe he was his son, even.
‘Is he the first or the second?’
The Duke said he had two nephews. I think he said the first was 13 and the second was 9…
‘Judging by his looks, is he the first?’
He seemed too tall and well-built to be 9.
As I tilted my head, my eyes sparkling, the boy flinched.
His face, having met my gaze, began to turn red.
‘What is it? Is he hurt?’
That’s when it happened.
Like boiling water letting out a beep-beep sound, the boy suddenly blurted out.
“W-why would I be your oppa…!”
I muttered timidly too.
“Father said you’re Orabeni.”
“I said I’m not your oppa! More than that, you’re not even Uncle’s real daughter!”
Gasp.
Struck right in the weak point, my eyes widened as I looked at the boy.
‘How did he know?’
Did I give myself away?
“More importantly, you! Is it true that they brought some nonsensical illegitimate child from somewhere?!”
So, the previous Duke was like that too; it seems the Panteibe bloodline is quite sharp.
Or is that it?
‘That the bloodline doesn’t “pull”…’
I’ve seen it in novels before—the line, “No wonder, the bloodline was pulling!”
If blood relatives really do feel some kind of pull…
‘Then I’m in big trouble.’
It would make it impossible for me to pass myself off as the Duke’s blood.
Gulp.
Swallowing my dry saliva nervously, I started to speak.
“Melony is weally Father’s dawter…”
When our eyes met, the boy flinched hard.
“It’s twoo…”
“I-I don’t know! Anyway, I won’t accept it!”
He jumped up, shouted, then quickly turned his back and ran off.
Whoa, you scared me.
I pressed down on my pounding heart with the books.
‘I’ve been doubted twice in one day…’
I felt somewhat sulky.
Hadn’t I already messed up the meeting with the grandfather earlier?
And now I messed up again.
At this point, even I, the brave 4-year-old, the most spirited 4-year-old in the Empire, couldn’t help but have my confidence chipped away.
Maybe people just can’t help but dislike me.
‘It was like that at the orphanage too.’
“Because of you, we get even less food!”
“Shhh! There’s no blanket for you to cover yourself with, so get lost from here!”
In the orphanage, which was practically the wild due to the director and teachers’ indifference, the children had an uncanny ability to find and push out the weak.
And that was me.
Smaller than my peers, with worse pronunciation than my peers.
A clueless little kid who had lived in a rather unusual environment before coming there.
Under the harsh scrutiny of the other orphans, my food was always stolen, I couldn’t properly cover myself with a blanket, and I had to fall asleep shivering.
‘Back then, I thought they just disliked me because I was a newcomer.’
But after facing people who disliked me twice in one day, it’s like…
I started to think that maybe the problem lies with me itself.
“It’s heavy…”
And the books are heavy on top of it all.
My shoulders slumped and I dropped my head.
The tears I had barely held back seemed like they were about to well up again.
But, at that moment.
“…Hey, pipsqueak.”
A shadow fell over my head once more.
“…Orabeni?”
The owner of the shadow this time was also the boy.
What is it?
Why did he come back?
I called out to him, tilting my head, and the boy, his cheeks flushing red, cleared his throat with an ahem.
“Ahem. I said I’m not your o-oppa or anything. But you.”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you squatting here? Don’t tell me it’s because those books are heavy?”
“Uh-huh. That’s wight.”
“Are you an idiot? If they’re heavy, just put them down.”
Calling me an idiot? That’s harsh…!
But I didn’t have the courage to retort.
“B-but, these awe fwom the Duke’s libwawy. They’we precious, what if they get diwty because of me…”
As I mumbled sulkily, the boy blinked, looking alternately at me and the books.
Gasp. He’s not misunderstanding, is he?
“They’we not diwty! Melony has been holding them cawefully…!”
Feeling unnecessarily picked on, I hugged the books tightly to my chest as if to prove a point.
“…So what if those measly books get a little dirty.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“…You did say somethin’.”
“Whatever, just give them here!”
Saying that, the boy snatched all the books from my embrace without even giving me a chance to hand them over.
As the things that were heavily weighing me down disappeared all at once, my body felt surprisingly light.
But unlike my lightened body, my heart felt heavy.
‘The books… they’re all taken.’
My Angela.
My reference book.
The one Kyle recommended…
Just as I was sulkily letting the corners of my mouth droop.
“So, where am I supposed to be going?”
