TLDH~28

 Chapter 28

“Ouch, Mom!”

At the sudden, startling shout that seemed designed to scare someone, I fell straight back, landing hard on the floor with a thud.

I had grabbed the doll’s wing, but that was a human voice.

It felt like my heart dropped down with a thud and then jumped back into place.

In the middle of the night like this—

‘Could it be a ghost?’

I felt goosebumps rising sharply on my back. I cautiously turned my head to look around.

“……”

But the surroundings were quiet, and the room felt empty except for me.

‘Was it an auditory hallucination?’

Otherwise, how could I explain the distinct, grunt-like “It hurts!” that I heard so clearly?

It sounded like it came from right in front of me.

Saying, “It hurts!”

I lifted my head and stared intently at the half-open drawer.

The drawer, filled haphazardly with dolls and toys, was dark and silent.

It felt strange, as if the inside was an entrance to another world.

Weird.

I stared at the drawer, which seemed to be feigning innocence as if nothing had happened, then quietly got up from my spot.

Then, just like before, I stuck my head into the drawer.

But nothing had changed.

Just as I had seen earlier, inside the drawer were the wooden sword my father gave me, the rabbit doll, and at the very back, the pig doll I had been looking for.

I cautiously reached my hand towards the doll, whose lower belly was stretched out long. With a clattering sound of friction, the doll easily came into my hand.

‘The pig’s nose…’

Unlike when I first grabbed it, the stuffing was gone, making the nose soft and squishy. When I pulled on it, it came out far too easily compared to before.

‘What’s going on?’

The once plump belly was gone, and the nose was all soft and mushy.

Somehow, it felt a bit different from the one I was trying to pull out earlier. Well, it was definitely the doll I was looking for, but still, the feeling was off.

‘Right, the wing.’

Hearing the clattering sound, I turned the doll over.

But the wing I had definitely grabbed and pulled tightly was gone.

I was sure I had pulled the wing right before I heard the shout.

‘Did I dream it?’

But the sensation felt too vivid to be a dream. I opened my right hand and looked down.

Unlike my own doll, the soft, plush texture seemed to still linger on my hand.

As I lifted my head from that moment that was too short and vivid to be a dream, I saw the open drawer.

The darkness inside was eerily pitch black, enough to pique my curiosity, making me wonder if there was something beyond.

‘Let’s not do anything strange unnecessarily.’

I wanted to avoid unnecessarily meddling in an unknown situation and potentially interfering with the story’s progression.

But—

‘There’s definitely something in there.’

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but the only thing clear was that whatever was in there now was different from what I was holding in my arms.

* * *

Finally!

Saturday morning had dawned.

Having completely forgotten about the events of the night, I sprang up from my spot and pulled the bell rope.

At the loud, ringing sound, Arina was the first to enter the room.

“Good morning, Young Lady.”

“Mm-hmm!”

I smiled and accepted Arina’s greeting, as she had recently become noticeably more intimate and affectionate.

Regardless of Arina, today was the day I would go outside the castle for the first time.

Just the thought made me feel happy. I bounced on my plump bottom and hopped down from the bed—

“Here you are. Juice.”

Arina held out the juice again.

“Grape juice?”

“You enjoyed it so much yesterday.”

Well, it was tasty.

But I didn’t feel like drinking it today.

“I don’t want it.”

“Just one glass, for your health.”

Arina insisted, pushing the glass forward almost forcefully.

I stared intently at the glass being thrust towards me, then let my shoulders slump.

I didn’t know why she was acting like this, but I didn’t want to ruin my good mood today because of Arina.

Besides, well.

She said she brought it thinking of my health, right?

“O-kay.”

So I took the glass and gulped it down glug-glug.

But unlike yesterday, behind the sweet scent of fresh grapes, I detected a strangely bitter taste.

Was this year’s grape harvest strange?

I tilted my head back, drank the last drop, and held out the empty glass.

“Please go put it on the table over there.”

Arina pointed with her finger to the console table placed beside the door.

For a moment—

“……Pardon?”

It felt like my words got stuck in my throat, unsure how to react to this insane request. I stared at Arina with wide eyes, blinking.

Dozens of responses swirled in my head, but none came out.

You know how it is, right?

When you hear something so absurd and ridiculous that you can’t even get angry or form words?

That was exactly my state right now.

‘Why is she acting like this?’

No, even when she acted high-handedly in the annex and tormented me, she never brazenly tried to push her work onto me right in front of my face.

So why is she being so brazen now?

This isn’t the annex, it’s the main residence. And with Grandfather staying at the capital estate?

“Arina, have you lost your mind?”
“No.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”

But contrary to her answer, Arina smiled brightly like a madwoman and pointed at the console table again. As if instructing a young child.

“Come on, quickly go put it away and come back. Our Young Lady is a good girl, right?”

She’s really gone crazy.

Even if someone who didn’t know about this situation or our relationship were here, if they looked into Arina’s eyes right now, they’d say the same thing I did.

Those murky eyes.

Her brown eyes, which put me in a bad mood just looking at them. As I averted my gaze, the orphanage director from my time in Ixia suddenly came to mind.

The eyes of the Ixia orphanage director right before she was arrested.

Yes, when she was accused of embezzlement back in Ixia, the director’s eyes had looked like that.

Eyes full of desperation and urgency, wanting to grab onto something but having nothing to grasp, like clawing at empty air.

She had grabbed onto the children with those eyes, like catching mice.

Until one child collapsed and ultimately had to be taken to the hospital.

‘In the end, she was arrested for that.’

And Arina had exactly the same eyes as that director.

Directed at me.

Eyes that seemed to want to grab, snatch, and shake me, but couldn’t, like they were clawing at empty air.

And eyes like that always caused problems.

She seems dangerous.

No matter how much of a regressor I am, there are limits to what a 6-year-old body can do against a full-grown adult.

I need to avoid being alone with her as much as possible.

Thinking I should at least get out of this situation first, I was racking my brain when—

“Young Lady.”

Following a knock, Hael entered the room.

“Hael!”

Oh my god, I’ve never been so happy to see anyone!

“Are you up? Good morning.”
“Yeah, yeah! Did you sleep well, Hael?”

Overjoyed, I bounced on my feet and turned my body towards Hael. Arina, who had been staring intently at me, snatched the glass from my hand as if seizing it.

“Ah!”

Her action was so rough that her fingernail slightly scratched the back of my hand. Startled, I looked up, and she met my gaze with an awkward smile.

“Are you alright? What I said earlier was a joke. You know that, right?”

“……”

So it’s a joke as long as she finds it amusing?

And those chilling eyes were absolutely not the eyes of someone joking.

‘I have to get rid of her somehow.’

Now that I’m in the main residence, if I just promote Hael to be my sole personal maid, there’s no need to keep Arina and Linzy around. Apeongdon was somewhat free from Velia’s influence, and most importantly, in just half a year, I’d be going to Onelo.

‘I need to tell Bennett quickly.’

Bennett was someone who knew what happened that day in the east annex, so it should be easier to talk to him.

“I find that unpleasant, so please refrain from such jokes in the future.”

I fired back coldly, then turned around and approached Hael, tilting my head back.

“Hael, I’m going to Lillinae today.”
“I’ve heard.”

At Hael’s smiling response, I thought about how to explain that we needed to stop by the auction house to buy something. As I was picturing it in my head, I looked up.

“You’re coming with me.”
“……Pardon? Young Lady, not me?”

At my words directed at Hael, Arina turned around, bristling.

Her tone suggested she had obviously assumed she would be the one going with me.

“Please go with me, Young Lady.”

No, why is she really acting like this?

She was acting extremely high-handed, as if I had to obey her every word.

“No.”
“Young Lady.”

But it seemed she thought my refusal was just me being petulant. Arina couldn’t hide her panicked eyes and stared intently at me.

Her face clearly showed signs of panic, as if some plan or schedule had been disrupted.

“What did you just say?”
“I said I’m not going with Arina, I’m going with Hael.”
“But Hael is the Housekeeper, she isn’t qualified to attend to the Young Lady……”
“I said yes. It’s my decision.”

I confirmed once again that I wasn’t going with her and turned back to Hael.

“I’m going to get washed up! I think today is going to be super, super, suuuuper fun!”

I was so excited, it felt like my whole body was thumping.