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Chapter 12
In that moment, what Cecilia felt was an intense sense of resignation. She didn’t want to die. But she didn’t want to try anymore, either. She was already too exhausted for that.
‘Right, maybe it’s easier to just die now.’
Cecilia slowly closed her eyes.
“My Lady!”
Just then, someone called her desperately. It was the voice Cecilia had heard most often lately.
‘Milena…?’
The only personal maid who had treated her warmly. However, Cecilia did not open her eyes. Or, more accurately, she simply didn’t have the energy to do so. Still…
‘During these past few days with that girl, I think I laughed quite a lot…’
At the exact moment a faint lingering regret seeped into Cecilia’s thoughts, a soft wind rushed in. It felt as if the wind was gently wrapping around her body, and she felt her toes lift off the ground.
‘Huh?’
Startled, Cecilia snapped her eyelids open. At that same moment, she witnessed a miracle.
‘I’m… flying?!’
It was the same for the freight carriage that looked ready to crush her. The massive carriage, the draft horses, and even the driver—it seemed they were all floating softly in the air before being set down gently on the ground.
Tap.
Cecilia also landed softly on the earth.
‘W-what just happened?’
Her blue-green eyes, filled with shock, whipped around to look at Milena. And then, Cecilia felt that something was wrong. Milena, standing unsteadily, had a face as white as a sheet, without a single drop of blood. From between her pale lips, a voice leaked out that sounded like it might fade away at any moment.
“My Lady, are you oka—”
But Milena couldn’t finish her sentence. Her body collapsed like a marionette doll with its strings cut. Terrified, Cecilia rushed to Milena’s side.
“Milena! Milena!!”
At Cecilia’s urgent cry calling her name, Milena slowly blinked her heavy eyelids. Inside her blurred vision, Cecilia’s face, looking like she was about to cry, filled her sight.
‘Honestly, you really make people worry.’
Milena smiled faintly. This was the female lead of the original story who would ruin her in the future. But for some reason, seeing those blue-green eyes brimming with tears felt so heartbreaking…
‘Stop crying.’
She wanted to wipe away those tears somehow. Milena reached out her hand with great effort. Meanwhile, facing the slender fingertips reaching toward her, Cecilia’s wet eyes went wide.
“Milena!”
Cecilia hurriedly grabbed Milena’s hand. She felt warmth from the fingertips she held. Milena’s smile grew a little deeper.
‘Still, I’m so glad I found Cecilia.’
With a wave of soft relief washing over her, Milena lost consciousness right then and there.
“Just where is she and what is she doing…”
The Duchess looked at her husband with eyes full of worry.
“I mean Cecilia, where on earth could she have gone?”
The Duchess’s beautiful face was full of anxiety. It was because Cecilia, who had run out during dinner last night, still hadn’t returned. Baron Trangsie had offered to help find the girl by sending out his private soldiers, but there was still no news. Meanwhile, at the Duchess’s question, the Duke’s gaze sank deeply.
A missing daughter. He was just as worried about Cecilia as she was. However, if he showed his anxiety here, his fragile wife’s nerves wouldn’t be able to hold out. Judging so, the Duke gently comforted his wife.
“Do not worry too much. We have sent people out, so news will arrive soon.”
“Father is right.”
Elias also tried his best to smile and comfort his mother. It was a familiar sight. A mother filled with anxiety. A father skillfully soothes such a mother. …And even his own self, unable to do anything.
‘I’m tired.’
Just as it was the nurse’s habit to say, what would it have been like if the ‘real sister’ were by their side? Perhaps the family could have lived harmoniously, laughing together… Elias, who had squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, spoke in an intentionally bright voice.
“She probably couldn’t have gone far. So…”
But just then, a servant entered the living room with urgent steps.
“We found the Young Lady!”
At that shout, the startled Lucert family jumped up from their seats. The Duchess asked hurriedly in a trembling voice.
“I-is it true she isn’t hurt?”
“No, to stay outside all day. That child is so fearless!”
The Duke also burst out in a mix of worry and frustration.
“Yes, it seems the Young Lady is not in any great pain. However…”
The servant, who had nodded, hesitated for a moment. The Duke urged him on with a frustrated face.
“What is it? Why are you hesitating?”
“Well, actually…”
The servant, stealing a glance at them, spoke cautiously.
“I heard that the Young Lady was almost hit by a carriage a short while ago.”
“What? Cecilia was?”
Shock appeared on the Duke’s face, which had been stiff until then. A flustered Elias also raised his voice.
“An accident? What does that… Didn’t you just say Cecilia is fine?”
“Ah, yes! The Young Lady was not injured! A-a maid from the House of Baron Trangsie saved her, they say. But…”
The servant swallowed hard and whispered in a low voice.
“According to witnesses, that maid called forth the wind.”
“What?!”
The Lucert family was shocked in unison. In the House of Lucert, a child who awakened magic power was born rarely across generations.
The Child of Blessing. That was the name used to refer to those children. Even in an era where the lineage of magic had been cut off, those children of blessing used to bring about various miracles.
“W-if it’s the wind…”
Furthermore, the power over wind was the very ability manifested by the founder of the House of Lucert. Thus, the symbol of the Duke’s house was the ‘Blue Hawk.’ It was created because the image of the ‘First Lucert’ wielding the wind resembled a hawk cutting through the sky.
At that moment, a trembling voice joined the conversation.
“C-could it be.”
It was the Duchess. With a face turned deathly pale, she frantically urged the servant.
“That girl… what did they say she looks like? Her hair color, her eye color. Is there anything you know?”
“S-she is a significant beauty. Blonde hair and green eyes…”
The flustered servant answered in a hurry. Simultaneously, silence descended.
“……””……””……”
The Lucert family looked at each other with startled faces. Blonde hair and green eyes. Those were the physical characteristics of their lost biological daughter.
“I must go see her right now.”
The Duke, who had jumped up from his seat, haglintedn his eyes. A faint flame flickered deep in his chest. The name of that flame was none other than ‘Hope.’
