🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 06
I bit my lip.
Even by a stretch, this fried rice couldn’t be called delicious. It had turned out soggy because I put in too many eggs, and the green onions and bacon were chopped haphazardly. I couldn’t even bring myself to attempt prepping raw shrimp, so I had given up on that early on.
And did it even cook properly?
The bottom was burnt, and the top was undercooked. It was a complete mess.
Even though I gave the best-cooked portions to Melissa, it was just as dreadful.
Yet, Melissa ate it well. She ate to the point of scraping up every last grain of rice on the plate.
“…”
A sudden realization struck me.
I wasn’t spending my day off taking care of this child for anyone or anything else.
Because I’m the Deputy Director of the Child Protection Bureau? What kind of sense of duty could possibly come with such a hollow title?
Because I felt sorry for Melissa? There were countless pitiable children in the world.
In the first place, since I hadn’t demanded anything from the Grand Duke, there was not a single benefit I stood to gain from taking care of Melissa.
Even so.
‘It’s for myself.’
Not for the “me” of today. It was for the eighteen-year-old “me” who had woken up five years ago in a strange, mold-scented single room—the days when I had to desperately scrape by as Tessa Harrington, an orphan of the same age who barely managed to put food in her mouth through day labor.
What I had desired more desperately than anything else back then was a person. Just one person who would understand my helpless predicament and offer a shoulder to lean on.
Naturally, no such person ever showed up.
However.
‘Melissa has me.’
And I wasn’t going to let go of that tiny hand until the wounds this child had received at far too young an age were healed.
“Unnie, are you crying?”
Melissa asked in a slightly frightened voice.
“Did… Did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“Melissa, you didn’t do anything wrong at all.”
“Really?”
Melissa looked up at me with a confused expression.
Seeing the confusion and pain the child must have endured up until now reflected so vividly in her face, my eyes welled up with tears once more.
I barely managed to answer through my choked throat.
“You see, sometimes tears fall when you’re just too happy.”
“…Because you’re happy? Why?”
“Because I’m eating fried rice with you, Melissa. To tell you the truth, I’ve never eaten… this kind of food with anyone here before.”
Melissa hopped down from her chair and approached me.
She whispered into my ear as if sharing a secret.
“Me too. Here, eating with you is a first for me, Unnie.”
Time flew by in an instant.
After polishing off the fried rice, Melissa and I spent the entire day talking about memories of home.
Thanks to that, I learned a lot about her: the name of her best friend, the age of the neighbor’s Maltese who got along well with Choco, the elderly lady who always gave her candy whenever Melissa greeted her at the local senior center, and even the last family trip she had taken.
Of course, we didn’t only talk about personal matters. Melissa knew the latest tracks of popular idol groups by heart, and she even sang and danced in front of me.
Naturally, they were songs I didn’t know, but just hearing about the new releases from familiar artists brought me joy.
“You’re good.”
I clapped my hands and laughed.
For this moment at least, Melissa looked like a ordinary 3rd grade student from Class 7.
Melissa pouted her lips sulkily.
“The dance they teach here is weird. It’s no fun at all… So I showed them the dance I’m best at, and the dance teacher never came back after that.”
“…”
I barely held back a burst of laughter.
How shocked must the dance teacher—who mostly taught noble etiquette—have been upon seeing Melissa’s radical idol choreography?
Still, I couldn’t entirely take Melissa’s side.
“Well, you were in the wrong there, Melissa. The teacher came to teach you dances you can perform at a ball.”
“…Is that so?”
Melissa looked at me with innocent eyes.
“Can’t I dance the ones I know well in the future?”
“Not in front of others.”
Melissa had to live in this world from now on. Like it or not, as a young lady of the Grand Ducal House.
Considering the child’s future, I couldn’t indulge her forever.
“Still, whenever it’s just the two of us, you can dance them anytime you want.”
Fortunately, instead of whining or throwing a tantrum, Melissa wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Unnie.”
Time sped by, and before long, it was time to head back.
“Ugh…”
Melissa looked at the clock and put on a miserable face.
“Unnie, promise we’ll meet next Saturday too?”
“We’ll have to see depending on the situation. Of course I want to see you too, Melissa, but sometimes unexpected things come up.”
“Sniff, ugh…”
Tears began to pool in Melissa’s large, clear purple eyes.
“I don’t want to part with you, Unnie…”
“Neither do I. But we can meet again, can’t we? If we can’t meet next week, I’ll write you a letter.”
…Though whether that letter would safely reach Melissa remained to be seen.
However, no matter what, I had to find a way to communicate with her. Only by cooperating with Melissa could we prevent a horrific future.
Clack-clack.
The sound of horseshoes striking the hard stone pavement rang out, coming to a halt right in front of the door.
‘They arrived earlier than expected.’
Taking Melissa by the hand, I opened the door.
“…?”
I had naturally assumed it was a servant sent to pick us up…
Stepping out of the luxurious carriage emblazoned with the crest of the North was Grand Duke Karditza himself.
He looked in much better shape than when I had seen him at the ball, yet that somehow troubled, gloomy, and deeply burdened aura surrounding him remained unchanged.
…And he was still ridiculously handsome.
Particularly today, slicking his hair back emphasized his flawless skull structure, creating an entirely different atmosphere. Instead of the ornate ceremonial attire he wore at the ball, he was clad in a simple coat, which actually suited his cool, sharp charm much better.
‘…What on earth am I thinking?’
My face flushed hot.
Had I always been this… vulnerable to visual stimulation?
“U-Unnie…?”
Melissa spoke in a small voice, clutching my sleeve tightly.
Heat rushed even more intensely to my already reddened face. Flustered at myself for constantly staring at him, I had ended up just standing there blankly gaping at him.
‘What a mess.’
I quickly gathered my wits and bowed my head.
“Y-Your Grace. My apologies for the rudeness.”
I greeted him hurriedly, but the Grand Duke paid me no mind, stepping straight past me toward Melissa and dropping down to one knee.
“Melissa.”
“O-Oppa…”
I winked at Melissa.
‘We practiced enough. You can do it, Melissa.’
Sending as much encouragement through my gaze as possible.
Did my feelings reach her?
Finally, Melissa let out words in a trembling voice.
Her left hand still holding onto mine, she extended her right hand toward Grand Duke Karditza.
“I-I… missed you…”
An ordinary 3rd-grade elementary schooler.
Her favorite food was shrimp fried rice from a Chinese restaurant, her best friend in the world was her poodle Choco, and her dream for the future was to become an idol.
This utterly ordinary child, after becoming “Lady Melissa,” had taken her very first step toward Achilles Karditza on her own initiative.
“…Melissa.”
Grand Duke Karditza was so stunned he couldn’t even properly grasp that hand. Though he ended up holding it in confusion, he seemed unable to fully believe the situation himself.
“You… missed me.”
Instead of answering, Melissa let go of my hand. Opening her arms wide, the child courageously took a step forward and threw herself into Grand Duke Karditza’s arms.
“…!”
The Grand Duke’s purple eyes widened in shock, trembling violently. Those purple eyes—identical to Melissa’s—looked upon the child, glistening moistly in disbelief.
“Melissa…”
No further words were needed.
Though the Grand Duke didn’t dare hug her back right away, Melissa held onto her older brother tightly and refused to let go.
“Oppa…”
Melissa sobbed softly.
“You won’t abandon me, right?”
“…Why would I ever abandon you?”
My feelings toward Achilles Karditza could hardly be good. After all, he was a villain currently plotting a scheme that would lead himself—and the entire empire—to ruin.
However.
“You are my sister. My one and only, precious sister.”
A tear unexpectedly welled up in my eye—a sight completely unfitting for my reputation as a bloodless, heartless villainess.
