WCMP 02

“Amy, could you come in for a moment?”

“Yes, miss.”

Amy, who had been waiting outside, quietly stepped in at my call and bowed her head.

She had a pleasant appearance and looked completely gentle, but I guess you really can’t judge people by appearances alone.

“I was thinking of having lunch with Amon, but I don’t know where his room is. Could you show me the way?”

“Pardon…? L-lunch? You mean… with the young master…?”

The expression on her face, as if she were questioning whether she had heard correctly, was so horrified that it left me feeling strange. Was it really that shocking?

“Yes, lunch. We’re eating together. Do you not know where his room is?”

I deliberately repeated myself slowly and clearly so she could properly process reality.

“No… I do. But does milady really need to go there personally? I can deliver the message for you.”

“No, I’ll go myself, so lead the way.”

Leaving behind the visibly anxious Amy, I stood up and even opened the door myself, gesturing for her to take the lead.

Amy rolled her eyes around helplessly as if she didn’t know what to do, but after seeing the determination on my face, she slowly started walking.

All I said was that I wanted to have one meal with my little brother, yet this was the reaction I got just for wanting to visit his room. I was already getting tired of this.

When I finally arrived at Amon’s room, I honestly found myself facing a situation far more shocking than I’d expected.

…Speechless. Where was I even supposed to start criticizing this?

I already knew roughly what kind of environment Amon had grown up in.

‘Not that I expected him to have a nice room in the first place, but…’

What lay before me far exceeded my imagination.

First of all, the flashbacks from the original novel—those narrated through Amon’s inner monologue—and the actual reality I was now seeing after possessing this body taught me something important.

The parts described in the original story had been heavily condensed. They were only an extremely tiny fragment of the truth.

‘In other words, reality is an even bigger pit of frustration than what the novel showed.’

The first thing that caught my eye was the location of the room.

Amon’s room was attached right next to the kitchen, and it looked like it had originally been used as a food storage room.

Since many people passed through the area constantly, it was located all the way at the end of the first floor, where the wind blew strongly.

How did I know the wind blew well?

Because even while standing briefly in front of the door, the wind was practically raging around me. I knew it whether I wanted to or not.

To put it simply—it was freezing. How could a child’s room be this cold…?

The size of the room was shocking enough to make me inhale sharply.

‘No, is this even a room? A prison cell would probably be bigger than this…!’

The cramped space contained only one shabby little bed as furniture.

Despite there being absolutely nothing else inside, the room already felt full to the brim.

“…Ha.”

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak. The kid wasn’t some prisoner.

No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find a single personal belonging in this so-called room.

It was enough to make me wonder whether living in a place like this was even possible.

‘And yet he smiled at me so kindly and treated me like his precious Lili…’

He was still the duke’s child. A legitimate young master.

Thinking of Duke Robert’s warm, gentle smile made disappointment churn violently inside me.

For a moment, I felt like an idiot for having been swayed by that kind-looking face.

Even so, I’d at least expected Amon to be living in a normal room.

I forcibly swallowed down the anger rising inside me.

There was no point getting furious here. I’d only scare the child.

I had come to talk with him, but trying to enter that room made it seem like there wouldn’t even be enough standing space.

If we wanted to sit, we’d practically have to squeeze together on the bed to talk, so I awkwardly remained standing at the doorway, looking down at Amon.

The child seemed quite flustered by my sudden visit. He was pretending to stay calm, but he couldn’t hide the trembling in his eyes.

I hadn’t meant to startle him.

As I looked around the room that barely qualified as one, wondering what to do, a question suddenly came to mind.

“…Amon, I don’t see a bathroom. Where do you wash up?”

My room had not only a bathroom, but also a dressing room, powder room, tea room, private reception room, and even a small library attached to it.

And not one of those spaces was smaller than this room.

If anything, my room was unnecessarily huge to the point of feeling wasteful.

Amon’s room was the complete opposite.

It lacked even the bare minimum necessities for a human being to live.

“…There is a servants’ residence behind the main estate. I use the communal shower there to maintain cleanliness at all times, so you need not worry yourself, Sister.”

“……”

The way he said “you need not worry”…

It didn’t sound like he meant, ‘I can still wash myself, so please don’t worry about me.’

No—it sounded more like:

‘Although there is no bathing space here, I always keep myself clean, so please do not be concerned that I may be unpleasant to you, Sister.’

Please let that interpretation be wrong.

“I just… no, that’s not the point. Amy, bring me the head maid, the butler, anyone. Tell them I’m looking for them. Quickly. Right now.”

“Yes, y-yes, miss!”

I tried to respond to Amon but couldn’t figure out what to say, so I decided to deal with the immediate problem first.

The moment my order left my mouth, Amy hurried off somewhere at full speed.

Ah. So now it was just me and Amon left alone.

Awkward…

And the more conscious I became of it, the more awkward it felt.

I glanced sideways at Amon, who stood blankly beside me, and sighed inwardly.

Amon was simply staring at me like an obedient puppy.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I finally remembered the original reason I had come here.

“Amon, you haven’t eaten lunch yet, right? I actually came to invite you to eat together, but I got sidetracked.”

At my words, Amon widened his eyes and murmured in disbelief.

“Eat together…? You mean… with me, Sister?”

“Yeah. You and me, Amon.”

Unfortunately, since it hadn’t been long since I possessed this body, there were still far more things I didn’t know than things I did.

Still, whether fortunately or unfortunately, I’d been managing somehow thanks to an ability I gained after transmigrating.

It was an ability I discovered after falling asleep on the first night.

Whenever I dreamed, the past memories of Liely Robert would replay vividly before me. Inside those dreams, I lost control of my body, but in exchange, I could witness this body’s past firsthand.

Even the emotions Liely had felt at the time came through clearly.

However, these dreams weren’t conveniently structured so that I could selectively view only the memories I wanted.

On the first night, I dreamed about the day she first learned dining etiquette. After that came scattered memories from early childhood all the way up to recent events.

And in today’s dream, I saw memories of her spending happy times with the late duchess during childhood.

But so far, Amon had never appeared in any of those dreams.

Which meant that unlike the future “Amon Robert” from the original novel, I knew absolutely nothing about the child standing before me now.

Naturally, that also meant I didn’t know whether we had ever shared a meal before.

“How long has it been since we ate together?”

I asked casually, fishing for information.

The child curved his lips into a smile and answered,

“…This is the first time. Thank you for granting me the honor of dining with you, Sister.”

Amon’s amethyst-like purple eyes curved beautifully into crescent moons, filled with anticipation.

…Right. So we’d never eaten together before.

I nearly failed to keep my expression under control, but I steadied myself as I looked at his face.

A faint peachy blush colored Amon’s round white cheeks.

The gentle upward curve of his lips made him look like a smiling baby angel.

‘And this angelic child eventually grows up to become the male lead of a dark romance fantasy who torments the heroine…’

The world really was doomed.

While he looked adorable, it also hurt seeing him genuinely so happy over something as simple as sharing a meal.

“There’s no need to call it an honor. Let’s eat together often from now on.”

“…Yes. If that is acceptable to you, Sister, then I shall do so.”

Though the blush still lingered faintly on his cheeks, Amon returned to his usual expressionless face and replied while cautiously glancing at me.

But why was this kid speaking so excessively formally?

‘Who taught him to talk like that?’

It felt strange and uncomfortable seeing such a young child act overly polite.

“Amon, who taught you etiquette?”

The question had been bothering me for a while. In the original novel, it was said that Amon received no proper education until he became a teenager.

Yet the child before me behaved more elegantly than anyone else, like a perfectly educated young nobleman.

“I did not receive formal instruction. I learned through books in the library. Am I still lacking?”

Once again, Amon glanced at me cautiously while speaking. He was way too conscious of my reactions in every single sentence.

…Don’t do that. Don’t speak while constantly watching someone’s mood. Just how much had he suffered that he’d become like this?

I hurriedly shook my head at his words.

“No, not at all! I asked because you know too much, not too little. You learned all that by reading books yourself?”

Wait. Until what age did his nanny stay in this house again? I was pretty sure she’d been kicked out when he was still very young. Did she teach him to read?

Several questions flashed through my mind.

“Then who taught you how to read? Was it your nanny?”

“Yes. She taught me when I was very young.”

He already looked young enough now, so how young was “very young”?

“…How old were you when your nanny taught you to read?”

“I was three years old. She taught me simple words, and after that I could no longer receive instruction, so I learned the rest by reading books on my own.”

A strong feeling settled over me that something here was deeply wrong.

But since I’d already started asking questions, I needed to make sure I understood everything clearly.