WDYEHM 20

Chapter 20

As if it had been waiting, the wind suddenly calmed down.

Her hair, which had been wildly blowing, settled, revealing Yones’ expression. Orte gave a faint smile.

It wasn’t the desperate smile she used to show when she wanted affection.

It was a light smile with no emotion in it.

Orte felt a little disappointed when she saw Yones’ face.

There was not even the slightest change in his expression.

Yones was definitely better at controlling his expressions than the people of the Weekend Duke family. More accurately, he was good at hiding his feelings toward her.

“…Do you even understand what you just said?”

Orte tilted her head slightly, as if confused.

“Don’t you understand, Vice Captain?”

She thought she had said it quite simply.

At the same time, her gaze drifted down below the window. As she leaned her body slightly backward, her hair began to move again in the returning wind.

Orte had had her throat cut three times.

Two of those times were by others.

The last one was by herself.

She thought that falling to her death wouldn’t be so bad either.

Long ago, she had admired birds.

Birds that spread their beautiful wings and flew freely.

She felt like, at least while falling, she could feel like a bird.

A sudden impulse rose inside her.

At that moment, when both her feet slightly lifted off the ground—

“Orte!”

A voice struck like lightning, and Orte came back to her senses.

Yones was holding both her shoulders and pulling her back.

Only then did she realize her body had been leaning halfway out of the window.

“You…!”

Yones shouted with a pale face, and Orte felt a sense of regret.

Yones was looking at her with a complicated expression.

Orte didn’t avoid his gaze.

Suddenly, she realized this was the first time she had ever been this close to him.

Yones had always avoided her as if she were a disease, so she had never been able to get close.

For some reason, the warmth she felt from his hands gripping her shoulders…

felt unpleasant.

This was not the warmth she had expected.

She had expected something warmer, drier, softer—

like that voice…

“What are you doing?”

At the cold voice, Orte turned her head.

It was the Duke of Weekend.

His expression was cold and deeply frowning.

Orte let out a sigh, thinking that she really had bad luck today.

The gift that came every year had arrived, but instead of a normal priest, Yones had come. Since Yones was the Vice Captain of the Holy Knights, he couldn’t be treated lightly.

That was probably why the Duke of Weekend had come.

It was the first time she had met all of them like this on the Saint’s memorial day.

Because of that, Orte was lost in thought and didn’t notice the Duke’s gaze fixed on Yones’ hand holding her shoulder.

On the other hand, Yones, being a skilled knight, immediately noticed the Duke’s gaze. Startled, he quickly stepped back.

“Ah…”

Because of that sudden movement, Orte, who had been unprepared, lost her balance. She stumbled but grabbed the window frame to steady herself.

A sharp pain came from her ankle, and she frowned slightly.

But she didn’t want to stay even a second longer with the Duke of Weekend, so she began to walk, limping slightly.

She lightly lowered her head toward the Duke, who was looking at Yones, and passed by him.

She didn’t even speak on purpose.

He was already sensitive, and if he heard her voice, he might explode.

“Orte.”

The Duke of Weekend called her in a low voice.

“Wait in my office.”

Without answering, Orte paused for a moment, then continued walking and left the drawing room.

Before the door fully closed, she faintly heard their voices.

She stood still for a moment, then headed toward the Duke’s office.

The butler was waiting outside.

With the butler guiding her, Orte entered the Duke of Weekend’s office.

As always, she walked to the seat she used to sit in.

Before sitting down, she slowly looked around the room.

The Duke of Weekend didn’t like having people close to him, so even his personal attendants weren’t allowed to stay near him most of the time.

Because of that, the office was cleaned when he wasn’t there.

And Orte—

in exchange for giving small decorations, she had secretly asked a maid to take care of cleaning this office.

This was another secret that no one knew.

Because of that, Orte was able to secretly change the flowers in the vase regularly without the Duke or the butler noticing.

Her gaze naturally moved to the vase on the desk.

Inside the clear water, the same dried flower was still there.

He really doesn’t care about anything around him.

The Duke of Weekend only cared about his family and the Saint.

Orte let out a bitter smile.

Her past self felt so pathetic.

That flower, which had probably been dead for months without anyone noticing, felt just like her.

Before being killed by her family, Orte had already died from their looks, their words, and their actions.

A life where normal human emotions faded, replaced by emptiness.

Even if she was breathing, she wasn’t truly alive.

In a way, this office was the place filled with the most of her feelings for her family.

For Casey, she wanted affection.

For Cliff, kindness.

For Ellen, consideration.

For Yones, closeness.

And for the Duke of Weekend—

she wanted love.

She loved him the most.

Because he was her only blood relative in the world.

Because he was her family.

Because he was her father.

That was why Orte worked so hard to clean this office.

She carefully chose, arranged, and placed the flowers in the space where he spent the most time.

She loved him so much that she even loved that time.

When she could do something—anything—for someone she loved,

she felt happy.

She felt joyful.

“Father. Can I clean your office?”

Until even that was taken away from her by Yvonne.

“You?”

“Yes. Then I can spend more time with you, Father. And who knows? Maybe I can even help you with my smart brain.”

Hearing Yvonne’s cheerful voice from outside the door, Orte couldn’t hold herself back and looked through the gap.

Yvonne was holding a cup of steaming tea as she spoke.

“Can you really do such difficult work?”

“I’m used to cleaning, so it’s okay—ah.”

Yvonne, who had been smiling brightly, bit her lip in surprise.

The faint smile on the Duke of Weekend’s face disappeared.

“I’m sorry, Father. I won’t talk about the past again.”

“I told you not to say that because it hurts me. I didn’t even realize my real child had suffered so much…”

Orte felt her heart ache.

And she wanted to ask—

Father. Father. Until just one month ago, you thought I was your real child. Why were you like that then? Why did you treat me like that for twelve years?

“Don’t worry, Yvonne. You won’t have to suffer anymore.”

“But I still want to clean your office. Just thinking about cleaning your space with care makes me happy.”

The Duke of Weekend smiled in a way he had never shown Orte before and nodded.

In the end, Orte turned away from their laughter and ran.

Orte’s gaze lowered to the empty space in front of her.

Even though she wasn’t dreaming, this was the first time her past had come back so clearly.

And this—

was a memory from her first life.

A time when Orte was very foolish, very pathetic, and very insignificant.

Orte looked down at her trembling hand, clenched tightly in her clothes until it turned pale.

Then she let out a sigh.

She no longer loved her family.

She no longer expected anything from them.

But her body was still that of a thirteen-year-old.

Her tired mind could quickly control her emotions, but her young body still reacted.

Her body trembled stiffly like a frightened child, while her face remained expressionless.

That contrast felt strangely unsettling.