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Episode 5
“Isn’t that right?”
I let out a short laugh. When I tightened my grip around Saren’s thin wrist, her skin turned pale.
Good thing I’m not that weak after all. I had worried because of my scrawny body, but since Saren was still a sheltered noble lady without a hint of muscle, it worked in my favor. I was secretly relieved.
I leaned in slightly and whispered coldly,
“Stop looking down on people. Even a dog bites if it’s ignored. How can you treat another person like this, ‘big sister’?”
“Why the hell would I be your sister?!”
“You’re right. Then I’ll just call you ‘you’ from now on.”
“Hey!!”
Oh? Finally, a bit of her real tone is showing.
Although my ears stung a little, my heart was amused. When I roughly let go, Saren stumbled backward from the recoil.
“Kyaaa! My lady!!”
“Lady Saren! Are you alright?!”
“How dare you lay hands on the young lady!”
“What, I’m not a ‘lady’ too?”
Not that I cared.
The maids rushed to catch the falling Saren and shouted at me. I tossed back a bored reply, turned around, and headed for the door.
‘Ah… what a waste of the book.’
I regretted it a little—I wanted to read more. I hadn’t even finished it yet.
Honestly, since they were characters from a story I’d loved enough to write fanfiction for, I could proudly say I knew a lot about them.
But since this world was clearly different now, “knowing well” was a thing of the past.
More than anything, I genuinely wanted to learn more about who they really were here.
Pushing my regret aside, I returned to my room.
“How dare you grab my daughter’s wrist like that?!”
“Wow, her skin must be fragile. No elasticity at all.”
“Throw this thing into the stables at once!!”
And just like that, the enraged Duke, after seeing Saren clutching her bruised wrist and crying loudly, actually had me thrown into the stables.
…Damn it.
❖ ❖ ❖
Thud.
I didn’t fall gracefully like a tragic heroine—no, I was properly dumped into a pile of hay.
“Ha… damn it.”
I bit my lip, shook my head, and brushed the straw off.
“If you act like that one more time, I’ll have you thrown into the stables.”
“They actually did it… What an annoyingly reliable man.”
Muttering to myself, I recalled the Duke’s words from yesterday.
I’d thought it was just an angry outburst, but now I didn’t know whether to call him petty or just freakishly consistent.
“Sigh.”
As I stood up, I could feel the horses on the other side of the wooden partition staring at me.
Fitting for the Kolhart family, which prized black and purple as noble colors, the stallion had a sleek black coat. The other horses behind it were also staring fixedly at me.
“Surprised? Is this the first time a human’s come in here?”
Prrrr–
“Yeah, I’m surprised too.”
It was basically a grumble to myself, but surprisingly, the horse snorted back.
I chuckled and approached it.
“Seems like you’re better off than I am.”
I gently patted its head as it lowered it toward me.
“I mean, this situation happened overnight. Of course I’m bewildered too.”
Saren, who was originally supposed to be a kind heroine who healed the wounds of the five main leads, had turned into a weird, old-fashioned bigot after my arrival. The Duke was a violent bastard who laid hands on people.
And to top it off, the morally corrupt protagonists were suddenly foster siblings.
‘Still… thank god they’re friendly.’
Ironically, their goodwill was the only lifeline I had.
It was the only thing that allowed me to act this way and have a chance to escape this place.
“There, there.”
Prrrrrr.
The horse leaned its head in, wanting more pats. I gave it a few more, then crouched down on the hay.
A night in the stables, huh.
I wasn’t exactly sad, but it was absurd. I was still a person—even if an illegitimate daughter—so being tossed into a stable was just ridiculous.
I hugged my knees and laughed hollowly.
“I’m really experiencing all sorts of things.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“UWAH?!”
I jumped at the sudden voice.
Before me, in the fading blue glow, sat a face I’d become quite familiar with already.
“I-Isaac?”
“Hey, Shunen.”
Those black eyes that held the universe curved into a playful smile.
“You remembered my name.”
Isaac rested his chin on his hand, tilting his head, joy flickering in his voice.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Father, get rid of that wretch right now!”
Saren shouted furiously. Her tearful eyes sparkled with indignation.
If you didn’t know the situation, she might actually look pitiful.
The Duke held Saren in his arms and soothed her.
“Just endure it a little. Tomorrow we have the deal with Hadenberg. Just wait until then, alright?”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. Who are you, after all?”
The Duke wiped the tears from Saren’s cheek. Every time he saw her black hair and purple eyes that mirrored his own, his heart swelled with pride.
She was proof of Kolhart blood. The symbol of the family.
His daughter, blessed with noble black and violet hues, was truly precious to him.
“You are the only daughter of Kolhart, and one of the rare gifted ones in the Empire.”
“……”
“Once the deal is sealed, you’ll be able to live with them as you wish.”
After Retilia left yesterday, they received word to finalize the agreement in two days. It was also mentioned that they would officially take their “daughter” at that time.
Saren had, of course, responded with joy.
Two days from now, Father?
Yes. They’ve taken interest in you. If we’re lucky, you might end up with one of the four!
It will happen, Father. Don’t worry!
Strictly speaking, Hadenberg was less of a “family” and more of an “organization.” Both in perception and in reality.
But if she ended up with one of them, it wouldn’t be strange for her to bear the Hadenberg name in another sense.
For their grand ambitions, tomorrow’s final deal was crucial.
They couldn’t risk botching the meeting because of Shuneria.
“Just wait until tomorrow. After that, she won’t even be worth a glance.”
“What will you do once I leave?”
“Leave that to me. You just focus on the new life waiting for you tomorrow.”
Saren smiled again at her father’s reassurance.
“I won’t forget my roots, even when I go there.”
“You truly are my daughter.”
“Hadenberg…”
Saren whispered dreamily. The Duke hugged his daughter affectionately.
“From now on, you’ll be Saren Kolhart–Hadenberg.”
Saren smiled blissfully.
For tomorrow’s meeting, she could easily brush off Shuneria’s “antics.”
And the Duke felt the same.
❖ ❖ ❖
“How did you even get here?”
I tried to calm my racing heart as I asked.
Seeing my still-startled face, Isaac chuckled.
“You saw it yesterday, didn’t you? It’s my ability.”
“I know that, but how did you even find me here?”
“I looked around a bit. I thought you’d be in your room.”
Isaac pointed toward the mansion.
“I’m surprised too. I didn’t think they’d actually throw me in here.”
“Right? I wonder where he’d like to be thrown if it were him.”
…He’s smiling, but I can tell he’s mentally listing places to throw the Duke.
As I looked at him, my eyes suddenly dropped. There was hay stuck to Isaac’s pants.
Wait—why the hell is Isaac sitting here in the stable? I yelped.
“H-Hey! Aren’t you going to get up?!”
“You’re sitting too.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Get up, it’s dirty here!”
“It’s not dirty because you’re here.”
“I’m not disinfectant, what are you even saying?!”
I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up, but he only smiled faintly.
‘Stop smiling like that!’
That precious smile shouldn’t be wasted in a place like this!
In the original, you’d never see such a genuine smile from him, no matter how hard you looked. And here I was, getting frustrated because I couldn’t exactly yell at someone for smiling.
“I’m fine. If it bothers you, I could take this off and lay it on the floor?”
“No!! Absolutely not!!”
I quickly stopped him before he could take off his outer coat. There was no winning against Isaac anyway.
As I was about to gently release his hand, he spoke softly.
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Huh?”
“Can’t I keep holding it, Shunen?”
Isaac’s fingers slid smoothly between mine, intertwining as he raised our joined hands slightly.
‘…He’s using that face again.’
His personality may differ from the original, but that face was still absolute perfection.
I stared at his beautiful face for a second and shrugged.
“Sure, why not.”
“Thanks.”
“Well… honestly, I should be the one thanking you.”
I glanced down at our joined hands and murmured softly.
“Honestly, I was feeling a bit lost. I was worried about spending the night out here, and it’s cold… So, thanks for this. For today.”
I felt his gaze on my right cheek.
“And I don’t know why, but thank you for coming to get me out of here, too. Honestly, I’m relying on you and the lady from yesterday quite a bit.”
“…Shunen.”
“Thanks for coming to find me.”
The fact that I wasn’t originally from this world didn’t help me at all in solving this mess.
In that sense, Isaac and Retilia’s kindness was like salvation.
A moment of silence passed.
“…We— I— we can never thank you enough,” Isaac said quietly.
His voice was so low and unfamiliar that I turned to look at him.
“You’re that kind of person to us, Shunen.”
His black eyes stared at me steadily, filled with indescribable emotions.
Swish—
The hay rustled in the wind. I brushed my hair back and smiled lightly. Well then.
“Let’s just call it even, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s say we’re even. We both have things to be thankful for. How about it?”
“…Alright.”
Isaac nodded. His reply drifted softly, like a sigh.
‘No matter how special he is, he’s still human. There’ll always be things he won’t explain.’
Just like when I asked how he knew me, Isaac would stay silent if I pressed further.
So I decided to let it slide too.
Whatever it was he was grateful for, this world was full of things that couldn’t be explained anyway.
“By the way, when are you going back?”
“When you’re ready to go back.”
“…I don’t even know when that’ll be.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Isaac stood up.
