Chapter 4
“I’ll come back in a bit, so hurry up and eat.”
“Mmm, leave it!”
Waving with a smile, a thought suddenly struck me.
‘I don’t even know the name of the ancestor who gave me this body, do I?’
I decided to ask the name outright, pretending it was just a joke.
“Hey, what’s my name again?”
“Huh? You’re Lady Kalidora… aren’t you?”
The maid answered awkwardly, as if unsure why I was asking.
‘That’s the name both Lord Abelus and Lord Tiberius kept calling me.’
Finally, it felt like some pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit.
But I couldn’t recall a single detail about that name. Was I a child from a branch family I didn’t know about? Or maybe a distant relative?
While I was lost in thought, the maid gave a polite bow and left the room.
‘So she really was just here to serve me, not to watch over me.’
Wow. I’d mistaken this for punishment when I didn’t even realize I was in the past.
I should start relaxing a little now.
I walked over to the table where the food was served. When I saw the milk bottle with dried water stains around the spout, I scrunched up my face.
For the past few days, the food that had been brought in looked like someone had already taken a bite out of it.
Until now, I thought I was being punished, so I didn’t complain…
‘Locked in a room all day, given food that’s unworthy of a noble lady, and even Lord Abelus, who I’ve only seen during meetings, verbally abused me.’
Why is Lady Kalidora being neglected?
I needed to find out why she was being treated like this.
I couldn’t keep living like this if I wanted to help the ancestors and protect the family.
But how could I find out?
I was clearly being confined. The only people I saw were the maids who came during meal times.
And since I didn’t yet understand the family atmosphere, recklessly asking the maids questions was risky.
I searched the room hoping to find some useful information, but nothing turned up.
‘What should I do? I think I need to get out of here.’
I started closely examining the heavy door—too large for my small body.
‘It opened inward, so it probably doesn’t have an exterior lock. The Ignitus residence doesn’t have rooms meant to confine people, after all.’
That meant the door should open if I just grabbed the doorknob and pulled.
The problem was—the doorknob was too high for me, even if I jumped.
After a moment’s thought, I dragged over a footrest, a pillow, and a thin tablecloth to the door.
Climbing on top of the pile and hooking the long tablecloth onto the doorknob, I was barely able to pull the door.
“Ugh… come on… open… please…”
Finally, the door creaked open a little. I quickly squeezed my small body through the gap and widened it.
‘Success!’
I silently cheered and peeked outside.
The hallway was empty.
I had stepped out since I couldn’t learn anything from the room—but now that I was out, I felt lost.
Where should I go?
Should I try to meet the ancestors again? Or should I try to get information from the servants?
After some thought, I decided to head toward the center of the mansion where more people were.
Sneaking around wasn’t hard at all.
I had experience getting into mischief as a child, and the mansion was filled with columns, decorations, and jars I could hide behind.
‘Oh no… this is bad…’
I had just reached near the family head’s office when I ended up hiding behind a large potted plant, unable to move.
There were just too many people in the hallway.
‘Huh…? That person…’
It was the woman who always brought me my meals. I saw her walking toward a more secluded area.
I decided to postpone meeting Lord Tiberius and follow her.
‘It’s the kitchen?’
I could hear voices coming from inside.
“Hey, look at this. Today’s snack is bread with figs in it.”
“Isn’t that for the masters? You can’t just eat it like that!”
“Don’t you know?”
“Filus only started working two days ago. Of course he doesn’t know.”
“This is the ‘useful tip’ you wanted to share?”
The man eating what looked like my bread gave a carefree grin and calmed his agitated coworker.
“It’s fine, really. This is for the young lady. The family head’s completely given up on her, so no one cares if we take a little.”
“Given up on her?”
…They’re talking about me, aren’t they?
They were saying exactly what I needed to hear. I pressed my ear closer to the door.
“She’s the one the family head adopted as heir a week ago, but only realized afterward that she couldn’t use any powers.”
So Lord Tiberius adopted me as his heir?
In the Ignitus family, adoption wasn’t unusual, so that part wasn’t strange.
Especially in this era where magical powers determined everything—if an adopted child had strong magic, they were often treated better than biological ones.
‘But I can’t use powers?’
That was strange. In this era, any child born into a noble family should be able to use powers as naturally as breathing.
“No way. What kind of noble can’t use powers?”
“Exactly. Her mother must’ve been a total fraud. Probably had another man’s child. You should’ve seen the atmosphere the day she arrived. The moment she walked in, the whole house went dead silent—like they saw something they shouldn’t.”
“…”
“The doctor said, ‘Her magical state is extremely poor. Is this really the long-awaited Ignisia?’ That was the first time I saw the family head so angry. I honestly thought he’d throw her into the fire pit.”
“Then why hasn’t he kicked her out yet?”
“No idea. Maybe he’s busy. Or maybe it’s to save face. Either way, don’t talk about this. If word gets out, we’re dead.”
“But how did you even hear all that?”
“Shh. There’s a space in the arch above the hall. I overheard everything from there—found it while cleaning…”
I had suspected there was something wrong with Lady Kalidora’s situation, but it was much more serious than I imagined.
But something didn’t add up.
If Kalidora really was born from an affair, there’s no way her name would be in the family registry, and no reason for Lord Tiberius not to immediately disown her.
It was just a discredited faction—wouldn’t hurt the family’s reputation that badly.
More likely, Kalidora did have Ignitus blood but couldn’t use powers.
To formally disown someone, a vote from the family council was needed. That would alert other noble families, and they might start claiming the Ignitus line had a flaw.
In that case, keeping her locked in a room made more sense.
‘They’re spouting nonsense when they don’t even know anything!’
I didn’t know the names or faces of the people who gave birth to Lady Kalidora, but hearing them being slandered so maliciously made me angry.
The kitchen staff giggled and started poking at the food meant for me. More servants had gathered, joining in.
“Don’t touch that.”
“Who said that?”
One servant turned toward the door at the sound of my voice.
“Gasp!”
“What’s wrong?”
A maid who looked over saw me and let out a low cry.
“Eek! L-Lady…!”
“Oh no, she heard everything?”
“So what if she did? She’s just a kid. I’ll talk her down.”
Another servant stepped forward and spoke to me in a fake-friendly tone.
“My lady, are you lost? Let’s go back to your room.”
“I saw it all and heard everything! Don’t change the subject.”
I raised my voice with authority.
“My lady, the young master told you not to leave your room, remember? If he finds out you disobeyed, you’ll be in trouble. But we’ll keep it a secret—so don’t tell anyone what you heard, okay?”
The servants forced awkward smiles and tried to appease me.
“You think I’m a kid?”
“…What did you say?”
They were momentarily flustered, then burst into laughter.
“Pfft, hahaha!”
“Of course, not a child! You’re an adult, sure. Should we call you ‘Madam’ from now on?”
Ah, right. I’d gotten so angry that I forgot I really was a child.
“Don’t laugh. You dare insult a member of the family! Do you even realize how serious that offense is?”
