AFRPR 10

Chapter 10

They say the early bird catches the worm.

Estelle, digging in the backyard early in the morning, made an unexpected discovery.

“All of this…?”

It was Magi—dark, magical energy.

There was a lot of it underground. A normal person would have fainted, but Estelle calmly reached out her hand.

As she touched it, memories of strangers started flowing into her mind.

[Anna is Charlotte’s daughter. Actually… not a daughter. A son dressed as a girl until now.]

[It’s not wrong to love your wife’s friend! You said you wanted to stay with your friend forever, right? We’re the same!]

There was a hidden truth about Magi—it carries the memories of the dead.

Estelle saw various people’s memories from the region, including Pippin’s grandmother:

[Sweetie, look at my wrist! Only bones are left!]

[Grandma, what are you talking about? I don’t see bones, I need to lose weight!]

[Lose what? You’ve grown so tall! I baked some apple pie, eat before you go!]

Estelle figured out that the memories came from people who died in the area, and she used that knowledge to gain the favor of the locals.

“Being liked is way better than being hated—especially if I want to survive.”

Especially Pippin, Lennox’s assistant. It would be good to stay on his good side.

Estelle covered the hole and was about to leave when—

“Are you digging again this early in the morning?!”

Pippin came running.

“Let me do this kind of hard work!”

“I was just finishing up. Did you have breakfast? I’m making tomato stew today.”

“Then let me help with cooking!”

Pippin had been eating and sleeping well lately, and it showed. All thanks to Estelle.

“You look happy today?”

“Is it that obvious?” he replied shyly. “I completed the land purchase where the mandrakes grow. You gave us the location, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

Estelle had expected they’d buy the land soon.

“I even know Pippin’s weakness from the Magi memories. I could use it to blackmail him and steal the mandrakes… but for now, I’ll wait.”

Estelle decided to get even closer to Pippin, just in case.

“You really are too good for the Duke,” Pippin said, not knowing her true thoughts.

Suddenly—knock knock.

Someone came to the door. But the servant asked for Pippin, not Estelle.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

The servant whispered something.

“What? Okay, I’ll go right away,” Pippin replied with a serious face.

“Is something wrong?” Estelle asked.

“The child the Duke brought—he’s not adjusting well. Refuses to bathe, hasn’t eaten properly for weeks.”

The last time the child was washed was the day Lennox pulled him from the Magi swamp and scrubbed him clean like dirty laundry.

“He probably misses his family.”

“I wish we could help him adjust… but his family likely died.”

“What?”

“A Magi attack wiped out a village in the west. He’s one of the two survivors. The other person has no relation to the child.”

“Does the child know?”

“Yes… but maybe we shouldn’t have told him.”

Pippin looked full of regret.

“It was a terrible truth—even adults would struggle to accept it. We didn’t think enough about how a child would react.”

By now, they had reached the child’s room.

“Wait… What’s his name?” Estelle asked.

She already knew from the original novel, but pretending to know would be suspicious.

“Duren,” Pippin answered.

As the door opened, a terrible smell hit them.

Peeking in, Estelle saw a small, skinny child in torn, dirty clothes, hiding behind the curtain.

They locked eyes.

Startled, the child ran behind the curtain—but only his head was hidden. The rest of his body was still visible.

‘Does he think if he can’t see me, I can’t see him?’

Estelle couldn’t help but smile at how childlike it was—but she also felt confused.

‘How could such a cute, scared kid… become the “Mad Dog of Winterlen” in just a year?’

In the novel, Duren was infamous for being violent. People were afraid of him.

[“Ahh! That boy bit my hand!”]

He once bit Vera so hard she bled. He always brought chaos.

‘But something doesn’t add up…’

‘He seems so young and naive now. What happened in a year to change him so much?’

Later, Estelle and Pippin left the room.

“So… even you couldn’t get through to him?”

“I just said his name, and he started trembling. If I’d moved any closer, he might have run away.”

The child’s fear was worse than she expected.

“It’s tough, but I want to help him. Can I keep visiting?”

“Of course… but you don’t need to push yourself. Taking care of the boy isn’t part of your contract.”

“This isn’t about the Duke.”

She didn’t care about the contract.

“I want to do this because I want to.”

The sight of the child’s back—so small and afraid—stayed in her mind. It reminded her of her own childhood:

A fancy but unfamiliar place. Cold people. Feeling like she didn’t belong.

“So, just leave it to me.”

Estelle smiled, pushing away her own dark memories.

“Oh, before that—”

She whispered something in Pippin’s ear.

“You need that?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes. Is it too much?”

“No! I was just surprised. I’ll have it ready in an hour!”

It was such a simple request that it made all the stress feel silly.

Pippin hoped with all his heart that Estelle’s plan would work for Duren.

A few hours later, Estelle visited again.

Duren was still behind the curtain, in the exact same position.