Before meeting Elia, Alexis had always been tense, weighed down by the title of patriarch that had come to him at a young age. There was no room in his life for laughter.
“Norman, what do you think about accepting Elia as a member of our family?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“I want to be her shelter.”
“Are you saying… you want to adopt her?”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking of formally making her my daughter.”
“I believe the young lady’s opinion is more important than your decision, sir.”
“That’s true. What’s Elia doing right now?”
“She went to meet Sir Felix. She should be on her way back.”
With a gentle smile, Alexis stood up from his seat.
“Maybe I should go meet her myself.”
With joy on his face, Alexis headed out to welcome Elia.
Elia was walking through the duke’s garden on her way back to the mansion when she saw Alexis coming toward her. For some reason, his face was beaming with joy.
“Elia!”
Alexis waved when he saw her.
“What brings you here, Your Grace?”
“I came to meet you, of course.”
“To meet me?”
“Yes. It’s nearly dinner time. And I have something to tell you.”
“Something to tell me?”
“Mhm. Let’s go.”
Elia followed Alexis to the dining room for dinner.
After the food was served and the meal began, they reached the dessert. Elia was sipping her drink when Alexis suddenly dropped a bombshell.
“Elia, would you like to become my family?”
“Pfft!”
She choked immediately.
“Cough, cough!”
Unable to stop coughing, Alexis quickly got up, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and gently patted her back.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes…”
Her throat stung, and tears welled in her eyes.
“Elia, why are you crying?”
“Huh?”
“You’re tearing up…”
Elia narrowed her eyes.
“You startled me with such a strange question.”
“Strange?”
“Yes. Why would you say something like that so suddenly…”
“It’s not strange. I’m serious, Elia.”
“You’re serious?”
She couldn’t understand.
“I want to be your shelter.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to have a deep bond with you.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Being family is better than just being a guardian or protector.”
“If I become your family, I’d have to stay by your side forever.”
“Wait… were you planning to leave?”
“Of course. I was always planning to leave once I fulfilled my role here.”
Alexis looked shocked.
“You really meant to leave?”
“Yes. I can’t stay here forever.”
Someday, she would leave.
Not now, but when the ducal house was strong and unshakable. She had never planned to stay.
Then why did she feel so sad?
Just thinking about leaving made her heart ache.
“Elia, don’t cry.”
“Ah…”
Tears were falling before she even realized.
“Your eyes…”
Sapphire-blue tears streamed down her cheeks.
“This is… I mean…”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
Alexis gently hugged her and patted her back.
Overcome with emotion, Elia cried in his arms for a long while.
“Feeling better now?”
Elia didn’t answer. She just nodded. Alexis stroked her hair.
“Sorry, Elia.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I was too hasty. I should’ve been more considerate of your feelings.”
“I like you, Your Grace.”
“Elia…”
“But I don’t think I can become your family.”
“I see…”
It was her way of holding onto a shred of integrity.
The guilt of what she had done to these people in her past life weighed heavily on her.
“Your eyes are all swollen.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, like a pufferfish.”
“Don’t tease me.”
“Are you done crying now?”
With a child’s body, controlling her emotions wasn’t easy. The tears always came quickly.
“Elia, how about we go on a little outing tomorrow?”
“Outing?”
“Yes. There’s a book market opening in the Holland County tomorrow.”
“A book market?”
“It’s a special market that travels across the continent, and it’s stopping there this time.”
Holland County, like Jamel County, was also under threat from monsters.
However, unlike Jamel, Holland had relatively few monster attacks and was a peaceful place.
Because of that, it maintained good relations with the Duke’s family—they supported each other.
The book market was something Elia had been interested in. All kinds of rare and unusual books would be there.
It was said that even books you couldn’t find anywhere else could be found at the market.
It was a highly anticipated event for scholars and book lovers alike.
“It’s tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
It felt like everything was falling perfectly into place.
Because the Black Pearl Merchant Guild would be there.
The guild’s master was desperately searching for a way to cure his younger sister’s illness.
He was coming to the market to find a book about a rare medicinal herb that might help her.
The Black Pearl Guild also had a connection to Elia.
“They died because of me.”
In her previous life, they had helped Duke Cartellani, which had put them on the wrong side of the power struggle. Raul also wanted to seize the guild for himself.
Eventually, the Black Pearl Guild would turn against Cartellani.
That was because the Grand Duchess Christina had monopolized the rare herb they needed, causing the guild master’s sister to die.
Though they were a group of outlaws, they still knew how to be angry at injustice.
“I underestimated them just because they were criminals.”
By the time she realized who they were, it was too late. They had already done serious damage.
Even Elia hadn’t predicted they would burn down the Grand Duchess’s warehouse—her primary source of funds.
“They really hit me hard that time.”
But this time would be different.
“I’ll get to them first.”
She would save the sister and establish a friendly trade relationship with the Cartellani house. Things would go much better this time.
“I’m really looking forward to the book market!”
“I’m glad you’re excited.”
“Hehe.”
Her bright smile made Alexis smile too.
The next day, Elia got into the carriage alongside Alexis and departed for the county.
Their escorts were Dmitri and the Iron Eagle knights—Dmitri had won a game of rock-paper-scissors to earn the honor.
Since he had beaten Campbell, Dmitri was all smiles.
“You look really happy, Mister.”
“It’s because I’m honored to be escorting the young lady today.”
“Is that really something to be happy about?”
“Of course! Escorting someone this cute and lovely—”
“Well, I am kind of cute.”
The branch spirit on her shoulder clicked its tongue.
It would take about half a day by carriage to reach Holland County, which was considered fairly close.
Jamel County was even farther away.
Around noon, they had sandwiches Norman had prepared. By 3 p.m., they arrived in Holland.
“Wow…”
Elia was amazed by the size of the market spread across the county.
“It’s huge.”
“Right? Bigger than I expected.”
“Is this your first time too, Your Grace?”
“No, second. I came here once with my parents when I was young.”
Now that she thought about it, the Duke of Cartellani’s parents had died in an accident.
It was during a massive monster break.
The monster-infested mountain range had reached capacity, and eventually, monsters surged down like a wave, leading to a brutal war. It was an unprecedented incident even Elia remembered.
“That was Grand Duchess Christina’s doing.”
She had orchestrated the attack because she felt threatened by Cartellani’s growing military power.
“And at the time, the duke and duchess were secretly investigating the empress’s death.”
Eventually, the investigation was halted and all evidence disappeared.
Elia had learned the truth because of Raul’s drunken rants.
Whenever he drank, he would talk trash about others—Cartellani included.
She used to get him drunk just to fish for secrets.
“That idiot.”
Raul had been born into privilege but knew nothing of responsibility—he believed it wasn’t his role to bear burdens.
She couldn’t believe she had once tried to make someone like him emperor.
It was her own fault for waking up too late.
“It really is huge.”
“Isn’t it?”
Alexis reached his hand out to Eli…
