Chapter 6
“Maybe I should just go alone from now on. I’m too anxious to live like this.”
“Yeah. I don’t want to see that face again either.”
“I knew you’d say that!”
Sara immediately jumped in and started nagging.
“I’m letting it go because it’s me, but never say stuff like that in front of others!”
“That’s why I said it to you. I trust you the most.”
“…Hmph.”
Sara’s stiff expression softened a little at the compliment.
Somehow, this version of Lellia felt more comfortable and lovable than the old one.
Because of that, Sara found herself looking after Lellia even more than before, without realizing it.
“Let’s head in for now. It’s our day off tomorrow, so I’ll tell you more about yourself today.”
Linking arms with Lellia as they walked back to their quarters, Sara sighed with worry.
“No matter what happens, don’t get too sad, or angry, or hurt.”
“Is the house I live in really that bad?”
“Probably…”
Sara couldn’t bring herself to speak further.
She wanted to delay telling Lellia about her family as long as possible. After all, it’s usually best to hear bad news as late as possible.
As they were walking back, someone blocked their path.
It was Cedric.
“Ah, good evening, Lady Lellia.”
“Hello, Sir Cedric.”
Sara looked at Cedric with a peculiar gaze.
Tall, handsome, and a member of the Imperial Knights.
It was obvious to anyone that he had completely fallen for Lellia. Sara frowned deeply. He was just like the other men—drawn in by Lellia’s beauty, only to hurt her and leave once they found out about her background.
Men who fall in love at first sight are dangerous. Their feelings can change at any time. And when that happens, Lellia could get hurt again.
If she was going to protect this clueless Lellia who had lost her memory, she had to be on guard.
Surely, Lellia hadn’t taken a liking to him too, right?
Sara glanced nervously at Lellia—and was instantly flooded with relief.
Lellia’s expression was so indifferent, it bordered on cold, making the other party look awkward.
But a man in love wouldn’t notice that kind of face.
To him, she must have looked angelic.
Cedric licked his dry lips, stammered, and suddenly shouted.
“I-If you’re not busy tomorrow, would you go on a da—!”
But before he could even finish, Lellia cut him off flatly.
“I’m going home tomorrow.”
“Ah…”
“Well then.”
With a small nod, Lellia quickly walked toward the kitchen. Edward had promised to make her cookies, and if she was late, the other servants would snatch them all.
Her retreating back somehow looked heroic.
Sara cast a sideways glance at the deflated Cedric and immediately followed after her.
When Lellia entered the kitchen, she was met only with an empty plate covered in cookie crumbs. She looked at Edward in shock.
“Ah, you’re a bit late. I made less this time since I didn’t have many ingredients, and they disappeared fast.”
Sara patted Lellia’s slumped shoulder and asked:
“What do you think of that guy?”
But Lellia didn’t even hear her. She was too busy despairing over the empty plate.
“My cookies…!”
Sara was dumbfounded.
“You don’t even remember anything, so why are you so obsessed with food?”
Even before losing her memory, Lellia hadn’t been especially fond of eating.
But that was the real Lellia. The current one inside her body had never truly eaten her fill back in Korea.
Especially not something this delicious.
When Lellia had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, she had wanted to eat everything she ever craved—but she hadn’t had the money.
So she decided that she would eat anything given to her, and never waste food.
Eat it while it’s there!
That thought was branded into her mind. Especially Edward’s cookies—they were sweet and melted in her mouth.
Lellia muttered blankly as she set down the empty plate.
“Maybe when I lost my memory, a starving beggar snuck into my body too…”
“…My goodness.”
How hungry must she be to say something so ridiculous?
Sara brought Lellia to her room and popped a macaron she’d saved into Lellia’s mouth.
Only then did Lellia look a little more normal.
After a pause, Sara sat next to her and licked her lips nervously before sighing.
She wondered where to begin, so that the truth wouldn’t be too shocking.
“Before I start, Lellia.”
Sara looked at her with a worried face.
“Promise me you won’t be too shocked.”
Lellia didn’t know if making that promise would actually help, but she agreed for Sara’s sake.
“Alright.”
No matter how bad her family was…
‘It’s better than having none, right? I wouldn’t know—I’ve never had one.’
Lellia stared off in a daze, thinking about her past life, until Sara snapped her fingers in front of her face.
“Focus, Lellia. I haven’t even started yet.”
“I’m ready. Go ahead.”
Sara fidgeted with her fingers. Honestly, even she didn’t know all the details. Most of what she knew were scattered rumors.
She had only learned the full story when the original Lellia had tearfully confessed everything before losing her memory.
“Lellia, you’re…”
Sara swallowed and closed her eyes tightly before speaking.
“You’re not the biological daughter of Baron White.”
She glanced at Lellia nervously after forcing out the words.
“I see.”
For Lellia, who had always been an orphan, it wasn’t a big shock. If anything, she thought, “Well, at least I know what my parents looked like.” She didn’t even have that in her original life.
Seeing Lellia react so calmly, Sara let out a sigh of relief and continued carefully.
“You’re the daughter of Madam Camilla and her ex-husband. In other words, you share no blood with your current father, Baron White.”
Camilla’s ex-husband had died in a carriage accident when Lellia was ten. And Baron White, who had long admired Camilla, seized the opportunity to propose.
At the time, single mothers were vulnerable to all sorts of danger, so Camilla had accepted for Lellia’s sake.
Sara hesitated again. Should she say the rest?
There had been rumors—long forgotten now—that Baron White had orchestrated the accident that killed Camilla’s ex-husband.
Should I tell her?
Just then, Lellia gently touched Sara’s shoulder.
“Tell me everything, Sara. It’s better than hearing it from someone else later.”
Sara finally made up her mind and added:
“There’s a rumor that Baron White killed your father. It might not be true. Just a rumor.”
“I don’t think it’s true. If it were, why wait so long? Wouldn’t he have done it sooner?”
If he had meant to kill him, it would’ve happened much earlier. But Lellia lived until ten without incident. Sara provided the missing piece.
“Baron White had a wife too… and a son. He married before your mother.”
That wife had grown very ill after childbirth, and when their son turned fifteen, she passed away.
Lellia and that son were five years apart.
The timeline lined up, and Lellia looked at Sara with suspicion. Sara continued.
“The White family wasn’t that well-known, but they had a decent fortune. But that fortune started to disappear because of the current Baron.”
After Camilla died, Baron White—already addicted to gambling—fell into despair and spiraled completely.
Once he fell, he couldn’t stop. Eventually, their money began to run dry.
“They’re not completely ruined?”
“You’re the one preventing that.”
“Me?”
“Yes. With the salary you earn as a palace maid.”
So that’s where all her money had gone.
Working in the palace had its restrictions, but it came with honor and wealth. And Lellia—earning that salary—was supporting not only the baron and his son, but keeping the whole family afloat.
“Then they must treat me well, right?”
“….”
Sara gave Lellia a pitying look. If they had treated her well, perhaps the man she once loved wouldn’t have run away.
A child who grows up with love is obvious to see. But Lellia—despite being so beautiful—didn’t have that kind of glow.
In truth, after Camilla’s death, she had been neglected.
“You were constantly scolded. You tried hard to please them, but in the end, a daughter with no blood relation…”
Sara trailed off and took a deep breath.
“Anyway, even after all that, you became a palace maid to support the baron.”
“Yeah, I guess. He did raise me, after all.”
Lellia tried to think positively, but Sara finally said what she had been holding back. It was better not to sugarcoat these people. If Lellia went back and learned the truth, it might hurt more.
“There was another reason you became a maid.”
“Reason?”
“The baron needed money. And since you were attractive, he planned to sell you off to an old, rich noble.”
Lellia froze at the unexpected revelation.
“You said you begged to become a maid instead—offering to give up everything if he would just cancel the engagement.”
Sara remembered the day Lellia cried out her grievances and didn’t hide anything now.
“That’s why your wardrobe only has a few dresses and that maid uniform.”
Sara then held Lellia’s hands tightly.
“Lellia. You came here at fourteen to avoid that marriage. For six years, you’ve worked as a maid, sending every coin you earned back to the baron.”
Even so, Sara hoped Lellia wouldn’t forget she was a noble. That’s why she always scolded her when she acted in ways unbecoming of her status.
“Lellia, that’s enough. You’ve done more than enough. And didn’t you say it too? That you want to break free.”
Sara wanted her to finally escape from that house.
“…But on the other hand, you also said you didn’t want to be alone.”
Seeing Lellia staring blankly into the void, not saying a word, Sara’s eyes began to sting.
But unlike her, Lellia—having heard the entire story—remained cold and analytical.
‘Better to have nothing.’
Lellia felt a bitter taste on her tongue. She had been an orphan with no one to lean on.
‘At least she had her parents until she was ten.’
Should she envy her?
Or pity someone in the same boat?
Lellia’s eyes slowly dimmed.
Sara decided not to bring up the man who had betrayed her.
If Lellia could forget him completely, that would be the greatest blessing.
