Chapter 6
“Miss, I’ve brought your meal.”
On Riena’s hands as she entered the room were items Eloise had never seen before. Eloise, who had been examining the food being placed on the table, tilted her head in confusion.
‘Why are there two identical spoons?’
Her hands hovered aimlessly in the air, lost, over the neat table setting that seemed to demand aristocratic manners. Seeing Eloise, who had only ever focused on filling her hungry stomach at the orphanage, at a complete loss for what to do, Riena cautiously spoke up.
“Miss.”
“……Yes?”
“I was so busy until now with lunch that I haven’t eaten yet. Would it be alright if I ate with you?”
Riena said, holding her stomach as if to emphasize she hadn’t eaten anything yet.
“Let’s eat together!”
Eloise’s face brightened as she nodded in agreement.
‘Great! I can watch Riena and copy what she does!’
Riena picked up her spoon and began to eat. Eloise carefully mimicked her every move, which carried an unmistakably noble air.
“It’s already gone…….”
It didn’t seem like she had moved her spoon and fork more than a few times, yet the plates were already empty. Eloise made a disappointed, pouty face.
“I’ll prepare more delicious food for you tomorrow morning.”
With a light laugh, Riena cleared the table and began attending to Eloise so she could sleep. Eloise, her body stiff and seeming awkward, glanced at the mirror.
Standing there wasn’t the girl who did odd jobs and sold flowers at the orphanage, but a young lady from a wealthy family. Eloise shrank back, as if she couldn’t possibly get used to this situation.
‘To suddenly be the daughter of a Grand Duke….’
Although she had nodded without thinking, it felt like wearing ill-fitting clothes, sending shivers through her body. The only thing that somewhat reassured Eloise, filled with all sorts of anxieties, was the strong magic power she felt within her body.
‘Since I’m useful to them, they probably won’t hit me, even in a worst-case scenario.’
Eloise’s eyes sparkled as she looked back at Riena.
“Riena, starting tomorrow, I’ll be learning magic, right?”
“Magic?”
“Yes. I need to learn quickly.”
“No. Growing up healthy is the most urgent matter right now.”
“But… I was adopted because of my magic. I need to become useful quickly.”
Riena’s heart ached at the word “useful” coming from this mere seven-year-old child.
‘I should have acted more carefully when we brought the child.’
A belated regret settled in Riena’s heart.
“…….”
Unable to find the right words to answer the child’s question, Riena’s lips moved several times without sound.
“Riena?”
The child’s eyes, tilted in curiosity, were filled with fear and anxiety. A child who had faced the world’s storms too early, bearing many wounds. The little mistress Riena had to serve and protect hurt her heart immensely.
“Well….”
As Riena struggled to continue, the moment when the Grand Duke first spoke about the child came to her mind. Her thoughts back then had been simple. ‘Just let him do as he wishes.’
It was a thought typical of Riena, who possessed strong martial prowess and, as a noble, had little to fear. Before her, who had lived freely without any hindrances, the great task named Eloise was placed.
“You are still young. Please rest comfortably. Regardless of your strong magic, His Grace will cherish you.”
At Riena’s words, which seemed to see right through her hidden worries, Eloise pressed her lips down firmly.
“Cherish me….”
“Yes, of course.”
Riena’s hands, tucking her into bed and pulling up the covers, felt warm.
“I’ll take my leave now. If you get scared during the night, be sure to call me, understood?”
“Yes….”
Eloise nodded at her concerned words. Soon after, the door closed with a thud, and Eloise’s heart grew restless in the pitch-black room.
“Haa…….”
As the lingering warmth gradually disappeared and darkness enveloped her, Eloise recalled events from long ago. Her father, who would suddenly turn violent after speaking warm words.
‘Which type are the Grand Duke and Riena?’
The faint crying sound echoing in the room seemed to warn Eloise, lost in thought, ‘You mustn’t trust people carelessly.’ Somehow, it felt like that sound was scolding her own heart, which was prone to leaning on others due to loneliness. Just as she was reinforcing the locks on her weakening heart.
“Wait, that crying sound?”
Eloise, who had been burrowing into the bed with her eyes closed, jerked upright. She pricked up her ears to locate the source of the sound, and realized it was coming from the room next door, through the wall.
‘What is that?’
Eloise stood before the door from which the sound was coming, turned the knob, and entered the room. Cautiously looking around, she saw heavy curtains tightly drawn over the window. Perhaps because of the curtains, which seemed to be standing guard to block even a sliver of light, the room felt strangely like a prison.
‘Is it a ghost?’
The faint sound she had heard just moments ago had suddenly stopped. Eloise trembled in the now silent room.
‘I think the common ghost stories I heard started like this… To personally seek out the place with the ghost I fear the most!’
Regretting her thoughtless actions, Eloise took a step back. But then.
“Who’s there!”
A voice that echoed through the room seized the ankles of Eloise, who was trying to turn and leave. She spun around immediately and saw a boy looking at her with caution.
‘That boy….’
Black hair that swayed as if his body, startled by the sudden intruder, was trembling. Red eyes deepened by the copious tears. After observing the boy’s appearance, Eloise instantly knew who he was.
“I came to the wrong room. Sorry, I’ll leave right away.”
As Eloise tried to quickly exit the room, the boy urgently grabbed her.
“Wait!”
“Don’t go…….”
The strong force in the hand clutching her clothes felt as if it was holding onto the only connection to Eloise.
‘I shouldn’t have come in….’
Although the atmosphere was quite different from what was described in the novel, she could easily guess. That boy was Caelian, the tyrant in the novel who committed massacres.
‘To willingly walk into the room of the person who not only commits massacres but ends up killing me in the end….’
While Eloise was stuck, unable to move forward or backward, the boy spoke in a trembling voice.
“Just… just stay by my side.”
A desire to lean on someone, while simultaneously being wary of them. Eloise instantly recognized the loneliness in that voice. Because she had felt something similar.
‘If he knew who I am….’
Was it said that people who live with pain can easily recognize others like themselves from the smallest clues? Seeing Caelian, Eloise recalled the words of a psychiatrist giving a lecture on TV she had once seen.
A person who, after growing up abused in their family, treats others with similar wounds. She had once thought, ‘If I met someone with the same wounds, could I act like that person?’ Back then, after some thought, she had shaken her head.
‘No, I was wrong.’
The actions of that person, which she had simply found impressive and cool, now seemed somewhat understandable. Honestly, the best choice was to avoid him. Because Caelian is the character who kills her in the novel. But how could she turn her back on him? If she shook off Caelian’s hand, which was clutching her clothes, begging her to stay, she felt she would become like the bad adults she knew.
The grandmother who discriminated between her brother and her.
The father who was violent.
More hateful than those two were the people who knew about the situation yet chose to look away.
The homeroom teacher who brushed off her pleas for help with an annoyed face.
The police officer who scolded her for reporting her father.
There was nothing she could do there. The only way to escape that hellish house and family was death. Eloise instinctively rubbed her neck, which felt slightly constricted.
Caelian reminded her of the wounds she had buried deep in her heart. Looking at him with complex emotions, Eloise took his hand.
“Okay. Let’s stay together. But… why were you crying?”
Impulsively, Eloise spoke, seeing what seemed like another version of ‘herself’. Then, mimicking how Riena had cared for her earlier, she cautiously asked.
‘Why… to me…?’
Caelian looked at Eloise with eyes full of wariness. Although he had grabbed her out of sheer loneliness, he hadn’t actually expected her to come to him. Instead, he even felt suspicion. Because everyone who had approached him until now had their own ulterior motives.
‘Is something the matter?’
Kindness—people who feigned it always had the hearts of snakes. The moment he let his guard down, drawn by their warmth, the poison hidden in the snake’s fangs always wounded Caelian’s heart.
“Just….”
Caelian’s eyes, avoiding her gaze, looked so much like her own. Staring intently at his eyes, Eloise smiled and replied.
“Yeah? Same as me.”
“What is?”
“That is, Cae….”
Eloise’s mouth, which was about to casually say his name, stopped short. If she uttered the name ‘Caelian’ without him introducing himself, it would only increase his suspicion.
“How old are you?”
“Nine.”
“I was adopted by Grand Duke Reston a few days ago.”
To introduce herself, Eloise pointed at herself. But her explanation, lacking any context, only made Caelian look more bewildered.
“My uncle… No, His Grace adopted you?”
Caelian’s tone was extremely awkward as he corrected himself. Under normal circumstances, she might have found that strange, but Eloise didn’t notice. Because she herself felt extremely awkward having essentially declared herself his daughter.
