As I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, Brandon held out a paper-wrapped bundle and placed it in my hands.
“It looks like your aunt sent this along with the letter.”
“What is it?”
I unwrapped the unfamiliar parcel, and a smooth piece of fabric slipped softly into my palm.
“Is it a dress?”
Brandon caught the garment before it fell and handed it to me.
“That’s what the letter says. ‘P.S. I’ve altered and sent a dress your mother wore when she was young. You must be about Eliana’s height by now, so it should fit you perfectly.’”
Having finished reading the letter, he looked the dress over.
“I see! It’s a very pretty green dress. It’ll match your eyes wonderfully, Miss Lizzy!”
Amid his compliments, I stood quietly, holding the dress.
‘Am I… really allowed to wear this?’
I scratched my chin, lost in thought.
A lovely fragrance drifted from the fabric—the scent of a dress Lizzy’s aunt must have treasured for many long years.
It felt completely infused with the presence of Eliana Swan, Lizzy’s mother whom I had never met, stirring an odd sensation in my chest.
‘If only that accident hadn’t happened… she wouldn’t have died, and Lizzy Swan wouldn’t have lost her sight.’
And I would never have reincarnated into her body in the first place.
A faint bitterness brushed my tongue for a moment.
I had never known Lizzy’s mother, but I had heard a great deal about her from her aunt.
‘She must have lived quite a turbulent life…’
Eliana Swan had been a sheltered girl who had never set foot outside her village until she came of age.
Then, one day, she turned the entire village upside down by suddenly running away.
When her parents tried to force her into marriage with a wealthy bachelor in the village, she vanished without a trace.
Because of that, baseless rumors spread like wildfire across the village back then.
‘Have you heard about the Swans’ second daughter? Word has it she fled in the dead of night to the capital, leaving her parents behind!’
‘No, I heard she ran off with a blond fellow!’
‘Nonsense! That man swore he saw her throw herself into the village river!’
Whatever the truth was, one thing was clear.
Eliana Swan had truly left the village. And she might never return.
Yet three years later…
Just when the village had finally settled down, it was thrown into an uproar once again.
Eliana suddenly appeared out of nowhere—the very woman everyone thought was gone for good.
And she was carrying a child in her womb, with no one knowing who the father was.
Her parents were beside themselves with shock, questioning her day and night to learn who had gotten her pregnant.
Her aunt said Eliana never once revealed the identity of Lizzy’s real father, not even until her parents passed away of old age.
After Lizzy was born, Eliana raised her entirely on her own, through sheer hard work.
Her aunt tried to persuade her to look for the father, but Eliana would not listen.
Then, the year Lizzy turned seventeen, that tragic carriage accident struck…
‘Such a cruel fate. For a carriage to slip off a cliff in a sudden downpour.’
I thought of that as I carefully traced Eliana’s dress with my fingers.
A woman who bore the weight of every accusation, who lived only to protect her daughter, before slipping away from this world.
Yet even after her death, the child’s real father never showed his face.
‘How could anyone be so irresponsible?’
My brow furrowed before I realized it.
“Miss Lizzy… are you all right? Your expression suddenly…”
Brandon asked carefully, watching me with concern. I smoothed my features at once and replied.
“Oh, it’s nothing! In any case, thank you for coming to deliver the parcel yourself, Brandon.”
“Don’t mention it.”
He replied cheerfully, then added,
“Next time, I’ll be sure to come back with the Academy’s reply. Until then, please don’t worry.”
“Was my worry that obvious?”
“Of course. Honestly, you seem more anxious than the young master himself.”
At his words, I could only manage an awkward smile.
“Aren’t you worried, my lord?”
“About what?”
“I mean… what if your report isn’t accepted… Oh, no. I shouldn’t jinx it.”
“You already said it, so what difference does it make now?”
Callius said, sounding amused and bewildered.
“Why are you more nervous than I am anyway?”
He asked as I nervously tapped my fingers on the table.
Really, what was I doing? Even the person who wrote it was waiting calmly.
Two weeks had passed since we began waiting for the Academy’s reply.
Brandon said we needed to be patient, but my anxiety kept building for no reason.
Unlike me, Callius waited quietly for the results without uttering a single complaint.
The more I thought about it, the more puzzled I became.
Why was he so at ease?
Was it because he was completely confident in his abilities?
Was this the confidence of a protagonist?
While I muttered to myself, Callius had quietly been weaving a reed basket for some time.
It was one of the pastimes I had taught him so he wouldn’t have to sit motionless in the dark.
“Are you enjoying it?”
“Yes, it’s interesting.”
He answered in a flat tone that didn’t quite match his words.
His hands were moving almost mechanically.
“That’s a relief. Actually, that distinct pattern was designed by my aunt.”
I said, recalling Lizzy’s aunt who had taught me basket weaving.
“She was the best reed basket maker in our village. She was also the one who helped me when I sold baskets at the market.”
“You sold them? How much was one?”
Callius asked curiously, knowing little about commoner life.
“Five copper coins.”
“Five copper coins?”
His hands paused, and he asked in disbelief,
“Even though it takes so much time to make?”
“Ah, that’s because your hands are slow. The women in our village could easily make five or six in a single day!”
As I spoke, I reached across the table to inspect the basket he had finished.
Wait… what was all this?
Several reed baskets were stacked neatly on top of one another.
‘Just how many did he make?’
The next moment, the truth dawned on me.
Despite pretending to be calm, Callius was every bit as anxious as I was.
Ah… he had been faking his indifference all along.
Truly, his pride would never allow him to show pain or worry, no matter what.
I shook my head and started straightening up the baskets when I suddenly froze.
I heard footsteps in the hallway.
The sound was drawing closer and closer.
‘Has Brandon finally arrived?’
There was no one else who would come here. It had to be him with the letter from the Academy.
“What is it all of a sudden?”
Callius asked, puzzled, having heard nothing.
“Wait just a moment!”
If Brandon got lost again, he might leave before we even saw him!
There was no time to explain, so I grabbed my cane and hurried out into the hallway.
Yet the moment I stepped outside, I stopped dead in my tracks.
The footsteps didn’t belong to just one person.
Three… or at least four.
A group of people was heading straight toward Callius’s quarters.
Who could they be?
So many people had never come to his residence before, leaving me entirely unable to guess.
I took a few hesitant steps forward and called out to the unknown visitors.
“Who’s there?”
At that moment, I felt someone step forward.
Then a gentle warmth brushed near my face.
It seemed someone had raised a lamp to examine my features.
