Chapter 8
8
Noth swallowed hard and muttered.
"Newt……."
I was startled by Noth's muttering as he looked at the powder in the jewelry box.
'This is Newt?'
I had heard about it so much in my three lives that it was something enormous.
Because it was the sacred object of an evil god!
As I turned pale, Noth said with a troubled expression.
"Your Grace, this isn't the Child's fault, but rather the storage conditions weren't good. Otherwise, there's no way Newt would suddenly turn to powder……."
Noth tried hard to make excuses, but the Duke's expression didn't soften.
Clutching my skirt and trembling, I grabbed the Duke's sleeve.
"Da, dalmot…… Na geureodongge anira……. (I, I didn't mean to…….)"
But the Duke brushed my hand away and frowned.
An annoyed sigh escaped from his beautifully shaped lips.
"You're such a nuisance."
My whole body trembled like an aspen leaf.
'Instead of gaining favor, I caused an accident.'
Perhaps I was too scared, but the tinnitus I had been hearing since earlier seemed to be getting worse.
Moreover, my vision began to spin and narrow.
"Don't bother me anymore and go back to your room-"
"Heu……."
No sooner had the groan escaped my lips than my body slumped and I fell off the chair.
"Child!"
In my narrowing vision, I saw the Duke's widened eyes, frozen in place.
And then, silence.
A pitch-black space.
In the darkness, I was looking at Duke Amitié's back.
My kind, prudent, and righteous father.
I respected and loved him dearly.
I had to give up many things to live as his daughter, but it was okay.
As long as he smiled and called me "LeBlaine."
But I knew there was a wall between us.
Duke Amitié gave me a room to stay in, taught me the duties of a noble, and ate meals with me, but that was it. He didn't open his heart and truly consider me his child.
Still, I liked him, I liked my first father so, so much, so I did my best.
I hesitated for a long time before reaching out towards his back.
[Fathe-]
[Dad!]
Mina, passing by me, ran to Duke Amitié and hugged his arm without hesitation.
[Such a spoiled child.]
[What's wrong with that? I can be spoiled with my dad.]
As Mina smiled, her eyes crinkling, Duke Amitié stroked her hair and smiled gently.
It was the brightest smile I had ever seen, one he had never shown me.
I lowered my head, withdrawing my hand.
It's okay. It can happen.
Because Mina is the real Child of Destiny.
Because she is a kind child who brings rain to the drought-stricken land and gives hope to the poor and sick.
If I work harder, Father will look at me too.
If I sleep less and study more, if I give more to others, then.
At that moment, the darkness around me flickered.
[You stupid thing!]
A thunderous roar erupted from the air.
I was startled to see a hand emerging from the distorted darkness.
A hand wearing a ring engraved with the Valua crest grabbed my collar.
[Did you think I wouldn't find you if you hid? You cheeky little mouse.]
Duke Valua's figure kicked me. As I tumbled helplessly, the Valua sons and the Duchess appeared behind him, arms crossed.
[A useless girl.]
[There's nothing about you that I like.]
[I'd be relieved to just dispose of your corpse somewhere.]
They approached me little by little. I trembled, crawling backward with my palms.
Don't hit me.
I was wrong.
I'm sorry……!
"Huk!"
I threw off the blanket and sat up.
My back was soaked with cold sweat, and my hands were trembling.
Only after seeing the familiar clock in front of me did I come to my senses.
'It was a dream…….'
It seemed to be night, as the surroundings were dark. Only the sound of rain hitting the window, tuduk, tuk, broke the silence.
There was a basin and a washcloth on the bedside table. The chair was still warm, as if someone had just left.
'That's right, I collapsed.'
As I recalled what had happened in the afternoon, I felt breathless.
'What about that Newt?'
I had finally found a place to live after dying three times.
The Dubled employees were really kind, and Duke Dubled was a better person than I had heard.
But if these people start to hate me too…….
The Duke's eyes will become as cold as when I first saw them. Leah and Noth wouldn't smile at me either.
At that moment, bang! Thunder struck outside the window, revealing something that had been shrouded in darkness.
Leah brought new clothes for LeBlaine, who had been sweating profusely in her sleep.
The maids followed her, looking distressed.
"Is the Child alright?"
"The doctor said he doesn't know the reason either? What on earth is going on?"
Leah sighed.
"Children get sick for no reason sometimes. I've given her a fever reducer, so-"
As she said that and opened the door, the clothes slipped from Leah's hand and fell to the floor.
LeBlaine, who should have been lying in bed, was nowhere to be seen.
"Why……."
As the maids murmured in confusion, Leah screamed.
"Find the Child!"
The startled maids searched the bathroom and every inch of the hallway, but LeBlaine was nowhere to be found.
Pale-faced, Leah delivered the news to the Duke.
It was past midnight, and lights were on throughout the Dubled Castle.
Servants and administrators alike frantically searched the castle for LeBlaine.
Noth ran towards the Duke, who was standing in the hallway.
"She's not in the annex."
"What about the kitchen? She might be wandering around looking for bread."
"We already checked……."
The Duke's face hardened.
With so many people mobilized, they couldn't find one child.
Had she been attacked by an assassin targeting Dubled? Or had those who target noble children kidnapped her, or had the Elders, who were unhappy with the Child of Destiny, intervened?
"Mobilize the soldiers. Expand the search area-"
"Your Grace!"
At that moment, a desperate voice was heard from outside the window.
The Duke, Leah, and the rest of the Dubled people left the main building.
The butler and gardeners were surrounding someone. Leah, spotting light brown hair within the group, rushed over.
"Child!"
LeBlaine wiggled her fingers as she looked at Leah, who had grabbed her.
The Duke moved towards the child.
The servants who had been stationed around stepped back, and LeBlaine's appearance was finally visible.
Her thin pajamas were covered in dust, and her bare feet, without shoes, were a mess of scratches and dirt.
Her small body, soaked in the rain, was trembling, and her lips were blue.
LeBlaine staggered towards the Duke, leaving Leah behind.
"You……."
As the Duke narrowed his brow, LeBlaine suddenly held something out.
In her trembling hand was a red flower.
"Gongzhanmi caneshun johahae. (Duke likes carnations.)"
"……."
"Dalmothaesseoyo. (I'm sorry.)"
LeBlaine, who had been at a loss and clutching his sleeve when the Newt was broken, came to mind.
"Please forgive me. Please forgive me……."
The Duke couldn't say anything.
Because he felt sorry for the child, whose face was pale and who was desperately rubbing her hands together, begging for forgiveness.
And because he regretted, uncharacteristically, the moment he had coldly brushed away her hand.
Thanks to the thunder, I knew there were carnations in the garden outside the window. So I immediately went to find the flowers in a hurry.
It was raining cats and dogs, but it didn't matter. I had to do something to avoid being hated.
I looked up at the Duke with a terrified expression. After a long silence, he suddenly picked me up.
'Eek!'
Then, the flustered Leah and Noth quickly rushed over.
"Y-Your Grace. The Child probably didn't make a fuss on purpose. She's a child. She's still a child, so she doesn't know anything……!"
"Isn't she the Child of Destiny? If something happens, the Imperial Family and the Order will rise up in arms."
However, the Duke ignored them and carried me into the castle.
'W-What is he going to do to me?'
I had begged as best as I could, but there was no way that ruining the Newt could be resolved with just a flower or two.
Knowing that something terrible was waiting for me, I prepared myself as I was carried by the Duke.
But the place the Duke entered was the bathroom.
'Water torture?'
I stiffened with fear.
The Duke sat me on the edge of the tub and slowly reached out his hand.
'I'm going to fall in!'
I reflexively closed my eyes tightly. But something was strange. Time passed, but it wasn't painful.
Carefully opening my eyes, I saw the Duke, who had bent down on one knee and was meeting my gaze.
Soon after, he grabbed my foot. I was startled, wondering what he was going to do, and stared at him with a stiff face.
He started washing my feet.
As the water touched my feet, I flinched and curled my toes.
"Does it hurt?"
"Aniyo. (No.)"
"……."
He stared at me silently, so I fiddled with my skirt and mumbled.
"……Jjogeum. (……A little.)"
His touch became gentler.
Each time the dirt and dust on my feet dissolved in the water and fell to the floor, the wounds became clearer.
'I'm quite hurt.'
I was too scared and desperate to feel the pain.
The Duke's gaze deepened as he looked at my feet.
"Don't wander around the castle late at night."
I thought I was finally going to be scolded, but his mouth didn't get any harsher than that.
'Is that it?'
I was even more anxious because the Duke wasn't angry. I wiggled my fingers and mumbled.
"Gongjangnim hwa an nae? (Duke, aren't you angry?)"
A strange silence settled in the bathroom.
He stared at me for a long time before slowly opening his lips.
"I'm not angry."
Really?
Really?
As I looked at him with distrust, he narrowed his brow and flicked my forehead.
It didn't hurt at all.
