Chapter 19

“Jessie, it’s just water for washing my face. I can just fetch more. Why are you crying?”

“…Th-then can I keep working here? Sniff.”

“Of course. You’re the only one on my side in this house. Why would I dismiss you?”

At my self-deprecating yet playful voice, Jessie gradually relaxed. Her tears stopped, and with swollen eyes she nodded vigorously.

“I-I’ll really work hard, my lady. I’ll be your only ally!”

Perhaps Jessie had never had such a bond in her entire life.

I would have been the same if I had not entered the Dollin Orphanage.

I would have bristled at the world and thought that was the only way to survive. But just as I had Sylvia, Jessie now had me.

And so Jessie and I became each other’s only friends. Now Jessie was a child I could never be parted from in my life.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Perhaps curious about my fixed gaze, Jessie, who had been busily moving about, asked. I smiled and shook my head.

“Nothing. Let’s hurry.”

We took a carriage out and got off in the busy district. I told the coachman to wait here and slipped him some money.

Taking the Erdona carriage out to the outskirts was no different from begging Gizelle to notice. After that, Jessie and I called a commercial carriage and left the busy district.

Less than an hour after the carriage started, a small village came into view. Opening the map, I saw the village was called Summerset.

“Just wait about two hours here.”

Jessie spoke primly to the coachman.

“Understood.”

The stone-paved streets of the village had a warm feel. In the small square, a fountain spouted water. Children circled around it, laughing brightly.

“The atmosphere seems nice.”

“It does. Let’s go over there.”

Passing the children, we walked on and found alleys lined with small shops and others lined with houses.

Summerset’s relaxed and friendly atmosphere could be seen in the doors of the houses lining every alley.

The village seemed to have quite good security, as no door was properly shut. People came and went from each other’s houses without hesitation, and they even greeted us, unfamiliar outsiders.

“Do you know where the Charbon estate is?”

“Ah, you’re going there? It’s not this way—it’s the opposite side. You’ve come the wrong way.”

When I asked a kindly looking middle-aged woman, she pointed in the exact opposite direction from where we had come.

“…I’m sorry, my lady.”

“It’s fine. I thought it was this way too.”

The two of us were terribly bad with directions. In the end, Jessie and I hurried back the way we had come. Passing the square again, there were more children gathered than before.

Looking closely, they seemed to be playing a game.

“It’s a dice game. They’re copying the adults. Ray got scolded by me once for playing it too.”

Jessie’s younger brother Ray was twelve but smaller than others his age, so he looked even younger. I nodded and was about to turn away.

Suddenly the children argued, and a dropped die rolled to my feet.

The child who seemed to be the leader, who had learned who knows what from somewhere, made an expression exactly like a gambling den uncle and held out his hand to me.

“Give me the die.”

Finding that absurd, I deliberately played a little trick.

“You have to say, ‘Please give me the die.'”

At that, the child grew irritated. He was the biggest of the boys.

“Just give it. What’s wrong with you, weird lady.”

I was not one to be provoked by such a petty jab.

“You could just say ‘Please give me the die.’ You’re stubborn too.”

“I said that’s not mine! Ugh… Oh, Ros!”

The boy, grumbling, waved toward something behind me. He looked happy to see a friend. I turned to follow the child’s gaze.

“…Huh?”

Behind me stood a boy. He had black hair and rare golden eyes.

From his clothes he did not look like a noble, but he seemed to be from a fairly well-off family, as his appearance was neat. The only problem was…

‘He looks exactly like Kirill.’

The boy looked back and forth between me and Jessie, then walked toward us.

Still dazed, I watched him without a word.

“What?”

“What! This lady won’t give me the die!”

“……”

The boy looked up at me with a scowl, as though he did not like me.

“…He looks even more alike.”

I muttered without meaning to and bent down to study the boy’s face closely.

“…What?”

The boy avoided my gaze as I stared at him.

“Ah, just give it already!”

I tossed the die to the boy making a fuss beside me, and the children finally scattered.

Meanwhile, I kept staring intently at the boy who resembled Kirill.

“…What’s your name?”

“…Why should I tell you?”

Do all the children here lack manners? Just as I thought that, Jessie’s stern voice cut in.

“Hey! Do you know who this person is, acting so rudely?”

“…What does that matter— Ack!”

Jessie pinched the boy’s cheek with her fingers, just as she would with her own younger brother, and the boy’s face immediately crumpled.

Just moments ago he had looked exactly like a copy of young Kirill, but now he looked like an ordinary child his age.

“Let go!”

“I’ll let go if you behave politely.”

As expected, Jessie, who had a younger brother, was different. Her way with children was far better than mine.

“Fine, I got it!”

“…You got it?”

“…I’m sorry!”

Only then did Jessie’s hand drop away. Still, I worried that she might have left a mark on someone else’s child’s face, so I went closer to examine it.

I could feel the child was very tense.

“You really do look like someone I know.”

“……”

“Of course, you’re more handsome.”

Even at my teasing compliment, the boy turned his head away as though displeased. Now I was even seeing Kirill in a child. If this was not a serious condition, nothing was.

“Let’s go, Jessie.”

“Yes!”

We left the boy behind and walked on. There was not enough time to look at the Charbon estate.

The next day. Following yesterday, I was about to go look at the Charbon estate. Gizelle, having finally recovered her energy, was inspecting every corner of the estate.

Even though there was nothing left to find fault with in my behavior, Gizelle watched me as though waiting for an opening.

Gizelle picked on Jessie as well. Jessie could only stand there helplessly against Gizelle, so I had to keep an eye on Gizelle too. I never knew where Jessie might be getting another undeserved scolding from her.

Moreover, whenever we met in the corridor, Gizelle gave me subtle looks as though asking if I had nothing to say to her.

If my guess was right, it was because even after all these matters were resolved, her twisted feelings remained unresolved and she wanted an apology.

“You’ve been going out too often lately. Cut it down.”

In the end, the way she added a remark made it clear something was bothering her. But when I showed no reaction at all, she seemed to fester even more.

“Can you not hear me?”

Since I kept ignoring Gizelle, her angry voice finally caught me. Jessie, who had been waiting for me in front of the carriage, looked at me with a frightened face.

“Get in first, Jessie.”

“…Yes, my lady.”

I quickly put her in the carriage first and turned around, and there was Gizelle at the top of the stairs, looking down at me like an enraged bull.

“Think about the harm you’ve done to Erdona.”

At Gizelle’s words, I shot back immediately.

“If Erdona was going to be shaken by a broken engagement with a mere Baron Bangeger, then Erdona was never that great to begin with.”

Unable to find anything to refute, Gizelle lowered her voice and made the atmosphere grim.

“…So you’re saying you bear no fault at all for that scandal involving your lover?”

“Don’t make me say it twice. And you—”

“Don’t get smart with me!”

“Make your position clear. Do you want me to leave, or do you want me stuck right by your side? I’m confused.”

“…Don’t say ridiculous things.”

“That’s how it is. You of all people should want me to leave Erdona more than anyone. But you keep interfering at every turn, so I’m confused. Whether you actually don’t want me to go.”

“……”

At my words, Gizelle let out a scoff, as though I had missed the mark. But just as she thought she knew me, I knew her too.

If she truly thought I was doing something foolish, or if it pleased her, Gizelle would not have paid me any attention at all.

The fact that she kept interfering made it clear that, whatever it was, I was constantly getting on her nerves.

She was simply fed up with things not going her way.

“You’re so obvious.”

“…What?”

“Whatever it is, I can tell I’m doing well.”