Chapter 16
“My goodness.”
I swallowed dryly and glanced around.
The carriage seat was stuffed thick with cotton and upholstered in velvet.
The interior was immaculately decorated with luxurious wallpaper.
Even the ceiling was adorned with dazzling golden patterns.
‘This is the first time in my life I’ve ridden in such a lavish carriage.’
To exaggerate only a little, the seat my butt was currently planted on felt softer than the bed at home…
And that wasn’t all.
I cautiously peeked out the window.
The knights rode with rigid posture on either side.
That’s right.
The Duke had not only sent a carriage, but also assigned two escort knights to accompany me…
Something about worrying I might collapse on the way back.
I flopped back against the seat.
The image of the Lucert Ducal family I had seen earlier lingered in my mind.
The Duchess, whose eyes had brimmed with tears.
The Duke, whose sharp features had nonetheless softened when he looked at me.
And even the young heir, whose face had been full of goodwill.
‘…So those people are my biological family.’
A family connected by blood.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious at all.
They were the people who had brought me into this world, after all. Of course there was a part of me drawn to them.
But the person weighing on my mind even more was…
‘Cecilia.’
The hollow expression on her face the last time I saw her kept flashing before my eyes.
She had clearly looked unwell.
And I was pretty sure she had been limping.
I couldn’t stop worrying about her.
But what could I even do about it now?
If anything, the best thing I could do for Cecilia was to quickly sever my ties with Lucert…
‘Ah, we must have arrived.’
Right then, the carriage came to a gentle stop.
At the same time, one of the knights politely knocked on the door.
Then he opened it and said,
“Allow me to escort you, my lady.”
He bowed with impeccable courtesy toward me.
It was the kind of treatment one would give to a noble young lady.
Startled, I quickly shook my head.
“That’s alright.”
But the knight remained unmoving.
“I have been ordered by the Duke to attend to you properly.”
“……”
The knight looked at me firmly, though still polite.
Well, to be fair, moving on my own was a little difficult.
My muscle aches were no joke.
‘Fine, then.’
Swallowing the sigh that threatened to escape, I carefully placed my hand atop his.
“Please excuse me.”
With the knight’s assistance, moving was much easier.
After safely stepping out of the carriage, I gave him a small bow.
“Thank you for bringing me home. You may return now.”
“No, my lady. I must confirm that you return safely inside before I leave.”
“……”
Seriously, why was he so stubborn?
I shot the knight a wary look, but in the end, I turned away as though conceding.
I could feel his piercing gaze fixed on my back.
‘Whatever. Even if I wanted to run away with Mother… leaving tonight would be impossible anyway.’
It was probably better not to do anything suspicious right now.
I could discuss the future with Mother first and decide after that.
With that thought, I pushed the front gate open energetically.
‘Huh?’
At once, I felt a strange sense of unease.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
The sun was already dipping low in the sky.
Which meant—
This should have been the busiest time of day, with dinner preparations underway.
Naturally, Mother should have been bustling about right now too.
‘Unless… did someone from Baron Trangier’s estate inform Mother that I collapsed?’
But even that would be strange.
If it were the Mother I knew, she would have rushed straight to the Baron’s manor the moment she heard.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for things to be this deathly silent…
“Mom?”
I called out suspiciously.
But no answer came.
“Mom, where are you? I’m home—”
At that moment,
I froze in place.
Because my mother was collapsed on the cold kitchen floor.
My mind went blank.
“Mom!!!”
I screamed and rushed to her side.
Frantically, I lifted her up.
“Mom! Mom!”
I called out over and over, but she showed no sign of opening her eyes.
Only her faint, fragile breathing—so weak it seemed it might stop at any second—proved that she was still alive.
“What’s wrong? Huh?!”
“……”
“P-please open your eyes! Wake up!!”
With trembling hands, I shook her desperately.
But Mother still didn’t move.
Every time I shook her, her limbs drooped limply like those of a broken doll.
‘What do I do?’
Terror seized me.
A sobbing voice slipped from my lips.
“I-is anyone there?”
But no one answered my cries.
The eerie silence pressed down on my shoulders like a boulder.
I shouted hysterically,
“Please, someone help! My mother collapsed!!”
And then—
As if by a miracle, the Duke’s knights appeared.
“Excuse us. We heard someone calling from outside…”
The knights cautiously stepped in—then their eyes widened.
They looked back and forth between me, soaked in tears, and my mother, limp across my lap.
Sobbing uncontrollably, I clung to them.
“P-please save my mother. Please?!”
Elias walked across the perfectly manicured garden, deep in thought.
‘Could that girl really be my younger sister?’
Milena.
He had heard she was merely a temporary maid from Baron Trangier’s household.
Brilliant golden hair that resembled the summer sun.
Sharp green eyes sparkling with intelligence.
A delicate beauty like a porcelain doll sculpted by a master artisan.
In terms of appearance alone, she strongly resembled his long-lost little sister.
But more important than that was her “ability.”
‘Of course, the Mage Tower must conduct a bloodline verification test first…’
But if the result came back proving she truly was family?
Just imagining it made his heart swell.
At last, they would find his real younger sister.
‘Then Mother will recover her spirits. Father will be overjoyed as well.’
If that happened—
Spring would finally return to the Ducal household, which had long been shrouded in darkness.
At last, everyone would be happy.
A faint smile touched Elias’s lips.
Then—
‘Ah.’
He lifted his gaze.
Without realizing it, he had arrived at the annex.
At present, Cecilia was apparently staying here alone.
‘Come to think of it… I’ve hardly ever visited this annex.’
Elias looked up at the building with newfound awareness.
As befitting a residence for honored guests, it was spotless, without so much as a speck of dirt.
And yet—
For some reason, it felt desolate.
‘For now, I should go inside.’
Elias stepped through the entrance.
The inside of the annex was not much different from the outside.
Clean, but strangely barren.
It hardly felt like someone actually lived here.
And there was one problem.
‘…Where exactly am I supposed to go?’
He had never once visited the annex before, so he had no idea where Cecilia’s room was.
As he looked around awkwardly—
His gaze landed on a maid passing by.
“You there.”
“Eek!”
Startled, the maid immediately bowed respectfully.
“My greetings, Young Duke.”
“Where is Cecilia’s room?”
“It is the room on the far right of the third floor. I shall guide you there.”
The maid quickly moved to lead the way.
“No need.”
At that, Elias stopped her with a wave of his hand and strode past.
Cecilia had only just returned as well—she must be exhausted.
He didn’t want to make things unnecessarily noisy.
The real problem, however, was—
‘This is… a little awkward.’
