Riersha climbed up onto the plush bed and rubbed her cheek against the pillows, unable to hold back the soft, melting smile that crept across her face.
It felt just like a dream.
And it wasn’t simply the things that had changed.
The servants and knights who moved through the main estate would spot Riersha from a distance and come hurrying over to bow to her with proper courtesy.
It didn’t matter which wing of the castle they belonged to — every single one of them did the same.
For context, within the ducal estate, servants and knights each held distinct roles.
Those who personally attended to the direct Arachrene bloodline and served as their escorts carried the title of knight, while all others who handled miscellaneous duties were classified as servants.
The knights were, for the most part, drawn from the collateral branches of the Arachrene family, and only those with at least a working command of magical power were selected for the position.
“Please enjoy everything to your heart’s content, Young Lady Riersha. All of it belongs to you.”
Sona watched Riersha’s barely-concealed delight with a warm smile — but it faded just as quickly as it had come.
It felt as though she had glimpsed the truth of what Riersha’s life within the family had really been like.
That even small kindnesses like these leave her at a loss.
The image surfaced in her mind unbidden — Riersha flustered and shrinking behind Sona’s back whenever someone of lower standing approached to greet her. It made Sona’s chest ache.
“Young Lady Riersha, shall I bring you a snack? Is there anything you’d like?”
“A snack?”
Riersha had been peering curiously around every corner of the room. Her ears perked up at the word and she spun around.
Her red eyes sparkled bright.
“Puwwing!”
She threw both arms into the air and cried out with delight.
Pudding happened to be the treat she had been absolutely obsessed with lately.
The way it dissolved on her tongue the moment it touched it — that gentle, sweet melt — was simply extraordinary.
For so long, the maids had been intercepting the finer snacks meant for her, and so every bite of proper pudding felt like discovering a whole new world.
“Of course. I’ll have pudding prepared right away.”
A short while later, Sona returned carrying a generously filled bowl of pudding.
Riersha scrambled up onto her chair without a second’s hesitation.
Her small feet dangled in the air, swinging happily.
Thanks to Sona’s devoted care over the past weeks, her cheeks had filled out into the softest, roundest little curves.
“Here we go, open wide. Young Lady.”
“Ahh.”
A spoonful of pudding slipped neatly into Riersha’s mouth.
Her lips worked steadily, chewing without pause.
Her chubby cheeks bobbed up and down along with every bite.
Sona found her expression going rigid before she even realized it, her fingers tightening around the spoon.
She had nearly committed the unforgivable impulse of poking those cheeks.
“Ith good!”
Riersha opened her mouth wide again, already asking for more.
As though under a spell, Sona kept feeding her spoonful after spoonful.
Before long, the bowl was empty. Sona set it aside and gently shifted the mood.
“Young Lady Riersha. Do you happen to remember the details of what happened when you awakened?”
“Awakened? …No, I don’t weally remember.”
Riersha furrowed her small brows and shook her head with a glum little sigh.
The situation had been so desperate, so close to the edge of life and death, that her memory of it came only in fragments.
She herself didn’t know how she had stirred her magic or brought her ability forth.
She wasn’t even certain she could produce those soap bubbles again.
The thought made her deflate.
She had tried in secret, but no miracle had come the second time.
“That’s perfectly understandable, Young Lady. Awakening always comes with a powerful shock.”
Sona quickly reassured her that it was all right.
“Weally?”
“…Even so, when you meet with the Duke, you’ll need to tell him as much as you can remember.”
“Gwandpa?”
Sona gave a worried nod.
This was, in truth, the greatest hurdle waiting for Riersha.
A private audience with Duke Arachrene still lay ahead of her.
It was not a procedure every heir went through.
But Riersha’s case was exceptional enough that the meeting could not be avoided.
“…Am I weally twuly awakened?”
“Of course you are. The Duke himself has been waiting for you to recover, Young Lady.”
“…He’s waiting? Gwandpa is waiting? For me?”
“Yes.”
Riersha’s expression shifted into one of pure disbelief.
Sona nodded earnestly, willing her to believe it — but the reassurance didn’t quite land.
Riersha let out a sigh so heavy it seemed to belong to someone many years older than four.
“Gwandpa doesn’t like me.”
She was certain of it.
Because it was because of Riersha that her father had been forced to leave the estate and live apart from the family.
And beyond that, the family’s very security had been thrown into jeopardy.
No matter that she was his granddaughter — there was no way any warm feeling could have survived all of that.
In fact, whenever her grandfather caught sight of Riersha, he would wrinkle his brow and fix her with a look that made her feel unwanted.
Because of that, Riersha would go rigid the moment she stood before him. Even now, the thought of going to see him filled her with dread.
“The Duke absolutely does not dislike you, Young Lady Riersha. He does have a rather fiery nature, I’ll admit, but…”
Sona faltered and couldn’t finish the sentence.
Riersha’s red eyes had gone quiet and still, settled with the calm of someone who already knew the truth.
That look made it impossible for Sona to offer empty comfort dressed up as sweetness.
“…There are complicated adult circumstances that you aren’t quite old enough to understand just yet, Young Lady. It is truly not that the Duke dislikes you.”
“Okay.”
Only then did Riersha give a small nod.
⁂
Early morning. Riersha was being dressed and fussed over in preparation for her visit to her grandfather.
A yellow dress adorned with dainty lace, paired with round-toed canary-yellow shoes.
Her hair was divided into two neat sections, each coiled and pinned close to keep even the smallest flyaways from escaping — every detail arranged to suit the Duke’s famously exacting preference for tidiness.
“My goodness, I’ve never seen a little one sit so perfectly still through all of this.”
“Really, truly. Children this age usually grow restless and try to climb down within minutes. She’s so remarkably composed.”
The maids’ compliments came one after another.
Riersha felt a warm, ticklish glow rise in her chest at words she had so rarely heard before.
One of the maids finishing up the last of her hair caught Riersha’s eye, and Riersha smiled at her — bright and unguarded.
The maid clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my!”
“Young Lady Riersha must surely be an angel.”
“She truly must be.”
The other maids nodded along in fervent agreement.
It was understandable, really. The only children who had ever passed through this estate were the haughty sons and daughters of the direct and collateral lines. Riersha was something else entirely.
The maids went on praising her, eyes shining with wonder.
Their expressions said plainly: I cannot believe that something this pure could have come from the Arachrene family.
Sona, who had been watching the scene with quiet fondness, was the first to collect herself — and she did so with crisp severity.
“Have you all forgotten yourselves entirely? What kind of maids speak so freely in front of the Young Lady?”
“W-we’re so sorry, Young Lady Riersha. Please forgive our discourtesy.”
To call a young lady of the bloodline cute was not something those of lower rank could presume to do. That was a privilege that belonged solely to the Duke and the direct members of the Arachrene line.
The maids had realized their mistake all at once, and the color drained from their faces as they bowed their heads.
Had they done the same in front of any other member of the direct or collateral family, they might have lost their positions — or worse.
“I don’t mind, Sona.”
Riersha gently took up the maids’ defense, but Sona shook her head with deliberate firmness after a brief moment of thought.
“You mustn’t simply let everything pass, Young Lady Riersha.”
“They like me, don’t they. So I like it.”
“Young Lady Riersha…”
Those words — rooted in something long missing from Riersha’s life — softened Sona’s resolve all over again before she could help it.
“It’s precisely because you’re so gentle and kind that I worry so much.”
In her honest heart, Sona fretted over whether Riersha would ever truly adapt to life in the main estate.
The ducal castle was not a forgiving place.
The moment anyone glimpsed a weakness in Riersha, there would be no shortage of people willing to come circling, looking for a foothold to exploit.
Gentleness. Innocence. Such qualities were not assets in the House of Arachrene — they were liabilities.
Those who bore the Arachrene name were expected to build their own circles of power, cultivate their strength, and reign above all others.
And yet Riersha was so terribly soft.
The Young Lord is going to have quite a time of it when he returns.
For a brief moment, Sona caught a glimpse of the Young Lord’s future — and it looked exhausting.
