Ch 3.2
It took about a week to arrive home.
The Ducal estate stood tall before my eyes, looking not a bit different from when I had left.
“I’m finally back.”
Having been away for two years, I felt somewhat awkward, so I was quietly watching the mansion from inside the carriage when the area in front of the gate became noisy.
“Belita?!”
“Our daughter is back?!”
I hadn’t said a single word in my letters about returning because I wanted to surprise my parents.
So, perhaps because they were shocked to hear the news of my arrival, my parents were running hurriedly toward the carriage.
I quickly opened the door and stepped out of the carriage.
Then I ran and threw myself into the arms of the two, who seemed to have aged a bit more than they had two years ago.
“Mother!! Father!!”
“Belita!!”
My parents repeatedly pulled me into their arms, looked at my face, and hugged me again, as if they couldn’t believe the fact that I had returned.
I quietly let my parents do as they pleased, then slowly lifted my head from their embrace and spoke.
“Have you been well?”
“We have been well. So, was the trip fun?”
“Yes, it was enjoyable.”
“Dear, let’s not do this here; let’s go inside and talk.”
Unlike her usual calm self in every matter, Mother was tightly hugging me with a very flushed expression and wouldn’t let go.
Then Father led us, suggesting we go inside.
We entered Father’s office and sat on the sofa.
Originally, Mother always sat across from me side-by-side with Father, but today, as if she didn’t want to be apart from me, she sat right next to me.
And she kept stroking me while looking over and over again to see if I was hurt anywhere.
“Mother, I’m healthy.”
I replied with a bright smile so that Mother wouldn’t worry anymore.
“I missed you, Belita.”
“I missed Mother and Father so much too.”
“Then how could you…… No, it’s enough that you’re back.”
Saying so, Mother hugged me tightly again.
“So, have you completely sorted out your feelings now?”
Father asked me point-blank.
“Yes, I have sent that person away from my heart now. To the point where it wouldn’t matter if I saw the Duke.”
Since I had no feelings for Kane from the very beginning, I was confident that I could act indifferent even if I saw him again.
“That’s a relief. So, where all did you go?
Tell us about it.”
At Father’s request to talk about the trip, I vividly told my parents about the places I had visited one by one.
I talked as detailed as possible about everything I experienced, such as what I saw there and what I ate.
And at the end, I talked about Lian, and fortunately, my parents readily agreed to let Lian join the knighthood.
In that way, I spent the entirety of my first day back home with my parents.
From the next day, I began doing the things I needed to do step by step.
I was busier than I thought, so I didn’t have
the leisure to look in on Lian, but there was something I had promised him.
So a few days later, I summoned Lian through the servant who had come to attend me in place of Mary, who had gone on a long-awaited vacation.
Knock knock.
“Young Lady, I have brought the knight.”
It was the sound of Lian’s arrival.
“Come in.”
When the door opened, Lian, whom I was facing for the first time in a few days, entered the room.
I looked at Lian for a moment.
Seeing Lian now as a respectable and dignified knight wearing a knight’s uniform, I was deeply moved.
And since we had stayed together every day for two years, seeing him after just a few days felt as welcoming as meeting someone I hadn’t seen for years.
“Lian.”
“Young Lady, did you call for me?”
“Welcome. Come here and sit.”
I quickly approached Lian’s side myself, took his hand, and led him to the sofa.
I felt Lian flinch momentarily.
“Have you been doing well? Is there anything uncomfortable? Is anyone bullying you or making things hard? Do you need anything?”
After seating Lian on the sofa, I went right to the opposite side.
But even before sitting down, I poured out the things I was curious about to Lian.
At my appearance, Lian’s expression, which had been stiff at first, relaxed slightly.
“I am doing well. The people of the Ducal house are also kind to me.”
“That’s a relief. How about the food? Does the food suit your taste?”
“Yes. And the Young Lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you been doing well, Young Lady?”
“I’ve been doing well, of course. It’s my home.”
Saying so, I laughed brightly. And I slowly brought up the main point.
“You remember what I said about going to the orphanage, right?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Since I’ve finished some of the sorting out now, I’m thinking of going around tomorrow.”
Lian’s face brightened in an instant.
“Thank you, Young Lady. But I only wish to watch from a distance to see if my siblings are doing well.”
“Why? Wouldn’t it be better to say hello? Your siblings will also be curious about
how you’ve been.”
“By now, they have probably all forgotten me and are doing well.”
I thought I understood what Lian’s words meant.
Since they couldn’t be together even if they met, it seemed he didn’t want to disturb the children’s hearts for nothing.
“It is enough for me to see that my siblings are doing well.”
“Alright, then let’s do that. If you happen to change your mind, let me know. Okay?”
“Yes, I understand.”
The next day, we departed from the mansion to go to the orphanage.
I told my parents that I was going out for a short while and was accompanied by Lian under the pretext of an escort.
The village called Hemmoa was, just as the man named Eden had said, a very small village located to the northeast of the capital.
We arrived only after about three hours had passed since departure, and it was a pretty and cozy place with flowers and trees blooming everywhere.
And the orphanage was located in the sunniest spot in the village, so even more diverse and numerous flowers were blooming around it.
I could catch a glimpse of the affection and interest the man named Eden had for this orphanage.
I stood side by side with Lian outside the orphanage entrance and watched the inside.
A few children were jumping and playing in the yard.
“Oh?!”
And among them, I discovered some familiar children.
“It’s them, right?”
I looked up at Lian and asked with a bright
smile.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Not a shadow could be seen on the children’s expressions.
They were running around here and there with innocent faces like children.
“They seem to be doing well. Right?”
“Yes.”
On Lian’s face, which had been full of worry whenever his siblings were mentioned, I could see the anxiety finally lifting.
“Are you really not going to see them?”
“Yes, seeing that they are doing well is enough.”
Lian was adamant.
So I also stopped talking and just watched the children.
But suddenly, the children pointed their fingers at us.
Then they started running and surrounded us in an instant.
Lian turned his body sideways so the children couldn’t see him by the time they approached right in front of us.
“Huh? You’re that older sister from back then, right?”
Among the children I saw then, the only girl recognized me.
“Hello.”
“It is you!”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. It’s really great here! They give us delicious food every day and I have my own bed. And the teachers are kind and good too!”
“Noona! Noona!”
Thinking of how they looked when we first met, seeing the children laughing so brightly like this now was both wondrous and dizzying.
It was because of the thought that if I hadn’t been able to rescue the children then, I wouldn’t have been able to see this dazzling sight.
It was then.
“Huh?”
“Uh-huh?”
A blue-haired child tilted his head toward Lian, who was beside me.
“Is it Hyung?”
“Are you saying it’s Hyung Number 5?”
“What are you talking about? How could Oppa Number 5…… Huh?”
As the children said that, they moved quickly to see Lian’s face in detail.
And before Lian could even avoid it, the expressions of the children who saw Lian’s face from the front changed from doubt to certainty.
“It’s Hyung Number 5, right?”
“It really is Oppa Number 5?”
In the end, he was caught by the quick-witted children.
With an awkward laugh, I gestured with my head toward Lian.
It meant for him to say hello.
“It’s…… me.”
“Is it really Hyung Number 5?”
“Oppa!”
“You said Hyung?”
“Sob sob. Hyung!”
Once it was revealed that he was the brother they had been waiting for all along, the children rushed at Lian as a group.
Among them, some children were even showing tears.
Watching that, I could tell how well these children had gotten along with Lian during that short time.
“Oppa, where did you go? Sob.”
“Hyung, I missed you so much!”
“Hyung, didn’t you miss us?”
“Hyung…….”
I stepped back and watched the happy reunion for a moment.
“Sorry. I’m sorry.”
Lian apologized to the children.
“But Hyung, why did you grow so much?”
“Exactly, I almost didn’t recognize Hyung.”
“Oppa, Oppa. Are you going to live with us now?”
“Hyung…… you’re going to live with us, right?”
Because the children each said a word every time Lian said a word, it was chaotic.
But Lian met the eyes of those children
one by one and gave them answers.
‘As expected, he must have missed them a lot.’
Lian was the one who chose to follow me while leaving behind the children he missed so much.
Thinking that, along with a heart of gratification, I felt that I should be even better to Lian.
