CH 10

In this world, spirits were born in a specific space or natural object. It may be that the spirit was born in a fantasy library, her library.

‘So what is this fantasy library? Why can I come and go here?’

She was in a hurry, so she didn’t have a way to find out. Pi, who was smiling, ran to her. She squeezed the bottles in her hands.

“Here, here.”

“I had a good time. Thank you.”

Ariadne took them.

‘Yes, the identity of the fantasy library is not important now.’

She had to trade as soon as possible. She couldn’t rest assured before she dealt.

* ♦ ♦ ♦ *

She quickly made the decision to trade but Ariadne had to stand in the bedroom for a while. It was because she had been sick for a long time and her body was very weak.

The meal was only thin soup. Moving was only allowed inside the bedroom and with fluffy carpets.

Lucy, a maid dedicated to her, was her only visitor except for the doctor, it was almost prohibited by others. 

After a week, the doctor finally allowed a normal meal and a light walk. Thanks to this, Ariadne had the first meal with the changeback.

Lucy dressed her with a small dress.

“It’s been a long time since the young lady stayed in the castle, so it’s only the old clothes taken from the warehouse.”

Lucy told her with a very sorry sign.

“I brought the best one of them… sorry. Is it very old? ”

“No, it’s perfect.”

It wasn’t false. It was such a well-managed dress that she would have not known it was not new if Lucy didn’t say it first. The light purple dress was warm and light. It fit her perfectly and she liked the feel. It was easy to move in because it was a little lower than the knee.

“Thank you for understanding, Ah.”

After finishing putting the ribbon on the waist, Lucy pulled the full body mirror and set up in front of her.

“What do you think?”

Looking at the mirror, it was a more beautiful dress than she thought. It suited her well.

“Good. I like this dress.”

“Yes, it looks really good on you.”

Lucy smiled happily as she saw her.

‘The color is better.’

Ariadne, who was looking into the mirror, suddenly turned to the left, to the right, and to the right side, moved a hand, moved the other hand. After seeing the scene, Lucy took a deep breath.

‘Cute!’

If she wasn’t in front of the lady, she would have shouted that.

Ariadne was just observing the dress. Because of the question that came to mind.

‘There is only one son for the changeback. If it’s an old-fashioned dress in Weaver Castle, then… ‘

She wondered.

“This… Did this dress… no, my mother wore this dress when she was young?”

Lucy’s eyes were rounded. She admired her mouth being covered with her hands.

“Oh, yes! I heard that the youngest liked it!”

So that was the dress of her mother. I wanted to go well with my lady.

Lucy chattered excitedly and Ariadne quietly brushed the hem of the lace.

‘Really the clothes my mother wore when she was little…’

She felt a fading longing and a strange sadness. Gloria was the first mother she had for her first life and modern life. She barely got her two lives, but she lost her mom quickly twice.

‘…I want to see my mom.’

She held back the tears that were about to burst out. If she loved her mother she had to work harder to live, if not, if she reunited with her too soon, her mother would be sad.

“My mother must be rejoicing in heaven right now.”

In the meantime, Lucy finished the arrangement.

“Huh?”

“I’m embarrassed, but… If I were the lady’s mother, I think I would be happy.”

Lucy smiled tenderly and reached out to her. Ariadne grabbed her hand.

“How lovely is your daughter who likes your favorite clothes. You will be happy to have a daughter in your hometown where you spent your childhood. ”

Ariadne walked around with Lucy’s hand. The hallway had leopards and snowflakes embroidered in the decorations, and the floor a dark purple carpet. The fishing boats were always in line. And the windows were elongated.

‘I see. This is my hometown where my mom lived when she was young.’

It was natural because it was forgotten. She imagined her mother’s childhood. A girl with brown hair running around the castle while wearing a light purple dress.

‘Mom, she was a tomboy when she was young.’

〈Mom fell down in the hallway when he was young, and she had scars. Here, you see?>

〈So be careful. Yes, ‘If you get a lot of scars on your skin, your mother will be crying.’>

The words that her mom pretended to cry playfully resounded in her head.

〈Mom grew up in the winter’s land>

The window looked white. It’s like a drawing paper, so she drew some graffiti on the window. 

The hallway that her mom ran around. The window that my mom would have drawn graffiti… Her mom’s house. Her mom’s hometown.

Suddenly, this strange place felt very close.

Lucy saw Ariadne looking at all sides with a bitter eye. She smiled and walked late. So that the young lady could slowly know her mother’s home.

At the entrance of the dining hall, the changeback was waiting. The eyebrows of the commensals moved to Ariadne’s clothes, since that was the dress that Gloria especially liked when he was young.

“That clothes…”

He choked up and cleared his throat once. The words, “You look good together,” were stuck in my throat and didn’t come out. In an effort to hide the reddened tears from the reminiscent of the youngest, Marquis Baek strained his eyes and looked straight ahead.

‘Come to think of it, that kid doesn’t have many clothes to wear.’

He wanted to dress his one and only nephew in precious and nice clothes.

‘Fur for the coat and scarf is fine, so I’ll have to hunt it myself. I’d prefer a sable or a snow fox.’

“…I’ll call the seamstress soon and make new clothes for you.”

Ariadne was stunned to hear the Maquis’ hard words, who frowned.

‘He doesn’t like the fact that I am wearing my mother’s clothes. Is it because I don’t look at all like my mother?’

The feeling of intimacy that had risen with him suddenly faded.

Recoinicing her mistake, she tried not to be disappointed. Recalling her decision, she stepped into the dining hall. The dining room of the blizzard castle was spacious.

Stained glass cast colorful shadows over the magnificent marble table. The seat of the margrave was prepared for the head of state, and Ariadne’s seat was prepared at the other end of the seat. It was the arrangement of seats according to the formality common to the guests and hosts. The table was large, so there was a long gap between the two seats. If little Ariadne sat on that seat, it was obvious that the Marquis would not be able to see her face properly.

The Marquis immediately gave a chin gesture.

“Move Ariadne’s place.”

“Yes, Master.”

As if he expected it, the butler quickly changed the arrangement of the seats, separating much more the chairs. Ariadne got a little more depressed.

‘Does it mean that you won’t treat me as a guest because I’m an uninvited guest?’

The Marquis, completely unaware of what she was misunderstanding, thought the child sitting next to him was too upright.

“Eat in peace, Ariadne.”

“Yes.”

The Marquis told her to eat comfortably, but Ariadne could not relax. She held up her spoon nervously and her spoon was too big for her.

It was because no children’s tableware was in the castle. It was as informal as she was when she was eating soup, and it was too formal for her to replace it with a teaspoon. 

Ariadne saw the size of the spoon and scooped out a small portion of the appetizer egg dish with the tip of the spoon. That was just enough for her to eat in one bite. It was against etiquette for her to leave a spoonful of food uneaten.

She ate the large egg dish just like that.

‘I have to chew thoroughly.’

It had been a long time since she had had a meal that wasn’t soup, and she was afraid her pretend wasn’t enough and she looked nervous.

It reminded her of her memory of vomiting on the Archmage, so she had no choice but to eat more slowly and diligently.

‘I can do it. He said we should talk about the Elixir right after we eat.’

She was serious, but the people around her were fading away. It was because it was cute to see a small child wriggling with a serious expression. The hand holding the spoon was very cute, and the amount eaten in one bite was the level of a chick pecking at it.

Ariadne, feeling the stares pouring down on her while she was eating, looked around. The rows of employees around the restaurant were just like Eldeer. But their facial expression and attitude was different. The people here were all warm and friendly.

‘I’m sure I won’t get my spoon stolen while eating here.’

When she thought that, the day stood still Her tension softened slightly. The taste of the food in the mouth felt right.

‘It’s good.’

Even a simple egg dish was incredibly delicious, probably because she had only eaten soup for a while. After she had eaten her fill, she looked up. The waitress who brought her next dish smiled at her and set her bowl down as their eyes met hers.

‘This person smiles like Lucy too.’

As a test, she made eye contact with the employees around her one by one. Everyone she made eye contact with greeted her with a smile and a slight bow of her head.

‘No one averts their gaze. Without a cold glance or frown.’

Even though it’s not a big deal, she was excited and her cheeks were burning. It was also different.

It was really different from Eldeer, where the duke left only guards by her side. Before retrieving memories of her past life, Ariadne had been trying to be loved by her father, who smiled at her in an environment where no one laughed at her.

‘He only laughed at me in the study room, that guy.’

After recalling her previous life, she realized that everything about her was the trick of the Duke who was trying to use her, but there were times when her heart was shaken even though she knew it. Because her young body wasn’t listening and she… was lonely.