CH 89

“Akim won’t be able to come because something happened. Instead, the chef who makes more delicious snacks will come.”

Betty calmed me down. Arsene asked, widening his eyes.

“Why isn’t Akim coming?”

“That’s… something came up….”

The servants only mumbled and didn’t tell us properly.

But I could tell by instinct.

‘The culprit must have been Akim.’

Well, it has to be at least a kitchen worker to feed all the people in the mansion Giles pollen.

The maids didn’t seem to want to talk anymore, so I didn’t bother to ask.

After snack time, I tried to go out to the garden to play with Arsene.

But

“Arsene? Where are you going?”

“To Dad, go first.”

Arsene answered bluntly and went into Kendrick’s study.

I didn’t think much of it until then.

Until Arsene left me to see Kendrick for almost three days after he returned to the mansion.

I grabbed Betty, who brought me the juice and asked.

“Betty, did I do something wrong?”

“No way! What makes you think that, Lady?”

“Otherwise, Arsene wouldn’t be like that….”

He was a kid who followed me around to the point of being annoying.

He didn’t even take me when he went to see Kendrick, saying it was important.

I tried asking Kendrick too.

‘Because Arsene wanted to keep it a secret. I’m sorry.’

Only the same answer came back.

I hung out with Arsene the whole time, but since Arsene went to see Kendrick every time, I was left alone. 

There was nothing to do but play with Hector or read fairytale stories with Betty.

‘I’m bored!’

Since Arsene likes my bird form, should I put myself in Arsene’s pocket in a bird form?

Then maybe he’ll take me with him when he sees Kendrick.

I put that plan into action right away.

“Chirp!”

After transforming into a small bird, I slipped into Arsene’s pocket.

And—.

“Chirp?”

I tried to shout in the cutest voice possible, but Arsene is—.

“Now, I have to talk to Daddy. Wait here.”

With that word, he dropped me on the floor with his jacket and went straight into Kendrick’s study.

‘Isn’t that too much?!’

So I had to play alone the whole time without Arsene.

If there were knights, I would have visited the training ground, but—.

‘There are hardly any knights in the mansion….’

I heard that Kendrick has been gnashing all over wolf territory for Giles flowers. It seems to be true. 

The number of knights in the mansion was reduced by half, and the number of training sessions in the training ground was noticeably reduced.

‘It was fun watching the training ground through the window with Arsene….’

Of course, I can’t go close to see it because I’m scared.

Arsene didn’t play with me, so I greatly felt Arsene’s vacancy.

In the meantime, workers came and went to Kendrick’s mansion as if he really intended to build a reservoir and a riding arena in the mansion.

And—.

“I heard you’re going to share the same room?”

Hoho. Ethan said with a grin.

I answered with a nod, and then I sighed.

“Uhm… But maybe he’s not going to share a room with me anymore?”

“Yes? Lady, why did you think like that?”

“I mean, because Arsene doesn’t play with me….”

Arsene would either be stuck in Kendrick’s study all day or would be locked in a room by himself.

“That’s why I don’t think he’ll want to share a room with me….”

Phew, when I sighed, Ethan soothed me as if it were impossible.

“That’s not true, Lady. It’s because the Young Master is busy these days. To say he doesn’t like the Lady, there’s no such a thing.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, it’s just that he has been busy lately. ” 

Ethan then left the room after asking about the size of the bed, the color of the duvet, and what she liked about the room’s overall atmosphere.

*****

I had a dream after a long time.

I hadn’t dreamed about my precious life in a long time, so when I opened my eyes, I was drenched in a cold sweat. 

And as soon as I woke up, I knew why I had the nightmare.

‘So the lights are out….’

When the lights went out while I was sleeping, I often had nightmares. 

She seemed to reject the darkness unconsciously.

I ran out and opened the window. Then the bright moonlight poured into the room.

And—.

“Here it is.”

Before I went to bed, I took off the necklace I had put in the narrow table drawer.

It was a necklace Kendrick gave me that shone in the dark.

When I put it on my neck, my vision brightened.

Then I could lie back in bed with peace of mind.

But.

“…I must have grow a lot of hair, right?”

Every day, the red hair got thinner, but both the rate of hair loss and the rate at which red hair grew got faster and faster.

I struggled to get up and walked to the mirror.

And.

I looked at my hair in the light of the moonlight and the necklace.

Sure enough, the red hair stood out.

‘I have to tell him….’

Originally, I had planned to talk as soon as I got back to the mansion, but Kendrick seemed to be busier than I thought, so I couldn’t.

I fiddled with my hair.

After having a terrible dream, I resented my red hair for no reason.

‘If only this wasn’t here.’

If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have been hated in Raniero.

When I thought of that, tears filled my eyes and blocked my view.

It wasn’t my fault that I had red hair. But—.

‘But why did you hate me so much?’

Because red is a cursed color?

But it didn’t happen because I wanted to.

Tears fell down.

Relying on the moonlight, I looked in the mirror and fumbled through my red hair.

“Ack.”

I had quite a lot of hair, so I couldn’t pull them all out. Now, there was a limit to picking and hiding.

“I’ll tell him soon….”

It was then.

Click—.

The door opened without warning, and I met Betty’s eyes as she brought in a new lantern. 

“Lady? What are you doing when you’re not sleeping—”

Betty looked in the mirror once and then at me, holding my hair.

And she quickly grasped the situation.

“B, Betty? Why at this hour….”

“I came to change the lamp because it went out, Lady… Did you pull out your hair? Are you okay?”

Betty put down her lamp and quickly approached me and wiped my tears.

“B, Betty. I mean, I’ll explain this… “

I stuttered as I tried to explain while holding the red hair I had pulled out in my hand. 

It was a disaster.

I couldn’t take care of my hair because Betty was right in front of me.

Then Betty found a bunch of red hair in my hand.

In the end, tears fell before I could finish speaking properly.

‘Shouldn’t I have said this before signing the marriage contract in the temple?’

It seemed like I would be scolded for saying that, and they would say that it was a fake marriage.

Of course, judging from the personalities of the servants of Kendrick and Yeckhart, I knew that wouldn’t be the case.

Even so.

“Hnng—.”

Tears kept dripping down.

It seemed to be because I had a scary dream.

A terrible and frightening dream I never want to go through again.

It’s easy to be thrown away for things that aren’t my fault—.

“Lady, Lady. Are you okay? It’s okay, Lady. Don’t cry.”

Betty put me in her arms and patted me on the back.

At the touch, the sadness and the sound of crying rose.

“B, Betty… hngg…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. What were you so afraid of… Lady, it’s okay.”

Even though I could feel Betty’s clothes getting wet with my tears, Betty didn’t let go of me and hugged me tightly.

I burst into tears as Betty held me in her arms. 

Perhaps because my crying was so loud, one or two of the maids woke up and stood in front of the door.

I could feel Betty shaking her head slowly, as if asking  the maids to leave.

Feeling even more saddened by that trivial consideration, I hugged Betty’s back tightly.

And then.

“…Linsy?”

“Lord…”

As soon as Betty saw Kendrick, she lifted me up, stood straight, and bowed lightly.

“It seems that the Lady had a bad dream. I…”

Tears welled up from my eyes.

Even though my vision was a little blurry, I could see Kendrick’s eyes looking right at me.

Kendrick looked at me once, and then he looked at the piece of hair I was crying over.

And.

“Come here, Linsy.”

He spread his arms to me.

Betty handed me over to Kendrick’s arms.

Kendrick quietly patted my back without saying anything.

He didn’t ask me why I was crying or what I was holding.

He just comfort me.

The maids lit up the room. And they all left the room as ordered by Kendrick.

I stayed with Kendrick and cried like a child in Kendrick’s arms.

And.

“…Hiccup.”

“You seems to cry all out.”