CH 110

Annette couldn’t put the letter down.

“It’s my fault.”

Her eyes looked empty.

“I should have investigated the locket ahead of time and found my mother. My mother must have been lying here helplessly, waiting for me…”

Touk, tuk.

Tears fell helplessly from her light green eyes.

A letter from a mother filled with desperate love, probably written with a dying spirit; which was why it was written a little haphazardly.

She was speaking calmly, but was unable to contain her sorrow.

“If I had come earlier, maybe… Maybe this death could have been prevented.”

“…….”

“In the end, you died because of me.”

Annette’s tone was calm, but it was full of sharp remorse and cold criticism at herself.

Maybe she was just too used to being an orphan.

If one was born with a certain unhappiness, and repeated that life twice, one would come to think of that ‘misery’ as their ‘default value’ embedded in life.

If she didn’t do that, then the thorn in her life would pierce her so painfully.

So, it was natural that she was alone.

She hoped she wouldn’t die in disappointment while actively and hopefully looking for her parents like in her previous life.

She might have been thinking like that without realizing it.

Then, Kyle grabbed Annette’s hand. She was trembling to the point that he couldn’t just watch.

Kyle told her.

“The locket appeared normal to anyone looking at it.”

No, it was rather ordinary, or less than that.

A locket made of old wood, without even a photo.

Until it shined, it actually looked like garbage. In the first place, it was hard to have hope that she would find her parents with such a common thing.

“I would have too.”

―As the head of a guild, his judgment was the same.

“To begin with, this locket only becomes special when the person’s life is at stake. So even if we had known in advance, the result would not have been different.”

“…….”

But it seemed that his words did not take away the sharp reproach.

Annette’s little body was still trembling, and her lips were still being bitten painfully.

Kyle felt sorry for her cold heart. She, who always warmly comforted others, seemed to not treat herself the same way.

“Owner, you’re just… you’re sad.”

“…….”

“You’ve been living alone all your life, and you just realized that your mother, who you had barely found, died right before your eyes.”

Kyle went down on one of his knees and made eye contact with Annette’s wet eyes.

“So, do not punish yourself by forcing blame onto yourself for this sorrow.”

The true identity of those feelings of remorse and regret was, in fact, sadness.

“Just… You are free to grieve.”

As Kyle warmly wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into her arms, Annette cried.

Like a 12-year-old girl who lost her parents’ touch.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

“My lady, we have prepared something for you. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes, please show me.”

After going through a storm of emotions and calming down a bit, Victoria spoke to me.

She led me to a large doorway.

“The Duchess commanded me to have these ready while she was still conscious.”

‘Mom… for me?’

The huge, well-maintained door opened so gently that not a single creak of the hinges could be heard.

My eyes widened as I looked inside.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.’

The room was very well organized, but it was shiny overall.

‘Oh, this is all…’

‘It’s all for her daughter, isn’t it?’

Victoria said.

“These are the things that the lady should have if she had been brought up in this mansion. All the gifts from the age of one to last year’s birthday are also here.”

“…….”

It felt like a store in a fantasy.

The kind of store I wished and dreamed of when I was very young.

There was a little doll at the front. It was a small rabbit doll that a child could play with.

Little by little, as we went inside, I saw dresses suitable for a 3-year-old and 5-year-old girl.

Along with cute shoes.

‘She didn’t know when I would come back, so she prepared everything one by one…’

Holding a locket that only knew life or death, she thought about the growth of a child that was hard to remember every year.

I touched the items that came from my mother’s affection one by one with my fingertips.

I felt like I was going to cry all the time.

To a three-year-old toddler daughter, a curious 7-year-old daughter, and a pretty girly 12-year-old daughter.

―To the daughter who became an adult and a young lady.

All the gifts that Mom would have wanted to give were in this room.

“…I am crying a lot today.”

“Put away your tears, my lady. Today is not a sad day for me.”

Victoria looked at me and smiled softly.

“It’s the day my new master, the duchess, has come.”

“…….”

Perhaps it was not only my mother who was waiting for me.

Contrary to my expectation that she would resent me as my mother was sick because of me, I felt that the people of this duchy had been eagerly waiting for me to return.

It was not prepared just because it’s the master’s orders… This room was full of love.

When I felt their invisible support, the wick stood firm in my shriveled heart.

“Yes. Victoria.”

I answered with courage and smiled, facing her.

‘It’s like traveling in time.’

I felt sincerity and welcome in this room, and my heart was touched with every step I took.

The huge room was endless.

As we walked inward, there were luxuriously sparkling jewels and gorgeous dresses that an adult ducal lady could have.

There was so much prepared that it would be no problem at all to make a debut in the social world as it is.

And at the end of the room.

“…….”

Inside the glass casing of the decorative cabinet was the real gift that Duchess Valienne had handed down to me.

It was the seal of ‘Valienne’.

The storm-like mind became cold, and the judgment of the situation was completed in an instant. Well, I was usually good at adapting.

—Great.

Let’s decide here.

I chose a gorgeous red dress like a freshly bloomed flower.

“I will do this.”

Then I turned to Victoria and smiled.

“My battle suit.”

“……!”

Victoria looked at me with a vague expression and narrowed her eyes.

Raising the corners of my lips, I asked.

“You didn’t tell anyone that I am here, did you?”

“Of course, my lady.”

“Please keep it a secret for a while more. I want to let ‘Gerard’ know in the best way possible”

“Ah…!”

Victoria seemed very happy with the ducal princess’s harsh words and fighting spirit.

She smiled as she curved her sharply raised eyes.

“I will do as you command.”

―It was her first order from the new master of Valienne.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

“You have been through a lot. Congratulations, Prince.”

Avilus politely bowed. His master’s happiness was his own happiness.

There was a little rapture on his face.

“You’re finally getting your hands on that girl today.”

“…….”

More than 10 years had passed.

The girl he worked so hard to finally get his hands on.

The joy Gerard felt today was nothing compared to Avilus’.

Gerrard twisted his lips into a smirk as he put on his uniform. Unlike the buttons, which were fastened up to the neck with asceticism, he had a smile containing vivid desire to the point of pain.

It was akin to the feeling of a beast in front of a piece of meat that had been smoked for the past few days. Every day, he awaited predation.

“I want to see that girl’s face soon.”

Hurried steps got off the dazzling carriage, and he walked to the banquet hall.

This banquet was held by Gerard specifically for ‘his daughter’.

In particular, all the nobles were gathered..

Usually, ‘official registration’ was completed by quietly calling a high-ranking official to process the documents, but he was not doing that because he wanted to show everyone.

Now, who did Annette belong to?

The prince who longed for her, the eccentric great archmage, and the guard dog who stood by her would all become chicken chasing dogs.

This banquet was like a seal of his possessiveness.

“Prince Gerard has arrived!”

As soon as he entered, all eyes were on him. On the contrary, Gerard’s red eyes were fixed on a single woman.

The figure of a woman came in through his retinas and formed a clear image.

Her sharply raised eyes, glittering gold hair as if scattered fragments of sunlight, cute lips and smooth ivory skin.

She was very refreshing. Like a flower that bursts into spring for the first time after a long winter.

The girl who narrowly escaped from his arms more than a decade ago was already in full bloom and facing him.

His heart fluttered, it really did.

Maniac possessiveness and revenge that were engraved on his bones were boiling hot.

―He longed to see that white, harmless face distorted by fear and frustration.

“Annette, you are here.”

“…….”

Gerard didn’t even bother hiding his secret. The dark heart was transparent in his eyes.

Annette was staring at him, without even daring to say hello.

Hwak!!

At that moment, Gerard grabbed Annette’s arm in one motion, brought his lips to her ear, and hissed lowly.

“How does it feel to run away and be dragged back like a dog? …I hope you have the same feelings as I did 10 years ago. You insolent bitch.”

Suddenly, he could feel the small body that was grabbed by him shaking.

Gerrard exhaled lower and continued drearily.

“I’ve been waiting for today, my daughter.”

He wanted to see her scared face in a hurry. It was when he dropped her body and turned his head.

Hwak.

Annette grabbed his collar and pulled him closer, looking straight into his eyes.

Her pale green eyes narrowed as she whispered.

“Thank you, Father. I have been waiting for this day.”

“……!”

There was no fear in her eyes.

Instead, he caught a glimpse of the fighting spirit of one that was trying to beat the wild beast that was attacking.

The girl he was harassing had grown into a strong and tough woman.