To do that, she had to understand the situation.
All Aila knew about her enemy was his name. No surname, just a name. Byron.
Isn't it really absurd? For all these years, all she knew about the person she called her father was his name. And that was information she heard from someone else just before he died.
The Duke and Duchess lost their daughter when she was two years old. She lived as Byron's daughter for fourteen years before returning to the Duke's household when she was sixteen.
She clicked her tongue at the fact that she only knew things like what he liked to drink, what he liked to eat, and how he made her happy and affectionate, but she didn't know anything about his true identity.
Aila couldn't believe she was that pathetic.
Still, it was clearly different from her last life. Just knowing who she was and who her true enemy was.
At least she won't be at the mercy of that devil Byron anymore.
“Young lady, you’re not going back to sleep, are you? Why are you so slow? If you keep doing this, the master will get angry.”
Laura banged on the old door as if she was going to break it down, urging her on. It seemed like she wasn't even going to have time to collect her thoughts.
And in fact, nothing would change if she stayed in this room alone and thought about it. She had too little information. She didn't know exactly how old she was or where she was right now.
“I’ll be out soon.”
Answering Laura, Aila dipped her face into the cold wash water. As the cold water touched her face, she felt her mind flash back. This vivid sensation. She really seemed alive.
Aila wiped her face with the towel Laura had left on the table and changed into the clothes placed next to the towel. It was the riding-style training outfit she had always worn as a child.
As she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself, she went out of the room, where Laura greeted her with a grumble.
“Why on earth are you so late? Do you not want to do the early morning training? Why are you doing something you have never done before? Our young lady. If you keep doing this, I have no choice but to report you to the master. How disappointed will your father be in you?”
Even as she grew older, Laura always acted as if she owned the place.
It was the same when she entered the Duke's house. When there were others, she was very polite and careful, but when they were alone, things were different.
When Aila only saw Laura and Byron's men, she didn't know it was strange, but after experiencing the Duke's employees who truly loved and cared for her, it became truly strange.
If Aila were really Byron's daughter, she wouldn't have been treated like this. Even if she didn't follow her heartily like the Duke's family, she would at least be treated with some human respect.
“...Are you listening to what I’m saying?”
“Yes. I’m listening.”
If it had been her old self, she would have been fidgeting and watching Laura's reaction in this situation. The thing she feared most in the world was Byron being disappointed in her.
No, there may not have been any such thing as her moving slowly in the first place. Still, Laura could have found fault with her somehow and rebuked her.
Laura glared at Aila, who was acting differently than usual. It was a situation that Laura couldn't help but feel strange about.
A dog that was wagging its tail to keep an eye on its owner until yesterday might suddenly stop listening.
Yeah, dog.
To Byron, Aila was nothing more than a hunting dog. A hunting dog that was to be disposed of after the hunt was over. A fool who wags her tail without even knowing that her master was planning to get rid of her.
But now it was different. From now on, she would be a naughty puppy, waiting for an opportunity to bite her master's nape. Of course, on the outside, she would have to wag her tail like before.
Byron, until she figures out what that guy is and what his purpose is.
Every single action was too suspicious to be thought of as just assassinating a Duke. She didn't think much of it when she blindly trusted him, but now that she thinks about it, it was incredibly suspicious.
Even if they had launched a surprise attack while the Duke's family was distracted by Aila's birthday party, the fact that the attack on the Duke's family was successful was like that.
From what she has learned from living as a Princess for two years and studying the Dukedom, the Dukedom of Weishaffen is a stalwart protector of the Peles Empire, boasting a formidable army of knights and soldiers.
Although it wasn't as strong as the knights who stayed in the vast territory of the northern part of the empire, the mansion in the capital where she stayed boasted of great defense. Many knights were guarding the mansion, and each knight was very skilled.
But isn't it suspicious that a person who hides in the mountains and wanders around like a criminal has enough troops to break through that defense?
And there was something else that was suspicious.
Even though he lived in such a remote place, Byron always lived a luxurious life. Where on earth did he get so much money from?
Although she had no sense of finance when she was young and had no idea about it, after she was educated as a Princess in the Duke's household, she came to understand how expensive and expensive the things she wore, ate, and used were.
'There's definitely something. Something I don't know about.'
Aila clenched her fists as she thought about that.
As she followed Laura out of the old fortress, the sky was still dark. It seemed like the sun had barely risen yet.
Aila looked around, but all she could see was an endless expanse of dense forest and tall mountains.
When she thinks back to her childhood, it was always like this. She hid in the forest somewhere unknown, in an abandoned fortress or mountain house, and then every few months she would leave to find another place.
Even if Byron were to be killed right now, wouldn't it be difficult for a young child to even leave this forest, let alone the Duke's house?
Even if she rode a horse, it seemed like she would have to ride for a whole day to see the castle. It would have been impossible for her to do so since she couldn't ride a horse in the first place.
Thinking back now, it was really funny. Byron taught Aila many things to raise her as a human weapon, but he never taught her how to ride a horse.
It must have been to prevent her from running away. To keep her feet tied by his side.
In the first place, the past Aila had faith in Byron so much that she never once thought of running away.
'It's still morning, but it's a little hot. Is it summer?'
She looked for clues to deduce how old she was and what her current situation was. Her memory wasn't bad, but since she had lived in so many places with similar environments, it was difficult to tell what time it was just from her surroundings.
He looked to be around eleven or twelve years old, but it was impossible to tell for sure.
'I wish there was some kind of clue.'
It would probably not be a wrong guess that the season was around summer. The clothes Laura had prepared for her were light, and the water she used for washing was cold.
No matter how much Laura and her subordinates treated her, she never neglected food, clothing, or health.
That must have been to train her to be an assassin. If she didn't eat well, no matter how much she trained, she wouldn't be able to build a strong body. Taking care of her health must have been for the same reason.
“...Are you here, Miss?”
How long had she been walking while lost in thought? Aila was finally able to see a face she hadn't seen in a long time.
Her teacher and Byron's loyal shadow was Cloud.
To Cloud, it was a face he saw every day, but to Aila, who hadn't seen him in the two years she had been staying at the Duke's house, it was a face she hadn't seen in a long time.
Unlike Laura, who looked down on Aila, Cloud seemed to have treated her quite humanely, but that didn't mean she was happy to see him again after such a long time.
It was unclear how much Cloud knew, but in any case, wasn't he participating in deceiving and using her?
“You’re late. Did you sleep in at least a little?”
“...Sorry I’m late.”
Although her tone was not one of urgency, Aila couldn't arouse Laura and Cloud's suspicions any longer, so she hid her true feelings and apologized.
It was a time when the sky hadn't even fully brightened yet, so why were they saying it was so late?
Laura glared at the girl, apologizing with a dead face as if she knew she was going to get in trouble, then went back inside the fortress, saying she would help prepare the meal.
“I will only do physical training in the morning, as I have to eat with my master. I will do weapon training after dinner.”
Cloud spoke in a low, mumbling voice. It might have been nothing special to him, but it was a crucial clue to her.
'Training to handle weapons?'
Realizing something, she looked at her hands again. She had passed them over without a second thought earlier, but there were fresh wounds all over her small hands.
It was around the summer of her twelfth year that Aila, who had only been doing basic physical training, began handling weapons such as daggers and bows. She remembered that since it was her first time handling weapons, she suffered from wounds here and there.
Sometimes she gets bruised by the bowstring, and sometimes she gets cut by the sharp blade of a dagger.
It felt strange to look again at the wounds that had healed so long ago that not even a scar remained.
'So I'm twelve now?'
She was twelve years old. There were four years left until she entered the duke's household.
Four years seemed like such a long time for Aila, who wanted to return to her parents' arms and apologize for what she had done, but in a way, it might have been a good thing.
Because during that time, she just had to figure out what exactly Byron's plans were.
Aila clenched her bruised hands into fists.
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