"Huh? No, it's okay. I don't care. That's how you feel, so why are you worrying about me? You don't have to."
Winfred shrugged. It didn't bother him at all, and he felt bad that Aila felt sorry for him.
"Actually, I'm worried too. I'm the one who helped you. So, it's okay to do whatever you want. If you want to worry, worry. If you want to get angry, get angry. Oh, but I hope you don't stay sad for too long or too much. If you do, I think I'll get sad too."
He smiled brightly and expressed his true feelings.
“You really are...”
Aila smiled faintly, as if she couldn't stop herself.
Winfred asked with an impatient expression, as if he couldn't stand to wonder what she had swallowed.
“Really? Why are you stopping talking?”
“...It’s nothing.”
She turned her head back out the window with a stern expression.
“...”
Winfred closed his mouth with a sullen expression. He was curious, but he didn't want to force Ayla to tell him what she didn't want to say.
'Judging by your expression, it doesn't seem like you meant to say anything bad.'
As he tried to interpret Aila's silence in the most positive way possible, the carriage they were riding in arrived at the quiet village safe house where Scott and Debbie were staying.
When Aila took Winfred's hand and got out of the carriage, a couple with anxious faces were waiting in the yard.
They had been waiting for her long before she arrived, having heard that she was coming.
"Ma'am, sir! How have you been? I'm so glad to see you're in good health."
Aila rushed towards them, her heart full of joy, but the couple seemed to be hesitant for some reason. Having learned of her noble birth, they seemed unsure of how to treat her.
"Can't you just treat me like you used to? I'm upset that you two seem uncomfortable with me."
As Aila said this in a sad voice, Scott and Debbie exchanged glances for a moment, then smiled comfortably and hugged her.
"It's been a while, Aila. I heard you found your parents. I'm so happy."
“Yes, it’s late, but congratulations. You look much better.”
They smiled warmly and exchanged greetings.
“Come in and let’s talk comfortably. I’ll wait outside.”
“...Yeah, thank you.”
As Winfred quickly moved aside, Aila entered the building with the couple.
Perhaps because they had been living here for over a year, the couple's hands were present everywhere in the house.
The neat and warm atmosphere was exactly like the couple's cabin.
“Are you... Okay now? Who is that woman who lied about being your mother, and what happened?”
Scott asked cautiously, watching Aila's expression. He hadn't heard any explanations for months of staying here.
Aila looked at the couple with kind eyes, then sighed and began to speak.
The story of how the man she believed to be her biological father was actually a traitor. And yet, despite knowing this, she had to pretend not to know to safely return to her biological parents.
And the couple's eyes widened as they heard her story.
It was hard to believe that a child of only fifteen had endured more suffering than they had endured in their half-century of life.
“How can there be such bad guys!”
“We lived our lives isolated from the world, not even knowing that such things were happening in the world.”
Scott, who sympathized with Aila's sorrow and was furious at Byron's evil deeds, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Now that you said you caught him, I guess we can leave now.”
For him, who had lived all over the mountains, hiding for safety was very frustrating.
“Oh, yes. By the way... Where are you going?”
Aila asked with a vaguely apologetic voice. She felt ashamed, as if the land she had cultivated for decades had been reduced to ashes because of her.
“Well, I could go back to where I was and build a new house... or maybe I could go somewhere completely different.”
In response to Aila's question, Debbie exchanged glances with her husband and answered. While hiding here, she had been discussing her future plans.
“I... actually.”
Aila began the story cautiously.
"We need a live-in caretaker for our villa. If it's okay with you two, how about staying there? It's a quiet place, so it'll be perfect for the two of you."
“Caretaker? Are you talking about us?”
The couple looked startled by her suggestion. They had never even considered working for a noble family.
Of course, this wasn't really a job offer.
It was a way to provide a comfortable place for two elderly people who had lost their way because of Byron.
She made the excuse that there was a caretaker because she was afraid that a good couple would feel burdened if she gave them the house without any compensation.
"It's not that difficult. Since you're a carpenter, I think you'll be good at managing the facility. If you two were there, I'd be able to visit you more often, which would be nice..."
“...Is that so? Then is that so?”
The couple exchanged glances, perhaps intrigued by her frequent visits. It seemed like they weren't planning on rejecting her outright.
“Please think positively. It's okay if you don't decide right now.”
Aila said with a big smile.
Inside the carriage, returning after talking with the couple.
Winfred glanced at Aila's face, which seemed to be in a much better mood.
“...Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s... Huh, I was wondering if you had anything to say to me.”
When she asked him in a fresh voice, reading that he was expecting something from his gaze, Winfred stuttered in embarrassment.
“What do you want to say?”
“No, I’m not rushing you... You said you’d tell me before. How did you know about the couple’s situation in advance and ask me to do it?”
Aila couldn't help but chuckle, feeling cute as she fumbled around, worried that she might feel burdened.
“Well, a promise is a promise, so... I’ll tell you next time we meet.”
When she wiped her smile and spoke with a haughty expression, joy spread across Winfred's face. He knew he would soon learn Aila's secret.
Exactly two days later. In just two days, a banquet for the Duke's family was scheduled to be held at the palace.
“Hey guys, hey guys! Did you hear that?”
“What is it, what is it? Is there something interesting going on?”
As the famous maid, known for her intelligence, entered the dressing room, making a fuss, the palace maids who were preparing to leave work gathered around her in twos and threes.
Among the group was Binka, who had been lost in thought with a gloomy expression just a moment ago.
His father's order to 'poison all the members of the royal family and the dukedom' made him feel complicated, but he still couldn't get caught up in something like this.
Could it be that the body of the maid she killed and hid yesterday was discovered?
Even if that wasn't the case, if there was any new news, it wouldn't hurt to listen to it.
When her colleagues gathered around her, urged her to speak quickly, the maid, who seemed to enjoy the attention, began to speak with a meaningful expression.
"Why, His Highness the Crown Prince went out secretly yesterday. Do you know where he went?"
"How would we know? He's been out like that a few times before. It doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary."
"Oh, listen to me, please. I told you His Highness went straight to the Duke of Weishaffen. And then he and the Princess went out alone and had a nice time!"
The employees of the Crown Prince's Palace began to gossip about the new news brought by their colleagues.
“Oh my, really? His Highness sent her a lot of gifts before.”
"Not only that, there's a dinner tomorrow that all the Dukes will be attending, right? Surely that dinner isn't actually... some kind of meeting, right?"
"Oh my goodness, if that's really the case, then the Princess will become the Crown Princess? It's like a fairy tale!"
A Princess who was kidnapped as a child and raised in the mountains without knowing who her biological parents were, not only meets her parents again after going through hardships and adversity, but also wins the love of the 'Crown Prince'.
Among her colleagues who were ecstatic over the dreamlike story, Binka was paying attention to a different story.
“Dinner? What are you talking about?”
"You didn't know? Well, it's understandable you wouldn't. You've been taking a lot of vacations lately, and even while at work, you've been distracted by other things. The entire palace is in a frenzy, preparing for tomorrow's banquet. I heard His Majesty the Emperor has invited the entire family to congratulate the Duke of Weishaffen for his great contribution to capturing the traitor."
Binka bit her fingernails with an anxious expression at the maid's answer.
A dinner gathering of the Emperor's family and even members of the Duke of Weishaffen. If this isn't the "opportunity" she told her father about, then what is?
In fact, she may have hoped that 'opportunity' would never come.
Assassinating the Emperor? And doing it alone, with no one to help? Is that even possible?
Binka was scared. If she abandoned her father and left the empire like this, she wondered if she could somehow survive.
But...
'...I don't feel like giving up just like this. My position was taken by that idiot, Winfred or whatever.'
A surge of resentment welled up deep within her heart.
Winfred shrugged. It didn't bother him at all, and he felt bad that Aila felt sorry for him.
"Actually, I'm worried too. I'm the one who helped you. So, it's okay to do whatever you want. If you want to worry, worry. If you want to get angry, get angry. Oh, but I hope you don't stay sad for too long or too much. If you do, I think I'll get sad too."
He smiled brightly and expressed his true feelings.
“You really are...”
Aila smiled faintly, as if she couldn't stop herself.
Winfred asked with an impatient expression, as if he couldn't stand to wonder what she had swallowed.
“Really? Why are you stopping talking?”
“...It’s nothing.”
She turned her head back out the window with a stern expression.
“...”
Winfred closed his mouth with a sullen expression. He was curious, but he didn't want to force Ayla to tell him what she didn't want to say.
'Judging by your expression, it doesn't seem like you meant to say anything bad.'
As he tried to interpret Aila's silence in the most positive way possible, the carriage they were riding in arrived at the quiet village safe house where Scott and Debbie were staying.
When Aila took Winfred's hand and got out of the carriage, a couple with anxious faces were waiting in the yard.
They had been waiting for her long before she arrived, having heard that she was coming.
"Ma'am, sir! How have you been? I'm so glad to see you're in good health."
Aila rushed towards them, her heart full of joy, but the couple seemed to be hesitant for some reason. Having learned of her noble birth, they seemed unsure of how to treat her.
"Can't you just treat me like you used to? I'm upset that you two seem uncomfortable with me."
As Aila said this in a sad voice, Scott and Debbie exchanged glances for a moment, then smiled comfortably and hugged her.
"It's been a while, Aila. I heard you found your parents. I'm so happy."
“Yes, it’s late, but congratulations. You look much better.”
They smiled warmly and exchanged greetings.
“Come in and let’s talk comfortably. I’ll wait outside.”
“...Yeah, thank you.”
As Winfred quickly moved aside, Aila entered the building with the couple.
Perhaps because they had been living here for over a year, the couple's hands were present everywhere in the house.
The neat and warm atmosphere was exactly like the couple's cabin.
“Are you... Okay now? Who is that woman who lied about being your mother, and what happened?”
Scott asked cautiously, watching Aila's expression. He hadn't heard any explanations for months of staying here.
Aila looked at the couple with kind eyes, then sighed and began to speak.
The story of how the man she believed to be her biological father was actually a traitor. And yet, despite knowing this, she had to pretend not to know to safely return to her biological parents.
And the couple's eyes widened as they heard her story.
It was hard to believe that a child of only fifteen had endured more suffering than they had endured in their half-century of life.
“How can there be such bad guys!”
“We lived our lives isolated from the world, not even knowing that such things were happening in the world.”
Scott, who sympathized with Aila's sorrow and was furious at Byron's evil deeds, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Now that you said you caught him, I guess we can leave now.”
For him, who had lived all over the mountains, hiding for safety was very frustrating.
“Oh, yes. By the way... Where are you going?”
Aila asked with a vaguely apologetic voice. She felt ashamed, as if the land she had cultivated for decades had been reduced to ashes because of her.
“Well, I could go back to where I was and build a new house... or maybe I could go somewhere completely different.”
In response to Aila's question, Debbie exchanged glances with her husband and answered. While hiding here, she had been discussing her future plans.
“I... actually.”
Aila began the story cautiously.
"We need a live-in caretaker for our villa. If it's okay with you two, how about staying there? It's a quiet place, so it'll be perfect for the two of you."
“Caretaker? Are you talking about us?”
The couple looked startled by her suggestion. They had never even considered working for a noble family.
Of course, this wasn't really a job offer.
It was a way to provide a comfortable place for two elderly people who had lost their way because of Byron.
She made the excuse that there was a caretaker because she was afraid that a good couple would feel burdened if she gave them the house without any compensation.
"It's not that difficult. Since you're a carpenter, I think you'll be good at managing the facility. If you two were there, I'd be able to visit you more often, which would be nice..."
“...Is that so? Then is that so?”
The couple exchanged glances, perhaps intrigued by her frequent visits. It seemed like they weren't planning on rejecting her outright.
“Please think positively. It's okay if you don't decide right now.”
Aila said with a big smile.
Inside the carriage, returning after talking with the couple.
Winfred glanced at Aila's face, which seemed to be in a much better mood.
“...Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s... Huh, I was wondering if you had anything to say to me.”
When she asked him in a fresh voice, reading that he was expecting something from his gaze, Winfred stuttered in embarrassment.
“What do you want to say?”
“No, I’m not rushing you... You said you’d tell me before. How did you know about the couple’s situation in advance and ask me to do it?”
Aila couldn't help but chuckle, feeling cute as she fumbled around, worried that she might feel burdened.
“Well, a promise is a promise, so... I’ll tell you next time we meet.”
When she wiped her smile and spoke with a haughty expression, joy spread across Winfred's face. He knew he would soon learn Aila's secret.
Exactly two days later. In just two days, a banquet for the Duke's family was scheduled to be held at the palace.
***
“Hey guys, hey guys! Did you hear that?”
“What is it, what is it? Is there something interesting going on?”
As the famous maid, known for her intelligence, entered the dressing room, making a fuss, the palace maids who were preparing to leave work gathered around her in twos and threes.
Among the group was Binka, who had been lost in thought with a gloomy expression just a moment ago.
His father's order to 'poison all the members of the royal family and the dukedom' made him feel complicated, but he still couldn't get caught up in something like this.
Could it be that the body of the maid she killed and hid yesterday was discovered?
Even if that wasn't the case, if there was any new news, it wouldn't hurt to listen to it.
When her colleagues gathered around her, urged her to speak quickly, the maid, who seemed to enjoy the attention, began to speak with a meaningful expression.
"Why, His Highness the Crown Prince went out secretly yesterday. Do you know where he went?"
"How would we know? He's been out like that a few times before. It doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary."
"Oh, listen to me, please. I told you His Highness went straight to the Duke of Weishaffen. And then he and the Princess went out alone and had a nice time!"
The employees of the Crown Prince's Palace began to gossip about the new news brought by their colleagues.
“Oh my, really? His Highness sent her a lot of gifts before.”
"Not only that, there's a dinner tomorrow that all the Dukes will be attending, right? Surely that dinner isn't actually... some kind of meeting, right?"
"Oh my goodness, if that's really the case, then the Princess will become the Crown Princess? It's like a fairy tale!"
A Princess who was kidnapped as a child and raised in the mountains without knowing who her biological parents were, not only meets her parents again after going through hardships and adversity, but also wins the love of the 'Crown Prince'.
Among her colleagues who were ecstatic over the dreamlike story, Binka was paying attention to a different story.
“Dinner? What are you talking about?”
"You didn't know? Well, it's understandable you wouldn't. You've been taking a lot of vacations lately, and even while at work, you've been distracted by other things. The entire palace is in a frenzy, preparing for tomorrow's banquet. I heard His Majesty the Emperor has invited the entire family to congratulate the Duke of Weishaffen for his great contribution to capturing the traitor."
Binka bit her fingernails with an anxious expression at the maid's answer.
A dinner gathering of the Emperor's family and even members of the Duke of Weishaffen. If this isn't the "opportunity" she told her father about, then what is?
In fact, she may have hoped that 'opportunity' would never come.
Assassinating the Emperor? And doing it alone, with no one to help? Is that even possible?
Binka was scared. If she abandoned her father and left the empire like this, she wondered if she could somehow survive.
But...
'...I don't feel like giving up just like this. My position was taken by that idiot, Winfred or whatever.'
A surge of resentment welled up deep within her heart.
Comments
Post a Comment