My hasty steps made me almost stumble several times as I crossed the front yard.
“Jean!”
“Hello, Vania.”
Jean said as he got off the horse's stable.
“Just as you said, there was a carriage that came all the way to the outskirts of town. I asked the people getting off where they were going, and they said it was Belzer...”
He added softly in my ear.
“But there were three people?”
"Yes?"
Jean opened the carriage door.
The first to get off was a middle-aged woman.
“Oh my god! Emma?”
“Miss Vania!”
Emma was the head maid at Windsor Castle and our nanny when we were children.
If Emma had come with us...
“Ralph!”
“I hope you are doing well, Miss.”
Ralph, his eyes reddening, followed suit.
Ralph was a butler at Windsor Castle and was married to Emma.
'That's ridiculous! I didn't know my father would send two of them!'
I held back a scream of joy.
Lastly.
“Alex...”
Finally, the kid got off.
Golden eyes as gentle as a puppy's. Dark red curly hair.
It was a face more familiar to me than anyone else.
I ran to Alex, whose eyes were swollen, as if he had been crying on the way here, and hugged him without thinking.
“Welcome. Welcome, Alex. I really missed you...”
“Sister...”
He must be heartbroken. The father he'd longed to see his entire life was found incompetent, and he'd been brutally kicked out without a single kind word.
You must have come to Belzer in a panic, not knowing where or how to live in the future...
I held Alex's cheek and looked at him.
He hadn't changed, but in the half year since I last saw him, he had grown about a hand taller than me.
“Sister, I... My father, my father told me to go out...”
"Yeah, it's okay. Don't worry anymore, Alex. You can live here with your sister, just like we did at Windsor Castle. We'll build snowmen and eat delicious food."
I put the red scarf I had brought with me around Alex's neck.
“It’s late, but happy birthday.”
“Sister...”
Phut-!
At that moment, we were startled by the sound of small firecrackers.
When I looked back, they were all there.
It was Kali who set off firecrackers out of nowhere.
“Well, I’m sorry if I surprised you.”
Kali said, looking a little embarrassed.
"My name is Kali. I'm Miss Vania's escort. Since you're also my employer's son, I'll be assisting you as well. Please take good care of me."
“...Yes, yes? Ah, yes. I, I also ask you to take good care of me.”
When Alex looked flustered, Ryan sent me behind and stood in front of him.
“Alexander?”
Startled by his imposing size, Alex immediately cowered like a frightened puppy.
“Yes, yes...”
"Yes, nice to meet you. My name is Ryan Belzer. Now listen carefully."
Ryan touched the corner of his mouth and began to speak.
“Alexander, you, Flora’s...”
“Clara, Ryan.”
Merchen immediately corrected him from the side.
“...Ah, that’s right. Clara. Clara’s son. Clara is my lover, five years older than me. Vania is my daughter and Clara’s.”
“...”
"Clara gave birth to Vania while I was in prison. It breaks my heart that I couldn't be there for her as she struggled to give birth alone..."
I immediately covered my mouth. It was so funny how they added so much unnecessary detail.
"But our generous father, Duke Edgar Wassenberg, seems to have taken care of Clara in my stead while I was in prison. That's how Vania came to live at Windsor Castle."
"Ah..."
Alex looked at me, unsure if I was teasing him or telling the truth.
“But Clara, whom I thought would wait for me, surprisingly met another man and had a child with him. That child is you, Alexander.”
"Yes?!"
"You look like Clara. She was also a redhead. Anyway, Clara gave birth to you and disappeared somewhere, but my father, the Duke of Wassenberg, is a generous man, as I mentioned before, and has allowed you to live at Windsor Castle ever since. Do you get the gist of it?"
“...”
Alex looked at me again.
I told him to just nod with my eyes, and Alex understood and replied with a small “yes.”
"You're not my son, but you are the son of my beloved Clara. And since you're said to have a deep bond with Vania, I've decided to take you in, even though you have no place to go. From today on, you can call me 'Dad.' That's it."
Ryan, who had been neatly organized, immediately turned to the side and added.
"You heard what I said earlier, right? You two can now go back the way you came."
To Nanny Emma and Butler Ralph.
"My house is off-limits to outsiders. Especially those from Wassenberg."
I wondered why he had gone on and on about that damn Clara, but it seems he thought Emma and Ralph would somehow get word to our father.
“...Prince Ryan, is that right?”
Ralph, who had been flustered, stepped forward.
"My husband and I have resigned from our positions at Windsor Castle, as there are no more people left. We came here to continue serving Prince Alexander..."
“Yeah, you don’t need to take care of him. I’ll take care of him from now on, so you can go out.”
Despite Ralph's words, Ryan just waved his hand coldly.
In the meantime, Alex began to wonder if the two of them would really be kicked out.
'Actually... Ryan's reaction like this is, well, natural.'
If he's a Windsor Castle servant, he must be someone from Wassenberg, hired by his father.
They could be his father's puppets, but how could Ryan, who must secretly prepare revenge, trust them?
But.
"Dad! Emma and Ralph care about Alex very much. Trust me, and let's stay together at Belzer."
“...?”
As I said that, Ryan looked at me quietly with a frown.
You want to bring outsiders, especially Wassenberg employees, here? Are you serious?
...he seemed to be asking with his eyes, so I nodded vigorously.
“Well, yeah. I changed my mind in a second.”
Ryan immediately told Emma and Ralph.
“I will hire you two from today.”
Alex came to our house.
Alex cried when he saw the living room decorated like Windsor Castle for a welcome party.
“Sister, thank you so much...”
"What? Let's unpack, come down, light the candles on the cake, sing a song, and then open the presents. Besides the scarf I gave you, there are a ton of other presents, right? We all prepared one each while waiting for you to come."
I hugged Alex tightly as he cried. He held me close, glancing at Emma and Ralph.
It seemed that Ryan was aware of the two people, as he hadn't welcomed them.
“I, Sister. Emma and Ralph...”
"Yes."
I asked Ralph.
“Did the Duke send you two? To look after Alex?”
Of course not, but I'll ask anyway.
“...He didn't give us any direct instructions. In fact, I believe it was Prince Richard who helped us go with Master Alex.”
Well then, that's true. A man like my father would never have been so considerate.
As expected, Emma and Ralph were able to come together thanks to Richard, who had been a great help to me when I escaped.
I think he asked his father to send Alex with a guardian.
"I didn't know you two would come together, so I didn't prepare anything. For now, you can use any room on the third floor. We're currently renovating some nearby houses. Once they're finished, you can stay there."
“Ah... thank you so much, miss.”
Emma looked at me with a fond smile.
'Ah.'
Before the regression, I was too young to notice... a motherly gaze.
It was only then that I felt like an idiot.
I was so worried about Alex that I didn't even think about the other two.
I swallowed my tears and smiled at Emma.
"Emma, I've been very grateful to Windsor Castle for all your help so far. And I ask for your continued support here."
Emma and Ralph thanked Ryan, who was next to me, and then went up with Alex.
As soon as the three of them went up, Ryan dragged me outside.
“Ugh.”
“Hey, bunny. Is that real?”
“Emma and Ralph?”
"Yes!"
Ryan seemed confused, even though he had already decided to accept both of them.
“Even if Alexander is like that, those two weren’t in my plans?”
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t know those two would come either.”
"You want me to accept people who have a history of hiring my father? He's not even their own son, but they followed Alexander here. Doesn't that stink?"
“What does it smell like?”
“While I’m dealing with the incompetent, I think they were ordered to follow him and report on what Ryan the bastard is doing!”
"Oh, come on, stop worrying. Sorry, but Dad isn't... um, that kind of person you need to be wary of..."
“Jean!”
“Hello, Vania.”
Jean said as he got off the horse's stable.
“Just as you said, there was a carriage that came all the way to the outskirts of town. I asked the people getting off where they were going, and they said it was Belzer...”
He added softly in my ear.
“But there were three people?”
"Yes?"
Jean opened the carriage door.
The first to get off was a middle-aged woman.
“Oh my god! Emma?”
“Miss Vania!”
Emma was the head maid at Windsor Castle and our nanny when we were children.
If Emma had come with us...
“Ralph!”
“I hope you are doing well, Miss.”
Ralph, his eyes reddening, followed suit.
Ralph was a butler at Windsor Castle and was married to Emma.
'That's ridiculous! I didn't know my father would send two of them!'
I held back a scream of joy.
Lastly.
“Alex...”
Finally, the kid got off.
Golden eyes as gentle as a puppy's. Dark red curly hair.
It was a face more familiar to me than anyone else.
I ran to Alex, whose eyes were swollen, as if he had been crying on the way here, and hugged him without thinking.
“Welcome. Welcome, Alex. I really missed you...”
“Sister...”
He must be heartbroken. The father he'd longed to see his entire life was found incompetent, and he'd been brutally kicked out without a single kind word.
You must have come to Belzer in a panic, not knowing where or how to live in the future...
I held Alex's cheek and looked at him.
He hadn't changed, but in the half year since I last saw him, he had grown about a hand taller than me.
“Sister, I... My father, my father told me to go out...”
"Yeah, it's okay. Don't worry anymore, Alex. You can live here with your sister, just like we did at Windsor Castle. We'll build snowmen and eat delicious food."
I put the red scarf I had brought with me around Alex's neck.
“It’s late, but happy birthday.”
“Sister...”
Phut-!
At that moment, we were startled by the sound of small firecrackers.
When I looked back, they were all there.
It was Kali who set off firecrackers out of nowhere.
“Well, I’m sorry if I surprised you.”
Kali said, looking a little embarrassed.
"My name is Kali. I'm Miss Vania's escort. Since you're also my employer's son, I'll be assisting you as well. Please take good care of me."
“...Yes, yes? Ah, yes. I, I also ask you to take good care of me.”
When Alex looked flustered, Ryan sent me behind and stood in front of him.
“Alexander?”
Startled by his imposing size, Alex immediately cowered like a frightened puppy.
“Yes, yes...”
"Yes, nice to meet you. My name is Ryan Belzer. Now listen carefully."
Ryan touched the corner of his mouth and began to speak.
“Alexander, you, Flora’s...”
“Clara, Ryan.”
Merchen immediately corrected him from the side.
“...Ah, that’s right. Clara. Clara’s son. Clara is my lover, five years older than me. Vania is my daughter and Clara’s.”
“...”
"Clara gave birth to Vania while I was in prison. It breaks my heart that I couldn't be there for her as she struggled to give birth alone..."
I immediately covered my mouth. It was so funny how they added so much unnecessary detail.
"But our generous father, Duke Edgar Wassenberg, seems to have taken care of Clara in my stead while I was in prison. That's how Vania came to live at Windsor Castle."
"Ah..."
Alex looked at me, unsure if I was teasing him or telling the truth.
“But Clara, whom I thought would wait for me, surprisingly met another man and had a child with him. That child is you, Alexander.”
"Yes?!"
"You look like Clara. She was also a redhead. Anyway, Clara gave birth to you and disappeared somewhere, but my father, the Duke of Wassenberg, is a generous man, as I mentioned before, and has allowed you to live at Windsor Castle ever since. Do you get the gist of it?"
“...”
Alex looked at me again.
I told him to just nod with my eyes, and Alex understood and replied with a small “yes.”
"You're not my son, but you are the son of my beloved Clara. And since you're said to have a deep bond with Vania, I've decided to take you in, even though you have no place to go. From today on, you can call me 'Dad.' That's it."
Ryan, who had been neatly organized, immediately turned to the side and added.
"You heard what I said earlier, right? You two can now go back the way you came."
To Nanny Emma and Butler Ralph.
"My house is off-limits to outsiders. Especially those from Wassenberg."
I wondered why he had gone on and on about that damn Clara, but it seems he thought Emma and Ralph would somehow get word to our father.
“...Prince Ryan, is that right?”
Ralph, who had been flustered, stepped forward.
"My husband and I have resigned from our positions at Windsor Castle, as there are no more people left. We came here to continue serving Prince Alexander..."
“Yeah, you don’t need to take care of him. I’ll take care of him from now on, so you can go out.”
Despite Ralph's words, Ryan just waved his hand coldly.
In the meantime, Alex began to wonder if the two of them would really be kicked out.
'Actually... Ryan's reaction like this is, well, natural.'
If he's a Windsor Castle servant, he must be someone from Wassenberg, hired by his father.
They could be his father's puppets, but how could Ryan, who must secretly prepare revenge, trust them?
But.
"Dad! Emma and Ralph care about Alex very much. Trust me, and let's stay together at Belzer."
“...?”
As I said that, Ryan looked at me quietly with a frown.
You want to bring outsiders, especially Wassenberg employees, here? Are you serious?
...he seemed to be asking with his eyes, so I nodded vigorously.
“Well, yeah. I changed my mind in a second.”
Ryan immediately told Emma and Ralph.
“I will hire you two from today.”
***
Alex came to our house.
Alex cried when he saw the living room decorated like Windsor Castle for a welcome party.
“Sister, thank you so much...”
"What? Let's unpack, come down, light the candles on the cake, sing a song, and then open the presents. Besides the scarf I gave you, there are a ton of other presents, right? We all prepared one each while waiting for you to come."
I hugged Alex tightly as he cried. He held me close, glancing at Emma and Ralph.
It seemed that Ryan was aware of the two people, as he hadn't welcomed them.
“I, Sister. Emma and Ralph...”
"Yes."
I asked Ralph.
“Did the Duke send you two? To look after Alex?”
Of course not, but I'll ask anyway.
“...He didn't give us any direct instructions. In fact, I believe it was Prince Richard who helped us go with Master Alex.”
Well then, that's true. A man like my father would never have been so considerate.
As expected, Emma and Ralph were able to come together thanks to Richard, who had been a great help to me when I escaped.
I think he asked his father to send Alex with a guardian.
"I didn't know you two would come together, so I didn't prepare anything. For now, you can use any room on the third floor. We're currently renovating some nearby houses. Once they're finished, you can stay there."
“Ah... thank you so much, miss.”
Emma looked at me with a fond smile.
'Ah.'
Before the regression, I was too young to notice... a motherly gaze.
It was only then that I felt like an idiot.
I was so worried about Alex that I didn't even think about the other two.
I swallowed my tears and smiled at Emma.
"Emma, I've been very grateful to Windsor Castle for all your help so far. And I ask for your continued support here."
Emma and Ralph thanked Ryan, who was next to me, and then went up with Alex.
As soon as the three of them went up, Ryan dragged me outside.
“Ugh.”
“Hey, bunny. Is that real?”
“Emma and Ralph?”
"Yes!"
Ryan seemed confused, even though he had already decided to accept both of them.
“Even if Alexander is like that, those two weren’t in my plans?”
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t know those two would come either.”
"You want me to accept people who have a history of hiring my father? He's not even their own son, but they followed Alexander here. Doesn't that stink?"
“What does it smell like?”
“While I’m dealing with the incompetent, I think they were ordered to follow him and report on what Ryan the bastard is doing!”
"Oh, come on, stop worrying. Sorry, but Dad isn't... um, that kind of person you need to be wary of..."
“This?! ...No, aren’t you worried about those people?”
"Yes."
“...”
Ryan was silent for a moment, watching me speak without a doubt.
Then he said.
“...There must be a reason why you trust them, right?”
"Of course."
I looked up at the third floor of the mansion, where Alex, Emma, and Ralph were.
Even so, why would you trust people who have worked at Windsor Castle their entire lives?
I can't help but believe it.
“I wish you could tell me something more... something I can be sure of.”
Ryan asked indirectly, perhaps feeling uneasy. I understood his anxiety, so I struggled to figure out how to respond.
“Uhhh. So that’s…...”
Emma Hughes. And Ralph Hughes.
I have a trust that was proven with my "lives" before their return. In fact, the two of them should have already "been dead."
'Ugh. Let me say it in as roundabout a way as possible!'
“Just looking at those two faces, it looks like they would die for Alex.”
“...”
Silence.
Ryan blinked at me for about three seconds.
And said.
“Yes. It’s cold. Let’s go in.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
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