The child, blushing and flustered and at a loss, was cute, but the maids who had made the child like that did not look kind.
'I'm saying it's okay for me to bully others, but I don't like it when someone else does it.'
"Get out."
"Yes?"
"Don't make me say it twice. Get out while I'm being nice. Right now!"
"Excuse me, Miss."
Startled by my cold expression and tone, the ladies-in-waiting hurriedly left the drawing room.
The door closed, and silence fell. The child remained with their head bowed, their face and ears still flushed bright red. At the edge of their gaze, cream-covered fingers were wiggling.
"Ha."
I saw the child flinch at the sound of my sigh. At that sight, I held back another sigh and reached for the cream-stained navy blue hair.
Shock!
Landt squeezed his eyes shut and curled up instantly. I was even more surprised by the child's sudden action.
I pulled the hand I was reaching out to the child back and watched quietly. The face was covered by both arms, curled up in a ball, trembling.
The body that was standing was revealing only one fact.
'Was I assaulted?'
I don't know how Landt has lived until now, but one thing is certain: it is by no means a good environment for a child.
"I mean, it's troublesome."
As I unconsciously tapped the table and muttered, I saw the child's body curl up even more. The face of Ttorong, who had been whimpering with his aching body curled up, overlapped with the child's figure.
‘It’s really difficult...'
"Ha."
In the end, I let out the sigh I had been holding back. I had no intention of forming deep relationships with others, but seeing this, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
'Well, having a child by my side probably won't change anything.'
Following my heart, I placed my hand on Landt's head. The child's trembling was transmitted through my palm. Waiting for his body to calm down, I slowly stroked his navy blue hair. The touch of his hair, as soft as silk, was not unpleasant.
"..."
I don't know how much time had passed, but the child's body was no longer trembling. I leaned down and whispered into the child's ear.
"Aren't you hungry?"
Growl.
A reply came as if it had been waiting for the perfect moment. I saw the tips of the child's ears turn red in an instant, just as they seemed to be calming down.
"Won't you lift your head up a little?"
As I whispered while patting his ear, which was like a bright red rose petal, the child buried his face even deeper between his knees.
"Oh dear, I'm not used to being rejected. If you don't show me your face, I might just leave. I might never come back here again."
As soon as I finished speaking, the child who had been curling up stopped moving.
“Should I just go?”
Doridori.
The child still didn't lift his head, but shook it vigorously. I already knew that he harbored goodwill toward me. Although Landt didn't approach me affectionately or welcome me, he never took his eyes off me whenever I visited the annex. His gentle dark brown eyes moved with delight at my appearance, as if following their master.
'Just like my puppy.'
I held the child's head with both hands and slowly lifted it. The child's face came up obediently, pulled by my strength.
"Ah."
"..."
Without knowing why, the child's small lips parted, following my lead. I dipped my finger in the cream on the child's cheek and put it into the gap.
"...!"
“Is it delicious?”
The dark brown eyes widened. I put a piece of cake covered in cream into the child's still-open mouth.
"...!"
The child covered their mouth with both hands, their eyes still wide open.
"Why, does it taste bad?"
Doridori.
“Then why are you covering your mouth?”
Instead of answering, Landt rolled his eyes and bowed his head low. Before the child bowed his head, he was seen glancing toward the closed door, as if wary of someone behind it.
"Landt."
The child lifted his head at my call. I sucked on my cream-stained finger as if to show off. Landt looked back and forth between me and the door with a pale face, as if someone were about to come in and scold him, even though, contrary to his worries, the door remained firmly closed.
“Shall I scold you?”
"..."
"You saw how they were scared and trembling at just one word from me, right?"
Confusion filled the dark brown eyes directed at me.
"If you want, I'll teach them a lesson. Shall I?"
I whispered as if a devil were tempting him. Landt shook his head with a tearful expression.
"Why? They laughed at you."
Landt's head spun violently, loud enough to make a buzzing sound.
"If they have done something wrong, they must be punished. Treating you badly here is a very big mistake."
"...Let’s dig it.”
"What?"
It was the first time hearing Landt's voice. Because of the memories from that time, I knew that Landt was not mute, but he had not opened his mouth even once since coming here.
“...It hurts.”
I embraced the child's trembling body. Dampness slowly soaked the front of the dress. The child's speech was slow and hesitant, but the meaning contained within it was etched into my heart.
"It hurts when I get scolded."
"...Okay, if you don't want to, I won't scold you."
I patted the child's small back as if stroking it.
"Landt is a good boy."
Landt's crying grew louder, as if a blocked dam had been released. There was a brief commotion outside the door, but no one entered the drawing room.
'I guess you think I'm bothering Landt.'
It didn't matter what they were thinking or what misunderstandings they had. My greatest concern right now was my embrace.
Because there was a child who cried bitterly.
Moreover, the child's tears provoked my anger.
'I guess I'll have to tidy things up soon.'
The fact that they blatantly ignored Landt even though I was with him was like saying that everyone in the mansion was ignoring the child.
'First of all, I need to take care of what my dog needs, but.'
"Pouring out all the pent-up feelings, my puppy."
My... puppy.
For the first time, something of mine came into existence here.
***
Squeak.
Amidst the suffocating silence, the sound of tea being poured rang out unusually loudly.
"Then, please have a conversation."
The butler, having placed the teacup in front of me and the Marquis with movements like a textbook model, stepped back behind the Marquis as if his job was done.
The Marquis raised his teacup without even giving me a glance.
'Since you are beautiful, even the way you drink tea looks like a painting.'
The plain white teacup looked as if it were a luxury item, matching the Marquis's navy blue hair very well.
'Ah! Since it is a teacup used by the Marquis's family, even though it looks plain, I wonder if it is a masterpiece?'
“What’s going on?”
As I sat there blankly lost in useless thoughts, the Marquis, who had set down his teacup before I knew it, was looking at me. Slightly upturned eyes, a smooth jawline like a sculpted statue, a prominent nose, and a mouth that seemed a bit thin yet exuded masculinity. Indeed, they say one cannot steal a seed; the Marquis's appearance in my memory was almost identical to Landt.
'This time, I absolutely must not raise it into a block of ice like that.'
At that time, Landt was even more blunt than the Marquis, if anything, never to the point of being utterly cold. The thought of those innocent, round, dark brown eyes turning so cold made me frown involuntarily.
"I asked what was wrong."
One of the Marquis's eyebrows went up.
I picked up the teacup on the table and gulped down the tea in one go. The hot water instantly traveled down my esophagus and warmed my stomach. The hot tea had the effect of instantly warming my chilled body.
Unlike the Marquis, who silently set down his teacup out of ingrained etiquette, I slammed my teacup down with a loud bang.
"I need a teacher."
The Marquis's eyebrows twitched again. He took his eyes off me and looked at the butler standing behind him.
"You already have many teachers, including those for etiquette and refinement, as well as history, mathematics, and theology."
As the butler said, I had many teachers attached to me.
'If the problem is that they don't pay a single ear to the teachers' lessons, then that is the problem.'
Compared to the many tutors he assigned me of various kinds, the Marquis was not very interested in my education.
"Well, I mean, what interest would they have had in me anyway?'
Even though they had been invited as a teacher, no one dared to treat me, the Marquis's daughter, disrespectfully. Most teachers were busy just watching my every move, and even the ones who were passionate were wary of my self-centeredness.
They got fed up with the behavior and left on their own or were forcibly kicked out by me.
'In short, it means there are no proper teachers.'
The Marquis looked at me at the butler's answer. There was still no emotion on his face. I couldn't tell what the Marquis was thinking, but at least I didn't think he would refuse my request.
Before I knew it, the teacups of the Marquis and myself, which had been empty in the seasoned butler's ink, were filled with tea. Unlike just moments ago, I lifted my cup with a polite gesture and savored the aroma of the tea.
"As the best teacher in each field."
“Why?”
"I'm planning to give him some training."
The Marquis, who had been lifting his teacup, stopped moving and looked at me. I could see a slight look of bewilderment settling in his blue eyes.
He put down the teacup and watched me. Feeling his piercing gaze, I took a sip of the tea.
“Who do you mean?”
“Landt.”
The butler, who had been standing quietly behind the Marquis, flinched, and a slight crack appeared between the Marquis's eyebrows.
"What are you thinking?"
"We literally need the best teachers to educate Landt."
He stared intently at me with an unreadable look in his eyes. I met his gaze without avoiding it.
"Also, please fire all his teachers."
The furrow between his eyebrows deepened. I silently set down the teacup with movements that did not deviate even slightly from etiquette. As if the years I had lived as Empress had not been in vain, my movements were as elegant and natural as flowing water, despite my young body.
"I trust that you will grant my request."
I was done saying everything I had to say. The Marquis remained silent, as if deep in thought. I quietly rose and pressed myself against the door.
“Why?”
I stopped walking with my back turned at the Marquis's question.
"Why are you interested in that child?"
When I turned around, his blue eyes were staring straight at me.
“Because it’s mine.”
"... What?"
The Marquis frowned as if he couldn't understand. I smiled broadly at him.
"I cannot stand seeing my dog being ignored by anyone. So, I intend to make him the best. Please cooperate."
I intended to make Landt the Marquis of Elliot. To that end, investing lavishly was only natural. Although he is still a young and cute puppy now, one day my puppy will become a powerful beast that no one can easily see. And the Elliot family would become the beast's wings.
The thought of raising my puppy into a beast already gave me a thrill. Enough to make me smile just from the imagination.
'Yeah, since I’ve been given a second chance at life anyway, I can do whatever I want with at least one thing, right? As for it becoming my puppy, well, that’s just Landt’s fate.'
Of course, before that, I’ll have to brainwash him into saying, "You are the sky."
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