Chapter 8
I felt like my breath had stopped.
‘Liz’s’ age was eight years old.
But the child in my arms looked, at best, only about seven years old.
“……”
Rachel pulled the child close with trembling hands.
Humans were truly fragile and pitiful.
The way they struggled to live, desperately trying to satisfy their countless desires, was so insignificant yet strangely adorable.
Liz’s magic power inside her heart violently shook with anger.
Saintess. But what is so easy for you?
Why can you have everything so easily without ever having to desperately crave something ugly and disgusting?
That warm affection I have never experienced.
That comfort and peace I have never felt in my entire life.
Rachel put the child down from her arms and slowly bent her knees to meet her eyes.
Those blue eyes, the same color as hers, were quiet and empty like a forest covered in deep shadows.
Just like that man.
Like the Grand Duke Lexerville.
……What kind of time have you endured here?
Feeling a pain in one corner of her heart, she opened her trembling lips.
“Hel…lo?”
At her greeting, the child slowly reacted as if waking up from sleep.
“Same… as me……”
Was she curious?
Liz grabbed Rachel’s hair with her tiny hand, then quickly let go.
“Yes. It’s the same silver hair as yours.”
Rachel gently placed her hair back into Liz’s hand.
“My hands are dirty……”
“It’s okay. You can touch it as much as you want.”
Your hands are not dirty.
The ones who are dirty are the adults who forced you to live like this.
“Just try crawling back into this house! I won’t let you off!”
A large woman angrily threw something outside.
Bang!
What fell onto the ground were only a few pieces of clothing, and even those were old and worn out.
The woman, breathing heavily as she tried to calm her anger, noticed Rachel and the knights surrounding her.
Her face instantly turned pale.
“W-Who are you?”
“……Me?”
Rachel slowly stood up.
Then, with a cold expression, she opened her lips.
“Her older sister.”
Eight years ago, on a spring night.
A baby wrapped in a thick and warm blanket was abandoned in front of a house.
Inside the blanket was a bundle of money and a small note.
The child’s name was Liz.
The note contained a request:
Please raise her well. I will continue sending money, so please keep her healthy.
Inside the baby’s arms was an amount of money that Anze could not earn even by working for an entire month.
Blinded by money, she raised Liz for eight years with some effort.
She did not know whose child she was, but she believed she was definitely the illegitimate child of a wealthy family.
However, it had already been half a year since the amount of money that regularly arrived started decreasing.
And even that money had stopped two months ago.
Anze thought there was no longer any reason to take care of that ‘unpleasant child.’
She thought that was the end of it……
“Her older sister.”
A woman who looked exactly like what Liz would become when she grew up suddenly appeared.
And she even brought knights wearing shining armor with her.
Anze’s mouth went completely dry.
She was not simply the child of a rich family.
She was not an ordinary child.
Even someone ignorant and uneducated could understand.
The status of someone who could bring knights with them was obvious.
“……I was going to thank you for taking care of our Liz until now.”
Rachel’s voice was lower than ever.
She knew Liz had not lived an easy life.
But, writer.
Wasn’t it too much to make our Liz a victim of misery porn?
“Hahaha. T-That means you really are Liz’s older sister? Well, you see, I only scolded her because Liz kept causing trouble……”
“Enough. I don’t want to hear it.”
Rachel cut off the excuse that was not even an excuse.
The child caused trouble?
This was far beyond discipline.
Liz looked like she had not received proper care for a long time.
Her clothes were dirty, and unlike the large woman who had plenty of flesh on her body, Liz was extremely thin.
“Marcus. Didn’t you clearly tell me before? That child support money had been continuously provided.”
“Yes. After the previous Duke passed away, I sent it from my own personal funds. But during the last two months, I was busy and failed to send it……”
“Even then, this is how she ended up……”
Her throat burned as if a beast was growling inside.
How could she handle this rising anger?
When her eyes, shining sharply with rage, turned toward Rupert—
“Your Grace. Just give me the order.”
He stepped forward while holding his sword sheath.
But she could not show such a cruel sight in front of her child.
Rachel turned around and gently placed her hand on Liz’s shoulder.
“Liz. Do you want to come with me?”
“……Are you really Liz’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Look. We have the same color. Our hair and our eyes are the same.”
“Ah……”
Rachel looked warmly at Liz, who touched her own hair as if she still could not believe it.
That warm affection.
I will give it to you.
The comfort you have never experienced before.
I will let you feel it.
“So come with me.”
“……Even if I’m a strange child?”
Fear and suspicion flickered in Liz’s blue eyes.
A strange child……
I do not know why you say that.
“It doesn’t matter. If you want to stay by my side, then I will make it happen.”
At those words, Liz reached her hand toward Rachel.
It was done.
This child had chosen her.
Rachel tightly held the small hand reaching toward her.
An emotion she could not express with words rushed over her like waves.
Because this was the moment she had waited for so long.
“……You know what to do even without me giving an order, right?”
Rupert nodded.
Marcus, Anne, and the knights as well.
They all knew how long Rachel had waited to meet this small child.
Without caring about getting her clothes dirty, Rachel lifted Liz into her arms and entered the carriage.
And then……
A storm swept through the mansion where Liz had stayed in loneliness for such a long time.
‘Finally, my favorite character has come to my side!’
Rachel warmly looked at Liz, who was curiously looking around the Duke’s residence beside her.
The source of strength in her life that had once held her back when she wanted to give up everything.
The fact that this small child’s existence was right before her eyes felt like a miracle.
Growl.
At that moment, the sound from the child’s stomach announced it was time to eat.
Come to think of it, she must have been very hungry.
After everything that happened since morning.
“Liz. Shall we wash up and eat?”
“……Yes.”
Liz lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands and feet, embarrassed by her dirty appearance.
Come to think of it, her clothes, and the place where Liz would stay……
‘There are so many things to prepare.’
She called Bella to her office.
“Bella. From now on, this child is the master you will serve.”
Bella widened her eyes at the words that this small, shabby child was her new master.
However, only for a moment.
Having received maid training for the past few days, Bella hid her surprise quite convincingly and bowed her head.
“It is my first time meeting you, Young Lady. Please call me Bella comfortably from now on.”
Flinch.
Liz suddenly grabbed Rachel’s clothes.
“I’m not a young lady……”
“You may feel unfamiliar right now, but you will get used to it soon.”
Rachel looked away from Liz, who blinked her large eyes as if she did not know what to do, and spoke.
“Bella. Please guide Liz to the bathroom. I have some things to prepare.”
“Yes, Young Lady. Please follow me.”
Bella smiled reassuringly at Liz, who kept looking back at Rachel.
“But what should we do about her clothes?”
She had forgotten to buy clothes for Liz because she was too focused on bringing her home quickly.
The clothes Liz had been wearing were no better than rags.
There was nothing suitable for her to wear.
“I guess I will have to take something out from the storage.”
The nobles here carefully kept precious belongings.
Things like fountain pens, clothes, and even beloved dolls from their childhood.
They were things that showed the history of their family, and none of them were without value.
Naturally, the clothes Rachel wore when she was young were also sleeping inside the storage.
“Khup!”
Rachel hurriedly covered her mouth.
‘So cute!’
She felt like her inner scream was about to burst out.
Bella seemed to feel the same way, as she had a warm smile on her face.
After washing herself clean, Liz looked so lovely that she could have been a fairy.
Her cheeks were white like rice cakes, her lips were pink like roses.
Her shining silver hair, which had been hidden beneath the dust.
But for some reason, Liz’s expression looked strange.
Was she disappointed because the clothes were old?
“The clothes are a little old, right? They are from when your sister was young. I cannot get new clothes right away, but soon……”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Hmm?”
“I have never worn such pretty clothes before.”
Liz touched the lace decoration on her sleeve and whispered in amazement.
“It looks just like a princess dress.”
Tremble.
A princess dress!
Look at the way she describes it.
“Thank you, Sister.”
And she even gave a polite bow.
How could she be this adorable?
A child who knew how to be happy over small things and knew how to be thankful.
And this child would become a villain in the future.
Rachel remembered the expression she had seen in Liz’s eyes earlier.
‘……I’m glad I brought her before it was too late.’
If she had not gone there, Liz would probably have continued staring at the door endlessly with those empty eyes, waiting for someone to open it.
Just thinking about it made her grind her teeth.
Rachel spoke to Liz, who was touching the lace with her cheeks slightly red.
“I’ll make lots of pretty clothes that fit Liz perfectly soon. Okay?”
No matter how much the budget cost.
It did not matter.
Because to let her child finally enjoy everything she had never been able to have until now, even spending ten million gold would not be enough.
