Chapter : 08
Adam was always like this.
No matter where she went, he quietly followed behind her, staring at only her with such intense focus that it felt like he could bore a hole through the back of her head.
He had probably been ordered never to take his eyes off her.
Raeliana clicked her tongue briefly and started walking, but as she headed toward the main entrance through the mansion corridor, a hand suddenly appeared from a small recessed space by the door and waved at her.
“Miss— Miss—”
“Elma?”
Adam’s gaze, which had been fixed on the back of Raeliana’s head the entire time, suddenly shifted to the owner of the hand.
Raeliana was startled by how suspicious his actions looked to an outsider and quickly crossed the corridor toward Elma.
Elma was waiting for her in the slightly hidden space beside the door, as if she were carrying out some kind of secret mission.
Raeliana glanced at Adam and spoke cheerfully.
“Elma, what’s going on? Someone might think you’re acting suspicious.”
‘Please don’t do this. My head might disappear if you keep acting like this.’
Raeliana checked Adam’s reaction.
Adam was standing about a meter away from them, watching the two of them.
“Oh my, Miss…”
Elma grabbed Raeliana’s hand and quietly spoke in a voice filled with worry.
“You must be very scared, aren’t you?”
“Elma…?”
“I understand everything. Honestly, how can the master and mistress be so indifferent?”
Was she worried because Raeliana had to suddenly leave the household tomorrow?
Everyone else in the mansion had only congratulated her, saying there couldn’t be a better marriage opportunity.
Although their time together had been short, Raeliana was moved that Elma was the only one who understood her feelings.
With touched eyes, she replied.
“It’s okay. It’s not like I’ll never come back again.”
“Look at those red eyes. Doesn’t he look like he could swing a sword at any moment?”
“……Huh?”
“……Pardon?”
Raeliana and Elma looked at each other in confusion.
“Red eyes? You mean Sir Taylor?”
“Yes. What else could I mean? Is there something else you’re worried about?”
“Th-that… no, no.”
Raeliana avoided her gaze.
In the end, no one understood that she wasn’t an excited bride-to-be, but rather someone closer to a soldier marching into enemy territory.
Of course, it was only natural.
Everyone had been deceived by that double-sided face of his.
“He keeps following you everywhere. A few maids tried talking to him, but he didn’t even answer. Isn’t his nickname something like the Grim Reaper?”
“Um, Sir Taylor came here to protect me. So it can’t be helped that he follows me around. And he isn’t actually that frightening. If you wait long enough, he does answer eventually.”
‘They say he’s called the Grim Reaper of Black Blood because he kills people like a ghost and gets covered in their blood.’
Raeliana left that part out—for both Elma’s sake and her own.
“And those blood-colored eyes mean he’s from Alshasa, right?”
“Alshasa?”
“Yes. Those barbarians.”
“Ah…”
Alshasa was the name given to a small northern ethnic group known for their red eyes.
They lived deep in the mountains, and many of them made hunting their livelihood. Because of this, they were known to be aggressive and skilled with swords.
Many of them became successful mercenaries because of their abilities, but the perception of them among the people of the kingdom was rather…
No, extremely bad.
“They say the Alshasa people’s eyes turned red because they love blood.”
“That’s completely false.”
“Even though he’s the Duke’s closest aide, there are plenty of knights from better backgrounds under the Duke. Why would he assign someone like that to you?”
“……Someone like that?”
Raeliana frowned.
“What do you mean by ‘someone like that’?”
When Raeliana raised her voice as if questioning her, Elma called out to her in surprise.
“Miss?”
“Elma, regardless of what kind of background he comes from, he is a war hero who sacrificed himself for this country since he was young, and he is an excellent knight.”
“The Duke knows that too. That’s why he assigned him to protect me.”
“But still—!”
“Stop saying disrespectful things.”
“……Yes, Miss.”
Elma lowered her head awkwardly.
Seeing her expression, Raeliana hurriedly changed the subject.
“Anyway, is that why you called me here?”
“No. The almond chocolates you mentioned before… I made them before you leave.”
“Oh, really?”
Elma pulled out an embroidered pouch from her apron.
When she opened it, it was filled with chocolates, each individually wrapped in clear packaging.
“Wow, you must have worked hard making these.”
As Raeliana happily looked at them, Elma nervously played with her apron and spoke carefully.
“Miss… I only said those things because I was worried about you.”
“I know, Elma. And I only said that because I didn’t want you to judge others differently because of their background.”
“……Yes.”
Elma nodded, still looking as though she didn’t fully understand.
Perhaps this reaction was natural for the people living in this world.
A world where discrimination based on one’s birth status was considered normal.
It was completely different from the world Raeliana had lived in, where there were no social classes and people were equal simply because they were human.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”
Raeliana gave a bitter smile and ended the conversation.
As she started walking again, she quietly felt the presence of someone following behind her.
A gentle breeze blew, causing the grass in the garden to lean slightly.
It wasn’t very large, but she had heard that Raeliana’s mother had put a lot of effort into making use of the limited space.
She walked among the flowers that the gardener carefully tended every day.
“Big sister!”
“Rosemary?”
Rosemary came running toward her and hugged Raeliana’s legs.
She was tightly holding a long string attached to a yellow balloon.
“Big sister—”
When Raeliana picked her up, the child smiled brightly and rubbed her cheek against hers.
Having only ever known a rough, mountain-beast-like older brother, Raeliana had already fallen completely in love with this tiny creature, as if she would give up everything she had for her.
“What were you doing?”
“Mm, praying!”
“Praying?”
“Yes!”
“That big sister would be happy with the Duke.”
“Rosemary…”
What a lovely little sister.
With eyes full of affection, Raeliana hugged Rosemary and spun her around until the child complained she was dizzy.
“Rosemary, you mustn’t just fall for someone because they have a high status and a handsome face. A person’s personality is what matters.”
Rosemary didn’t understand what she meant at all, but she smiled brightly and nodded.
Maybe Raeliana McMillan’s unlucky fate had been balanced out by giving her such a cute little sister.
She held back tears.
“But who gave you this balloon?”
“Ah— no, this is…”
As Rosemary added, “You let go like this—”
She opened her hand wide.
At the same moment, the yellow balloon floated upward into the sky.
“Ah!”
However, the balloon flew away and became caught by a branch of a large old tree nearby.
Rosemary jumped down from Raeliana’s arms and ran toward the tree, stomping her feet anxiously.
“What do I do!”
“You lost it. When Hans comes later, let’s ask him to bring it down.”
Raeliana patted Rosemary’s head and explained that the gardener would have a ladder to retrieve it.
The child looked disappointed and muttered.
“The balloon was supposed to fly away.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“Because they said the balloon delivers prayers to the Sky God. What if it takes too long and the Sky God forgets what I said?”
Rosemary looked up at Raeliana with large eyes filled with tears.
‘Ah… what do I do? She’s too cute!’
Raeliana trembled from Rosemary’s cuteness, but when she saw those watery eyes, she forced herself to calm down.
“It’s okay. He’ll remember everything. How about eating this while we wait for Hans?”
Raeliana bent down to meet Rosemary’s eyes and handed her a chocolate from the pouch.
“Mm-hm.”
Rosemary nodded sadly while playing with the chocolate wrapper in her hand.
Just as Raeliana was patting her back, thinking how adorable she was—
Shing—
The sound of a sword being drawn rang out.
The tree branch shook slightly.
“Huh?”
Rosemary widened her eyes and looked up.
The string holding the balloon had been cut, and the balloon began floating into the sky again.
“It’s going!”
Rosemary waved excitedly at the balloon.
Raeliana watched the balloon fly away before turning her gaze back to Adam, who was putting his sword away.
His expression remained completely unchanged.
‘Unexpected. I thought he wouldn’t even blink at something like this.’
“Thank you, Sir Taylor.”
When Raeliana told Rosemary to thank Sir Taylor, the child quickly ran over to him and held out her fist.
“Give me your hand.”
Adam instinctively held out his hand.
Rosemary placed a chocolate on top of it.
“Thank you!”
Rosemary smiled brightly.
Adam stared at the chocolate in his hand and gave a small nod.
His response was faster than usual.
He stood there for a long time, silently turning the chocolate over in his hands and staring at it.
Raeliana gave Rosemary another chocolate and glanced at Adam over the child’s head.
He looked as if he had fallen in love with the chocolate.
“Do you like sweets?”
This time, his answer came slightly slower than usual.
After waiting quietly, Adam nodded.
‘He’s cuter than I expected.’
Raeliana smiled, took his hand, and placed the entire pouch of chocolates on top of it.
Adam seemed startled and spoke for the first time.
“Ah—”
His voice was clear.
For a moment, Adam wasn’t the Grim Reaper of Black Blood or the Duke’s closest aide.
He simply looked like a confused young man.
The fact that he had gone to the battlefield since childhood meant that he probably never got to experience many things a child should have enjoyed.
“Please take care of me from now on.”
Raeliana smiled at him, thinking that before leaving for the Duke’s estate, she should ask Elma to make even more chocolates.
Adam curled his fingers around the pouch and blinked repeatedly.
