Chapter 7
After the great duchess’s miraculous recovery, the Grand Duke’s household, which had been quiet for a while, became noisy once again.
The reason was none other than the great duchess herself, who had been bedridden in a coma until recently.
The duchess, who had always cherished her younger siblings deeply, attended the lessons of the teachers who had taught her younger brother while she was unconscious.
The reason was very much like the duchess herself—kind and merciful.
She said she wanted to thank the teachers who had taught her younger brother during the time she had been lying in bed, and she wanted to learn from them how well they had taught her brother.
Of course, if this had been an ordinary peaceful story where the duchess simply watched the lessons and thanked the teachers for taking good care of her brother, the Grand Duke’s household would not have become this loud.
Two days after the duchess observed the classes, four out of six teachers received notices of dismissal.
For two of them, the problem was not their knowledge or ability as teachers.
The reason was that their values and educational views were different from the duchess’s.
She gently explained that she wanted the children to grow according to her educational philosophy, so she could no longer leave them as her younger siblings’ teachers.
Though, in the end, it was still a dismissal.
However, the fact that it did not simply end with them losing their jobs moved the people of the Grand Duke’s household even more.
The duchess promised to help the dismissed teachers find other teaching positions and to continue paying them for a certain period of time.
There was no need for her to do that, but if they later developed hostility toward the Grand Duke’s household, they could become an obstacle to Hestin’s future.
It was, in a way, both a way to silence them and a bribe.
Then what happened to the remaining two among the four dismissed teachers?
Those two had angered the duchess and were driven out without even being given time to find another position.
During the lessons, the duchess found things she questioned and discussed them with the teachers.
Despite the fact that they were famous teachers invited from across the country, they were completely defeated by the duchess’s knowledge and logic.
Moreover, it was unclear whether they had been disrespectful toward the young duke or toward the duchess herself during class, but rumors spread quietly among the servants that the usually calm duchess had become truly furious.
Everyone serving the Grand Duke’s household knew that the elegant duchess had not attended the classes to show off her knowledge or humiliate the teachers.
The duchess was not angry because the teachers lacked academic depth despite being responsible for educating the heir of the Grand Duke’s household.
She pointed out the very thing that all the servants who worked for Winter and devoted themselves to Winter had felt uncomfortable about.
And she dismissed those teachers.
Most of the servants had deep loyalty toward the Grand Duke’s household.
They took pride in serving and supporting them with sincere loyalty.
But then some scholar whose origins they did not even know had come and insulted the precious young master, the bloodline of the Grand Duke and a possible future heir.
It was something that could never be tolerated.
However, the Grand Duke had not spoken about it, and since the person had been brought in by Baron Arenta, whom the Grand Duke trusted and gave full authority to, they could not openly complain.
They could only glare at the arrogant teacher.
But then someone with greater authority shared the same thoughts as them and spoke on their behalf.
It felt as though someone powerful was standing on their side and saying the words they wanted to say.
After their discomfort was relieved, they could not help but rejoice.
The person receiving all this praise, Eliana, was currently in the reception room of her cousin, Hestin.
Beside her sat Elena, who had the same pure white hair as Eliana, tied down on both sides, and was wearing a warm fur coat.
Soon, the door of the reception room opened, and a familiar boy entered.
“Older Sister?”
Hestin called out in surprise when he saw his sister and Elena sitting in his private reception room.
He had heard the news that his sister had dismissed several teachers.
Except for the swordsmanship and literature teachers, all the others had been dismissed, leaving his mornings completely empty overnight.
Hestin thought it was his own fault for not properly following the teachers’ lessons.
Even now, he was nowhere near reaching his sister’s level.
If he became lazy about studying just because he had no teachers, he might fall even further behind.
Hestin had already decided to study alone until new teachers were found.
However, before even three days had passed since making that decision, his sister asked him to go outside.
Studying was important, but he could not even remember the last time he had walked through the greenhouse of the Grand Duke’s castle with his sister, let alone gone outside with her.
Despite his anxiety, Hestin was secretly looking forward to it.
“Oh my, but what are you wearing? Even though it is spring, it will still be cold if you go outside.”
Eliana looked at Hestin’s clothes and spoke with concern.
“Are we going far?”
Hestin tilted his head and asked.
He remembered that whenever his sick sister went out with him, they only went to the greenhouse inside the Grand Duke’s castle or the hill behind the back gate of the castle.
“Yes, today we are going outside the castle.”
“Outside?”
“Of course. Ah, do you dislike it? I thought it might be nice to see the outside world once in a while…”
Before Eliana could finish speaking, Hestin quickly answered.
“O-oh! No! Wait a moment, wait just a moment! Please wait!”
Then he disappeared.
He opened the same door he had entered through and rushed out of the reception room.
From the room next door, a faint voice could be heard.
“Mari! My coat! Hurry!”
He was urging his nanny.
Listening to Hestin’s voice, Eliana let out a small laugh.
‘He was that happy, yet he was trying so hard to act mature.’
No matter how much he was the heir and was forced to receive strict education while being expected to behave like an adult, a child was still a child.
His excited voice and the voice urging his nanny continued to be heard.
The child’s footsteps and voice filled with anticipation coming from beyond the wall made Eliana feel happier as well.
“Sister!”
After a short while, the wooden door hit the wall with a loud sound as it opened again.
Hestin stood there wearing warm outer clothes, his cheeks slightly red.
“You dressed warmly. Let’s go.”
“Wow!”
Elena jumped down from the sofa and tightly grabbed Eliana’s hand.
The three of them walked through the hallway and down the stairs while holding hands.
The children’s steps were as light as feathers, and their expressions were bright.
Especially Hestin, who had spent every day from morning until evening taking lessons without proper rest, looked much more refreshed.
The children walked while humming songs whose origins, melodies, and rhythms were all unclear.
“Are you really that happy?”
“Yes!”
“Yes! It has been so long since I went outside with my sister!”
Hestin’s face was full of excitement as he explained how much he had been looking forward to this outing.
“Yes. Today, let’s go out and enjoy ourselves as much as we want.”
“Yes!”
The two children answered loudly.
Their puppy-like appearance reminded Eliana even more of her younger sibling when he was a child.
‘Before I leave, I should make at least a few memories like this.’
She planned to slowly prepare to leave around this summer’s social season.
First, she had to finish everything she had started and avoid Baron Arenta’s eyes before deciding to go for treatment.
It would take quite some time.
But compared to the rest of her and the children’s lives, it was still a short period.
Someday, they might hear false news of her death.
So making various memories with them during this time would not be a bad thing.
After all, were humans not beings who created memories, cherished them, and lived the rest of their lives while looking back on them?
When Eliana arrived at the entrance, she opened the door.
The guards and Meli, who had been waiting beforehand, bowed their heads in greeting.
Then the coachman opened the carriage door.
“Come on, get inside.”
Eliana told the children.
With help from the coachman and Meli, the children climbed into the carriage.
Then Eliana also entered with the guard’s assistance.
The carriage door closed with a loud bang.
After the sound of the horses briefly echoed, the carriage slowly began moving.
This was also Eliana’s first outing since entering Eliana’s body.
“What are you looking at?”
Eliana asked after arriving where the children were standing.
“The Artella Mountains!”
“…Me too.”
Elena answered energetically, and Hestin followed half a beat later.
“Really?”
Eliana stood beside the children and raised her head.
The magnificent mountain range covered in pure white snow filled her vision.
The sight of countless tall mountains rising as if they could touch the sky was breathtaking.
It reminded her of a god wearing a crown of snow all year round, looking down upon the world where humans lived from the highest place.
She understood why the Artella Mountains, located in the northernmost part of the Empire in the Winter Law, were called the Northern Wall or the Shield of the North.
She even understood why people claimed that no enemy could ever invade through them.
No matter how brilliant a strategist a soldier might be, they could never cross that towering northern wall and invade Winter.
‘But none of this has anything to do with me anyway.’
Eliana reminded herself.
She was someone who planned to leave this place after making preparations soon.
Spending her energy on these useless and unproductive thoughts was not wise.
“Make a wish!”
“Let’s do it!”
Elena and Hestin shouted beside her.
Just as Eliana was about to ask why they suddenly wanted to make wishes, she remembered the original story.
The Artella Mountains were the place where the final moments of the goddess Erlates, the founder of Winter who had devoted herself to humanity, were recorded.
These enormous mountains were both the goddess’s temple and a place of history.
Naturally, legends said that wishes made in such a place would come true.
Since the Winter Law was ultimately a novel written by humans, a similar concept existed there as well.
Hestin in the original story often visited this place.
It was never directly mentioned or described what wish he made while standing here and looking at the Artella Mountains.
Even so, readers knew what kind of wish Hestin had made and what he was thinking.
Because whenever a chapter contained the sentence that Hestin had looked at the Artella Mountains, the comment section would be filled almost entirely with crying emojis.
The children had already clasped both hands together, held them in front of their chests, and lowered their heads.
Watching them, Eliana quietly closed her eyes.
A wish…
Nothing particularly came to mind.
Not because she had no desires or lacked anything.
Still, if she had one wish…
‘Please let me survive safely, and please let these kids suffer a little less than they did in the original story.’
She did not know if the mountains would listen to the wish of such a rude person who did not even put her hands together and simply said what was on her mind.
Eliana slowly opened her eyes.
Hestin and Elena had also finished making their wishes and were smiling brightly.
“What wishes did you make?”
Eliana asked the children.
The two children looked at each other.
Then they simply smiled happily again, without giving an immediate answer.
