MHFW 08

Chapter 8

‘What is this?’

They only exchanged glances with each other and refused to tell her, which made her curious.

At first, she had only asked out of courtesy, but seeing the children react like this made her genuinely interested.

“Why? What is it?”

Eliana asked.

The two children only shook their heads from side to side without answering.

“If you tell someone else your wish, Eralates won’t grant it.”

“What?”

Eliana asked again with a surprised expression.

So in the end, it was a secret.

Well, they were reaching the age where they could start having secrets.

Although Elena seemed a little too young for that.

“That’s right! Hestin said that if we say our wish out loud, Eralates will think it is not something we truly desire and won’t grant it!”

Hestin seriously supported Elena’s words.

So, did that mean they wanted their wish to come true so desperately that they were keeping their mouths shut like this?

Thinking of it that way made her even more curious.

What could these two children wish for so desperately that they were willing to protect the secret so seriously?

‘If possible, I want to make it come true for them.’

Eliana was the eldest daughter of the most powerful family in the country.

There were many things she could accomplish with her authority.

If it was something she could grant, she wanted to do it.

Even though she was living while wearing Eliana’s skin and pretending to be her, these little ones loved and cherished her as their older sister.

“Eliana” bent down and matched their eye level before asking in a quiet voice.

“I’m even more curious now. Won’t you tell only your sister?”

“Ah, but we can’t…”

Elena made a troubled expression and whined.

She was so concerned about security that even though they were quite close, Eliana could barely hear her voice.

“……because… it’s okay if we tell…?”

“Yes!”

What exactly was that “yes” supposed to mean?

After much consideration, the two children seemed to have made their decision.

They turned around with serious expressions.

There was no need to go this far.

Their expressions were far too serious and determined for children their age, making even Eliana feel flustered.

“No, you two. You don’t have to go this far—”

Just as Eliana was trying to calm them down—

“We wished that big sister wouldn’t get sick anymore!”

“We prayed that you would stay healthy like you are now and remain with us for a long time, sister.”

The solemn expressions disappeared completely.

The children looked at her and smiled brightly as they spoke.

At their unexpected wish, Eliana felt as if her heart had dropped.

It felt like she had been caught doing something terribly wrong.

“……Is that so?”

Eliana managed to answer with difficulty.

The children, unaware of the change in her feelings, smiled brightly and nodded strongly.

Drip.

A tear fell.

Her chest ached.

“Big sister?”

“Sister?”

The children’s faces, which had been smiling brightly moments ago, began to darken with worry.

They rejoiced at every small gesture, every word, every step she took.

And now they were anxious because of the tears falling from their sister’s eyes.

What kind of falsehood could exist within such pure feelings?

Even doubting them felt like a sin.

Eliana remembered how she had treated them somewhat coldly in the past.

At first, because she was confused.

Later, because she thought she would have to run away and wanted to distance herself from them.

And yet…

‘Even then, you love me.’

More accurately—

‘You love your sister.’

Eliana covered her face with her hands, lowered her body, and crouched down.

She stayed like that without removing her hands from her face.

“Si-sister… are you hurt? We should go back to the castle quickly…”

“Big sister… why are you like this?”

She could feel the children’s voices trembling.

Eliana did not raise her head.

Instead, she pulled her younger siblings into a tight embrace.

They were small children, but there were two of them, so they could not fit completely into her arms.

Eliana tightened her arms and held them close.

“Yes. I wish that too.”

Eliana shouted with a louder voice than usual.

The children simply stayed in her embrace, not understanding what was happening.

She felt the tiny hands of the two children patting her back.

Ah…

Why are you like this?

Why do you make someone like me—

Someone who tried to push you away because of childish adult jealousy…

Someone who felt uncomfortable because you reminded me of the younger sibling I left behind…

Someone who did not even know who she truly was, while wearing your sister’s skin and stealing her name…

Why do you still trust and love me so much?

She felt sorry for these children who believed in her completely.

After returning from their tearful outing, Eliana sat on the edge of her bed.

“Let’s give up, damn it.”

Eliana leaned backward and collapsed onto the bed.

The clean, fresh scent unique to new blankets was soft and refreshing.

Eliana thought about the children who had smiled brightly earlier that day and prayed for her health.

Pure white children.

Innocent and honest children.

Lovely children.

A hollow laugh escaped from Eliana’s lips.

“Ah, I’m screwed.”

She blamed her own weakness for being unable to resist small and young children.

How could she run away alone while leaving these children behind?

They were still at an age where they needed an adult’s attention and love.

And she knew the future that awaited them if she did nothing.

A future crueler than being thrown into a pit of fire.

Eliana, whose heart was weak and whose concern for others was deeper than the sea, could not pretend not to know.

She quietly closed her eyes.

‘This much should be enough to repay the debt.’

She had entered Eliana’s body, continued living through her life, and received precious treatment under Eliana’s name and status.

In a way, she had received a great kindness.

And she was not shameless enough to ignore that kindness.

She needed to at least protect the family that Eliana had treasured so dearly from suffering.

If she was already paying for her food and shelter, then why couldn’t she pay the price of her life?

If she stayed until the children grew old enough to take care of themselves, then, like Winsa Law, Baron Arenta would not be able to harm them so easily.

With the name and reputation of Eliana, the eldest daughter of the Grand Duke’s family, it would not be that difficult.

She could think about her own life afterward.

‘I need to think of another way.’

In a way, it was not such a long time.

If she ran forward without looking back, it would pass so quickly that she would not even realize how much time had gone by.

She could endure being their protector until the children grew up.

Arelon, the commander of the White Sword Knights responsible for the military forces of the Winter Grand Ducal Family, was in the princess’s reception room.

As a warrior, he had visited the Grand Duke’s office many times because of knight order matters.

However, the number of times he had visited the princess’s reception room could be counted on one hand.

The princess did not casually allow retainers into her reception room.

No, after Prince Hestin became the Grand Duke’s adopted son and began receiving education equivalent to that of an heir, even though it had not been officially announced, such meetings had practically disappeared.

Among the retainers, there was no one who did not know that she avoided such actions to prevent faction conflicts over succession.

Therefore, when a maid came to tell him that the princess wished to meet him, he had to wonder if he had heard incorrectly.

The princess was intelligent.

No, calling her merely intelligent was not enough.

She was a genius.

Scholars even said that she might become the first female Grand Duchess in Winter’s history.

If only her health had not been so poor.

Unfortunately, her condition had not improved.

The princess, who sincerely loved Winter and her younger siblings, supported one of them succeeding their father.

Arelon knew she was trying her best not to make any noticeable moves.

If she claimed to support her younger siblings’ succession while secretly meeting with retainers behind the scenes—

The succession issue would become complicated.

The retainers would become unsettled, and factions would inevitably form.

For Prince Hestin, who would already have to deal with legitimacy issues if he became Grand Duke, factional conflict was not something beneficial.

That was why the princess accepted marrying her fiancé, Crown Prince Kallis, and leaving for the capital as soon as he became an adult.

To cut away the roots of confusion and pain her younger siblings might suffer because of the succession issue.

“A precious guest has come. I should serve good tea.”

Eliana placed a teacup down.

Pure white hair resembling northern snowfall.

Deep blue eyes.

The symbol of the legitimate bloodline of the Grand Ducal Family.

The princess, who greatly resembled the portrait of the first Grand Duke—the founder of Winter who made great contributions to the founding of Varman—was someone who naturally inspired awe.

Her graceful posture, as if performing a slow dance.

Her gentle smile.

Her balanced voice and elegant way of speaking.

Arelon, who had traveled often to the east and the capital while protecting the Grand Ducal Family, had never seen a noble like her.

A nobility and elegance unlike anyone else flowed from her naturally.

It felt as though this was what it would feel like to stand before a true goddess.

“You have probably already heard the rumors among the servants.”

“Yes.”

Arelon gave a short answer.

He had already heard through the servants’ whispers that the prince’s teachers had been dismissed one after another.

“What did you think when you heard it?”

“Yes?”

Arelon could not understand why the princess had suddenly summoned him and asked such a question.

More accurately, he could not guess her intention.

He knew the princess was not someone who acted without reason.

However, since childhood, she had always been too thoughtful, making it difficult to understand what she truly intended.

That was also why he found it strange.

She was not someone foolish enough to call someone who might become one of her sibling’s retainers in the future and personally serve him tea.

“Why do you ask?”

“There is no other meaning. I simply wanted to know your thoughts.”

Arelon seemed to think for a moment.

Then he lifted his teacup again and took a sip.

His eyes moved to the tea across from him.

Unlike his own tea, hers had a faint reddish-pink color.

So pale and faint that its shape and meaning were difficult to understand.

“How could a mere retainer dare to guess the will of his lord?”

At Arelon’s answer, Eliana smiled.

Although he was a warrior, he was still born a noble.

He was fundamentally different from the world Eliana came from, where people were direct and honest.

She could feel that he was unconsciously avoiding the answer.

Eliana did not believe Arelon truly did not know the reason.

However, her actions could change many things.

And those changes meant confusion.

He was unconsciously avoiding the chaos that would come to Winter if the succession issue became complicated.

‘But I cannot allow that.’

The corners of Eliana’s lips stretched upward.

She placed down the teacup she had been drinking from and continued.

“Then shall I change the question?”

“If I were to draw the future of Winter, what would you do?”