CJRD CH 08

Chapter 08

The sound had come from my own stomach.

“Oh dear, look at me. You came here to eat, didn’t you?”

Feeling embarrassed, I rubbed my belly and gave Kate an awkward smile.

Kate chuckled and nodded. She walked into the kitchen and called out loudly, “Honey, two meals, please!”

“I haven’t even looked at the menu yet.”

“It’s fine. Chef Thompson used to be a famous restaurant chef. He’ll make something delicious.”

Just then, a burst of flames and intense heat came from the kitchen.

Startled, Estelle turned her head toward it.

Soon, the scent of delicious food began to drift out from the kitchen.

Estelle relaxed and turned her head back.

“But… what did you mean earlier?”

“Hm?”

“You said the previous inn owner raised Morris like a daughter.”

Estelle glanced at me as she asked, her expression careful—like she was wondering if it was okay to ask.

‘Ah, now that I think about it, I didn’t really explain it well.’

I had only talked about the inn, not about my relationship with the Morris couple.

Scratching my head, I began to explain.

“I’m not their real daughter. I was an orphan.”

When I died in my past life and woke up here, I was lying on the street in a child’s body.

I hadn’t eaten for days, my bones were sticking out, and I smelled horrible because I hadn’t washed.

Everyone avoided me with disgusted looks—except for the Morris couple.

‘They were such good people.’

Maybe it was because I missed them, but just thinking about them made a bitter smile appear on my lips.

“Anyway, Estelle, there’s something I want to talk to you about before we eat.”

“To me?”

“Yes. I noticed you were really interested in the academy students’ performance during the festival, right?”

While we were watching the festival, students from the academy had come up on stage.

They looked young and a little shy—probably new students.

But once the performance started, they showed off their amazing skills.

They danced with glowing swords and performed beautiful magic that amazed the crowd.

Estelle had watched them closely, her green eyes shining with interest.

“If you’re interested, how about entering the academy too?”

“The academy? But they don’t accept commoners, right?”

“True, most don’t. But there’s one that’s different.”

Estelle didn’t answer, but I could guess what she was thinking.

She probably thought it wouldn’t be easy to get in.

I smiled and took out an envelope.

“Actually, Claude came to see me recently. He asked me to give this to you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a recommendation letter. You can enroll this September.”

“A recommendation…?”

“If you enroll, you can learn everything you saw at the festival—and more. So, what do you think? Do you want to go?”

I handed the envelope to Estelle and asked.

She hesitated for a moment, but then her eyes sparkled as she answered.

“I want to go. I really do!”

Her answer made me smile knowingly.

“Here, take this. It’s a gift from me.”

I took out a gift box I had secretly packed before leaving for the temple and gave it to her.

When Estelle opened the box, it was full of books and writing tools.

She stared at them quietly for a moment, then looked up at me.

“I thought it would be good to review before school starts. So I prepared this for you.”

Reviewing before school… I guess that’s a very Korean thing to think.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I looked away. But then—

‘Wait, is that hooded person… watching us?’

I blinked and tilted my head, unsure.

****

Trust +15 | Current Trust: 28

****

‘Huh?’

Before I could figure it out, my attention was pulled to the system window that popped up in front of me.

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

The trust score had gone up—something that hadn’t happened before. Was I seeing things?

Nope. No matter how many times I blinked, the window didn’t disappear.

In fact, it sparkled brightly, as if it wanted to be noticed.

I looked past it and gazed at Estelle.

She was looking at me with such a happy face.

Without thinking, I threw my arms wide and hugged her tightly.

I could feel her surprised gaze, her small, soft body frozen in my arms.

‘She’s just so, so, so precious!’

Everything about Estelle was lovable.

But that warm feeling only lasted a second.

A flustered Estelle pushed me hard.

Thud!

I toppled backward with the chair and landed flat on the floor.

****

A few days later…

The festival ended, and life returned to normal.

As usual, I was taking care of the children.

Then—

“Teacher Raina!”

The kids who had been playing in the field came running toward me, shouting loudly.

“This guy was looking for you!”

“So we brought him to you!”

They had brought along a strange man wearing a hood.

‘Wait… this guy—!’

That hood looked very familiar.

I remembered seeing it when Estelle and I were eating at the inn. That man had been watching us.

‘Who is he?’

I didn’t know anyone who dressed like that.

And now he’d come to me through the kids? Suspicious.

“Um, Teacher?”

As I stood there quietly, suspicious and unsure, a voice came from below.

The kids were looking up at me, their eyes full of hope.

They were waiting for praise.

“Oh my, Den and Marco, did you help someone in need? That’s amazing! You’re so kind.”

“Hehe.”

“No, it was nothing! Just the right thing to do!”

They fidgeted with pride, clearly proud of themselves.

I smiled and knelt down to pat their heads.

“Thank you, both of you. Now go on—your friends are waiting.”

“Yes! Bye, mister! See you again!”

“You have to tell us more fun stories next time!”

“Of course.”

Den and Marco waved at the hooded man as they ran back to their friends, smiling brightly.

But I wasn’t smiling.

‘Stories? He told them stories?’

I had a bad feeling.

I was starting to guess who he really was.

The man, done saying goodbye to the kids, turned to face me.

“Nice to meet you, Raina.”

Then, he reached up under his cloak and slowly pulled back his hood.

Shing—

A light metallic sound rang out as the hood came off.

His face was revealed—long black hair that shimmered under his shoulders, pale white skin, deep red eyes and lips.

“I’m Basago. You could say… I’m Estelle’s reading buddy.”

He was terrifyingly beautiful—so much that it was almost scary. But at the same time, I couldn’t look away.

He was another romanceable character from Raise Your Daughter, My Lady.

A demon named Basago.

****

‘Wait… what? Why is Basago here?!’

I was completely caught off guard.

Basago—the demon who could see a person’s past, present, and future. He had the power to uncover deep secrets.

He liked things that were new and exciting—but as soon as he got bored, he would lose all interest.

That meant you had to constantly feed him new, interesting things to keep his attention.

But to someone who already knew everything, the world was a boring place.

Nothing could really satisfy him.

‘This guy got my cyber daughter killed so many times…!’

That’s why, in this life, I had no plans to ever meet Basago—no matter what.

Yet here he was.

‘I even avoided going near the graveyard on purpose.’

Unlike other characters, meeting Basago required completing a hidden quest.

You had to find an unmarked grave near the temple, leave flowers, then go to the plaza and hear the bell ring three times.

But neither I nor Estelle had ever done that.

Since I realized this was a game world, I had stayed far away from the graveyard. And Estelle had only been going to the library, not the temple.

‘Then how the heck is Basago standing right in front of me?!’

He was supposed to be in the demon realm unless someone summoned him…