Chapter 5
“Master! The Grand Duchess’s eldest daughter had already mastered things like this by the age of ten! How can you possibly lead the Grand Duchy like this!”
The loud voice echoing through the hallway made Eliana’s eyes narrow sharply.
The beginning of this incident went back to earlier.
After sending away the chief physician and having nothing else to do, she suddenly wanted to look around the Grand Duke’s Castle. So she asked Meli to bring her an outer coat.
Meli flusteredly tried to stop her the moment Kelsen’s permission was given, saying that she should not do this, but she could not win against Eliana.
In the end, Meli’s heart weakened because of Eliana’s strange logic and pleading. She only managed to get a promise that Eliana would immediately return if she felt even a little tired, and then followed her to assist her.
While looking around the Grand Duke’s Castle, Meli, who had already given up, suggested that since they had come out anyway, they should visit the library as well. While heading there, they encountered Hestin.
“Goodness, Hestin. Are you on your way to your lessons?”
“Yes.”
Eliana felt that there was a slight shadow on Hestin’s face, but she thought that children naturally found studying boring and uninteresting, so she did not think much of it.
“Where are you going, Sister?”
“Ah, Kelsen said I could start walking around outside little by little. I came out to practice. I’m going to the library.”
“I see.”
He answered weakly and did not say anything else. Then he tried to leave, saying he had to attend his next lesson.
Something felt strange.
That feeling irritated her nerves.
Eliana quickly called Hestin back and asked if he would like to have dinner in her room with Elena after his studies were finished.
“Okay.”
Hestin seemed to like her suggestion quite a lot, as a faint smile appeared on his face. Then he bowed politely to her and left for his next lesson.
As Eliana watched Hestin’s small figure running away, the thick book in the child’s hand caught her attention.
It looked like a hardcover book, and anyone could tell it was at the level of a specialized university textbook.
If all books in this world looked like that, she would have simply ignored it without thinking deeply.
However, the books that Hestin and Elena brought to her every day whenever they had free time and asked her to read to them did not look like that at all.
‘Come to think of it, Hestin came to visit me alone much less often than Elena did.’
Hestin usually came to see her right before dinner, and whenever he did not, there was always a reason.
His teacher was sick and needed to rest.
He was lucky and had no homework.
The carriage his teacher rode had broken down.
Unless something unexpected happened, such as a teacher being absent or late, it meant Hestin simply could not come see her during the day.
There had been a few times when he came briefly during the day at the same time.
But once that short, fixed period passed, his nanny would always appear as if she had supernatural powers and tell him it was time for his teacher to arrive.
Hestin would leave with disappointment hanging all over his face.
In other words, he had to forcefully squeeze out time just to meet her during the day.
As she traced back through her memories and counted the days, she reached the conclusion that the child might not even have one full day a week where he could rest comfortably.
Thinking about it, it seemed that teachers had been coming and going from early morning, teaching subjects like sociology and economics.
She had always thought that Hestin visiting her around dinner time was simply his routine.
But now that she thought about it, perhaps it was because of his tight schedule that lasted from morning until evening.
‘Is this because they are educating the heir strictly from childhood?’
Even so, it seemed far too much for a thirteen-year-old child to handle.
Eliana knew that Hestin’s future in the original story was quite bleak, but she still felt worried.
Because she had grown quite fond of the cute and polite Hestin.
Moreover, he reminded her of her youngest cousin, who used to follow her and her younger siblings around like a little shadow.
A smart and mature boy.
A child who had lost his parents at a young age and had been forced to grow up quickly.
Hestin reminded her of that child.
And Elena reminded her of her own younger siblings.
Because of that, it was difficult for her to simply say, “It’s your life. It has nothing to do with me,” and pretend not to care.
If, when she had been wandering the world as a soul, the person wearing her body ignored her siblings’ struggles—
‘If that happened, I would have become a vengeful ghost and cursed not only the person who took over my body but also that person’s descendants forever.’
Eliana probably would not have been any different.
The Eliana of the Winsar family had also loved her siblings dearly.
The uneasy expression on Hestin’s face kept coming back to her.
Her senses, which were so sensitive that people said she could read human expressions and moods like a ghost, were screaming.
It was difficult to dismiss it as simple worry.
The concern and anxiety she had read from Hestin’s face, and the relief that quietly appeared when she suggested having dinner together, kept poking at her heart.
‘Maybe I should check.’
Just as she thought that, she arrived at the library.
Putting aside her worries about Hestin, Eliana slowly looked around the library and read some books.
As expected of the Grand Duke’s family, which had a long history and had produced many talented people, many high-quality books were stored there.
How much time had passed?
As she walked through the hallway to return to her room, the same angry voice she had heard earlier came from what seemed to be Baron Arenta’s office.
‘Are they crazy?’
Eliana stood still and stared at the door.
She did not know what Hestin had done wrong, but even when scolding a child, there were rules.
Discipline without rules only hurts and damages a child.
She knew that all too well.
‘Should I just go in right now and make a scene?’
A thought unlike her usual self exploded in her mind.
She had clenched her fist so tightly that blood stopped flowing, making her hand turn pale.
“Lady Eliana.”
At Meli’s quiet voice, Eliana regained her senses and looked back at her.
Meli silently shook her head.
It was a signal saying there was nothing good to gain from continuing to listen here.
Eliana slowly closed her eyes once.
She pressed her eyelids tightly, as if trying to calm herself down.
Blocking her vision and exhaling, she finally regained her composure.
If she opened that door right now and caused a scene, she could probably pull the child away from this terrible situation.
But she did not know whether that would actually help the child.
Perhaps Hestin would only be hurt more by the thought that his respected sister had discovered his shame.
And because the Hestin she knew was far more likely to react that way, she had to be careful.
“Phew.”
Eliana quietly breathed out.
Then she nodded and quickly left.
After some time passed, Eliana finished dinner with the children, took a bath, and lay down on her bed.
She closed her eyes with her back against the mattress and her hands neatly placed over her stomach, but sleep did not come.
The words she had heard in the library and Hestin’s shadowed face as he forced a smile throughout dinner came back to her.
Even with her eyes closed, the maid’s voice and Hestin’s uncomfortable expression floated above her head, disturbing her vision and chasing away the sleep that had been coming.
Eliana immediately returned to her room and asked Meli about Hestin’s teachers.
At first, Meli hesitated, seemingly careful with her words.
But after Eliana swore that she would not punish her no matter what she heard, Meli slowly began to speak.
“I don’t know everything, but it seems they are not very kind. Baron Arenta often meets with them. They said that Master Hestin is compared to Lady Eliana. No, that is because Lady Eliana is exceptionally intelligent and outstanding…”
“The teachers also scold him often…”
Not only did they make a child endure a murderous schedule, but they also compared him to an older sister much older than him.
She knew the name of this kind of cruelty toward children.
She simply did not want to say it aloud.
And to think they were committing such disrespect toward the precious heir they were being paid to teach.
Were they insane?
Meli softened her words, but it was clear even from the original story that those scoldings were far beyond a normal level.
“I’ll have to fix this.”
After seeing that, she could not just pretend she did not know.
Did the distortion of the original story matter?
What was so important about maintaining the story?
If she had cared about preserving the original plot, she would never have made plans to escape and survive in the first place.
Even now, the most important thing to her was her own survival.
But she believed there were things people had to value and protect just as much as their own lives.
“Adults should act like adults.”
Why were adults called adults?
It was because simply growing older or living longer did not automatically make someone a proper adult.
Eliana believed that being an adult required qualifications, and only those who possessed those qualifications deserved respect.
If a villain was acting like a villain and negatively affecting children, there was no reason to leave it alone.
Eliana blinked.
Bad adults had to be dealt with by adults who were just as troublesome.
Fortunately, she was someone who had become an expert at dealing with rude guests.
And depending on the situation, she was also a grown woman with a surprisingly fierce temper.
She did not know whether it would work against an old fox who had spent decades in politics.
But she was confident about one thing.
She could persuade Baron Arenta to let her participate in the children’s education and upbringing and prevent him from making excuses about it.
The ability to gently manipulate people and make situations flow in the direction she wanted was one of her few talents.
Well, wasn’t it better to use it for something good rather than something bad?
“Even if I run away later, I’ll clean this up properly before I go.”
She was someone who planned to leave.
But this much was something she could do before leaving.
Eliana woke up earlier than usual.
She got out of bed, opened the curtains, and opened the window.
The cold air of dawn settled over her face.
Eliana closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
The cold but purest air of dawn entered through her nose and filled her lungs.
She liked the refreshing feeling, like eating a mint candy.
Eliana opened her eyes and looked at the Artella Mountains.
The sun was slowly rising, spreading a faint golden light.
Looking at the sun, Eliana raised the corners of her lips and smiled.
It was perfect weather for causing a scene.
