Episode 2
I was drained from crying so much when I said goodbye, and I climbed into the carriage feeling exhausted.
I had not really looked at the carriage earlier, but now that I saw it properly, the inside was just as beautiful as the outside.
I sniffled and started counting the jewels decorating the inside of the carriage.
“Miss Chloe, are you not afraid?”
The older woman in the group asked me.
Afraid? Why would I be afraid? Normally people would ask if I was excited.
A girl from the countryside becoming the adopted daughter of the most prestigious noble family in the empire…
Where else would I get such a chance?
When I looked at them confused, the group quickly tried to explain.
“You looked stiff. We wondered if something was worrying you.”
“I think I will miss my father.”
“You spent your whole life with him, so of course you would feel that way.”
They nodded as if they understood, but their words felt too simple.
My father could not be described with something like “someone you lived with all your life.”
My father was the most precious person in my world.
I heard my mother had always been weak. She passed away not long after giving birth to me.
Dad said Mom probably used up the last of her strength giving birth to such a tiny little baby like me. He smiled bitterly whenever he said that.
People in my mother’s hometown pointed fingers at me.
They said I was a witch who killed my mother by being born.
To protect me, Dad gave up everything and left his hometown.
Trying to find work in an unfamiliar place and raising a child at the same time, Dad worked harder than anyone. He needed two bodies and only had one.
Living like a normal family was not easy.
I learned farming early to help earn money.
People pitied me. They said I grew up too mature for my age because of my sad family story.
But honestly? I was happy.
Even though Dad always bragged that we were the happiest father and daughter in the world, he must have felt sorry for me deep down.
Dad was right about everything.
We did not have money for school, so I could not go to even the commoner school.
I ate hard bread and fishy milk every meal.
I wore clothes that were too small for me for years.
So I understood why Dad wanted me to go to the duke’s house.
He wanted me to live a better life.
It was not like I would never see him again.
If things went well, maybe I could bring Dad to live in the mansion too.
“Excuse me, but when can I see my father again?”
It had not even been one hour since I left, and I already missed him.
“Well… that would only be possible if the duke allows it.”
“The duke… as in my new father?”
“Yes, Lord Rehaven.”
“If I tell my new father that I miss my real dad, won’t he feel upset?”
It was the kind of simple question a child would ask.
If I said I missed my new father in front of Dad, he would be sad.
So would it work the other way around too?
But instead of answering me, the group burst into laughter.
Pfft.
Their laughs did not feel warm.
It felt more like they were mocking me.
Maybe that was when I first sensed it…
That the Rehaven Duke adopting me had a darker purpose.
That maybe my father and I would never meet again.
We reached the giant main gate, and I took a small carriage deeper into the estate.
I wondered how big this place must be if they even had a garden carriage.
The garden, which was just the entrance area, was as large as the lake in our village.
The mansion we finally arrived at was just as enormous. I am sure that even if you combined every house in our entire village, it would still be smaller than this mansion.
When we arrived, the maids began preparing me for my meeting with the duke.
They examined my silver hair and said it would look nice tied with a yellow ribbon.
They braided my hair into two cute pigtails and placed small yellow ribbons on top.
After that they put on cute hair accessories and a yellow dress.
Only then was the long preparation finally done.
At the door, the woman who brought me earlier was waiting.
“Follow me. Do not walk too casually. Keep your steps quiet and walk slowly.”
Her tone had thorns.
Earlier they said my walk was elegant like a debutante, but now they were strict.
I fixed my posture and walked as they wanted.
We stopped at a door.
“You may enter.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
Her firm answer made me look nervously at the closed door.
The large door looked like it might swallow me whole.
But whining would not get me anywhere.
I remembered Dad’s advice to swallow my fear like swallowing spit.
So I gulped loudly. My throat moved, and I felt the nervousness ease a little.
I opened the door and walked inside.
A tall man stood alone in the room.
The first thing I noticed was his black cloak.
In the center of it, a golden dragon was embroidered so beautifully it looked like a star shining in the night sky.
It did not take long for me to realize that was the symbol of the Rehaven family.
Then this must be the Rehaven Duke who adopted me.
I wondered what title to use, but decided to introduce myself first.
“Hello, Duke. My name is Chloe.”
He turned around.
The golden eyes that met mine were so calm it scared me.
I tried not to look nervous, so I carefully continued.
“Thank you for inviting me here. I am very grateful for this golden opportunity. I… I will work hard.”
A faint change appeared in his expression.
“You speak better than I expected.”
After a moment, the duke raised his dark eyebrow and muttered.
But it did not sound like praise.
There was something like complaint in his tone.
“For someone raised this low, it would have been better if she spoke less.”
The feeling that had been hinted earlier became clear.
“I will have to deal with that loud mouth. How annoying.”
It reminded me of how people treated me when I was younger.
“A golden opportunity, huh.”
“You know how lucky you are. I gave you a chance at a new life. You will repay that debt.”
Disgust.
That was the emotion on the faces of the duke and the people in the mansion.
“Repay the favor… what do I have to do?”
I forced the words out. My voice was small and weak.
Normally I would have complained about such rude speech, but now I was the one begging.
“It is simple.”
“You will offer up that worthless life of yours.”
His voice stabbed through the air.
Then something heavy hit my head hard.
“Ugh… ugh…”
My vision flashed. Almond-shaped light, then darkness.
I forced my heavy eyelids open. My head felt like it was about to split in half.
“What… what happened… ah!”
A sharp pain crackled through my head like electricity.
Then a loud ringing filled my ears.
“So this girl is the young master’s match, right?”
“Yes. We only need to extract her ability.”
Voices I didn’t know overlapped messily.
“Extract the ability? What did you do?”
I felt arms holding me down tightly.
Needles were stabbed into my skin.
Through the fading darkness, I saw glimpses of scenes.
“Now that I think about it… I did feel like something was leaving my body…”
I clenched and opened my hand. My arm felt weak.
“Did they experiment on me?”
Was that the real reason they brought me here?
Suddenly the rushed adoption, the group’s behavior in the carriage — everything made sense in the worst way.
“Why me?”
Why pick me among all the candidates?
Because I was a powerless girl who would be easy to silence?
My head throbbed, and I held it with both hands as I tried to think.
But there was no answer.
Then a strange voice echoed through my mind.
“I always believed that someday you would love me. That is why I quietly agreed to those strange experiments. That was my arrogance. You only ever meant to sacrifice me.”
It did not take long to realize the voice speaking tearfully was me.
The strangest part was that the voice sounded familiar.
And the words that the woman, who seemed to be me, was saying felt familiar too.
