Chapter 5
The moment she saw the cup of water, Rierusha realized that she was thirsty.
When she took the cup with both hands and drank, Sona watched her with a satisfied smile.
In the quiet room, the sound of swallowing could be heard.
“You must be very hungry, yes? I will prepare a meal. You were unconscious for two whole days, young lady.”
“…Two days?!”
No wonder she had no strength in her body at all.
‘Are the aftereffects of awakening normally like this?’
With no one to tell her, she couldn’t know. There was no one suitable to ask, either.
Sona began to explain simply.
“Lady Rierusha was escorted back to the castle by Rosinante.”
“Rosinante-ramyeon…….”
At the unfamiliar name, Rierusha rolled her eyes around with an expression that said she didn’t know.
However, she felt like she might know who that person was.
Because she remembered the man she had encountered in the forest. It seemed that man’s name was Rosinante.
‘I had no idea someone like that lived in the castle.’
If she had lived in the main castle, she might have run into him at least once, but it was a face she had never seen even by the time she turned ten.
If it was a man with such distinctive features, it would definitely have stayed in her memory.
“It’s only natural that you wouldn’t know, young lady.”
“Why?”
“Because… Rosinante was just reinstated yesterday.”
“Reinstated……?”
At the difficult word, Rierusha furrowed her brow.
Sona beamed and explained what the word meant.
“It means he got his position back.”
“……Gurom, then what did he do before, whewe?”
“He is someone who served as the eyes and ears of House Arakrene.”
The more she listened to Sona’s explanation, the less Rierusha understood.
Why would someone with such remarkable abilities have lost his position?
‘Did he commit a huge sin or something?’
When Sona saw Rierusha looking as though she had sunk deep into thought, she added an explanation.
“Rosinante was the young duke’s aide.”
“Dad’s……?”
Rierusha snapped her head up.
It was only natural—news about her father, something she had never heard even once, was coming from Sona’s mouth.
“Yes. Now that you have awakened, young lady, there is nothing you need to worry about anymore. Everything will be fine.”
Sona answered with a happy face.
Rierusha still didn’t understand what Sona’s words meant.
But she dimly sensed that there was a very important meaning in Sona’s words right now.
“It isn’t only Rosinante. I am also one of the young duke’s people. In fact, there are many of the young duke’s people in this ducal castle.”
Sona said, pointing to herself.
“Soon, the young duke’s people will return to the main castle as well.”
Listening to Sona’s words, Rierusha’s eyes widened.
Did that mean that until now, everyone who followed the young duke, including Rosinante, had all lost their positions?
‘Sona just said that because I awakened, everything would be fine.’
Then could it be that the reason the house was wiped out…….
‘So that’s what it meant, that the house was ruined because of me?’
Because Rierusha couldn’t awaken, and for some reason, Father and the people around him lost their authority.
And that ‘some reason’ was probably…….
“Of course the young duke will return as well. This is all thanks to you, young lady. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Lady Rierusha.”
Sona bowed politely.
Rierusha realized.
The reason she hadn’t been able to meet her father even by the time she turned ten.
‘It wasn’t because he hated me and didn’t come to see me.’
It might not have been that he hated Rierusha, but rather the opposite. To protect Rierusha from those around them who made an issue of her awakening, Father must have given up everything and left the ducal castle.
Rierusha recalled Oberon’s words, the ones he had spoken as he aimed a sword at her before her regression.
“Do you know what sacrifices the young duke made? Do you know how the house came to walk the road to ruin?”
The absence of the young duke of Arakrene.
The young duke’s absence would have caused many problems.
Moreover, the fact that all of the young duke’s people had been excluded from the house’s affairs meant…….
‘Someone used me as a weakness and made the house’s power weaken.’
And around the time Rierusha turned ten, the house had lost that struggle.
The very reason they couldn’t help but lose that power struggle was…….
“Because of you.”
Because of her.
* * *
For several days, Rierusha poured all her time into recovering her body.
Even so, she never stopped thinking.
‘As far as I know, Oberon at this time was more loyal to the house than anyone.’
The current Oberon was someone who had all of Duke Arakrene’s trust.
What was the decisive reason that made him turn his back?
She was curious why Oberon, who had endured until she was past ten, suddenly turned the tip of his blade toward the house.
Or had he been a traitor from the start, and no one had known?
Rierusha’s thoughts became so tangled her head throbbed.
“You want to meet the young duke soon too, don’t you, Lady Rierusha?”
“Yeah, I weally wanna see him a lot.”
It wasn’t because he hated her and didn’t come.
She hadn’t been abandoned by her father.
After learning that fact, Rierusha waited for news of the young duke day after day.
“When is Dad coming?”
Rierusha asked with a clear face.
“After you sleep just a few more nights, the young duke will come to see you with a ta-da!”
“Mm.”
“Until then, chew your meals well and be brave!”
“Mm.”
Rierusha twitched and slyly covered the carrot she had pushed off to one side.
Sona, who had already seen it, put on a stern expression. Then, when Rierusha speared the carrot with her fork as if to eat it and moved her lips as though she were chewing, Sona burst into laughter without resistance.
“But why aren’t you eating the bread? This is tastier than carrots.”
“Mm, I don’t like bread.”
“…Bread?”
Sona looked puzzled, because while she had seen Rierusha subtly push away things she disliked, she had never outright said she disliked something.
It was bread studded densely with nuts, for the child’s health.
But Rierusha shook her head with a gloomy expression.
“May I ask why?”
“If I eat stuff like peanuts, it hurts.”
As a bad memory surfaced, Rierusha scrunched up her face.
Understanding what she meant, Sona’s expression hardened.
“You have an allergy.”
Sona, who had received all of Rierusha’s personal information, narrowed her brow.
It was something she hadn’t known, because no one had made a report about it until now.
Which also meant Rierusha had learned it by getting sick on her own.
Realizing how neglected Rierusha had been, Sona bit her lip.
She had heard that Rosinante had cleaned out Rierusha’s residence once, but she hadn’t known it was to this extent.
Yes. They hadn’t cared for Rierusha properly.
How dare they.
Learning that little Rierusha had endured the problems herself and taken care of herself all this time, Sona lowered her head.
Her eyes sank coldly.
“I will make sure to instruct them to take special care so that such a mistake never happens again, Lady Rierusha.”
* * *
The rumor that Rierusha had awakened her ability spread through the ducal castle in an instant.
The family’s treatment of her, which had been cold rice until now, changed by an entire dimension.
Every meal that came out was lavish, and the maids also behaved respectfully.
Moreover, even the things she had been given before had been quite expensive, yet goods so extravagant it was embarrassing to compare began to fill the room.
“…You mean all of this is mine?”
“Of course. These were things that should have been given to you from the beginning, young lady. You have only reclaimed your rights now.”
Rierusha couldn’t close her gaping mouth.
A princess bed she had only ever seen in picture books, and furniture so luxurious she wondered if it was even all right to touch them, filled the room.
