31. Home

When I opened my eyes, a pair of eyes like those of a domestic rabbit were looking at me.

The round, azalea-colored eyes weren’t unfamiliar. Of course, it’s natural to feel familiar with what I see in the mirror every day.

But what I saw in front of me wasn’t a mirror.

Those pink eyes full of worry continued to stare at me.

“Gasp……!”

I sat up with a start.

“Elaine, why are you here?”

Something was strange.

Elaine couldn’t freely enter and exit this castle without a very special reason.

Then, is this a dream?

Elaine’s presence wasn’t the only strange thing.

The moment I thoroughly checked my surroundings with my eyes, I realized that the scenery around me felt somehow familiar yet dissonant.

This was the scenery of my bedroom in the house where I originally lived.

Why on earth am I at our house?

What about that murderer from yesterday? And the burned lodging?

And the young master whom I ultimately couldn’t find there?

“Sister, you should lie down again first. You’re very exhausted right now.”

Elaine laid me back down with a calm voice. I looked around with a puzzled face. No matter how I looked at it again, this was indeed our house.

The scenery of the quiet, old bedroom where sunlight entered well was just as I remembered.

Though it had been a while since I visited, not much had changed.

Come to think of it, that point was also a bit strange.

I’m sure I sent a lot of money from my previous bet with the Duke. Isn’t it too unchanged for that?

Could all those things have been a dream?

Perhaps that would be better.

Because the young master, who hadn’t met me, could continue living in that quiet and remote castle.

However, Elaine just said something very concerning.

“By the way, Elaine. You just said I need to rest, right……?”

I carefully opened my mouth while looking at the ceiling in the position Elaine had laid me down.

Though I didn’t remember well how I came back here, if she said that, it’s clear that my appearance as seen by Elaine wasn’t in a very good state.

“The clothes……”

I felt the indoor clothes made of rough cloth that had been changed on me at some point.

The sensation of scratched wounds on my arms and legs was vivid.

None of it was a dream.

I sprang up from my place and sat up again.

“This isn’t the time to rest.”

“Sister, don’t do that.”

Though Elaine tried to stop me again, I firmly pushed her hand away.

“Tell me. Why am I here?”

“That’s…… because Father wanted to see you.”

I recalled my father’s emaciated face that I had last seen.

“Father asked Levery yesterday. On his way there, if it seemed like you wanted to come home, he asked him to bring you.”

“Levery……?”

Elaine nodded at that name I called.

“So that’s why……”

I finally understood Levery’s behavior from the other day, which was unlike his usual self.

Levery, who is extremely indifferent to others’ circumstances, suggested the carriage instead of leaving.

It seems that watching over me in the rain and supporting me when I was a mess, fallen in the mud, were all because of my father’s request.

“Yes, sister. Has your curiosity been satisfied now? Then please rest again quickly.”

Elaine’s attitude was still dubious.

Though she readily answered my questions, the slight trembling at the end of her voice made it seem like she was hiding something.

But there’s no way this child would have anything to hide from me.

“Elaine, look at me.”

Why had Elaine been trying to make me lie down?

And her avoiding my eyes was also suspicious.

“……Yes?”

That trembling smile was also a habit of Elaine’s that appeared when she was hiding something.

But there couldn’t possibly be a significantly large problem in our family that Elaine would need to hide.

As far as I knew, everything was being resolved well.

The serious debts of the house would have been resolved through the deal with the Duke. After all, it was a large sum enough to reclaim the mine that Father had disposed of as a headache.

If there’s no problem, what could be worrying?

“How is your music study going?”

I asked in a friendly tone to lighten the atmosphere, holding Elaine’s folded hands.

Elaine nodded her head.

“Well, you know……”

But this answer was also somewhat unclear. Elaine’s downcast eyes were still avoiding mine.

Surely it can’t be…… was it a lie that she was studying music?

No, seeing this behavior, it could be a lie.

“You, don’t tell me……”

Elaine’s fingers were anxiously fidgeting and tearing at the innocent blanket.

“Don’t worry, sister! Of course I’m learning well.”

Then Elaine grabbed my wrist and answered urgently.

“Elaine.”

I called my sister’s name in an angry voice.

“You know too? Your face shows it all when you lie.”

As soon as I pointed this out, Elaine momentarily made an “oops” expression and quickly tried to erase it, but I didn’t miss it.

“N-no, sister. What do you mean a lie, why would I do that?”

If the family’s circumstances had improved, there would be no reason for Elaine not to study music.

Something strange was going on.

I really hoped it wasn’t a big deal, but I kept feeling uneasy and anxious.

“Sister, instead of this, shall we eat something?”

With a bright smile on her face, Elaine changed the subject and caressed my wrist as if tickling it.

“This is suspicious.”

“No! There’s nothing like that. Sister, wait here. I’ll bring it to you. What do you want to eat? You remember the three dishes I’m best at, right?”

Elaine asked me with smiling eyes.

“I remember……”

I reluctantly answered.

Something was suspicious, but Elaine clearly had no intention of telling me. And while I wanted to continue arguing, I also felt like resting comfortably since I had come home after a long time.

Given the situation, I should rest a bit while eating the food Elaine prepares.

But no sooner had I thought that than a loud noise contradicting my thoughts was heard.

It came from the wardrobe opposite the bed.

The wardrobe door opened as if collapsing, and instantly the luggage inside poured out.

Coincidentally, it wasn’t just clothes and luggage that popped out from inside.

“Ugh…… it hurts.”

What fell from there with a loud noise was our family’s youngest, Theo.

As far as I knew, this child should have been in the middle of classes at school.

First Elaine, and now Theo.

“Theo, why are you……”

“Hey, I told you to hide well……”

Interrupting my words, Elaine grumbled loudly.

“Elaine, did you know Theo was at home?”

However, the moment our eyes met, Elaine stopped nagging and flinched, quickly averting her eyes.

Indeed, something was strange.

I threw off the blanket covering me up to my knees and got up from my place.

This wasn’t the time to lie down and rest comfortably.

With a bewildered face, Elaine finally gave up on holding me back.

But I could feel her gaze fixed on me as if nailed, even without looking.

I walked over to Theo and extended my hand. Theo’s clothes, still crouched on the floor as if in pain, weren’t much different from when I last saw them.

Though not terribly bad, the sleeves full of signs of wear despite being cherished and saved, and the shortened length, didn’t fit Theo.

Of course, this didn’t mean our mother was so insensitive as to neglect her children.

If it weren’t for the unavoidable financial difficulties that had hit our family or Theo’s rapid growth, Mother would never have allowed Theo to wear such small clothes.

“Ow, ow, ow……”

Theo moaned while rubbing his shoulder and hip that had hit the floor.

“Here. Take my hand and get up, Theo.”

I took Theo’s hand as he rolled around on the floor.

The moment his hand was grabbed, Theo was also belatedly startled and lowered his head with a frightened face.

“Sis……”

I pulled Theo up with strength in the arm holding his hand.

His height, once at my eye level, had already grown significantly. But his anxiously rolling eyes were unmistakably those of a child.

I let out a deep sigh. It was also a kind of ritual to calm my unknowingly stifled heart.

“Elaine, Theo.”

The moment their names were called, the two children looked at each other as if by agreement.

The two were clearly hiding something from me.

Though it was what I desperately hoped wasn’t the case, it was probably an issue directly related to the family’s economic situation.

I tried hard to think it wasn’t so, but I could no longer pretend not to know.

“Can you please explain to me what’s going on here in a way I can understand?”