Clutching the hem of her clothes tightly, Ailee nodded firmly.

“That’s right.”

At the child’s confirmation, Ciela waited silently for Ailee’s next words, watching her intently. Ailee’s small lips trembled slightly before parting.

“Ciel-unnie, can we talk alone? Just the two of us?”

“If that’s what you want, then let’s do it.”

Ciela stood up and asked the other children for their understanding. She looked at Calix, met his eyes and signalled that she would follow the child for a moment. But as she prepared to move, she was interrupted.

“Have you all been behaving?”

The voice, distinctly different from a child’s, pierced the air. Both Ciela and Calix instinctively turned towards the source of the sound.

‘Three adults and a boy.’

It wasn’t hard to guess who they were.

‘So they found the missing child.’

The boy they had named Hugo was being led away by the adults, his head hanging low in defeat. Then, as if suddenly jolted awake, Hugo snapped his head up. His eyes darted around, searching for someone, until they finally settled on Ciela.

No, not quite on her. Just past her.

“…Ailee…”

Hugo’s voice, barely audible, carried on the wind. Ciela felt the slight trembling of the small figure beside her. When she turned to look, Ailee was biting her lips so hard that faint lines formed around her mouth.

“Hugo, that idiot.”

Without warning, Ailee spun on her heels and ran off somewhere.

“Ailee?”

The girl was out of sight before Ciela could catch up. Just as she hesitated, unsure whether or not to go after her –

Thud, thud.

A woman with tightly pinned violet hair approached, her steps measured and deliberate.

“I wasn’t informed of any visitors today. Who might you two be?”

Her voice was soft, but there was a clear undertone of caution. Her sharp gaze swept over Ciela, as if ready to strike if she found her suspicious.

‘This must be her.’

Remembering the information she had read in detail in the carriage, Ciela opened her mouth to reply.

“My apologies. I’m here to see Deputy Director Floina.”

“That would be me.”

The woman replied, narrowing her eyes. It seemed as if she had already concluded that Ciela was suspicious. Her pointed finger hovered in the air as if to signal an immediate dismissal.

Before Floina could speak further, Ciela calmly tucked her hair behind her ear and said –

“I’ve made an appointment – at the foot of Sanbas Hill.”

Floina’s eyelashes trembled slightly at the words.

‘The base of Sanbas Hill’

 It was a phrase, a sign of understanding between the late Marquis Arcel and herself, meant for a day when an important guest would arrive.

“Could it be…?”

Her pupils widened as she studied Ciela once more. The noble air that surrounded her, impossible to hide, belatedly came into focus. Swallowing hard, Floina glanced at the man standing next to Ciela, then cleared her throat. Memories of a newspaper article she had read resurfaced.

“Please call me Ciel, Deputy Director. And the man next to me may be addressed as Lix.”

Floina quickly scanned her surroundings. Luckily, the other teachers and the director were busy tending to the children, not paying attention to their exchange. She let out a small breath, loosened her previously rigid shoulders and softened her demeanour, bowing slightly.

“Forgive me. I’ve been so distracted that I completely forgot we had an appointment. Let us go to the Deputy Director’s office.”

As they entered the office, a faint aroma of coffee lingered in the air, brushing gently against their skin. Following Floina’s lead, Ciela and Calix sat down on the sofa.

“I deeply apologise for my earlier rudeness. A child has recently gone missing in a nearby village, and this has caused us some concern. I am afraid I have behaved inappropriately towards such important guests.”

“It is only natural to be cautious, given the circumstances. We were the ones who arrived unannounced.”

Ciela replied, gently stopping Floina as she bent down to apologise.

“Thank you for forgiving my rudeness.”

Floina said, placing her hand over her chest before bowing and straightening. Her expression relaxed slightly as she apologised and stood with a soft clink of keys. The sound was almost like a herald, signalling the fulfilment of a long-awaited promise.

Returning with a box she had taken from a drawer, Floina sat down opposite Ciela and placed it on the table.

“The late Marquis Arcel was a unique benefactor to me.”

With a few light taps she brushed away the thick layer of dust that had accumulated from years of neglect. As the dust billowed faintly in the air, Floina’s gaze turned distant, her words dipping into the past.

“He gave me a chance for a new life when I was nothing more than a thief, born into a poor family with no other skills.”

Floina’s faint smile and unfocused gaze seemed to be directed at someone she could never see again. Watching her, Ciela’s mind drifted back to her childhood memories.

‘Grandpa was involved in charity work, wasn’t he?’

She grasped the faint strands of memory, following them slowly until a scene emerged: her head resting on her grandfather’s lap in the garden. It wasn’t a sweltering summer like now, but a cooler season.

[“If it’s not a situation where it’s impossible to help, don’t turn your back on others.”]

‘He often said that, not just in the garden, but throughout his life.’

It was advice he shared not only with her, but often with the Marquis Arcel and his wife.

‘When Grandfather died, the Marquis and his wife gave up their charity work almost immediately.’

A bitterness spread in her mouth, sharp and acrid, as if she had swallowed a cup of black coffee. Ciela curled her fingers reflexively.

“You came here, so you must have read the will.”

“Yes, I have.”

“He was always worried about you and wanted to help you find your real family. I came to this orphanage because I wanted to help him. I had already worked with children in another orphanage before I came here.”

She pushed the box towards Ciela.

“Every orphanage in the Empire has a rule: the things a child brings with him on his first day are never thrown away, so they can help him find his family one day.”

Ciela nodded, already familiar with this information.

“Normally only the director has access to such things, but I took the liberty of putting yours away for safekeeping.”

Floina added with a playful smile, faint wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes.

“I’ve never opened the box myself, so I don’t know what’s inside, but I hope it leads to something meaningful.”

Ciela reached out and pulled the box closer to her.

The things she had brought with her when she first came to the orphanage. Ciela had thought she wouldn’t feel anything, but now that she was looking at them, her lips felt dry. She took a deep breath, steadied herself and tightened her grip on the lid of the box.

The sooner this was over the better. With firm determination, Ciela opened the box.

“These are…”

“A baby’s nappy and a doll.”

In the thick layer of dust lay a white nappy and a doll. The swaddle, now yellowed in places, bore the marks of time, as did the doll, whose inspiration for its design was unclear. Its stitching was haphazard and clumsy, giving the impression that it might fall apart at the touch of a hand.

‘There was no way they could help find anyone.’

Perhaps that was for the best. After all, she wasn’t looking for anyone.

Ciela closed the box, ready to leave. Until Lix reached out and stopped her.

“Lix?”

“May I have a closer look at these objects?”

“Of course, go ahead.”

Calix carefully lifted the baby’s swaddle, his movements meticulous. As he examined the white cloth, he parted his lips to speak.

“The fabric hasn’t been well preserved, so it’s a bit frayed, but it’s no ordinary material. A specialist might be able to confirm it, but it seems to be some sort of high quality cloth, inaccessible to commoners. This doll too.”

“Are you saying that my real family could also be noble?”

“If we were to speculate, it seems plausible.”

“If they were nobles, wouldn’t they have bought a ready-made doll or had a nanny make one for them? But this doll… it’s such a mess – its shape is unrecognisable and the stitching is horribly done.”

“Maybe it was made by hand.”

“Handmade?”

“Even though it looks clumsy, it could very well have been made with care by a family member thinking of the child.”

“That’s rare, isn’t it?”

Unless it was a hobby, nobles rarely took on tasks they weren’t good at, often seeing such efforts as a waste of time. Instead, they were more likely to spend a fortune hiring a craftsman to make an elaborate gold-plated doll for their child.

“It’s not unheard of. My own childhood doll was handmade by my mother. Just like that cat doll over there.

Ciela’s eyes widened in surprise. Calix coughed awkwardly and brushed a hand under his eyes as if to compose himself. Talking about a doll he still cherished, especially in front of someone he liked, made him feel his cheeks heat up slightly.

“A cat? Does that doll look like a cat to you?”

“Yes. It’s rough, but everyone can see that it’s supposed to be a cat.”

“…”

Ciela remained silent, her gaze fixed on the doll. Sensing her scepticism, Calix shifted his focus to Floina. The deputy director avoided eye contact, her expression subtly hidden behind lowered lashes, clearly unwilling to engage.

“Look at those pointed ears and long tail, those soft eyes and large pupils. And those adorable paw pads.”

Following his descriptions, Ciela’s eyes scanned the doll. The ears were rounded rather than pointed and the tail, though long, had an irregular wavy shape. The eyes were only sharp on one side. The paw pads? They were vaguely endearing, consisting of one large oval and three small circles, but it was hard to confirm that they belonged to a cat.

“Think of Titi. Doesn’t it look a bit like her?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I suppose there is a slight resemblance.”

Looking at the poorly made “cat” doll (as Calix insisted it was), she could see maybe 1% of a resemblance. But it didn’t look much like Titi.

‘Titi is much more adorable, so maybe it shares about… 0.01% of her charm?.’

No, 0.001%. No, wait, 0.00001%. As her internal monologue continued to add zeros, a faint laugh interrupted her thoughts. Floina had let out a soft chuckle, clearly amused by the scene unfolding before her.

“I’m sorry. You seem like such a lovely couple that I couldn’t help myself.