Chapter 1

Edward Wale had searched for Diane Lina for fourteen years, and one day, she suddenly appeared before him of her own accord.

On that unusually busy day, Edward, standing before the main entrance of Wale Hotel with a deeply furrowed brow, stroked his lower jaw with his left hand.

“D＊mn it!”

He hadn’t even shaved for a few days, so the sensation of his short, bristly beard was prickly against his fingers.

Because the development of the old district of Center Shire, where Wale Department Store was to be built, was delayed due to resistance from merchants, he had been living through days so hectic there was barely time to breathe.

Only today, at last, the sluggish work had been completed, so he was finally heading to his family home after a long while.

But the carriage, which should have been waiting for him, still hadn’t arrived.

He took out his watch from his pocket and checked the time again.

It had already been two minutes since he stepped out of the hotel’s main entrance.

‘D＊mn! If you’re paid, you should do your job.’

Thinking of his secretary, James, Edward glared in the direction where the carriage should have appeared.

It was then.

“Are you Mr. Edward Wale?”

A woman suddenly appeared from the opposite direction he was staring at and spoke to Edward.

“What is it?”

Without even bowing his head, Edward simply lowered his eyes to look at the woman standing before him.

She tilted her head back to look up at him, her eyes wide open as if ready for a staring contest, not blinking at all, meeting Edward’s gaze straight on.

First, those pale blue eyes, glaring as if defiant, then her small, white face, and her thick, curly blonde hair all caught his attention in order.

If anyone else had seen her, they would have stared in surprise at such a strikingly beautiful face, but Edward’s expression didn’t change at all, his eyes simply cast downward.

“Mr. Edward Wale!”

The woman called his name again.

“What are you?”

At his curt question, the woman’s face flushed in an instant, and she glared at Edward.

Edward watched her reddening face with a blank expression, then turned his body to take a step toward the direction where the carriage should be arriving.

But in the very next moment, he stopped in his tracks.

Suddenly, he turned his head and stared intently at the woman’s face.

His eyes, which had shown no emotion as if he were looking at an object, now flashed with a strange light.

Eventually, he even tilted his head to the side, scrutinizing her face, his eyes widening.

“You…”

Over the woman’s flushed face, the image of a little girl’s face, completely red from fifteen years ago, overlapped vividly.

* * *

Fifteen years ago, on that day, eleven-year-old Edward Wale was sitting in the dining hall, which also served as an auditorium, at Lina Orphanage.

The biggest event of the year at the orphanage, the Night of Appreciation, was in full swing.

“This is boring.”

Watching the performance that the children had prepared for the visiting patron nobles, Edward had been repeating this complaint for several minutes.

Thud!

Edward’s restless leg, swinging back and forth, kicked the chair placed right in front of him.

The person sitting in the chair Edward had kicked was his father, Duke Wale.

At the vibration of the chair, the Duke flinched and turned around, eyes wide.

“Edward!”

The Duke called his second son’s name in a low, short voice.

“I told you, I’m bored. Why do I have to be here?”

Despite his father’s fierce expression and stern tone, Edward retorted without backing down, his voice so loud that the Duke’s face twisted even more.

Just then, Marquis Jude, seated nearby, pointed to the girl playing the lead role and asked the Duke,

“That girl must be the best, right? I suppose they gave her the lead because she’s the most promising child in this orphanage?”

The Marquis, who had come with the intention of adopting a girl from among the children, looked quite serious, but the Duke, forced to move his gaze away from his son, nodded reflexively.

“Ed! These kids must have worked hard preparing this. Sit properly and watch. Do you want to get in trouble with Father?”

Adrian, the Duke’s eldest son, who was watching the stage with perfect posture, spoke to Edward.

“You watch it. I’m too bored. Why is that girl, the lead, messing up her lines? Is she stupid?”

Adrian shook his head at his younger brother’s sulky words and attitude.

Edward stopped swinging his leg, but still had his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling, then shrugged his shoulders, suddenly speaking with a spark of energy in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes.

“I’m leaving.”

“What?”

Before Adrian could finish his sentence, Edward slid off his chair and crawled toward the exit.

“Hey! Ed!”

Adrian called out quietly, glancing at their father seated in front, but Edward ignored him and left the auditorium.

Adrian glanced at their father once more.

Fortunately, their father seemed absorbed in conversation with the Marquis, not noticing anything.

He can just find Edward and bring him back when the performance ends.

Adrian sighed briefly, thinking so.

With everyone gathered in the auditorium, no one stopped Edward.

On the first floor, besides the auditorium, kitchen, and director’s office, there wasn’t much else. Edward headed for the stairs.

But his bored eyes widened as soon as he reached the second floor.

He heard a sound coming from one of the rooms at the end of the hallway.

“Sniff, sniff. Waaah!”

It sounded like someone crying.

Edward approached the room where the sound came from and opened the door.

A girl was sitting on the bed, crying.

‘What’s with that red face?’

More than her blonde hair or pale blue eyes, her completely red face caught Edward’s attention first.

“Hey! Strawberry!”

Edward called out to the girl.

She either didn’t hear him or was too absorbed in her crying to respond, just kept sobbing.

“Hey, why are you crying? Everyone’s in the auditorium, are you special because you’re a strawberry?”

At his words, the girl began to cry even louder.

Her sobs were so loud that Edward worried they might echo down the hallway and reach the auditorium, so he hurried inside and closed the door.

“Hey! Why are you crying!”

“I’m not a strawberry! I hate strawberries! I said I hate them! Don’t call me strawberry! If you eat strawberries, you turn into one, so who would want that? Waaah!”

As the girl finished speaking, her crying grew even louder, and Edward gulped nervously.

He hadn’t spoken much with this girl before, especially not with one crying like this.

Apparently, calling her ‘strawberry’ had really upset her.

“Hey! Can you quiet down?”

Edward, glancing at the door to the hallway, shouted as if trying to drown out her sobs with his own voice.

“…Waaah!”

For a brief moment, her wide eyes made her quiet, but soon, even louder sobs burst out.

“Alright. I’m sorry!”

Overwhelmed by her crying, Edward blurted out words he rarely said.

The girl stopped crying at that moment.

Edward spoke to the suddenly quiet girl in a small voice.

“You’re not a strawberry, you’re not. You’re done crying now, right?”