Chapter 12 – Part 6

“I…… prefer chocolate.”

It was Tenere who said that.

Her face blushed slightly, as if she were embarrassed to speak in front of others.

Someone asked sarcastically.

“It seems like Lady Evan still has a sweet tooth.”

“I’ve tried black tea before, but I don’t really know what it tastes like. I can barely drink it unless I add milk.”

It was something no one had said, but it was something everyone in the room could relate to, including Alaina.

A few kids looked at each other at her comment.

It seemed like they wanted to agree but were too prideful to admit it.

“…Then I’ll just have chocolate too. It would be lonely if Lady Evan was the only one drinking something else.”

Someone subtly raised their hand and said, and starting from that, other children followed suit.

“Me too.”

“It would be a hassle for the maids to brew a new pot of tea.”

“Me too…….”

Perhaps if the children were a little older, they would have noticed that the maids standing around them were holding back their laughter.

But since no one noticed, the children didn’t realize how obvious they were being and continued their chatter.

“…Then I’ll just have chocolate too, for old times’ sake.”

Alaina was the last to raise her hand.

Tenere blushed and smiled shyly as all the kids followed suit and drank their chocolate.

She’s pretty, Alaina thought inwardly, but then quickly brushed it off.

‘She’s the daughter of that woman.’

The daughter of the woman who killed her mother. What’s pretty about that?

At that moment, a pair of slitted eyes turned toward Alaina.

As the large eyes curved gently toward her, she jerked her head away.

‘Who thinks you’re pretty when you smile? You’re a murderer’s daughter.’

It wasn’t that she didn’t realize it was childish stubbornness.

Even if her mother’s death was truly the doing of Patrona, wasn’t it unfair to blame the daughter?

But even though she knew it wasn’t, she couldn’t help but cry.

She was afraid that there would be no one to receive her anger.

She’s afraid that she’ll end up blaming herself.

Alaina pouted, and someone spoke up.

“By the way, isn’t Lady Evan’s mother a Patrona?”

It wasn’t said with the best of intentions.

Nobles of lesser rank warned me time and time again that my children would cause trouble with the higher nobility.

‘Be polite. Don’t be rude to any noble child. Never fight with any noble child.’

But a child’s best time to listen to his parents is before he learns to say “no”.

Regardless of their actual status, these children had been raised to embrace their noble status.

They felt humiliated by being told to bow down to children their own age, and some even resented it and became aggressive.

In that sense, Tenere was easy prey for proud noble children.

It was understandable, given her relatively modest attire, plain face, and shy personality.

“What’s a Patrona?”

“My mother says they are of low blood…….”

“They’re wandering tribes of the forest. I read about them in books; they hunt animals and drink their blood.”

As someone spoke, the children wrinkled their noses as if they were disgusted.

Alaina saw Tenere’s face go white. Despite being a noble’s daughter, she could only bow her head without saying a word.

‘Is she dumb? ‘

Wasn’t it natural to retort? If she had nothing to say, she could at least have thrown a plate of cake.

“Is that true? Do they really drink blood?”

“Eww, gross.”

Normally, this would have been a situation where the host of the gathering had to intervene.

However, it had been a while since the child, who was the host, got swept up in the atmosphere.

“Is that true, then? I’ve heard that Patrona practiced some strange witchcraft.”

“That’s what they say. It was Patrona who killed the Marchioness Salvatore.”

“Oh, that’s superstition. The Marchioness Salvatore died giving birth to Lady Alaina.”

The children’s attention turned to Alaina, who had been observing the situation with her mug gracefully raised.

At the abruptness of the words, Alaina looked up in confusion.

“What…….”

“My father says she was born after eating her mother.”

The children turned to look at her in unison.

As several pairs of eyes fixated on her, Alaina remained frozen.

Despite knowing she should retort or even throw a cake plate if need be, she couldn’t move.

Why couldn’t she move her body?

“Then the marquis died because of her daughter.”

“Poor thing…….”

The raw, harmless, and thoughtless words pierced her heart.

If she spoke up, she’d look like she was lashing out, and if she kept her mouth shut, she’d look like she was acknowledging such nonsense.

But at the same time, she knew her mother wouldn’t have died if it weren’t for her, so her face turned bright red, and she kept her mouth shut.

One of the maids, who had been watching, spoke up as if to change the mood.

“By the way, ladies and gentlemen, we…….”

“……It’s not like that.”

The maid didn’t finish her sentence as she reached for their toys. It was Tenere who had suddenly opened her mouth.

She looked up, clutching her mug tightly.

“That was just bad luck. It’s not her fault….”

“…….”

“And the marchioness chose to die because she loved Lady Alaina, so no one should blame her…….”

Well, Lady Salvatore’s death wasn’t a deliberate choice but rather an unavoidable accident.

As if realizing how absurd her words were, Tenere’s voice gradually faded.

It was, in fact, a story born of fantasy.

An illusion about a mother’s love that chooses death for her child.

A longing for absolute motherhood, unlike the mother who abandoned her and ran away.

But Alaina, being young, didn’t try to understand why Tenere said such things.

She was simply surprised that Tenere suddenly took her side.

‘What’s going on? ‘

She had been sitting there, unable to say anything about being of low blood or eating the blood of beasts.

Why was she suddenly on her side?

In a corner of her perplexity, there was a creeping sense of shame.

Shame for receiving help from someone she had looked down on, and shame for doing nothing when she was in trouble.

When Tenere could say no more, the maid, not wanting to interrupt, quickly pulled out the toys.

Colorfully dressed dolls and houses; models of sailboats and swords; puzzles and chess boards and blocks.

Children are children, no matter how much they pretend to be adults, and when they saw the toys, they no longer paid attention to Tenere and Alaina.

They just jumped out of their seats and ran toward the toys.

Alaina took advantage of the children’s frenzy to approach Tenere.

Tenere, who made eye contact with her, flinched sharply as if surprised.

Alaina paid no heed and sat down next to her.

“You seem to enjoy sticking your nose in other people’s business.”

The words came out of her mouth with a hint of grumpiness.

Tenere’s eyes widened, and her shoulders hunched as if guilty.

Why did she feel so irritated?

“I’m sorry.”

Tenere dropped her head apologetically. Seeing her like that, Alaina felt somewhat perplexed.

‘…..What. Did someone hit you? ’

Her scary appearance didn’t sit well with Alaina.

Who said what? Why was she scared alone?

“Uh, it’s my mom’s…… thing…….”

As she listened to the story trickle out, Alaina had a sudden realization.

Tenere actually believed her mother was responsible for her mother’s death.

“Who would believe such childish delusions? ”

Just moments ago, Alaina, who had been opening her eyes to the childish delusions, sighed and spoke.

Tenere lifted her head slightly. Looking into her round eyes, Alaina sniffed softly.

“You said it yourself; it was just bad luck.”

Tenere’s jaw remained clenched, and she looked away.

After a brief hesitation, Alaina reached out and took her hand. Tenere seemed a bit surprised but willingly followed her.

Despite their attempts to act dignified and mature, they were children who loved playing around.

They played with silk-dressed dolls adorned with jewels, sipped orange juice while solving puzzles, boasted about learning fencing with toy swords, and played hide and seek with the children they were bickering with just moments ago.

Despite her sullen first impression, Tenere smiled quite often.

Alaina thought it was quite pleasing to see.

It was natural for children their age to get dirty from running around.

As the servants guided them back to the mansion, the children dashed around like unruly colts.

Tenere and Alaina were no exception.

Their hair and expensive dresses, carefully trimmed by the maids, were a mess of dirt and leaves, but the children were beaming as they poured their energy into their play.

“See you again, Tenere. I’ll invite you to our mansion next time.”

“Okay. I’ll wait, Alaina.”

By the time it was time to return home, the two had become close enough to call each other by name.

Alaina followed her father, feeling quite cheerful.

She would have to invite her new friend to the manor sometime next week.

There was only one small problem: Isaac Salvatore didn’t like Ludwig Evan very much.

“He’s a shallow, ungracious man. If I had known the author’s daughter was coming, I wouldn’t have brought you along.”

“…….”

“Alaina, you are the one and only daughter of the Marquis of Salvator. Although we haven’t held the engagement ceremony yet, you will also be the future empress. So you should choose your friends carefully.”

Alaina nodded, of course, and continued to write to Tenere several times without her father’s knowledge, for she was long past the age of listening to her parents.

But it was impossible for a girl who hadn’t even had her debutante ball or coming-of-age ceremony to send letters secretly, avoiding her father’s eyes.

After several tearful scoldings, Alaina stopped writing.

The Marquis seemed relieved, but…

Perhaps she didn’t know. Defying orders is the nature of human desire.

If he had just let it be, it might have ended as a childhood playmate.

‘Just have your debutante ball.’