“…what?”

At Lennox’s words, I raised my head in amazement. Lennox was a little surprised to see my eyes facing him, but soon he continued with his words.

“Actually, there was a room that I didn’t show you before. I don’t know if you can remember it.”

The words naturally reminded me of a door that we passed by. There was another door next to my mother’s office.

“Re, I remember.”

“That’s going to be your room in the future.”

“…..”

I was really surprised this time. I was so surprised that my hiccups burst out again. Lennox, embarrassed by my reaction, hurried to hand me warm water.

“I, I thought I didn’t have one.”

As I held my breath and barely managed to stop hiccups and stammered, Lennox smiled, saying that it would never happen.

Because that smile was so sweet, unfamiliar, and I felt happy, so, like a fool, I thought, even if that smile was a lie, I am happy at this moment.

After a simple evening meal together, I decided to get my hair trimmed as Lennox suggested.

“Your hair will be shorter, but it’ll be much cleaner.”

“Lennox is good at trimming, right?”

“So, you mean you will believe me?”

Lennox smiled at my words and picked up scissors. I agreed to the word that he would clean up my messy and irregular hair, but I was nervous about what it would be like.

“Woah.”

In spite of my nervousness, Lennox really deftly moved his hands to arrange my hair.

“It’s over. How is it? It didn’t take that long, right?”

Looking at the mirror Lennox prepared for me, I saw a curly white hair just below my ear.

“It’s really short.”

“Do you like short hair? It seemed like you cut it yourself.”

“I cut it roughly, since no one cut my hair.”

When I finished my words, he stopped doing what he was doing and looked at me. His gaze reached towards me, but I continued to talk because I didn’t care about it.

“I cut it myself because I didn’t want to hear people swearing at my hair color when they cut my hair. Anyway, everyone hates me.”

I was going to continue talking, but I couldn’t keep talking because Lennox suddenly hugged me tightly.

It was because I could see his eyes turning red like he was holding back his tears.

I don’t know why he was sad.

“…You must have been scared.”

“I thought it was just a little bit worse than usual…”

Was it scary?

I slowly recalled the time I tried not to think about it.

Did they say I was poisonous? Did they say they didn’t want to see me? Did they say I was mean?

As I listened to words, full of malice in so many different ways, all words mixed up so I couldn’t remember it in detail.

Therefore, my voice was calm.

“But, well, it was worth holding on.”

And at the words, Lennox burst into tears.

“Heug.”

Tears streamed from Lennox’s eyes. The tears that burst did not stop, as if he were the one feeling it, and soon, I felt his tears seeping into my shoulders. Rather than sighing at the damp clothes, I thought that the priority was to comfort Lennox, who did not know why he was crying.

“Don’t cry.”

Pat Pat

It seemed a little strange to pat a man who was taller than me, and as if Lennox felt it too, he cried even more sadly.

“Heug-heug.”

“….”

Are you really crying because of me?

The movement of the patting hand slowed down.

A child he met for not even a month, also, a child who could threaten his position, and above all, when he found out that she was the daughter of a wicked woman whom everyone despised…

Lennox was very friendly.

And I was very unfamiliar with his kindness.

To the extent, that I wanted to reject it.

“Lennox.”

“…yes, Daphne.”

“Why are you crying?”

“…..”

Lennox breathed in for a moment, wiped away his tears in a hurry, and smiled graciously with his red eyes.

“I think there’s dust in my eyes.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I guess it’s gone now.”

Look at this. How sweet he is, in turning words around like this. So, I decided to bring up something that I must say here.

Unlike the smile before, he smiled as if he didn’t want to worry me. And then, a cold voice came out.

“You don’t have to be so sweet to me. We’re tied up in a contractual relationship anyway, and I’m…”

I took a breath and put a word in my mouth that I did not want to say to the friendly Lennox.

“I’m a greedy child. I don’t want to lose what I once gained. That’s why, don’t be nice to me.”

There was no word between us after that. When I said I wanted to take a rest, Lennox carefully brought me to the room, just like before.

“Call me if you need me. Take a good rest, and I’ll be back at dinner time.”

After saying that, Lennox left the room.

Sitting on the bed, I stared blankly at the clean room. The room that I thought was good, when I was suddenly left alone, I immediately felt bad.

He looked tenderhearted, but he wasn’t hurt, was he?

I’ve got bigger fish to fry* and still, in this situation, I’m worried about Lennox.

   T/n: * To have more important or more interesting things to do.

“…I need to wake up.”

Surviving is the first priority in order to achieve happiness. I would be happy if I survive, twist the contents of the second part, mix it up, and overturn the happy ending.

“How can I be so happy already?”

Kindness given to me brings happiness, but the happiness that already comes will be poison to me.

I shook my head hard and slapped my cheek with both hands. When I slapped myself on the cheek with a pair-sounding sound, I was able to divert my thoughts from the tingling.

“Let’s forget, I must forget it. Think about what you have to do right now.”

There are many things to do. When the male protagonist appears, you have to either kill him or give him the kindness to win his heart and use it, then throw him away without any mercy.

I’m going to make sure he doesn’t trust anyone. I’m going to ruin his relationship with the heroine.

“Even in the novel, my mother didn’t bother killing the main character. It’s more likely she will try to save him again.”

No matter how much I take this position…

This sloppy romance fantasy world that I belong to is following the coercion of the original.

The main character may stay here in a different way, so I should think about what to do with him.

‘And this seal, too.’

I lifted up the old bag beside the bed and took out the seal I had hidden.

‘I was so embarrassed by her refusal that I gave her all the documents, so this is the only thing I have.’

Hopefully, that will not be the case, but it’s important to leave the last card in case it’s needed.

Above all, this seal was not like an ordinary object. This could be a big weakness of the nursery that my mother wants to catch. I hid the seal deep in my bag again and kept my bag on one side.

“…if I knew how to read the papers earlier, I would have known all the contents before handing over, right?”

After reading enough, I would have saved it in my head and delivered it to her. Now that I think about it, it was a shame, but with this regret, I thought of my first wish to tell my mother.

***

My mother didn’t show up at dinner time, unaffected by my energetic decision to say my first wish.

“Mother is too busy. She won’t probably come back until tomorrow evening.”

Ricarda looked sullen as if he wanted to share the sorrow with me, who was feeling down.  Then, he gently stroked my head and asked me to have dinner together tomorrow.

The evening passed so quietly.

Ricarda, who opened his mouth without asking how his brother was today,

And Lennox, who listened to him quietly and started to argue.

I, who only listened to them.

Would we look like a family if viewed from the outside?

I wasn’t sure how the mealtime went by.  I’m sure the food was delicious, but why do I feel so empty?

After the meal, when everyone fell asleep, the dawn hour came. I don’t know if it was because of the big room or the darkness of the downtown area of the Capital and the forest, but I couldn’t fall asleep and loneliness surrounded me.

The night felt so long.

***

I woke up early in the morning.

While trying to stand up, I remembered about my leg injury. As I stayed still on the bed, I soon heard a knock on the door.

 Knock knock!

“Good Morning, Daphne!”

Ricarda, who seemed to be in good spirit even in the early morning, came inside with a big smile.

“Now! It’s the morning treatment time!”

With a big smile on his face, Ricarda sat in front of me.

“This brother will try his best again today!”

“…Please do it.”

Aren’t you tired of calling yourself brother when I don’t even give you any answer?

He frowned at the unfamiliar words and quickly opened up his frowned eyebrows, thinking not to scrape it off.

“I learned the upgraded version of the healing magic yesterday. I hope this works a little.”

His playfulness disappeared, and seriousness emerged from him. Ricarda rolled up my blanket and put his hand on my leg. Soon a light pinkish glow flowed out from his hand, like the color of his hair. The flowing light began to draw intricate patterns of magic. I felt a stream of water running through my body.

“Well, I tried hard. But it’s harder than I expected.”

After doing magic for a long time, he took his hands off because he thought the right time had passed. The Magic Circle immediately disappeared, and I felt a little lighter.

“Something didn’t go the way I wanted. Is your body a little lighter?”

“…Hmm, a little?”

I don’t know if it worked or not, but…

In this situation, where they can’t even call a doctor or a priest, the only one I can trust is Ricarda.

‘Will he be able to heal my legs?’

I heard Ricarda was an excellent wizard, but he said healing wasn’t his main major. Is it possible?

‘I should give up on the idea that my legs will heal perfectly.’

You thought it was the price of your life in the first place, so you can’t have any regret now.

‘You must have a strong heart, Daphne.’

Ricarda was gloomy, so for some reason, even I felt gloomy.

That’s why I thought back to myself that it’s okay, it’s not a waste.

“I’m fine. Because I got my life in exchange for my legs. It’s not Ricarda’s fault.”

I tried to get rid of his expression that made me feel guilty. But, before I could say anything more, Ricarda shook his head with a determined look.

“You have to save both your life and your legs; You don’t have to give up on one thing.”

“… still.”

“Why do you have to give up? Don’t give up.”

Unlike his usual laughing voice, Ricarda’s voice was low and serious.

When I was surprised by his appearance, Ricarda smiled and said,  “Don’t worry. I’ll make you all better.”