Chapter 5

“Are you here?”

Lysian paused for a moment as he saw Lestia entering the dining room.

The little girl in front of him was a shabby little thing who was lying on the snowfield with her tangled hair hours ago.

But when she was all washed up and put on new clothes, she was quite cute.

It was a pity that her messy gray hair had once been such a beautiful white.

‘And they look a little alike, don’t they?’

Blood can’t be deceived anyway.

The elegance that the tightly tied lips exuded.

It reminded him of the former Duke of Verchester and his eldest son Gerard.

‘Of course, I think this one’s much cuter and prettier.’

On the last day of the funeral of the Duke of Verchester, Gerard called the brothers together and said,

“We have a sister. Father abandoned her because she could not use magic.”

How could he just abandon her because she couldn’t use magic?

In any case, the Duke of Verchester was an incomprehensible man.

“I feel responsible for that child, and unlike father, I’m going to bring her here and let her live as a Verchester.”

It was Gerard’s decision that Joel would visit the child.

Gerard, the eldest, was busy as the successor to the title, and Mathias had run away from home as soon as his father was no longer able to control him.

Lysian wanted to wait for Gerard but Joel decided to go look for Mathias himself.

Lysian looked at Lestia who was staring at him with fear in her eyes.

‘What the hell? I’m not gonna eat you. Plus, you only have bones.’

“Come sit here.”

Lysian stood up and greeted Lestia.

“I don’t know what you like, so I told the chef to prepare a few things.”

The large dining table was filled with all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and sea.

The chef was so overly skilled that Lestia’s legs felt heavy at the sight.

“You can sit here.”

Lysian remembered Joel’s words about being nice to Lestia, and kindly moved the chair for her.

But as she sat in the chair uncomfortably, Lestia didn’t make the slightest attempt to eat her food.

“What is it? You don’t like the food?” Lysian asked.

Lestia answered cautiously.

“Oh, no….Everything looks delicious. But…I’m not sure which one I should eat first.”

“You can just eat them as they are. What do you mean you don’t know?”

Lysian tilted his head.

Lestia wriggled her small hands.

“There are too many knives, forks, and spoons….How should I eat…?”

Indeed, there were many forks and knives in front of Lestia.

The nobles of the Morcatium Empire, to which the Duke of Verchester belonged, had a dining etiquette where they all used different utensils depending on the type of food.

It was familiar to Lysian, but to Lestia, all of this must seem like a mystery as she was seeing them for the first time.

“Ah…”

Lysian sighed briefly. Lestia was the daughter of the Duke of Verchester, a great nobleman of the Empire.

Even if she was born a bastard, she would have had a better life than a commoner if she had the protection of the Duke.

However, the girl lived in a slum.

She couldn’t read, and she didn’t know how to eat food like the nobles.

She bowed her head and apologized for things she didn’t do wrong.

Lestia’s growth in that environment and how she had been treated were naturally portrayed in his head.

Even if the former Duke that left this girl behind was already dead…

After all, he thought, it would have been better to incinerate that trash of an uncle.

But for now, his priority was to solve Lestia’s hunger.

She must be even hungrier than before she took a bath.

“Hold the fork first.”

Lysian nodded and pointed to the front of Lestia’s table.

“Huh? But there are five forks.”

“Grab whatever fork is easy to hold in your hand.”

Frustrated and languid, Lestia’s slender fingers grasped the smallest fork.

It was the fork used for dessert, but Lysian saw, Lestia’s skinny fingers couldn’t even lifted that well.

“…”

The back of Lestia’s hand was cracked.

It looked like the medicine was carefully applied after bathing, but that wound was not something that could be hidden with just one care.

Lysian felt frustrated, thinking that was why she couldn’t even use a fork well with that hand.

“Not this fork, is it? I’m sorry.”

Lestia fidgeted as she looked at Lysian.

He couldn’t believe an eleven year old girl who was more familiar with apologizing than she was with complaining.

“Why did you apologize? I said you can pick anything you want.”

Lysian spoke as gently as he could, but Lestia nervously answered.

“That…I’m stupid…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that. You’re not stupid at all.”

Lysian interrupted before Lestia could speak more.

“And even if you’re not smart, it’s not your fault.”

“But….I’m sorry ………”

Apologies must have already become her habit. Lysian said, facing Lestia straight on.

“Well, listen to me carefully.”

“Yes…?”

“I’ll forgive you for any mistakes you make from now on.”

“What………?”

“So you can act as your heart desires. There is no need to apologize at all. Do you understand?”

Lestia opened her eyes wide and listened to Lysian’s speech.

‘He will forgive me for everything, and I can do as I please?’

It was a difficult and confusing instruction.

“So don’t worry about anything, just say what you want for now. What would you like to eat?”

His golden eyes created another light in her gray eyes.

When she first met him, Lysian had told Lestia to choose for herself whether she wanted to go to the Verchester mansion or stay with her uncle.

And even now, he told her to choose for herself what she wanted to eat.

That didn’t sit well with Lestia, who had always lived her life by her uncle’s orders.

…But listening to Lysian, she felt brave enough to choose what she really liked.

Most importantly, his words of forgiveness for her mistakes moved her.

‘Forgive me for everything….. Will he forgive me if I am the false Verchester?’

Those thoughts came back to Lestia, but she quickly put them out of her mind.

It was too insolent a thought to even consider on her own.

“Go ahead!”

Lysian urged.

Lestia closed her eyes tightly.

“The brown food on the right looked delicious.”

It took her a moment to choose, but she did it courageously.

“Very well.”

Lysian briefly and clearly praised her.

Then, taking a knife and fork, Lysian cut the food that Lestia wanted and brought it to her plate.

“I’ll help you today. You can use the fork you have, right?”

This was the first time someone cut up the food for her.

Lestia looked at her plate, unsure of what to do.

“Aren’t you going to eat it? You’re the one who chose it. It’s not as good as it looks in person, is it? Do you want to eat something else?”

Immediately, Lysian urged.

“No…no.”

Lestia began to use her fork cautiously.

Then she put the brown meat that Lysian had placed on her plate in her mouth and began to chew.

The juices filled her mouth as she tasted the savory spices for the first time.

It was so delicious that the fork, which was initially cautious, began to get bolder and bolder without her realizing it.

Before she knew it, Lestia gobbled up every morsel that Lysian put on her plate.

“Is it good?”

“Yes …… yes! It’s really good!”

“Well, you should try some of this, too. But, before you do that, drink some water. Joel will be annoyed if your stomach gets sick.”

Lestia took the cup of water that Lysian offered her and put all of the roasted vegetables in her mouth.

“You eat well.”

Lysian continued to fill the plate without stopping, as if he liked what he saw.

The late dinner was finally over when Lestia said she could not eat any more.

“Are you sure you’re full?”

“Yes, I really can’t eat anymore.”

Lysian pursued, as if he didn’t believe what Lestia was saying.

“Then let’s get you to bed. I’ll take you to your room.”

As if he had been waiting for her, Lysian picked Lestia up again.

“Um, I can walk now!”

Lestia shouted in panic. However, Lysian didn’t let her go, saying,

“Don’t worry. I’ll walk you to the door of your room.”

***

Lestia’s room was on the second floor.

Dora took the lead in opening the elaborately carved door of a four-eyed lion symbolizing the Duke of Verchester.

The spacious room with large windows was filled with luxurious furniture.

However, it was a little small for an adult to use.

This was because it was specially made to fit the size of Lestia’s body.

Of course, to Lestia, who wasn’t growing properly, it looked big.

“Wow…….”

Lestia widened her eyes and slowly looked around the room.

The windows were covered with thick velvet curtains to keep out the bitter cold, and the table and shelves were decorated with pretty little ornaments.

In addition, there was a white lace canopy shimmering above the large bed.

They were all strange things.

“Well then, young lady, get some rest. If there’s anything you need, you can always call me by pulling the rope next to the bed.”

Dora said and went out of the room.

“Well, good night.”

Like he said, Lysian dropped Lestia off at the door of her room and turned around to leave.

But Lestia stood mysteriously in front of the door and did not move an inch.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like your room?”

At Lysian’s question, Lestia hesitated to speak.

“Um, ……can I use the bed?”

“What? If you don’t sleep in the bed, where are you going to sleep? Wait a minute, how did you sleep before?”

“I slept with a cloth on the straw bed.”

Lysian’s voice eventually became unbearable and raspy.

“And your uncle?”

“My uncle is the owner of the house, so he slept in his bed.”

“So if you’re not the house’s owner, you can’t sleep in the bed?”

That was the question.