Chapter 14: Chapter 14

“About fifty years ago, a family living in Ceyron was exterminated at the Emperor’s orders.”

At the shocking words, I opened my mouth to ask questions but couldn’t get the words out. The word extermination meant that not just one or two people were killed. It was practically a genocide.

“Why? There must be a reason for such an extreme act?”

Mr. Haftery rarely had such a grim look on his face.

“It was a ridiculous reason. Anyway, the incident is called the ‘Eustaf massacre.’ It’s an unforgivable incident that must never be repeated. At that time…”

***

But at that moment, Mr. Haftery, who was just about to explain more, stopped in surprise. His cold face morphed into an apologetic look.

“Oh my god, I brought up such a terrible topic to a young child. Forgive me. I wasn’t thinking right. Just keep in mind that something like that happened for now. Let’s go into the details later.”

Well, ‘massacre’ is not an appropriate topic for a seven-year-old’s class. I was curious, but I decided to hold it in. It’s not like I’ll go crazy if I didn’t learn about it immediately, and I will find it out someday anyway. Moreover, if I really wanted to know, I could just search for a book.

“We’re going to learn about the most famous emperor of the First Holy Army today, aren’t we?”

Mr. Haftery smoothly changed the subject. I pretended not to notice and went with the flow.

“Yes.”

“There were quite a few emperors in the past, but if you have to pick the best of them…”

Mr. Haftery’s explanation followed. I took the class with concentration, as always. Mr. Haftery’s teaching style had always been captivating.

The emperor’s achievements were so outstanding that my pen had no time to rest. At first, I wrote with enthusiasm because it was amazing, but soon I began cursing in my heart.

What did this emperor work so hard for? My head was spinning from the long explanation.

“Shall we call it a day?”

“Yes. I think my head is about to explode.”

I replied hurriedly to Mr. Haftery’s suggestion as if I’d been waiting for him to speak. Mr. Haftery’s class was good, but it was also challenging due to the vast content he covers each day.

Mr. Haftery smiled at my reply.

“Okay. Let’s wrap up. I’ll see you in two days.”

“Get home safe.”

After class ended, it was time to have dinner. If you consider my routine, it was not much different from my original life at home. Except for the absence of my nanny, my regular life was the same.

I walked towards the dining room, anticipating a delicious dinner.

What delicious dish will I have this time? The only thing I like about being young is that I can eat without worrying about gaining weight!

Excited, I skipped my way to the dining room. But as soon as I opened the door, I was met with an unwelcome individual. My excitement immediately subsided.

I felt the tension of the servants in the dining room, revealing that the person was an uninvited guest not only to me but also to others.

As if he did not feel the tension in the air, Kirsica was proudly eating on the table. With a confident face saying ‘I am the center of the world.’

Why do I have to see a face I don’t want to see?

As the successor of the Grand Duke, he shouldn’t be using this common dining room. Why is he having dinner here when I thought we would never meet again?

I slowly stepped back to run away from the person I wanted to avoid, but a cold voice called me.

“Hey, little girl. Come here.”

Instinctively, I stopped my retreat and stepped forward. Kirsec stopped eating.

While I was standing there thinking and wondering why he called me over, he proceeded to show me his marvelous skill of lifting one eyebrow.

“Hey, you should come and greet me if you’ve seen me.”

“Hello.”

I immediately gave him my little bow. Kirsec stared down at me for a while and then started eating again.

Is it okay since I said hello?

I stepped backward, but he acted like he didn’t care about me moving. So I slowly moved back again. He continued to ignore me. So I opened the door to leave the room as I had initially wanted to.