He might not even know that I had already awakened, but being so obsessed with a non-awakened person…
Perhaps it was for two reasons.
First, I proposed an ‘unexpected negotiation’ in the middle and his plan fell through.
Obtaining something that was nearly lost will double the original pleasure.
The second was—
‘It must mean that he is desperate enough to cling to an non-awakened talent.’
I finished my calculations inside, and for the first time, I pretended to be meek.
Gerard let me out of his arms only after taking several long breaths, as if he was barely holding back.
“Then shall we go now?!”
“Yes, Prince.”
I lowered my eyebrows and tried to put on a gentle expression and smile.
Then I greeted Madam Mimosa and Julius in turn.
After exchanging soft farewells, I walked to the procession of black carriages.
‘It’s stretched to this point, Prince Axelferion’s eyes.’
But then Gerard said something unexpected.
“It must be unfamiliar since it’s your first trip, so you can ride in the same carriage as me.”
“……!”
‘What?! Who are you trying to ruin?’
How am I supposed to use the magic tool if we ride the same carriage?
‘No, why do you want to ride the same carriage as a commoner orphan?!’
He wouldn’t even think of me as a real daughter.
I looked at Gerard in amazement for a moment, but I realized as I looked at those softly curving eyes.
‘Ah… He doesn’t want to be separated from the spoils even for a second.’
It must be the same feeling I had when I hugged the treasure bag all morning, grinning.
With a calm face, I replied,
“Thank you, but it will cause a lot of strain for a commoner who is not formally registered to enter the palace in a carriage with the noble prince.”
“…….”
“Because I’m an orphan with no roots, even when I enter the palace, people will say that I’m acting against the law. In the future, I will stand out quite a bit in the Imperial Palace…”
With a refreshing smile, I continued.
“I don’t want to be a cause for commotion, being rebuked by the people from the beginning, Prince.”
‘Commotion.’
This was something that Gerard, who adopted me with bad intentions, would hate more than anyone else.
Even now, people were gossipping about the reason for the unmarried prince to adopt a daughter, so he wouldn’t want anything more to be said.
Unsurprisingly, Gerard agreed with me.
“…You’re right. Annette.”
“Thank you.”
“Then let us ride in separate carriages.”
Whoa.
I was relieved and quickly found a maid with an easy impression.
He wasn’t going to let me ride alone…
If I ride with a maid who was as soft as a pudding, it would be easier to escape—
“I will serve you.”
While I was thinking that, an old woman with a very strict and bitter impression appeared.
The woman with brown hair and eyes, who had her hair tightly tied to the extent she might experience hair loss, had a cold, expressionless face.
She looked exactly like an eagle.
‘Damn, damn it.’
“Yes.”
I smiled and calmly climbed into the carriage.
“I am Emmanuelle Borgier, who will be in charge of your education in the future.”
‘Is it true that I will get a teacher again?’
She looked even more merciless than the teachers of the Forest.
Teacher Borgier looked at me with astute eyes, then she blinked.
“The first thing to do is to remove the stain of an orphan who grew up in the Forest.”
“…….”
“It is difficult to learn the dignity of a high-quality imperial family member. In the future, I will not tolerate trickery or laziness.”
To tell an orphan to take off their stain.
If I had been a 12-year-old without a previous life, I would have been deeply hurt.
That woman seemed to have said those words with the intention to hurt.
“Yes! Well then, thank you, Madam Borgier.”
When I smiled brightly, not caring at all, I could see her startled.
‘Bye bye, in any case.’
But the question was how to shake off this stubborn eagle and escape…
It was a time when I was in deep contemplation.
Neighhh!
Finally, the loud cries of the horses were heard from the front, and the carriages began to move slowly from the front row.
Then, Madam Borgier knocked on the carriage’s door twice.
Perhaps it was a signal, since our carriage in the back row also started moving slowly.
“…….”
‘I’m really leaving the Forest.’
As I watched the moving scenery, I was sentimental.
I was sad about parting, but I felt relieved because I had accomplished everything I wanted to achieve before leaving.
It was bittersweet.
Without me, the children would live well now.
Still.
‘…Sislin.’
I really wanted to see his face for the last time.
In the end, I couldn’t even see his face and just went away.
‘Are you still sleeping?’
Koo–ook, without realizing it, I tightened the hand holding the bag and lowered my eyes.
Right then;
Bang–!
Suddenly, there was a roar from the side of the mansion.
“……?!”
I hurriedly stuck to the rear window of the carriage.
–Huh?
In the distance, a faint silhouette was running fiercely towards the carriage.
“Annette–!”
“Sislin!”
The boy’s forehead was covered in blood.
***
It was still early in the morning.
Sislin was looking out the window, checking the beds of Annette and Heinrich, who had not yet returned.
The boy was wrapped up in a bizarre feeling.
It was a foreboding that Heinrich’s warning and the incident at the incinerator were intertwined.
“Sister is suspicious.”
“She asked me what I would do if she’s adopted? Asking something like that… It was her first time. Besides, wasn’t she a bit suspicious at the dinner table earlier?”
Of course, at the incinerator, Annette said it was all over, but…
“So, it’s all over now. I ended up staying in the Forest. How do you like it?”