Chapter 11
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Chapter 11
By the time I regained consciousness, I had already arrived at the Bellomen Mansion.
'It takes over an hour to get from the Orphanage to the mansion, and I slept the entire way without waking once.'
I must have been exhausted.
I descended from the carriage, tapping my shoulders with my fists. The troubling part was that despite sleeping so deeply, my fatigue hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"I need to wash up and get some more rest...."
"Auntie!"
The shrill cry froze the words on my lips. When I turned around, Lucian was rushing toward me with an expression twisted in fury.
"Lucian, oof!"
Lucian charged forward and drove his head straight into my body. The impact was so violent I thought my organs might rupture.
"Ugh...."
"I hate you, Auntie! I hate you!"
Lucian threw a tantrum without the slightest concern for my pain.
"Young Master Lucian, you mustn't do that!"
The Nanny, who had hurried after him, grabbed his fists as he swung them toward me. But she was no match for his strength.
Lucian was larger than other children his age and remarkably strong. The Nanny, struggling to restrain him, stumbled backward and fell.
"Lucian! Where did you pick up this terrible habit of hitting people? Hmm?!"
Unable to bear the sight, I raised my voice sharply.
"I told you to use your words if you have complaints!"
As I gripped his shoulder and spoke sternly, Lucian stopped flailing his arms. Yet his chest continued to heave rapidly.
"What's bothering you? Don't shout—tell me calmly."
"It's because you...!"
"No yelling. Take three deep breaths and speak properly."
Lucian panted for a moment, then opened his mouth again, his voice smaller than before but still loud.
"You left me behind and went out!"
"What...?"
What kind of nonsense is this?
"I asked you to take me with you! But you went out alone and never came back!"
As he spoke, sorrow welled up in him, and Lucian's voice grew louder again. But I could no longer scold him.
"Wahhhhh!"
Because Lucian had begun to cry—deeply, profoundly cry.
"Lucian, what are you saying? Why would I abandon you?"
I asked, unable even to think of comforting him.
"You always said you were tired, that you wanted to go somewhere quiet and rest!"
"That's...."
An undeniable truth.
After soothing Lucian's tears and tantrums, I would always....
'Riley, lock me away on some quiet island. I think I'd be happier trapped there....'
I would say things like that.
But I had never said such things in front of Lucian.
'When did you overhear that?'
So you've been sneaking around again without sleeping.
They say the birds listen by day and the mice listen by night—that was exactly the situation.
"Well, your aunt is getting on in years.... Lucian, when you're my age, every day will be exhausting, won't it? I meant it in that sense—absolutely not that I dislike you and want to run away."
No matter how stubborn and disagreeable Lucian was, he remained my only blood relative. How could I despise the child my own sister had borne? No matter how much I might resent him, he was still my own flesh and blood.
"I waited so long for you. I asked you to come with me, but you wouldn't take me."
"That's because... you haven't apologized to Count Chernin yet."
"Liar! You like some other child now instead of me!"
"Some other child? What are you talking about?"
"Don't you smell like another person to me?!"
"...What?"
Caught completely off guard by his words, my face went blank as if I'd been struck.
"You smell like babies! And lots of them!"
I brought my sleeve to my nose. Apparently, the scent of soap had seeped into my clothes from bathing the children all day.
Yet even that was so faint that only someone with an exceptionally keen sense of smell could detect it.
'Even so, this is too much. He's not some finicky cat.'
I knew Lucian's senses were more developed than most, but to distinguish individual scents like that?
"And you have strange ribbons in your hair too. You didn't have those when you left!"
I touched the back of my head. Just as he said, two small pink ribbons were fastened in my hair. I had put them there while playing with the children yesterday and simply forgotten to remove them.
"I'm certain of it. Some child you secretly met put those there!"
He normally wouldn't even glance at me when I asked for his attention, yet now he scrutinized me with such intensity. His sharp voice made my head throb.
"Yes, Lucian. Your aunt went to meet other children."
"...So it was true after all."
Tears that had barely dried began to glisten in his eyes once more.
I grasped Lucian's hand firmly and opened my mouth to speak.
"But it's absolutely not because I dislike you."
I tried to speak calmly, wanting to explain why I had gone to meet those other children, why it was all for his sake—in a way Lucian could understand.
"Your aunt did it all for you...."
"That's all lies! You're always saying it's for me, but you only ever scold me!"
"That's because you break the promises you made with your aunt...."
Lucian thrashed his arms wildly again. As I knelt to meet his gaze, his fist connected squarely with my face.
"Ow!"
"...."
As I clutched my struck forehead, Lucian froze in shock. He seemed to realize what he'd done.
"Lucian, you!"
This had to stop.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If he continued to resort to violence, I would have no choice but to reach for the cane....
"Ah...."
Just as I was about to order someone to bring the cane, dizziness washed over me as I rose to my feet.
My head spun suddenly and my vision darkened. And then.
"Lucella!"
"Aunt!"
'How many times is this now that I've fainted....'
I lost consciousness right then and there.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, I was in my bed in my room.
'I'm parched.'
My lips and throat were terribly dry—I had no idea how long I'd been asleep. My body felt sluggish from the extended rest, though my mind felt refreshed.
'I need to wet my throat first.'
I immediately pulled the bell cord.
I expected a maid to arrive with water shortly, but....
"Auntie!"
The person who burst through the door was Lucian.
He rushed in frantically and gripped the headboard of my bed, his face streaked with tears.
'Surely he hasn't been crying this whole time?'
Since I collapsed?
I pushed myself up in bed to comfort Lucian. For some reason, sitting up wasn't easy.
"Miss, please lie back down."
Riley, who had just entered the room, gently laid me back down and handed me a glass of lukewarm water.
"Now that Miss Lucella has awakened, young master, you should stop crying."
At Riley's words, Lucian wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. His eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.
I forced my still-parched throat to work as I opened my mouth.
"Riley, how long was I asleep?"
"A full day. It's nine in the morning now."
"So Lucian has been... crying for over twenty-four hours?"
Instead of answering, Riley smiled ambiguously. But her meaning was clear enough.
I placed my hand on top of Lucian's head as he continued to wipe away his tears.
"Lucian, didn't I tell you? I would never abandon you."
"That's not why I was crying."
"...Then why?"
"Because you suddenly collapsed."
"...."
"I got angry at you, and that's why you collapsed."
Lucian's lips trembled as tears threatened to spill again.
"You're all I have. If you died...."
"Lucian, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"
All my limbs are still attached and in one piece.
"If you're gone, I'll truly be alone...."
I stopped waving my arms about to prove I was fine.
"...You thought something like that?"
Lucian, that incorrigible little troublemaker, was never easy to read. There were countless days when I wished I could peer into that small mind of his, just once, and I would ask for nothing more.
But now, gradually, I was beginning to see Lucian's world.
A mother who had left this world when he was far too young—so young that her face no longer came to mind. A father who claimed to be busy and never returned home. Lucian had no siblings to lean on emotionally, no friends to confide in. To him, I was truly all he had in this world.
Of course he would be angry that his only person had left him behind to meet other children.
After I collapsed, he must have been terrified of being left alone in this world.
'So that's why he turned dark.'
In the original story, Lucian becomes a villain starting from the moment of my escape.
Honestly, I could never understand why Lucian was so shaken by my disappearance. He had never even followed me around, never once said something as simple as "I like Aunt." Not even once.
He tormented me every day, screaming that he hated his aunt. So I had always thought to myself—perhaps Lucian didn't need me after all.
But to think he harbored such feelings all along.
'Just as I am his only family, he is mine as well.'
With that realization, tears threatened to spill from my eyes.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org