Chapter 18
Five-year-old Lephonia had never wanted for anything before coming to this family.
Even when she was alone in that empty house, she hadn't asked for help throughout the entire carriage ride to the mansion with the Duke of Kreitan. She had simply asked to be taken on as a maid, reasoning that selling her wouldn't fetch much money anyway.
It had been the same even after she was adopted.
Yet, this was the first time Lephonia was expressing a desire for something. The Duke of Kreitan pondered for a moment before turning his gaze to Pretes.
"Pretes. Why don't you—"
"No."
Before the Duke could even finish his sentence, Pretes gave a firm refusal and stood up before he had even finished his meal.
"You shouldn't leave such matters to me, Father."
She isn't even a child I adopted. You should be the one taking responsibility.
It was as if Pretes were reprimanding the Duke of Kreitan with that look. Lephonia cast a sidelong glance at the Duke.
The Duke of Kreitan merely let out a soft sigh.
Pretes turned coldly and strode out of the dining room. The Duke watched his back for a moment before turning back to Lephonia.
"Ponia. I think it might be better to just leave Pretes be."
"It's okay."
Lephonia replied spiritedly, as if it were nothing, while continuing her meal.
"I was already rejected yesterday, so I expected it. This much is fine."
"Ponia."
"I know what you're worried about, Duke. You're worried that I'll be a nuisance to him, right? I won't bother him too much."
"What are you talking about? Why would Pretes find you bothersome?"
"Huh?"
Wasn't that why the Duke was trying to stop her?
"That boy needs to have his life inconvenienced a little. All he does at the Academy is eat, sleep, and play."
Then why tell her to leave him alone? Lephonia tilted her head, unable to understand.
"Ponia. I'm worried that you'll be hurt by being rejected repeatedly."
"……Me?"
Lephonia pointed at herself and tilted her head. Worried that she would be hurt? It was the first time in her life she had ever heard such words.
"It can't feel good to be rejected over and over again."
Lephonia, who had never even considered such a thing, parted her lips. She had steeled her heart this morning, telling herself that being rejected was no big deal... yet here, it was a cause for concern.
'Because you keep doing things like this, I'm getting used to this kind of treatment, and my heart skips a beat even at a single rejection.'
Even though she would have to discard all of this someday.
"But Ponia, I want you to know that Pretes isn't rejecting you because he dislikes you. If he truly disliked you, he wouldn't have come out early and sat in the dining room, especially since he loves his morning sleep. For your information, Ponia, he never even sat across from me when you weren't around."
It was difficult to gauge whether the Duke was trying to comfort her or simply stating the truth.
"Okay."
There was no need to ask. Whether it was comfort or truth, it didn't matter much to Lephonia anyway.
"Then… I'll try talking to him a little more."
"Pretes isn't exactly gentle with his words, so I'm worried you might get hurt."
"It's fine. He doesn't curse at me or use violence."
Anything short of that was considered gentle.
Lephonia continued her meal. The Duke, who had been about to argue, shut his mouth at Lephonia’s overly calm reaction.
He seemed to want to correct something, but Lephonia didn't bother to ask.
Beside her, the Duke only muttered diligently, "Step by step, slowly, let's do it one by one."
The Duke took a deep breath, watched Lephonia chewing her food thoroughly, and then spoke.
"Ponia. From now on, use this to get around."
At the Duke's gesture, the butler brought something over.
Flash, flash. Even from a distance, it was huge, glittering, and resplendent in five colors.
"What is this?"
"I told you before. Since the mansion is large, I said I would have a wooden horse made for you to ride instead of walking."
Even at a glance, it was a wooden horse crafted from high-quality timber.
Seeing the vivid color of the wood, it was clearly the kind used only for the furniture of high-ranking nobles.
Furthermore, expensive-looking jewels were embedded in the horse's eyes. It would have been fine if they were only in the eyes. Jewels were embedded all over its body, enough to be called a "Jewel Horse."
It even wore an expensive-looking necklace, for a wooden horse.
"I've embedded a magic stone in it, so it will move in the direction you want to go."
"Gasp. A magic stone?"
What was the price of even a single magic stone, and he was embedding it into a mere wooden horse?
Into a wooden horse that only a five-year-old Lephonia could ride!
Lephonia looked down in shock at the horse, which was worth far more than her own life.
"It's designed to move only within the Kreitan mansion and cannot be taken outside, so there's no risk of it being stolen."
The moment it was taken outside, people would swarm it to strip away the jewels and the magic stone.
Lephonia swallowed hard.
"Ponia. It's a gift for you."
A gift. At that word, Lephonia, who had been busy calculating the price of a single jewel, snapped her head up.
Only then did the Duke of Kreitan’s face enter her field of vision, having previously been obscured by the horse.
Even after embedding all these expensive jewels.
He had a face full of anxiety, nervousness, and worry, wondering if she might not like his gift.
"Ah……."
Lephonia parted her lips. She knew in her head what one was supposed to say when receiving a gift.
But for the first time in her life. Truly, for the first time in her life, she had received a gift, and the words wouldn't come easily.
"Th, tha……."
In her life, she had said "I'm sorry" far more often than "Thank you." She had put the words "Please save me" on her lips far more often than "I love you."
She had said "I'm fine" instead of "I'm in pain," and "I'm going to die" instead of "Please help me."
Her life had been one of spitting out "I hate it" rather than "I like it."
"……It's my first time."
Unable to bring herself to say "thank you," Lephonia muttered with genuine sincerity.
One must not pour emotions into those related to a mission. Because if you pour out emotions, you cannot carry out the mission.
But even so.
"In my life, really… this is the first time I've ever received anything."
Even so, this much was sincere.
"Because it's my first time……."
Lephonia repeated the word "first" several times. Instead of saying thank you, she kept saying that.
"Is that so?"
The Duke of Kreitan finally smiled as he watched Lephonia awkwardly repeating the word "first." Then, he reached out and scooped the small Lephonia into his arms.
"I'm glad that I'm the one who gave you your first gift."
It was as if he understood that the word "first" was a substitute for "thank you."
'He's glad that he gave me something…….'
It was a truly ironic statement. The world Lephonia had lived in did not bestow things upon others. No, there was nothing to bestow. It was a world where everyone was busy filling their own mouths and looking after their own share. It was a world where the moment you showed consideration for others, you wouldn't survive and would eventually die.
Therefore, she could not know the joy of giving to others. Lephonia could not understand such a heart.
"Then, try riding it."
The Duke carefully sat Lephonia on the wooden horse.
'A wooden horse at my age…….'
It even had handles.
"It can be dangerous, so hold the handles tightly when you ride. Understand?"
She had momentarily forgotten that the Duke was the type of person who would tell you to drink cold water slowly for fear of an upset stomach.
"Mm-hmm."
Even if she answered with a "yes," she shouldn't hold the handles. After all, she had the pride of an adult!
"I made it so that it only operates when you hold both handles. Hold the handles and kick the ground once in the direction you want to go, and it will move. After that, you can steer it in the direction you want to go using the handles. If you let go of one hand, it stops."
He was thorough. To think he would make it so it wouldn't even operate unless you held both handles.
Lephonia burst into a light laugh at the thought that he would be shocked out of his wits if he knew she had once jumped from the third floor while being chased.
…Of course, the moment the Duke of Kreitan found out who Lephonia really was, it would be at the execution grounds, so there would be no need to be shocked out of his wits.
'If I had really been born in a place like this…….'
Lephonia shook her head, having briefly imagined herself born and loved in a place like this.
It was a reality that could not be, and a past that could not be changed. Every time such thoughts surfaced, she only felt more miserable.
"I'm going to go catch Pretes!"
Lephonia smiled and grabbed the handles of the wooden horse. The maids opened the door to the breakfast room, smiling as if she were cute.
'First, he said to kick the ground.'
Lephonia kicked the ground once. Then, the wooden horse began to move, slowly rocking back and forth.
"Oh, it really moves."
Rock, rock.
The wooden horse moved back and forth, slowly advancing.
She had thought, "The wooden horse is coming through, make way!" but.
'……It's subtle.'
The speed was very subtle.
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