The first duty given to me as her personal attendant was none other than waking Elena.
I wondered if it was truly all right for a mere servant to dare disturb his master’s sweet sleep, but…
“It is said to be a tradition of the Frozenheart ducal family for the entire family to have breakfast together.”
After hearing Yulia’s explanation, I understood. With a justification like that, waking her was only natural.
I carefully opened the door and entered without making a sound, and saw Elena sleeping peacefully on the large bed.
She was hugging a large teddy bear in her arms—the very one I had given her as a gift.
‘Thank goodness she seems to like it.’
I had been secretly worried. What if the teddy bear had been torn to shreds and tossed into the trash?
One might think, Surely she wouldn’t do something like that, but anyone who had read the original would have no choice but to sympathize.
No, if anything, that would be considered mild. In the original, she had even torn up a gift right in front of the person who gave it to her.
“Lady Elena, Lady Elena…”
I whispered very softly by Elena’s bedside, so that she would not be in a bad mood when she woke.
“Lady Elena, it’s time for your night watch…”
Oops. That wasn’t it.
The situation was so familiar that the words had slipped out of my mouth without my realizing it.
“Uuugh…”
Elena furrowed her brow and turned her head the other way. She looked quite displeased.
To think even someone hearing it for the first time would react like that—just what kind of power did the words “night watch” possess…?
“Lady Elena, it is morning. You must wake up.”
Putting that brief mistake behind me, I continued waking Elena.
If I had my way, I would have let her sleep to her heart’s content, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. This was, after all, a breakfast tied to the tradition of a ducal household.
And more than anything, I wanted to carry out the first task I had received as a servant as cleanly as possible.
How much time had passed since then? It was around the time the words “Lady Elena” had come out of my mouth about twenty times.
“Luke…?”
Elena murmured in a small voice. Her eyes were blinking slowly as well; it seemed she was not fully awake yet.
“Yes, I am Luke, Your Ladyship’s personal attendant. Did you have a comfortable night?”
“Mm, I slept well…”
“I will call a servant to help you prepare yourself, so please wait a moment.”
“Mm, I’ll be waiting…”
I bowed my head to Elena and left the room. Of course, I did not forget not to show her my back as I exited.
“Luke, did something happen…?”
As soon as I came outside, Yulia asked me as if she had been waiting. Her gaze was filled with worry.
“No. I safely woke Her Ladyship.”
“Is that so…?”
“May I ask why you are concerned?”
“It’s nothing. Then I will go help Her Ladyship prepare.”
That was the end of my conversation with Yulia. She went straight into Elena’s room.
The reaction she had shown just before bothered me somewhat, but it didn’t seem like something I needed to dwell on.
If it was important, I would find out whether I wanted to or not.
* * * * *
The Elena that Yulia remembered was someone who woke at even the slightest sound.
It was not a level that could simply be dismissed as being a light sleeper. She would open her eyes at even the faint noise of a door being opened.
It was a reaction similar to the knights who slept lightly during their time on the northern front.
That was why she found it strange.
‘Just what is taking him so long…?’
The little servant had entered the room quite some time ago, yet there was still no sign of him.
Perhaps he had committed some grave discourtesy and was being scolded. It was, after all, his first day as a servant.
So she had even been prepared to apologize in his place if necessary, but…
The scene she soon encountered shattered those thoughts to pieces.
“Good morning, Your Ladyship.”
“Mm, good morning.”
Elena’s expression was bright. Her complexion was good as well, and there was no trace of fatigue to be found. She looked just like someone who had woken after a deep, restful sleep.
Though Yulia greeted her calmly, she was actually quite flustered. It had been nearly a year since she had begun serving Elena, yet this was the first time she had ever greeted such a pleasant morning.
Until now, Elena had always met the morning with a gloomy expression and empty eyes.
“Your Ladyship, your complexion looks good today. Did you perhaps have a pleasant dream?”
“I did dream… but what was it? I can’t remember.”
“I am certain it was a good dream. Certainly.”
Could something great be about to happen? It was an unbelievable change, enough to make such a thought cross her mind.
Afterward, Yulia began helping Elena get ready.
As Elena took off her pajamas and changed into a pure white dress, she suddenly tilted her head.
“But where’s Luke? Isn’t he helping me? He’s my servant.”
“Your Ladyship, a lady must not show her inner self to a man.”
“T-that’s how it is…? But then the promise…”
“A promise…?”
“N-nothing at all!”
Yulia felt curious, but decided not to concern herself with it. That was a virtue a servant ought to possess.
‘Could it be because Luke came…?’
For a girl with no friends her own age, Luke’s presence must have felt more familiar than anything.
Whether he could fill the empty place left by the duchess who had passed from this world remained unknown, but…
The master she served had become healthier.
For Yulia, that was enough.
* * * * *
How much time had passed since Yulia entered the room?
Suddenly, the doorknob moved, and Elena came outside.
“Luke, good morning.”
“Good morning, Your Ladyship.”
Elena was wearing a dress similar in color to her hair, with a thick coat over it. The inside of the coat was lined with fluffy fur, so it looked extremely warm.
Soon, I left the mansion together with Elena. The chill wind I felt the moment we stepped outside made me realize just how warm it had been inside the building.
Ah, how I miss them. Electric blankets, padded jackets, boilers…
Fortunately, it did not take long for those modern items to vanish from my mind. Elena’s mansion and the main building were not that far apart.
Even in such a situation, there was one thing that still remained firmly in place in my head: none other than steaming hot fish cake broth.
On a day when your breath turned white, blowing on it and drinking a ladleful was nothing short of paradise.
If I got the chance next time, I wanted to try making it. I wonder if Elena would like it too.
“Luke, from here on, you truly must be careful.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
With Yulia’s warning, we arrived at the dining room inside the main building. In the large space stood a long table that could easily seat ten people.
There were already two people occupying seats at that table. None other than the Duke and Duchess of Frozenheart.
To be precise, I should call her the new duchess. Elena’s birth mother had passed away from illness.
“Good morning, Father.”
Elena bowed her head to the duke in greeting. Then she shifted her gaze to the side and looked at the duchess.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, good morning.”
The duchess seemed to accept the greeting warmly, but it was easy to notice that the emotions beneath that warmth were not positive.
Elena, too, surely already knew that fact. We had spoken about it earlier at the banquet as well.
There was no need to ask what had happened between the two of them.
Elena had been unable to accept her stepmother as her mother, and her stepmother, in turn, had been unable to accept Elena as her child.
‘Is this another problem I have to solve…?’
If things were left as they were, the duchess would certainly commission me to assassinate Elena.
In the original, she had used as bait a medicine that could cure my mother’s illness.
Of course, I had no intention of accepting such an offer. Not only was there nothing but a miserable death waiting at the end of it, there was no way the duchess would keep her promise.
But would I be able to get away with simply refusing?
‘No, no. Either way, I die.’
The moment I learned of the plan to assassinate Elena, I would no longer be an outsider.
The duchess would try to conceal the truth by any means necessary, and in the end, I would be silenced through death.
Ultimately, there had only ever been one choice given to me.
To make sure the duchess did not commission Elena’s assassination.
In other words, all I had to do was apply medicine to the festering relationship between the two of them and put a bandage over it.
Of course, it would not be easy, but I was not particularly worried. I had created the relationship of secret friends precisely for this day.
Even if she was the daughter of the Northern Duke, surely she would listen to a little nagging from her secret friend.
While I continued those thoughts, several servants entered the dining room pushing carts.
They quickly set the food they had brought on the table and withdrew.
“Then let us eat.”
With the duke’s words, the meal began.
The menu consisted of freshly baked bread, salad, and stew. It seemed quite frugal for a ducal household, but considering that this place was at the northernmost edge of the territory, it was understandable.
If not that, then perhaps they simply ate lightly because it was breakfast.
‘She eats surprisingly well…’
Unlike what I had seen in the banquet hall, Elena ate the food set before her quite well.
But that lasted only a short while. Soon, she found herself blocked by a great wall.
“Uuugh…”
That wall was none other than a large orange carrot. Elena was glaring at the carrot, which had been mercilessly impaled on her fork.
It was only natural that eating a balanced diet was good for the body, but there was no way a child would care about that.
Delicious things were good, and unpleasant things were bad. To children, that was simply the natural order of the world.
‘No way…?’
Elena tightly shut her eyes and brought the carrot to her mouth. Then she chewed, moving her mouth, and swallowed it down with a gulp.
Unbelievable. A nine-year-old who could even overcome picky eating?
As expected, the protagonist of this world really was different.
It was then. Elena slightly turned her head and met my eyes. It seemed she wanted to boast that she had eaten the carrot.
Just as I was about to respond with a smile—
“Elena, once the meal is over, send Luke to my office for a moment.”
The duke’s low voice filled the dining room.