Before long, only a few seconds had passed before soft breathing slipped out.
Through the gap where the window had not been properly closed, the night wind lightly stirred the curtains.
That night,
Seraphinlie slept deeply for the first time in a long while.
&
The next day.
The moment Seraphinlie opened her eyes, she hurriedly sat up.
An unfamiliar ceiling, an unfamiliar bed, and unfamiliar air.
Startled in an instant, she swept her gaze around her surroundings.
The curtains,
the small table,
the neatly placed water pitcher,
the window where sunlight slanted in.
Only after each of them entered her eyes did she remember that this place was not Kerenia.
The Brennan estate.
Only then did Seraphinlie collapse back onto the bed with a rough breath.
“Haa...”
Her chest was still rising and falling rapidly.
She had not even had a dream,
yet the moment she woke up, she felt as though she had to run away.
She felt as though she had to check the ledgers,
as though someone would kick the door open and shout again,
as though the voices outside the window mocking her as a commoner-born woman would return.
Before long, Seraphinlie recalled what had happened yesterday, clutched her head, and let out a long sigh.
“...”
The rain.
The carriage.
Rayon’s words.
And the embrace of Rayon’s mother, who had held her.
As those memories belatedly connected and settled within her,
she slowly rose.
She went to the window and looked out at the scenery.
Compared to what she had seen at night, the elegance of the Brennan estate was even more admirable.
“...Wow.”
Looking at it again, she personally thought it was even more splendid than the Kerenia estate.
If the Kerenia estate felt as though every expensive and supposedly fine thing had been slapped onto it with money,
this place was not excessive; it had restraint and refinement.
It was not conspicuously ornate,
yet strangely, everywhere her gaze lingered was balanced.
The roads were straight but not plain,
and the buildings were orderly but not monotonous.
The signs of the shops,
the trees along the streets,
even the arrangement of the square visible in the distance—everything was neat yet distinctive.
Because all of this could be seen from the mansion, she did not grow tired of looking for quite some time.
The flow of the estate.
The paths along which people moved.
The distance troops could reach in an emergency.
The routes by which merchant carriages could enter and leave.
Before she knew it, Seraphinlie was looking at even such things.
It was interesting.
To simply appreciate something, for the first time in a long while.
And her gaze naturally turned toward the mansion garden.
In the garden was Rayon’s mother, who, the moment she had seen Seraphinlie last night, had embraced her as though she were truly her mother.
Not only the merchants,
but other nobles had attacked the moment she showed weakness, looking for an opening.
They had tried to use her or tear something from her any way they could.
Even in the gazes of the maids, she had seen that greed.
But she...
had embraced her.
Despite the soaked robe,
despite her shabby face,
despite all those incidents,
she had not asked why she had come.
She had simply held her
and asked if she was hungry.
She could not forget that embrace.
Nor that warm voice.
“Mother.”
She murmured the word softly.
A word that slipped from between her lips without her even realizing it.
And yet, surprisingly,
at that moment, Elasia Signal, who had been tending to the flowers, lifted her head.
As though she had heard.
Elasia looked toward the room where Seraphinlie was,
then smiled brightly and waved.
“...!”
Seraphinlie, startled by herself, unconsciously responded and waved back.
Only after waving did she realize she had done so.
It was awkward, but she did not go out of her way to lower her hand.
Elasia smiled and gestured for her to come down.
Seraphinlie hesitated for a moment,
then nodded with an awkward smile.
Only then did she notice that clothes had been prepared in the room.
A red one-piece dress that was not extravagant, but looked sufficiently pretty and comfortable.
Red.
A color that suited her very well.
It was clearly on a different level from what she had worn until now,
and yet, strangely, it looked so beautiful.
Because though she had received countless gifts of clothing until now, none of them had ever carried such feeling.
She changed clothes
and put on a brimmed hat.
When she opened the door and stepped out, Elasia Signal greeted her at the entrance, though Seraphinlie had no idea when she had arrived.
“Oh my, you look so pretty.”
Elasia smiled like someone truly delighted.
“As I thought, splendid things look lovely on you too, but I felt something simple like this would actually suit you better.”
Without realizing it, Seraphinlie lightly grasped the hem of her dress.
“Th-thank you...”
Her voice trembled faintly.
Had receiving a single compliment always been this difficult?
In that moment, she understood.
What she had received until now had not been compliments, but flattery.
And that a sincere compliment could make a person feel this happy.
“You don’t have to force yourself to say anything. This mother is just going to act selfishly, so all you need to do is follow along.”
Mother.
Normally, one would never refer to oneself that way.
Especially not among nobles.
For nobles, titles were boundaries.
They were a way to confirm distance, face, and each other’s positions.
Even so, Elasia did not hesitate to use the word mother.
For an instant, Seraphinlie felt as though tears would come.
Her real mother
had never once spoken to her in such a voice,
with such words,
or even with such eyes.
This was what a real mother was.
The back of her throat grew hot,
but she barely swallowed it down.
Because if she cried again here, it would truly feel as though she had become too weak.
Elasia naturally took her hand.
Seraphinlie was led by that hand, which felt warm.
And so they headed to the garden.
The garden was glowing softly in the morning sunlight.
Dew clung to the flower petals,
and the scent of damp soil rose faintly.
Each time the wind passed, the leaves rustled softly.
“Have you ever tended flowers?”
Elasia asked, handing her a small pair of scissors.
Seraphinlie looked at the scissors for a moment.
“...”
There was no way she had ever done so.
She had been someone who walked through trimmed gardens
and gazed upon completed scenery.
“There’s nothing difficult about it.”
Elasia lifted a nearby flower branch with her fingertips.
“You can lightly trim the branches growing here, or if you see something a little damaged, it’s best to cut it off quickly. That way, the other leaves can grow well.”
The scissors moved gently.
Snip.
A damaged leaf fell.
Elasia looked down at it, then quietly continued.
“It may look cruel... but it can’t be helped. Doesn’t it seem a bit like us nobles?”
For an instant, Seraphinlie, who had been tending the flowers, stopped her hand.
The tip of the scissors trembled very slightly in the air.
Elasia spoke while looking at the flowers.
“It seems only natural, doesn’t it? By my hand, the lives of the flowers are decided.”
Elasia’s voice was still gentle.
Because of that, her words sank even deeper.
“That is why... you must be careful. You must be prudent.”
Seraphinlie quietly looked at the flowers.
Only now did she understand.
The power contained in every single one of her actions.
What kind of effect it had on the flowers.
Only after she had found herself in the same position as the flowers did she come to understand.
“...”
From then on, Seraphinlie became far more careful than she had been at first.
She searched for damaged leaves,
examined the direction in which the branches spread,
and cut them so the other leaves would not be harmed.
Snip.
With a small sound, a leaf fell.
Seraphinlie heard that sound and stopped for a moment,
then examined the next leaf again.
Elasia, with a small smile, said nothing more.
That silence was comfortable.
No one forced consolation upon her,
nor did anyone compel her to realize anything.
They simply stood side by side, trimming the flowers at the same pace.
That time continued for a long while.
The sunlight grew a little brighter,
and the dew slowly dried.
Soil stained Seraphinlie’s fingertips,
but the scissors did not stop.
A little while later,
Elasia straightened up.
“You must be hungry. Shall we eat?”
“...”
Seraphinlie rose without answering.
She tried to speak,
but the words caught once in her throat.
Elasia merely gave a small smile and walked ahead.
She did not urge her on,
nor did she act as if she were waiting.
It was at that moment.
“Yes.”
Elasia’s footsteps stopped.
Seraphinlie stood there, carefully holding the scissors in both hands.
Her eyes were still hollow.
She was not completely all right.
But she showed a very small smile.
“Mother.”
“...”
Elasia looked at Seraphinlie in surprise.
For a moment, she could not say anything.
Then the corners of her eyes slowly softened.
“Yes.”
Elasia reached out her hand again.
“Let’s go.”
Seraphinlie looked at that hand, then carefully took it.
***
Several days had passed since Seraphinlie arrived.
At first, she had tried to stay only in her room,
but at some point, she began appearing often in the garden with Mother.
She even went out to look around the estate together with her.
She still did not smile brightly,
but I could see the hollow look in her eyes returning little by little.
It was a relief.
I had not been idling around in the meantime either.
Naturally, I headed to the training ground,
where the soldiers training were the original soldiers.
In other words, they were upper-rank soldiers, and most of the ordinary soldiers were training at the newly built training ground.
The sound of swords clashing,
and the dull thuds of shields being struck, now made them feel quite soldierly.
On top of that, I saw a new knight as well.
His name was Phillipsron.
He had been wandering as a free knight when he saw our developing estate, fell in love with it, and came here.
After that, a few more free knights said they wanted to come as well,
but the costs were by no means small, so we turned them down.
The moment Phillipsron saw me, he straightened his posture.
“Young Master! I greet you! My name is Phillipsron!”
His voice was booming.
“Right. We met before, didn’t we? Though only very briefly.”
“That is correct!”
“How is training?”
Phillipsron was a young knight.
Because of that, he was also a beginner knight,
but even if he was a beginner knight, his skill was naturally remarkable.
His body was nimble,
and his physical balance was good.
As befitted a standard knight who handled sword and shield, there were few openings in his stance.
“I am learning a great deal from Senior Miles!”
There was strength in that answer as well.
Phillipsron had a good impression,
and his behavior and manner of speech were quite decent too.
I could see why Miles had chosen him.
He was exactly the type that was easy to put to work.
“Hmm... Phillipsron. Spar with me.”
“Pardon?”
“Miles hasn’t really been facing me lately.”
Phillipsron looked surprised for a moment.
It seemed he had not expected me to suddenly ask for a spar.
But soon, he straightened his back and nodded.
“I have heard from Senior already. That the Young Master possesses tremendous talent!”
Just from his tone, I could tell it was flattery.
His face said he was thinking he should go easy on me to some extent.
I looked at Phillipsron and silently took my stance.
The Old Dynasty.
They were more dangerous than I had imagined.
I could tell just by seeing how they had brought down D’Harmont.
That was why, now, merely protecting my own body would not be enough.
I had to take one step further.
Holding my sword, I said,
“Phillipsron. Focus.”
“Pardon? Yes!”
And with me charging first, the battle began.
Our fight naturally drew the attention of the upper-rank soldiers who had each been training here.
Then, a short while later.
After the spar with Phillipsron ended,
I was breathing roughly.
“Hoo, hoo.”
The dust of the training ground slowly settled.
I looked at Phillipsron, who had collapsed with a blank expression.
“Huff, huff... Wh-what in the world...”
Phillipsron lay staring at the sky, his shield fallen beside him.
His eyes were still filled with disbelief.
I lowered the tip of my sword.
“Good work. Since you’re definitely orthodox, it helped quite a bit.”
“Uh, uhhh... Th-thank... you?”
Phillipsron could not seem to believe at all that he had lost.
In truth, the Young Master’s talent that he had heard about from Miles—
he probably thought it was just something said to encourage me because I was the young master.
That was usually how it went.
“Y-Young Master, are you truly not a knight?”
“I’m not.”
I answered briefly,
then left him staring at me with a blank expression and headed back to the mansion to wash.
A short while later, I immersed myself in warm water.
“Hoo.”
The tension remaining in my muscles loosened as though melting into the water,
and my rough breathing gradually settled.
It was truly ironic.
I did not know when it had happened,
but I had definitely reached a level where I could hold my own against a beginner knight.
Of course, Phillipsron had been flustered too.
If we fought again, the result would not be like this.
If he became more cautious, the chances of my losing would increase sharply.
And if he discarded the thought that I was the young master, that probability would rise even further.
But.
What if it were a fight to the death against Phillipsron?
I looked down at my hand floating on the water.
I did not have confidence.
Confidence that I would lose.