NOTE: the dialogues with ‘ ‘ are thoughts; ‘italicized’ are Emilie’s thoughts (this format is for her only) while I will put (_) for others….. the POV’s are sometimes random so I hope this helps.
The names of the men who saved Emilie are Victoire Daughtry and Damon Daughtry. As expected, it was a father-son relationship.
‘Those names, I’ve heard them somewhere…’
I was curious, but I don’t know who to ask.
“Don’t you like peaches?”
“I really like it.”
“But why aren’t you eating? It doesn’t suit your taste?”
“I’m full.”
“The type to eat less?”
This is because Damon Daughtry, the young man in front of her, asked rapid fire questions without giving her a chance to.
When I was asked with a soft smile, as if cream melted in my mouth, I couldn’t help but answer.
“I usually eat this much.”
“Usually?”
Damon looked again at the little girl sitting in front of him. A figure smaller than her peers and a frail-looking complexion. At first glance, she looks like a rich lady, but if you look closely, she looks like a child in danger of falling apart at any moment’s notice.
“There is a reason why Emilie is so skinny.” Said Damon as he patted Emilie’s head.
But as soon as Damon touched her, Emilie hunched over her shoulders in surprise.
“Ah, sorry.” Damon quickly withdrew his hand.
(D) ‘This child, she’s scared. I just patted her head.’
It was clear that the male adult did not have a good memory. Especially when one’s hands are touching.
(D) ‘No way.’
Damon was horrified by the terrible idea of passing through his head at the moment.
(D) ‘This child was hit.’
Emilie, who doesn’t know what Damon was thinking, was awfully anxious to see his face darken.
“I’m sorry. I was rude because I wasn’t used to someone patting my head.”
“No. It’s my fault. Anyone would be surprised if a stranger suddenly stroked her head. I made you uncomfortable. Sorry.”
Emilie was startled.
‘He apologized to me.’
He even feels ashamed, saying, ‘I made you uncomfortable.’
When she lived back at the Cabezo duchy, she always had a hard time. Her father and her half-sister, Polia, were laughing amicably while Emilie was out of place.
No one cared whether Emilie was uncomfortable or not.
Something like when she tried to eat something, it kept getting stuck in her throat. Emilie, who was hungry for her father’s affection that was long gone.
<Father…>
The Duke Cabezo, who smiled brightly when he opened his mouth, immediately became icy cold.
<Emilie. Can’t you see I’m talking to Polia? There’s no such thing as consideration! Wait until the conversation is over.>
‘Even if I wait until the conversation between the two is over, he doesn’t even look at me once!’
I wanted to say that. Look at me too. However, the Duke Cabezo made a bitter remark in exchange for a chance.
<Well, if there was some kind of consideration, I wouldn’t have pushed my stepmother down the cliff.>
My father used to say that with a sick face.
But father knew. The day her stepmother fell from the cliff and died, Emilie was in tears and grieved.
<Father, mother on the cliff…!>
<You, you devil!>
But the father grabbed the crying little Emilie by the collar and shook her.
<You, you killed my wife!>
The eyes were not the eyes of a father looking at his child. The eyes were eyes glaring at his life-long enemy.
Emilie pleaded her innocence desperately. But no one believed her. Not a single person in her previous life until she died.
He was ashamed that his young daughter killed his stepmother, so he prevented rumors from spreading. But internally, Emilie was the devil who killed his beloved wife.
Polia always grinned at the depressed Emilie.
<Dad, please don’t do that. Sister’s sad.>
<Polia. Who do you take after to be so soft? Even at the tea party of the Duchess of Mazon, Emilie was always in the way whenever you spoke.>
<No, Father. That’s…!>
This is because Polia kept lying in front of people.
Maybe a needle fell off only from Emilie’s clothes, or she had a stomach ache alone when they drank tea together.
Emilie had no choice but to correct that it was not.
Slap!
But Duke Cabezo slapped Emilie on the cheek instead of listening to her.
<You don’t know how to be sorry, Emilie! Get out of here!>
***
“Emilie, Emilie?”
Damon’s voice brought Emilie into reality.
(D) ‘What is she thinking about.’
Damon looked closely at the little girl, who seemed as if she would pass out at any moment.
It was only for a moment that she was lost in thought, breathing like she had just awakened from a terrible nightmare.
Emilie’s little heart rattled up and down. It looks like it’s going to break down.
I’ll have to do something for you. (D)
“You can eat as much as you like here as you like without looking around.”
“…..”
“Go on.”
Damon pushed Emilie’s plate to her instead of asking what she was thinking. Seeing Damon smiling affectionately, Emilie’s eyes were burning.
A kind word heard from a stranger who doesn’t even know her. Emilie was hurt to the point of tears.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
Damon said softly.
“Why did you save me?”
Emilie asked carefully. Damon was still smiling, but he was silent.
‘Why did you save someone like me?’
She wondered. What value did she have to be saved, who was not even loved by her family.
Unlike Emilie, who doesn’t know who they are, they already knew Emilie’s name and family.
I knew Emilie was Emilie, so I saved her for a reason. (D)
‘But nobody likes me……’
Emilie’s big eyes trembled with Damon in them.
“Do you want to go home?”
Emilie was frightened by Damon’s words.
“Ah, no!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not sending you if you don’t want to.”
Damon was not surprised when the child said she didn’t want to go home.
He also knows how Emilie is treated at home.
She couldn’t understand even more. Why did you bring a daughter who can’t even be loved by her own father?
Damon’s eyes folded half-moon when he saw an innocent look that couldn’t hide his doubts.
“I see what you’re curious about.”
“What?”
“You’re right that we saved you for the price.”
Damon, who seemed to be pondering for a moment, said his real intention too easily.
“What’s that?”
Emilie asked, full of caution.
“We just need you to get along at our house.”
“What?”
Emilie asked back in surprise. Damon nodded vigorously. Then he served peach with cheesecake and chocolate next to the half-empty scone.
“Eat this first. I’m going to *check you out.”
Damon said. It was with a smile that made her forget her doubts.
(*t/n: something like check her condition)
***
Emilie was free after eating until she was full.
After taking a bath before going to bed, her body became tired quickly.
‘Besides, it’s still a child’s body……’
I had no choice but to be tired after going through something like this today.
Emilie lay on her soft bed with a thick blanket.
They were willing to give up a well-built room big enough to sleep for Emilie. The room with the lights off was as wide as the room in Cabezo’s mansion.
‘What is this place? Who is he, and why did he save me?’
I knew there wouldn’t be a solution even if I thought about it, but I couldn’t stop thinking. Since I can’t do research with a child’s body, I had more thoughts.
Contrary to expectations, she was treated with extreme care, but she continued to be anxious.
‘Isn’t this a kidnapping in a way? Besides, he’s feeding me a lot. What are you trying to do with fattening me up?’
Is he a pervert? Or is he trying to eat me? If that’s not it then is it a sacrifice to God?
“Oh, no!”
Emilie jumped up from her seat.
Whatever the reason, it was true that those men were suspicious. No matter how handsome your smile is, what’s suspicious is still suspicious.
‘If the purpose is not impure, that’s even more strange.’
Emilie went out on the balcony. The door opened easily. The curtains fluttered as the cold night wind swept in.
I looked down. Second floor. A distant height for a 12-year-old girl.
‘If you jump, you’ll break something.’
Emilie clasped the balcony railing. It was then. Someone grabbed Emilie’s shoulder in a hurry.
“Careful.”
The boy’s voice that came before his face.
“If you fall, you’ll die.”
A blue-haired boy was soon seen.
It was a handsome boy who seemed to have reduced the two men who brought Emilie.
“Who are… you?”
The face alone hinted at the identity, but Emilie asked to confirm. Then the boy frowned.
‘What, what? I was just asking!’
I had an ominous hunch that the two men’s faces were similar, but their personalities seemed to be the opposite.
“You don’t have to know who I am.”
“Why?”
As expected, a crooked answer came back. Emilie asked back with boldness.
Surprised for a moment, the boy soon returned to his cold face.
“Because you have to get out of this house.”
‘You’re bringing me as you please and drive me out as you please?’
Emilie didn’t mean to stay here long either. But at first glance, it hurt to hear it from this boy when she didn’t deserve it.
“I don’t know what Victoire and Damon told you, but you’d better get out of the house right now.”
Emilie frowned.
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to.”
When the time came, she would run away, but now she didn’t want to give the boy the answer he wanted. The boy seemed embarrassed when the little girl inflated her cheeks and heated up.
“You’ll regret it.”
“Anyway, I won’t go. I like it here.”
“Why do you like it here? In here…”
“I eat, drink, sleep, and no one notices.”
“…..”
The boy looked down at Emilie with a smooth look.
‘What is this?’
Is what he seemed to say with his look. But his eyes seemed a little bit sad, or is it my illusion.
“You have to get out anyway.”
It was an illusion.
“Because I’ll make sure to kick you out.”
The boy said so and turned around. Emilie was dumbfounded.
‘What the, that kid.’
It was the moment Emilie was sticking her tongue out against the boy’s back. The boy turned around suddenly. Emilie hastily covered her mouth with her hands, but the boy seemed to have seen it all. He spoke with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Don’t go out the balcony. It’s dangerous.”
“What?”
Emilie asked back. But the boy closed the door and suddenly disappeared. Like he wasn’t here from the start.
‘Was I dreaming?’
But the dirty feeling the boy gave me was vivid. Such feelings could not be felt in a dream. Emilie was confused.
‘It’s weird. It’s really weird. This place is so weird!’
Men who pretended to be her father and brother as they like, people who treat her with extreme care when she was obviously kidnapped.
And then a young boy comes at night and says ‘Get out’ to her. Emilie couldn’t believe it was all in one night.
She ended up staying up all night.