Emilie shyly blushed with shame.
Wearing the mysterious purple dress, Emilie looked lovely like a little fairy.
Even the white cheeks that looked subdued looked transparent in harmony with the purple dress, and the child’s unique red-tinted hands and bare ankles were as cute as a doll’s.
‘I should thank you for giving me clothes as a gift.’
Emilie held her skirt with both of her hands and bowed down.
When the doll-like cute girl grabbed her skirt with her little hands and greeted them maturely, Damon closed his mouth with his hand without even realizing it.
‘So, so cute.’
One of the purple shoe’s nose that peeped forward was shockingly cute.
“It suits you well.”
Victoire briefly said, instead of Damon, who can’t say anything with his mouth shut.
“Thank you.”
Emilie answered politely while blushing.
“See. I told you it’d look good on you.”
Damon said excitedly. He was so proud of his own eyes that he had no idea what to do.
“Damon, you and I don’t know much about girls’ clothes. You were just lucky.”
“You’re a father who doesn’t know children well. You work outside every day and you don’t have your attention at home. I can’t help but know their tastes because I’m at home taking care of my chores and Dylan.”
Damon and Victoire were bickering at one another.
‘It’s like husband and wife.’
Emilie smiled while she covered her mouth with her small fist.
Then Emilie suddenly realized that there was no real ‘Countess’ in the house.
‘Oh, right. Count Daughtry’s wife died early. Count Daughtry met his new wife long after.’
So Damon, the eldest son, seemed to be taking care of the house and doing what the Countess should do.
“Let’s go for a walk while you’re in new clothes.”
“Sounds good. Father!”
When Damon answered, Victoire stopped him.
“No, not you, but me and Emilie alone.”
The Daughtry mansion resembles the Count. Above the clean, white walls, a clear blue roof rose like a painting. There was also a large lake in front of the mansion, beyond which vast gardens and forests were spread out.
‘I’m also a princess, so I’m not very interested in the scale.’
The atmosphere here was different from that of old-fashioned duchy.
The duchy was always in a tight and tense atmosphere, perhaps because of father. Everything was of the finest quality, but it was a prison-like place where even the luxurious atmosphere felt difficult.
However, even the sound of birds singing freely were here, perhaps because of the mood.
‘Except that we’ve been walking without saying anything for half an hour.’
Emilie looked up to Victoire. In fact, Victoire seemed to be fine to the long silence.
‘Shall I ask you first?’
I had a lot of questions.
Why do you keep me here even though you know who I am? Why did your son do that last night?
But if I say anything wrong, it really seemed like you were going to return me home. It was worse than death.
Even Victoire had a lot of thoughts.
He had a reason to keep Emilie. No matter how much she hated her home right now, Emilie was still a child. He didn’t know when she would change her mind and cry to let her go home.
‘How can I make you feel attached to this place? Do you want me to buy you more dresses like the one you’re wearing today? It suits you very well. Damon, it’s been a long time since you’ve shown your sense for beauty.’
Victoire looked down at Emilie again. From the top, I could see a large ribbon behind her back, which I couldn’t see from the front.
The ribbon, which clung to the quiet girl’s back, shakes up and down whenever the girl moves, seemed to amplify the little girl’s loveliness.
‘Were girls at this age are supposed to be like this…is that weird?’
Victoire thought, looking at Emilie’s chubby hands swinging from side to side. Overall, she was thin and small, but her cheeks, hands, and feet were chubby like a baby’s. In addition, she was pinkish-colored like a peach, making Victoire’s chest twitch whenever she made small movements.
Victoire didn’t know that the twitching in his chest was due to ‘cuteness,’ and he just thought it was weird.
‘I don’t think Damon or Dylan did this when they were kids.’
Victoire looked at the distant sky for no reason.
“You two, what are you doing right now?”
It was then. Someone strode up from the other side.
‘That’s…!’
I couldn’t forget this voice and face. It was youngest Daughtry, Dylan.
He looked more handsome like a sculpture from a bright spot. It was not that he had a high reputation in society for nothing. The problem now was that he’s approaching with a very dangerous look on his face.
Feeling the fearsome energy, Victoire hurriedly held Emilie in his arms.
“What are you doing? Put her down right now!”
Dylan, who saw it, shouted in agitation. Emilie was surprised too.
“Calm down, Dylan.”
“What calm are you talking about?”
Aside from being surprised, Dylan’s energy was enormous, so Emilie leaned awkwardly in Victoire’s arms without realizing it herself.
Dylan was strangely furious.
‘Do you hate me so much?’
Dylan shot Emilie a cold look. Emilie flinched as if he had found out her innermost thoughts.
Dylan yelled at Victoire again.
“What are you trying to do to a girl who doesn’t know anything?”
What are you talking about?
Emilie rolled her eyes at Dylan’s totally unexpected remarks. That was simply a different story from last night’s ‘get out’. There was something Emilie didn’t know. Emilie pricked up her ears and held her breath.
“Dylan. This is for everyone.”
“Send her back right away!”
However, when Dylan said, ‘Send her back,’ Emilie’s brain, which had been running calmly, became a mess. All her thoughts were gone, and her head shook like an earthquake.
‘How could you send me back to the Duke of Cabezo after I managed to run away?’
That’s what Emilie was most afraid of.
I was no longer curious about what Dylan said. Only the fear of going back to that hellhole seized Emilie.
“No!” Cried Emilie.
The two men were surprised at that moment and looked at Emilie at the same time. It was an incredibly desperate cry that came from a small, young body.
“I, I don’t want to go home.” Emilie said while in tears.
“Ah, uh, cry… crying? You’re crying?”
Dylan stammered in embarrassment. Emilie, looking resentful at Dylan, buried her face in Victoire’s arms.
“Don’t send me home. Please?”
Emilie, who had always been hanging on awkwardly even when hugging, was held in Victoire’s arms. Embarrassed, Victoire soon patted Emilie on the back naturally.
“I understand. I’ll have to have a conversation with that bad guy. Can you be with Mrs. Marian for a moment?”
Victoire handed Emilie over to Marian. Marian walked away from the two men while holding Emilie in her arms.
“Miss, please don’t worry. His Grace will do whatever you want.” said Marian, wiping away Emilie’s tears.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why is Count Daughtry doing what I want? How come?”
“That’s…”
Marian looked back helplessly.
There, Victoire and Dylan were arguing about something. When Emilie also looked at the place, Marian hurriedly covered the two men.
“It’s because His Grace, the Count, does charity work for young children. He’s the one who saves children in crisis.”
“…..”
It was an excuse hard to believe. No matter how young Emilie looked, she was still 12 years old. In addition, the mental age is an adult.
‘But I’ll have to pretend that I believe it.’
It was unlikely that Marian would answer anyway. It wasn’t even clear how far she knew as an employee. Anyway, the most important thing right now was not to be returned to the Cabezo.
“I clearly told you! No!”
From a distance, Dylan’s yell was heard. It was an angry voice that made Marian look back in surprise. Emilie, too, saw Dylan turn around and walk away through the narrow space.
Dylan walked away in a fit of anger.
‘What’s making him so angry?’
Emilie’s eyes followed Dylan’s figure. But that didn’t last long.
Victoire came up to say:
“Emilie, you won’t be going back to where you used to live.”
Emilie’s head, which had been complicated with every word, was filled with happiness.
Dylan’s angry face, his agitated voice, was forgotten like a lie and she felt at ease.
Emilie was so happy that she couldn’t answer. But with her expression alone, Victoire could read Emilie’s thoughts.
“Your Grace, I’ll take the lady back to her room.”
“No. I’ll take her there myself.”
“Yes?”
Victoire extended his arm to Marian. He meant he would hold Emilie.
‘I know you have to win this child’s heart, but I can’t believe His Grace would be doing this.’
Marian tilted her head as she handed Emilie over to Victoire.
He was an awkward master to the child. He was even awkward with his son, Dylan. But he had to do this to win Emilie’s heart. Her master’s efforts were remarkable.
But Marian’s thoughts and Victoire’s thoughts were different.
‘You’re not leaning like you did before.’
Victoire looked down at Emilie’s round head and body, which he hugged awkwardly, to keep her from falling.
When Emilie burst into tears and hugged him, Victoire felt great.
A child’s warm body temperature, her small presence while hanging on to him, and a heart that was surprisingly small but beating sharply.
It was only for a while, but it was still vivid. It felt sweet like someone poured sugar into his mouth.
‘I wish you would hug me like that again.’
It left a bad taste.
***
Since then, Victoire and Damon have not appeared before Emilie’s eyes for more than a week.
They left their mansion to settle the ‘very important thing’ that Emilie was not told.
Before he left, Damon said:
“I’ll be back with father for a few days because of something important, so get along with Dylan.”
‘Getting along with Dylan. As expected, it’s impossible.’
Sometimes, every time I bump into Dylan,
“Piss off.”
“Get out of this house right now.”
We just had a quarrel. I couldn’t get along with such a person after all.
‘I’m so tired.’
Emilie laid on the soft bed.
All I did today was play with dolls, complete puzzles, eat snacks, take a bath, and take a walk, but I was so tired.
‘I’m so tired because I can’t figure out what these people are up to.’
Count Daughtry will not be safe if he was found to be keeping the princess at his own home.
What’s the point of keeping Emilie up to that risk?
Marian smiled sweetly at Emilie, but sometimes she looked at her with a cold gaze.
Emilie guessed Victoire or Damon wouldn’t be so different from her.
Anyway, Emilie was eating and sleeping well in this house and gaining weight little by little. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling. It hadn’t been a few weeks but she was changing from when she was Princess Cabezo to a different one.
‘I shouldn’t get used to this place. I have to run away one day.’
Emilie looked towards the balcony.
<Don’t go out the balcony. It’s dangerous.>
Suddenly I remembered what Dylan said.
‘You always say piss off then curse and worry.’
Emilie bounced as she went out to the balcony. She looked from above the balcony and measured the height down to the ground.
‘Hmm, I’ll make a rope out of the curtains and throw it down then it’ll reach the ground. I can climb down with it and run away.’
Emilie grinned and turned around.
“Hik!”
And then her eyes met Dylan, who was looking at her with a scary expression.