Chapter 6

Sienna no longer had blind faith in Lorena.

The girl who loved her older sister more than life itself was nowhere to be found from the moment that sister had tried to kill her with her own hands. After all, loving such a person more than her own life had only resulted in her death. If there is no love, there is no chance of betrayal. As soon as Sienna realized that truth, she felt as though she could breathe a bit more freely.

I can enter the military academy once I turn fifteen. I just have to survive until then.

Thankfully, the ritual to steal Sienna’s mana couldn’t happen without her cooperation and permission.

So that means...

Her plan was to go to the grand duke’s estate and live there while maintaining an adequate distance from Lorena. Later, she could enter the military academy and eventually enlist as a commissioned officer before moving out on her own.

Perhaps it was because she had already considered moving out in her past life, but it didn’t take Sienna long to formulate her plan. Even so, there was still something troubling her.

Miss Lisa...

If Sienna became a member of House Nacht, then she would have to leave her teacher behind. Lisa noticed Sienna’s hesitation.

“Sienna, what do you think about going with His Grace?” she asked.

“Miss Lisa...” Sienna whispered.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect and keep you safe. That’s why... I think you should take this chance His Grace is bestowing upon you,” Lisa murmured gently.

“What do you think of making Miss Lisa Melanche the principal of the orphanage?” Aciel interjected suddenly.

“What?”

The grand duke’s guard, Devon, noticed Sienna and Lisa’s startled expressions at Aciel’s unexpected suggestion and quickly voiced his assent. “That is an excellent idea, Lord Aciel! Plus, the Underworld castle isn’t far from the orphanage. If you’d like, she could visit you quite often, miss.”

Although Sienna hadn’t agreed to become a beneficiary of House Nacht yet, the man was already calling her “miss.” The grand duke simply nodded while making a sound of agreement rather than critiquing the idea.

“Um...” Sienna uttered quietly.

She needed nothing else. She wanted to stay at the orphanage if Miss Lisa was going to be the principal, but sadly, that would only happen if Sienna became a child of House Nacht.

Then... Could it be? She wondered if such a lofty stipulation had been offered due to her apprehension. Are my powers that desirable?

Of course they were, Lorena wouldn’t have thought of stealing them in her past life if they weren’t. Either way, there was no longer a reason to hesitate. Sienna nodded, almost imperceptibly.

“Then shall we get going?” Devon said.

The orphan with nowhere to go had, at last, agreed to become a child of House Nacht. The atmosphere was not terribly cheerful, despite the day being such an incomparably joyous occasion. The child’s face was overcast, and she looked rather resigned over just about everything. The grand duke and his son bore their usual emotionless expressions, yet even they were looking oddly hesitant.

Sheesh... Devon clicked his tongue at the sight of them. He found the atmosphere exceptionally strange. It’s so obvious the little miss is in a daze after going through such a horrific incident. Can’t they be a bit more kind toward her if they are going to take her anyway? Is that really so hard?

The guard imagined how nice it would be if one of them would simply reach out to the girl first.

As the grand duke and his son were just standing there, unsure of what to do, Lisa was the one to scoop Sienna up into her arms and set out for their carriage. As they walked to the carriage, the kind teacher whispered something into the girl’s ear. All the while, Devon continued trying to send mental instructions to the grand duke as he walked behind him.

When we! Get to the carriage! Take Miss Sienna! Into your arms! Just like that!

Of course, the grand duke was well aware of the signals Devon was sending him, he had been his guard for thirty years after all. The grand duke sighed. He had to admit Devon was right, he needed the push to do something.

When they arrived in front of the carriage, he cleared his throat and turned about awkwardly. Even then, Sienna remained latched tightly to Lisa. Thankfully, the teacher was quick on the uptake and tried to hand the girl over to her new benefactor. But Sienna only wrapped her arms tighter around Lisa’s neck and hid her face.

Lisa whispered, “Sienna...”

She had always been so mature for her age, and not the sort of child to behave in such a spoiled manner. Lisa imagined Sienna must be quite scared of leaving everything behind to go to such an unfamiliar, intimidating environment. She knew she should force Sienna into the duke’s arms, but she couldn’t.

“Your Grace, please excuse me.” Lisa ended up sidestepping around the grand duke, who was still standing with his hands out awkwardly, to place Sienna in the carriage herself.

“Miss Lisa...”

“Sienna, let’s make a promise,” her teacher answered. She placed a small wooden box containing the few belongings Sienna had on her lap as she continued. “I’ll visit you very, very often, so promise me that you’ll live happily there. Okay?”

The girl offered no response.

“Be a good girl and allow yourself to get doted on by His Grace. Do try to be happy...”

Sienna simply listened to her in a daze until she heard Lisa mention being doted on by the grand duke. She snorted quietly to herself at that.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Miss Lisa.”

Unlike her words, her laugh was dry and derisive. It wasn’t childlike at all. The teacher’s heart sank once she saw the resignation and emptiness in the girl’s blank expression. She wondered once again if sending her away like this was the right thing to do.

Although she felt herself hesitating, she knew it was too late to speak out against Sienna leaving. There was indeed nothing more Lisa could do. She did her best to encourage her to be happy once more and stroked Sienna’s head a few more times before disembarking from the carriage.

After that, the grand duke and Aciel entered the vehicle. Sienna simply sat still as she held on tightly to the box Lisa had placed on her lap. The girl did not speak a word as the carriage began to creak and rattle to life. A heavy silence filled the buggy.

Sienna began to wonder if she should thank the grand duke and his son for saving her while they were in such close quarters, but then determined that she had spent the past twenty or so years of life trying to be good-mannered.

I’m tired.

Everything was a bother. She didn’t want to go out of her way to be a good girl this time around, there was no reason to in her opinion. She simply clutched the pitiful box silently and before long, her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

* * *

Kendall Orphanage was renamed Melanche Orphanage overnight.

The hundred or so children of the orphanage, who were still unaware of this fact, would wake up to find themselves living wholly better lives than they had until that day.

Sienna also became a child of House Nacht overnight. Although she was in a place that promised a brighter future and better security than the orphanage, anyone who looked at her could tell the child who held such good fortune in the palms of her hands was not happy at all.

“She’s sleeping,” remarked the grand duke.

“Yes, she is,” Aciel replied.

Sienna was indeed sound asleep. For some reason, the young lord’s mouth felt dry. As he pondered the feeling, the carriage arrived at their castle before rolling to a stop.

“Father, I’ll ta—” he blurted out.

“No, that’s all right, son.”

The grand duke reached for Sienna and gently lifted her up and out of the vehicle. She groaned, which caused the two to go rigid, but to their relief, she sighed and relaxed back to sleep.

“What of her room?” Aciel asked.

“Austin will have prepared a room already. He can be terrifyingly perceptive at times.”

Aciel felt anxious for some reason and gripped the pommel of his sword.

“Didn’t you say you were busy today, Aciel?” the grand duke asked his son.

Indeed, the young lord did in fact have quite a lot to do that day. He knew he could leave and go about his day, but his feet oddly wouldn’t take him away.

“I think... I should be fine.”

“Hmm...” his father uttered.

Aciel’s response was vague, but to his relief, the grand duke was too focused on holding the child comfortably in his arms to question his eldest son any further.

“Father!” a young boy shouted as he raced down the stairs.

“Goodness, my lord!” yelped a nursemaid.

“Is that her?” Michael had come down the stairs at full speed—an action he didn’t normally do.

“This is unlike you, Michael. Lower your voice,” the grand duke admonished his youngest son.

The boy immediately obeyed, falling silent. The grand duke then left his pouting youngest son by the entrance and headed toward the room prepared for Sienna, still snoozing in his arms.

“How old is she? Is she really going to stay here with us?” Michael asked his brother as they followed behind their father.

His questions seemed endless. Aciel only thought it prudent to answer the first question.

“She’s a year older than you,” he said.

Michael blinked his red eyes, then nodded. “For some reason, I had a feeling she would be. Anyway, she’ll be living with us from now on, right?”

Again, Aciel couldn’t ignore his brother’s questions.

“Mhm, she’ll live here,” he answered curtly.

Michael then fell silent and simply stared at his father carefully laying the girl down on her new bed, an odd expression on his childish face. His behavior was indeed very out of character for him since he normally didn’t take much of an interest in anything.

But it wasn’t just the youngest of the Nacht men who was acting strangely. Aciel also found himself behaving oddly toward the girl he had only just met earlier that day. Although he was generally thought to be the most friendly member of his family, he had never been the meddling type. He had already lashed out beyond what may have been necessary toward that crook of a principal that day, which was something he never would have done under normal circumstances. In fact, it was something he would never allow himself to do.

No, that bastard got what he deserved.

He could feel the fury he had only barely quelled suddenly flare up again as soon as he thought of the man.

Had it been any other day, I wouldn’t have seen red like that... Right?

The men in his family, himself included, were all acting out of character. But what was more strange was that they couldn’t control themselves, even though they knew they were acting differently.

I wonder why.

Just looking at her was enough for each of them to realize she was quite talented, but that knowledge alone still could not explain why the three were acting in such a way. He rubbed his eyes, but that still did not calm the inexplicable anger bubbling up within himself.

This time... Without fail...

Aciel made a promise to himself without knowing the reason, then quietly turned to leave as the grand duke shushed them and signaled for them to leave her room.