Chapter 9

‘Heaven! I’m in heaven!’ Leslie’s eyes twinkled as she chewed the food in her mouth.

‘It must be heaven here!’

Breakfast was amazing, but this was at a whole new level. Dinner at the residence was fantastic. It was as if she was led to a new dimension with each bite.

At first, Leslie was cautious. She took small bites and carefully looked for the duchess’ reaction to her table manners. But with each forkful of delicious food, her weariness wore down and now she was busy chewing, her cheeks bulging from stuffing too much into her mouth. Of course, Leslie had no idea that she was being watched by so many people, including the duchess and Jenna the butler. The dining room door was half open with servants and maids observing the little girl, completely engrossed in her cuteness.

“Oh, my goodness. Where did the duchess kidnap the young Miss from?”

“She kidnapped her? Why would she?”

“Because she’s cute!”

“Aha, of course!”

The maids and servants exchanged gleeful small talks about Leslie. But she was too busy stuffing her face.

The House of Salvatore was devoid of children’s laughter for many years. The duchess wasn’t sociable nor were her two adult sons. They were cold and calculative, always wearing a stern expression. The employees were very intimidated by the unapproachable exterior of the Salvatore family. The duchess didn’t welcome guests, either, so they often felt like they were walking on ice.

“So delicious...”

Naturally, the presence of a small child was a welcomed change. Seeing the tiny girl trembling with happiness, now covering her mouth ecstatically with a full smile on her face, pulled on their heart strings. In addition, the duchess seemed to be in a good mood, smiling just like them and making them finally feel like they could relate to their master. And it’s all thanks to the little girl.

So, they wished that the little guest would stay for a very long time.

“Mother.”

Then the mood shifted in an instant with the entrance of a tall man with dark ashen hair, almost as black as the duchess’. He was about six feet three inches tall and his deep voice boomed. It was the first-born son of the duchess, Bethrion Lahen Salvatore.

As the Grand Master of the Imperial Knights, Bethrion was a busy man. To prove this, he was still wearing his plate armor as he entered the dining room. He heard that his mother received a guest as he returned to the residence. He was curious and didn’t stop to change out of his armor. His heavy steps dully thumped and he soon arrived at the table. But he had to do a double take. Instead of the typical stuck-up nobles, he found someone small and white sitting at the table. Her eyes were large and blinking fast at him, mouth busy chewing the food.

Is this the guest the servant informed him about? Bethrion looked to his mother, who was casually sipping wine, for an answer.

“Mother, this is...”

“Ah.”

The wine glass finally departed from the duchess’ lips to speak, and her hands extended to twine the silver threads in her fingers. Her rough fingers brushed the girl’s hair, making it shine in the light of the chandelier.

“My daughter.”

“Hiccup!”

“...E, excuse me?”

Immediate, and rather violent, reactions came from both Leslie and Bethrion. Leslie made an odd sound as she tried to chew and swallow the food as soon as possible, and Bethrion’s voice croaked as he stuttered a response. The duchess laughed a little at her son’s reaction. He was always calm and reserved. Nothing ever seemed to make him react, so it was mildly amusing to see him like this.

“A sister... that I never knew about.”

“Yes, I got you one just now.”

‘Isn’t she cute?’ The duchess cooed, her eyes never leaving her son’s. She unentwined her fingers from Leslie’s hair and pointed at Bethrion.

“Now, Miss Leslie, this thing is your eldest brother-to-be.”

The duchess introduced the two. That was Bethrion and Leslie’s first encounter. There was an awkward silence in the room, which Bethrion broke.

“This thing?”

He felt objectified, and the feeling was slightly annoying. His handsome brows furrowed as he looked at his mother. But his mother was clearly enjoying this. She was in a good mood before and even better after his entrance. She even opened one of her favorite bottles of wine.

“Now, Beth. You should introduce yourself?”

“Mother!”

Yes, she was definitely in a good mood. She hadn’t called him that in a long time. ‘Beth’ used to be his nickname when he was a child. As he grew up and developed clear masculine features, she stopped using the name as it was usually for young children or women.

“Haah.”

It was futile to fight for something so trivial. Bethrion picked his battles carefully and this one wasn’t worth it. Instead, he took a step toward the little girl. His mother had called her Leslie, and he quickly remembered. Soon, a gigantic shadow loomed over her, her lilac-colored eyes became even larger. Leslie began to hiccup.

“...Grand Master of the Imperial Knights, Bethrion Lahen Salvatore.”

The servants and maids, including Jenna, shook their heads in unison. ‘How could he be so insensitive to such a young child?’ they all thought and clicked their tongues. Bethrion was already intimidating. He was taller than most people and was wearing armor at present. Though handsome, his features were hard and harshly defined, making him look sharp. In other words, he’s got the looks that make children cry.

Of course, he had no idea what effect he had on the children. So he acted normal, speaking in a low dull voice. Tense with suspense, the employees of Salvatore swallowed hard.

‘Will she cry?’

‘She’s going to cry.’

They whispered and readied to comfort the girl when she cries. Some quickly ran to fetch handkerchiefs, warm towels for puffy eyes, and a jar filled with sweets. Even Jenna had quietly gone away to bring the marten fur blanket that fascinated Leslie so much.

Only the duchess kept up a relaxed attitude, sipping more wine with a smile hidden behind the wine glass.

Gulp.

Finally, Leslie managed to swallow all the food and quickly wiped her mouth on the napkins. Then, she jumped off the chair and stood before Bethrion. Politely, she returned his greeting with a proper bow of a noble lady.

“Nice to meet you. I am the second-born daughter of the House of Sperado, Leslie Sperado.”

‘She didn’t cry! Look at her bow, she’s so adorable!’ The employees silently exchanged a quick pow-wow, very impressed with the little girl. Some jumped while others hugged with affection. The servant with the jar of sweets didn’t even know that the jar had dropped and the expensive sweets were littered on the floor.

Duchess Salvatore laughed at the reactions of her employees. She swished the wine in the glass and spoke again.

“Oh, my, such formality between siblings-to-be.”

Bethrion and Leslie, who were now awkwardly staring at each other, shifted their gaze to the duchess.

“Beth, how old do you think Miss Leslie is?”

“...”

‘She’s going to call me Beth all night long, isn’t she?’ Bethrion sighed a little. But again, he knew how to pick his battles. So, he gave up and turned his attention back to Leslie. Leslie’s small hands formed a fist, clutching onto her dress nervously. But she didn’t avoid his eyes. Instead, she looked directly at him.

‘How... old?’

Bethrion has seen children, of course. But never did he have the opportunity to be in such close proximity with them. He struggled to guess Leslie’s age, his furrow deepening. After a while, he finally guessed a number.

“Five years old.”

“...?”

Leslie’s eyes widened with shock. ‘Five years old?’ She was twelve! How could he see her as a five-year-old? She certainly was more intelligent and mature than a toddler!

“Master Bethrion, doesn’t she look at least ten?”

“Yeah, five is way too young.”

“I thought she was nine...”

Hearing the murmurs of the employees grow louder behind him, Bethrion thought hard. Leslie, on the other hand, pouted her lips, growing more offended at each comment. Only Jenna and the duchess, who knew Leslie’s true age, smiled in amusement.

“I remember clearly.”

At Bethrion’s voice, the murmuring stopped. A low voice boomed with confidence.

“When Enti was four, he was about her height. Given that girls are taller than boys during childhood, give or take one year. So... she must be five years old.”

Of course, his confidence was unwarranted as he did not consider that he and his brother had been twice as big as the other children their age. He looked at his mother with certainty, expecting a positive response. But somewhere near his calves, a small voice answered grumpily.

“...I’m twelve.”

Leslie looked up at Bethrion, craning her neck at an impossible angle, still pouting at his guess.

“I turned twelve years old this year.”

Bethrion was taken aback at Leslie’s pout and reproachful eyes. ‘How can she be twelve years old? She’s too small.’ And again, comparing her to his brother, he thought that she would be about six years old at most.

Of course, it wasn’t just Bethrion’s comparison to his brother that made him assume she was younger than she really was. Leslie was so abused and neglected that she was indeed too small for her age. Her skinny and bony frame from malnutrition didn’t help, either.

“Pfft, haha.”

Seeing her son dumbfounded finally pushed the duchess over the edge and made her laugh out loud. It took a moment for her to recompose herself. When she recovered, she called Leslie back to her seat and resumed playing with her silver hair.

“You missed the mark on the first impressions, Bethrion.”

‘Mine was great.’ Bethrion’s brows knotted again at his mother’s comment. Though she added it in a soft voice, he clearly heard it. ‘It’s on purpose. She asked me about the age on purpose,’ Bethrion concluded.

“I’m sorry, Miss Leslie. My son doesn’t have an eye for these things. I have another son, but it seems like he’s going to be late.”

Duchess Salvatore’s lips were still smiling as she turned to Leslie.

“Aside from that, how was the food? Was it to your liking?”

“Yes... It was amazing.”

At the talk of the food, Leslie’s pout immediately disappeared. Her eyes twinkled once again and her cheeks were rosy pink.

“I’ve never tasted so many delicious dishes. It was like I was in heaven.”

She smiled wide with her eyes closed gently. Everyone who saw the smile, mostly the employees, were overwhelmed with warmth and fuzziness that they didn’t know what to do with all the overflowing cuteness. The chef who came by to see the guest of the duchess also heard and saw Leslie’s reaction, fell on his knees and clutched his chest.

“Sob...!”

The head chef came to the house sixteen years ago. He used to work at the imperial palace as one of the top chefs. But after coming to the house, he always felt underappreciated.

No matter how expensive and fresh the ingredients were, none of the Salvatores ever complimented his dishes. At least back at the palace, someone complimented him and sometimes, on rare occasions, rewarded him!

Over the years, he tried all that he could to bring out some kind of response from his employers. But the most he got out was, ‘Yes, it’s good.”

And the short feedback was nothing more than an automated response. It had no emotions. Their faces were calm and voices were monotonous. So to see such a happy, satisfied response from the girl melted his heart away. It washed away all the sadness that had welled up inside of him for the past sixteen years. His legs jellied up, but no one criticized him for feeling that way. Other servants and maids understood how he felt very well and simply patted him on the back and helped him to his feet.

Of course, again, Leslie had no idea all that was happening in the background. She only looked at the now-empty plates, already feeling sad that it was gone.

“Miss Leslie, the night is getting late. Wouldn’t the marquis look for you?”

Leslie’s eyes finally left the plates at the duchess’ words. She looked out the window and saw the moon lit the scenery in the dark.

Watching the moon, she blinked blankly. The duchess had invited her in at sunset, so it made sense that it was now dark out.

‘Time went by so fast! I never thought it could.’

At the marquis’, time was slow. No matter what she did, where she was, and who she was with, time crawled. During her studies, while getting beat, in the solitude of the attic, etc., seconds felt like hours and she never understood Eli complaining about time flowing so fast whenever she returned from dress shopping at the end of the day. But today, she finally understood it.

“If you would like, I’ll lend you a carriage, Miss Leslie.”

Leslie shook her head.

“No, the marquis won’t look for me. I told the carriage driver to tell the marquis I’ll be attending the prayer vigil at the temple.”

The temple was the only place Leslie was free to visit. So, she had already instructed the carriage driver to lie about her destination.

“Miss Leslie, let’s just return home. Aren’t you freezing?”

As Leslie had been waiting for hours, the carriage man kept rushing her to leave and return to the marquis.

“If it gets any later, the marquis might punish you. He’s a scary man.”

If someone who didn’t know any better heard, it would sound like he was concerned for Leslie. But the truth was that he was concerned only for himself. If the marquis knew that Leslie used the carriage again, he would be in trouble. In addition, he had been away from his post for a long time. So, if the marquis had been looking for him, he would be punished severely upon his return to the mansion.