Chapter 11.2

The food she prepared is already set on the table.

“Did you like yesterday’s meal?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to eat?”

“Uh, uh, yeah. I want to eat a lot of b-bread. I want hard bread.”

“…Hard bread, huh?”

Those things were good for storing. If it’s too soft, the rats would eat it all.

“Do you like that kind of thing? How about fish or meat? I asked them to make it as soft as they can this time.”

My head shook from side to side.

The soup I ate yesterday was the first thing I ate in a few days.

Because of that, just eating it was enough for my stomach, and that made my stomach ache.

“Okay, you’ll have soft food and hard bread for the time being.”

“Okay.”

“I also prepared warm milk.”

That was unexpected.

Cecilia didn’t say much even though she didn’t know how to use the tableware, she ate bread with her hands and scooped the soup with a spoon.

“…Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Pardon?”

“I thought you’d say something about law or education.”

In the meantime, the soup dribbled from my mouth.

Cecilia leaned over and wiped my mouth with a clean handkerchief, and sighed deeply.

“The only education I do is to at least make sure you don’t get ignored in front of others.”

“Hmm…?”

“So just relax and eat.”

“…Uh, okay.”

“I’ll go change my clothes.”

I couldn’t tell if she was being considerate because she wanted me to eat more comfortably or if  she was going to change clothes purely just that, but Cecilia went out like that.

It was only my sleeping mother and I in the room.

“Mom, you know, maybe this isn’t such a bad place.”

“…”

“But don’t worry. I don’t trust people at all.”

I filled my mouth with soup again.

Although my evaluation was meaningless because I had never eaten properly before, the food here was really delicious.

“It’s very… delicious.”

It was superior to any food I had eaten when I was born.

The soup went down my throat, and I even felt warm every time I ate it.

A smile spread naturally on my face.

But I didn’t feel well so I had to get off the table without eating much.

“Are you done?”

At that time, Cecilia changed into neat clothes.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll cut your hair for you.”

But the moment Cecilia came to me with a sharp pair of scissors, I stumbled backwards.

It was just a pair of scissors that came to cut my long hair, but my whole body felt stiff.

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Huh? Ah…”

I was stabbed to death. I was also beaten to death.

I’ve been threatened with scissors dozens of times. I got whipped, and I got hit with anything they could hit on me.

Maybe it was just that. Just looking at the scissors made my eyes dim.

“No… I don’t want my hair to be cut.”

Cecilia came to me with the scissors from the table near the entrance door.

“Ah… I was thoughtless.”

She hugged me with a sharp, apologetic look.

“Instead, I’ll tie your hair because it’s long.”

I nodded heavily at her words. Only then did Cecilia put me in a chair and tucked my long bangs together.

“Wouldn’t this be uncomfortable?”

“Ah… yeah.”

“Now you’re calm.”

“No, I’m not. It’s just- it’s just-”

“All right, okay.”

Cecilia, like a man with no malice, had a face that might seem a little more friendly than before.

“I’d rather have the medic listen. Your mother still hasn’t gotten up.”

“It’s okay. My mom always slept a long time. She just sleeps.”

“Is it okay?”

“Don’t worry. She’s… I know better.”

Cecilia nodded due to my loud phrase.

“I see. I see.”

“…You know…”

“Yes?”

“If I’m gonna survive, I’m gonna have to learn manners here, right?”

With a very slight look of surprise, her face quickly stiffened again.

“Is it because I’m forcing you too much?”

Bowing down in front of me, she made eye contact with me.

“No, it’s not like that, but…”

“The Grand Duchy is not well-known, but it’s not such a bad place. It’s not the kind of place to threaten a little girl’s life.”

Cecilia’s voice trembled unusually, perhaps paying attention to my words of survival.

“Cecilia is…”

“Yes.”

“Why did you change all of a sudden? You’ve been very mean to me.”

“…Well, as you may not know, there are many children in this family. You said you were blood-related to the Grand Duke. Dark haired, and blue-eyed children…”

“Ah…”

“They’re the token of the Grand Duchy.”

I suddenly remembered what Lexit said.

He said I didn’t look like the Grand Duke at all.

“That’s why there are children who have a token of the Grand Duchy.”

I sat still and looked at her. It was the first time someone tried to answer my question with all of their heart, and it made me feel ticklish.