Chapter 14.1

“There’s no way people are nice enough to talk like that just because they’re different from others in the family. It’s been a while since I felt that way.”

Her expression was much more relaxed than before.

Only a smile spread across Cecilia’s face, as if she had been wearing a mask in front of me.

When she didn’t say anything since it was new to her, she made eye contact with me again.

“You are a person of wonderful power, yet it feels like I can’t put my finger on it.”

“…I’m not weird. I think I am more interesting.”

But she didn’t answer. She only showed a friendly smile. Then Cecilia walked ahead again, and I followed her around.

“We’re almost there. It’s the Grand Duchy’s garden.”

Passing through a passage that didn’t have a separate door, a brilliant light hit my eyes. I closed my eyes in surprise, and when I opened my eyes, the garden was right in front of me.

We finally got out.

The garden felt as if it surrounded the large castle.

“Wow…”

I’ve never seen a garden like this ever since I was born.

There was a garden where I was locked up with my mother, but it was like a forest.

It was not maintained at all, so the grass grew to my waist, and sometimes snakes or other animals appeared between the grass.

There were no flowers or fruit trees.

But this was different from that one.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s so beautiful!”

It was such a beautiful place that I could say it was beautiful out loud.

Beautiful trees were planted everywhere, and pretty flowers were on the pathway.

In the middle of the garden, a fountain was seen, and the sky-high stream was so admirable.

“Can I run?”

“Sure, you can have fun as you please.”

As soon as I got Cecilia’s permission, I entered.

As if they were telling me what it means to be fragrant, there was a scent of flowers all around.

This scent that I smelled for the first time in my life made my feet move by itself.

“I love it!”

This kind of garden was only seen in books. I couldn’t even imagine a garden when it was only written in words. Just sitting still in the garden relieved the worries that filled my head.

Also, just smelling the fragrant flowers changed the world.

So I thought it was all a lie.

The garden I’ve seen wasn’t like thos. Rather, the garden was so shabby. But the garden in front of me was exactly what I saw in the book.

“So beautiful.”

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yes! I love it.”

Just like the saying that a good thing reminds me of a loved one, I naturally remembered my mother.

“Mom would have liked it if she saw this.”

“My Lady.”

“Hm?”

“You must have thought of your mother.”

“…How did you know?”

“You smile the most lovingly whenever you think of your mother.”

“No, don’t think you know me that well.”

Staring at Cecilia for no reason, I zipped my lips and moved into the garden.

“I need to see more of what’s in there.”

“Sure, you can go further.”

“Okay.”

So I left Cecilia behind me and quickly approached the fountain.

But the tranquility and comfort didn’t last very long.

There was a girl who suddenly appeared.

“Who is this?”

Unlike me, the girl with black hair and blue eyes smiled as soon as she saw me.

“Oh, it’s you. The new fake daughter.”

As soon as I saw her, my eyes naturally went there as I saw someone hostile to me. But as soon as I saw that the person right in front of me was a girl that was about the same size as me, the thought of getting angry cooled down.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“…D-Did you just ignore me?”

“I didn’t ignore you.”

‘Do you want me to pick some flowers here and bring them to your mom?’  I quickly shook away that thought.

As soon as I was done, I looked at Cecilia.

“Cecilia, can I pluck some flowers from here?”

“Yes, of course!”

I was permitted to do so, so I could choose the pretty ones. My mom had pretty blonde hair like a starlight, so yellow flowers would be pretty, so I picked and picked flowers for a long time.

But the unnamed girl approached me and hit me hard.

Thanks to this, the flowers that had been collected fell to the floor helplessly.

Due to this unexpected situation, I turned my head to the girl with a cold, stiff face.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Now you see me, don’t you? It’s not because you don’t see me.”

I shook my head with a deep sigh as she started a fight for no reason.

“Ha… if you want to pick a fight, go somewhere else. I’m busy.”

I didn’t think I’d stand down for saying that, but the girl was so awful.