Chapter 20.2

“Look at the vase. I took care of it and got it. I don’t know how much time I rendered while looking for this.”

She held out the vase she had brought to me as soon as I finished talking. It looked to me like a normal glass bottle, but maybe it really isn’t.

Cecilia, who took it to the window, deliberately made more fuss and shone it in the brilliant light.

Then what I thought was an ordinary vase turned into a mystical hue of colors like the rainbow.

“Wow!”

“The color changes when you put it in bright light.”

“Pretty!”

“It’s a vase that’s hard to get. Do you know that this vase is equal to the cost of living for ordinary people for a single year?”

“Huh… is it okay to get it?”

“Yes, the Grand Duke is. And this vase doesn’t know how precious it is if it doesn’t get lit.”

Cecilia, who looked as pretty as a blooming bud, got cold water from a vase and put the flowers I had sorted in there.

“My mother will love it.”

“Yes, I hope she’ll  like it.”

Before this flower withers, I must get the documents and wake my mom up.

We should talk about everything that happened here.

“Mom… please wait for a moment.”

In the meantime, Cecilia arranged the narrow table next to the bed and placed the vase there.

“It’s so pretty.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Yes, the vase is… pretty.”

The light from the window changed the color of the vase from time to time.

Looking at it makes me feel warm somewhere in my heart. It was always cold, like a sprout sprouting in my frozen heart.

But that sentiment didn’t last very long.

“Thump! Thump! You! I’m not going to let you go. I’m gonna tell Dad!”

People get used to being hit over-the-top. I briefly forgot Harris, who was banging on the door. My gaze moved to look at Cecilia and the vase.

Fortunately, Harris, who was screaming and gave the last warning, no longer knocked on the door.

Cecilia, who approached the door and put her ear to the door, smiled quietly.

“I think she’s gone now.”

“Is it okay?

“Don’t worry, Miss. The sun will never go down on you.”

“No, not me, you.”

Cecilia, who was tilting her head, only shook her shoulders.

There was no sense of astonishment or worry on her. She laughed as if she’s telling me she’s okay.

Like a fool.

I didn’t like it, so I just pursed my lips.

“Oh! Me?! Are you going to get in trouble?”

“You’re getting in trouble because of me.”

“It’s okay. I mean for me, that is. And I won’t get in trouble for this much.”

“…I don’t want anyone else to suffer because of me, so I’m gonna go talk to her.”

But Cecilia shook her head from side to side and stroked my head. She touched my head as if she was touching precious silk, as if it was that soft.

“Don’t worry. Even though I look like this, I’m on the same level as the Grand Duchy’s head maid. There’s no reason for me to get in trouble.”

“…”

“Of course, I’ll be scolded if His Grace scolds me, but he’s definitely not the one to judge. And… you’ve known Lady Harris’s insubordinate whining from the very beginning.”

Watching Cecilia mumble the end of her words, I also opened my lips.

“Is Harris… is she always grumpy?”

“Yes, didn’t I tell you about Lady Harris? I think it’ll be better if you know about it later.”

Cecilia, who I would normally have talked about, looked at how I felt.

“Huh? No. You can say it!”

“Will you be okay then?”

“Yeah. Oh! Will I get hurt or something like that in the same stance?”

“Usually… it is?”

“I guess I’m weird.”

That’s what the Grand Duke also said.

If it were Cecilia, I would refute this right away, but today. I didn’t do so. I just plastered a smile on my visage.

“By the way. Cecilia. What’s wrong with me?”

“Well…”

“I’m weird compared to other people. Do I have to fix it?”

“No, you don’t have to fix it. It’s not weird, it’s something different. The difference is that it’s not how a child would usually act.”

It’s the same as always.

What the hell does she mean by ‘how a child would usually act’?

“What do you mean by that, anyway?”

I was willing to fix it enough because I wanted to survive here. But Cecilia agonized and agonized for a long time over and over again with my words of worry.

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t know what Miss Harris is like. There are two young masters, but you two have lost a lot of this.”

I flinched for a moment.

That’s childlike.

‘Hit people, act deceptively, get angry, and even threaten me.’

“That’s childlikeness.”

“Yes, it’s a little too much, but…”

For a moment, I envied Harris’ life, too.

If I were the daughter of Grand Duke, I wouldn’t have had a hard time like this.

‘Why should I be born as my father and mother’s daughter? Was that so hard?’

But I quickly let go of that thought.

No matter how good a house was, I liked my dad and mom.

My father who died loved me more than anyone else, and my mother cared about me as much as her life.

‘It’s okay. I love myself!’