Chapter 121
“Everyone! If you’re done with work, come inside and have something cool to drink! You girls are going to get sunburned!”
From a distance, Vanessa waved and called out.
Her voice was so strong that, even from quite far away, it rang clearly all the way to the mansion.
Everyone, as expected of the knights who had been in charge of the vanguard, hurried back to the mansion.
The maids, as if they had been waiting for this, handed Ivy and Irene a plum sherbet.
“Delicious…”
Seeing Ivy, who was happily filling her mouth with the sweet and sour icy pieces, Eric clicked his tongue while arranging grapes.
“Ivy, if you eat too much, you’ll get a stomachache.”
Just then, Ein, who was passing by, patted Ivy’s head with a worried expression.
“Tell me immediately if you feel unwell.”
Leon, who was coming in at that moment, added freshly picked blueberries to Ivy and Irene’s sherbet bowls, then grabbed some for himself as he went inside.
At the Marquis’ mansion, no matter where you were, there was always noise and attention focused on you.
Ivy liked that lively atmosphere.
‘It reminds me of the orphanage.’
When she first went to the orphanage after staying at an inn, she had been scared and disliked the teachers and children who approached her.
But her friends never gave up and kept lingering around her.
“Play with me.”
“Do you want some of my potato?”
“You read the fairy tale first.”
Gradually, she became accustomed to and comfortable with all that noise and the presence of many people.
So Ivy found this similarly noisy place very pleasant.
‘Of course, I like Irene’s house and Arsel’s house too.’
Seeing everyone happy, she thought, how wonderful it would be if they were all together.
Then she turned her head and looked out the window toward the direction of the palace.
‘No reply yet.’
She had asked Duke Kairen to send a letter, but a response from the Emperor had not yet arrived.
‘He must be busy…’
Ivy knew very well how busy the Emperor was.
When she had been allowed access to the main palace and tried to meet him, she often ended up waiting several times without being able to meet him.
The steward had told her that the Emperor was always busy with meetings or other affairs and hardly ever rested.
‘I hope Clois-sama could get some rest too.’
It would be nice if the Emperor had a summer break just like she did.
Maybe noticing her slightly subdued mood, Ruska, who had already finished her sherbet and was about to take some of Irene’s, rubbed the spot where she had been hit on the head and said,
“Ivy, is there anything you want for dinner?”
“Dinner?”
Her eyes, which had momentarily drooped at Ruska’s words, lit up.
Ivy always enjoyed her meals, but especially at the Marquis’ mansion, she eagerly looked forward to every mealtime.
That was because Ruska would make whatever she wanted to eat.
At the orphanage, it had been the norm, and at the academy, she had to choose from the cafeteria menu.
Even at Irene and Arsel’s houses, she hadn’t said much about food and had just eaten what was served.
‘I can eat whatever I want.’
Thanks to this, Ivy, for the first time in her life, could ponder what she wanted to eat.
In the past, she would have worried if it was okay to choose her own food…
‘There’s so much to eat here.’
Since the Marquis maintained a large number of knights, the mansion was surrounded by vast farms and orchards.
‘Those who don’t work don’t eat.’
Under the Marquis Ragselv’s belief, the knights helped with farming and ranch work in addition to their training.
Thanks to this, Ivy could go around the mansion all day and gather ingredients under the knights’ attention.
Even yesterday, she had enjoyed returning with Irene and Ruska, carrying baskets full of vegetables.
Perhaps because she had seen so much abundance all day, Ivy could now choose what she wanted to eat without feeling guilty.
She had even once brought a cookbook from the Marquis’ study and chosen what seemed the tastiest with the Ragselv brothers.
When she chose something that looked delicious, Ruska would grumble about the difficulty but would always make it.
Thinking about what she had enjoyed eating most so far, Ivy raised her hand.
“I want that! Grilled chicken legs over charcoal!”
Irene nodded at Ivy’s words.
“Yes, that was delicious. The sauce was good, but I also liked the seasoning on the chicken itself. Right, Ivy?”
“Yes. It also seemed a little tangy…”
Hearing Ivy mumble, Ruska’s eyes widened.
“Wow, how did you know? I marinated the chicken legs in yogurt, then seasoned them with salt and pepper. After that, I grilled them over charcoal to make the skin a bit crispy, and poured a tomato vegetable sauce over them…”
Gulp.
Ivy and Irene licked their lips at Ruska’s explanation.
They were already looking forward to dinner.
“Well, let’s go get yogurt from the ranch,” Ruska said.
Ivy hurriedly grabbed her hat as if to hurry along.
Irene, naturally, grabbed her hat too, and the three of them went out, talking about how many chicken legs they would eat.
Vanessa, clearing the remaining bowls, called out to the children as they walked away.
“Bring some eggs too!”
A smile spread across her face as she watched the children.
After that, the three of them roamed the Marquis’ mansion together.
Like little puppies, they ran around tirelessly, taking showers and changing clothes several times a day.
Ivy sometimes wore pants that Ruska couldn’t wear when she suddenly grew taller.
Irene, who had initially resisted, eventually put on comfortable pants and ran around even more excitedly than Ruska and Ivy.
They were once scolded by Vanessa when caught going down the staircase railing, and when the kitchen staff baked cookies, they would crawl through the hallway to steal pockets full of cookies (though, of course, Vanessa confiscated the remaining cookies).
“Hehe, what shall we do today?”
Ruska, who had rarely played with the older brothers but now had two people to hang out with, was overjoyed.
Snapping her fingers as if she had a great idea, she said,
“Let’s go to the forest cabin at night!”
The cabin once used by the forest keeper was now a storage for equipment used in managing the forest.
At the same time, it was the spookiest place in the mansion.
“The knights say it’s scary too. At night, ghosts come out of the forest…!”
“Eek!”
Ruska raised her hand to scare Irene, who let out a short scream and swung her fist.
Wham!
Ruska fell onto the sofa with a crisp thud.
Ein, who was watching, clapped.
“Nice hook. Irene really has talent. Maybe she’ll even get scouted by the knights before us.”
“Oh, brother, that compliment is a bit embarrassing.”
Ruska jumped up and shouted,
“Talent? What talent? Hitting people?”
She pointed at Irene as if unjustly accused, and Irene swung her fists again with a whooshing sound.
“What talent? The talent to shut your mouth.”
“Ahhh! Help me, brother!”
Of course, none of the brothers helped.
Watching the two, Ivy smiled and said,
“I’m not scared of ghosts at all. The really scary ones are wolves.”
At this, Eric patted Ivy’s head as if proud.
“Our Ivy is brave. Well, there aren’t really ghosts anyway.”
Ivy shook her head.
“No, there are ghosts.”
Everyone fell silent, looking at Ivy. Her answer was confident, not casual.
“I’ve seen a lot in the forest. There are ghosts wandering around, looking for their heads. But they only care about finding their heads and ignore living people.”
Her calm explanation left everyone speechless.
“But wolves are different. Their eyes shine in the dark, and if there’s a living person, they keep following. If I stop walking, the wolf stops too. If I walk, the wolf walks.”
Listening blankly, Irene shivered.
“Wow, Ivy, you’re so good at scary stories! I’m getting goosebumps!”
“It’s true… I saw it…”
Irene looked skeptical, and Ivy muttered sadly,
“But if a wolf really met me, it would have already swallowed me.”
“Uh, that’s…”
Ivy rubbed the back of her right hand unconsciously as she answered.
“I don’t know… the wolf didn’t eat me…”
She couldn’t tell them that a strange mark appeared on her hand every time, and the wolves eventually left.
Even she thought it sounded like a lie, and now there was nothing on her hand anyway.
‘What if they think I’m lying?’
Just as she regretted saying this, Ruska suddenly asked,
“Ivy, have you ever fallen while wandering in the forest?”
“No?”
Thinking about it, she often tripped on paths, but never in the forest.
“Have you ever gotten hurt on thorns?”
“No…”
Her clothes might have torn, but she had never been pricked by thorns.
“You’re also good at finding your way in the forest.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
Before she could wonder how Ruska knew something she never mentioned, the sound of a horse galloping outside reached them.
Everyone looked toward the entrance, wondering who had come, and soon a familiar person entered.
“Arsel!”
“Hello, Ivy.”
When Arsel ran toward Ivy with a smile, Ruska jumped up and shouted,
“Dealing with just Irene is exhausting enough, and now you come too… ugh!”
Irene jabbed Ruska’s side, and she stumbled, holding the spot.
After Arsel greeted everyone, including Ruska’s brothers she hadn’t seen in a while, Ruska grabbed Arsel’s arm and pulled him aside.
“Why?”
Ruska whispered just loud enough for others not to hear and led Arsel into a nearby room.
Once inside and alone, Ruska spoke bluntly.
“Hey, even if I’m talking nonsense… Ivy seems like Lilian’s daughter.”
“You noticed too?”
Instead of looking puzzled, Arsel looked at her as if saying, “Finally realized it?” Ruska’s jaw dropped.
“You suspected it already?”
“Yes. There were strangely many things that caught my attention.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“How could I easily say something like this?”
“But still!”
Ruska looked betrayed, and Arsel sighed.
“Well, it’s good. Now you’re suspicious too…”
Arsel spoke seriously,
“Let’s confirm it together.”
