Chapter 72
It was without a doubt because Sharon Abner had given Wendel a gold coin.
The guards immediately blocked their way, but the merchants weren’t the least bit intimidated.
“Little lady, your cheeks look so pale. You must eat a roasted pig immediately!”
Delicious-smelling sample foods were suddenly offered through the gaps between the guards.
Among them were several luxuries like candies and chocolates that children would enjoy.
“Do you want to eat that too?”
Sharon Abner asked casually.
I hesitated for a moment, but then I subtly nodded.
“Just a little roasted pig and sugar bread…”
“Two of each.”
Sharon Abner immediately took out coins and handed them to the merchants.
The merchants smiled from ear to ear and hurriedly handed over the food.
Two skewers of pork and two sugar-coated breads.
As I reached out to take them, Sharon Abner shook her head.
Then she untied the cravat she had worn over her uniform.
She easily tore the cloth into two strips, wrapped them around the pork skewers, and made handles.
“Hot. Be careful.”
I accepted the skewers with an excited smile.
Thanks to the cloth-wrapped handles, the dripping oil wasn’t hot at all.
“Here. Eat the bread too.”
She handed me a crispy croissant coated with sugar syrup in her other hand, and I smiled happily.
It was then.
“Your Majesty.”
I heard Wendel’s voice from outside the window.
He had returned, holding a glass of strawberry juice in one hand and blueberry juice in the other.
But his expression looked somewhat serious.
“What happened?”
“There was a reason the road was blocked. They said a small accident occurred up ahead.”
Sharon Abner raised her eyebrows.
“Alright, everyone, turn to the right!”
Just then, a few burly knights ahead shouted loudly and approached.
One of them came up to our carriage and spoke through the guards.
“Apologies, but the road is blocked. We are diverting carriages to the right side path, so please follow.”
Our expressions immediately grew serious.
The uniform the knight wore bore the emblem of the Longturn family.
I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth with a sour taste.
I had expected to encounter Longturn upon arriving in Jedo, but it had come sooner than I thought.
“Wendel. Turn.”
Sharon Abner commanded in a slightly lowered voice, as if her enthusiasm had also waned.
I nodded subtly to myself.
‘Abner has always been enemies with Longturn.’
This situation could hardly be comfortable for her.
I suddenly wondered how Sharon Abner would react if she knew that the assassin who had tried to harm me came from Longturn.
Meanwhile, the carriage slowly changed direction.
As the wheels started to roll, I soon caught sight of the scene of the small accident ahead.
A Longturn carriage had stopped in the middle of the road, having lost one wheel.
I paused as I observed it.
Next to the carriage, standing with some knights, was a child.
Pink hair and sparkling green eyes.
The line from the forehead down to the nose, and the plump lips beneath it—they looked eerily familiar.
The child turned her head.
When our eyes met, I held my breath briefly.
As expected.
It was Hiana.
Once we turned onto the side road, the congestion eased noticeably.
“The first noble I encounter, and it has to be a Longturn.”
Sharon Abner looked displeased.
“Arriving in Jedo and immediately this…”
She suddenly looked at me.
“Not as tasty as you expected?”
Come to think of it, unlike Sharon Abner, who had already finished her portion, I still had about half of my skewer left in my hand.
I quickly shook my head and bit into the remaining skewer.
“No, it’s delicious!”
But the thought that had filled my mind refused to vanish.
The moment my eyes met Hiana’s.
I clearly saw her green eyes widen.
She seemed to stiffen her expression slightly, then opened her small lips.
At that moment, the carriage turned the corner of the side street.
Naturally, Hiana’s figure disappeared, but I couldn’t easily look away from the window.
‘That mouth shape. Surely…’
It seemed like she called me “sister.”
Even though I knew it couldn’t be, I still furrowed my brows.
I heard Wendel speaking to Sharon Abner in the carriage.
“That girl just now. She is the only daughter of the Longturn family.”
“The one who was lost as a baby and recently found?”
“Yes. It seems she returned to the mansion exactly two months ago.”
I glanced at Wendel while eating my skewer.
‘Two months?’
That couldn’t be.
The day Hiana was supposed to return was the last day of July. Not two months ago in September.
“It seems Philomena Longturn found her and brought her back.”
After hearing this, I reflexively stopped chewing.
Philomena Longturn.
The sister of Lambert Longturn, still unmarried close to fifty, and living in the Longturn mansion.
‘This time, my aunt—or rather, Philomena—is the one who brought Hiana?’
Something felt off.
‘In my previous life, Philomena only found Hiana seven years later. At this time, Hiana came to the house herself and was chased away.’
So I thought Hiana had visited the Longturn mansion personally on the last day of July.
But something was different.
Both the way and the timing of Hiana’s return.
‘And especially, Philomena brought her this time.’
In my past life, Aunt Philomena was a woman whose mere thought made my cheeks sting.
‘Annoying.’
‘Did she throw away all her pride just to hear that silly little lady call?’
‘Don’t stagger around. Even seeing that behavior makes me angry.’
She was one of the people who openly showed hostility toward me from the start.
Unlike the Duke of Longturn and the princes, she had consistently despised me even before Hiana returned.
She would slap without hesitation or spit out vicious curses.
‘Even if that were the case…’
The hardest thing to endure was that there was no reason behind her actions.
‘Why do you hate me so much?’
‘Do you need a reason to hate someone like you? You’re just disgusting. Seeing you makes me feel like my mood is thrown into a pit.’
Every action of Lady Philomena had literally no reason.
I had no idea how miserable and difficult that made a person feel.
“They say she personally saw the child begging on the streets and brought her in, even ordering a paternity test.”
“With Lambert Longturn, you mean.”
“Yes. Once it was confirmed she was his niece, she apparently showered her with tremendous affection. Rumor has it she’s even checking on the child’s godmother herself.”
“That’s unusual for Philomena. Wasn’t she the woman who never cared about the family’s affairs?”
I almost nodded unconsciously.
As Sharon Abner said, at this time Philomena was hardly involved in the Longturn family’s matters.
She didn’t particularly like me, but she also didn’t get along well with the rest of the family.
In fact, she seemed uncomfortable around them and kept her distance.
‘Yet, she brought Hiana and is now doting on her immensely.’
I swallowed the last skewer and blinked.
‘Did something go wrong because of me?’
Was that why the timing and manner of Hiana’s return had changed?
But even so, could Philomena really have found Hiana this time?
Something that was supposed to happen seven years later… so quickly.
She even found Hiana, who had been working as a slave in the Eastern continent.
Questions kept piling up.
I clenched my fists and opened them again, trying to calm myself.
Yes, it could all be coincidence.
A random error caused by me choosing Abner over Longturn.
But…
‘…Sister?’
Then that mouth shape.
It must have been a misperception, but if, if Hiana really called me that…
At that moment, the carriage stopped.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the imperial palace.
The 26th emperor of the Taranta Empire, Edward Lacteas, peered down from the towering throne and muttered indifferently.
“Pathetic. Next.”
The noble lying flat below the throne flushed.
He placed the gift box he had prepared on the ground and quickly stepped back.
The next noble stepped forward.
“Your, Your Imperial Majesty. I bring a rare treasure from the polar regions of the Eastern continent…”
“Is there anything as useless to me as a gemstone? Next.”
This noble had to step back without even finishing his greeting.
But the emperor’s red eyes only showed a clear expression of annoyance.
It was a look that suggested even five seconds for one person was too much, unbearably boring.
