~Chapter 35~
Phew…
Esther looked down at herself and kept letting out heavy sighs.
Even if she was now in the body of a young human child, was it really okay to throw away her dignity like this?
‘I hope Migael Enoch isn’t watching me.’
If he was secretly peeking, she’d definitely pluck his eyes out.
“Shiphon.”
“Yes, Young Miss.”
When Esther made a serious face, Shiphon’s expression also became equally serious.
“Cookies.”
“I put them neatly in your pocket and hung it here at your waist.”
“And milk?”
“Here it is. Hot chocolate with plenty of chocolate in it.”
Shiphon placed the warm cup of hot chocolate into Esther’s hands.
“This is Grandma’s office, right?”
“Yes, I’ve checked several times.”
“Good. You go do your work now.”
“Yes, and good luck, Young Miss.”
Shiphon clenched his fists as he looked at Esther dressed in a fluttery, lace-filled pink dress with her hair in twin braids.
For some reason, he felt like punching the wall several times.
She was always round-faced and cute, but the difference between being dressed up and not dressed up was clear.
‘I really should buy more clothes and accessories.’
Once her name was officially entered into the family register, she’d also get a budget.
Up until now, she had practically been living by begging.
She didn’t know exactly who would manage the budget, but since only Denver and Shiphon were her direct subordinates, she didn’t think it would be too inconvenient.
‘Oh, and I should take some ingredients from here today.’
As the successor, she was told she could freely use things from the main house.
She thought that made perfect sense.
Shiphon was just about to head toward the dining hall—
“Oh my, what’s this? I was wondering where the bad smell was coming from, and here’s a scammer rolling around with an idiot from the trash bin.”
Familiar servants blocked Shiphon’s way. His back tensed with alertness.
Frowning, Shiphon ignored them and turned away.
“Hey!”
“How can you be so ugly in your jealousy?”
“What?!”
“If you’re jealous, just say so. Don’t just move your tongue.”
With that, Shiphon started walking again.
“You think you can live comfortably acting so stiff?!”
“You’d better be ready!”
Shiphon ignored them and kept moving.
One thing was certain—things were going to be annoying for a while.
‘Don’t bother thinking about it.’
He shook his head, pushing away unnecessary thoughts as he moved quickly.
Esther placed the cup of hot chocolate and the cookies Shiphon had tied to her waist neatly on the table in the empty office, then climbed onto the sofa.
Her expression was extremely serious.
“Even if you wear a pink lace dress, hold cookies in both hands, nibble on them while sipping hot chocolate, and tilt your head… you think I’ll fall for that?”
She imagined herself doing exactly that, but just felt queasy.
“Cookies in both hands…”
And sipping hot chocolate?
How was that even possible?
Unless she had three hands, it wasn’t easy to hold cookies in both hands and sip hot chocolate.
‘Did that old hag give me something impossible to do on purpose?’
She felt like banging her head for only realizing the contradiction now.
Esther frowned.
‘If I use magic and get caught… they’ll definitely call me a witch.’
Her magic wasn’t normal magic—it was black magic, drawn from black mana.
In other words, the source was different from the start.
After much thought, she ended up with chocolate milk foam stuck to her upper lip as she bit into a cookie—
The doorknob turned.
Startled, Esther quickly turned her head, tilting it as she pretended to bite the cookie, waiting for the door to open.
The moment it opened fully, she beamed.
“Grandma…!”
But instead of her grandmother, two boys stuck their heads in.
“…”
“…”
“…”
They froze. She froze. Everyone froze.
“What’s with this ugly skeleton?”
How did she look like a skeleton?
Hearing it not only from Kaelos Egbert but now from strange kids she’d never met made her mood sink even more.
“Dunno. Ah— isn’t she that scammer who took the successor’s seat? Looks like she came here to wag her tail at Grandma.”
“Disgusting.”
At their words, Esther slowly set her cookie down and wiped her lips.
‘…Embarrassing.’
She wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.
They looked about ten years old, their young faces twisted into smirks full of mockery.
“Hmph. Hey, skeleton. Why are you in here without permission?”
“Dunno, you idiots.”
Esther growled.
“You think you can talk back to us direct descendants when you’re just a bastard who’s not even on the family register? Know your place.”
“Direct? What direct?”
“What, you don’t even know the basics? You live here safely thanks to us.”
“Yeah, our father sacrificed himself like a hero so you could be here. So hurry up, crawl over, bow your head, and lower your eyes.”
She had no idea what they were talking about. Were they crazy? She decided to ignore them.
Esther sighed and just crunched into her chocolate-filled cookie.
“Hey, are you ignoring me?”
“I’m in a bad mood. Don’t touch me.”
She had prepared all morning to do this, steeling her resolve to face her grandmother.
On the way here, the servants had whispered endlessly, their cheeks flushed as they glanced and gossiped.
Some even came close just to touch her cheek or flick her head—
Then acted like they had touched something filthy, squealing things like, “Ew! I touched her! She’s soft!”
“What? You want to be thrown out? Think being successor makes you something special?”
One boy stepped up, leaning right into her face.
Like the rest of the Egbert direct line, they both had silver hair, though in slightly different shades.
“Where’s Grandma?”
“Why do you want to see her? Did you get permission?”
Permission? She could barely even see the woman, how could she get permission?
‘Who even are these brats?’
They didn’t seem like Nigel’s kids, Kardem wasn’t married, and they weren’t her father’s kids either…
‘Was there someone else?’ She’d ask Shiphon later.
“Hey, are you ignoring us?”
“Yeah.”
“Want us to tell Grandma to kick you out with nothing? Or maybe lock you in your room?”
“Grandma listens to whatever we say, you know? And even if she doesn’t, everyone else will.”
The boys straightened their shoulders and smirked smugly.
“Why?”
“If our father hadn’t sacrificed himself, the Egbert family would already be gone.”
They shamelessly took one of her cookies each and popped it in their mouths.
‘Hey, those are mine.’
And sitting across from her with crossed legs—they couldn’t look more arrogant.
‘Sacrifice?’
That word stank of the hypocrisy loved by those worthless fools in the divine realm.
Of course, they hated sacrificing themselves, which made their love of the word all the more ironic.
“So?”
“So, you should show us gra—”
“Mm? Your father did that, not you.”
Esther tilted her head deliberately.
Why were they trying to take credit for what their father had done?
Humans really were incomprehensible.
“You…!”
“What’s with the noise in my office?”
“Grandma!”
The two boys ran to their grandmother. Esther sighed at her ruined plan and bit her cookie again.
“You’ve grown a lot, Aaron, Dylan.”
Mari Egbert bent slightly, speaking softly to the boys.
‘If only it weren’t black… I could’ve given up.’
But she couldn’t—because it was black.
“And you, why are you here?”
Her voice turned sharp as ice toward Esther.
“Um, I wanted to see Grandma! Hehe!”
“You think dressing up all cute will make me fall for it? Cunning thing.”
So she was admitting Esther looked cute.
“Esther’s cute, right?!”
“Well, anything looks cute if you scrub it up. Who let you in here without permission?”
“…Sorry.”
Esther pouted and hopped off the sofa.
Her plan was already ruined thanks to those brats—she’d have to try again later.
“But if I asked permission, you wouldn’t have given it, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Then of course I came secretly!”
Esther raised her hand brightly as she answered.
