Chapter 65
“Why on earth are you coming out of there!”
Marie Egbert, dressed in comfortable nightclothes, raised her voice.
“Uh, should I say… I got lost…?”
“You got lost and happened to stumble into a hidden secret passage?”
At Esther’s glib excuse, Ernhardt Egbert gave a hollow laugh and shot back.
Esther fell silent.
‘Why is the exit a bedroom of all places…?!’
Shouldn’t it normally lead somewhere more secluded, a place no one could enter…?
‘Hmm, well, since it’s the family head’s bedroom, maybe that’s the most private place?’
Of all the unlucky things, this had to be the worst.
Esther was forced to kneel on the bed.
Swallowing hard under the sharp gazes of the two, she cautiously lifted her head.
“Where?”
“Pardon…?”
“I asked where you came from.”
“Uh…”
Esther’s eyes darted around. If she told the truth, she’d definitely be stopped.
She hadn’t even figured out Hakan Egbert’s whereabouts yet.
‘So that exit isn’t the only one.’
That meant there were several more hidden rooms in the mansion?
Esther’s mind raced.
“I told you to answer! Do you realize how serious this matter is?!”
Marie Egbert scolded again when Esther only pressed her lips together. Esther pouted.
“I dunno.”
Stretching her knees out from her kneeling position, she turned her head away with a defiant look.
‘Annoying.’
Honestly, the bigger problem was that they had secret passages so poorly hidden that even kids could stumble onto them.
“Wh-what…?! Even if you puff out your rosy cheeks and pout, Marie Egbert won’t just let this go!”
“Boohoo, Grandma’s so mean…”
Esther mumbled with mock tears, and Marie froze.
“What did you say…?”
“Every time you see me, you only scold me… You’re always frowning and angry. If you hate me, then just kick me out of the house.”
At Esther’s rebellious words, Marie Egbert fell silent.
“You… how dare you speak like that…”
“If Grandma keeps getting angry, you’ll collapse again soon.”
The dragon’s binding hadn’t been completely lifted yet. If she kept feeding her body such negative emotions, she’d collapse again before Esther even grew up.
“I saved you, but you’re not even thankful… That’s why Dad hates Grandpa and Grandma.”
Esther jerked her head away and hopped down from the bed.
Marie Egbert didn’t press her further, nor did she speak.
Clicking her tongue with regret as she spotted the black exclamation mark floating above Marie’s head, Esther muttered,
“You’ll regret it later. What’ll you do without a cute grandchild like me?”
She slowly backed away from the bed.
“This family’s weird.”
The couple clearly cared for each other, but if this kept up, they’d truly fall apart.
‘They’d better hold it together until I’m grown.’
Only then could she properly enjoy her revenge—and live to adulthood in peace.
“If even Dad hates Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle Kardem’s scared of you, and Uncle Naiman dislikes you too…”
Esther tilted her head deliberately.
“Who actually likes Grandma and Grandpa?”
She dropped her head.
“Esther used to like Grandma and Grandpa… but now it’s so scary, I think I’ll stop.”
While she was tiptoeing toward the door, Ernhardt Egbert raised an eyebrow and strode over, scooping her up.
Dangling in the air by her armpits was never pleasant.
“Cunning little rascal. Trying to slip away? You must tell me where you’ve been. A place kept secret is hidden for a reason.”
Esther clicked her tongue.
So much for slipping out unnoticed—failure. She puffed her cheeks again, sulking.
Plopped back on the bed, she crossed her legs with a rebellious look.
…Or tried to.
…Well, she tried.
Her legs were too short, so it didn’t quite work.
“And as for me, I don’t expect their love anymore. I chose what I wanted and gave up the rest. I have no regrets.”
Hearing that, Esther only shrugged.
If he was that resolute, there was nothing more to say.
“Okay then! I’m going now!”
“I asked where you went.”
“Uh… I dunno. I just kept walking down a pitch-black path, and when I touched the wall, I ended up here!”
Esther lied.
“…Is that true?”
So such a passage really existed?
“Yes!”
“…Bold little thing. Wherever you went, don’t go back. Nothing good will come of it.”
Esther nodded halfheartedly. She yawned, and Marie sighed.
“But you don’t dislike your father, right?”
“……”
With no answer from them, Esther hopped off the bed and headed for the door.
This time, Ernhardt didn’t stop her.
The door swung open, and she was just about to slip out—
“What parent in this world hates a child they gave birth to?”
Esther’s eyes widened slightly.
“There are.”
She smirked.
“What?”
“There are, but…”
Peeking only her face through the crack in the door, she grinned mischievously.
“It’s definitely not Grandma and Grandpa.”
They were just hopelessly clumsy, that was all.
As someone who knew all too well what parents who truly hated their child looked like and acted like, Esther understood better than anyone.
“Guess I’ll head back.”
She stepped into her own room, drowsiness washing over her.
“Young lady! Where have you been?!”
Chiffon rushed over with a deeply worried expression.
“Uh, a… walk?”
It was a kind of walk, though perhaps not exactly.
“Were you worried?”
“Yes, please tell me before you go somewhere… I searched for you all day.”
“Mm, okay.”
Esther nodded obediently.
Unlike Raksa and Ross, whom she had summoned, Chiffon was bound, so he couldn’t sense her whereabouts.
“Truly…”
Chiffon carefully pulled her into an embrace.
“It’s late. Please wash up and rest now.”
“Okay.”
Looking at his worried face made her chest feel warm and ticklish.
Soon, Esther was soaking in the warm bath Chiffon had already prepared.
She tapped one of the rubber ducks floating on the water, and they scattered away like little balls.
“Where were you all this time? I searched the whole mansion and couldn’t find you.”
“Ah… well. I was looking for Hakan Egbert.”
Chiffon’s eyes went round.
“Hakan Egbert…? Do you mean the eldest son of the Egbert family?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Ah, he was gone before I came here, so I don’t know much…”
Well, it wasn’t as though many people would know.
“But I heard he was gentle and kind—almost too soft—to be believed as the heir of the Egbert family.”
“Gentle and kind…?”
Not exactly the words one would expect for the successor of a powerful house.
“Yes, but everyone still called him the next heir. Though he was soft in temperament, he was intelligent and talented. Excelling in both the arts of war and scholarship, sharp in strategy, and even at a young age, he could separate public duty from private matters.”
So, he had been a successor beloved by all?
“They say he always wore a smile, even when scolded by the Duke and Duchess.”
“Did Grandma and Grandpa like him?”
“I can’t say for sure, but… probably. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they have named another successor after his passing? At least, until you, young lady.”
Chiffon’s voice swelled with pride at the end.
Esther grinned and made a little V sign with her fingers.
“I also heard he often played the role of mediator between the Duke, the Duchess, and his siblings.”
Esther tilted her head back, quietly listening.
‘And yet, they still sent him away…’
To protect the Egbert family, it seemed offering a “sacrifice” had been unavoidable.
‘How troublesome.’
Even if he returned, he would not be welcomed.
Like any scapegoat offered up as a sacrifice, if he came back alive, no one would rejoice.
“Hm…”
Her head hurt just thinking about it.
Anyway.
After bathing, Esther let Chiffon dry her hair, then burrowed obediently into her blankets.
Sleep came sweetly.
