Episode 4
“Bring him here quickly.”
“Uh… um. Yes, alright. I’ll clean your room first, miss.”
“I said bring him now. You can clean later.”
“Huh? Ah, then… should I? Oh! Miss, come to think of it, your morning milk! You should drink milk. Shall I bring it?”
Sylvia could no longer hold back at Emily’s constant attempts to change the subject and shouted,
“I said I’ll apologize! I *will* apologize! So bring him here right now!”
Her eyes were swollen, her voice hoarse. She looked like she had cried all night—yet somehow still had the strength to yell.
Startled by Sylvia stomping her feet and shouting, Emily took a step back. Having watched her for so long, she knew this was a sign that the young lady was about to explode.
“A-alright! I understand. Please calm down first, okay? I’ll hurry over to the annex, so please try to settle down.”
Before she even finished speaking, Emily dashed out of the room. Watching her leave, Sylvia breathed heavily.
Part of her felt wronged that no one would believe her even when she was trying to behave for once. Another part thought maybe it was understandable—considering how badly she had acted all this time.
Within the ducal estate, Sylvia was practically a living deity. Everything here revolved around Sylvia Langston.
So of course no one would believe her if she suddenly said she was going to apologize to Ray. Had she really treated him that badly?
Sylvia looked around.
Her room was piled high with things she no longer even played with, all because of her greedy nature. The sight made her uneasy again.
‘They’re all useless once you die.’
It’s not like she could take any of it to the grave—so why had she been so obsessed with toys and picture books?
It was the same with Ray.
She hadn’t wanted to apologize over something as trivial as throwing a toy at a nanny’s nephew. But upsetting her parents over something like that—that was just pointless pride.
‘It’s just an apology. I’ll do it. I will.’
With her arms crossed, Sylvia glared at the door, then frowned as a thought occurred to her.
But…
‘How do you even apologize?’
In her previous life, she had lived alone in a hospital, with no one to interact with. Even her family never visited.
And in this life, there was no one who would dare tell her to apologize. Even if conflicts arose with other noble children, they would either bow to her or endure it silently.
That was why Sylvia had absolutely no idea how to apologize.
While she was deep in thought, some noise came from outside. Soon, Emily opened the door and came in.
“Miss, you’ve been waiting, right? I brought Ray.”
Sylvia nodded at the child hiding behind Emily.
“You can leave now.”
“Huh? But, miss…”
Emily hesitated and looked down at Ray, worried Sylvia might do something mean to him again. But she couldn’t withstand Sylvia glaring sharply at her with those swollen eyes.
“Alright. I’ll wait outside, so send Ray out when you’re done. I need to take him back to the annex.”
Emily nodded repeatedly, her eyes saying, *Miss, I trust you!*
—
Sylvia looked at the boy in front of her. Her vision was narrowed by her swollen eyelids, making her unconsciously frown.
Black hair. Clean but worn-out clothes.
His uneasy eyes, darting around, were a murky dark blue. Even those were half-hidden by his long hair.
“Hey.”
Ray had been staring at the floor ever since entering the room. Irritated by that, Sylvia spoke sharply. At her call, Ray slowly lifted his head.
“Stop bowing your head all the time. Why are you so timid? Anyone can tell you’re a commoner.”
No. That’s not right.
Realizing her usual bad habit slipped out, Sylvia waved her hands awkwardly.
“Th-that thing I just said doesn’t count. Got it?”
Ray slowly nodded.
Even though she got angry and then suddenly took it back, his expression didn’t change at all.
“Listen. Do you know why I called you here today?”
“Yes.”
“A few days ago, I threw a toy at you, right?”
“Yes.”
“I called you to apologize for that. Sorry.”
“Yes.”
Then silence fell.
‘…Is this how you apologize?’
Seeing his reaction made Sylvia uneasy, but she crossed her arms and stared at him.
She wished he’d say something more, but Ray only kept answering “yes” like a machine.
Embarrassed, Sylvia spoke again.
“You… they say you’re two years older than me?”
“…Yes.”
“Then why are you so small? And why are your wrists so thin?”
Despite being two years older, Ray was actually a bit shorter than Sylvia. For the first time, he didn’t respond—he just quietly looked at her.
Their eyes met.
“W-what?”
Startled, Sylvia stammered. His expression, with his teeth clenched, was filled with resentment toward her.
“N-no, I was just curious…”
Realizing her mistake, she blurted out an excuse. After staring at her for a long moment, Ray finally spoke.
“Well… I don’t really know why I’m small either. Miss, if you’ve said everything you wanted, may I leave now?”
“Huh? N-no, I mean…”
“Do you still have something to say to me?”
His tone was oddly sharp, almost accusatory.
If she said no, he might just leave—and that somehow felt like losing. So Sylvia rolled her eyes and blurted out whatever came to mind.
“You’re two years older than me—so why do you speak so formally?”
“That’s because you’re the duke’s daughter, miss.”
“But you don’t even work in our household. What does my father have to do with it? You’re weird.”
At the word “weird,” Ray’s expression stiffened again.
Sylvia realized once more that she had said something wrong—but it was too late to take it back.
“From now on, don’t use formal speech. Got it?”
Instead of apologizing, she ended up ordering him around. Apologizing was hard—throwing her weight around was easy.
She expected him to say “yes,” like always.
But the answer she expected didn’t come.
Instead, he simply stared at her. That empty gaze made her uneasy, and she snapped again,
“I said, do you understand?”
“Yes. But I’m going to keep speaking formally.”
“…What? You just said you understood.”
“I said I understood what you said—not that I would do it.”
“Stop using formal speech!”
“No.”
Ray’s firm reply genuinely shocked Sylvia.
Had anyone ever told her “no” before?
Frozen and speechless, Sylvia stood there as Ray calmly bowed.
“If you’re finished, I’ll take my leave now, miss.”
