Chapter 29
“Oh? You’re already here?”
She tilted her head in surprise when she saw Kailen and Dylan. Then she noticed the small heads lined up stiffly behind him.
“Okay! You didn’t forget the promise you made with me earlier, right?”
At her words, the tallest boy flinched in fear. He glanced at Elliana, bent deeply at the waist, and shouted loudly:
“Sorry! We were wrong! Please forgive us!”
“A-ah, I—I was wrong too!”
“M-me too!”
Starting with the oldest boy and ending with the smallest girl, they all bowed deeply. Kailen’s gaze moved from the tops of their bowed heads to Elliana, who was watching warmly.
Elliana looked like she already knew Kailen wouldn’t punish the children.
Kailen didn’t like the expression on her face, as if she knew him very well. His brows narrowed, and the children exchanged nervous looks.
“Where are your homes?”
Kailen asked the children.
The oldest boy hesitated, then spoke.
“If you go straight that way and turn right into the alley, our house is there.”
Kailen looked in the direction the boy pointed, then pulled out his gloves from his pocket and put them on.
“Dylan. Take the children home.”
“Yes, understood.”
The children bowed quickly and followed Dylan. Watching them leave, Kailen climbed onto the carriage.
Elliana, who had been watching the children through the open door, stepped back and sat down when he entered.
Kailen’s eyebrows twisted.
“It’s a bit cold, but I guess we need to leave the window open?”
Elliana gave an awkward smile and quietly opened the window.
The moment Kailen stepped inside, a faint stench hit his nose. When Elliana opened the window, cold air rushed in and mixed with the bad smell.
Sniff.
Elliana sniffed, pulling her clothes tighter, and glanced sideways at Kailen sitting across from her.
“The children’s mother was taken away by the former lord. And their father…”
“I know.”
Before Elliana finished speaking, Kailen cut her off.
Her round cheeks, pale and slightly reddened by the cold wind, showed her surprise. The ends of her hair were still wet from the snow the children threw.
Her light brown hair had darkened from being wet, but she didn’t seem to notice. Kailen took out a handkerchief from his coat and handed it to her.
“The village chief begged me to forgive the children.”
Elliana nodded as though she understood, then stared quietly at the handkerchief in her hands.
“Your hair is wet. Since the window is open, you might catch a cold if you leave it like that.”
Elliana rubbed the front of her hair with her hand, then took the handkerchief.
“Thank you.”
Kailen crossed his arms as he watched Elliana gently pat her hair dry.
“What did you talk about with the children?”
The hostility the children felt wouldn’t disappear easily.
Even if there was a misunderstanding, the people of Winterford had suffered under the lords for generations, and the most recent terrible lord had taken the children’s parents.
Their hostility toward Kailen wasn’t just toward him — it was toward nobles in general.
But after talking with Elliana, they had softened and apologized sincerely.
It wasn’t a frightened apology; it was real.
What kind of magic did this tiny woman in front of him use?
Kailen was curious.
“I just listened.”
Kailen’s eyebrows twitched at her half-hearted answer.
“Sometimes, just having someone seriously listen to your story can be comforting.”
Elliana folded the damp handkerchief neatly.
“I just asked their names and listened. They cried and cried, then said they were sorry. So I told them…”
Elliana looked up at Kailen.
“I’m not the one you should apologize to.”
A sudden cold wind rushed into the carriage. Elliana’s messy hair became even more tangled.
She tucked away the brown hair sticking to her forehead and put the handkerchief into her small bag, saying she would wash it and return it.
“Voices of the neglected usually don’t reach those above.”
She sniffled as she closed the bag. Shivering from the cold, she shut the window and continued:
“That’s why you need to listen even more carefully.”
Sniff.
Elliana smelled the air again and nodded, as if the odor was gone now. She looked at Kailen, who still had an unreadable expression.
“Please do that.”
A moment later, Dylan climbed into the carriage after taking the children home.
Fifteen minutes later, when they reached Winterford Castle, Elliana asked Dylan when he would go scouting again. He said he’d schedule it soon, and she nodded and disappeared like an arrow.
“Please do that.”
Elliana’s voice lingered in Kailen’s ears for a long time.
The scouting had been disrupted by the incident, but thanks to the information Dylan got from the village chief, I added one more essential task.
A population survey.
The small village we scouted yesterday had about 60 people, including those out on winter hunting. But the records at Winterford Castle listed 100.
The gap was too big.
To understand Winterford properly, a population survey was urgently needed.
We needed an accurate count to collect proper taxes — not too much, not too little.
And through the survey, we could find out how many orphaned children there were.
Orphans in a harsh land needed care, and that required enough funding.
Tap tap.
The sound of my pen tapping the paper echoed in the Grand Duchess’s office.
Everything eventually led to a money problem, and my head began to ache. I reached for my teacup.
When I tried to sip, nothing came out.
Did I already finish?
The cup was completely empty.
“Mia. One more cup of coffee.”
When I lifted the cup, Mia took the empty one. She muttered that I only drank that coffee—whatever it was—these days, then suddenly raised her head as if she remembered something.
“We’re having a guest today!”
“A guest?”
A guest in Winterford?
I looked up at Mia, confused.
“Yes! Right now… Oh my! It’s already this late. They’ve probably arrived by now!”
Mia said the servants were rushing around because they heard a guest would come this afternoon.
It wasn’t my guest, so it must be Kailen’s. But who?
“What was the guest’s name again? I- Isa…”
Isa?
Mia frowned deeply as she tried to remember. I frowned along with her.
“Oh! Isaiah! Sir Isaiah Varks!”
“I-Isaiah Varks?”
“Yes!”
I jumped up from my seat. The chair fell backward, but that didn’t matter.
Isaiah Varks! The sub male lead!
I hurried around the big desk, past the piles of books and papers, heading straight to the door.
It was the sub male lead’s appearance!
“Y-Your Grace! Where are you going?”
“Outside! You said the guest is here!”
I flung the door open—then quickly shut it.
“Ugh. It’s cold.”
Staying inside the warm office made me forget Winterford was freezing.
Mia shook her head and brought my coat. I bundled up, wrapped the scarf my mother gave me, and left the office.
In the original novel, Isaiah was described like this:
“When he smiled, it felt like spring arrived. Kailen always compared his own fabricated smile to Isaiah’s true smile. His silver hair and golden eyes shone so brightly under the light that when mixed with his spring-like smile, one might even go blind.”
He was someone I always wanted to see at least once after falling into the original story. The reason was simple.
He’s handsome.
As I got closer to the training grounds, my excitement grew larger and larger.
