Reina froze at the sudden situation, staring at them both. The knight commander glanced sideways at her, then turned back to bow before the Duke of Winternight.
“The maid… Reina Borton’s child has been taken hostage.”
“….”
“The kidnappers’ true target was Estelle, so this is my responsibility. A threat letter was sent—how did they even get inside…”
“M-my lord!”
Reina, forgetting her manners, cut into the duke’s words.
“What is it?”
Even so, the duke did not scold her, only listened.
“T-the letter has the meeting place written on it.”
Her hands shaking, Reina handed the letter to him.
The duke looked at her steadily, then crossed the room in long strides.
“Reina Borton.”
“Yes…?”
“As I told you earlier—when you make a deal, you must not hand over your only card first.”
The letter was already in his hand.
“If this had all been a lie, what then? Now that I have the letter, what could you have done if I refused your plea?”
Reina’s eyes widened as she understood. No matter how desperate, you must always keep something hidden.
“…Ah.”
“Commander, prepare to move to the place written in this letter.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The duke handed the letter to him. He could have taken it easily without Reina ever offering it.
“Choose only the best men. There may be a spy among us.”
“As you command.”
The commander bowed again and left the office.
Only then did Reina collapse to the floor.
“…Hah…”
What was happening right now?
She clutched her pounding chest.
“Th-thank you… thank you…”
Why were those short five words so hard to say?
Why was her vision so blurry?
Why was her chest so tight, her throat burning?
Her tears fell, darkening the carpet. Her pink hair, usually tidy, was now a mess.
The face that always smiled kindly at children was now twisted with fear and relief, drowned in tears.
At last—at last there was hope.
The duke watched her cry for a while, then helped her up and set her on the sofa. He handed her a handkerchief and said:
“A parent’s love for their child is the same everywhere.”
“….”
“As you treasure my daughter, I will not disregard yours.”
“…Yes.”
“Borton, carrying that letter here… you must have thought of a thousand things along the way.”
He recalled their first meeting as his eyes grew distant. He sat across from her.
The handkerchief was already soaked, but her tears did not stop. Oddly, she made no sound as she cried.
The duke quietly left her in the office so she could weep in peace.
It was unusual for him to show such consideration for a mere servant. He decided it was because Estelle adored Reina, and Reina was pitiable—unable to go rescue her child herself because she was needed by Estelle.
After some thought, the duke muttered:
“…This is troublesome.”
The kidnapping had reminded him of something he had overlooked. Before Estelle, he only needed to guard his own life. Now he must protect hers as well—not only her body but her heart.
Around his daughter were people who loved her. And those people, too, had loved ones.
If their families were taken hostage like Borton’s was…
Not everyone would make Reina’s choice. Some might truly harm Estelle to protect their own.
It was surprising, even admirable, that Reina had been able to make such a cold decision and come to him.
How anxious must she have been, all the way here?
The duke himself had power. He could protect many things. But Reina had none—she could only beg. That desperate plea, confessing like a sinner, burned into his memory.
What kind of man does she take me for…?
Though called cold-blooded and villainous, he was not so heartless as to feel nothing over a child’s death.
He knew Bonita. Through her, he sometimes remembered Estelle.
If Bonita were to die instead of Estelle, he would live haunted forever. The very thought made him grimace.
He summoned the head butler, deciding to build better protection for Estelle and those around her.
Bitterly, he acknowledged that Estelle liked Reina more than him. Which meant Reina and Bonita had become his weakness too.
That’s why…
He couldn’t forget the image of Reina weeping for her daughter’s life.
But he shook his head. That was all their relationship was. Nothing more.
Alone again, Reina slowly calmed her emotions. The setting sun turned the office red.
She decided she shouldn’t stay here any longer and opened the door.
“Reina? Reina, were you crying?”
It was Estelle.
Behind her stood two knights. Judging from their looks, they already knew something had happened.
“…N-no. It’s nothing.”
Reina shook her head. She didn’t want the child to know.
But Estelle still looked worried.
“My lady, what brings you here?”
“Oh, I wanted to ask Father for something.”
“The master has stepped out of the office.”
“I see…”
A request? Reina thought. In the novel she remembered, there had been no such part. Maybe she had kidnapped Estelle before such a scene could occur.
Just imagining that possibility made her chest ache.
Reina always tried to appear gentle before Estelle. Now too. But with her eyes swollen red, her smile looked sorrowful.
Even an eight-year-old could see the grief she could not hide.
Estelle silently came closer, tugging on her clothes. The knights stiffened, watching.
“Reina, Reina.”
Reina knelt to meet her eyes, as she always did.
Estelle looked at her quietly.
“My lady?”
Then the child hugged her.
“Reina always smells nice. It must be because you’re a good person. Everything will be alright.”
“…What?”
“It’s okay, Reina. You’ll be okay.”
Not knowing anything, Estelle simply repeated those words.
Her thin body was so warm. Children always had higher body heat, people said.
“Reina, you know… My mother was from the tribe called Fineke. And they can use sorcery. I’m not fully one of them, but…”
“….”
“And some Fineke can see the future. So it’s alright. I’ll be able to see the future too.”
She whispered that everything would be fine, because she had already seen a future where Reina was smiling.
Having Fineke blood was shameful in the empire. They were persecuted for it. Estelle must have suffered before she became a Winternight. For her, the name Fineke carried pain.
Yet she brought it up now, just to comfort Reina.
“So it’s okay. I saw it. You’ll be smiling in the future.”
Estelle loved her that much.
“…Yes.”
Reina’s heart sank under the weight of that unconditional love.
It was your place that was taken instead of my child.
But Reina could never say such cruel truth.
Estelle and Bonita’s figures overlapped in her mind. She could never resent a child.
To Estelle, Reina was the first kind adult she remembered.
“I’m sure God won’t torment someone kind like you, Reina. God is gentle. Right?”
Reina couldn’t answer. She didn’t think she was kind. If she hadn’t known the future, she would have kidnapped Estelle for her daughter’s sake.
She was, truly, a pathetic adult.
Leaning into Estelle’s warmth, Reina wept again.
“….”
At some point she had collapsed. When she woke, she was lying in bed. The maids close to Estelle were gathered, looking worried.
“You’re awake, Reina! We were so shocked when you suddenly fainted…”
“You’ve been losing weight lately, but to collapse like this…”
“Is it because of Bonita? Don’t worry, the Winternight First Knights have already left.”
“….”
Reina slowly sat up. The maids bustled nervously around her, one bringing water.
Her face showed that if anything happened to Bonita, she would do something reckless.
“Reina… don’t think anything foolish, okay?”
“Yeah, everything will be alright.”
“….”
For a long time she said nothing. Then her lips trembled.
“…I’m…”
“…Huh?”
Bonita had always been a mature, adult-like child.
“…I’m a bad mother.”
The child hadn’t truly disliked fancy dresses. In their shabby hut, her eyes had shone whenever princess stories came up. She had loved the parts with sparkling gowns.
Nor had she hated sweets.
It was just that…
“Reina, what are you saying? You’re such a good mother!”
“Yeah, Bonita loves you so much…”
“Hhkk…”
The truth was, Bonita had always watched her mother’s face carefully. No child became “adult-like” for no reason. The world had forced her to.
She chose cheaper things, chose meals over treats—so her mother wouldn’t have to struggle.
Poverty had trapped her in a narrow world, forced her to hide her true wishes.
And Reina realized this far too late.
“I knew… I knew all along…”
That Bonita had licked her fingers clean of honey bread because she loved the sweetness. That she had really wanted the white dress embroidered with gold thread in the shop window, not the plain green one.
That she had wanted more pudding, but hid it so Reina wouldn’t feel pressured to buy treats every week.
Reina had seen all of it.
Yet she’d taken comfort in her daughter’s silence, in the thought that they were becoming stable. She had let herself be blind.
She was a selfish adult. A bad mother.
She couldn’t even remember the look Bonita had given her that very morning. She had leaned on her daughter’s maturity, ignored her wishes, telling herself to wait for “better days.”
Now she regretted it all.
In the memories of Yujin—her past self—Bonita’s fate had never been written. That uncertainty gnawed at her.
Maybe if she had betrayed Estelle, Bonita would be alive. Maybe the duke would have spared her, sent her away to another land. Maybe Reina had made the wrong choice.
“Reina, you’ve hardly eaten today! You’ll collapse again if you keep crying!”
“Right, Bonita will be back soon…”
But the maids frowned helplessly. They had heard only of her crying, and now, awake again, she was crying still.
Just then, someone burst into the room, running breathlessly.
