Chapter 95
“…It matches the letter that Your Excellency had me deliver.”
I heard the quiet murmur of the butler, Roger, standing beside my grandmother.
“The only ones who know the contents of that letter are Your Excellency and me. There’s no doubt that Lady Isabel had it.”
Roger seemed to be trying to lower his voice.
But the room was so quiet that everyone could hear him clearly.
“I… I still need to confirm whether she really is Lady Isabel’s daughter, but as for the letter… it’s definitely hers.”
“Enough.”
Grandmother’s voice was firm and unyielding.
“Stop, Roger.”
Roger immediately shut his mouth.
He looked so tense that his face had gone pale.
In the heavy silence, Grandmother parted her lips.
“…Seniana.”
I, almost hypnotized, held out the letter I was carrying toward her.
Grandmother took the letter.
A long time passed before her stiff lips finally moved.
“This is the letter I wrote. It’s… correct.”
“….”
“It’s true that Isabel had it.”
“Congratulations, Mother.”
A gentle, calm voice, full of ease, echoed through the otherwise confused meeting hall.
Jayden, holding Seniana in his arms, stood and looked toward Grandmother.
“You must have longed for Isabel terribly. And yet, you’ve found her bloodline.”
Grandmother said nothing, her sharp gaze fixed on Jayden and Seniana in his arms.
Jayden smiled.
“I understand your shock. I was just as surprised when I first discovered Sena.”
“….”
“The child’s face resembles Isabel so much.”
All eyes naturally fell on Seniana.
Beneath her messy silver hair, her chubby young cheeks were still soft.
Her large, round eyes, her slightly upturned full lips…
Though she bore no obvious resemblance to Grandmother, there was a strange, subtle similarity.
I didn’t know what expression to make, so I just stood there quietly.
My mind felt blank, and my limbs were heavy.
I took a deep breath and repeated silently to myself:
‘Pull yourself together, Anelia. What are you doing? You should be happy. This is a good thing.’
In the Abner family, Lady Isabel had always been a sore spot.
For Grandmother, the head of the family, Isabel and Jayden were her only children.
But during the busiest period of Grandmother’s leadership, for some reason, Isabel left the house.
I had heard it was due to a minor conflict with Grandmother, though the exact reason was unknown.
Grandmother had tried to bring Isabel back, but soon after, a terrible tragedy struck the Abner family.
The news came that Isabel had died.
Grandmother reportedly was not in her right mind for some time, overwhelmed with grief at losing her daughter.
These were all things I had naturally learned while living in the Abner household.
‘And yet… Isabel had a child.’
Grandmother had regained her precious child through that lineage.
It was truly miraculous and joyous.
‘I have to congratulate her. I can’t just stand here like a fool.’
I was about to force my mouth open to say something when a voice reached me.
“If I hadn’t gone to Otium, I shudder to think what would have happened. If I hadn’t happened to find Seniana at that slave market…”
I turned to look at the voice.
It was Jayden.
“Seniana would likely have been sold to the Eastern Continent. Had that happened, she might never have been found.”
My expression slowly stiffened as I listened.
“How fortunate it is that she was discovered, even like this, Mother.”
Something… felt off.
“If I hadn’t gone to the Eastern Continent, I shudder to think what would have happened. If I hadn’t happened to find Hiana at that slave market…”
“Hiana would probably have lived her entire life as a slave. If that had happened, she might never have been found.”
“How fortunate it is that she was discovered, even like this, Duke.”
Jayden’s words overlapped perfectly with a memory I had.
“You’ve finally found your real granddaughter.”
“You’ve finally found your real daughter.”
Those were the words of someone who, in my previous life, had found Hiana and brought her to Duke Longton.
Philomena Longton, the sister of Lambert Longton and my aunt, had said that.
“Then… is this really Grandma Sena?”
The sudden voice froze my thoughts.
Seniana, in Jayden’s arms, looked at Grandmother with a pitiful expression.
Grandmother’s eyes wavered as she looked at Seniana.
“Disciple, are you alright?”
Owen’s voice broke the silence of the quiet bedroom.
I nodded quietly.
“Your expression right now… it’s intense. Did you know that?”
I nodded slightly again.
Owen fell silent, as if he had nothing left to say.
Normally, Owen didn’t come to my room.
He was my teacher in magical studies, not a servant like Miel or Soya.
But today was an exception.
I had told Miel that I wanted to be with Owen, who was deeply concerned for me.
“Sigh… of all times, your nursery teacher isn’t here either.”
Owen looked at me, anxious.
As he said, Teacher Ann was currently in the Evehill region, where a greenhouse was being built.
She had many tasks to organize while converting the nursery building into an herbal storage.
In short, Owen was the only one who knew about my return.
“If it’s okay with me, then just tell me what to do. If you need something, speak up. And if you want to… vent…”
“I can’t breathe.”
Owen stopped speaking immediately.
When I looked up at him calmly, I saw his eyes filled with tension.
“It’s just like when Hiana returned in my previous life…”
When I had seen Seniana in the meeting hall, I somehow felt like I already knew what was going to happen next.
I know better than anyone what happens when a “real family” returns and the “false family” is left behind.
“Disciple.”
“Teacher, I…”
Owen fell silent.
“I don’t want to be a bad person to Grandmother… to Duke Abner.”
Owen’s expression shifted to surprise.
“No, why would you be a bad person? Because of you, everything in the family is going so well!”
“If I don’t genuinely rejoice that Grandmother has met her biological granddaughter, I’d be a bad person.”
Owen froze, speechless.
Then, he ruffled his hair in frustration.
“That’s…”
“I’m so happy right now, and I don’t want to act badly toward the one who gave me this happiness—Grandmother.”
“Sigh… disciple.”
“So I don’t know what to do at all…”
Finally, tears I had held back fell, drop by drop, onto the bed.
Owen looked pale, unsure of what to do.
I sniffled and spoke in a weak voice.
“Seniana is five years old.”
“….”
“Do you know how young five is? If she really had been at that slave market, that Anne…”
I remembered the horrible scars Hiana had on her body in my previous life.
That’s what slave markets were like.
People were treated like beasts, injured without remorse, sometimes killed outright.
Later, I created a healing ointment and removed all of Hiana’s scars.
Even though she had taken so much from me, I did it out of guilt.
And I felt a similar need for Seniana, who had returned.
‘What if my suspicion is wrong?’
After hearing Jayden in the meeting hall, something about Seniana felt strange.
To be precise, Jayden’s words made Seniana seem strange too.
But I couldn’t bring myself to doubt her without feeling guilty.
‘If Seniana is really Isabel’s daughter…’
If she was an unfortunate child who had suffered all her life without her family…
‘Then, as Isabel’s adopted daughter who entered this family, there’s no way I could do anything wrong to her.’
I clenched my fists tightly.
“Then why don’t you know what to do?”
Owen spoke seriously and perched on the edge of my bed.
“Disciple, you are the youngest scholar in the entire continent. You’re a developer of drugs used throughout the empire, and the tower master’s researchers work under you.”
“….”
“Just do what feels right. It’s not hard, is it?”
