Chapter 90
“Liana”
“Did you meet the bishop?”
“Did you see the bishop?”
Roitz and I asked the same question at the same time as we sat on the terrace.
Seeing that he asked the same thing, it seemed he also hadn’t met Lucike.
By now, my strength had mostly returned.
I was eating bread I had brought from the banquet hall, where the party was still going on.
“You must be very hungry.”
“Yes, extremely.”
Now that the tension had eased, I realized how hungry I really was.
“Shall we go out and eat properly?”
It was tempting, since Roitz knew so many good restaurants.
Most of the ones I knew were introduced by him anyway.
“But they’ll probably close soon.”
Although, if it was Roitz, they might reopen just for him.
“This isn’t bad either.”
I lifted the bread and continued chewing eagerly.
“Wait here.”
Roitz stood and left the room, then returned.
A moment later, someone knocked and entered.
“Young master, here’s the meal you asked for.”
Suddenly, a full seven-course meal was set before me.
“……?”
From basil lasagna to roasted chicken, everything looked delicious.
“What is this? Did you prepare this separately?”
“These are just dishes that were already there.”
“There were dishes like this at the party?”
“Yes. It’s a party, so of course there’d be this much.”
His logic half-made sense, but I hadn’t seen such food when I looked around the banquet.
Roitz handed me a fork. When I just stared at him, he picked up some food with it and put it in my mouth.
I chewed.
It was a wonderful taste. In my previous life, they would’ve called this “delicious beyond words.”
But no matter how I thought about it…
“These weren’t at the party.”
“They’re here now.”
“They weren’t in the hall.”
“Then make this a new party.”
“What kind of new party?”
“Your birthday party, Serdin.”
He pushed the dishes closer to me.
“It’s your birthday. You should be properly celebrated.”
A strange feeling stirred in me. My chest felt hot. I quickly gulped down water.
When I wiped my lips and glanced at him, I noticed Roitz staring at something.
“What are you looking at?”
“It suits you.”
His gaze had stopped at the flowing sleeves of my dress.
“…So you thought it wouldn’t suit me that much?”
The dress I wore today was different from usual.
Normally, I only wore training clothes or my knight’s uniform when with him.
“I came planning to enjoy the party.”
“This is still a party.”
I popped more food into my mouth and chewed.
The feeling inside was strange.
It was gratitude. No—more than that.
From the moment I arrived here at the Count’s mansion, I had felt like nothing but an unwelcome guest.
Both Uncle Dinel and Gren had looked at me like I didn’t belong.
“Actually, I wasn’t planning to come today.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not like I needed to spend my birthday here. This place isn’t really important to me…”
Why was I talking like this? My words started to sound like excuses even to myself.
“In fact, I don’t think family matters that much.”
If family isn’t important, then there’s no need to expect anything.
“In the end, as long as I do well, that’s enough. Things like that don’t…”
“Serdin.”
He called my name, stopping me.
I realized then how much I had been rambling.
Roitz kept watching me quietly. Then, when I was finally ready to listen, he spoke in a calm, low voice.
“It’s not wrong to sometimes want this, Serdin. To share warmth. To give and receive genuine kindness.”
His voice was steady, almost comforting.
“Wanting such moments isn’t shameful. It isn’t wrong.”
I fell silent.
I thought I wasn’t affected at all by the coldness of the Vivi family.
That I had no reason to care.
But now, hearing this from Roitz, something inside me began to stir.
As if, deep down, I had been lonely at times.
“Serdin, I’m not your family. I’m nothing like that. But if you ever need it—if you ever need that kind of warmth—tell me.”
His voice was stiff, like a broken wooden doll.
But maybe that was why the sincerity behind it reached me more strongly.
“I don’t know how much help I’d be. But I can stay by your side.”
Roitz wasn’t my family.
But in that moment, he felt closer than anyone else.
I wasn’t the type to whine or seek comfort.
But looking at his face now, I felt like no matter what I said or did, he would accept it.
“Then maybe I’ll really start bothering you, Commander.”
I muttered it like a challenge, a warning.
Roitz answered with a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
“Anytime.”
Behind him, the terrace lanterns glowed softly, the light brushing against his dark hair.
I didn’t know what to make of him.
Sometimes calm, sometimes clumsy. Firm, yet warm.
So much like the Roitz Velkyrente I knew from the original story, yet showing sides of him that never appeared even there.
Maybe it was because I still didn’t fully know him.
Even though he felt so familiar, at times he came to me with strangeness and mystery.
“Forget I said all this, Commander.”
Maybe because of that strange feeling—
I began speaking of things I had never told anyone before.
“As you know, I don’t have parents in the Vivi family. I never even saw my father’s face. My mother died when I was seven.”
This was the first time I ever told anyone so directly.
I fiddled with the glass in my hand and continued slowly.
“After that, I grew up there like an outsider. I don’t have many good memories.”
Roitz never took his eyes off me as I spoke.
So I just kept talking, as if writing in a diary.
The evening at the Vivi mansion was busy.
The charity ball was in full swing, and the servants moved frantically as the hours passed.
Murphy, a servant who had worked there for twenty years, busily gave instructions to the others.
House events were always joyous. But whenever one was held, Murphy couldn’t help but think:
‘Will Lady Serdin be unable to come again this time?’
Serdin Vivi. Daughter of Liana Vivi, the elder sister of Count Dinel Vivi.
Now the Swordmaster of the Vivi family.
Today was Serdin’s birthday.
The Count himself seemed aware of it—he had even ordered a cake to be prepared.
Yet strangely, nothing about it was mentioned in the invitations.
Months ago, Lady Serdin had gone to subjugate monsters in the Edikal Forest.
Of course, it was her duty. But Murphy sometimes thought maybe she left because she wanted to get away from the mansion.
She was so talented, so bright, so full of spirit.
And yet the distance between her and the Vivi family never closed.
Murphy knew the reasons well enough.
But even so, he could never shake off the regret.
The regret that if only the family would show her just a little more kindness, things could be different.
‘It’s been so long already…’
He remembered Lady Serdin’s mother—Liana Vivi, the bright and bold eldest daughter of the family.
She had always been the heart of the household.
Everyone loved and trusted her. Everyone believed she would raise the family’s pride even higher.
But then Liana had a child out of wedlock.
Murphy could never forget how the mansion was turned upside down.
If only they had known who the father was, they might have simply arranged a marriage.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes, I don’t.”
Liana’s answer had thrown everyone into chaos—her mother, Arita Vivi, and all her siblings.
The pride of the Vivi family was higher than most.
And so, inevitably, voices called for her to abort the child.
Liana refused. But the family was stubborn. They tried every way they could to force her.
They must have truly believed it was for her own good.
But then—Liana suddenly disappeared.
Some family members resented her. Some missed her.
Some cursed her angrily, and others turned their hatred on the child she carried.
Seven years later, Liana returned.
And with her came a child who looked just like her.
