Chapter — 05
Rosebel could guess that Aren’s life had not been an easy one.
So she thought his strong wariness was understandable.
But when she saw him sleeping like that, she wondered if that wasn’t the whole story.
Judging by how he seemed offended by pity, he looked very proud.
To protect himself, he wore a mask and spoke mockingly about his own weaknesses.
That seemed to be his only way of defending himself.
Rosebel decided she should work him hard enough that he wouldn’t have time to overthink.
She herself wasn’t in a comfortable situation either.
The two of them looked at Aren, who was sleeping soundly.
Bringing him along had been Rosebel’s decision, but his feelings might change once he woke up.
If Aren still felt the same after waking up, she planned to keep him until he could at least stand on his own.
“Father will accept him, right?”
“His Grace has never once gotten angry at anything you’ve done, Miss.”
“Right? Then let’s wake him up!”
Rosebel grabbed Aren and shook him.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a blue light flashed, and her fingertips went numb. Rosebel froze in surprise, and Maria gasped at her suppressed cry.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah… n-nothing. I guess I’m tired because I went out after so long.”
Rosebel answered right away and rubbed her aching fingers.
It was too clear a blue light to dismiss as simple static electricity.
It felt like she had picked up something strange, straight out of a novel.
In most novels, something like this would happen to move the story forward.
But all she clearly remembered from skimming the reviews was that it was a romance novel with a foolish Rosabel-like character and no villainess.
She thought there might be characters she didn’t know about.
Still, if there were a character with special abilities, it surely would have been mentioned in the reviews.
After all, wasn’t he a beautiful silver-haired, blue-eyed boy?
In a romance genre, he looked perfect for a second male lead.
Honestly, if she didn’t know who the male lead was, he wouldn’t look strange as the main one either.
“Ha… people always repeat the same mistakes and regret them… no, that’s not it. Regretting won’t change anything I can do right now.”
Rosebel muttered to herself.
She couldn’t just abandon someone she had already brought along.
“Aren, wake up. We’re here.”
“Ugh… I’m hungry…”
That was far too realistic to be sleep-talking.
Rosebel smacked his back hard enough to make a loud sound.
“Wake up!”
“Aaah!”
Aren jumped up and clutched his head, curling in on himself as if someone was about to hit him again.
“We’re home, so get up.”
“Ah…”
Snapped back to his senses by her sharp tone, Aren cleared his throat and pulled his hood down, hiding his hair.
The Duke of Efrian shifted his gaze when he saw the boy his daughter had brought home.
It was shocking enough that she had gone out wearing work clothes, but seeing a dirty boy standing beside her with his head lowered like a criminal left him unsure what to say.
“Rosebel, what is the meaning of this?”
“I went to order farming tools and saw him being beaten, so I brought him back.”
“So… the way you’re talking makes it sound like you casually picked up a stray puppy off the road.”
“He’s a perfectly fine human being, not an animal. And since a child was alone, he must not have parents. This is Efrian territory, not some other land. If we take good care of him, he can help with farm work.”
At Rosebel’s confident declaration that she intended to put him to work, the Duke felt dizzy.
One look was enough to tell that the boy wasn’t in any condition to work.
Honestly, saying she brought him because she felt sorry for him would have sounded more believable.
“First of all, what is the child’s name?”
Rosebel pulled Aren forward.
“Introduce yourself properly. I hired you, but the head of this family is still my father—for now.”
The words “for now” made the Duke let out a hollow laugh.
“N-Nice to meet you. My name is Aren. And… I am not cursed.”
“What?”
Rosebel clenched her teeth at Aren’s unnecessary comment.
She had told him not to say pointless things—maybe his ability to learn was questionable.
“It’s just… everyone says I’m cursed…”
“A curse? You’ll need to explain that.”
With trembling hands, Aren removed his hood.
Long silver hair spilled out, which he had tightly hidden.
It looked like moonlight flowing down.
Rather than “cursed,” the Duke thought he looked like someone from a foreign land.
“Father, he’s pretty, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then will you hire Aren?”
“That’s separate from him being pretty. Since you claim to be his employer, I’ll allow it if you pay his wages from your own allowance.”
Aren stared blankly at the two of them as they accepted him so easily.
It was shocking enough that they didn’t chase him away, but even after seeing his hair, they reacted as if it were nothing.
“Father, that’s so stingy!”
“Anyway, Ted said the potatoes are ready.”
“Really? Hm… but they’re supposed to smell rotten…”
The Duke had only changed the subject, but Rosebel’s face—muttering that the potatoes shouldn’t be fine—was far too serious.
“We’ll check that later. Maria, assign a room for Aren.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Maria bowed politely, while Rosebel took off her bonnet and scratched the back of her head.
“Aren.”
“Yes?”
“When others are around, speak politely. But when it’s just us, talk comfortably. And since we move at dawn, wash up, eat, and pass out!”
“Pass out?”
“I mean sleep the moment your head hits the pillow.”
Rosebel waved lightly with a gloomy smile.
After being hired at the Duke of Efrian’s estate, Aren lived a regular life, gained weight, and even grew taller.
True to the saying that humans are creatures of adaptation, he settled in steadily.
There was only one thing he couldn’t adapt to.
“How am I supposed to wear something like this?! I’d rather wear a sack!”
Rosebel handed Aren what she called work clothes: eye-searing floral-patterned pants, a loose shirt, and arm covers with the same pattern as the pants.
Since it was for work, he could accept that much.
But telling a man to wear a wide-brimmed bonnet with frills at the edge was something he absolutely could not understand.
“Why are you taking so long?”
“Ah!”
“What is it?”
“Why are you standing in front of someone else’s room like this?!”
“I thought you might’ve run away.”
Aren made a dumbfounded face.
He had no intention of giving up this life and going back to the streets.
More than the cold and hunger, he hated being called cursed.
Come to think of it, the people in this mansion didn’t seem to care about his hair color at all.
It wasn’t just politeness—he didn’t even feel sneaky glances.
“Run away? No way…”
“By the way, I see you every day, but are you growing taller daily or something?”
At Rosebel’s comment, Aren frowned.
He ate well and slept well, and while his body hurt, growing every single day made no sense.
If there was a reason for the pain, it was probably muscle soreness from labor.
“Do you really think that’s possible?”
“Forget common sense—aren’t you a growing boy anyway?”
Rosebel wore a mischievous smile.
Watching her, Aren shook his head.
Seeing her made it clear—people who grow up loved don’t carry many scars.
Every time he realized he felt inferior to the environment she grew up in, his mouth felt bitter.
“It’s probably because you make me work too much.”
He said it casually, but his heart was beating uncomfortably fast.
“That’s nonsense. Once apple blossoms bloom, you’ll feel like what you’re doing now was just child’s play.”
Aren chuckled softly at her words.
She had no hidden intent—she was simply serious about squeezing labor out of him.
There were other workers, but they were only told to clear the grass around the orchard.
“But… I don’t know, you look really used to farm work.”
“What, you thought I couldn’t do anything because I’m a noble?”
“Most noble ladies can’t. You’re kind of… definitely strange.”
Rosebel felt that Aren had become more thoughtful than when he first arrived.
Normally, when life is physically hard, people think less—but he didn’t.
Of course, maybe escaping the worst situation had actually made his life easier.
“What’s strange? Judging by how much you’re thinking, does that mean the work is easy?”
She spoke lightly, as a joke.
But someone who had been treated as cursed his whole life wouldn’t stabilize so quickly.
After bringing him in, she looked into “cursed people,” but found nothing useful.
All she found were absurd legends claiming that people with silver hair possessed special abilities.
“No… that’s not it. But still, you said this was an apple orchard—there’s nothing to do.”
“There’ll be plenty to do once the apple flowers bloom, so don’t worry.”
“Isn’t there anything to prepare before that?”
“Well… there is something.”
Rosebel had a lot planned, so she first had to consider whether it was even possible.
Once people learned the method, it wouldn’t be too difficult.
The problem was how to prepare for what she had in mind.
“What’s with that ominous look?”
“Ominous? I’m just thinking about how to grow apples well.”
Aren looked at her with disbelief.
