Chapter 5

Translator: Muffles

Editor: Pierce

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“Oh, that’s…”

Sophie thought of the girl who rushed into the mansion a while ago.

‘Excuse me! Please hurry and call a doctor!’

The girl with a small body, carrying an even smaller child on her back, shouted.

Even though it wasn’t her job, Elena ordered the maids as if it was her duty. So when the stupefied maids just stood still, the girl shouted again.

‘What are you doing? Hurry up and call the doctor!’

The maids— who came to their senses when she chided on them— moved in unison. Lexion was then quickly moved to his room.

Fortunately, there were no abnormalities in the child’s body. It was just that he deeply fell asleep due to mental fatigue.

Upon hearing the doctor’s opinion, the girl was greatly relieved and explained the whole story.

Killian tried to harm Lexion. Fortunately, she barred Killian and carried Lexion on her back right away. However, when she arrived at the mansion, the boy wouldn’t open his eyes. The girl was incredibly surprised and rushed to find a maid.

And Sophie was tremendously grateful to the girl who did what she couldn’t do.

“Lady Elena carried Young Master Lexion on her back.”

At Sophie’s words, was Lexion only able to fully recall that vague memory.

Warm back, affectionate words, and even friendly touches.

The only person who reached out to him for the first time.

“Elena…”

Lexion repeated the name over and over again.

***

Her body felt heavy.

Yesterday, she ran to the mansion with Lexion on her back. As a result, her whole body felt stiff.

‘It’s just a short exercise, but I didn’t expect my muscles to become stiff.’

Her body was weaker than she thought.

Elena lifted herself from her seat and stretched her muscles. She then kneaded her shoulders and calves.

The time has come. It was time for Elena to welcome this important guest.

As a result, the maids woke Elena up before dawn. They took care of her bath and even decorated her diligently. Even though she refused several times, the maids still succeeded in dressing Elena in a pure white dress.

‘I’m not the one who should dress up grandly for today.’

Today’s main character was Killian, not her.

Since his fiancée, the female protagonist, would stay in the Duchy to take her bridal lessons starting from today. In the original story, the love triangle that involved Elena and the protagonists would live under the same roof.

‘Of course, we’re no longer romantically entangled with each other.’

The female protagonist was 14 years old, similar age as Killian. The time when the two would officially promise to hold a wedding ceremony was in three years after they became adults.

However, in the original, the two couldn’t get married in the end. This was because Killian kept delaying their marriage for many ridiculous reasons.

He needed to take further studies as the Duke’s heir, or he needed to complete an academic paper and many more reasons. But in fact, it was just to buy time to play with his lover.

But this time, Elena had no intention of playing with Killian, so the two might get married smoothly as expected.

‘That’s too bad since I’m going to intervene.’

Not for Killian, but for the sake of the miserable female protagonist.

Elena turned around after the last inspection. Soon, the female protagonist would arrive.

‘Strange, why am I so nervous when I’m not even the fiancé?’

Was it because they would meet for the first time? Or, was it because she was too immersed in the original work?

In her previous life, Elena regarded the female protagonist as her friend. No matter how frustrated she felt with regards to the female protagonist’s actions—as if she had eaten a hundred sweet potatoes—Elena couldn’t help but be strangely attracted to the female protagonist’s resolve.

So the original novel gave her a bit of joy in her difficult past life.

‘That’s why this time, I’ll help you.’

Elena opened the door with a smile. And when she was about to get out, she noticed something in front of her door.

‘This is…’

There were three simple but cute wildflowers.

‘What is this? Why are these in front of my room?’

The stems of the wildflowers were bundled by a piece of green string. It appeared to be a fairly small bouquet.

“Did Killian gave this to me?”

She felt bad for a moment.

However, it wasn’t good to just assume that Killian left this behind.

Because it looked as if a child had made it.

‘Hold on, a child?’

No way…

‘Did Lexion leave these flowers behind?’

It was more likely that way.

Elena returned to her room with the bouquet of wildflowers at hand. Looking at the mirror, she put a flower in her ear. She would always leave her hair unbound since she wasn’t interested and too lazy to style it.

But today, the maid had decorated it, so it appeared stunning.

Elena’s red hair—which usually swayed fluently and freely—was braided loosely and placed on her left shoulder. It looked simple yet elegant. On top of that, the wildflower that was placed accordingly further enhanced her beauty.

The corners of her mouth lifted, smiling in satisfaction. But suddenly, Elena thought she made a mistake.

‘I’m not the star today…’

Nevertheless, gorgeous things would make everyone happy; thus, Elena came out of her room, smiling pleasantly.

The Duchy of Halos was exceptionally spacious. There were three buildings. The main building was in the center; the accommodation for the servants on the east side, and the annex for parties in the west. In addition, there were other buildings surrounding the Duchy. However, Elena didn’t know exactly what else was there because she didn’t have the time to wander too much.

Elena wasn’t of the same blood as the Duke; she was only able to stay at the main building thanks to the Duke of Halos.

The location of the room she was using was at the end of the second floor of the main building. She didn’t often bump into them because the masters lived on a different floor which was on the third level.

However, on a day like today, she had no choice but to face the two brothers.

Elena wasn’t comfortable with either of them, but she especially didn’t want to have any interaction with Killian.

Yesterday, Elena made insulting remarks towards Killian.

‘But I didn’t expect that Killian wouldn’t react much to what I said.’

Elena didn’t know if she should be relieved, or did Killian have any other plans?

As she walked along the hallway while looking at the surrounding antique artworks, she came to the central staircase. As she conscientiously went down, the passing servants greeted Elena.

“Hello, Lady Elena.”

“Yes, hello.”

“You’re particularly stunning today!”

“Thank you.”

When she smiled and thanked the maids’ praise, their cheeks would turn red.

‘What is this reaction? It’s a little different than usual.’

Elena just tilted her head and continued her descent. The place to greet the female protagonist was the hall on the first floor. But there was no one in the hall yet.

‘Did I come too early?’

She was so excited at the thought of meeting the female protagonist after all.

Elena walked out of the building, passing by the maids that were busy decorating the hall.

‘Let’s take a walk first before Jane comes.’

The picturesque flowers in the garden were bathing under the scorching sun. It was exceptionally hot in late autumn.

‘It’s especially hot today. Is it because I’m wearing a long-sleeved dress?’

Elena walked into the flower garden, fanning herself with her hands. Then, she stopped in place; a peculiar sound could be heard.

“Kkuuu…”

Elena momentarily turned her head.

‘Did I hear it wrong?’

It was like a cry of a small animal.

She turned around again when the sound returned.

“Ugh…”

She didn’t hear it wrong this time. She definitely heard a sound from nearby.

Elena immediately approached the nearby bushes—where she thought she heard the sound—and carefully dug through the bushes. What she saw was…

“… a rabbit?”

It was a tiny brown rabbit that was just a few months old!

“Gasp.”

Elena swallowed her breath. Her heart fluttered because of the rabbit cub. It was so cute just by looking at it.

But the rabbit looked uncomfortable somewhere as it continued to moan while struggling.

‘Oh my, what should I do?’

She had no idea what to do with the troubled animal. There was a doctor in the mansion, but there was no veterinarian. At best, a stableman—responsible for the horses—was a person that could relate to an animal.

“There must be a veterinarian within the Duchy…”

Elena thought about it.

‘All right then. Let’s ask a maid to call for a veterinarian.’

After making up her mind, she reached out carefully to the rabbit.

But the moment she touched the rabbit’s fur…

…a white light enveloped the rabbit’s whole body.

“Wha-what…?!”

Soon after, the eyes of the baby rabbit—who was groaning—suddenly opened.

The rabbit raised its head toward Elena and then opened its mouth.

[Master!]

Elena was surprised by the soft and young voice she suddenly heard.

‘Did I really just hear what I just heard?’

She wondered if she was hallucinating since it was obviously hot. But words continued to come from the rabbit.

[Thank you for saving me!]

Elena opened her eyes in shock.

“The-the rabbit talked…”

She knew that there was magic in this world…

…she already knew it, but she was still surprised by the talking rabbit she had unexpectedly met.

[I was so tired today that I almost died. But thanks to you, I survived!]

The rabbit smiled brightly as Elena continued to look at the rabbit with her eyes wide open.

“Rabbit…”

She couldn’t believe that it was really talking!

With an innocent, child-like voice too!

She was still surprised. Nevertheless, her heart reacted greatly to the cute creature before her.

The rabbit jumped with a bright smile, approaching Elena’s nose, then rub its head on Elena’s hand.

As the texture of the soft fur spread throughout her hands, Elena’s heart couldn’t help but melt.