Chapter 3

The theme of the story at dinner was the Knights that appeared in the village.

This is a rural village far from the capital.

It is such a place where one never have seen the knights of the Imperial Palace.

But in this small rural village, the Knights of the Imperial Palace appeared.

Appearing in pure white armor and wearing golden-decorated helmets, they appeared in elegant and fine horses, and became the main characters of the rumour at once.

There’s nothing to talk about in this rural village.

At best, it’s a place where there’s nothing more to talk about than who’s married and who’s had a baby.

“But why were the knights stationed near the village, Mom?”

While eating bread with soup, the aunt’s first daughter, Anna looked curiously at her.

“I don’t know. How do I know that?”

“Didn’t the other ladies at the grocery store tell you about it? So many knights camped near town?”

“Everyone was curious, but no one knew why.”

“The Knights of the Imperial Palace…Wonderful….”

The second daughter, Mina, opened her eyes in ecstasy.

“I’ve never seen a knight up close. So do you, Mom.”

The Knights of the Imperial Palace cannot be looked on their faces unless they are aristocrats.

No matter how low-level a knight may be, it is still the child of nobility.

Those who are ordinary citizens cannot even dare to see their faces.

“How can we see the knight up close on our position?”

Anna poked Mina on the ribs and opened her eyes.

“I wish I had been born a daughter of an aristocrat…If I had, I’d be eating gracefully under the fancy lamb chops instead of taking cheap bread from such a shabby table… Dancing with a great knight at the ball…”

The soup dripped from the piece of bread in Mina’s hands in delusion.

“I was born in this corner of the house, and I don’t think I’d have the chance”

Anna laughed at Mina to the fullest.

Although she is her sister, Anna resembles the aunt and Mina resembles the uncle.

The aunt is thick-skinned and has drooping cheeks, so everyone complains that she looks like a toad, but no one has a great story to tell such as her.

By comparison, the uncle was lean, skinny, tall, and handsome, but he had a weak personality that was tightly held by his wife except for gambling.

“Oh, why aren’t we rich…Why can’t we live in the capital city? Mom, can we move to the capital?”

“To go to the capital and do whatever and eat.”

The aunt, who had been eating until then said, “Don’t be presumptuous.”

Then, her uncle Miller, who was looking at them gently, helped them.

“Don’t worry, girls. If I get a lot of money from the big board soon…”

“Just go to the gambling table one more time! I’ll break my leg then, so take care of it!”

The aunt shouted violently, as soon as the uncle brought it up.

“You still don’t know that you’ve lost all your money on the gambling table?! With that money, we could have lived proudly in the capital by now!”

The thought of what she said made her angry, the hand that held a fork shook and shouted.

I deserved to be angry.

She doesn’t want to live milking cows in this country.

I want to move to the capital and live doing what my daughters want, but it was my husband Miller who kicked the opportunity.

She had only one chance to reverse her life nine years ago.

It was an opportunity given by the dead Miller’s brother, Adele’s father.

It’s a secret between Miller and his wife, which no one knows, but in fact it was because of Adele’s father’s legacy nine years ago that the two visited an orphanage far away from here and brought Adele.3

To be exact, it’s Adele’s mother.

Adele’s mother, who died giving birth to Adele in an orphanage, was the daughter of a nobleman. She fled at night to escape the anger of her parents against her marriage to Adele’s father, but on the way, Adele’s father had an accident.

She died while giving birth to Adele in an orphanage alone after she passed away.

Her maternal grandfather, who knew Adele was born, designated Adele as heir before dying of old age.

And when Adele’s uncle Miller and his wife, who had noticed the fact, went to the orphanage and brought Adele back, and then intercepted all the inheritance she had to receive in her capacity as a legal representative. With the money, when his wife was getting ready to move to the capital, Miller couldn’t break his habit and blew all the money off the gambling table overnight.14

Eventually, Mrs. Miller’s dream of becoming rich and living splendidly in the capital was shattered in just one day.

“You don’t even deserve to eat!”

Mrs. Miller, who took the spoon from Miller’s hand, kicked the chair where her husband sat.

“Argh!”

His two daughters burst into laughter as the chair flipped over and Miller was about to fall down on the floor.

Miller bowed his head, listening to his wife’s fierce look and the laughter of his daughters.

***

Adele was carrying hay eagerly when it was happening at the table.

After setting up dinner for his uncle’s family, she must carry hay in the barn while they are eating, collect chickens and ducks, lock them in a fence, and put all the laundry in a basket before Adele’s day is over.

“Heung, heung, heung~”

Adele these days was in a good mood.

In the past, I would have sighed alone or carried hay with a gloomy expression, but now I’m in such a good mood that my humming came on its own.

Even Mrs. Edinburgh, who runs a cotton farm, and the herdsmen who pass by sometimes even said that Adele’s face had brightened.

Adele had a good reason.

It’s a secret I haven’t told anyone.

“Oh, my.”

She smiled small as she walked into the barn with an armful of hay. Adele saw a frog jumping under her feet.

Of course, I didn’t laugh because of the frog.

“Frog!”

I laughed because of a child who jumped like a frog to catch a frog.

“Frog. Stop there!”

A boy with wings on his back hopped around in the barn, jumping on all fours like a frog.1

His name is Sigmund. It’s a name Adele gave him.

Sigmund, who looks about five years old, is actually only ten days old.

Ten days.

No one would believe this, but Sigmund was born from an egg.

Born in an egg, he had wings on his back from birth, and copied what Adele said even though she did not teach him how to speak.

If I told this to anyone, they would say I was crazy.

Adele, who brought Sigmund from the oak tree, hid the little child in the barn.

If I leave Sigmund alone in the attic on the second floor, he’ll either keep running or run downstairs and encounter and uncle’s family and might shiver under them. So I brought him to the barn.

The uncle’s family never comes to the barn.

There is no better place to hide Sigmund because no one comes in because they don’t like the smell of cows and hay.

Of course, when I sleep at night, I secretly take Sigmund to this floor and put him to bed.

The barn was too uncomfortable for a man to sleep in, and Sigmund could not fall asleep unless Adele held his hand beside him.

The first time he saw Adele in his life, Sigmund followed her like a mother.

Imitated what Adele said, and imitated Adele’s actions.

In ten days Sigmund became Adele’s treasure.

Adele had never seen such a cute child before.

In addition, Sigmund was born from an egg she held.

So it was natural that it was so precious.

The uncle’s family looked at her as if she were a bug, but the child absolutely believed and followed her and loved her.

At least now, the fact that he is everything in the world made Adele happy.

Thanks to Sigmund, Adele was able to smile more than before, and make a brighter expression.

“Frog!”

Sigmund, who caught the frog, held out the frog in both hands to Adele.

“For you, Adele.”

Adele looked at Sigmund, his purple eyes twinkling, a smile on his red lips.

I was so happy that I couldn’t hide my smile.

“I don’t need frogs. So do you want us to let go of the frog?”

“Then what do you want, Adele? I’ll give you whatever you want.”1

Sigmund was good at saying difficult things now.

“Let the frog go and have dinner, Sigmund.”

In the corner of the haystack Adele pulled out the basket.

Inside the basket were milk from this morning, bread baked for lunch, and blueberries picked up on the way back from the bean fields.

Bread belongs to Adele and milk and blueberries belong to Sigmund.

Sigmund does not eat bread.

Adele used to pick blueberries or cherries for Sigmund when she had the chance to go to a nearby field after only feeding him milk all the time, and then accidentally knowing that he ate nothing made of flour.

Adele was lost in thought when she saw Sigmund, who held the bottle of milk in his hands and drank it in a gulp.

Ten days. In the meantime, Sigmund grew about ten centimetres taller and, above all, incredibly smart.

He never forget anything taught to him.

Just as a sponge absorbs water, Sigmund memorized the common sense and knowledge that Adele teaches at once.

Even now, Adele doesn’t know who Sigmund is.

I don’t know why there was an egg in such a place.

But one thing I know is that the bright sunlight began to leak into my dark life because Sigmund is here for me.

Sigmund was an unexpected good fortune for Adele.

“Sigmund. Shall we go catch the fireflies at night?”

“Fireflies, good!”

Sigmund’s face lit up.

How frustrating it must be to keep Sigmund, who has stamina that doesn’t get tired even if he runs around all day, in such a barn.

So Adele, if possible, took Sigmund for a walk nearby on the night when everyone was asleep.

I wanted to let Sigmund run freely in the fields of moonlight and starlight.

And every time I see the wings on Sigmund’s back, Sigmund may one day fly away to a place I don’t know.

Sigmund may stay by Adele’s side and leave like wild geese.2

When Sigmund leaves, Adele will be very lonely.

Now Adele has two thoughts.

The desire to go to the place where Sigmund lived, where there are beings that resemble him, and to live together forever without going anywhere.

“I’d like to give Adele a present. The sparkle is shiny with glittering.”

Adele knows what Sigmund says is a jewel.

Sigmund’s cuteness to give a gift even if it’s a sparkle because it’s impossible to get a jewel has already transcended the world.

Sigmund’s face was so cute that Adele shook her shoulders.

And answered with a happy smile.

“I’ll look forward to it.”