Chapter 7

Yuri has been very busy these days. She was busy every day just following the lessons of ten tutors assigned by the Duke’s orders. For Yuri, who only knew how to wipe the stairs clean with a dry mop, the classes were difficult to follow.

“Lady.”

“Yes? Ah, I’m sorry. Ah, again, ha, can you tell me just one more time?”

She had to learn etiquette, economics, accounting, history, literature, art, and many other things. Still, she had to practice not to stutter.

“Okay. There are five blessed families in this empire.”

“Yes…..”

“With the exception of the imperial family, the four heroes decided to rule east and west, south and north respectively.”

“….”

“The Princess is one of the descendants of those five heroes.”

“I see.”

It was fortunate that Yuri had learned how to read and write at the temple. She sighed and turned the book page to page.

The book was full of interesting pictures, but none of them caught Yuri’s interest. Even though it was a story she had never heard before, it was as boring as a story she already knew.

“Today’s class will end here.”

“…oh, thank you.”

Her teacher immediately arranged the books, packed up and headed out the door.

‘Is she going to report to His Excellency?’

Wishing that wasn’t the case, Yuri closed her eyes.

‘Will he call me today…?’

In the evening after class, Yuri always had dinner with the Duke. He then asked some questions.

‘I don’t like it…’

Yuri didn’t like those days. The Duke always asked questions with a stern expression on his face. Every time he asked a question, Yuri had to pay attention not to stutter at all times. After eating like that, she could only fall asleep after taking a digestive medicine.

A sigh came out. Yuri thought this was in vain. She had never imagined herself not stuttering.

‘I’m pathetic.’

It wasn’t that no effort was made. In her own way, Yuri tried not to stutter and not to become a shy daughter. She didn’t want to be hated by him any more.

‘Let’s read more books.’

Yuri went to the bookshelf to pick up the books. Outside the window next to the bookshelf, the voices of servants gathered and chattering could be heard.

“…. … … … The young masters are coming back soon!”

“Is the academy on vacation?”

“Maybe they’re coming back for the wedding?”

Aslan would often tell her about other family members as well. To her consolation, she heard that she had two other brothers.

‘Are other people coming soon?’

If that happened, she might really have to take digestive medicine every day. Yuri made such a joke to herself and smiled a little.

***

On the night when the moon was barely rising, Yuri was lying on the bed. Aslan also called Yuri and asked questions. He asked why she only stayed in the room, and he said that he would sometimes allow her to go out in the future. And after eating a little bit of potato soup and bread, Yuri had an upset stomach.

‘… I don’t want to go out.’

Mrs. Herette and the old man must have been concerned about her. She thought she would go see them once, but she felt troubled.

‘I don’t like going outside.’

Yuri closed her eyes. She was afraid outside the temple. It wasn’t that she didn’t often go out to pick up things for other people’s errands, but Yuri didn’t like being outside.

“Oh, is that that kid?”

She was afraid to see people pointing and staring at her.

“Go away. I don’t sell to you.”

“Yes, Yes?”

“I’m sorry. But I can’t help it either. If I sell things to you…”

Most people feared that they too might be the target of retaliation. No one sold her anything. Every time she passed by, the people divided like the sea.

“Ah…… it’s okay. Next time, I’ll go with the priest.”

“In that case, I’ll sell it to you next time.”

Every time it happened, Yuri felt terribly lonely.

A child with no one to protect her was often the target of young children who wanted to show off their power to their peers.

Alone at the end of the alley, after wiping away her tears, she was finally able to return to the temple.

‘I… I must have done something wrong.’

Maybe it was because she was reminded of memories she didn’t want to recall, Yuri couldn’t sleep.

Yuri went towards the window. At nights like this in the temple, street lights were visible. When looking at it, Yuri imagined her small happiness.

In her fantasy, Yuri was a child of a very ordinary house. She imagined her father talking to her. She imagined a mother holding her hand tenderly, and her brothers taking her share of bread and running away and playing around.

‘… that was all I wanted.’

She had never imagined that she was a hidden princess or that a wealthy family was looking for her.

In Yuri’s imagination, her father couldn’t take care of her family, so he sent Yuri to the temple. He would come to pick her up someday and they would all live together again in the future.

‘From here, I can only see flower beds. How wide is this garden?’

There was a huge garden spread out. When the window was opened, the scent of countless flowers blooming in the garden drifted in the air.

‘….It’s too heavy.’

When Yuri opened the window halfway, a cool breeze wafted in through the gap in the open window, along with the scent of flowers. In the distance, the flowers were swaying.

‘That’s…’

Through the garden, she saw someone walking slowly. A man with long red hair and an old shirt and pants. He was someone Yuri saw for the first time.

‘Is this the person who works here?’

It was probably one of the people who worked here. Yuri thought so, and turned to bring a chair around. It felt like her body was much lighter than before.

“Huh, what is that sound……”

It was the sound of a chair being pulled. But it wasn’t the sound she made. Yuri turned her head at the sound behind her. It was definitely the sound of a window opening.

Yuri looked out the wide open window. Something was strange. At one point, the presence of someone she had felt from the window was felt behind her in the room. It was as if someone had moved behind her in an instant. Whether he was pretending to be popular on purpose or when he touched the vase on the table, it felt playful and relaxed.

‘Darkness….!’

Inwardly, Yuri called darkness. But darkness did not answer Yuri’s call.

‘Don’t worry. If Darkness doesn’t come out, it’s probably because the person is not a threat to me.’

“Hey…”

Yuri’s hands trembled. She grabbed her hands tightly to calm down and slowly turned her head.

“Who are you……… !”

“Are you Yuri Slevard?”

“You, tell me who you are first…. !”

As Yuri opened her mouth and asked, the man touched his neck as if he was bothered.

Yuri slowly stepped backwards towards the window.

‘He’s not someone I can beat.’

His body size was also more than double that of Yuri. The man also had the power to move behind Yuri in an instant.

She didn’t know what he was trying to do, but one thing was certain. That intruder was dangerous, and Yuri could not escape.

Even if Yuri yelled at him, it was clear that he would block her mouth. She didn’t know what was going on, but there was nothing good to provoke him.

‘Let’s jump down…let’s jump and scream. It’s on the second floor anyway, so even if I fall, I won’t die.’

Yuri swallowed her saliva.

“I’m a gardener who manages the garden.”

Lie. It was obviously a lie. Yuri took one more step back. She felt something strange from the man. The window was getting closer and closer.

‘Let’s jump, if people come running, he will surely disappear.’

No assassin would enjoy getting the attention of others.

“Hey, don’t lie!”

“Why do you think so?”

“You said you were a gardener, but… .”

“Yes.”

“But, I don’t smell anything at all. If you were a gardener… … It must have smelled like dirt or manure!”

This was the essence of the discomfort. There was no smell from him. The scent of the flowers in the garden was not strong enough to cover the room, and even when he passed by, she couldn’t smell it.

‘He must have erased the scent.’

Yuri slowly backed away without him noticing. It would appear to him as a frightened woman running away. Now, there was only one step left to the window.

“You’re not as stupid as I thought.” (The man)

‘Is he smiling?’

It was strange. It bothered her that the intruder who broke into the house was so relaxed. Obviously, he should be embarrassed if his intentions were discovered, but he was smiling leisurely without panicking.

‘If the goal was to kill me, he would have killed me earlier.’

Yuri looked at the man with an attitude that was testing herself. In the dark, his blue glassy eyes were shining. She had no idea what the man wanted.