CH 8

The carriage came to a stop.

Leilia opened the door of the carriage before stepping out. The wind was chillier than she expected as she ambled into the restaurant where her uncle, Natale, was, with her light overcoat undone.

Since Natale was good at cooking and loved to do it, her mother took over as the owner of the association while Natale became an owner of the restaurant. When her mother suddenly passed away and he temporarily took over the ownership of the Hyllan merchants association position, he asked Leilia to grow up quickly and take the position. Even when Leilia later took over the position after she reached the age of maturity, he walked away with no regrets.

So, as a gift, she made the first floor of this building under her uncle’s name. At that, Natale laughed and said he had saved the rent.

As she opened the restaurant door and entered, her uncle, Natale, smiled and waved his hand. He looked a lot like Leilia—with his brown hair and dark eyes—he was tall and kind-looking. Although he did not have a flashy appearance, he had a strange charm.

“Have you had breakfast?”

At his question, Leilia nodded her head.

“I didn’t eat well.”

“That.”

Natale clicked his tongue. He was well aware that today was the day for family breakfasts.

“Even though I drank tea to help digestion, I still feel bloated.”

“Wait a minute.”

She settled on a seat where the sun was shining.

After a while, Natale walked over with a cup of tea. There was also a cute rabbit pattern on the teacup. It was because he liked the rabbit pattern.

“This is a tea that helps digestion. It’s very expensive.”

“If it’s from my uncle, it’s okay if the price is cheap.”

“I can’t feed you cheap stuff.”

Leilia laughed at Natale’s witty remark. Like him, she would choose expensive things of the same type among her belongings, too.

Today was the day that she would be having lunch alone with Natale. Usually, her subordinate, Lucis, would also come and discuss things with them over lunch, but not today. As she drank the tea, her complexion improved a little. Leilia swept her hair and laughed. When a smile crept across her lips, Natale exhaled as if relieved.

“How are you feeling?”

“It’s all right now.”

Natale stroked Leilia’s hair as he heard her answer.

“You must have had a hard time eating.”

“It happens all the time.”

“But, it must still be hard.”

At his words, Leilia smiled bitterly. As he said, even though it always happens, it is always difficult.

“How long are you going to stay in that house?”

At Natale’s words, she tilted her head to one side.

“Until Alesha gets married?”

Her father seemed to be thinking of destroying her mother’s legacy, perhaps when Alesha married. That was why Leilia had to get acquainted with Alesha and find out when she was getting married. She had to keep an eye on her father’s movements.

She intended to repurchase her mother’s estate, which her father was disposing of.

“Why don’t you just ruin that house and sell it?”

Natale spoke coldly.

Undeniably, she had that kind of power, and she could do it if she wanted to.

“My sister hasn’t married yet.”

Leilia smiled as she said that.

“I’ll take revenge by just purloining what my stepmother wants.”

In the first place, she had no intention of blatantly seeking revenge.

Seeing Natale click his tongue, she then took his hand. Her uncle was always on her side. The pain she received at home was treated whenever she came here. Without this place, she undoubtedly might have wilted and withered to death.

“Did you get a letter from him?”

“You’ve been waiting for Cassel’s letter again.”

“He’s the person I support. I’m pleased to see him advance and grow.”

Because he was the son of her friend, Jenelle, who died, her mother sponsored Cassel because he had no guardian as the owner of the Hyllan association. Of course, her mother operated secretly as the owner, so he was unaware that his supporters were Leilia and her mother. Cassel had no last name. His mother said she did not know who his biological father was either.

…In other words, he was an illegitimate child.

“Did he dry the flowers again this time?”

In the spring, Cassel would dry the flowers and send them away. The flowers he had sent so far were all placed on Leilia’s bookshelf.

In fact, she had met him when she was a child.

In her childhood, when she was sad that she was not loved by her father, when her mother’s praise alone did not fill her empty heart…

〈 Leilia shines as you are by being you. 〉

〈 That’s a lie. 〉

〈 No. It’s a blessing that you were born. It’s Leilia’s father who’s doing something wrong. Besides, not all parents love their children. Mine’s the same, too. 〉

〈 But…! 〉

〈 If I think that I don’t deserve to be loved just because my father doesn’t love me, that wouldn’t make sense. I just think that I need to love myself — and so should Leilia. It’s sad to think of yourself as a bad child because you’re not loved by your father. 〉

A child who did not sympathize with her misfortunes, but rather empathized and told her to let him know whenever she was sad.

As she listened to the boy, she felt strangely relieved, as if the feeling of famish in her heart had disappeared