The back alley was a place where people would disappear silently for no reason at all if they took a wrong step. In the depths of such a place, screams rang loudly. It sounded like hell had come with how wretched the cries sounded.

Duke Valencia looked at the people struggling in pain in deep thought. A woman caught his attention. It was none other than Madame Pamela.

“Bugs like you are everywhere. There’s so much of you that it’s hard to kill every single one.”

“Sa, save…”

“You know Cordelia, right?”

The Duke cut off her pleas for help as he bluntly asked her a question. The madam, trying to grasp on every thread that could save her, nodded her head vehemently. She looked like a crazy person with how she nodded.

“Thank you for taking care of her for the past year, she did not freeze to death because of you.”

When the madame heard his words of thanks, she looked up at the duke with eyes filled with hope.

“It’s too troublesome to take care of a child. Kids her age are loud, always in a mess and are so hard to control.”

“Th, that’s right.”

She did not know how the Duke knew Cordelia. However, when she heard his words, the madame noticed something instinctively. She would be able to live if she insisted on the fact that she had taken good care of Cordelia.

“But you know…”

The madame’s body stiffened before trembling. She felt an indescribable amount of animosity and ominousness from his low voice.

“I’ve told my eight-year-old child that I would give her anything that she wanted, but she told me that she would be happy with just a corner of the stable. Do you know what that means?”

“……”

“This means that there seems to be a problem. If she were an ordinary child, then she would definitely not act so precocious.”

The way she had spoken to him was rough and coarse but her behavior was too mature for a young child. And the Duke, who had recalled her sparkling blue eyes that looked at him eagerly, stepped on the madame’s feet with a cold and blank expression.

“There’s no child in the world who would care about grating an adult’s nerves. It’s only natural for a child to run around, rest and throw tantrums.”

It was the back of the madame’s hands that were stepped on but strangely enough, she felt that she was being strangled. The madame shed tears as she sobbed squeakily.

“Are you wondering about how I know such a thing when I’m single and have no child of my own?”

“Plea, Please…”

“Because I know a child like that.”

The Duke thought of his nephew who was currently recuperating in the Valencia Estate before taking his foot off of the madame’s hands. He looked at the madame briefly with eyes that were filled with disgust as if he was looking at someone that was less than a bug. Then, he turned around.

“Take care of it.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Arthur appeared quietly behind the Duke before pulling his sword out to follow his orders.

The next day, a large number of unidentifiable bodies were found in the back alley. As soon as the people saw them, they immediately recognized their group. It was Madame Pamela and her group of lackeys who used orphans to make money. Strangely enough, only the bodies of the adults were found and none of the children that the madame had managed were found among the bodies. It was like they had suddenly disappeared in thin air.

Even the abandoned house where the Madame’s people always went to was suddenly burned down.

‘Does this mean that ghosts really appeared there?’

Some people even thought of it that way.

However, since this was something that happened in the back alley, the crowd just overlooked the facts. In the end, the incident was quickly forgotten by everyone.

★★★★★

After being washed with warm and fragrant water and having her shaggy hair lightly arranged, Rosalia was finally able to eat the delicious food that she had longed for.

It was not the rich and greasy food that she usually saw outside but the thick and creamy soup in front of her was more than enough to satisfy Rosalia. They were very generous with the ingredients and she was sure that everyone who had tasted this food would not leave anything behind and would heap praises for the food.

In fact, Emma had wanted to feed her some roasted turkey and apple pie but when she asked Rosalia what she wanted to eat enthusiastically, she heard that the child had been sick for three days since she wasn’t able to eat anything for a week. When she heard her words, Emma looked at her in shock.

Those who did not make any money will not be able to eat.

But when she heard Rosalia ask her ‘Isn’t it only natural?’ after telling her such a sad and pitiful story when she was staying in the back alley, Emma couldn’t help but feel flustered. Then, she turned around and declared “You’ll have to eat something light first so that your stomach will not be shocked and you will feel comfortable!”.

As a result, a very thick and very delicious soup was placed in front of Rosalia.

“Say… Are you giving me this because you feel sorry for me?”

Rosalia suddenly spoke to Emma after eating one or two spoonfuls of the soup. Emma was left flustered and speechless. She couldn’t answer her sudden question at all. Rosalia, who did not hear any answer, looked around quickly before placing her spoon down.

“Then, I won’t eat.”

“Yes? Why?”

“They said that if children like me ate the food that normal people eat then they wouldn’t feel sympathy for me anymore.”

Emma felt more shocked than before when she heard Rosalia mumble “I won’t be able to get anything if they don’t feel sympathy for me.”. It seemed like she did not want to have this as her first and final supper so she brought this up and told them.

Rosalia wrapped her arms around her stomach and with an expressionless face, she purposely pretended to not be hungry as she stared at the delicious-smelling soup in front of her.

“…It has nothing to do with pity. I will give whatever food that the young miss wants today and tomorrow.”

Emma spoke to her gently while looking at Rosalia who had her lips pressed tightly. 

“The young miss is also a human being so you should also eat the food that people eat. Don’t you think so too?”

And thanks to Emma’s soothing and coaxing words, Rosalia finally relented and drank soup again.

“The young miss doesn’t have to work too.”

“Why? Will you be starving me from now on?”

“No. It’s not like that.”

Emma smiled sadly when she saw Rosalia hug the bowl to her chest while taking on a defensive posture. It looked like she was protecting the soup just in case they wanted to take it away from her and she was not able to eat.

“I’ll make you the food that you want whenever you want to eat even if you don’t make money. The young miss only needs to eat something delicious, sleep tightly and grow up well.”

“Why?”

Grandma Emma had only told her things that she couldn’t understand at all. Still as vigilant as ever, Rosalia asked her carefully.

“Why do you keep on telling me that I don’t have to do anything?”

“Because the young miss is still a child.”

It was an obvious answer.

“It’s an adult’s duty to help a child grow up without any worries at all.”

Emma looked like she was just telling her that the sun was rising in the morning. But this was not common sense in the world where Rosalia grew up.

“Adults shouldn’t leave their problems to the child. So I hope that you don’t have to think that you should make money from now on. It’s too early for you to worry about that now.”

After listening to Emma, Rosalia thought…

‘What a strange grandma.’

Saying that I don’t need to do anything… what a strange old lady.

When she was in the orphanage, they did not make her go and make money but they did draw blood from her as if it was normal. When Madame Pamela heard that story she had told her ‘Do you know how much it costs to feed and put a roof over your heads? You have to pay for it yourselves.’. Those words were convincing enough for her so she could only listen to the madame quietly.

Back then, Rosalia nodded her head at the madame’s words but she couldn’t do so when she heard Emma’s words.

‘I’ll be leaving soon so it doesn’t matter.’

Duke Valencia had told her that it did not matter at all but she knew that he would naturally change his mind once Cordelia appeared.

‘Because that was what’s in the book.’

Everyone liked Cordelia and even if they hated her at first they would always end up falling in love with her beauty and charm.

‘I am not born to be such a person. I first have to make ends meet but…’

After she finished her meal, Emma led Rosalia to the bedroom. However, she felt like the hem of her clothes were dragging on the floor.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“No. I don’t feel uncomfortable at all.”

Rosalia shook her head quickly. She liked the soft and fluffy texture of the clothes that she was currently wearing. In fact, she did not know that pajamas that had this soft texture did not exist in this world.

“But the size doesn’t fit you at all. I should go and call for a tailor tomorrow so we can get clothes that match your size.”

“But these clothes are fine though…”

“I was a bit worried since the clothes were from an old design but it seems like you liked it.”

Her attention would definitely not be drawn on the design when she was in a situation where she could receive such precious clothing. But Rosalia just nodded her head after all, it was also true that she liked it.

The Valencia Duchy had no clothes fit for an eight-year-old child besides it was too late to buy new clothes for her. That was why Rosalia was given the clothes of Duke Valencia’s sister back when she was still unmarried. They had thrown all of the clothes that she had worn when she was around eight years old but Emma somehow was able to mend the clothes she wore when she was fifteen. However, it was still too big for the skinny and malnourished Rosalia.

Rosalia looked like she was not dressed with the clothes, instead it looked like the clothes were dressed with Rosalia. However, Rosalia did not care at all and just worked hard to organize the flowing sleeves.

Emma smiled happily as she looked at Rosalia who was wriggling her small hands nonstop. She looked extremely cute with her tiny hands and flowy sleeves.

“If I had known it then I would have kept Lady Ingrid’s childhood clothes safe for you. And if I did that, young master Julian would definitely have liked it too since he would have a memento to remember his mother by.” 

“Julian?” 

Rosalia tilted her head in confusion.

I can understand that Ingrid was the name of the Duke’s noona. But who’s Julian?

“Ah. Wait. I haven’t told you that yet. Young Master Julian is Lady Ingrid’s son. He’s currently staying here to recuperate. It’s quite hard to see his face since he does not come out of his room much.”

“Recuperate? Is he hurt?”

“…Yes. He’s hurting because of a terrible curse. So don’t be too surprised when you come across him.”

“Yeah. I understand!”

“You’re really energetic.”

Emma smiled at Rosalia with affection as she nodded her head at her.

‘Duke Valencia’s noona was the mother of the second prince.’

The relationship between the second prince, Julian, and Duke Valencia is that between an uncle and a nephew. 

Rosalia was able to recall the brief mention of them in the book.

Ingrid, who had married the emperor, died when the second prince was around six or seven years old. However, people would ask why the child that she had given birth to was called the second prince and not the first prince. The reason was simple. It was because the emperor, who already had a beloved, had given birth to an illegitimate child. According to the flow of the story, the emperor subtly restructured the imperial family as he brought his woman and hailed her as an empress after Ingrid’s death. After doing so, he also placed his illegitimate child as his legitimate successor.

‘But what’s the point of that. The first prince is such a loser.’

The first prince had also liked the Saintess Cordelia. However, his performance was always behind the three ducal princes. During that fire incident, the three ducal princes went out and rescued Cordelia. However, they did not even see the first prince’s hair at the site.

‘Ah. Come to think of it, there was only one person who did not fall in love with the Saintess.’

The three ducal princes as well as the first prince all fell in love with the Saintess except for one person. Julian was the only person who was lukewarm towards the Saintess. Compared to the rest of the men who went after her, the Saintess Cordelia showed interest in Julian who treated her coldly.

‘The Saintess tried to release him from the curse that he had received but Julian had only treated her coldly.’

She did not see the ending of the story but she thought that Julian could possibly fall in love with the Saintess in the end too. It was because only the Saintess had the divine power that could dissolve some curses. She believed that no matter how cold he was, he would not remain indifferent and cold to the Saintess who had released the curse that had plagued him all his life.

‘If he doesn’t come out often then we’ll never meet.’

After she had heard Julian’s story, Rosalia finally entered her current bedroom, the Duke’s former bedroom.