# 124
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* * *
Meanwhile, at that time.
All the children who had been expelled from the hall gathered in Diana's room.
It was impossible to leave little Diana alone, and since the child's room was next to Leia's, it seemed that the outcome of the commotion would soon be known.
“Come on, Diana, eat this and beat them.”
Allen handed the candy to Diana, who was crying sadly.
Diana gasped, unable to take her eyes off the dessert, and quickly opened her mouth like a little bird.
Usually, I thought Diana was very gentle and didn't know what to do, but Allen had a dark expression.
“Diana.”
“Huh?”
“Just be honest with your brother.”
"What?"
“In your eyes, it's really Leia...Does it look like this?”
Allen, who usually never speaks in a roundabout way, was cautious about whether it would be difficult for him to speak freely.
Jack, who was deep in thought, and Taiz, who was standing in front of the door with a serious face, also turned their heads.
Everyone waited with nervous eyes for Diana to open her mouth.
“Noona?”
Diana shouted with a bright face that did not match the serious atmosphere.
“It's beautiful!”
“No, that's not what...”
“It's the most beautiful thing in the world!”
“I know she's pretty, but other than that, is her hair really pink?”
When Allen, who had finally given up on the question, asked directly, Diana's big eyes blinked.
Diana's eyes, which had finally stopped crying, became bright in an instant.
"You're an idiot too! It's bad!"
“Okay, Diana...”
Allen, who was embarrassed, quickly reached out and tried to calm him down, but Diana pushed him away.
He shouted.
"Nonna's hair! It looks like pretty cotton candy! It's shiny too! It's the same hairpin!"
“Cotton candy?”
"hairpin?"
Meanwhile, Jack and Allen froze.
impossible … .
“Diana, are you talking about the hairpin I gave you as a gift earlier?”
When Allen asked with a harsh face, Diana, who was frowning, nodded.
As if that wasn't enough, she ran to the locker room and came out carrying the hairpin Allen had given her as a birthday present.
“At that time, I was going to brag to my mother! His color is the same as Nona’s eyes, so she is beautiful! But my brother got angry...”
Diana made a sullen expression, perhaps remembering that day.
Allen was speechless and looked at the hairpin calmly.
The pink diamonds embedded in it sparkled brightly.
“I'm really crazy.”
From the beginning, I thought that what Leah and Diana said was not a lie, but it was still a hard story to believe.
What would have happened if I hadn't gotten angry that day?
When I thought of that, I suddenly felt like my heart dropped.
"before."
At this time, Jack, who had been silent, suddenly opened his mouth.
“When she was very young, Leah once asked the kids at the orphanage.”
"What?"
“What do we think her hair color and eye color look like?”
After hearing the children's consistent answers, Leia somehow seemed more depressed than usual.
'. …I see, I remembered that the shoulders I turned were unusually small.'
Maybe the last time she came up to me and asked me a question, it might be a lingering memory because she was secretly sad.
“Your eyes are dark brown, and your hair is light brown.”
At that time, when Leah asked, Jack answered like this, as if he had been waiting.
I didn't want to answer in a casual way like other kids say, so I tried my best to express my privacy, but my range of expression was limited because I spent my whole life in a small orphanage.
If I asked you now, I would say: Your eyes are the color of brewed hazelnut coffee, and your light brown hair sometimes shines like gold when the sun shines on it.
I was going to tell you.
At that moment, Jack's eyes darkened.
After joining the Knights, there were many people who cared for Leia, including Diana.
However, Jack still believed that he was closest to Leah and knew her best.
Of course, there were times when I was surprised by Leia's unexpected appearance, but my thoughts did not change.
'It was definitely like that...'
At that time, a commotion started to be heard outside.
Taiz was surprised by what happened and opened the door and left.
Tice, who returned shortly afterwards, told him that Ascarte had fainted while standing up and had been rushed to the Marquis's palace, and that Leia had been determined to be the missing Princess of Pylos.
Jack thought he didn't know Leah at all anymore.
* * *
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with Askart's body.
According to the Marquis' doctor, this was due to the sudden shock added to his body, which was feeling exhausted from staying up all night over the past few days, which had consumed a lot of his mental strength.
I was relieved to know that he would be okay when I woke up from a good night's sleep, but at some point I realized that I was lying in the Archduchess's bedroom.
While Ascarte was being transported to the Marquis's palace, it seemed as if I was riding in the carriage, still held in the arms of the Archduchess.
After the little Archduke suddenly collapsed, the Archduchess hugged me too...
The Marquis's staff and the principality's staff must have been quite surprised.
“Your Highness, I brought the medicine here.”
“Leave it behind.”
The maid who was still serving her paused at the Archduchess's words and then carefully stepped back.
The other maid looked shocked when she saw me sitting in the middle of the bed.
However, the Archduke and Archduchess, who were sitting in front of me, seemed completely unconcerned with the reactions of others, as they could not take their eyes off me.
Bianca, who was standing in front of the door, just walked out into the room with the maids with a happy expression on her face.
With only two people, the Archduke and the Archduchess, I couldn't hide my embarrassed and embarrassed feelings and just shook my fingers.
I was stuck in midair, became agitated, and cried while being embraced by the Archduke and Archduchess.
After that, even though I ended up following him all the way to the Marquis's mansion, I wasn't sure if I could stay here.
'Has it already been revealed for sure that I am the missing princess?'
Word from a stranger who suddenly appeared?
So far, my life has not been going smoothly.
So it is impossible to have this kind of luck.
Somehow, this situation seemed like a dream and I couldn't believe it.
'What if I wake up and everything is gone?'
It was the soil that made me feel uncomfortable.
“Dear, I brought you a medicine to reduce your fever, let’s take it quickly.”
The Archduchess poured the medicine into the spoon and held it up.
Even though I was wearing thick clothes, my body was starting to heat up after being outside in the snow for several hours.
The Archduchess's interest in me was so kind that it was hard to believe that she was such a cold person to me.
The sight that made me doubt my eyes reminded me that this was reality.
“Yes, honey, it might be a little bitter, but just stand back and just take one bite.”
At that time, the Archduke, who was sitting next to me, also spoke to me with a nervous look on his face.
He apparently thought I was hesitant because I didn't want to take the medication.
I glanced at the vial of medicine that the Archduchess had placed on the bedside table.
It was a children's cold drink that Diana often consumed.
Although it had a slightly bitter taste, it was a very sweet medicine compared to the medicines that adults took.
'. …I'm not a child.'
As he kept calling me “baby,” all the heat in my body seemed to flow to my ears.
I thought that the situation would not end unless I took the medicine quickly, so I quickly opened my mouth.
“That's right, yes, you just have to swallow it like this.”
“How can you be so nice?”
Then, as soon as she had swallowed the medicine, she returned a friendly hug from both sides, as if a child were being hugged.
That wasn't all.
The Archduke said I was wonderful and gently patted my head. The Archduchess gently wiped my face and tear-covered hands with a towel soaked in water and asked in detail whether there were any uncomfortable areas and whether the thickness of the blanket was appropriate.
Yes .
I nodded in confusion and smiled a little bitterly at the same time.
'. …I never thought children would be treated this well.'
In the past, even when I became an adult, my master often treated me like a child, and now that I am a child, I am used to being treated this way, but at the same time I feel uncomfortable….
Today I felt completely different.
Somewhere in my heart, I was still waiting for my father like a child.
I suddenly realized.
"Honey, what's wrong? Does your head hurt?"
When my expression calmed down a bit, the Archduke reacted quickly.
When I watched the Archduchess put her hand on my forehead and check my temperature, I remembered what she had whispered to me as she held me in her arms.
<how much . ...You don't know how much I miss you, I love you, I love you, my baby.〉
Is it because those words come to my mind and cause heat in my eyes, or because the heat in my body rises?
Feeling a little dizzy, I put my chin down and spoke confidently.
“I don't feel any pain.”
“Huh?”
“It doesn't hurt at all.”
Then I hugged the thick, feather-light blanket and muttered.
“What really hurts is when no one is there for you.”
After I left my life as a ar and entered Terenceum, my whole body ached as if I had been run over by hard training.
When you desperately want a cool washcloth on your overheated forehead.
When you feel so thirsty that you desperately need a drop of water.
I was alone then too.
At such times, I would exhale hot breaths and hug myf with the thin linen blanket.
Because I want to forget that I'm alone.
But not anymore.
'I was not an abandoned child.'
Although I grew up separated from my parents as soon as I was born, I was not abandoned.
I had enough of that.
but … .
“Are you two really okay?”
“…Huh?”
The Archduke and Archduchess, who had been listening to me quietly, slowly tilted their heads, as if they did not understand my question.
I was a little nervous because he was focusing on me so much.
On top of that, my temperature was so high that I couldn't even move my head properly.
In the end, I didn't think much about it and just asked what came out of my mouth.
“Because I am your daughter, aren’t you disappointed?”