Leyla left the mansion when the sky started to paint itself into a rosy color. As she left the entrance leading to the rose garden, a refreshing breeze greeted Leyla.
With a gold coin grasped in her right hand, Leyla walked proudly. But her gallant steps did not last long. Claudine was sitting under the pergola that was located near the vine roses-which were in full bloom. Claudine, who was having a pleasant chat with her cousins, vaguely smiled when her eyes met Leyla's.
"Goodbye, Leyla."
Claudine greeted first. The eyes of the young men sitting next to Claudine turned to Leyla. Fortunately, Duke Herhardt was nowhere to be seen.
Leyla replied with a bow. Claudine did not say much in response.
Leyla began to run after she was out of their sight. She was eager to escape the strange and unfamiliar world and return to Uncle Bill's cabin. But the greatest misfortune came at the last moment.
At the border between the garden and the forest path, Leyla fell down. The gold coin mockingly rolled down the paving stone and hit the edge of a man's shoe. Leyla frowned at the spinning gold coin. The man lightly stepped on the coin with the tip of his shoe to quell the clamorous sound.
Leyla slowly gazed at the well-polished shoes, long legs, and then the man's face looming down upon her. It was Duke Herhardt.
Surprised, Leyla reflexively rose herself up. Her white dress was stained with blood and dust from her scratched knee. The duke simply stared at Leyla with a calm look. His red lips seemed as if they were slightly tilted to one side.
Leyla clenched her lips and swept the dust off her clothes. In the meanwhile, Duke Herhardt leisurely took a step back. The coin that was underneath his foot shined, reflecting the sunlight.
Although Leyla wanted to leave it, she crouched her body in front of the duke. Just when she was about to extend her arms out, she was reminded of the words Lady Brandt left her. No better than a dog. Those words had scarred a deep wound in Leyla's heart.
Leyla grabbed the coin and politely bowed towards Duke Herhardt. She did not dare to raise her head. All she could do was to bow her head down as low as possible and hold her breath. Surprisingly, although she felt pain when she fell, she could no longer feel any pain when she bowed.
Leaving the duke behind, Leyla started running again. She wasn't able to run as fast as before because of her injured knee but she continued to move her bloody legs. She felt something rising from the bottom of her heart up to the end of her throat.
After passing through the forest path and facing the light that came from the cabin, Leyla realized what it was.
It was sadness.
~~~~~~~~~~
"I'll give this to you, uncle."
Leyla held out the gold coin in a rather solemn manner. Bill's hairy eyebrows slowly wrinkled.
"What's this?"
"A gold coin."
"You think I don't know that?"
"Lady Claudine gave it to me."
"Claudine? Ah, that little noble lady."
Bill nodded as if he knew the lady.
Ever since Leyla was called upon the mansion, she had been looking down for the next two days. She didn't talk or take a walk around the woods as well as the garden. Bill realized that he missed the child's past, bright lifestyle.
The world was quiet because the child was quiet. And Bill did not like that quiet world very much.
"Why do you want to give me that money?"
Bill leaned a little towards the table. Leyla sat in a straight posture, facing the man.
"Because I think it's worth a lot."
"It is worth a lot."
"…Even though I initially felt miserable receiving this coin, I couldn't possibly throw it away because it's worth a lot. So I realized that if I gave this coin to you instead, I can at least start paying you back after being so indebted to you."
"Damn it."
Bill impulsively muttered. Leyla slightly flinched but didn't pay any mind to his curse.
Ever since the child arrived in Arvis, Bill worried about the aristocrats hurting her fragile heart. He expected them to harass the child because of her low status. All the aristocrats were the same to Bill.
Arrogant. Rude. And Condescending.
Although Bill was afraid he might make the child cry if he asked what had happened at the mansion, he could guess how bad the child was treated there.
"Leyla."
Leyla, who had been pretending to act mature for her age, gave a childish grin when he called her name.
"Since you earned the money, take it."
"The money I earned?"
"Yep. It's the money you earned from your work. Dealing with a bored aristocrat is a pain in the ass but you did it. So you can confidently claim your reward."
Leyla scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. While looking at the pondering child, Bill gulped down the thick glass of beer in front of him.
"Really?"
Leyla tilted her head as she tapped on the gold coin.
"That's right."
Bill swiped the alcohol that had drizzled on his beard with his sleeve.
The money I earned.
Leyla's face suddenly started to brighten.
"Welcome to the adult world, Leyla."
Bill sliced a huge chunk of meat and placed it on the child's plate.
"Adult? Me?"
"If you can make money on your own, you're considered an adult. And that's exactly what you did."
"I just made one gold coin?"
"There are plenty of old people who still can't manage to earn a coin in this world. So you're off to a pretty successful start. Because you're off to a nice start, you're bound to be a pretty good adult."
Bill soon started piling Leyla's plate up with bread and baked vegetables.
"Uncle, it's too much."
Leyla's eyes widened at the large amount of food.
"You've been nibbling at your food like a bird for days, so eat a lot."
"But…."
"You know right? I like kids who eat like a cow."
Leyla burst out laughing.
"Uncle, if I eat well, I'll grow a lot right?"
"I suppose so. Why? Did someone bully you for being too short?"
"Not really, but I do think I look too young. It's upsetting."
That's because you are still a child. Bill stopped himself from stating the obvious.
Leyla began to proficiently chop up her meat.
For Bill, it seemed like Leyla did indeed grow quite fast in the last few months. The child no longer had a body like an iron skewer. She was quite pretty. Her natural frame was small and slender like a bird so she didn't seem like she would grow to have a big physique. There was no doubt that she would become a beauty.
Bill was surprised when his found himself praising Leyla's beauty and shook his head to pull himself together.
For women living in poverty, beauty was poison. They were bound to be subjected to trouble. That was why Bill was determined to send the girl to a place where he can trust. The orphanage wasn't a place he could totally trust because he believed it was the perfect place to ruin a child's life.
Damned world. Damned humans.
Bill emptied the rest of his beer while cursing at the names of those who left the child in his care. It was hard to know why such worries were embedded in Bill Remmer's life. He wished for days, where his life had used to be just full of flowers and trees, to come back.
"Uncle. If I earn money, it's not a shame to spend it right?"
Leyla asked while thoroughly chewing on her food.
"Of course. Do you have something you want?"
"I used up my notebook. I want to buy a new one."
"By all means, go ahead."
"Do you think I can buy colored pencils as well?"
"Of course."
"Is there anything you need?"
"Why? Are you planning to buy something for me as well?"
"Yes."
"What if I asked you to buy me something ridiculously expensive?"
Leyla's expression became solemn. Whenever the girl got serious, her pupils grew darker and wider, which made her seem a bit more lovely.
Bill loudly laughed as he filled up a glass of apple juice for the child.
Leyla lifted the glass and motioned Bill to clink his glass towards hers. Bill gladly bumped his glass onto the glass the child reached out. Leyla then emptied her juice all at once.
Bill started to worry if the child began to pick up his drinking habits.
He shook his head at the thought of Leyla becoming a drunkard.
I'm only allowing this just for today.
Bill persuaded himself.
The long days had continued to pass, and during those long days, Bill thought about the reasons why he couldn't raise Leyla and wondered where to send the young girl.
Leyla. The lovely troublesome child who suddenly appeared in his life.
During those days of Bill's endless wondering, Leyla grew.
The new clothes Bill had bought for Leyla got so short that her milky white calves started to show. The warehouse-like room meant for Leyla to temporarily reside in at one point transformed into a lady's room. The troublesome child who used to hop around the forest trail, soon finely matured into a grown lady who now crossed the exact trail with soft steps as if gliding on water.
Bill, sitting on a chair underneath the porch, looked at Leyla with a puzzled look on his face. A young lady with a willow basket full of raspberries was waving at him.
"Uncle! You're back early today."
Leyla lightly ran as if she was dancing. Her attractive blonde hair, tied into a single braid, shook under the wide brim of the straw hat. The color of the lady's two red cheeks looked as fresh as the breed of roses Bill had recently cultivated.
"You must have gone to the woods again."
"Yes. It's a great harvest, isn't it?"
Leyla lifted the basket with pride.
"I'm going to pick some more tomorrow. I'm planning to make a lot of raspberry jam."
"Are you planning to open a business or something?"
"That's not a bad idea."
Leyla, smiling brightly, sat on a chair placed beside Bill. Bill suddenly noticed that there were two chairs on the porch. And it wasn't just the two chairs. Before he knew it, all the furniture in the cabin was arranged for the two of them-even though Bill still hadn't made his decision on what to do with Leyla yet.
Leyla placed the basket on the floor and rummaged through it to find a wild peach. She held the peach out to Bill. Bill naturally took the peach, split it in half, and gave Leyla the nicely half-sliced peach.
The two sat side by side and observed the forest while eating their peaches. The sound of leaves blowing across the clear sky tickled their ears and the birds chirping from afar were as clear as Leyla's voice.
"It's summer again."
Bill muttered unconsciously. Leyla, with a silent smile on her face, took off her hat and languidly stretched her arms. When Bill found the old leather bag that ran below Leyla's knee, he burst into a loud laughter. It was the first thing he gave her on the year she arrived.
"Are you planning to carry that old thing around until it's worn out?"
"I like it because it's comfortable. It's still useful."
Leyla held up her bag and gave it a good shake. Bill could easily figure out the identity of the rattling sound. Tin pencil case. Pocket knife. Old notes. Some beautiful feathers and flower petals. In certain aspects, she didn't change much.
It was a normal evening.
Bill chopped up some firewood while Leyla took out and organized the dry laundry. While she skillfully prepared their dinner, she didn't forget to feed the chicken and the goat. By the time the two faced each other from the opposite sides of the table, the sun was already down.
"Kyle's coming over tomorrow. We're going to study together and have dinner. That's okay right?"
Leyla asked while setting down her delicious smelling plate.
"Why does that rascal keep coming to my house to eat when he already has a rich father already feeding him well?"
"Even though you talk of him that way, I know you like the guy."
"Unfortunately."
Bill snorted. Leyla causally laughed as she placed the half-filled beer glass in front of him.
"What's this? It's not filled to the brim?"
"You need to cut back on drinking for your health."
"Did that glutton Etmon tell you that?"
"Uncle!"
"That good-for-nothing fellow."
Bill grumbled. But he did not go against Leyla's words.
~~~~~~~~~~
The night deepened at the end of a cozy dinner. Leyla took a leisurely bath after cleaning up and returned to her room. She was sleepy, but she decided to turn on the lamp and sat on her desk. An exam was just around the corner. Her summer break happiness depended on that exam result.
The sound of birds crying at night was carried away by the night breeze. The noise of her pencil making marks on the paper was mixed along with the sounds.
Leyla, who had been concentrating on her studies for a long time, let go of her pencil- unable to overcome the eye strain and faint headache that came over. Her eyesight, which wasn't originally that good, now seemed to have gotten worse. Ever since she was young, she had to squint her eyes to clearly see.
Leyla turned off the lamp and lay down on her bed. She was almost on her goal to get a pair of glasses fitted for her.
Twenty bottles of raspberry jam. No, should it be thirty bottles?
Anyways, it wasn't that far away.
Even though her problem could have gotten resolved by telling Uncle Bill, she was afraid of burdening him. He was already providing her so many things and she wasn't able to repay him back.
When he announced that he would send Leyla to school, a fine majority of people laughed at him. They told him there was no point in educating an orphan girl. They told him she was bound to become the maid of the Herhardt family when she grew. But Bill was firm with his words. He spoke to her every day. Leyla, you're going to be a pretty good adult.
The headache somewhat calmed down when Leyla closed her eyes. Leyla attempted to sleep, but the harder she tried, the more her mind turned clear. At a night like this, as usual, odd thoughts began to fill her blank mind.
The birds' return. Plans for this summer. The culprit behind the series of an interesting mystery novel written in the daily newspaper. And Duke Herhardt.
When the name came to mind, Leyla gently opened her eyes. Beyond the familiar darkness, she could see the scenery out of the window.
Slightly wobbling branches, the night sky shining beyond those branches, and the moon and stars.
Staring at the blurry white light from afar, Leyla unconsciously held her breath.
The duke, who graduated from college, was commissioned as an army officer after passing the Royal Military School in accordance with the family tradition. He hadn't visited the estate for the past several years because he was assigned to the frontier overseas . It had been a peaceful time for both Leyla and the birds in the forest.
But this summer, he was to return.
Master of Arvis, Duke Herhardt.
And that marks the end of 12 year old Leyla!
Now that the duke is back and Leyla is now an adult, the real story will begin.