Adelina saw that Mona was starting to fidget, but she wasn't in the right mind to be concerned about her right now.
"He's a very cold and hard-headed man."
"Mistress, the thing with Master is…"
"But that man tells me not to do anything because he doesn't want to see me, but he still tries to do something for me."
"Excuse me?"
It still felt awkward and uncomfortable when it was just the two of them. Whenever she tried to get a little closer to him, Ethan would push her away. He was so difficult to get along with. However, rather than wanting to avoid him, she found herself wanting to see him more.
A feeling she hadn't felt with the Crown Prince. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, and it didn't seem to have an answer.
"Let's go inside."
She knew that she should keep her promise to Ethan, and she knew that living as if she were dead was the best she could do.
However, Ethan only told her to be obedient and stay in the inner residence. He never told her to live as if she were dead.
Therefore, she wouldn't do more than that. She didn't want to live like that anymore.
* * *
The wound on her knee wasn't serious, but her sprained foot was. Therefore, Adelina remained inside her residence for three days.
The doctor told her to be careful when she walked, and she really did try for the first day or two. However, when the days began to feel longer and longer, she ultimately looked out the window and let out a deep sigh.
"Mm?"
"Mistress, what is the matter?"
Looking out the window, Adelina's eyes sparkled. Mona, who had been nursing Adelina to health, approached her and followed her gaze.
"Y-you!"
When Mona made a move to burst out of the room, Adelina grabbed her. Then she turned her eyes back to the child. The black-haired, blue-eyed boy reminded her of Nisha.
When their eyes met, the child shrank back. That only lasted a moment. The child looked back up at Adelina.
"Come closer."
Watching the child, Adelina gently smiled. After taking a few steps toward her, the child stopped. Seeing that he wouldn't come any closer, Adelina got up from her seat.
"Aah."
Adelina's eyes narrowed at the pain shooting up her leg and collapsed back down. Seeing this, the child ran over to Adelina's room.
"Who do you think you are to come here?!"
"Mona, that's enough."
Adelina waved her hand to calm Mona down. She gave the child a smile. The child's head was lowered to his chest, so he didn't see Adelina's expression. His body was trembling with fear.
"I-I'm sorry, Mistress. There were so many people out that day, so… I'm so sorry. Please don't throw me away."
Adelina tilted her head at his request. What did he mean by 'throw away'? Mona seemed to understand what this meant and lowered her head.
"Master often takes in some slaves from foreign countries as spoils of war when he returns. But they're usually children who have lost their parents in war. Possibly because this place is right on the border, they often climb the mountain and arrive here as well. Anyways, we don't take all of them in, but some of them are taken in as servants and are given work. This child arrived here in the same way and was given work as well."
It wasn't an easy task to take in captives of war and orphans as servants.
From what she had seen from Scarr's side, the nobility may have looked elegant on the outside, but they had a horrible habit of dismissing these foreigners as enemies and usually turned them away or attacked them.
"I was in charge of sorting the letters, but… after what happened with the puppy, they told me I made a mess, and I was thrown out. I shouldn't have done that to you, Mistress… I'm sorry. Please don't throw me away. If I'm kicked out of this place, I have nowhere to go."
"If he's kicked out of his place of work, no one else will want to take in a child. If he receives the Mistress's forgiveness, he'll be able to return. That's why he's here."
Mona whispered to Adelina in explanation. Adelina's eyes lowered to the child, who was crouched down in a bow.
"There's no need for you to forgive that child, Mistress. You received some harsh words from the Master because of him, and you even hurt your leg."
When the child heard this, his eyes went straight to Adelina's leg. When he saw that it was wrapped in bandages, his eyes filled with tears.
Whenever Adelina would return home with injuries, Nisha's eyes would burst into tears just like that. She said that she wanted to grow up even a day faster if it meant that Adelina wouldn't have to be splattered in animal blood or get hurt.
Although Adelina often said she was fine, there were times when she really missed home. After her wedding ceremony had finished and Adelina was brought here, Nisha searched around for her and kept crying.
"You said you took care of sorting the letters. Does that mean you know how to read?"
The child lifted his head at Adelina's question. While Adelina could reassure the terrified child and tell them everything was okay, she didn't want to do that.
"I don't know everything, but I've learned some just from being around."
"It's not easy to learn how to read, so that's quite amazing!"
The child's eyes widened at Adelina's reaction. Whether she was aware of the child's eyes on her or not, Adelina turned to Mona and spoke.
"My little sister learned how to read more or less, but she always said that studying was hard and would run away any chance she could get. This child said they learned some just from being around. That's not an easy feat, is it?"
"Mistress."
The child realized that he'd been staring at Adelina and quickly lowered himself again. This woman had saved his life, and he'd repaid her by running away. So if she wanted to whip him, there was nothing he could do about it. He'd merely come running over here because he couldn't get kicked out no matter what.
"I'm merely a powerless wife in the inner residence, but I can at least make it so that you are not kicked out."
"M-Mistress! Thank you! Thank you!"
"However, I don't think you'll be able to return to letter-sorting."
"Sorry?"
"If I only say the word, you will not be kicked out. You may even return to your rightful place. Even though I don't have any authority here, I am still the Master's wife, so I can do that much. However, if it's alright with you, could you stay here and help me out with some of my things?"
Mona glanced at Adelina in shock, and the child's eyes widened as well. The fear had melted away from those eyes, and all that remained was curiosity. Adelina smiled.
"If you can read, can you personally bring the letters that are being sent to me? It looks like you can do a few errands for me while you're here. Although I am the Master's wife, the only one I can comfortably ask for favors around here is Mona. It'll be burdensome for Mona to take care of everything on her own, so can you help me out?"
"Mistress, I'm fine! There's no need to ask this blue-eyed child!"
"But aren't two better than one? I wasn't able to tell you this until now, but whenever I ask you for favors, I feel sorry."
Mona's eyes reddened at Adelina's words. How nice would it be if the others could see this side of her. They were blinded by the smooth-talking Consort Min and her gifts, so they mistreated Adelina. Just thinking about them made her bite her lips.
"Are you asking me to become one of your servants?"
"Because I've been in the inner residence all this time, I've come to be curious about many things. If you'd do this for me, that'd be great. But if you don't want to, then that's fine too."