Even though the sun was sweltering hot, the place under the shade of the tree was refreshingly cool. Leyla sat down bundled in a blanket with her arms wrapped around her knees. Meanwhile, Bill and the other gardeners were busy digging up the wilting rose tree.
The roses in the garden behind the mansion seemed to be of varying kinds. The rose was said to be the Berg Empire's national flower, as well as a favorite of the Duke's mother and grandmother.
The little Leyla wandered around the cottage nervously after hearing another sound of a gunshot from the woods. Uncle Bill had noticed her nervousness and wanted to take her to the garden with him. Only when the sound of gunfire faded away did her mind finally calm down.
'Is it really okay for me to take a nap as Uncle Bill toils away in the hot sun?'
Bill drew an uneasy stare from Leyla. She let out a slight sigh as she slowly closed her eyes. But Bill had threatened her that he'd become angry if she helped him. He also told her that he despised children who refused to listen. So, she opted to wait for him until he finished his work, even though Leyla's heart wasn't at ease.
When she opened her eyes again with reluctance, Leyla was suddenly startled by an unfamiliar figure. In front of her stood a well-dressed teenage boy who seemed to be about Leyla's age.
"Hello."
As their gazes met, the good-looking boy with platinum blonde hair greeted her with a lovely smile.
"Do you live here?"
The fellow boy surveyed his surroundings and asked humbly.
"Yes. I live with uncle Bill."
Leyla replied with her eyes squinted.
"Mr. Bill? Do you mean the scary gardener guy?"
"He's not scary."
"Really? He seems like a scary person to me."
The boy sat down next to Leyla with a tilted head.
"And you? Do you live here too?"
The boy chuckled and shook his head when Leyla asked him cautiously.
"No." He said. "I just followed my father. He's the family doctor at the Herhardt household. He's come to see Madam Norma for a medical checkup. I sometimes come here with my father. Madam Norma said she was okay."
"I see."
"How old are you?"
"Twelve."
"Same. But you're kinda tiny."
The boy who was looking at Leyla started laughing and Leyla's cheeks began to blush bright red with anger.
"You're tiny too."
"Well, I'm the tallest student in my class."
To show his tall stature, the boy stretched out his body. Certainly, he seemed to be a couple of inches taller than his actual age.
"However… You're still not as tall as uncle Bill."
Leyla muttered to herself, causing the boy to giggle once more. He seemed to be a cheerful kid.
"Hey, finding a child or even an adult taller than Mr. Bill is impossible."
"I'm not so sure about that."
For no apparent reason, Leyla plucked at the grass growing near her blanket and her tiny fingers became soiled with a bluish-green color. She wished the boy would get up and leave immediately, but he showed no signs of doing so.
Leyla then shifted her attention to the peach poised on the blanket's edge and asked the boy at the spur of the moment.
"Do you want some?"
As the boy smiled and nodded happily, Leyla dug into her leather pocket and took out a small knife. The sight of Leyla carefully cutting the peach made the boy chuckle.
"You're funny. Why is a knife coming out of a girl's bag?"
"Don't laugh at me. Uncle Bill gave it to me."
As she handed the half-cut peach to the boy, Leyla drooped her nose slightly in annoyance. But the two children's noses were tingling with the delicious smell of the peach fruit.
"How come you have such a sad look on your face? Has something happened?"
After gulping down his peach, the boy asked her gently.
"The Duke and his friends keep hunting down the birds in the woods."
Leyla answered solemnly. The young boy cocked his head, perplexed by her words..
"So, what's wrong with it?"
"They are killing birds for their own pleasure."
"Isn't hunting like that?"
"Do you think so too?"
Leyla stared at the boy with her grim green pupils. In her eyes, the boy seemed to have difficulty holding the big, long hunting rifle.
"Uh….. No."
The boy quickly shook his head.
"I don't. It's cruel."
Hearing his positive reply, Leyla's face started to light up with a smile.
"Do you want another peach?"
Leyla asked with a more bright tone. The boy then smiled and nodded. Leyla halved another peach and gave the larger half to him. The boy's cheeks appeared to blush as he tried to fix his tight collar.
"Kyle! Kyle!"
The sound of a faint voice could be heard. The boy, who had been fiddling with a peach seed, hurriedly leapt to his feet.
"I have to go now."
"Okay. Bye then."
"Kyle Etman."
He raised his hands.
"It's my name. What's your name?"
"Leyla. I'm Leyla Lewellin."
Leyla gave him a clumsy handshake. The two shook hands with their tiny hands soaked in sticky peach honey, as if they were making a truce.
"Bye, Leyla. See ya. Next time, I'll get you something more tasty!"
The boy shouted aloud as he ran away into the distance. Leyla just gave a slight wave because she wasn't sure whether she'd see him again if she moved out of the estate.
***
Leyla's world was once again at peace after Kyle had left. She sat patiently waiting for Uncle Bill to finish his job while smelling the rose-scented fragrance. However, she had dozed off at some point and only woke up when Uncle Bill called her name at sunset.
Leyla jumped out of her seat, packed her bag, and picked up the blanket from the ground.
"Uncle Bill. I saw a kid…."
Leyla was about to tell the story of her meeting with the boy with whom she had shared her peaches. However, at that moment, she was interrupted by silhouettes of people coming out of the forest on the other side, who turned out to be Duke Herhardt and his friends.
Matthias came to a halt in the middle of the rose garden. Bill Remmer, the brusque gardener who was nearby, bowed his head towards his master. Matthias didn't take long to notice that the gardener was hiding a small child behind him.
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other, Mr. Remmer."
Matthias gave a slight nod. His friends who had accompanied him in the hunting expedition ground came to a standstill behind the duke and maintained their distance.
"Ah, for the time being, she'll be staying here at Arvis."
Bill Remmer told the Duke with a somewhat uneasy look on his face. Leyla took a hesitant step towards the Duke after Bill tapped her on the back and ordered her to come forward.
Matthias was able to recognize her because of her glimmering blond hair. It was the little girl he had almost shot. The weird little girl who was almost killed because she had been mistaken for a bird.
"I already have Madam Norma and Madam Elysse's permission, but I think I should also ask for your approval."
Bill Remmer bowed his head once more, and Leyla, who stood beside him, followed suit.
Matthias took a long, good look at the girl. The child scowled at him when they exchanged glances. Lips clenched combined with sneered green eyes. Her expression was the same as when they had first met in the woods.
"Ah, you're that girl, right?" He asked, "The little girl who lives in the woods."
Lelya's face blushed with embarrassment and she hid behind her uncle's back. Riette, Matthias' cousin, guffawed from behind, recalling the girl they occasionally met in the forest was always like that.
That girl would always hide behind a tree as soon as she gazed at the duke's eyes in wonder. She would always come out of nowhere and bury the dead birds after Matthias would finish hunting.
"Sure. If that's what you want, Mr. Remmer."
With a grin on his face, Matthias gave a quick answer since it was none of his business what the gardener raised in the woods.
"Thank you, my Lord."
Bill expressed his gratitude to him. Matthias started walking again after giving Bill a small nod with his chin.
After the Duke passed them, Leyla flinched when she saw Matthias' servants following him with their hands full of hunted animals. Her shoulders hunched and she drew her eyes close at the moment when her tiny nose was filled with a strong, distasteful smell of blood.
Standing beside her, uncle Bill only could pat Leyla's frail shoulders with his big-warm hands.
***
With her chin resting on the palm of her hand, Claudine let out a long, deep sigh. Her curly brown hair danced along in sync with her endless sighs.
"Claudine, behave like a lady please."
Raising her thin eyebrows, Countess Brandt cast a look at her daughter. Her inarticulate voice became increasingly impatient.
Claudine was about to become the Duchess of Arvis, despite the fact that she was much too young to be called a lady. Countess Brandt could only let out a heavy sigh, looking at her daughter's childish attitude.
"But I'm so lonely and bored."
Claudine muttered something under her breath. The other noblewomen at the tea table who were drinking tea turned their focus to the depressed brown-haired girl.
"Then go play with your cousins."
Countess Brandt wheezed with her face reddened. Claudine, on the other hand, paid no attention to her angry mother.
"They treat me as if I'm not here. They say things I don't understand."
Claudine's annoyed expression elicited a soft smile from other ladies.
"Well, it can be boring. Claudine doesn't have any friends her age."
Elysse von Herhardt nodded her head while stroking the white dog on her lap.
"See? Madam Herhardt is the only one who understands me."
A bright smile rose on Claudine's lips, when she met someone who understood her distress.
"Anyways, who's that child?"
Claudine abruptly pointed her finger towards the garden after catching a quick glimpse of a young girl. Claudine gestured to the ladies to turn their heads in the direction she was pointing.
To a young girl who was taking a stroll with a gardener.
"Do you mind if I play with her? I think she's about the same age as me."
"Well… Isn't she an orphan from another country? A girl like that isn't suited to be friends with you."
"I'm perfectly fine—-" Claudine said, "It'll be more fun playing with her rather than a puppy."
She spoke with a calm and confident tone. Her mother's red face, which was about to burst with embarrassment, went unnoticed by her.
Elysse von Herhardt smiled and rang the doorbell cheerfully.
"Bring that child here."
A maid came to the room at the call of her master's bell.
"The child who's being raised by our gardener."
***
Leyla was taken to an unknown world by the maid. To the place where glamorous people sat under the shade of the white mansion, dressed in bright-colored clothing.
"Oh, she's so cute."
Leyla earned a compliment from one of the ladies.
"Can you tell me what you think? Claudine, do you like her?"
After questioning Leyla, the black-haired woman turned over to the chestnut-haired girl sitting beside her. Claudine smiled and nodded happily.
"Thank you, Madam Herhardt."
Leyla looked at the people in front of her with a blank stare on her face. She couldn't figure out what the ladies were talking about. She just wanted to return to Uncle Bill's cottage, but no one seemed to understand her dilemma.
The maid took Leyla's hand and walked her into a room after one of the ladies murmured an order.
For the first time in her life, Leyla was washed in a luxurious bathroom, and to her surprise, she was clothed in soft, white dresses. Leyla sensed the pain as the maid combed her frizzy hair roughly. But she endured it, because she was afraid she would hinder Uncle Bill's job if she said anything wrong.
"Lady Claudine is Count Brandt's daughter. So don't act rashly in front of her. Do you understand?"
Leyla gave a befuddled nod when she was sternly alerted by the maid who dragged her up to the second floor of the mansion. After that, the parlor's door was carefully opened by the maid. There, Claudine welcomed them with a refined manner.
"Hello. What's your name? And your Age?"
Claudine lowered her head and tried to look Leyla in the eyes.
"My name is Leyla Lewellin. I'm twelve years old."
"Really? Because you're so tiny, I thought you were younger."
Although Leyla disliked being called 'tiny', she decided to keep her annoyance to herself.
'For uncle Bill.'
She was able to calm down as she chanted those words over and over again, almost as if they were a ritual.
Flower arrangement, Piano, and Music.
Claudine suggested this and that, but Leyla couldn't do anything.
Dice game. Word game. Chess.
Claudine's other ideas for alternative games were the same.
Claudine's mouth curved into a vague smile as she alternated between looking at the toy table and at Leyla.
"Poor you."
She slowly rose from her chair with a disappointed sigh in her voice.
"You don't know a thing."
Leyla felt helpless as she looked at the jumbled up toys on the table. Claudine murmured in frustration as she walked over to Leyla's chair. But Leyla was humiliated even more by her gentle voice, which seemed to be trying hard to not convey even the slightest hint of disappointment or irritation.
Leyla felt compelled to say something, but she couldn't. It's because her mouth was shut tight. It was difficult to say something polite in this situation. But fortunately, Claudine turned away without waiting for Leyla to say anything.
"Geez… She's no better than a dog."
She whispered a sigh to herself before closing the door.
Leyla was left alone in the beautiful parlor after Claudine had left. She was tempted to leave as soon as possible as well, but Leyla decided to wait because she thought Claudine would come back.
But Claudine didn't return until the afternoon sun began turning into a golden hue. The maid who had brought Leyla only showed up later in the evening.
"You may go back."
She spoke in a softer tone than before.
"The lady said you can keep the dress. And this as well."
Leyla froze in place when the maid gave a glittering gold coin to her. So the maid shoved the coin into Leyla's hands.
"Just take it. You should be thankful for what your master gives you. Do you understand?"