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On the right side, it read, ‘Havel Garden,’ so she followed the sign, her feet trampling atop the ashen soil.

Landscaping trees arranged on both sides of the road where the garden initiated. Surrounding the area was the well-kept grass, along with lovely flowers of different varieties.

“Isn’t it beautiful? Havel is the gardener’s name. He had won the most prestigious award in the Empire. Now he is a gardener working for the Grand Duke.”

Esther nodded as she keenly listened to Dorothy’s explanation.

The landscaping of the temple was also very well arranged, but it wasn’t as impressive as Havel´s Garden. The scale was large to the extent that Esther couldn’t see the end of the path.

It wasn’t long after Esther detected something unusual while roaming around.

There were yellow freesia flowers positioned over the grass, appearing to have created unusual writing. Esther asked Dorothy, curious as to what they signified.

“What is that?”

“Ah, do you know? This is the family sentence. You may read it better from above.”

How much effort and money would have been spent to secure each and every one of them? She clasped her lips and proceeded to enter another section of the garden.

Esther preferably favored flowers while she was at the temple. She felt alive whenever they were near her.

During her pleasant stroll, Esther encountered a large fountain. Finely carved plaster statues were streaming water. It seemed as if they would move at any given moment.

“Wow, they look like real people.”

Around the time Esther was diligently exploring the garden, an unknown boy reached Havel Garden.

A child with black hair and pale, white skin.

However, his body was remarkably massive compared to his height, that the ground produced a ‘thump’ sound whenever he took a step. Although he didn’t wander much, he was already sweating on his forehead.

“This is killing me. Why did he call me here?”

His face filled with dissatisfaction, but when he noticed Esther’s appearance, his eyes flashed perilously.

‘Is that her?’

His eyes shimmered as they buried behind his excessive face fat.

As soon as the target was caught, he approached so fast that even he wondered how such a speed could be achieved.

Dorothy attempted to inform Esther after belatedly realizing his presence.

“Lady, there is…”

“Shh.”

However, before Dorothy could finish speaking, the boy reached and brought his hand to his mouth, ordering her to be quiet.

As soon as the child appeared, he folded his arms and studied Esther up and down. Esther’s arms turned stiff at the unpleasant gesture, her guard rising significantly.

She felt that he would not be friendly to her.

“Is it you that is the younger sibling of Judy?”

“Who are you?”

He seemed like a nobleman, looking at his attire. This was the first time she’d seen him in this estate.

He didn’t seem to belong to the Grand Duke’s family, given that no one had introduced him to her.

Although Esther was very wary of his every movement, the boy succeeded in clasping her hand, frantically shaking her.

Stunned, Esther sought to withdraw her hand. Lamentably, she couldn’t shake him off due to her weak condition.

“What the. How urgent would he be to say that this kind of kid is his younger sister? My pride has been hurt.”

Esther didn’t even care what he was blabbering; it was merely a blatant mockery.

“Lord Sebastian! Please don’t do this!”

Dorothy helplessly fell on her knees and begged, unable to act anything more.

Esther was to be protected, however, Sebastian, the son of the Duke of Vissel, could not be prevented by a mere maid as Dorothy.

‘If it’s Sebastian.’

Esther turned dumbfounded at the mention of the familiar name.

Sebastian was the name of the person she was supposed to meet alongside Judy today.

“Hey, you’re so skinny that there’s no place for me to grab.”

Esther’s arm jerked to the other side as Sebastian tossed it away.

Her wrist was marked with an explicit handprint.

“How much did you decide to pay for this? I’ll give you twice as much so tell me.”

“…”

Esther had the urge to refuse his request, yet her lips wouldn’t part.

She knew that this place was not the temple, yet the fear of being taken from this place struck her endlessly.

Sebastian’s scornful eyes, which seemed to be staring at a bug, were the very same gazes of those at the temple.

“Ahaha, look at her. Did you doze off? Hmm?”

Sebastian burst out laughing at Esther’s frightened appearance.

「A parentless orphan. It’s dirty. You shouldn’t play with kids like that; it’s contagious. Don’t go near them.」

Words directed from those at the temple rang throughout Esther’s mind.

As she turned pale, Dorothy stepped before her lady and clenched her fists.

That alone took plenty of courage.

“Lo… Lord Sebastian, if you keep saying these things to my lady, I have no choice but to speak to my lord.”

Sebastian glared at Dorothy as if annoyed.

However, since the name of the Grand Duke was well-known to himself, Sebastian had to be careful.

He pouted his lips and shook his hand.

“A lady? Is she really from the Tersia family?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Sebastian grumbled and glanced at Esther again.

He anticipated Judy must have lied, but he was speaking the truth.

However, this girl seemed far from similar to the Tersia family. She was frightened and unable to speak a word.

“Huh. I assumed it to be a lie, of course.”

Sebastian didn’t apologize.

It was because he was convinced Esther wasn’t of pure blood from her hair and eye color.

The special trait of the Tersia family, which everyone knew of, was their sinister green eyes.

Sebastian, which valued ancestry, found Esther before him rather laughable. He didn’t know where they brought her from, but he chose to ignore her; she wasn’t pureblood anyhow.

“Honestly, where did you bring her? This kind of kid can’t compare to my sister. She must be worth no more than half a penny.”

“Young Lord!”

“Are you crazy? How dare you yell at me?”

Dorothy cried out in response to his arrogant manner he placed upon her lady. Sebastian screamed back.

His voice blazed.

“I’m speaking to myself, so just tell the Grand Duke. I remember your face, so I won’t let this one pass.”

Sebastian smirked and left after threatening Dorothy.

Sebastian usually suffered much from Judy, so he was thrilled, now that he could pay back in some way.

Dorothy tried to soothe Esther as she swore at the distant Sebastian.

“Don’t let those words get to you, my lady.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s alright.”

Esther laughed feebly.

She wondered why Sebastian’s words remained lodged in her heart. He was only frank, and Esther knew of it well.

Yet, she was furious and unsatisfied. She couldn’t bring herself to return a single word.

She decided to develop from her weak state, while she still faltered before the nobility.

Esther stopped walking and took a seat on the bench. She placed down the basket and slowly embraced her knees.

“I’ll take a break.”

She buried her face deep inside her knees and closed her eyes. She didn’t aspire to think of anything.

How much time had passed since?

The hands which hugged her knees loosened. A touch both soft and damp swept her fingers.

‘What?’

Esther hurriedly looked upwards and noticed black eyes staring straight towards her.

“Puppy?”

“Refref!”

The brown-haired puppy licked Esther’s hand nonstop.

Although half as large as Esther in size, he was very gentle and seemed overly adorable as he wagged his tail playfully.

“You’ve never seen him before, have you? This is master Judy’s dog.”

“What is his name?”

“Happy.”

Happy sniffed Esther’s basket.

He reached the top as if asking for her to open the basket and scratched the basket with his hand.

“You want this?”

“Wang!”

Esther laughed at his cheerful response.

Originally, she brought these cookies to share with Judy. She didn’t expect to share them with his dog in the current situation.

“Good thing I brought them.”

Who thought? She was happy to have someone to share the cookies with.

As Esther broke the cookie into small pieces, she halted, wondering if the puppy was capable of eating them.

“Can I give the puppy this?”

“Wouldn’t it be alright?”

Hmm. Esther pondered carefully, then decided to give him a small amount just in case.

Happy, eagerly ate the piece of cookie as he wagged his tail.

Then, he sat next to Esther as if he gained a fondness towards her.

He scraped his stomach to indicate his liking for the snack.

“Cute.”

Esther hugged Happy and ruffled his soft fur to her heart’s content.

Strangely enough, the more she stroked Happy, the more she felt better.

“My lady, I think we had better return; we don’t know when master Judy will arrive.”

“I’m not waiting. I just like it here.”

Esther smiled at the concerned Dorothy.

She stroked Happy with her small hands and gazed up at the sky.

The sun was still clear and the day was bright, so she wished to sit in the garden a bit longer.

Not because she was waiting for Judy, but because Esther savored the brilliant sun. That was all.

** ━━━━━━━⋅•⋅⊰∙∘༓∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━━━━━ **

“Ah, dammit. I only made a fool of myself.”

Judy scratched his head agitatedly.

Today, he left for the auction house after discovering interesting information from a merchant who traded frequently.

Judy involved himself in the auction as he heard there was a talking bird to be sold. It never showed up.

Currently, he was irritated with the fact he waited all day in vain. While complaining to his escort, he recalled his arranged meeting with Esther.

“Wait. Edward, what time is it now?”

“It’s five twenty.”

“It’s too late.”

Judy had sent a note in advance since he anticipated his late arrival, yet he completely neglected their meeting.

He scratched his head in dismissal and didn’t think much of it.

“Well, she must have waited only for a while.”

He could just meet and apologize to her.

Judy stopped by the doll store and bought a rabbit doll before arriving at his residence.

Rather than bringing it due to him being apologetic, he reached for it impulsively because of its resemblance to Esther.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes. Where’s Esther?”

After Judy entered the mansion, he immediately questioned the butler.

At Judy’s words, the butler’s expression noticeably hardened.

“Didn’t you come here after meeting my lady?”

“What?”

Judy halted as he stretched his arms midway.

Anxiety struck as he realized the butler’s reaction was strange.

“She went out to meet the young master earlier and hasn’t come back since.”

“Don’t tell me…”

Was she still waiting?

Judy dropped the rabbit doll from his hand. He dived outside, leaving the abandoned doll behind.

It was already bleak outside as the summer season was coming to an end.

The sky was tinged with red shades as of the sunset.

‘We were supposed to meet at two.’

He continued running, denying that she had been waiting since that time. Judy’s throat tasted of blood and was out of breath, but he didn’t stop.

Haah… Haah… Haah.

Upon reaching the garden, Judy held both knees and stood.

He had to grasp his breath for a while.

He arrived before the sun completely set, thanks to his speedy pace. After regaining his breath, he stood and ran around the garden to find Esther’s whereabouts.

“Hey! Esther! Where are you?”

It was only after he ran a while that he spotted her.

Esther was seated on a bench in front of the fountain. He could tell right away by the ribbon positioned over her head.

His face burst with guilt the moment he caught sight of Esther.