# 16
---
Fortunately, I wasn't a normal eight-year-old, and I was used to these looks, so I smiled awkwardly, trying to lower my guard a little.
However, the reaction appears to have actually motivated Allen.
“Why are you sitting there?”
“Allen.”
“I don't want to eat with her!”
Despite the Duchess' calm voice, Allen stood with a hint of disdain.
'I thought you couldn't shout at a smiley face.'
For a moment, I felt remorse, and thought that if I had known this would happen, I would have at least pretended to notice, but then Diana said: “Stop bothering me!” As I was screaming, my hair turned completely white.
Allen seemed to feel deeply betrayed by Diana, who had stood by my side time and time again.
But after looking at Diana with hurt eyes for a moment, Allen frowned and stared at me menacingly.
Without any time to catch up, he rushed out.
“I'm sorry, it's because he's so shy, he's still young.”
Aline was frowning, thinking it was my fault that he left like that, but the Duchess spoke calmly as if to calm him down.
After that, I heard without hesitation about the aspects of the Sword Master that I didn't want to know and that would later surprise the Empire, such as Allen's picky eating of vegetables and his love of sleeping with his doll even though he was ten years old.
'If I had held on a little longer, this story wouldn't have come out.'
I can't believe you left the table because you didn't want to eat with me and then got arrested for this.
I quietly expressed my condolences to Allen.
* * *
“Oh, why do I feel so dirty?”
Allen, who had walked out of the greenhouse as if he wouldn't look back and was wandering nearby, frowned.
Then she looked towards the greenhouse with eyes dripping with remorse.
If you get angry like this, you will definitely say “Oppa!” I thought my cute younger sister was going to chase me.
huying —
The only thing haunting him is the cold winter winds.
Once again, I was overwhelmed by feelings of injustice and remorse.
“I've been waiting anxiously all last week.”
Allen couldn't refuse his younger brother's kind offer to watch the festival and regretted going out.
Was the problem that I was so conceited about my skills that the knights praised them so loudly?
Or do you trust a secret escort?
While his father, the Duke of Elad, was busy searching for Diana with the Knights of Rexion, he also wanted to find her, but there was nothing he could do as a child.
I even envied my older brother who couldn't attend because he was studying at an academy in the capital.
He was trapped in the Duke's castle, unable to do this or that, blaming himf all the time and wishing for Diana's safe return.
I continued to be unable to eat or sleep properly.
This is how my younger sister behaved before she left the duchy.
It seemed to him that a week was longer than 10 years.
I studied Diana's face, suppressing the fear that she might be angry with me for losing her, but fortunately, there was no such sign in the younger child's eyes.
but … .
“Something like that stuck next to it.”
In his eyes, the child Diana was following behind him, sobbing sweetly, was an unworthy child.
According to what my father said, the girl took care of Diana in the orphanage, so I thought I should be grateful to her, but I felt angry and couldn't accept it.
“Diana is not someone who gives her heart easily.”
What a hard life we have lived in the meantime, that we would accept a brief moment of kindness.
When I think about it, I remember letting go and losing Diana's hand, and it was deathly painful.
I hated that little girl who kept reminding me of my sin and provoking me.
It was also disgusting that she had a monopoly on Diana's attention and love.
roar —
At that time, a rumbling sound rang out from Allen's stomach as he clenched his fists and showed his hostility towards Leia.
“...Argh.”
Before Diana was found, he had been skipping meals, but after he was found, he postponed the meal, saying he would eat it together.
Allen, his face red with embarrassment, looked towards the greenhouse again.
When you grow up, you have to eat to grow.
Allen was very hungry.
* * *
The preparation of the steaming delicious food began at the table which was set with a clean white tablecloth, bright flower decorations, gold candelabra and gold cutlery.
I looked at the steak that looked bigger than five little paws put together.
“Whoa!”
As Diana clapped and shouted, the Duchess smiled slightly, cut the meat into small pieces and placed them on Diana and I's plates.
While I was flapping my hand because I was not accustomed to this consideration, a piece of meat popped into my mouth.
Diana, who was next to me, handed it to me.
As I chewed the large piece of meat that entered my mouth, the soft and juicy texture spread throughout my mouth.
'Ah, legendary taste!'
It seemed to be just as good as the restaurant in the capital that the master had taken me to earlier, saying that I had successfully completed my first mission.
The expression on my face suddenly softened.
Also today, it seemed strange to have so much food placed in front of me, but….
The food was so good that I couldn't continue my thoughts for long.
Without hesitation, I swallowed what Diana and the Duchess offered me from time to time, and before I knew it, I felt like my stomach was going to explode.
Originally, from the time I was in the orphanage until I ended up living as a ar on the street, I never ate a full meal, and probably because I was always hungry, I had a bad stomach.
Even as an adult, I tend to get sick easily if I eat too much, so I didn't have a voracious appetite.
Maybe because I had a baby's body, I felt like I couldn't control my appetite properly in the presence of delicious food.
The Duchess, who had been helping Diana eat for a while, looked puzzled as she put down her fork, fearing I might have had a stomach ache since the first day she arrived.
" actually?"
“I'm full.”
“Oh, I haven't even eaten half of Diana's food yet.”
At those words, she looked at Diana.
Oil glistened around Diana's lips as she held a chicken leg the size of her face in her hand and eagerly tore it off and tasted it.
Although I felt a little like it in the orphanage, Diana was very voracious for her age.
"chickens !"
“Yes, if you eat a little of this food, you are not that small, then you can catch up with Diana?”
I winced at the Duchess's joke.
The memories of my previous life were too clear to be just a joke.
'Even though she was fourteen years old, she was tall and slender.'
The last time I saw Diana, she was taller than me, and very small even as an adult.
“If I eat well from now on, will I be able to grow a little bigger?”
I felt that way for a moment, but I felt like I couldn't eat any more now.
After thinking about it, I finally put down my fork carefully, and the Duchess said with a look of remorse on her face.
“But you can still have dessert, right?”
"Yes?"
“Because there is a separate candy boat!”
When I saw her smiling brightly like a mischievous person, I nodded without thinking.
Soon the fruit tart became so large that it seemed impossible to carry it with open arms.
On top of the well-baked cake, the various fruits look fresh despite the onset of winter.
'I thought I saw a lot of sweets when I was in the guild.'
My mouth dropped open at the size and visuals which far exceeded my expectations.
“Our chef prepared a dish that he was very confident about, but I'm not sure if it would suit your taste or not.”
said the Duchess, placing before her a plate of slices of pie.
My stomach was so full that I felt like there was no room for more, but strangely enough, I was drooling.
As if subconsciously being directed, I took a bite, and the crunchy exterior, chewy interior, and tangy taste of the fruit filled my mouth.
It was so soft and sweet that it made my tongue tingle.
But what was even sweeter was the way the Duchess and Diana looked at me.
“I am happy.”
I feel like someone is tickling my heart.
I thought, lowering my eyes in shame.
I wondered if it was possible to be this happy from the first day I followed Diana.
If it were in the past, I would have headed to the village with my children in fear, unable to find food to eat in the now destroyed orphanage.
Now, this moment seemed like a dream.
A dream I never want to wake up from, even more so than going back to the past.
* * *
It had been a few days since Leia entered the duchy.
Meanwhile, Leia suffered a lot.
It was because Diana met the Duke immediately after his return, and the tension he felt while waiting for Duke Elad was relieved.
I vomited everything I enjoyed that night, my little body boiling with fever.
The Duchess was worried that something had happened to the child she had taken care of, and whom she had barely found.
Moreover, Diana also did not try to stay away from Leia even for a moment.
Thanks to the nursing and direct care provided by the Duchess and Diana, all the staff of the Duke's Castle also prayed for Lea's recovery.
It was that morning when Leia finally opened her eyes, as if everyone's devotion had paid off.
Leah woke up after tossing and turning, enjoying the feeling of the soft bed and soft blanket.
Leia's eyes widened as she looked at the unfamiliar ceiling and wallpaper, and she quickly realized that this was the room she had been assigned on the first day of her arrival at the Duke's castle.
Housing for the maids would have been sufficient.
After eating delicious dessert on the first day, the Duchess personally took her hand and led her to this guest room.
I felt dizzy for a moment, but perhaps because I was full, I felt sleepy, so I lay down and closed my eyes for a moment. But suddenly, I twisted my body in pain.
Leah's face turned pale as she remembered how she ended up throwing away all her food.
“Oh, what should I do!”