The next morning, Freddie personally guided me to my family. Unless it was a very important guest, greeting guests was clearly not the butler’s job. The fact that he moved personally meant it was Ricardo’s order.

Even after riding in the carriage for a long time, we couldn’t reach where my family was.

Only then did I realize why Ricardo said last night that I couldn’t meet my family.

The Blue Hill he mentioned was not the name of a separate building inside the duke’s residence. Even the place where I got lost a few days ago was only a small part of the duke’s residence.

Blue Hill literally had blue hills alongside it.

When I opened the half-open window wide, I couldn’t tell if I was still inside the duke’s residence or driving down a quiet country road somewhere in the empire.

I was surprised once by the enormous size of the mansion, and again by the fact that where my family was staying was very similar to our house in Lesotia.

As if they had heard the news of my arrival, all my family members were waiting in front of the door. Even Countess Pennel. As soon as I saw them, I jumped out of the carriage before it came to a complete stop.

“Lienne, be careful!”

Only when I heard Sabrina’s voice, always scolding me for being careless, did it feel real that all my family members were here.

Jonathan ran towards me faster than I was running.

Thud, he fell into my arms. No, since he’s bigger than me now, it would be more accurate to say I fell into his arms. I thought I would be able to see them again, but I never imagined it would be in Dermeyer, not Lesotia.

Once again, our family’s fate had completely turned around.

“You even brought Coco and Kio?”

“Yes, do you know how much we were delayed because of bringing those chickens?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by Sabrina’s words that even our chickens had come along. Of course, I had mentioned the chickens several times while riding in the carriage with Ricardo. But still, to bring even the chickens…..

“Was there any trouble on the way? The lady must have had a hard time……”

“She stayed in the carriage the whole time. Because she has difficulty coming out.”

Countess Pennel, whom I met again, looked even more emaciated than before, probably because the carriage journey was difficult. After briefly making eye contact with me and giving a light hug, she patted my back with trembling hands and soon returned to her room.

She still had difficulty staying in open spaces for long.

“How was Jonathan?”

“That kid, well, he was only worried about you. But he was excited to be able to see you.”

The house where the family was staying was undergoing renovation. Just seeing that, I could tell that Ricardo had rushed to handle things. Jonathan stayed with me in the reception room for a while, then hurried outside to help people, saying he would assist them.

Seeing his nose turn red occasionally while talking, it seemed he was having quite a struggle holding back tears.

“About five days after you left? The duke’s people came back to the house again. We thought we were really going to die this time……”

I carefully explained the events of that time to Sabrina. That the Emperor of Dermeyer had ordered to find and kill the Pennel family again, and that Ricardo had stepped up to protect us.

But I couldn’t tell everything about how I had helped with Ricardo’s manifestation and awakening, leading to this situation.

“Of course, I know you won’t understand everything.”

“Obviously.”

Sabrina shook her head and stood up from the chair.

“But if I was going to ask you everything, I would have done it 7 years ago. Even then, Ricardo came to save you. Thanks to that, we survived too.”

She wandered around aimlessly, wiping objects with her bare hands. I knew this was a habit that emerged when Sabrina had something difficult to say or was in an awkward situation.

“Why are you beating around the bush? If you have something to say, just say it.”

At my words, Sabrina bit her lip hard once before opening it again.

“Lienne, do you remember?”

“What?”

“When we lived in Count Pennel’s mansion.”

I tilted my head for a moment at the sudden topic. Our family usually avoided talking about those times.

“There was a merchant who frequented our mansion. The one with a mustache long enough to reach his ears.”

“Ah……”

As soon as I heard the word merchant, unpleasant memories surfaced, and my brow furrowed involuntarily. Though not felt much in civilization, Lesotia was still a land where desert winds blew.

Because of this, the principality’s commerce was underdeveloped, and there were merchants who delivered goods not produced in Lesotia to the noble houses.

Among them, merchants with rare curiosities were popular with children.

“Why are you talking about that good-for-nothing bastard?”

Even in noble households, unimaginable things could happen in the absence of adults.

Sabrina was excited from the morning on days when the merchant came. After becoming friends with her, I always joined too, and that day I hurried to the main building because of her insistence to come on time.

“I found out later that Justin was actually behind that merchant who deceived me then.”

“What?”

This was the first time I heard about this.

Although the items the merchant displayed were quite rare, somehow I wasn’t interested in such childish toys.

At the time, I was busy learning letters, and I was more interested in the ledger the merchant used than the bag of goods he laid out.

Perhaps tired of dealing with two little girls barely reaching his waist, the contents were obviously ridiculous even at a glance.

Nevertheless, I tried to ignore it at first. The Pennel family wouldn’t be shaken by that much, and even if they were, it had nothing to do with me.

“You know. How that bastard hated me.”

But to think Justin was behind it.

“If you hadn’t intervened that day, I would have been sent to boarding school.”

“Boarding school?”

I had no choice but to intervene. If the merchant had just played around with the price of goods, I would have turned a blind eye, but he lied that Sabrina had secretly brought the family seal and stamped it.

Even then, we never found out how the family seal got out of the count’s office. Just that the list of items I had written down just in case and the items Sabrina had matched became evidence that exposed the merchant’s lies.

The merchant eventually lost one wrist because of that incident.

“I wondered how that seal was stamped……”

“Yes, that’s right. Justin stamped it. Why did that bastard hate me so much?”

Well, rather than disliking her specifically, it would be more accurate to say he saw her as a political rival threatening his position. After all, Sabrina was the countess’s own daughter.

“Maybe that’s why I wasn’t sad at all when Justin died. Even though half of our blood is the same.”

I still can’t forget Sabrina’s face at that time. The young Sabrina, trembling in fear without knowing what was happening, was so scared she couldn’t even cry.

“From then on, to me, you were……”

“……”

“A benefactor.”

“A benefactor……you say?”

“What’s with that expression? It’s annoying.”

Unable to say such sentimental words, Sabrina acted even more brusquely.

“Of course, it can’t be helped if it’s annoying. You’re my benefactor, and also……”

She turned red up to her ears uncharacteristically, and rubbed the end of the wooden chair’s backrest forcefully.

“Also what? What else am I to you?”

I narrowed my eyes and smiled mischievously, urging Sabrina on. At that, Sabrina’s face turned bright red as if about to burst.

“Do you really have to ask? To me, you’re a mother and father and friend and sister, and well, something like an idol…… and so on.”

I froze for a moment, forgetting my intention to tease her. I’m…… that much?

“What’s with that dumbfounded expression?”

“Ah, no. I……”

I knew that Sabrina had come to rely on me a lot at some point, but I never imagined she thought of me to this extent. We were always too busy bickering.

“It’s only natural, isn’t it? Back then, mother was sick, father was bad, I was young, and you were excessively mature.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s not just me. Jonathan too, and mother…… though she doesn’t express it, yes. Maybe she relies on you even more than I do.”

I couldn’t answer and just looked at Sabrina for a moment. Then she came over and hugged me as I sat there dazed.

Sabrina always smelled strongly of roses. I used to scold her for using too much expensive cosmetics, but the familiar scent actually calmed me down.

Her tastes had always been firm since childhood. I took a deep breath, buried in what could be called a bouquet of dresses.

“Look at this time too. In the end, you saved all our lives again.”

“……”

“Actually, even when we lived like princesses in the Pennel mansion, I wasn’t that happy. Rather, I preferred the time when we lived together in a small house.”

Before I knew it, I had completely relaxed in her embrace. I thought I was fine, but it seemed I had been quite tense since coming to the duke’s residence. It felt like the breath that always floated lightly near my heart, fluttering, had settled all the way down to my lower abdomen.

“It’s not because you’re in love, is it?”

Sabrina chuckled. Every time she laughed, the decorations on her dress tickled my cheeks.

“That’s right, there are quite a few people who would be sad if I left.”

“……”

“So we’ll be happy here too. As long as we can all gather together for dinner.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“And someday……”