Swan nodded with an uncertain attitude. At that moment, Maiana gently embraced Swan’s shoulders, making him look at her.

“Young master, no matter what you say, I won’t get angry. I promise. So, speak. What makes you so sad? What makes you… scared? Who says such things?”

Tears welled up in Swan’s eyes again. His young and fragile heart oscillated between fear and a desire to lean on someone, repeatedly sharp in its pleas.

The child, who had endured with all his might between his distant mother and a father who fell ill and could hardly be seen, was exhausted. At the tender age of ten, he had almost forgotten how to respond to such situations.

Maiana, looking at him with compassionate eyes, spoke.

“Come here, young master. May I hug you?”

Before the question could fully register, Swan burst into tears. Maiana, calmly stroking Swan, who was shivering like a rain-soaked puppy, spoke again.

“I understand it’s hard. I know you’re still lonely. It must be uncomfortable, not as easy as the employees you always saw at the mansion. But, young master, that’s natural. No one blames you for such things. No one hates you.”

“I… I did… I did something bad. Ah, really. A bad thing…”

Maiana hugged Swan even more gently and said, “What bad thing did you do? Tell me.”
Swan took a deep breath with a frightened expression. It didn’t seem like he was trying to avoid answering with tears. He was just engulfed in immense fear. Maiana gently stroked his head and tilted it, Swan looked up with teary eyes and tightly grasped her dress.

Scared. Swan thought. It felt like falling into a dreadful trap. Maiana assured that she wouldn’t hate him, no matter what he said, but was that really true?

Swan vaguely noticed how Maiana, the maids on the east side, and even Ariante disliked Jocelyn. Although Jocelyn rarely appeared on the east side, whenever she happened to be in sight, Ariante displayed a highly sensitive and nervous reaction. It happened last time too…

Yes, last time.

During the lesson with Ash in the garden, Jocelyn had tried to take him away. At first, Ash intervened, but Ariante didn’t stand up for him. And he just stood there like a fool, listening while Jocelyn spoke ill of Ariante!

What if Maiana hears this story? Swan wondered. Would she look at him with disdain and not leave? The thought made his stomach churn.

Then Maiana spoke.

“Young master, it’s very difficult to bring out secrets. But holding onto them alone for too long is like letting a snowball swell up and eventually turn into something even scarier.”

Something scarier? Can there be anything scarier than this?

Swan’s life was filled with fear, anxiety, and loneliness. Without a mother, rarely meeting his busy father, and falling asleep alone listening to the pitying gaze of the nursemaids and servants, it had been like that since childhood.

Since the Duke and Madam Duplée began wandering around the house, he even developed symptoms of stuttering for a while.

Fortunately, living in Weseng, he had become more fluent in speech, just like before. However, Swan was always a boy living with deep-seated fears.

It was a kind of fear that made it seem like a serpent with ruffled scales was waiting for him behind every corner… unclear but vivid terror. Jocelyn was overwhelming in this aspect.

Maiana knew what Swan was afraid of, and she had tried to coax it out several times. Cedric was the same. But every time, Swan, like a scared rabbit, kept his mouth shut and ran away. Seeing the child they couldn’t trust anymore unknowingly saddened them.

Maiana spoke again.

“I promise, young master. No matter what you say, I won’t hate you. If you really don’t want to say it, that’s also your freedom.”
Swan lifted his head. Despair and relief were simultaneously present on his small face. Unnecessary emotions for a ten-year-old.

“But I hope Young Master Swan could have comfortably stayed here. Laughing and playing with Lady Ariante, running around the corridors with Miss Kosha, receiving scolding, climbing trees, knocking over freshly cleaned candlesticks, secretly hiding after breaking a flower vase – it would have been nice.”