I woke up early in the morning. As I looked outside the window where the sun hadn’t risen yet, memories of when I first arrived at the Duke’s estate came to mind.

The snake, curled up on the bed, wagged its tail.

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon, so you stay here.”

As I firmly put on my outerwear, the snake followed me, swaying its tail. I closed the door and stepped outside through the entrance with determined steps.

As soon as I opened the front door, I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Why do you always have that smirk during meals?”

“The kid secretly went out in the early morning?”

“…….”

Clemens, Deivan, and Mikael turned to look at me one by one. They stood by my rocking chair.

The chair was one provided by the gardener. After seeing me sitting on a regular chair every day, waiting for the Duke, he must have felt sorry for me and said, “Miss, you’ll be less bored sitting in this chair,” and brought it.

“How did you know I came out here?”

“Is that important? Right now, the smallest one among us is not sleeping and is standing here, you know?”

Deivan, frowning, securely fastened my outerwear.

“Who said you could come out alone without telling me? Without saying anything to me!”

“….Deivan, are you angry because I didn’t tell you, or are you angry because I secretly came out?”

“Neither of them!”

Firmly speaking, Deivan, who was being pushed away, was held by Clemens. Clemens sat me down on the rocking chair.

“I heard from the butler; you’ve been coming out and waiting since the day before yesterday.”

In fact, I started waiting from the day my father left for the capital, which had been a week ago. However, no one would know that. At that time, I sat alone in my room, staring out the window and waiting. I started coming out here, as Clemens said, only two days ago.

“You shouldn’t stay too long today. You might catch a cold.”

Clemens gently comforted me. I nodded slightly.

The rocking chair moved smoothly without a sound with the wind.

As I stared at the empty space, how long had it been? When my head nodded forward in a daze, the chilly breeze touched the tip of my nose, making me startle and open my eyes wide.

“How much time has passed?”

“An hour?”

Clemens, who was lending me his shoulder, kindly replied. At that moment, my nose tickled. At the same time, a handkerchief appeared and covered my nose and mouth.

“A-Achoo!”

Clemens gently wiped my nose with the handkerchief.

“Dear, let’s go in now. The butler will tell you when Father comes.”

I shook my head slightly at Clemens’ words.

Then, out of nowhere, Deivan, who had disappeared, appeared and quickly covered me with a blanket.

“If you keep doing this, you’ll catch a cold! Whose stubbornness are you inheriting to be so obstinate?!”
Still, my determination was firm. I sniffed, tightly holding onto the blanket that Deivan had placed over my shoulders.

“I’m fine, so all of you can go inside. What if I catch a cold?”

“What if you catch a cold? Do you even know how severe your colds can be?”

Deivan shouted loudly. Mikael, who was next to him, frowned.

“It’s noisy. If you catch a cold, just take medicine, don’t overreact.”

Mikael’s words were correct. I vigorously nodded in agreement.

‘But why is Mikael here?’

Clemens and Deivan are naturally worried, but Mikael doesn’t seem to be like that. While staring at Mikael with question marks in my mind, he bluntly said,

“What are you looking at? I just came out to read a book.”

‘…In this darkness?’

The sun had not yet risen halfway. Although the light was gradually emerging, reading a book in this brightness would harm the eyes.

“You should read the book in the room, Mikael.”

“……”

“Reading a book in the dark is bad for your eyes.”

“……”

“Anyway, thank you, both, Clemens and Deivan. I’ll use the handkerchief and blanket well. And I won’t catch a cold, so don’t worry and go inside.”

“Since you’re here, how can I go inside?”

Clemens sighed briefly and sat down on my right.

“Well, anyway, I came out because it was too hot to sleep.”

Deivan, with his fists clenched, sat on the left with a chubby face.

Mikael, who was leaning against the pillar of the rocking chair, also said with a gruff tone,

“I’m not here because of you, so don’t tell me what to do.”

“Ah, okay!”

It seems that Mikael is fine just leaning there. He nodded vigorously in response, but Mikael’s expression somehow became sharper.

‘I better not say anything more to Mikael.’

After that, I told Clemens and Deivan to go inside two more times. Even though they called me stubborn, they were equally stubborn.

In the end, I gave up and just looked at the rising sun.

‘Well, it’s better than being alone.’

It felt like time was passing faster than yesterday or the day before yesterday. Covered with a warm blanket, it wasn’t cold at all.

The sun, which was only half visible, brightly illuminated the surroundings.

People who were starting their day’s work were also visible. Just like yesterday and the day before, we guarded the same spot.

The employees pretended to know us well.