It’s The First Time For Both Of Us

Chapter 5

Dad was still expressionless.

I was still in the same position as I was a while ago, wondering what that meant.

I turned my head and rechecked the tall ramparts that surrounded the mansion. It was a measure of safety.

From a distance, I could see the whole house at a glance, but now that I was close, I couldn’t see the top even if I lifted my head.

Everyone glanced and looked at me curiously, though they didn’t say anything. I pretended to be as calm as I could and held my luggage in my hands to distract myself from the unfamiliar feeling.

I tried lifting it.

“…?”

Dahlia was able to carry it with one hand, but when tried it, the bag didn’t move.

One more time.

I tried twice, but it budged just a little while sweat dotted my forehead.

Did I look funny in this position?

I could see people moving their shoulders, covering their mouths from the side, and turning their backs. Some people covered their twitching lips.

And when I wince to help me or not, but when I looked at my father standing next to me and just gave up. I then looked up at my dad.
I gave up and looked at my father pleadingly.

“Is it heavy?”

I couldn’t believe something so obvious had to be said out loud.

“A little… will you hold it a little longer?” I had no choice but to tell him.

The house that we had arrived at after many twists and turns was much bigger than I thought. The floor was clean enough to reflect my face, and there were also people at the entrance, though there were less than ten people, including my dad and me.

There may have been someone hiding, but it seemed unlikely in such a place.

“This is… your daughter, right, my Lord? She really is alive… Oh, pardon. Her room is right next to yours.”

After I came here, it was my first time hearing a voice except for my father’s. The man who had opened his mouth looked at me curiously. I decided to assuage the man’s doubts.

“I’m his daughter.”

Dad first met me a few days ago.

Then the man’s lips twitched too.

Why did people do that when they saw me? What’s even stranger is that everyone’s eyes are swollen.

I stared at him with pouty lips and the man bent down at me.

“You are exactly the same as him… sorry. Well, I’m Dante Evian, the general manager. I will do my best to help you so that you don’t feel uncomfortable. Please call me Dante. Make yourself at home.”

“Dante?” I called the man’s name carefully.

Dante’s face brightened. “Yes, that’s right.”

“You don’t have to be close to him. I’ll show you to your room.”

“…Okay.”

Well, I didn’t want to get along very well either.

I followed my father with my luggage and moved my feet determinedly, Dante following us. As I went up the stairs, a long and wide hallway was revealed. We stopped in front of the seventh door.

“This is your room.”

Even if my dad didn’t tell me, it was obvious that it was my room.

The doors of the other rooms were black and tacky, but there were plenty of flowers in front of mine.

“Your room is right next to Miss Mariette’s,” Dante added.

My father opened the door and my luggage was brought inside. “Take a rest.”

“…”

My dad shut the door after checking that I was completely settled inside the room.

I just looked at the door in bewilderment.

‘No matter how hard it is, how can you treat your daughter like this?’

I was still holding the handle of my luggage.

I looked around the room.

One bed, one table, one chair, one drawer. And three doors. Ten windows…

The room was spacious enough for thirty people to come in and sleep, but wasn’t there too little furniture? It seemed like a flaw no matter how I looked at it.

I took my hand to the zipper of the bag, thinking that I should take out my stuff first.

“No!”

I jumped at the sound of Dante’s voice outside.

Again, I heard Dante’s voice and so I pressed my ear against the door.

“No, my Lord. Of course, it’s not that I don’t know your thoughts as I’ve been assisting you for so long already. It’s simply that this won’t work.”

He was very different, not like people who keep their heads down, looking at their feet.

When I heard him raise his voice to my dad, I could almost imagine him taking out a knife.

I pressed my ear harder against the door.

“Why not?” My father’s voice was so low that I couldn’t hear it without focusing.

“You know, if the Emperor hadn’t turned a blind eye to it, he would have tripped in the temple.”

I thought of the original story while thinking about the story of Dante. Callen had searched the continent like this for Yuri.

Other people lied to him to get a reward and didn’t speak out of fear even though he saw Yuri die.

It wasn’t necessary for one or two family members to run away.

Even Descartes, who was with the emperor, would have been a pain in the neck.

“I don’t care.”

Again, Dante disagreed. “Get a hold of yourself, My Lord. There’s no way in the world to save the dead.”

“…”

Alas, even without speaking too plainly, I could surmise what was happening from the snippet of conversation.

A way to save the dead. It was obvious who he really wanted to save.

“Sigh…”

I let out a small breath so I wouldn’t be heard outside.

If I knew how to do it, I would have.

I sat down, held my knees, and leaned against the door.

When I came here in the carriage, I thought he was cold because he looked calm, but I guess he wasn’t.

“Please think of your daughter. Now my Lord has no choice but to rely on her.”

“…”

“No more bloodshed, please. If only for her sake.”

The words continued. I kept leaning at the back of my door and continued to eavesdrop.

“You must come to your senses before anything bad happens. Now she’s only six years old. That’s why she doesn’t know the truth behind the death of her parents!”

“Shut up.”

Dante’s protests died from the frost in my dad’s voice.

“I’ll just take out the stuff in my suitcase,” I told myself.

I thought it would hurt to hear more.

I unzipped my bag. It was quite difficult to open the bag because of its age.

Three dresses that my mom sewed herself, and several old handkerchiefs, including a cotton cape and a coat made from cuts from my mom’s fur.

I managed to keep them all in my arms, sniffing them.

“It’s not…”

The scent of my mother seemed to have faded. The clothes smelled of nothing but dry sunlight.

“Well, where do I put this?”

There were only four pieces of furniture, but they were all set to an adult’s height, unreachable for me.

I would have to find somewhere to stand on.

I put my clothes on the chair and approached the bed.

“…this is high, too.”

It wasn’t even a bunk bed. Why was it so high?

Even if I was capable of going up there, descending was another problem. If I fell off the bed, I might break an arm or leg.

I headed for the door instead of going up to bed.

I was going to ask my dad who had been talking outside for a while now.

“If he says no, I’ll ask Dante.”

It was a big door, but I could open it without difficulty. Unlike the door of the house I used to live in, it made no sound.

I looked around. “…No one.”

Dante and her icy father had disappeared. There wasn’t even a single ant visible in the hallway.

Kyak! Kyak!

Then, I heard a familiar crow outside the open window.

“Oh, right.”

I remembered the existence I had forgotten. Then I ran and put my hand on the window.

“Guardian!”

[Oh, my descendant.]

The crow sitting on a high branch flew in front of me.

I would have thought it was just a crow coming to attack me if it wasn’t for its round, jewel-like eyes.

“Did you have a hard time coming?”

[This is alright.]

The guardian looked proud of his own wings.

They also looked pretty good to me.

“Hey, help me out.”

This was the second floor and the hallway was too long, so she’d have to go down to find a footrest.

The guardian could fly, so he could easily bring her feet up.

[What can I do?]

“Can you get me a piece of wood the size of this?” I measured the size with my hands.

The guardian, who was looking closely, raised his head.

[Hmm, so lazy…]

“Huh?”

[So lazy]

What do you mean?

I explained again so that the crow could understand well.

“A piece of wood that’s as big as this. It’s because the bed is too high.

[I can roughly see where it is.]
I frowned. “I told you to bring it.”

[Hmm, I don’t want to.]

Once again rejected, I couldn’t hide my irritation. “You’re a guardian.”

[That’s right.]

“Then you help me.”

[Sympathy is not part of protection]

“…”

If he said so, I had nothing else to respond.

“Even if I’m having a hard time?”

[If you’re tired, eat bread]