Chapter 28

Dean added that recreating glass windows using aquarium ice had failed.

‘Why does a house made of snow look sturdier than the house I used to live in?’

Making that sad comparison, Reina stared fixedly at the snow house.

After giving a few more explanations, Dean said he had to help with making furniture and left.

“Reina Botn, so where’s the snowman?”

“Yes?”

As Damian lifted the branches and spoke, Reina nodded, going, ‘Ah, right, the arms…’

“Over there. It’s not far from here.”

Reina and Damian headed to where the children had built the snowman.

There was one large snowman and one small one. Damian compared the lengths of the sawn branches again and began fitting them in as arms. After giving the snowman arms that suited it nicely, Reina looked pleased.

“You’re putting a lot of effort into it.”

“It’s a snowman Boni and my lady made.”

“So it’s a joint project?”

Damian stared at the snowman. For some reason, all around it were piles of snowballs with two leaves neatly stuck on each.

“Those snowballs…”

“Those are snow rabbits my lady and Boni made. Aren’t they adorable?”

“They are adorable.”

Just as Damian was about to ask what those snowballs were supposed to be, he closed his mouth and accepted it at Reina’s words.

“…”

He rolled his eyes slightly, then looked down at Reina as she carefully picked up the snow rabbits and neatly arranged them while sitting on the ground.

“Reina Botn.”

When he called her name, Reina, who had been crouching, lifted her head and looked at him.

As their yellow eyes met, Damian finally spoke the proposal he had been holding onto.

“In a few months, I’ll have to properly go up with Estelle.”

Whether Damian wanted to or not, it had to be done.

If possible, he didn’t want to expose Estelle to danger. But that was only his wish. Keeping a child hidden away was nothing more than shallow protection.

What if Damian were to meet with an unexpected accident and Estelle was left alone. He didn’t even want to imagine it.

So that Estelle could be safe even without him, she needed strong bonds beyond just her parents.

“Reina Botn, have you ever thought about receiving training to obtain a formal title?”

For Reina to fully secure her own private property, she needed power.

Recently, the flow of the empire had begun to change, and people were starting to say money itself was power, but society was still centered on titles.

And even if one had power, an empty title without the wisdom to use it or allies to advise them was worse than having nothing.

Damian knew this very well.

So he planned to first grant Reina a simple title without land, teach her enough knowledge to protect her assets, then later create another valid reason to bestow a proper title.

He believed there wouldn’t be much opposition to a landless, simple title.

However, even granting just a title met with significant opposition.

There were also loyal retainers who offered realistic advice, so he couldn’t simply dismiss their opinions.

“If a title is granted to a maid on the grounds of showing loyalty, there may be those who try to abuse that precedent.”

Reina hadn’t kidnapped Estelle and had handed over information about the blackmailer.

That was essentially all she had done. Coldly speaking, a small reward and assigning guards would have been sufficient thanks.

‘Then why.’

Damian looked at Reina with an unsettled expression.

‘Why does it feel like it shouldn’t end that way.’

Reina, who had no way of knowing what he was thinking or worrying about, couldn’t hide her flustered feelings and sprang to her feet.

“T-That’s far too much for me!”

“That?”

“Th-That kind of title!”

“It’s only a junior baron title. It’s not hereditary and comes with no land. Is it still too much?”

“That’s…”

“As I said earlier, in a few months you’ll be going up properly with Estelle. I plan to take you along as Estelle’s nanny.”

“…”

“Not as a maid like now, but as an official nanny.”

There were other maids assigned to Estelle, but Reina was the only one Estelle truly followed.

Because of that, neither Damian’s half brothers under him nor anyone within the ducal household dared to look down on Reina.

“Once you go up properly, there will be those who try to take advantage of the fact that you have no title. Even if I’m backing you.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Reina understand Damian’s words and nod.

“Then is there no way for me to just work at this estate?”

“…What?”

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to readily accept Damian’s proposal.

After thinking for a moment, Reina spoke.

“…I’m worried that even if Boni and I go along, we’d only become a burden to you and my lady.”

She pressed her brow and frowned slightly before continuing.

‘My role ends here.’

From the start, Reina was nothing more than a device meant to betray Estelle once and make her confirm her father’s love. Later, Estelle would go up properly and meet a better guardian than Reina.

That was how the original story went.

Of course, it was only the original story.

Still, she couldn’t change that child’s life just so she herself could live comfortably.

‘She’s already been unhappy enough.’

She knew what Estelle’s life had been like through the lines of the novel.

[A freezing winter attic at the very edge of the mansion, untouched by heating magic.]

A child sleeping with nothing but a thin blanket, without the warmth of another person to cling to like Reina and Bonita had each other.

A child despised by everyone because her hair was white and her eyes were pink.

The first page describing Estelle, who was always shrinking in on herself after being exposed to unjust violence from adults, made Reina’s heart ache.

But she couldn’t explain any of that to Damian.

“Why do you think that? Taking you and your child along doesn’t stain the name of Winternight.”

And even if it did, the prestige of the ducal house would remain unchanged.

As she listened to him, a sudden question arose in Reina’s mind.

‘Why is he doing this much for me?’

What was certain was that he wasn’t acting this way out of affection for her.

He cherished his missing wife and loved Estelle deeply. In the novel, he was nothing less than a perfect father.

That was why Reina couldn’t understand it at all.

“My education is lacking, and I’m not very smart. So I probably won’t even be able to finish all the training you suggested.”

“If your education is lacking, that doesn’t mean you’re not smart. And there are plenty of nobles who are less intelligent than you.”

“…”

“Most inherit their titles by birth, so intelligence hardly matters. That’s part of why society is running strangely right now.”

Would someone normally say things like that so openly? Reina stared at Damian with her mouth hanging open.

They said there was no one above him except the imperial family and the high priest, and he really did speak without restraint.

“…I see.”

“If you don’t want it, I can’t force you.”

He had only intended to let her stay under the ducal family’s protection until she adjusted to that status, but from what she said, she seemed to have no interest in it at all.

“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”

“I did spring it on you suddenly, so I’ll give you one more day to think about it.”

“…”

Reina thought that even with more time, her decision wouldn’t change.

* * *

“Mom, I’m cold…”

The knights who had said they’d finish the snow mansion in a single day actually did it.

Reina thought it was incredible.

“You played in the snow all day, that’s why.”

“Ugh…”

By the time the sun set, the snow house was complete. There were voices regretting that there wasn’t enough time to make more furniture, but to Reina, it already felt beyond human limits.

Seeing the brilliantly completed snow mansion, Estelle and Bonita jumped around in excitement.

The knights, pleased by the children’s reactions, explained how they had managed to finish it so quickly.

They enthusiastically talked about how they used aura and magic and all sorts of things, but Reina, who was completely ignorant in that area, couldn’t understand a single word.

“Are the knights of the ducal house… each and every one of them secret weapons?”

“Should we at least wrap ourselves in blankets until the bath is cleaned and filled?”

“Mhm.”

Reina wrapped Bonita snugly in a warm blanket.

The children ran around the enormous snow mansion until well past dinner time before finally coming back outside.

Only after coaxing them by saying the snow mansion wouldn’t melt tomorrow anyway since it was midwinter did they manage to return home.

After eating the warm stew the chef had prepared, Bonita went to her room, still wrapped in a blanket and continuing to complain about the cold.

“I’m cold…”

“Oh dear.”

She must have had that much fun, not even noticing the tips of her hair had frozen.

Once inside the warm room, the ice on her hair melted and water dripped down. Bonita shivered, not even thinking to take off her coat.

“Wait just a bit. Mom will fill the bath right away, okay?”

“…Okay.”

Reina looked sadly at her daughter, who was crouched on the sofa wrapped tightly in her blanket, then headed into the bathroom.

‘I should’ve paid closer attention.’

Thinking the knights were watching and that it’d be fine had been a mistake.

What if Bonita caught a cold? Reaching that thought made her heart uneasy.

“A cold…”

Frowning, Reina scrubbed the bathtub hard and rinsed it with water.

Something felt off.