Chapter 4

After that, the little white haired child, Estelle, followed Reina everywhere.

Reina happened to have a daughter around the same age, and more than anything, Estelle liked Reina the most. Because of that, the duke entrusted Estelle to Reina.

Reina didn’t know it, but Estelle had felt her chest grow warm and ticklish at Reina’s gentle attitude that never changed even after seeing her white hair, and at the few soft words Reina had quietly given her.

If it hadn’t been Reina, Estelle wouldn’t have been able to fully accept her name, nor would the walls around her heart have crumbled this much.

“Please take care of me from now on.”

“…Yeah!”

Maybe it was because she was the first kind adult Estelle had ever met, but she liked Reina more than any other grown up. Just like how the first candy you ever taste feels especially memorable, maybe that was why. Estelle didn’t need the other maids. She wanted Reina to stay by her side.

It was an unprecedented promotion.

The maids working in this ducal residence were all from better families than Reina, or had been recommended by other noble houses.

It was already a stroke of luck for someone who’d never worked as a maid before to secure a place here. Now she was becoming the first maid to the only young lady.

That honorable position was given to Reina, and many people whispered about it.

Reina had barely worked in the ducal residence for over a year. She was an outsider who’d rolled in from nowhere.

In front of Estelle, people joked playfully about wanting to take the young lady’s side. But the world of adults was far more petty and cruel than that of children.

Not obvious harassment, but the kind of pettiness that was hard to call out. Enduring all of it, Reina kept smiling beside Estelle.

* * *

“Reina, you know.”

“Yes?”

“I think I found my favorite food.”

Estelle spoke with the expression of a child in love. Reina laughed out loud, finding it unbearably adorable.

“What is it?”

“…Come here.”

Too shy to say it out loud, Estelle beckoned with her hand. When Reina leaned in close, the child whispered very softly.

“Pudding and cocoa.”

And along with that came Estelle’s worried mumbling. What if I only like expensive things? What if the duke finds out and doesn’t like it?

Reina almost burst out laughing at the cute concern, but she held it in. What seemed trivial to adults could be a huge worry for a child.

“Don’t worry. The master could buy ten years’ worth of cocoa for everyone in this estate and still be fine.”

“…Pudding too?”

“Yes, pudding too.”

Only then did the child look a little relieved.

“I make cocoa for my daughter every week too. There’s no way the duke wouldn’t be able to buy cocoa for you.”

Of course, before coming to the ducal residence, she’d worried about meals themselves, let alone cocoa. But that was too heavy a story to tell a child.

Estelle blinked her big eyes when she heard Reina had a daughter.

“A daughter?”

“Yes. I have a daughter about your age. Her name’s Bonita. She has the same pink hair as me and light purple eyes. And…”

The moment someone showed interest in Bonita, Reina found herself talking about her without realizing it.

Her expression softened as she went on and on about her daughter. Estelle stared at her, then smiled.

“Hey, do you think Bonita likes cocoa too?”

“Of course.”

“Then… can I give this to Bonita?”

Estelle looked at the warm cocoa clutched in her hands with a reluctant expression. Reina smiled and spoke gently.

“This is your cocoa, my lady. You should drink it.”

“Then, um…”

Estelle looked around the table, then slowly pulled a plate piled high with cookies toward herself.

She wrapped a bunch of cookies in a handkerchief embroidered with forsythia flowers, tying it up like a little bundle.

“This. Give it to Bonita.”

“Oh my.”

‘…It’s small.’

The bundle that had looked so big in Estelle’s hands became quite dainty once it was in Reina’s.

Estelle was a little smaller than Bonita. And Bonita was already much smaller than children her age.

Even though she said she’d eaten a lot, Estelle was still terribly thin. Looking at her, Reina’s heart ached.

Just as other people saw Estelle and treated Bonita kindly because she reminded them of her, Reina saw the Bonita of the past in Estelle.

Reina pressed down the ache in her chest and forced a gentle smile.

“Boni’s going to be really happy.”

Why did such a lovely child have to be torn away from her family and spend lonely days?

If this too was Bendicion’s arrangement, then God was truly merciless.

“It seems like you really love Bonita, Reina.”

“Ah… do I?”

“Yeah. A lot, a lot.”

Reina grew shy at Estelle’s words and touched her lips. Estelle hugged Reina tightly and said.

“I want to meet her too…”

The duke had told Reina that as long as it wasn’t dangerous, anything Estelle wanted was permitted.

There was no way her own daughter would be a danger to Estelle.

“Then I’ll ask Boni.”

* * *

“Boni, would you like to meet Lady Estelle sometime?”

“…Huh?”

Bonita was a very sensible child. It was obvious how she always tried to take care of herself so she wouldn’t be a burden.

That day too, as usual, she sat quietly on a chair by the door, waiting for Reina to finish work.

When Reina returned to the room at night, Bonita was holding two cookies she’d received as a gift from another maid, with a lantern lit beside her, staring at the door with bright eyes.

After handing Bonita a slightly bigger cookie, Reina made her suggestion. Bonita looked puzzled.

“The master gave permission. If you want to, you can meet her.”

“But…”

The child held the cookie she’d been about to bite with both hands, fidgeting as she thought. Then she asked.

“Is it… really okay for me to meet her?”

“Hm?”

“Lady Estelle is really, really important. She’s not like me.”

“…”

“If I make a mistake and you have a hard time because of me… what then?”

While Reina cared for Estelle, her close coworkers took turns watching Bonita. Sometimes Bonita was even entrusted to the knights. She knew well how busy Reina was and why.

“Boni…”

It was true that Estelle was a precious young lady, but the way she’d been described made Reina’s heart sink.

“What do you mean, not like you?”

“But…”

“You know how precious you are too, right?”

“Really?”

“Of course. Mom’s able to keep living because of you.”

Bonita hesitated at Reina’s words, then hugged her tightly without saying anything. Her hands were careful, probably worried about dropping cookie crumbs.

“…I want to meet her.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

To be honest, Reina also wanted Bonita to meet children her own age.

Bonita always went back and forth between the servants’ quarters and the training grounds, only meeting adults far older than herself. All the more reason.