One Step Forward to the Flower Path - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Late that night, a carriage arrived at the duke’s residence. A girl and a boy with black hair got off the carriage.

“Welcome back. Young Lady, Young Master.”

Valerie Lancelot, a girl with dark hair and yellow eyes. Luan Lancelot, a boy of the same appearance.

It was Dante Lancelot’s twins.

“How was your class today?”

“It’s the same as always.”

Valerie, who took off her coat and handed it over to the butler Den, stopped as soon as she entered the mansion. The same was true for Luan.

“Something is weird.”

“Yes.”

“An unusual energy is flowing from the mansion.”

“It’s not a bad energy. Rather, it feels good.”

Valerie and Luan looked at each other. Their two faces were almost the same as if looking in a mirror.

“There’s not much that can make me feel this good.”

“Den, what’s going on in the mansion?”

As expected, although their heir apparent marks had not yet appeared, they were indeed children of the Duke.

Den smiled gladly at the frightening sharpness of the twins.

“In fact, something special happened during the day.”

Den knelt on one knee in front of the two siblings. Then the yellow cat-like eyes of the two, that resembled the Duke, turned to look at him.

“First of all, you have a new younger sibling.”

The twins frowned at the same time. Den wanted to laugh loudly at their unwelcome response.

You’ll change your mind once you know the truth.

“Younger sibling? Did father have another woman?”

“Or did the divorced former duchess gave birth to a child?”

Their sarcasm is just the same as their father’s. A proof that the twins grew up brilliantly.

“Neither.”

“Then how come we have a new sibling?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Den?”

Luan, who had been talking, closed his mouth firmly. Then Valerie, who seemed to realize something, suddenly made eye contact with him.

“No way, Lady Hugor’s child······?”

Den smiled affirmatively. Valerie opened her eyes wide. She looked like a 12-year-old child now that her face was flushed red.

Valerie leaped at Den.

“Where! Where is he! My new sibling!”

“Then did Lady Hugor come too? Are the two together now?”

Not only Valerie, but Luan also rushed. There was no big change in his facial expression, but both were clearly excited.

Seeing the children so happy, made him sorrowful to have to inform them the truth.

“It is said that Lady Hugor died two years ago.”

The two siblings’ faces hardened promptly. And Valerie’s cheeks, which turned red from happiness, became cold.

“Lady Hugor is dead······?”

“Yes. Remember that two years ago, there was a sudden decrease in the number of monsters on the continent. That was Lady Hugor’s doing, at the risk of her life.”

Valerie distorted her face. And Luan was wearing a grave expression.

Louise Hugor was a lady whom their father met after he got divorced from the former Duchess.

Both Valerie and Luan liked her more than their biological mother. She was a person who was sweet, kind, and strong.

Louise and Dante loved each other deeply and were expected to get married soon.

But one day, Louise disappeared. It was such a mysterious disappearance that even Dante, the Duke, could not find her.

She completely disappeared without a trace, that not even her close friends had any idea of her whereabouts.

The last news that they barely heard was six years ago. And now, she was dead, they couldn’t believe it.

They were looking forward to having a loving mother this time.

“Then, what about the child? How is he?”

“Actually, the child also had some problems. “

After the news of Louise’s death, now their newly found precious younger sibling had a problem too. Valerie and Luan couldn’t tell which was good news and bad news anymore.

“What’s the problem with the child?”

“······The child has the same power as Lady Hugor.”

‘Ah’. With that one word, the twins immediately understood.

The special power of Louise Hugor.

She was the only one in this generation to have that kind of power. A very special power that is born on this earth every ten or hundreds of years.

A guardian who can summon the Great Holy Spirit infused with divine power.

Louise’s child was also born with that power.

“But the power to summon the Guardian of the Holy Spirit is not passed down by lineage. Why is Lady Hugor’s child with that power?”

“I’m not sure about that either. However, it is said that during the two years after Lady Hugor died, the child was passed from hand to hand and was extracted of all her powers.”

“Are you saying that the power has been extracted from a child who was only three or four years old?”

“What kind of trash would do that······!”

“In that regard, the master is looking into it. “

Valerie and Luan looked at each other. As soon as Dante found out, he would definitely kill them.

The butler agreed with certainty, but that wasn’t what matter right now.

Den comforted the two.

“Countess Irene, who learned the truth recently, rescued the young lady and brought her here. However, her heart and mind were deeply wounded since she was tortured and suffered for two years.”

“Young Lady? Then is she a little sister?”

“Yes. The young lady was given with a very beautiful name which is Ivanna.”

Ivanna.

Valerie and Luan recalled the name. A name full of affection that suited Louise’s character.

“The child’s anxiety and alertness are severe, so it would be better for the two of you to avoid contact for the time being. Because she is particularly afraid of adult men, the master can’t come forward to greet the child.”

“Aren’t we okay because we’re kids?”

The twelve-year-old twins who normally behave maturely were actively appealing that they were just mere children. They seem to really want to see their little sister.

It was as good a sign to Dante, but the situation wasn’t very good.

Ivanna’s wounds were very serious.

“You’d better not overdo it. She’s even afraid of staying in the room.”

Valerie and Luan shook their faces fiercely. The more they listened, the angrier they became.

Louise was dead, and they dared to use their little sister as a sacrifice! She got hurt so badly and suffered so much, she was barely surviving.

We can never forgive them.

The twins grind their teeth.

“And father?”

“He went to check the lady’s room for a while.”

“Then I’ll see her later.”

“And you two. The fact that she is here is a top-secret, so be sure to keep silent. At least until she heals.”

“We know.”

The brother and sister replied at the same time they went up the grand staircase. Den followed the twins and reminded them one more thing.

“Miss Ivanna is now staying in the room where Lady Hugor stayed before. Please avoid that place.”

“Okay.”

As Dante said, the two children who inherited his blood, were precocious and smart for their age. As long as they were told so, the two children will never break their promise.

Although they are the children of Anhamun, the happy memories they spent together and left by Louise Hugor when they were still young was never light.

The two, who have been waiting for her since childhood until now, will never treat their blood-related sister badly.

Rather, they will give Ivanna the affection they couldn’t give back to Louise.

And it will help Ivanna’s wounds heal.

Den believed so.

✧────── ೋღ🌺ღೋ ──────✧

Alaine worked hard and personally made Ivanna’s breakfast.

She will surely eat it in a hurry, so she made a moderately cooled soup, a moist croissant, and strawberry juice.

It was very simple for the Duke family’s meal, but this would be appropriate for the young lady who is not familiar with this place yet.

Knock, knock.

“Young Lady, it’s Alaine. I brought your breakfast.”

Ivanna still didn’t know how to answer when someone came. So she opened the door without waiting for the child’s reply.

As Dante hinted, Ivanna was crouching in the corner of the room, not in the bed.

Alaine deliberately approached Ivanna with calm and collected steps. Perhaps thanks to the words that ‘I brought your breakfast.’, Her alertness was not higher than it was expected.

“I brought warm soup today. And strawberry juice, you like this, don’t you?”

She stopped at a suitable distance and put the tray down. Thanks to yesterday’s meal, Ivanna approached faster than expected. Her little nose sniffed and smelled the food.

“Come on, eat.”

As expected, Ivanna hurried to eat. But what she didn’t expect was that Ivanna didn’t use the spoon to eat the soup, but rather drank it with the whole bowl.

‘I would have been in trouble if the soup were a little hotter.’

It was a little embarrassing to see, but it was her priority to make the child eat first, Alaine left the matter alone because table manners were not important at the moment.

But the soup bowl was not made to hold and eat like how Ivanna was currently doing. Eventually, the thick soup spilled.

Ivanna’s old clothes were smeared with soup. It’s hard to even touch the body, even more so to change her clothes. What was she going to do about this?

Alaine didn’t show it in her face, and only worried about it inside her head, but Ivanna didn’t care about her clothes or anything.

She wiped the soup spilled on the clothes with her hand and sucked it up. The same with the part that was spilled in her hair.

“······.”

It was a very natural gesture, Alaine was speechless.

How could those maniacs starve a child so much that she behaves as if she could not afford to lose a drop of soup?

If you’re going to extract out her powers, you should have at least fed her properly, you damn bastards! Ivanna’s limbs were damaged like that by extracting the holy power without proper feeding!

I don’t think I can just let this be. I’ll catch all those bastards and kill them all. It was perfectly understandable to hear that Valerie and Luan were also upset after they heard Ivanna’s story.

I’ll never let those trash go unpunished.

As Ivanna stuck out her little tongue and licked it to the bottom of the bowl, Alaine vowed once more even firmly.

The next thing she held after putting down the empty bowl was bread. Alaine’s heart was torn by the sight of her opening her mouth widely and hurriedly chewing on the croissant.

Lady Hugor. How the hell did you end up dying? How did you leave behind such a lovely child? I bet you must be crying in pain while watching your daughter in heaven, right?

Alaine sighed inwardly.

Knock, knock.

“Alaine. It’s me.”

When the knock was heard on the door, Ivanna dropped the bread she was eating. Now she knows what’s causing the child to flinch even if she doesn’t say it out loud.

Alaine immediately began to appease the child.

“Don’t worry, my lady. That is your father. He didn’t come to pick you up, he’s looking for me, so don’t worry and eat.”

Ivanna did not hold the bread again. She looked away from the floor as if just giving up. She must be thinking they have come to take her to extract the powers again.

The next time she’s having a meal, I have to tell no one to come. She should eat her meals properly to gain some meat in her skinny body.

Alaine slowly got up and opened the door with care so that Ivanna wouldn’t be surprised. Den, her father, and the butler, were standing outside the door.

“When the lady is having a meal in the future, no one shall come. She stopped eating because the child thought you were trying to get her out to extract her power.”

“My mistake. I will be careful in the future.”

“But what’s going on, why are you all here?”

“Lady Valerie and Master Luan sent a gift to Lady Ivanna.”

Den shook two dolls. Alaine, who recognized it, burst into laughter.

“They will be good older siblings to the child.”

“Their love for Lady Hugor is so deep. Come on, go ahead and give it to the lady.”

Alaine closed the door after receiving the two dolls. She hopes Ivanna would be a little happier once she saw this.