I’m The Real Daughter, But I Don’t Want To Go Back To The Duke’s Estate - Chapter 11
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The next day.
‘Hm?’
Having just arrived at work, I tilted my head in confusion.
Somehow the Baron’s manor felt rather chaotic.
Even the servants at the annex all had troubled expressions on their faces.
It wasn’t a situation where I could approach anyone to ask.
‘What’s going on? Why is everyone like this?’
Bewildered, I quietly slipped out of the annex.
Fortunately, Amanda was alone cleaning windows.
“Amanda.”
At my call, she turned to look at me.
“Milena? What brings you here?”
“Well, did something happen by any chance?”
I lowered my voice and asked carefully.
“The atmosphere with the people at the annex wasn’t one where I could ask.”
“Ah.”
Amanda blinked her eyes and glanced around.
Then she whispered in my ear.
“Well, last evening the Lusert Ducal Family had dinner at the main manor, you see? But the young lady…”
I had only been listening to that whisper for a moment.
My face hardened stiffly.
‘What on earth is this supposed to mean?’
Cecilia disappeared? What kind of nonsense is this…!
“So they’ve sent people out to search for her, but they haven’t found her yet… Hey, Milena? Milena!!”
My body moved on its own.
When I came to my senses, I was running so hard I was gasping for breath.
“Where on earth are you going!!”
I heard urgent calls from behind me, but I didn’t even have time to look back.
‘Cecilia.’
I clenched my teeth tightly.
I had to find Cecilia as quickly as possible.
* * *
From what I remembered, Cecilia had been cooped up only in the Baron’s manor.
She probably didn’t know the surrounding area very well.
Moreover, since it was dark night when she ran out, I thought she wouldn’t have gone far.
“Young lady? Young lady! Where are you!!”
While thoroughly searching starting from around the Baron’s manor.
I asked myself a question.
‘So, what will you do if you find Cecilia?’
Cecilia.
The female protagonist of the original story.
The very person who would drag me, the villainess of the original, into ruin.
Realistically, it would be better to distance myself from her at this point.
If I continued to be entangled with Cecilia, my future would only become more uncertain.
Yet the reason I was desperately searching for Cecilia now was…
‘I just want to.’
I clenched my teeth tightly.
I didn’t really have a particular answer either.
But I didn’t want to leave her alone.
Because.
“…Just try blabbing about me carelessly somewhere else. I really won’t let it slide.”
Even though she had a cold expression on the surface.
Her blue-green eyes were filled with fear.
That desperate expression, as if driven to the edge of a cliff.
“Nanny, she’s my personal maid that I chose.”
“She’s my person. If anyone’s going to punish her, it’ll be me.”
To protect me, the way she somehow stood up to the nanny she had always feared.
I remember her frail shoulders trembling.
“This is delicious.”
“Doesn’t your mouth get sweet eating only sweet things like that? Have a sandwich too.”
And that gentle look when she pushed various desserts and sandwiches toward me.
Though she may have turned her head away primly.
Her cherry-like lips held a bright smile she couldn’t quite hide.
Cecilia’s lonely gaze, her cheerful smile, the kindness she briefly showed.
I had already seen it all.
For me, Cecilia was no longer simply the female protagonist of the original story.
She was a living person who felt all kinds of emotions.
‘So how could I turn my back on her?’
I bit my lips until they bled.
She had never once left the Baron’s manor until now.
Wouldn’t she be very scared in an unfamiliar place?
‘Considering how much Cecilia usually missed her family.’
How upset must she have been to run out from the dinner with her family that she had been eagerly awaiting?
How much time had passed like that?
“Huff, huff, gasp…”
I was breathing heavily while looking around anxiously.
‘I’m not really going to fail to find her, am I?’
If something had happened to Cecilia in the meantime…
But then.
‘Huh?’
Suddenly my eyes widened.
I could see a girl standing listlessly across the street.
Her appearance looked familiar.
Completely disheveled wheat-colored hair.
A dress that was a mess with dust and stains.
Though there wasn’t a trace of her usual neat appearance, this young lady who was still dazzlingly beautiful was.
‘Cecilia!’
However, Cecilia had a somewhat dazed expression.
Her blue-green eyes that usually sparkled intelligently were just empty.
Without looking around, she staggered and stepped forward recklessly.
The problem at this moment was.
“What, what?!”
“Miss, snap out of it!”
“There’s a carriage over there…!”
A large freight carriage was rushing toward Cecilia from the opposite direction.
The coachman hastily grabbed the reins, but it was already too late.
Neigh!
The horse cried out loudly.
A huge shadow fell over Cecilia’s frail body.
At the same time, Cecilia raised her head.
The teal eyes that had been unfocused all along seemed to regain their light for the first time, only to freeze stiffly in place.
“My lady!”
I raised my voice urgently.
I desperately reached out toward Cecilia.
‘No!’
At the same time, I felt something soft yet hot flowing out of my body.
A tremendous wind blew.
My golden hair whipped around violently.
That wind headed toward Cecilia standing far away, and the cargo wagon bearing down on her…
The situation changed completely in an instant.
* * *
Chirp, chirp chirp.
The cheerful sound of birds announcing morning rang out.
Cecilia, who had been crouched under a wall, blankly lifted her head.
When she had run out of Tranciere Manor, it had been pitch black night, but now the surroundings were brightly lit.
“Where am I…?”
Cecilia muttered quietly.
An unfamiliar street stretched out around her.
She only remembered wandering around aimlessly until exhaustion forced her to sit down anywhere.
It seemed she had dozed off in the meantime.
“Sigh.”
Looking down at herself, Cecilia unconsciously let out a long sigh.
She was a complete mess.
The dress she had worn out was covered in dust, and her usually neatly arranged hair was disheveled.
‘If my family saw me like this, I’d be in big trouble.’
Cecilia, who had been thinking that unconsciously, let out a bitter laugh.
She found it ridiculous that even in this situation, she was still worrying about her parents’ and family’s reactions.
Cecilia looked up at the sky while remaining seated.
The blue sky was mercilessly clear.
‘What should I do from now on?’
She felt utterly lost.
There was no way she could return to the Rusert Ducal Family.
Having run out because she couldn’t control her temper in front of her family, this time she would truly be abandoned.
Anyway, she couldn’t just keep sitting here…
“Ugh.”
Cecilia let out a shallow groan as she tried to stand up.
Her legs were screaming from walking around in shoes for so long.
Cecilia gritted her teeth and stood up.
Her vision spun.
Where should she go now?
When no one wanted her.
Just as she was limping along for a while.
“What, what’s that?!”
“…miss, get it together!”
“That carriage over there…!”
Suddenly the surroundings became completely chaotic.
At the same time, a dark shadow fell over Cecilia’s head.
Cecilia hurriedly looked up.
As her confused vision cleared, the massive shadow of a horse that had approached right in front of her…
‘Ah.’
What Cecilia felt in that moment was intense resignation.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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