Before losing her memory, Solea lay in bed all day. Even when she occasionally got up and moved, she was always quiet.
She was originally introverted, but after learning that all three of her brothers above her were adopted, even the occasional smile she used to show disappeared.
She just walked around, constantly watching her step and bowing her head apologetically.
‘…Someone as weak and useless as me shouldn’t have been born into this family. They must have been much happier before I was born. Now, because of me, everyone is being criticized. Just because of my mere existence…’
After the day Gray overheard young Solea’s tearful voice speaking to a maid through the door, he deliberately spoke more teasingly to Solea.
He wanted to see her express her anger honestly at least once, and he wanted to fight with her, shouting at each other. He wanted to break down the wall somehow.
But you see, my sister lost her memory and is now breaking down the wall. I only hoped for it to be dismantled.
Gray’s expression, holding Solea in his arms, turned strange. His brows were furrowed tightly, yet the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards.
“Hey. I’m the one who got hit, so why is your face looking upset?”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“Your face is getting weird. Don’t tell me you’re harboring some kind of feelings for me, thinking I’m not your real sister? Sorry, but I really hate that kind of thing.”
“Are you crazy!”
Gray shouted so loudly that he almost forgot he was holding Solea, nearly loosening his grip before quickly readjusting her in his arms.
“If you feel like you’re going to fall, at least struggle a bit.”
“With a fractured leg and a slapped cheek, a little fall is nothing.”
Gray’s sigh deepened at Solea’s nonchalant tone.
“…But still, how could you get slapped?”
“You have to get slapped to get compensation.”
“What?”
“There’s such a thing.”
Even if she doesn’t face the hammer of the law, she might at least face the hammer of the family. If it’s a powerful ducal family, that is.
If compensation comes in, it would be nice if they gave it to me. If it’s money used in this world, wouldn’t it be made of gold?
Solea, who was having an exciting imaginary conversation with a jeweler in her mind, didn’t care about her cheek, which was red and swollen.
Having been abandoned by her mother and in the cycle of abandoning her father, she was always alone.
Living through all sorts of situations, she realized there was no right answer in life.
Sometimes it was better to get hit, and other times, like a madwoman, she had to bite and tear to secure even a small share.
Would it be any different here? Well, at this point, a slap is nothing special.
“Gray.”
“What.”
“Does that blonde’s family have a lot of money?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Since they threatened the Duke’s daughter, couldn’t we extort some money?”
At Solea’s nonchalant attitude, Gray frowned deeply and kicked open the door to an empty room before the maid could open it.
Walking briskly into the room and placing Solea on the bed, Gray answered in a cold tone.
“…Would just extorting money be enough?”
You should also tear off that damn arm.
Solea, who didn’t hear Gray’s short added words over the rustling of the thick blanket, adjusted her posture comfortably.
Watching her quietly, Gray began to nag in his usual annoyed tone.
Now that you know everything, let me tell you, you are the Young Lady who will inherit the Duke’s family, so you need to realize more clearly how precious you are. So don’t do such dangerous things in the future. I will become your knight and protect you, but I can’t be by your side 24/7. What if something like this happens again? You need to know how to protect yourself to some extent. And why get hit? You should find a good way to resolve things without getting hit. If you were planning to use your body as a hostage to extort something, you were very wrong.
Blah blah blah.
Solea looked at Gray with a bored expression and asked.
“Why was I wrong?”
Gray’s expression twisted subtly.
“If you can catch a weakness, you should. It was the easiest and most certain way.”
Gray, who had been holding his lips tightly, slowly exhaled a sigh and spoke in a resigned tone.
“It’s not like you don’t have anyone to protect you, so why do such things?”
Solea’s eyes, which had been staring intently at Gray, wavered slightly.
Feeling a strange sensation of warmth somewhere inside her stomach, Solea deliberately joked while turning her gaze away.
“If my limbs were fine, I wouldn’t have let them go like that. I would have grabbed them by the hair one by one, spun them around to a lively rhythm, and then plucked their hair to use as dental floss.”
“…Huh?”
Gray unconsciously asked, having never heard such words before.
Although she exaggerated, she meant it. She never wanted to hear the words ‘parentless beggar’ again, even if they weren’t directed at her.
Just then, Duke Diego and Heyman entered the room. The Duke’s eyes fell on Solea’s bright red cheek.
“Solea!”
As the Duke approached the bed quickly, almost running, Heyman followed behind with a deeply furrowed brow and said.
“Father. I heard from the servants that those three who have been frequenting the mansion not only spoke rudely to Solea but also repeatedly made unreasonable proposals to start a business using our family’s land. Lea must have been too kind-hearted to tell you until now, right?”
“…Yes, that must have been the case. Since I don’t remember, today felt like the first time, but from our conversation, it seems they’ve been behaving this way for a while.”
Yes, it must have been like that before. And if it were the real Solea, she would have kept it to herself as Heyman said.
But why does Heyman’s expression look so stiff?
This feeling of unease creeping up the back of her head. Is it because his features make him look like a cold handsome guy?
The Korean concept of ‘feeling off’ is like telepathy from the future, a result of big data from a life full of hardships.
While Solea was lost in these random thoughts, the Duke’s face grew increasingly cold.
“To think such things happened… Lea, you should have told me if there was any danger. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. It was just a slap. It didn’t even hurt much. Using this as an excuse to badmouth our family…”
“What?”
“It’s a good thing, so don’t be too upset…”
“An excuse!”
Although it had only been a few days since coming to this world, it was the first time seeing Duke Diego angry.
With his eyes wide open, Duke Diego shouted loudly, veins popping on his neck.
“How can you use the word ‘excuse’ in front of your father! What father, what brother in this world would use their child’s slapped cheek as a means to get rid of a thorn in their side! No matter the cost, parents want to protect their children from even a drop of rain! How can you say your body is an excuse in front of your father…”
As Diego raised his voice in frustration, he suddenly noticed that Solea’s reaction was strange.
Solea, with her round eyes wide open, was frozen, clutching the blanket tightly with both hands. Her skin, which had been pale just moments ago, had turned so blue that she looked almost like a corpse.
“…Lea?”
Solea, so frightened that her lower jaw was trembling slightly, couldn’t take her eyes off Diego.
When the confused Diego reached out to Solea, she instinctively shrank her shoulders and lowered her gaze. Then, in a voice so small it was barely audible, she mumbled something.
“I’m sorry.”
“…What?”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I was wrong. I was wrong, Dad. I’m sorry.”
Solea spat out the words so quickly it was doubtful if she was even breathing.
Although it was the first time hearing the word ‘Dad’ from Solea since she lost her memory, this wasn’t what he wanted.
Diego quickly withdrew his hand that had been reaching out to Solea.
“Lea. Are you alright?”
“I was wrong. I won’t do it again. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“Lea, look at Dad.”
Although he spoke in the gentlest tone possible, when Solea slowly raised her head, there were small dewdrops in her eyes. The light reflected in her eyes sparkled beautifully, but her expression could not be described as beautiful at all.
“I was wrong. Dad. It was all my fault.”
Although she was clearly looking at Diego, Solea’s eyes were somehow out of focus, as if she couldn’t see anything.
Diego pressed his lips tightly together and slowly stepped away from Solea, one step at a time. After moving far enough that his hand couldn’t reach her, as Solea’s gaze approached, Diego relaxed his expression and spoke calmly in a low voice.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted just because I was upset. I’m sorry, Lea.”
After apologizing several times, the Duke left the room with slow steps so as not to startle Solea.
Heyman silently watched Solea, his lips moving several times as if to speak, but in the end, he couldn’t say anything and soon followed the Duke out.
“…Hey. Are you okay?”
Gray couldn’t move from his spot. Solea unconsciously grabbed the hem of Gray’s clothes and stared at the closed door for a few minutes before answering.
Her voice sounded quite normal and bright.
“Ah, I just heard a loud noise suddenly. I’m fine now. I was just a bit startled.”
Despite saying this, Solea was still clutching Gray’s clothes. Gray carefully looked back at Solea and asked again.
“Should I stay with you?”
“No! I’m really fine. I can be alone.”
Although he had clearly seen tears in her eyes earlier, now her face was clear and bright as if nothing had happened. It was hard to believe she had been in a panic state just moments ago.
But he could still see her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Gray quietly looked down at Solea.
“Hey. I’m going to hold your hand. Don’t be surprised.”
“Huh? Why are you holding my hand?”
Despite Solea’s irritated response, Gray gently took her hand that was gripping his clothes into his own.
It was a small, weak hand that fit in his with room to spare.
Gray’s body heat slowly warmed Solea’s cold hand from the fingertips.
He wanted to be there for her when she was having a hard time.
He believed that it was shared time and memories, not origin, that made a family.
It was the most precious lesson the late Duchess had taught him. He wanted to tell his sister, who was wearing a mask, that it was okay not to be okay.
After a few minutes, Solea’s breathing gradually calmed down. Soon after, she teased Gray in a playful voice.
“…Excuse me, Gray. As I said before, you shouldn’t hit on your sister.”
“Are you really crazy!”
Gray, who had been getting emotionally touched, jumped up and shook off Solea’s hand as if burned.
“You, you! Kid! Huh? After getting hurt, huh? Is something wrong with your head?”
“That’s why I’m asking why you’re holding my hand! If you want to read about forbidden love, go to the local bookstore! You’ve got weird ideas in your head after reading Madame Remsha once!”
“What’s ‘weird ideas’! And Rem, Madame Remsha, I didn’t read it because I wanted to, I read it for you because you were reading it! And that’s not why I held your hand!”
“Mmm, then why did a grown-up brother hold his sister’s hand!”
“Hey!”
“What!”
Although she was teasing him mischievously, Solea’s expression looked much more comfortable than before.
Even after that, Gray didn’t leave and continued to bicker with her while standing beside her as the healer sent by the Duke came to recover Solea’s injured body with magic.
“Oh my, your body is in tatters. The teacher will probably use up a week’s worth of magic on you.”
“You gray fish-eyes. 90% of this is from you beating me up. Do you kick people so brutally?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, wait. Fish-eyes? Did you just call me fish-eyes?”
“Do you even know what a pollock is to get angry?”
“You little… Just wait until you’re fully healed.”
“I’m looking at you right now.”
The healer, who had been laughing at the two, carefully left the room after treating Solea.
“My, what a pair of siblings, their relationship seems good yet not good, but good.”
Late at night, Solea returned to her room and lay quietly on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Today was clearly a mistake. To freeze up just because the person called ‘Dad’ raised his voice. He’s not even her real dad.
As she was tossing and turning for a while, she heard something tapping on the window.
Limping to the window and pulling back the curtain, a golden mist filled her vision. She squinted her eyes from the brightness, and when she opened them again, she saw small figures the size of a palm emitting yellow light.
The brightly shining golden shadows playfully pretended to shiver outside the window and then politely knocked.
“Haha, what is this?”
When she slightly opened the window, they carefully entered the room and started dancing excitedly.
Gentle music could be heard as well. Solea, led by the golden figures, went to the bed and lay on her side. She watched the figures dancing on the bedside table for a long time before slowly falling asleep.
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