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And now…
Lillian realized how great the painters in the newspaper and the artists who painted the portraits of Locket were.
‘It wasn’t an exaggeration.’
Cedric Maynard, Maynard’s great master, was truly an incredibly handsome man.
I was sitting in the drawing room, touching a warm cup of tea to soothe my nerves, when the door opened and he came in.
At that time, Lillian thought for a moment that the angel’s hair might be black.
Of course, when I suddenly checked every part of my body, I unknowingly cringed in embarrassment, but seeing the scars and frowning and not asking about anything else, it seemed to have gone over safely.
‘I think it was wise to make a scar.’
Lillian sighed and turned her gaze to Cedric, who still looked like an angel.
When I see him surprised to see herself, and when I see an expression of disappointment right away.
Until this moment when he finally embraced herself, her thoughts toward Cedric remained unchanged.
‘I thought it would be very rough since he spent 10 years on the battlefield.’
Cedric felt more like a piece of work made by cutting glass than rough.
At first glance, it looks beautiful and solid, but when you look a little closer, you can’t erase the precarious feeling.
The long eyelashes, sculpturally beautiful features, emaciated cheeks, and deep eyeholes especially created such an atmosphere. Perhaps the fact that he burst into tears when he saw Lillian had a big impact.
Whatever the reason, it was a really strange feeling to see an adult man who was a lot taller than her kneeling and hugging her.
‘If you had been here, would you have thought the same as I did?’
Or would you, like your father, start hugging?
If I had been the daughter of this family, if it was the moment I met my father again after being separated for 10 years, I would have had to cry the same way here, right?
‘But…’
No tears came out.
Was it because I cried so much when Swan died? Or is it because there is nothing to make me sad other than Swan’s death?
Instead of crying, I felt dizzy and confused.
It may be because Lilian’s surroundings are all tear-stained people.
No one could help but shed tears at this thrilling father-daughter reunion.
“Huh, huh, finally finding the young lady…”
“How hard must it have been out there?”
“I thought I couldn’t find you, but I didn’t expect you to come here in person…”
The people of the Duke’s family seemed to have a deep affection for their master.
If you listened to each of them add each word, you could feel how strong the people of this mansion were for their lost children. Especially since they couldn’t find her for 10 years, it was clear that this moment would feel like a miracle even more.
And that made Lillian even sadder.
‘There were a lot of people waiting for you like this, Swan.’
If you were alive, you would have been the main character of a wonderful story more than anyone else.
But still, you are the princess of my life and the heroine of my fairy tale.
‘I’ll fill in the unfinished story.’
Lillian closed her eyes at the thought. It was because she didn’t have the confidence to hold on to her spinning head any longer.
The field of view is tilted.
“… Lady! Lady!”
“Lillian!”
Just before losing consciousness, the last thing Lillian saw was Cedric reaching out hastily toward her.
The girl thought it was a pretty good scene to start the life story of the beloved heroine.
***
The reason the child who walked back to Maynard on his own fell was because of a fever.
The reason was simple. It’s because she worked hard for several days in the cold weather.
“It is presumed that she came in a grocery wagon. It seems that she was trying to sneak in because she wouldn’t be able to come to this neighborhood dressed like that. Dean, who brought the groceries, said he didn’t know anything.”
Maynard’s butler, Stefan, finished the explanation.
Cedric, who had been silently listening to the explanation, opened his mouth a beat late.
“… Where is the child from?”
Maybe it was because he couldn’t control his emotions while looking for the child. Even so, Cedric’s low voice was slightly low enough to give goosebumps. However, Stefan took out something with an attitude of familiarity and held it out in front of Cedric.
It was a piece of paper.
“I found something like this in the luggage she brought.”
“What is this?”
“It is a custody deed. It is a certificate issued collectively to minor children.”
“I heard she came from an orphanage.”
“Usually, I know that the head of the nursery school has it, but it may be different depending on circumstances.”
Stefan was right. I have heard that sometimes nurseries that guarantee children’s autonomy hand over certificates to children so that they can choose their adoption place.
Perhaps the nursery school my child lived in must have been such a place.
It seemed that she had been in a fairly good nursery school.
There were a lot of wounds on the child’s body, so it was a wound on the way…
There was a bit of a strange corner for such a thing, but Cedric decided not to think deeply about the wound first.
Instead, he read the custody deed slowly, and carefully. To the point where you can see at a glance the eyes full of longing and affection for the lost child, trying to follow the traces of the past 10 years.
‘Lillian.’
The first thing that came in was the child’s name.
Then, when the child entered the nursery school, the registered weight, height, etc. at the time.
Seeing Cedric’s eyes redden again, Stefan cleared his throat lightly.
“Before I reported it, I also looked at it, but it is very similar to the lost lady. Isn’t the timing especially the same?”
“… You know better than I do.”
At that time, he was away on the battlefield.
“In my opinion, I dare to say that this time it must be real.”
Cedric’s gaze slowly rolled toward Stefan.
It was tinged with a hint of rebuke. He seemed to be asking why he wasn’t so confident when she first set foot in the mansion.
The butler, who understood his master’s will, hurriedly explained.
“All I was told by the guard was that the 10-year-old was holding something that seemed to have Maynard’s seal on it, demanding to see the Duke. It was like a keepsake from the madam who disappeared together with the circumstances… If I’m proud of that alone, how dare I deserve to be your vassal?”
“You’re a good talker.”
However, the answer that came back was cold.
Indeed, his nature was far from affectionate.
When his agitated heart calmed down after meeting Lillian, Cedric’s nature, which had found the reason, was sharpened more sharply than ever. The greater the agitation about the child, the more so.
“Sure, Stefan. I trust you. Because it was you who looked after the child while I was away. But I cannot help but consider the possibility.”
“It’s a possibility,”
“Lillian, the possibility that this child is a fake who was lucky enough to pick up my child’s things.”
“Could it be possible? There has never been a child whose situation overlaps with the time of the disappearance.”
“It could be a coincidence.”
Cedric sharpened. Circumstances similar to the story of his lost daughter could arise. It was even more so when considering the possibility of coincidences even if they were not made intentionally.
He was afraid. All the more so the more that Lillian’s presence, the certificate the child carried, proved that Lillian was his daughter. All the more so because there were so many things that he almost fell for, and there were many more who would deceive him.
What if he took it as his child and lied to himself again this time?
As much as I was desperate to find my child, as much was the relief I heard when I thought I had found it was enormous.
At the same time, however, I felt that way.
“But if this child is the real child…”
It wouldn’t be enough even if I poured out all the things I couldn’t give for the lost 10 years, but I felt guilty for having such doubts.
Even now, I wanted to go to the side of the fallen child. The moment Lillian collapsed in front of him, Cedric felt the world flicker.
I hated being swayed by that feeling.
Nothing was known about Lillian except that she had been brought into the nursery at about the same time as his daughter’s disappearance, and that she had brought a pendant with her.
What if you’re blinded by them and act like a fool like this, and later it turns out to be fake?