Chapter 3


    Now, food and shelter were settled. It would have been quite embarrassing if Laritte ran into Rose and


    the Count after she’d thrown herself at them like a maniac. But Laritte would never regret what she did


    that day.


    To reach the nearest vige, Laritte would have to walk along a one-way road on her tiny feet. She


    considered disassembling her furniture and returned to her spot beside the firece.


    Before she’d even realized, the potatoes were emitting a strong aroma, announcing that they were


    ready to be eaten. Laritte used a skewer to grab one of her cooked potatoes.


    “Ack, hot.”


    While waiting for the potatoes to cool, Laritte cut the steaming potatoes in half. She watched as the soft


    inside dribbled out of the golden, baked skin.


    After starving all day long, her parched mouth finally felt sweet relief. The well-seasoned potatoes kept


    Laritte upied for quite a while.


    Coming back to her senses, Laritte realized that the potatoes she had prepared for tomorrow were no


    more.


    “When have I ever eaten this much?”


    While living with her birth mother, Laritte considered herself lucky to even eat one meal a day. But


    usually, those meals her mother fed her were bad and left her sick and throwing up for the rest of the


    day.


    “I’m fed up with this disgusting leech!”


    Laritte’s mother screamed those words the day before she disappeared and abandoned her to the


    Brumayers.


    She’d been abandoned when she was eight years old.


    Although she didn’t have the Brumayers’ signature red hair or freckles, the Count had still recognized


    her as one of them. The younger Laritte believed they were good people who epted her.


    But they weren’t good people. They took her in simply because the nobility had a means of identifying


    illegitimate children and their fathers.


    But at least, from the moment Laritte entered the Brumayer household to when she left, she had never


    gone hungry.


    On special days or when Rose was feeling generous, she’d get to sit at the table. However, most of the


    time, she ate alone in her small, secluded room. Sometimes, if the Countess was in a bad mood,


    Laritte’s meals were their wasted food. She had stolen food from the kitchen once as well, avoiding eye


    contact with the servants.


    But it hadn’t been all that easy. The servants were no strangers to seeing Laritte with a stomach ache,


    but helping her was inconvenient for them, and so she would be ignored.


    Laritte ate with the Brumayers only because those meals were her only chance to be served fresh


    meat. She would have no other opportunities to eat anything as nice.


    Laritte patted her stomach, too full from eating today’s and tomorrow’s potatoes, and got up to go find


    water. It was her first rxing and full meal in a long time.


    Thest few weeks had been the most peaceful time of Laritte’s life, despite her sore feet from trekking


    to the nearby vige.


    She wasn’t too bothered lugging her wares down to the vige, and felt the same way about today.


    Laritte hummed while she walked back to the vi with her newly purchased vegetable seeds, nning


    to grow around the house. If the soil doesn’t freeze, these seedsy might grow some roots. Laritte


    decided to give it a try as a past-time.


    Laritte felt like she’d aged wonderfully when she opened the door to her vi. She was greeted by a


    burning candle illuminating her house. Gone were any traces of cobwebs, dirt, and bugs.


    This was the result of her constant cleaning.


    Though the vi was quiterge and spacious, Laritte had already given up on the second floor early


    on in her stay. While the first floor was inhabitable, she couldn’t say the same about the rest of the


    house.


    She hastily and skillfully checked around the house before preparing for the night.


    “Winter is approaching quickly,” Laritte murmured as she opened a window to ventte the vi.


    Before Laritte knew it, fall was nearly over. This meant that she would finally be able to put to use the


    firewood she’ds been collecting over time.


    She tossed some firewood into the firece and decided to make herself some stew to celebrate the


    long day.


    The cooking method was simple. Taking out a rusty but still functional pot, she removed all the blood


    from meat she recently bought.


    Laritte shook her head when she thought of how many potatoes were sacrificed to buy this piece of


    meat. After  peeling the potatoes and carrots, Laritte took out her secret weapon.


    She believed that the most important thing in beef stew was the spices.


    While taking out the bay leaves and the pepper, she remembered what the marketdy had told her.


    “Listen up, newly-weddeddy. If you add this, it’ll taste real good. Ya gotta stir-fry the meat and


    vegetables and add in this bay leaf…”


    So she took thedy’s advice and plucked some of the leaves.


    Kwang! A knock sounded at the door.


    No one besides Laritte ever came to this house. She was so surprised her heart nearly stopped. She


    wiped her hands clean and ran to the living room.


    “Who is it?” She murmured, it was an old habit she couldn’t let go.


    It couldn’t be someone from the Brumayers, right? At this time, they must have believed she already


    died and sent someone to clear her dead body.


    Unfortunate for them, she was still breathing.


    Not too long ago, Rose had yanked on her silver hair for a good amount of time. Today, her hair was as


    shiny as a nd of honey.


    And Laritte’s arms? She finally gained enough weight to be considered human. Thinking of the


    Brumayers erased her current healthy image of herself, bringing back memories of her once bony self.


    If the Count were to find out how well she’d been living, he might take away her house. Laritte ced


    her dishcloth on the table as she agonized over the situation.


    “Do I need to mess up my hair?”


    Suddenly, Laritte noticed something.


    While she worried, there had been no additional soundsing from the front door. Perhaps it was just


    a mountain animal passing by.


    Laritte approached the door with trepidation, pressing her ear against the crack of the door. There


    wasn’t a single sound to be heard, but her thoughts did not calm in her happiness.


    “Maybe a sparrow lost consciousness after hitting itself against the door?”


    Actually, that might be it! She didn’t know whether or not she could help the bird though, because she


    really just owned potatoes. Cautiously, she opened the door.


    And in front of her was… a man.


    Her first impression of the man was ‘big and tall.’ So tall that even if she were to lift her head, she


    would barely be able to see his face.


    Then, the smell of rusty iron prated her lungs. The man was covered in a mixture of fresh and


    hardened blood.


    Is he alive? Is he dead?


    He stood there unmoving, and even his fingers werepletely still. It was as if he was a knight


    standing in the middle of a battlefield.


    After a few seconds, he opened his mouth slightly.


    “……”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    A small, scratchy sound came out. Laritte narrowed her beautiful eyes and listened closely to catch


    what he was saying.


    “……”


    At that moment, Laritte saw the dark and gloomy man’s eyes.


    Golden eyes! Those were one of the traits of the Iyasa Empire’s Imperial family. Before her was a man


    with golden eyes, dark eyebrows, and thin eyes. Laritte had a feeling she knew just who this person


    was.


    He might be her husband. Just like the Imperial family, Duke Reinhardt also had a longsting history–


    He was a figure who stood on the battlefield as the Empire’s very few swordmasters. His reputation


    had been tainted when evidence of him staging a rebellion was brought forward at the time of his


    death…


    ‘Traitor.’


    “Nanny…?”


    While she was thinking, he spouted out this word. His voice was husky and he sounded like he hadn’t


    spoken in weeks.


    The man’s eyes were blurry and seemed out of focus. He was certainly looking at Laritte, yet muttered


    a name for someone else.


    His body, which had been standing tall like a tower, suddenly stumbled. The man slowly fell forward.


    Without thinking, Laritte caught him. His body felt frozen, perhaps due to thete autumn night. She


    was only able to keep him upright by holding onto him with all her strength. Then, he murmured


    something in her ear.


    “I…”


    A strange sensation came over her.


    Though his voice felt so dry, he sounded like he was crying.


    “I didn’t do it… nanny.”


    By the end of his sentence, he waspletely unconscious.