Chapter 103
Chapter 103: The Intruder at the Grand Duke’s Mansion
“Sally’s Maid Diary” was a storybook filled with memories of Lupeon, not only from childhood but also from when she had first arrived in the North not long ago.
Elena, wearing a tender smile, asked in a gentle voice.
“You seem to like this book too, young miss.”
At her question, Anasha hesitated for a moment before giving a small nod.
The way she twirled her snow-white silver hair with her fingers made her seem rather shy.
“Yes, I love it! Besides, I heard it was recommended by my new sister?”
Now Elena realized that while Anasha enjoyed the book itself, she seemed to love it even more because her new sister had recommended it.
Touched by the child’s words, Elena showed a gentle smile.
The two soon sat leaning against the bed, and Elena caressed the storybook as she continued.
“This book… I really loved it too.”
“Wow, you too, new sister?”
As Anasha’s eyes sparkled with interest, Elena gently stroked the child’s head.
“Yes, the prince in this book was my ideal type, you know?”
“Really? That’s so interesting!”
“What is?”
“The friend who gave this book said the same thing.”
At the child’s response as she tilted her head, Elena blinked and asked back.
“What…?”
Anasha seemed to consider whether she should tell, then lowered her voice as if worried someone might hear.
“I heard that big brother’s friend left this book behind.”
“…!”
Only then did Elena realize that this storybook found in the Grand Duke’s library was the one she had lost in her childhood.
Though she couldn’t understand why Lupeon had brought this storybook all the way to the North.
Her heart began to race at the thought that he must have kept their memories together all this time.
The fact that they shared the same memories felt even more overwhelming than she had imagined.
As Elena remained lost in thought without saying anything, Anasha tilted her head and called out to her.
“New sister…?”
Elena, barely suppressing the lump in her throat, forced a bright smile.
“It seems my ideal type is still a prince, both then and now.”
‘Lupeon Simon Argenta…’
She tenderly called out that name in her heart, the name she wished to someday call her fiancé.
* * *
Before they knew it, pitch darkness had fallen across the sky, and Anasha had dozed off beside her new sister.
Seeing the child sleeping soundly, presumably tired from the day’s sacred power training, Elena felt even more concerned.
As Anasha furrowed her brow slightly and mumbled in her sleep, Elena firmly held her tiny hand.
“Don’t worry, young miss. I’ll take all your bad dreams away.”
After reciting a spell for the child to sleep peacefully, Elena placed a softly scented sleep candle on the bedside table.
Lying back down beside Anasha, she mulled over their earlier conversation.
‘So Lupeon thinks I left the storybook behind…’
A soft sigh escaped Elena’s lips. The memory of how her relationship with Simon had inevitably grown distant in childhood suddenly crossed her mind.
Though they hadn’t fought or fallen out, she couldn’t visit her friend anymore.
Despite her determination to one day proudly visit him as her true self, they each had duties to fulfill in their respective positions.
As they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder—they had simply grown apart naturally with the passage of time.
But that didn’t mean Elena had forgotten that boy.
From young girl to grown woman, she had always missed him.
‘Perhaps the reason I still can’t forget Simon…’
Maybe it was because she had always kept him in a corner of her heart.
Only then did Elena feel the knot that had been tangled in her mind slowly beginning to unravel.
As she recalled one small childhood memory after another, her feelings for him seemed about to overflow uncontrollably.
‘Is there any reason I shouldn’t love you?’
Perhaps there was no reason anywhere that Elena Rohenbach shouldn’t love Lupeon Simon Argenta.
If she were to confess these feelings to Lupeon, what kind of face would he make?
Just as Elena was faintly pulling at her lips, imagining his expression that she could hardly picture—
Clatter—
Startled by a noise from somewhere, she soon discovered someone trying to break in through the window of the child’s room.
She hurriedly recited an incantation to prevent the intruder from opening the window, but this was only a temporary measure.
She intended to use that time to wake Anasha and head for the door where the knights would be waiting.
“Young miss, please wake up!”
“Mmm? What’s wrong?”
As the child blinked in confusion upon waking, Elena swallowed dryly and pointed toward the window.
“We need to get out of here quickly!”
Upon spotting the intruder, Anasha hurriedly got up from the bed and grabbed her new sister’s hand.
The two soon approached the door, but Elena’s plan ended in failure.
The door wouldn’t open at all, presumably due to a high-level barrier spell.
Even reciting the magical incantations she had learned at the academy didn’t change the situation.
“Sir, can you hear me? Answer me!”
She desperately called out to Josephine and the knights who should have been waiting outside the room, but no answer came—perhaps a soundproofing spell had been cast on the child’s room as well.
“New sister, what do we do now?”
As Anasha asked in a trembling voice, clearly terrified, Elena firmly held the child’s hand and hid her behind herself.
“Don’t worry. I will… definitely protect you.”
Click—
The intruder finally broke through the firmly locked window and leaped over the windowsill. Then he appeared before them with a triumphant attitude.
The man, wearing a mask and fully armed, was emanating a terrifying killing intent.
Elena felt her blood run cold with extreme fear, as he looked every bit like an assassin.
Never before had an intruder entered the child’s room and shown themselves directly.
Unable to organize her confused thoughts, she glared at the assassin with a face drained of color.
‘Who could be behind this? No, how can we escape?’
She could feel the child trembling as she hid behind Elena, clutching her skirts tightly.
“It’s alright, young miss.”
The intruder, who had been quietly observing them, twisted his lips into a smile and shrugged slightly.
“No need to be scared. If you do as I say, I’ll kill you painlessly in one go.”
Elena unconsciously swallowed at his glinting eyes.
The intruder pulled out a dagger from its sheath and skillfully twirled it around.
Elena watched his movements with heightened senses.
The intruder was clearly connected to the Imperial Family and Marquess Byzantium.
That’s why they had meticulously planned this, even using unauthorized magical tools.
Elena forcibly suppressed her rising anger. Surviving with Anasha was the priority now.
First, she needed to buy time until Lupeon and the guards noticed the situation.
“Tell me what you want.”
The intruder exhaled a long sigh as if annoyed and raised his dagger, as if there was no more time to waste.
“I only need that girl, not you.”
‘That absolutely cannot happen.’
It was clear they intended to kidnap Anasha and threaten Lupeon with the child’s life.
The intruder threw the dagger as if stabbing toward the two, and Elena hurriedly recited a defensive magic spell.
The dagger bounced off the small barrier that formed and fell to the floor, and the intruder who had been watching instantly approached them.
Just as Elena, limited by her temporary defensive magic, quickly embraced the child—
The intruder struck at her neck with the side of his hand, and Elena, barely avoiding a vital point, collapsed to the floor.
“New sister…!”
At the suddenly unfolding situation, Anasha called out to her new sister while bursting into tears.
Just as the intruder clicked his tongue in annoyance and reached to grab the child’s neck—
