Missing Cinderella

The office was empty. Siella sat on the chair on the other side of the ownerless office. Then she began to wait for Eschert. 

A long time had passed since then that she had lost track of time. It had been a very long time that the sky outside the window had turned dark. However, Siella waited for Eschert with open eyes. 

A very long time had passed before Eschert appeared inside the office. 

“You’ve arrived.” 

“…” 

Walking inside the room with a tired face, Eschert noticed Siella and paused. Siella quickly stood up from her seat and walked towards Eschert, stopping in front of him. 

Eschert opened his mouth with an uncharacteristically blank expression, “You….” 

He slowly opened his eyes widely, as if doubting what he was seeing. Making sure that the person standing in front of him was really Siella, he asked, “What are you doing here?” 

“Did I come to a place I shouldn’t have?” 

“It’s not that. I just want to ask what you are doing in the office when I am not here.” 

Isn’t that the same? In any case, Eschert’s ridiculous questioning behavior remained unchanged. 

Siella said with a smile, “You sometimes seem to forget that I am your fiancée.” 

Eschert still had an expression that he didn’t understand what Siella was saying. 

“Even if it was only an engagement on paper… no, forget it. Since I am not here to talk about your attitude, I’ll stop here.” 

He is a man who never listens to me even though I’ve said many things. Siella didn’t want to waste her time again in a meaningless conversation that would only drain her emotionally, so she got to the point right away. 

“Prince Edwin has scars on his body.” 

“What…? What are you talking about all of a sudden?” Eschert couldn’t hide his shock at her unexpected words. “Scars? What do you mean by that?” 

“From very old scars and scars that were barely healing – both his legs were covered with injuries.” 

“…” 

“In my opinion, it seemed to be traces from someone using a whip-like tool on him.” 

Siella tried to tell him only the truth, excluding her personal opinion as much as possible. Fortunately, as she wanted, her voice sounded dry. Although she still felt angry towards Eschert, Siella seemed very calm on the outside. 

“Impossible.” 

That’s why Eschert couldn’t believe Siella’s words. No, to be more precise, he couldn’t believe that Edwin had scars on his body. He hoped it wasn’t true that someone had treated the child with malice. 

“You can go and check for yourself if you don’t believe me.” 

When faced with Eschert’s reaction, Siella couldn’t stand it any longer and said with a cold mocking face, “After you see Prince Edwin’s legs and confirm that what I said was true, then….” 

In any case, he was the child whom he was earnestly looking for. So he shouldn’t do the same thing he did to me. No ignorance, avoiding, or turning him away by giving reasons such as he was tired. 

“Anyway, it would be better to confirm, but be careful not to startle Prince Edwin.” 

Siella immediately turned around and left the office after finishing her words, leaving behind the frozen Eschert. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

A week had passed since the banquet ended. Days had also passed since the day Kyle said he would come, so Siella became more anxious with each passing day. The thought of not knowing when, how, and what he would appear made her feel like her blood is drying up every day.

Siella had been confining herself inside the room. It’s also been quite a while ever since she checked the hallway outside her bedroom. She already experienced enough to realize with certainty that there wasn’t a single attendant who put a tray every mealtime. 

Sitting by her window, Siella took notice of the time and wondered when it might be a good time to see Leonard again. 

‘I need to get out of here as soon as possible after I make an agreement with Leonard….’ 

All of a sudden, someone knocked on her bedroom door. Siella got up and went to the door. But she stopped walking when she heard the voice beyond the door. 

“Please come in.” 

She didn’t open the door as usual, but the doorknob slowly turned, and the door opened when she gave permission to come in. The person who appeared through the widely opened door was Edwin, just as Siella had predicted after hearing his voice. 

“Prince Edwin.” 

“Noona.” 

Siella smiled rather cutely as she offered a seat to Edwin as he came inside. Edwin stared at Siella’s face for a long time and sat upright with his body pressed against the chair. Siella pondered for a moment, but ultimately left the door open. 

It’s not that she doubts Edwin would do anything. But just like a habit, Siella would leave the door open when she was in the same space with someone, and it seemed like it would make her feel at ease. She couldn’t completely be at ease no matter how much she had grown closer to Edwin. Everytime it was like this, she felt like she was not normal, but she couldn’t do anything about it. 

Eventually, as Siella sat from across Edwin, who was wiggling his hand under the table, he spoke first. 

“You’re not annoyed that I haven’t visited you for a while, right? Whether you dislike or hate me….” 

Fortunately, he wasn’t asking as to why the door was left open. Since this is the case, Siella also didn’t correct Edwin when he asked her if she was annoyed instead of upset. 

Instead, she shook her head and looked straight at Edwin’s eyes with a faint smile, she said, “There’s no absolutely such thing as disliking or hating you just because of that.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course.” Siella added without hesitation, “It would be difficult to hate such a good-looking Prince Edwin.” 

“I-I’m good-looking?” 

Only then did Edwin’s complexion brighten, as if he was relieved. 

“That, I haven’t had time to visit you noona for the past few days.” His voice was a bit stronger than it was a moment ago. “I really wanted to come here, but the adults kept asking me to come and meet someone even though the banquet had ended long ago, so….” Edwin continued with his gaze down, as if he was afraid to look straight at Siella and say, “And the Duke also gave me many escort knights, but they wouldn’t let me leave alone….” 

Siella stayed silent and listened to what Edwin was saying. She thought that it was fortunate Eschert didn’t neglect the child and had even started trying to properly take care of him. 

“Comcussions, ah, no, they say that concussions can show symptoms over time, and uh, they also say that eating well is the most important thing in malnutrition….” 

Then she suddenly felt someone’s gaze. It was a tenacious gaze that she could feel from a place not too far away. With her head slightly lowered, Siella pulled her gaze away from Edwin, who continued his hesitant words, and looked on the side. Eschert was standing there. 

Heok, she heard Edwin gasping. Edwin also seemed surprised to see Eschert. Siella studied Edwin’s expression for a moment before looking back at Eschert with a nonchalant gaze. Then Eschert, who was standing there, slowly opened his lips as if it was stuck in place. 

“What… in the world did I just hear, Siella?” 

Malnutrition and concussion. As if talking to himself, Eschert straightened his upper body  that was leaning on the side of the door, and asked, “Did I hear them correctly?” 

Siella didn’t answer. She just stared blankly at Eschert. Assuming that he wouldn’t be able to get an answer from her. Eschert finally turned his eyes to Edwin. 

“… Eddie.” 

Edwin’s skinny shoulders flinched when he called him at a low voice. Before long, she heard Edwin’s soft ‘Yes’. It was an intimidated and very tiny voice, as if it would fade away at any moment. 

It seemed like he was still uncomfortable with Eschert, and Edwin clearly shows that it was difficult for him to communicate with Eschert. Nevertheless, Eschert didn’t notice Edwin’s expression and proceeded on saying what he had to say. 

“Eddie, I want you to explain what you just said.” 

(T/N: My dear Eschert, that’s not how you coax a child you barely knew, alright? Use your head, my goodness~!)