I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

10 – The Place I Want to Leave (6)

Henna was the only one of us who came from a commoner background.

Though my father was a modest man, he was a nobleman with a title of Viscount. Although we didn’t possess any territory, the nickname ‘Sword of Ellensia’ was better than most nobles’ calling cards. It was only natural that I would be of noble status.

There was no need to mention the bloodline of Terion and Sirienn, direct descendants of Ellensia.

Of course, none of us ever looked down on Henna because of her status.

I inherited my father’s modesty and got along well with the servants, never feeling a bit of regret for having a commoner background, since I had memories from when I was a modern person.

Surprisingly, the siblings felt the same way. It was due to their extremely high status.

From their perspective, they couldn’t feel much difference between ordinary nobles and commoners. So they had no choice but to be either extremely arrogant or extremely generous, and thankfully, they chose to be generous.

However, the barrier of status could never disappear.

In our private time, we could treat each other casually, but when there were others’ gazes, we had to strictly observe the hierarchy.

This included the concept of when our life in the shack would end. In order to be a maid when everything returns to normal, Henna had to work as a maid even at this moment.

That’s why Henna was the busiest person among us.

Her initial role was to serve Terion. And now, she was taking care of all of us.

Especially Sirienn, being a 12-year-old princess, required quite a bit of attention. Henna had a lot of trouble with her.

‘Terion and Sirienn are playing chess, but Henna’s nowhere to be seen.’

Henna seemed to be hard at work even now. I looked for her in the shack but couldn’t find her.

Like anyone else, I sometimes overslept.

Unknowingly, my body must have been tired. It was the first time I had overslept in this place, and there was no one to wake me up.

Thanks to that, I woke up quite late.

Even though the start of my day was late, my tasks remained the same.

If I woke up late, I just had to do my tasks late as well. After a simple physical exercise, I swung my sword.

By the time everything was finished, the sun was already beginning to set. It was a few hours later than usual.

So, all these things were coincidental.

“What? This shirt is torn at the shoulder.”

Sleeping in today and having my tasks backed up, as well as picking out poorly-conditioned clothes to wear out of many, could only be described as a coincidence.

That’s why my visit to the basement storage, which I rarely frequented, must have been a sheer coincidence.

Anyway, clothes were just something to wear that Hena picked out for me every morning. My siblings and I had no reason to go downstairs.

“Did I put the clothes here when I helped carry things? It seems right.”

The basement of the cabin was referred to as storage, but it wasn’t made up of just one single space.

On the contrary, it was divided into even more rooms than either the first or second floor.

With as many as six little rooms, their narrowness made them useful only for storage purposes.

And I happened to end up in one of those six rooms.

“Uh, ahh… My lord… Hah.”

As soon as I entered the room, I heard a breathless voice.

It was a familiar voice too.

A slender moan from an adolescent girl. A slightly urgent, rough breathing tickled my ears.

Even without touching, it felt as if I could sense the hot breath.

In Hena’s hand was a single set of clothes. It was a familiar sight.

Because it was the same clothes Terion had been wearing earlier. He would have changed into other clothes by now, so those would be filled with Terion’s sweat and scent.

Hena held the clothes close to her lips, while her other hand was pointing down.

A suspicious sound echoed and then stopped for a moment.

During that brief moment of hesitation, Hena noticed me.

As soon as our eyes met, an awkward atmosphere flowed.

“Uh, wh-what…?”

I had no choice but to close the door and leave.

* * *

After a while, Hena came looking for me.

Her face seemed flushed with embarrassment.

It seemed like she had come to talk about it.

“Um, Rajen. I have something I want to discuss with you. Do you have some time?”

“Sure. Should we go outside?”

“Yes. I feel like taking a walk.”

It seemed like she didn’t want the siblings to overhear, just in case.

The two of us quickly put on our clothes and went outside.

The topic of conversation was inevitably set.

I was not spiteful enough to bring up Hena’s embarrassing matter, and Hena didn’t have a strange personality that would intentionally stimulate her own humiliation.

Nevertheless, we had to address this matter at least once.

Because the person she secretly called out to in the basement was Terion.

I decided to use the most gentle expression possible.

“Hena, I think you know this, too. Should I really bring up this clichéd story?”

“No, you don’t have to. I already know very well.”

“Then isn’t that it? I’m not one to talk much, and I don’t go around chattering away.”

“I trust you. Rajen is someone who keeps secrets well. But can you listen to me for a moment?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Hena liked Terion.

No, it might have already been an emotion called love.

However, it was undoubtedly an impossible love.

Even if it were possible, it should not be- a love that was like a forbidden fruit.

Hena would probably know better than anyone among us why a forbidden fruit is called forbidden.

“Just as Rajen trusts me, I haven’t forgotten my status. If I had, I wouldn’t have made it to this position. I know my place very well.”

The housekeeper of a duke’s family, the butler, was not a position anyone could reach. If a duke was the noble of nobles, the housekeeper of a duke’s family could be called the pinnacle of the servants.

These people would never have put petty emotions into choosing a bloodline of a noble family. Hena was able to come here because she had sufficient qualifications.

In those qualifications, ‘no matter how well the siblings treat me, I won’t forget my status’ would undoubtedly be included.

“His Lordship is a good person. Really. He has been generous and affectionate even towards a lowborn girl like me. Of course, he is such a person, so he will be joined with someone much better than me.”

The children of a noble family do not marry just anyone.

The son of an imperial duke could have pursued a marriage with royalty in other countries. At the very least, in their own country, they would have to marry into a high-ranking noble family like a marquis’s.

So the higher their status, the more a free marriage seemed like a dream. This was because the value of marriage became too great.

If Terion were to marry a foreign royal, the marriage would signify a diplomatic alliance.

Naturally, even the emperor had to get involved in the matter.

If they were to mess up such a wedding, they wouldn’t have a good end.

What if he promised to marry a foreign princess and then eloped with a commoner instead?

That would be an insult. An insult that the princess was worse than the commoner. The emperor would make Terion pay for that diplomatic faux pas with a punishment worse than death.

“So there’s no way I’ll ever confess my feelings to him, even if there’s a slim chance. I don’t want to see him become unhappy because of me. It’s a wish more important than my own life.”

So it seemed that Hena had already given up on her feelings.

Her face was resolute. But for a moment, it softened, as if imagining a happier time.

“Even if, by any chance, he were to carry me in his heart, it would be the same. I won’t accept his feelings, even if it means regretting and crying every day. I will definitely refuse.”

Sadness filled Hena’s eyes.

“All I want is for him to be happy. If he ever meets someone special, I will genuinely congratulate him.”

It seemed like a longstanding sentiment. A sorrow that had been built up and chiseled away over time rippled quietly.

I remained silent, unable to console her.

The sound of footsteps crushed the snow beneath our feet.

With each step we took, the trampled snow quietly died.

Just like that snow, Hena killed off her emotions. Silently.

“My only greed is that when he has a child, I want to take care of it personally. I am confident that I could serve the child better than anyone else in this world.”

Hena stopped for a moment.

When I looked at her again, she was smiling.

It was a smile tempered through trials and tribulations.

“So if someday arrives when you could secretly tell him, I’d be grateful. A little hint that I would be the best person to care for his child. I’ll be sure to work hard so you won’t lose face, Razen.”

“Even without me mentioning it, he would probably ask Hena for help. It’s thanks to Hena that he appears somewhat human, you know. He should know that, right?”

“Ahahahaha! You have no idea how sweet that sounded to me, Razen. But anyway, let me warn you. Don’t badmouth him in front of me. I’ll get angry, okay?”

“Ah…Yeah. I’m sorry.”

Hena giggled.

“Anyway, that’s how I feel. It’s okay to love someone as long as you know the boundaries, right? Love doesn’t have to end in marriage to be beautiful. I will cherish my feelings. Even the pain that I will have to carry someday.”