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"H-Huh?"
'What is going on here?!'
Looking at the middle-aged woman before her, who had hugged her without another word and was calling herself her "grandmother," Miss Yumo couldn't help entering a completely bewildered state. Her little head seemed to be covered with nothing but question marks.
However,
Yumo's confusion went completely unnoticed by the noblewoman.
At this moment, Avnora was simply holding Yumo tightly in her embrace, overcome with emotion as she desperately felt the warmth of her granddaughter's body.
As excitement overwhelmed her, tear after tear slowly rolled down Avnora's cheeks.
"Thank goodness... Yuan'er... As long as you're safe... As long as you're safe..."
Seeing this,
the members of the Blizzard Knights who had arrived afterward couldn't help revealing touched smiles. They quietly stood at the street corner, silently watching the heartwarming reunion before them.
As for the civilians who had been watching the entire time,
after seeing the Marchioness send the bearded thug flying with a single punch, they erupted into deafening cheers.
And when they saw the noblewoman embrace the pink-haired little girl,
many of them immediately wore expressions that clearly said—
"Just as we thought."
Although her attitude had changed considerably,
still...
"So it really is the young lady..."
people quietly murmured among themselves.
...
'These people's reactions...'
Glancing around with the corner of her eye, Yumo observed both the noblewoman's emotional state and the expressions of the surrounding crowd.
At that moment,
her sapphire-blue eyes narrowed slightly.
She finally understood why everyone had been looking at her so strangely earlier.
So that slave girl...
used to be a noble young lady?
What an unbelievable coincidence.
Emm...
If she was originally a noble from Wind Facing City,
how on earth did she end up becoming a slave?
If I hadn't happened to rescue her,
that girl would have died inside the Great Winter Forest.
Forget it.
No point thinking about that now.
I should deal with what's right in front of me first.
Looking at the noblewoman crying so pitifully, and considering how emotional she currently was—and the fact that she had just "saved" her—Miss Yumo abandoned the idea of simply knocking her unconscious.
Besides,
a Saint-Class woman suddenly collapsing for no apparent reason in the middle of the street would definitely arouse suspicion.
Therefore,
Yumo deliberately put on a confused little expression and softly asked in an adorable childish voice,
"Um... thank you for saving me. But... may I ask who you are?"
?!
"Yu... Yuan'er?"
Hearing the little girl's puzzled words,
Avnora trembled all over.
She slowly released the girl, her violet eyes overflowing with worry.
"Yuan'er... don't you remember me?"
Faced with that question,
Miss Yumo continued wearing an innocent expression.
Tilting her head in confusion, she answered,
"Yuan'er? Who's that? I'm sorry, my lady, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
"M-Mistaken...?"
"Y-Yes."
Hearing those words,
and sensing that the girl's manner of speaking was completely different from Yuan'er's,
the excited Avnora gradually calmed herself.
After wiping away her tears,
she carefully examined the frail pink-haired little girl before her.
A moment later,
Avnora narrowed her eyes slightly.
Her lips pressed together as complicated emotions filled her heart.
"You're right...
...you aren't Yuan'er."
Hearing those words,
although Miss Yumo still maintained her timid appearance on the outside,
she quietly smiled inwardly.
Hehe.
Just as expected.
Back when she had altered her appearance using the Shadow of Silence Power,
although she had indeed used that pink-haired girl—Yuan'er—as a reference,
Miss Yumo had never copied her appearance exactly.
She had merely imitated the girl's general appearance, height, and voice.
There were still subtle differences in her facial features.
That had been more than enough to fool the slave traders.
But for family members or close friends who had spent every day with the girl,
those slight differences should still be noticeable.
She was simply a stranger who happened to resemble their granddaughter.
Nothing more.
As it turned out,
Miss Yumo's judgment had been completely correct.
After observing her carefully for a while,
the woman claiming to be her grandmother finally showed a stunned expression.
She had evidently realized that she had mistaken the wrong person.
Thinking that,
Miss Yumo quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry, my lady."
She politely apologized while pretending to feel embarrassed.
Then she timidly looked into the noblewoman's violet eyes.
According to Yumo's expectations,
now that the woman understood she wasn't actually her granddaughter,
she would probably apologize for the misunderstanding before letting go of her shoulders.
After that,
Yumo could happily skip back to the guesthouse to find Mengxi.
She had already been gone for quite some time.
If she stayed away any longer,
that girl would definitely start worrying~
However...
the moment Yumo met Avnora's gaze,
she suddenly frowned.
Her heart skipped a beat.
?!
"H-Huh?"
"W-What's going on now?!"
At that moment,
Miss Yumo discovered in astonishment that the noblewoman had absolutely no intention of letting her go.
Instead,
Avnora gripped her shoulders even more tightly.
Her violet eyes were overflowing with indescribable excitement and joy.
The very next instant,
the completely bewildered Yumo was pulled into another tight embrace.
"Xia'er! I've finally found you!"
The noblewoman's voice was filled with overwhelming emotion.
Her entire body trembled from excitement.
??!!
"...Meow?"
At that moment,
Miss Yumo's brain completely stopped functioning.
Wh-...
What in the world is happening?!
And seriously...
Who the hell is Xia'er?!
--
Within the central district of Wind Facing City,
inside the Marquis' estate,
a man with light pink hair, whose head was wrapped in bandages like a rice dumpling, was slowly hobbling through the manor with the aid of a cane, apparently carrying out rehabilitation exercises.
If Yumo had been here,
she would have recognized him immediately.
He was the nobleman who had attempted to kiss the back of her hand after she entered the city—
Benjamin-Duke.
Unfortunately,
for reasons unknown to him,
not only had Benjamin failed to achieve his goal,
he had also ended up diving headfirst into the frozen lake, smashing his head open on the spot and suffering a severe concussion.
Even now,
his mind still couldn't properly coordinate with the rest of his body.
His entire figure swayed unsteadily as he walked.
"Damn it... what exactly happened back then?"
Benjamin muttered unwillingly.
Although he still had no idea why his horse had suddenly panicked,
judging from the Black Rose Family's reactions at the time,
there was a ninety-percent chance that the loss of control had something to do with them. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Even so,
no matter how unwilling he felt,
Benjamin didn't possess the courage to seek revenge against the Black Rose Family.
Even the entire Duke Family was nowhere near capable of competing with them,
let alone someone like himself—
the second heir.
There were some things he simply had to endure.
However,
recalling the breathtakingly beautiful eyes of the Black Rose Family's young lady,
Benjamin couldn't help feeling his heart stir once again.
If he could win that young lady's affection,
he would undoubtedly gain the support of the Black Rose Family.
With their backing,
his chances of inheriting the title of Marquis would surely increase dramatically~
Imagining his glorious future,
Benjamin couldn't help smiling with satisfaction.
Just then,
the sound of an approaching carriage drew his attention.
Curiously,
the pink-haired young noble looked toward the entrance of the estate.
The next moment,
under the watchful eyes of Benjamin and the gathered maids,
an elegant yet understated carriage rolled through the gates of the manor, escorted by a group of knights.
"Oh?"
"So the Marchioness has returned."
Realizing this,
Benjamin hurriedly ordered a nearby maid to straighten his clothes before preparing to greet Avnora.
After all,
as a relative through marriage,
if he wanted to inherit the title of Marquis,
he first needed to gain the approval of the Marchioness herself.
However,
just as Benjamin stepped forward to welcome Avnora,
what happened next struck him like a bolt from the blue.
He froze on the spot.
For a very long time,
he couldn't recover his senses.
His eyes widened until they resembled eggs.
His mouth opened wide enough to swallow an entire football.
The carriage door slowly opened,
and Avnora gracefully stepped out.
If it had only been the Marchioness,
Benjamin would never have reacted so dramatically.
The problem was...
the person in her arms.
Under the shocked and excited gazes of every servant present,
a delicate little girl, as lovely as a porcelain doll,
was being carried out of the carriage in Avnora's embrace.
Staring fixedly at that painfully familiar face,
looking at the girl who should have died long ago standing before him once again,
Benjamin clenched his fists so tightly that his expression became twisted.
?!
"N-No... impossible...
Yuan'er?!
How is she still alive?!"
Th-...
Those useless bastards!!
