Chapter 10: Grand...what?

“What are you doing in here?” I reproached him, almost bristling like a cat in surprise.

“Well, you didn’t answer my question and you were lost in the clouds, so I came to bring you back down to earth.”

Thadeus responded indifferently, staring at me with a serious expression. This unnecessarily unnerved me, and I retorted, "You can't just barge into other people's rooms like that..."

I was about to continue, but he stopped me, “But you never complained about that before? Why are you complaining about them now, hmm?”

I almost choked on my own saliva...turns out this little girl, Maru, was already letting this little silver-haired rascal in naturally!

No wonder he was so bold! Well, although it could also be the tendencies of a future Playboy manifesto…

"Why are you holding a mirror? I didn't know you were particularly vain."

“It’s none of your business”

He looked at me, his brow furrowed in confusion, or perhaps annoyance. “Are you okay? What kind of nightmare did you have that made you act like that? Ah, although I’m not saying that showing more emotion than usual isn’t good.”

Show more emotions than usual…?

Oh, now that I think about it, when I checked Maru's face in the mirror, now me, she seemed like the type of girl who was usually expressionless and quiet; something difficult for me to imagine, since I usually associate that image with a studious person, and if Mom's words are anything to go by, Maru wasn't a fan of studying.

Anyway, it seemed like I rarely expressed myself so much or played along so easily.

"You know, I'm kind of glad you're expressing yourself better and all. But I feel like you've been really different than usual since this morning. Something like this can't just happen...."

Thadeus suddenly sat on my bed while looking at me…How cheeky!

No, more like, are you really suspicious? Kids don't usually worry about these things, do they? Why would you suddenly say something so logical?

“Maru, this…” Thadeus began, slightly hesitating before sighing as he looked around nervously and finally getting to the point, “Is it possible that nightmare…is about your father again?”

I froze before your words.

Father? Is there anyone among the common people who uses such a respectful term to refer to a relative? Or rather, how do I know it's respectful? I never studied the language; I just learned it with age like everyone else.

No, that's not the problem... Maru was dreaming about her father, huh?

I have a bad feeling about this....a big one!

“What… What do you mean?”

“You know what he talked about, that constant talk about how you and your mother had to flee far away for your own safety with baby Lily, while….. you left your father behind to fight…” Thadeus hesitated, unsure how to continue with what was clearly a complicated past.

Shit...shit, shit!

By no means…!

There must be another explanation! It's definitely not what I'm thinking!

"Because suddenly..." I whisper, my voice trembling. Perhaps misinterpreting the reason for my concern, Thadeus-kun became uneasy, but he gathered his courage and continued.

“I mean, maybe I’m being too forward by talking about this while you’re having another nightmare about your past as a noble, but….”

“Argh!”

“Maru!? What the hell is with that strange sound?”

I held my head with both hands in frustration.

What the hell? What the fuck is that!?

Are you really telling me I have a dramatic past as a noble daughter!?

Huh? Mom, Lily, and I fled from certain death? Did Father stay behind to ensure our escape?

What a setting worthy of a Manwha protagonist!

And why would she tell Thadeus all that? You had so much faith in this future Playboy, Mari-chan!? Besides, this is the kind of thing the audience finds out about later in the story, right!?

So soon I come into this world and find out that even though I'm an extra, I'm the runaway daughter of a probably dead Noble?

And that's not all, he's probably alive, rebuilding everything he lost at the hands of his enemies and maybe even looking for us!

That's too obvious a cliche of a fucking manwha without much originality!

Now what? Thadeus, the Future Hero of this world, is actually an Imperial Prince or something? Now that would be an extra cliché!

“Maru, what’s wrong? I’m sorry if I bothered you by mentioning this, I…”

Thadeus approached me and placed his hands on my shoulders, trying to calm me down. He looked somewhat mortified, as if he felt guilty for making me feel bad.

I immediately felt guilty about it myself. Doing strange things without thinking, causing misunderstandings. What am I doing?

Maybe I'm just overthinking things; maybe it's all Maru's fantasy about being a noblewoman. I mean, she could be the daughter of a merchant, and because she's so young, she mistaken herself for being noble.

Everything was possible.

“No, no, no… it’s nothing. I was just overthinking something unimportant. I won’t dwell on it any further.” I smiled at her, taking her hands and removing them from my shoulders. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t feeling guilty about practically nothing, so I quickly added, “I was just a little embarrassed. Maybe I got confused and said something silly about being noble for no reason.”

“Huh? But Maru, wasn’t that heraldry you showed me that of the famous Grand Duchy of Aragon, the one that, as I recall, fell into great disgrace in the past or something like that?”

"Hu?" I exclaimed, confused, while still holding Thadeus's hands, looking at him straight with a stupid smile.

“Since everyone knows the design of such an infamous grand duchy and the thing was practically made of gold and magical enchantments to begin with, it was hard not to believe your words…”

Thadeus continued, with a strange expression as he stared at me.

Huh?

Grand...what?

I heard wrong, right?