“That’s what I thought when I still thought I was alone… Ah!”
Sienna’s hand slipped. The more she struggled to keep her balance, the faster she fell.
“Uh!”
“Oh!”
Carl, who opened his arms to receive the falling Sienna, fell back hugging her. Sienna looked like she was coming straight for him. When she raised herself, her face hovered above his closely. Carl’s face was shining brightly even though only the light of the mansion was illuminating the garden.
They had been facing each other for a long time when Sienna turned her head away first and said, “So, it’s because you kept making me speak that this happened.”
“I looked at you because I was nervous. Look at you! You just fell off like I said you would.”
“It would’ve been OK if you hadn’t spoken to me.”
They argued about each other’s faults with their faces a palm away from each other, so he said first, “Fine. Even if it’s my fault, how long are you going to keep me down like this?”
“I’m sorry.”
When Sienna tried to pull herself up, he pulled on her arm.
“Uh!”
Sienna fell into Carl’s arms, and he hugged her. He pivoted them with her still in his arms. Unlike before, now Sienna was the one looking up with her back on the ground. All the boyish teasing that had been on Carl’s face before was gone now, and there was no embarrassment from her staring at his serious face.
“Lady Sienna!”
At that moment, she heard someone’s voice calling for her in the distance.
At the sound, Carl let Sienna’s arm go. She quickly pulled herself up, and he followed suit.
“I have to go. I’ll see you at the Debut Ceremony for the Esteemed Daughter of the Waters Family.”
He shook her hand and climbed back up the tree. Then, he disappeared over the wall of the mansion without any hesitation.
She tried her best to contain the sight of his leaving appearance in her mind. If possible, she wanted to keep all records of that day as it had happened in her memory.
“Miss!” Jane found Sienna and ran out to the garden. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I just…”
“Why are you lying here?”
“I wanted to see the Lantern Festival, so I went up the tree…”
“No matter how much you wanted to see the Lantern Festival, for heaven’s sakes, does it make sense to put yourself in danger by climbing trees? Miss, you are really…”
Jane nagged at her, but nothing was going in Sienna’s ears. She murmured on while she kept staring at the tree from where he had jumped away.
“At this rate, what if I get greedy again?”
What should she do if she ended up falling in love with Carl again and became unhappy with her foolish choice? Sienna was terrified of it.
*
“The priest has awoken,” a maid informed Sienna during her breakfast.
“Really?!”
She stopped eating and went straight into Roy’s room.
“Roy!”
“Lady Sienna!”
Sienna felt like she was approaching him about a month later. Roy still looked pale, but he smiled and welcomed her.
“How long have I been asleep for?”
“You’ve been asleep for over ten days. You weren’t waking up for so long that I was very nervous about what happened that day. Is that what happens to you when you use your healing powers?”
Roy nodded.
“I’m still weak, so if I push myself more than I’m capable, I fall asleep for a long time. Did Kelly got better after that?”
Sienna replied with a bright expression, “She’s perfect! The doctors said she’s completely cured. No, he said that it’s like she’s someone who’s never gotten ill before. He said it’s a miracle. Thank you very much, Roy. You saved my aunt’s life…”
“No, Sienna and I are friends.”
He gave her a boyish smile and asked if anything had gone amiss with the temple while he had been asleep.
“I’ve been taking care of the temple, so don’t worry.”
“But, it hasn’t been easy taking care of the temple alone…”
Sienna shook her head and replied, “It’s the work you’ve always done alone. But, I haven’t actually been taking care of it by myself.”
“Then?”
“The children, who have been coming to visit the temple lately, have been helping me a lot. We cleaned up the place and fixed the old, run-down chairs…”
Sienna told Roy in detail what had happened at the temple. He seemed excited just to hear the story from her.
“I really think it was a great blessing from the Goddess of the Earth that I met Sienna,” Roy said in a low voice.
“I’m the one blessed. If it weren’t for Roy, Aunt Kelly would be… I’m sure she wouldn’t have lived long.”
“No, it’s all thanks to Lady Sienna for saving my life.”
Roy put his hand over Sienna’s hand and looked at her with clear eyes for a long time. Sienna, embarrassed by his gaze, turned her head away.
“I feel that it’s because of the Goddess of the Earth’s grace that I was able to meet Sienna.”
At Roy’s words, Sienna just gave him a shy smile.
The Gained and The Lost
“What a lovely thing!”
Kelly was admiring Sienna happily when she walked out in her dress.
“Thank you for giving me this pretty dress, Aunt Kelly, but I think this gift is too much. I’m sure a dress like this would have been expensive…”
Sienna was unable to buy a decent dress because she had spent the money to buy it to help the children who came to the temple. Luckily, Kelly gave her a dress as a present.
The dress was very colorful. The sight of the rich folds on the hem of the skirt on her voluminous petticoat was pleasing. It was a dress that seemed expensive at a glance, made of a soft, bright blue cloth and embroidered with colorful lace. It would have certainly cost about two carriages.
Sienna thought she had received a gift that was too expensive and burdensome. So, Kelly said to her, “You’re Kelly Grinnie’s niece. You need to do this much so that my reputation remains.”
Sienna burst out laughing at her words. She liked her aunt, who had recently had her health restored and was now able to speak confidently.
Knock, knock!
She heard knocking.
“Can I come in for a second?”
It was Jane’s voice.
“Come in.”
Soon, the door opened, and Jane entered the room. Sienna and Kelly burst into exclamations. Jane looked very beautiful.
“You’re truly beautiful!”
“I’ve always thought Jane was pretty, but today she’s stunning!”
Sienna was wearing a dress that was lovely and beautiful too, but Jane had a beauty that overwhelmed her opponents.
Her white skin and clear-cut features contrasted with her coveted brown hair. Moreover, her peach-colored dress, which set off her white skin, caught the gazes of others.
“You’re so beautiful. I’m sure no one will be prettier than you at the banquet hall.”
Sienna’s praise made her blush with embarrassment.
“No, miss.”
Jane had been officially admitted as Kelly’s foster daughter just before the ceremony. To be recognized as a noblewoman, she needed to participate in a debut ceremony, so she decided to join the ceremony with Sienna.
Jane still felt awkward and called Sienna ‘lady,’ as though she didn’t think it real to be a noblewoman yet.
“Sister, you shouldn’t call me lady anymore. Just call me by my name, Sienna. I’ll call you sister from now on. I’m very happy to have such a pretty sister.”
Jane, who was twenty-one years old, was late in holding her ceremony, but under imperial law, she was able to participate in one until the age of twenty-three.
“I’m happy, too.”
“Come on, sister. You have to talk using informal speech now. People will laugh at you when you go out to the banquet hall like that, but no matter what anyone says, you are part of the Grinnie Family now.”
Kelly was originally from the Jaint Family, but her husband’s last name was Grinnie. So, when he died without anyone to pass his family name on to, his wife, Kelly Jaint, inherited the surname Grinnie. Now, Jane had inherited that heritage and become Jane Grinnie. She had become an imposing member of the Grinnie Family.
Kelly approached Jane, put her hands on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes and said.