Chapter 4

Oliver stormed out with a huff, and Mr. John let out a small sigh as he watched him go.

He wanted to call out, "Good work today," but I am a four-year-old, a four-year-old who can't read the air, I chanted in my heart.

"Can you please wait here?"

When Mr. John said this to me, I felt like I had no reason to be here.

The nobleman, who might be my father, didn't seem to welcome my presence, and Oliver also seemed to dislike me.

"Can't I go home?"

Mother Jade said that if I stayed here, I would just be a burden, but if I thought it was too difficult to meet my father, I could come back home. I wanted to go home.

However, Mr. John looked very troubled.

"If I let you go home on your own, I will be scolded. I know you don't like this room, but can you stay here for now?"

I don't actually dislike this room, but I thought I probably need the nobleman's permission to leave. Recalling my past life, I understand Mr. John's position, but I am only four years old. I thought I should act like a child.

"Will it be a problem if I'm not here?"

"... Yes, if you stay here, it will be a great help to me."

"Then I'll stay here."

Mr. John, looking relieved, said he would be back soon and hurriedly left the room.

I opened the curtains of the dim room on my own.

Looking around the brightened room, I thought, "As expected of a noble family, even the storage room is clean."

Since I was bored, I decided to look at what was in the storage room and started to uncover the items.

"Maybe these are things used by the children when they were small."

There were baby cribs, children's chairs, many picture books, balls, and toys, probably used by the boys of this family. The small chair fit me perfectly when I sat on it.

Later, Mr. John brought bedding into the room.

"Please use this."

The bedding of the noble family was very fluffy.

The bedding I usually use is very thin. With such fluffy bedding, I thought I could sleep soundly tonight.

"Is there anything inconvenient?"

"I want to know where the bathroom is."

Mr. John, looking as if he had forgotten, went out of the room and told me that the bathroom was quite close.

"Today, the master and mistress are busy... They are having a conversation, so can you stay here for the night?"

I nodded, and Mr. John let out a sigh of relief.

"I will have your meals brought to you, so please eat a lot."

Dinner was brought by a maid with glasses, who placed a tray at the entrance and left without giving me a chance to thank her. I was disappointed that I couldn't say thank you, but she probably either didn't want to interact with me or was very busy.

Dinner was the first feast I had in this world.

There was soup, salad, a main dish of meat, and even dessert. I tried my best to eat, but I got full after about a quarter of the meal.

Even though I couldn't eat anymore, I felt it was a waste to leave the food, so I stared at it. The maid with glasses came to clear the dishes and quickly took them away.

"I wish I could have shared this with my mother."

Patting my full stomach, I lay down on the fluffy bedding.

"The place is a bit like that, but it's not bad."

It's not bad, and compared to Mother Jade's house, it's not cold here. The food is also luxurious, so the treatment here is better. Still, I felt lonely because we used to huddle together and sleep every night, even though it was cold.

If the nobleman is my father, what will happen to me? I thought about this and fell asleep without realizing it. I was woken up by a loud noise.

In the dark, my eyes were fixed on the bright entrance.

Two people entered the room.

The muffled voices revealed that they were men.

I was curled up in the bedding and closed my eyes when I felt someone approaching.

"Brother, she's here."

"... I can see the silver hair, but does she really look like Father?"

"Yeah. Her hair is clean and silver, and her eyes are sky blue, just like Father's face."

"Her sleeping face doesn't seem to match, though."

I could feel their gaze, but from the conversation, they were probably the noble family's children. They probably found me a nuisance, so I pretended to be asleep.

However, it didn't work out that way.

I was shaken roughly by the shoulder and couldn't pretend to be asleep anymore.

I rubbed my eyes as if I had just woken up and opened them.

One was Oliver, whom I met in the afternoon, and the other was a tall, dignified young man, probably the eighteen-year-old eldest son.

He had silver hair and sky-blue eyes, just like my father and me.

I could feel their gaze, which made me uncomfortable, so I smiled awkwardly.

"She looks like him."

"I told you so, Brother."

I was looking up at them, and my neck was getting tired, so I turned to face them. The eldest son knelt down.

"What is your purpose here?"

I tilted my head, wondering what he meant by "purpose," and he sighed and started to explain.

"Your purpose for being here. You have the distinctive color of the noble family, so you are probably a relative. Who ordered you to come here? What is your purpose? Money, power, or were you told to destroy our noble family from the inside?"

The eldest son didn't seem to realize that a normal four-year-old wouldn't understand such a question.

I wanted to sigh, but I couldn't, so I smiled ambiguously.

"Brother, this child doesn't seem to understand the meaning."

The brothers talked in low voices and left the room.

I was woken up by their visit and went to the bathroom.

Thinking I would go back to the room and try to sleep again, I met the eldest son in the hallway.

"... You're small."

The eldest son was very tall, and I had to look up, which made my neck hurt.

"Can't you speak?"

"I can speak."

"... I thought you couldn't speak because you didn't speak earlier."

I couldn't answer difficult questions and had no chance to speak, so I remained silent.

An awkward silence fell, and I tilted my head, wondering what was wrong.

"Where is your mother?"

"My mother is at home, but she's not my real mother."

"Not your real mother?"

"I heard there was a baby in front of the house."

That's right. I was also surprised by the sudden revelation. Normally, I would have been shocked, but I was too surprised by the return of my past memories to have time for shock.

"I see... So you have a foster parent. Do you know anything about your birth mother?"

I nodded, and the eldest son fell silent, as if thinking about something.

I still felt sleepy and thought he would leave soon, but he didn't show any signs of leaving.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Tory."

"I am Brian."

The eldest son, Brian, noted my name in his mind.

Brian didn't show any signs of leaving, even though it was late, so I stifled a yawn.

"You can go back to the room and sleep."

I nodded and went back to the room, and to my surprise, Brian followed me.

Brian didn't say anything and just stared at me, which made it hard for me to sleep. However, being a four-year-old, I fell asleep quickly.

I didn't dream that Brian was looking at my sleeping face and touching my cheeks.