Chapter 10

Eleanor's cottage, where she lived, was a very comfortable place for her. When she was young, she lived with her nurse, but by the time she was five, only a live-in servant remained, and she was able to spend her time freely on her own.

She studied with a tutor in a separate building and rarely set foot in the main house.

Around the age of ten, the live-in servant no longer came every day, and by the time she was fifteen, they only came twice a week to deliver food and supplies. However, Eleanor, who retained memories from her previous life, was grateful for this environment where she could live freely.

Moreover, her stepmother had dismissed the long-serving servants one after another, and now most of the servants were under her stepmother's influence. These servants had been told that Eleanor was the child of a concubine and was isolated in the cottage due to illness. Of course, there were servants who knew the truth, but no one corrected it. At present, the inner household was managed by her stepmother, Anna, and anyone who opposed her risked losing their job.

Eleanor herself, however, was unaware of being oppressed and lived happily every day. She secretly tilled the fields and made birdhouses, leading a fulfilling life.

As she grew older, she attended tea parties a few times a year and one evening party, but otherwise, she lived a carefree life.

Now, she was seventeen years old. With wavy golden hair and large purple eyes, when Eleanor smiled, her beauty was such that people of all ages blushed. Therefore, in recent years, the servants assigned to Eleanor's cottage were instructed to be those with poor eyesight.

Today, Eleanor, who was in high spirits, was also secretly keeping a pet.

"What a nice day! Hey, Ham-chan!"

She was secretly raising a one-horned mouse, a small but magical beast.

According to her tutor, almost all the magical beasts in the empire had been exterminated. It seemed that in the year Eleanor was born, a person called the Holy Maiden appeared and destroyed the magical beasts. The forest where magical beasts once lived, which Eleanor had lived in in her previous life, was now called the Forest of Ekaterina in honor of the Holy Maiden.

"...They all died. I died too. I wonder if Ham is still alive. I hope he's alive. I want to see Ham. He's so cute, so cute, Ham."

Eleanor placed the one-horned mouse on her lap and stroked its back with her fingers. Although it was said that magical beasts had disappeared from the world, a few still existed in places far from the Forest of Magic. However, the more conspicuous ones were killed by humans, and only the smallest magical beasts survived.

"Why do they kill magical beasts? They all lived peacefully in the Forest of Magic."

What exactly were magical beasts?

In fact, their ecology was not well understood. They occasionally came out of the Forest of Magic, but the reasons for their appearances were unclear.

"Magical beasts are the same as animals. Why do they kill them?"

Eleanor couldn't understand why magical beasts were killed.

Humans fear and eliminate things that are different from themselves. She knew this from personal experience.

Eleanor, like in her previous life, could communicate with both animals and magical beasts. To her, they were as important as humans.

Now, at seventeen, Eleanor still had a tutor named Roman. He was a grumpy old man with white hair.

This was one of the harassments from her stepmother, Anna. Roman, a commoner, had graduated at the top of his class from the Academy but had a severely twisted personality and had never achieved anything.

While the tutor for her half-sister, Sophia, was a countess in her twenties, hiring a commoner like Roman as a tutor was unconventional for a high-ranking noble.

Roman himself would take any job that allowed him to make a living. Due to his high intelligence and unfortunate circumstances, he viewed everyone, whether noble or commoner, as fools. His longest-lasting job was as Eleanor's tutor.

"Miss Eleanor, all people are equal. Nobles and commoners are the same. In a neighboring country, the concept of human rights has emerged, but nothing has changed in this country."

Roman taught Eleanor that all people are equal. However, Eleanor couldn't easily accept this.

"Even among peasants, my family was ostracized because of my unusual appearance. Mr. Roman is from the city and doesn't know anything about poor villages."

Eleanor spoke to the one-horned mouse in her cottage.

She knew that discrimination existed not only between classes but also among peasants.

"Ham said he liked me even if I was a monster. Only Ham. I want to see Ham."

The more she learned about the world, the more Eleanor wanted to meet the boy she had named Ham in her previous life.