Caught in a Lie (1)

‘Ha…’

Every year, a considerable amount of subsidies and donations are given to orphanages. However, the money is never completely spent on taking care of the children.

Of course, they’re not going to be abused. This is because one day they will enter a military academy, or if they’re lucky, have aristocratic sponsors.

The management philosophy of most orphanage directors was to provide the minimum amount of care without abusing their charges.

To the grand duke, it seemed that Mr. Kendall was far more faithful to management than other directors.

“As the director is found to be incapable of performing his duties, he shall be suspended from his duties for the time being. Then keep your head above water and wait for the final judgement.”
T/N: ‘keep your head over water’ is an idiom.
P/N: Basically, they’re telling the director to not make more of a disturbance.

“Come on, hold on! Your Highness! I’m sorry, I…!”

“Take him out.”

“You can’t do this! This orphanage is my private property! No matter how you accuse me… Hey, come on!”

The friendly-looking aide covered his mouth forcefully. He then warned Kendall who was about to stomp on his foot.

“If you keep your mouth shut, or else you will lose your life as well as your property.”

“….!”

The Director and the nursery teacher, Lisa, who was holding Sienna, trembled at the sincere warning.

It was a good opportunity for Sienna, who was searching for the perfect time to wake up.

“Euu…”

“Oh, Sienna! Are you awake?”

Sienna slowly opened her eyes while rubbing them. It wasn’t acting. It was because I wanted to delay meeting with the Great Duke face-to-face for as long as possible.

However, if she kept pretending to be unconscious, she could have been dragged into a mess which she wouldn’t be able to remove herself from.

“Ha…”

Sienna opened her eyes and met the red eyes of the Grand Duke who looked at her.

At that moment, the Grand Duke frowned a little, as if he had seen something unpleasant.

‘Ah…

Sienna was very relieved.  It seemed that the Grand Duke did not like her.

‘Maybe…’

Sienna carefully guessed.

The Grand Duke regards wizard orphans as military resources.
P/N: Uhhh..no, it’s the complete opposite.

‘He declared that he was going to take me on a whim, but it turned out that I was a weak child, so I wonder if he wants to take back his words.’

This was an opportunity.

I have never acted like this before in my life, but now is not the time to pretend to be brave.cover myself as a strong minded child.

With her trembling hands, she tightly gripped the edge of Lisa’s clothes.

“No, no…..”

“Sienna?

“I’m scared….”

Sienna’s acting was very realistic.

It was because she was not acting completely, but acting one percent with the rest being her body’s honest reaction.

Sienna’s small body trembled with the thought of being dragged into a mess and overwhelmed with fear, quickly shed tears.

She seemed to be close to fainting again, but Sienna held back and shed her tears silently.

“Sienna…”

When Lisa saw that the poor child, who had already passed out once, was crying without making a loud sound, she was heartbroken.

But she couldn’t let her continue crying like this. She could offend the grand duke.

“Sienna, you can’t cry.”

“Li-Lisa. Can I not go?”

Lisa tried to soothe the child, but Siena began to cling to her desperately, as if she were the only one in the room.

“I’ll, I’ll be a good girl. I’ll only eat a little, and take good care of the younger ones. Yeah?”

Lisa held the unconsolable child tightly in her arms. She then began console the grand duke in hopes that he would be understanding towards the child.

“Oh, she’s still a child, Your Highness. She’s probably scared to leave since she’s attached to this place. If you talk to her to help her understand…”

“Hueengg…!”

Sienna began to cry out loud, as if she was being taken by force..

‘Really?’

At first, I closed my eyes and made a loud noise, but I burst out crying more naturally than I thought.

Sienna’s face quickly turned red as she cried so loudly that she forgot she was acting.

“Oh, my. No, no, no, sir, forgive her, please?”

“Sienna, if you keep crying…”

Before I knew it, Lisa’s face was red, too.

On behalf of the sighing Duke, the aide quickly stepped out.

“Teacher, if you cry, the child will be more surprised. Both of you dislike the grand duke don’t you?”

It sounded like something directed at Lisa, but it was for the child to listen to as well.

“Huh?”

As expected, Sienna’s cries died down a little.

The aide quickly looked at the Grand Duke.

‘Tell him you won’t take me!’

“….”

However, it was frustratingly silent.

Again, tears began to form in Sienna’s green eyes. I began wondering if my eyes would be red if I cried so frequently.

In the end, he declared with a displeased look.

“Let’s just leave her here for now.”

“Haha.”

Sienna’s cry stopped, but laugh was noticed.

‘Ha?’

No matter how great the Grand Duke was, he could not help but be stunned.

“….”

Sienna slipped back into Lisa’s arms, pretending to cry.

Fortunately, the Great Duke didn’t say anything more about the child.

After a while, the sound of footsteps moved away from the director’s office. Siena sat dazed, listening to Lisa’s voice to say goodbye to the grand duke.

I’m not going back to that mess.

Not that easily.

“….”

I was successful, but I wasn’t happy.

Those miserable times, what was the point of it all?

‘It was something that could be easily avoided…’

It all ended in vain.

‘What will happen to me now?’

An 11 year-old orphan. No longer protected by Nacht.

No older sister who would love her for all her life.
P/N: You’re free now.. I hope. Go find people who will truly care for you.

For the first time in her life, Sienna was feeling lost.

“Sienna, are you okay?”

Lisa approached Sienna, who was staring blankly.

‘Even though I made a fuss like that…’

Lisa wasn’t displeased with Sienna.

Her honest worries and regrets were seen in her eyes that were looking at Sienna.

“Teacher….”

“It’s okay, His Highness is gone. So let’s stop crying now. You should show your pretty face.”

Sienna realized once again with the sweet words of comfort.

Compared to Lisa, Loreina knew that she hadn’t treated Siena well very much.

Her words were sweet and her laughter was gentle, but she was unlikely to act any further than that.

What she thought was kindness was actually a sneaky trick to get Sienna at her beck and call.

That was why she made the proposal to share her magical powers with her.

‘A sneaky trick.’

Siena recalled a conversation with Loreina, who had come to defeat her until the last minute just before she died.

“That’s right. I took poison and framed you. To kill you.”

It was an expected answer. Of course, just because I expected it didn’t mean I wasn’t disgusted.

“I can’t help it. You tried to leave me.”

It was true. Sienna no longer wanted to have anything to do with Nacht and Loreina. So even if I was to work as a maid or a tutor, I decided to accomplish it on my own.

“Sienna, you cheated with me at that summer retreat. How can I trust you if you try to leave me? Was that your plan all along?”
P/N: This annoying two-faced Missy.

“…then I’ll ask you one more question.”

Sienna asked calmly.

“At that summer retreat… Was it really me who recieved the mana?”

Loreina’s smile spread around her mouth. The beautiful green eyes glistened like a snake.

“…you finally noticed, my stupid sister.”

I know. Sienna laughed in vain. Indeed, there was nothing to say even if Lorraine called me stupid.

“You stole my mana, Loreina.”

“I can’t say it wasn’t fun fooling you. But it was so easy to fool you that it was destestible.”

“One more thing, sister.”

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Sienna wanted to check for the last time, even if she was deemed pathetic.

“…you framed me because you were afraid of getting caught?”

“It’s not only because of that.”

My sister laughed. It was the smile of an angel that Sienna loved.

“I hate you enough to want to kill you, Sienna.”