/
Huh, huck., gasping for breath, a sound escaped from Lillian’s lips.
However, there was no time to catch her breath. As a black shadow loomed over Lillian, she quickly sensed it and evaded with agility.
“You little rat
 Did you notice?”
Because the black shadow still hung in front of Lillian.
Although she couldn’t see his face due to the mask, his voice and stature were enough to recognize him as an adult man. And the fact that he had come to kidnap her.
‘If I hadn’t heard the sound of footsteps behind me, I wouldn’t have known!’
Lillian tried to run without looking back, but her head felt too heavy.
It was difficult to contain herself in the pouring drowsiness that was strangely overwhelming.
‘He must have drugged me.’
Her body wavered with every step she took. Moreover, even if Lillian, a child, ran as fast as she could, her strides were short, making it difficult to evade the approaching adult. The shadow was already closing in on her, as if about to engulf her whole body.
In a burning sense of crisis, tears streamed down Lillian’s eyes.
‘I can’t be captured like this!’
She hadn’t become a Lady of Maynard yet. She hadn’t gotten revenge on the Director, nor had she expressed her gratitude to Cedric for buying the swan doll or revealed the truth.
Lillian wiped away her tears and shouted.
“Help! Mary! Nisha! Stephen! Please, anyone, help me!”
“Don’t make so much noise!”
“Help—ugh!”
With a thud, Lillian writhed on the floor. However, she staggered to her feet.
But this time, it wasn’t to escape. Laughter erupted from the man’s mouth as he saw Lillian taking a stance.
“Ha, you had a knife? What if you hurt yourself?”
“If I can’t kill you with this, I’ll die here.”
A folding knife was in Lillian’s hand. She hadn’t told Theo, but she had stolen it from the Director’s office. And Lillian always carried the knife with her.
She knew that situations like this could arise at any time.
‘But I didn’t know he would use drugs
 What a fool I am’
No matter how hard Lillian tried to think, she was still just a ten-year-old child.
Naturally, her thinking was bound to be short-sighted. Whenever she was kidnapped, her consciousness was always intact.
But reality always surpasses imagination. Lillian felt that she could lose consciousness at any moment. Her head was hazy, and her hands trembled. However, Lillian didn’t forget what she had to do.
‘I can’t kill him anyway.’
So, if he attacked, she would stab back randomly, and in the meantime, she had to leap at him while he was distracted.
‘Now!’
As the man swung his arm, Lillian swung her knife. Amidst the confusion, she felt the blade cut into something.
“Argh!”
Sure enough, she saw the man clutching his hand.
Got him!
Lillian immediately threw the knife and ran at him. No, that was her intention.
“You damn brat!”
“Ack!”
If the man hadn’t grabbed her by the hair with his unharmed hand.
Her short hair was pulled, and Lillian rolled on the floor. Whether she hit her head or not, she felt a warm liquid running down her forehead.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you were caught without causing any trouble? How annoying these kids are nowadays
 Tsk!”
The man, who spat on the floor, started approaching confidently.
‘I have to escape
’
I knew it in my head, but my body simply wouldn’t follow.
My whole body wouldn’t budge. Am I going to be captured like this?
‘I haven’t done anything yet
!’
Suddenly, Cedric’s face came to mind. The face of the person who saved me from Curtis’s grasp.
But Cedric isn’t in the mansion now.
There’s no one to help me

“Lillian.”
The moment I heard that voice.
I thought I was imagining things.
If not

“I came to help.”
Damian couldn’t possibly be here.
* * *
The carriage jolted.
Isaac glanced briefly at the opposite side.
There sat Cedric, as if frozen in place.
Even so, the man with black hair and a Stoic demeanor appeared more like a statue than a person in the darkness as the night grew deeper.
The mineral-like stillness evoked thoughts of death, and Isaac was cautious even about breathing in front of such chilling silence.
‘He’s been acting like that since he received the note earlier.’
What could possibly be written in that note?
Isaac hadn’t seen what was written in the note. Of course, he was curious, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask because of Cedric’s instantly hardened expression when he read the first page of the note.
However, given the current situation, he thought it would have been better to ask. If he knew something, he could at least open his mouth, but Cedric remained so closed off.
According to the original plan, the two of them were supposed to spend the night at a nearby manor owned by Maynard.
There was no intention to investigate the orphanage beyond a cursory glance.
However, Cedric suddenly changed his mind.
— We’re going back to the estate immediately. Take the fastest route.
— The fastest route goes through the forest, Your Highness, and it’s a bit risky. Besides, it’s getting dark, so unless it’s urgent, it would be better to leave tomorrow

— Go through the fastest route. We must reach the estate tonight without fail.
Cedric was stern, and the coachman had no choice but to comply with his orders.
But Isaac still couldn’t shake off his doubts.
What could be written in that note that would make Cedric react like that?
‘It’s too late to believe in ordinary evidence.’
Isaac thought of Lillian in his mind.
A girl with a quiet and withdrawn demeanor, like a timid cat.
Isaac had seen that little girl occasionally as well during his comings and goings.
‘She really doesn’t resemble His Highness or the Lady in any way.’
Because of that, opinions within the Maynard Duchy were divided on whether the girl was truly Cedric’s child. But in the midst of this, Isaac discovered an interesting fact.
Most of the people who claimed that Lillian was Cedric’s real daughter were present at that moment. Among those who were present when Lillian first came to the mansion and met Cedric, no one believed that Lillian was fake.
‘I wasn’t there, so I can’t be certain, but
’
According to rumors, the girl didn’t say much to prove herself. As soon as the tearful reunion ended, she fainted.
So, just by extending the pendant with a pleading look, couldn’t she have bewitched everyone there like magic?
How could that be possible?
Initially, Isaac also had doubts about this strange trust. But unexpectedly, his doubts were dispelled from an unexpected encounter.
During a brief moment when he finished talking with Cedric as usual and was leaving the study, he crossed paths with Lillian.
— Hello, Isaac. May I see His Grace?
— Good afternoon, Miss. Of course, you may see him. Please come in.
Isaac opened the door with a bright smile, and Lillian walked in with small steps, bowing her head to Cedric. A young girl with ribbon-adorned shoes standing in the study, where everything was designed for the stature and dignified atmosphere of an adult man.
Despite the potentially intimidating situation, Lillian showed no signs of being intimidated.
— What brings you here, little one?
— Mary asked me to show this to His Grace.
As she said that, Lillian handed Cedric a piece of paper.
Cedric’s eyebrows slightly raised as he received the paper.
— 
 Is this a drawing of me?
— Yes. I apologize if you don’t like it; it’s my first time using colored pencils

— No, it’s very well done. I like it.
At those words, a hint of joy appeared on the child’s face. Cedric smiled, hugged her, and sat her on his lap, listening to the story of how she drew portraits of the other staff members with colored pencils for about 30 minutes.
— 
 So, I wanted to draw you too, Your Grace.
— I see. So, I was the seventh one, huh?
— Yes!
— 

At that moment, Isaac thought to himself.
‘She certainly doesn’t lack talent in flattery.’