Cry, Or Better Yet Beg
chapter 3

The sun is hot but the shade of the tree feels cool. Leyla sat on the blanket with her hands wrapped around her knees. Bill and the other garden workers are engrossed in digging up the withering rose tree.

The garden behind the mansion seemed to be overgrown with various types of roses. The rose is said to be the national flower of the Berg Empire and a flower adored by the duke's mother and grandmother.

As the sound of gunfire came again from the forest, Leyla walked nervously around the cabin. Uncle Bill had seen her nervous state and decided to take her to the park. His mind was rested when the sound of gunfire disappeared.

Can I take a break while Uncle Bill works in the hot sun?

Leyla was uncomfortable looking at Bill. He slowly closed his eyes and let out a small breath. Uncle Bill threatened to get angry if he helped him. She tells him that she hates children who don't listen. Although Leyla's heart was not calm, she decided to wait for him until he finished his work.

When Leyla opened her eyes again resignedly, she was startled by a foreign boy standing in front of her. The well-dressed boy looked the same age as Leyla.

"Hi."

As their eyes met, the boy greeted her with a sweet smile. He is a boy with platinum hair.

"You live here?"

The boy looked around and asked solemnly.

"Yes. With Uncle Bill.”

Leyla replied while narrowing her eyes.

"Trs. The bill? You mean that scary gardener guy?”

“He is not scary.”

"really? Seems scary to me.”

The boy tilted his head and leisurely sat down next to Leyla.

“Did you also stay here?”

Leyla asked carefully. The boy smiled and shook his head.

“No. I followed my father. He was a family doctor in the Herhardt household. He's here to give Mrs Norma a medical checkup. Sometimes I come here with my dad. Mrs Norma says it's okay.”1

"So that's it."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Same. But you're a little small.”

The boy who was staring at Leyla started laughing. Leyla's cheeks began to blush in anger.

“You are also small.”

“But I'm the highest in my class.”

The boy stuck out his back to prove his height. He clearly looks a little taller than his age.

“By the way.. You're still shorter than Uncle Bill.”.

Leyla whispered softly. The boy giggled again at Leyla's words. He looked like a happy and lucky boy.

“Hey, it is impossible to find children or even adults taller than Mr. Bill.”

“I'm not so sure about that.”

Leyla plucked the grass that grew near the blanket for no reason. His delicate fingers slowly turned green. He hoped the boy would leave soon but he showed no signs of waking up.

"Do you want some?"

Leyla, who then focused her attention on the peaches on the edge of the blanket, asked impulsively. The boy happily nodded.

Leyla took out a pocket knife from her leather bag. The boy sneered when he saw Leyla cutting the peaches gently.

"You're funny. Why knife out of a girl's bag?”

“Do not make fun of me. Uncle Bill gave it to me.”

Leyla slightly scrunched her nose in annoyance as she gave the half-cut peaches to the boy. The sweet aroma of peach flesh tickled the noses of the two children.

“Why do you look so sad? Did something happen?”

The boy carefully asked after he took a sip of his peaches.

“Duke and his friends keep hunting birds.”

Leyla replied grimly. The boy gave the title to his head, wondering what the problem was.

“How about that?”

“They kill birds for their own pleasure.”

“Isn't that how hunting works?”

“Do you think so too?”

Leyla looked at the boy with her sharp green eyes. To Leyla, the boy seemed to have trouble holding a large and long hunting weapon.

“Eh….. No.”

The boy shook his head violently.

"I don't. That's cruel.”

Answer the boy. A smile slowly began to expand on Leyla's face.

“Do you want more peaches?”

Leyla asked in a brighter voice. The boy nodded. Leyla cut another peach in half and handed the boy a larger cut. The boy's cheeks began to blush as he tried to fix his uncomfortable collar.

“Kyle! Kyle!”

A faint voice sounded. The boy who was fiddling with the dead peach seeds, jumped to his feet.

"I have to go now."

"OKAY. Good bye."

“Kyle Etman.”

The boy stretched out his hand.

"my name. How's yours?"

“I Leyla. Leyla Lewellin.”

Leyla awkwardly shook her hand. With their small hands covered in sticky peach nectar, the two shook hands as if they were having a truce.

“See you, Leyla. Bye then. I'll bring you something better next time.”

The boy shouted while running away.

Leyla was just waving a little because she wasn't sure if she could meet him again if she stayed on this estate.

When Kyle leaves, Leyla's world returns to peace.

While sipping the rose-scented breeze, Leyla patiently waited for Uncle Bill to finish his job. But at one point, he fell asleep and opened his eyes when Uncle Bill called his name at sunset.

Leyla got up from her seat, carried her bag, and picked up the blanket.

“Uncle Bill. I saw a little boy...”.

As Leyla was about to recount her encounter with the boy who shared a peach with her, she was interrupted by the silhouette of the people walking out from the other side of the forest. It was Duke Herhardt and his friends.

Matthias stopped in the middle of the rose garden. The outspoken gardener, Bill Remmer, was there bowing his head towards the duke. Soon, Matthias realized that there was a little boy hiding behind the gardener.

“For a long time no see, Mr. Remmer.”

Matthias lightly nodded. His acquaintance who was with him during the hunting session stopped behind the duke at a considerable distance.

“He will stay here in Arvis for a while.”

Bill Remmer told the duke with a slightly uncomfortable look.

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When Bill patted the girl's back to advance, the girl hesitantly took a step towards the duke. Thanks to his shiny blonde hair, Matthias can remember who the child was. The girl he almost shot. The absurd little girl who almost got shot because it was considered a bird.

“I've received approval from Mrs Norma and Mrs Elysse, but I'm sure I should ask for your consent as well.”

Bill Remmer lowered his head once more. The child standing next to him bowed.

Matthias slowly glanced at the boy. As they exchanged glances, the child frowned at him. Eyes pout thin and lips clenched. His expression was exactly the same when they first met in the forest.

“You are the girl. Girls who live in the forest.”

Matthias' cousin, Riette, sneered from behind. The red-faced child hid behind the gardener's back in shame. The girl he occasionally met in the forest was also like that. As soon as he looked into the duke's eyes in surprise, he hid behind a tree. And after Matthias had finished hunting, he always went out from behind and buried the dead birds.1

"certain. If that's what you want, Mr. Remmer.”

Matthias gave a short answer with a smile. Whatever the gardener grows in the forest is not his business.

“Thank you, Milord.”

After the duke passed the gardener and the girl, Leyla gasped as she watched Matthias' servants follow him with their hands full of game animals. A deep and unpleasant smell of blood flowed through the girl's nose. Leyla's shoulders bowed and she closed her eyes.

Uncle Bill's large, warm hand patted Leyla's weak shoulder.

Claudine sighed excessively with her chin resting on her palm. His curly brown hair was draped to the rhythm of his unceasing sigh. Countess Brandt looked at his daughter with his thin eyebrows.

“Claudine, please behave like a woman.”

The Countess' vague voice sounded increasingly impatient. Although Claudine was too young to be called a woman, she would soon become the Duchess of Arvis. Claudine's mother let out a long sigh looking at her immature daughter's attitude.

“But I'm so lonely and bored.”

Claudine grumbling. The other noble ladies who were drinking tea at the tea table turned their eyes to the upset brown haired girl.

“Then go play with your cousin.”

Countess Brandt snorted as her face flushed red. But Claudine doesn't care about her frustrated mother.

“They treat me as if I am not here. They say things I don't understand.”

The women smiled gently at Claudine's annoyed expression.

“Well, that might be boring. Claudine has no friends her age.”

Elysse von Herhardt nodded as he stroked the white dog sitting on his lap.

"seen? Lady Herhardt understands.”

A bright smile broke on Claudine's lips as she found someone who could understand her pain.

“Who is the child?”

Claudine suddenly pointed her finger towards the garden after glancing at a young girl for some time. All the women turned in the direction that Claudine pointed. The young girl Claudine was talking about was taking a walk with a gardener.

“Can I play with him? I think he's the same age as me.”

“Yah... Isn't he an orphan from abroad? Such a girl is not suitable to be your friend.”

"I'm doing fine. I think it would be more fun than playing with a dog.”

Claudine's tone was calm and imposing. She did not notice her mother's red ear that was about to break out of embarrassment. Elysse von Herhardt laughed and happily rang the bell.

“Bring me the boy.”

A servant arrived as his master's bell rang.

“Child that is being raised by gardeners.”

The waiter takes Leyla to an unknown world. It was a place where luxurious people, dressed in sweet-colored clothes, sat in the shade of a large white house.

“She is very sweet.”

One of the women praised.

"What did you say? Do you like it, Claudine?”

After examining Leyla, the black-haired woman turned her head towards the chestnut-haired girl sitting beside her. The girl named Claudine smiled happily and nodded.

“Thank you, Mrs Herhardt.”

Leyla blankly looked at the people in front of her. He was not sure what the women were talking about. He just wants to get back to Uncle Bill's cabin but it seems like no one has noticed his desperate desire.

When one of the women muttered the order, the maid held Leyla's hand and dragged her into a room.

Leyla bathed in a luxurious bathroom for the first time and wore clothes that turned out to be very soft and white. The maid roughly combed her messy hair but Leyla endured the pain. He's sure if he says something wrong, he'll risk Uncle Bill's job.

“Lady Claudine is Count Brandt's daughter. You must not act recklessly in front of him. Do you understand?"

The servant who dragged Leyla to the second floor of the mansion sternly warned Leyla.

Leyla confusedly nodded. The waiter carefully opened the door of the living room. Claudin greeted them with a luxurious attitude.

"Hello. Whatis yourname? Age?"

Claudine looked down and tried to make eye contact with Leyla.

“Leyla Lewellin's. I'm twelve years old.”

"really? I think you're younger because you're still very small.”

Although Leyla hated being called 'small', she decided to hold back her frustration. To Uncle Bill. He calmed himself while repeating those words like a mantra.

The piano. Musically. Stringing Flowers.

Claudine recommended this and that, but Leyla could do nothing.

Dice game. Wordplay. Chess.

The other alternatives Claudin proposed were the same.

A faint smile appeared in Claudine's mouth as she alternately looked towards the table full of toys and towards Leyla.

“Poor You.”

Sighing in disappointment, Claudine slowly got up from her chair. Leyla stared helplessly at the assortment of toys on the table.

“You don't know anything.”

Claudin walked towards Leyla's chair and sighed resignedly. Her soft voice, trying not to give any signs of disappointment or annoyance, made Leyla even more humiliated.

Leyla thought she should at least answer something but her mouth was tightly closed. In situations like this, it's hard to say anything polite. Fortunately, Claudine turned around without waiting for what Leyla said.

Before closing the door, Claudine sighed to herself.

"What whatwhat. No better than a dog.”

When Claudine leaves, Leyla is left alone in the glittering living room.

Leyla wanted to leave immediately but she decided to wait. Maybe he'll come back Leyla thought. But as the afternoon sun gradually turned golden, Claudine did not return.1

The waiter who brought Leyla in did not show up until night.

“You can come back.”

The voice of the servant was softer than before.

“The woman said you can keep the clothes. And this is also.”

The servant held out a glittering gold coin towards Leyla. As Leyla froze in place, the servant shoved the coin into her hand.

"Take. Being grateful for what your boss gives you is polite. Do you understand?"