Chapter 65

“Ugh. It’s not just chilly; it’s cold now…”

Thud.

Julia closed the window and adjusted her goosebumps.

A cold wind was starting to blow through the institution, making it hard to endure without properly wrapping up.

If the southern continent of the Vladimir Empire felt like this, how cold must it be in the northern demon realm?

It was difficult to gauge easily.

Now that I think about it, it was about time for the first snow.

Snow, if it comes, would only be cold and obstructive.

That’s what Julia had thought, but this time it felt slightly different.

Perhaps it was because her body had changed, her hormonal system was different, or maybe her mental state had weakened, but she felt just a little, very little, that she didn’t want to miss the moment the first snow fell.

“Tia. When you go outside, you need to dress warmly. Otherwise, you could catch a cold…”

“Mmm?”

You might catch a cold.

Just as Julia was about to say that, she paused for a moment to think.

Imagining that this sturdy, nearly monster-like child catching a cold was hard to fathom.

“You probably wouldn’t catch a cold, but still, it’s better to be warm, right?”

“Being warm is best when I’m cuddled with mama!”

“……”

Hug.

Tia, rushing over in a single step, jumped into Julia’s arms.

For some reason, she felt like being held today.

Her mother’s expression looked somehow precarious…

It seemed like she had something to say.

Reluctantly wrapping her arms around Tia’s back, Julia bit her lip.

There were words she needed to say, but she quickly shut her mouth and swallowed them back.

It wasn’t easy.

“Tia. After today’s work is done, I have something to tell you?”

“Mmm. What is it?”

“Well… I’ll tell you at dinner. Will you listen?”

“Of course!”

Hearing Tia’s confident reply brought a smile to Julia’s lips.

Tia had no clue what Julia was about to say.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of reaction Tia would have after hearing it.

Would she cry and deny it?

Or would she feel betrayed and reject her mother?

Or would she accept it quietly…?

It was frightening and daunting, but she couldn’t remain silent.

She had already proclaimed it to many people.

Julia held Tia tightly one last time, feeling the warmth through her chest.

It was a warmth and touch that she wanted to hold forever.

“Then mama will get to work now, okay? You need to not trouble the maids too much?”

“I won’t trouble them!”

“That’s what you think.”

“Mmm…”

Roughly patting Tia’s head, Julia stood up.

Today, guests from the government were visiting several villas, so as a maid of the duke, Julia was expected to be quite busy.

Of course, learning from her previous mistake, Tia had promised not to come outside the accommodation or the back garden today.

“Hehehe. Mama is off to work? Should I play with the maids in the meantime?”

“……”

As soon as Julia left, a young maid entered with a smile.

She was assigned to keep an eye on Tia for the day.

They absolutely could not allow Tia to run out and make a fool of herself in front of the officials, so it was a precautionary measure.

Tia felt she was being looked down upon and pouted.

She wanted to earn her mama’s trust.

Though Tia had completely forgotten about her previous escapade when she ran to play with the guests.

“What shall we play, Tia?”

“Frisbee.”

“It’s quite windy and cold today; how about we play inside?”

“Frisbee.”

“Um… throwing a frisbee might hit the window and disturb the guests, so how about playing something else? For instance…”

“Then tag.”

“……”

The maid’s smile gradually twisted.

Though it was early winter and the temperature wasn’t too low, the wind was particularly strong today.

Engaging in outdoor activities today would be madness.

Naturally, Tia, unconcerned with the frail limits of the human body, continued to insist on playing outside…

“Tia! How about a board game instead, a board game?”

“Not interested. Tag…”

“Wow! Board games sound fun! Misha brought some!”

“We’re going to play a board game now; do you want to join us, Tia?”

“Mmm…”

However, her resolve quickly crumbled.

As the maids gathered and pretended to enjoy the board game, Tia, unable to be alone, rushed over and sat among them.

Finally, the maids all turned their heads and quietly sighed in relief.

They almost had to run around in the deadly cold while entertaining Tia.

“Roll the dice, and you move forward based on the numbers. How about that? Easy, right?”

“This? What’s so fun about this…?”

Tia, still displeased, ballooned her cheeks as she half-heartedly learned the game.

But as turns went by and the game reached its later stages…

“Mmm! That’s cheating! How did you roll a 12 from there?!”

Tia was now completely absorbed in the game.

“Hehe. This is all skill.”

“Oh. So it’s not just a random throw…!”

“Of course.”

It was a joking remark, but Tia took it seriously without missing a beat.

The outcome of the dice was determined by the angle, speed, and rotation at the moment it was thrown.

In other words, if one could control all those elements, rolling the dice to achieve the desired outcome theoretically could be possible.

Of course, it was impossible for an ordinary human.

“Two sixes…?”

“What? Again?”

But for Tia, with her exceptional reaction speed and sensitivity, along with her ability to finely control her strength, it was entirely feasible.

Every time Tia threw, the dice showed a 12.

Of course, if there were traps in that position, she sometimes intentionally rolled an 11.

As Tia began to sprint forward, the maids’ jaws dropped.

‘Is it magic? I thought I was fairly tuned into magic, but I feel nothing! Could it be that she has some kind of barrier?’

There was no choice but to conclude that Tia was a prodigy in magic.

Executing her play with the dice while not exposing a trace of magic to the outside world—and everyone was unable to even imagine the result being completely without any magical intervention.

‘Ah, so that’s why the duke pays for her schooling!’

They must have glimpsed some talent in her.

It was only then that the maids let out exclamations as if the mystery had been solved.

Until now, they had merely thought that the duke had become enthralled by Julia to the point of offering everything.

Not even realizing that this was the truth, the maids could only marvel at the duke’s keen insight.

“It’s boring.”

“……”

Ultimately, Tia burst the game in an instant and quickly lost interest, turning away.

This game, where the first to roll the dice wins, what could possibly be fun about that?

Tia suddenly wanted to go outside again, clinging to the window.

Meal time was also approaching, and since there were places that needed cleaning, the maids began to leave the accommodation one by one.

“I want to play outside…”

Mama and the duke are busy.

The maids are all reluctant to go outside.

And all the indoor games left were dull.

Just as Tia was letting out a deep sigh, a maid approached from behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It looks like it’s going to snow soon. I think it’ll come sometime this week.”

“Snow? What’s that?”

“You don’t know what snow is…?”

The maid tilted her head at Tia’s innocent expression.

How could someone not know about snow at this age? She thought, but then deemed that she probably came from the much warmer south.

“Mmm! What is snow?”

“Snow is, you see, extremely beautiful. When snowflakes fall from the sky, the whole world turns white.”

“I can do it too! If I shake my head!”

“That’s dandruff… And you should wash your hair.”

“I don’t want to. More importantly, when it snows, everyone comes out to play with Tia, right? It’s supposed to be really pretty!”

“Um… about that…”

The maid’s eyes darted around.

When it snows, she would have to expel all her energy cleaning up that white mess—could she really go play with Tia afterward?

The childhood spirit she once had was long gone now that snow seemed to be a thing that required exhausting effort.

“I… I think I better get to work soon! You know you can’t come into the villa, right? I’ll let you know when the guests leave, so you just need to hold on until then!”

“Mmm…”

Soon the last maid fled hastily, and Tia was left alone.

Her gaze fixed on the sky and she wouldn’t lower her head.

Snow.

The beautiful, white substance that falls from the sky captured all her attention.

It was inconvenient to look at the sky because of the window.

Reminded of her mama’s words to dress warmly, Tia hesitated just as she was about to rush outside.

Though she didn’t really feel the cold, remembering her mama’s worried gaze, she fully armed herself in her coat, furry boots, furry hat, and gloves before dashing outside.

“Umm…”

And then she just waited endlessly.

Waiting for the snow to come.

Tia soon grew weary and sprawled out on the grassy area.

But no matter how hard she searched the dark, cloudy sky, she couldn’t find a trace of white.

Should she just take a nap like this and closed her eyes.

“Mmm?”

At that moment, something cold touched her nose.

For a moment, she thought someone splashed water on her, and Tia quickly got up to look around, but there was no one around.

Just as Tia was bewildered, she felt a cold sensation on her wrist between her gloves and sleeves.

Tia’s head snapped up in surprise.

“Wow…!”

Finally, Tia could understand what the maid meant.

It was snowing.

Fluffy, beautiful things were slowly falling from the sky.

Tia immediately tossed off her gloves and opened her palms to catch the snow in her hands.

The snowflakes touched Tia’s warm hands and melted away in an instant.

Tia soon filled with excitement began to run around trying to catch every snowflake falling from the sky.

“Muhahaha!”

The snow began to fall heavily.

What began as a light flurry had turned into a heavy snowfall.

The ground was quickly covered, and soon the back garden was white, with the grass entirely hidden.

With every step Tia took, crackling sounds echoed near her feet.

As she busily ran around, her footprints would soon be covered over with the snow again and it would repeat.

Determined, Tia made up her mind to leave her footprints all over the garden and ran without resting.

“Haah… Haah…”

Before long, she became tired.

Her initial excitement of seeing snow had somewhat waned.

Gasping for breath, Tia flopped down onto the vast snowy expanse.

It was pretty, fascinating, and entertaining.

But something felt lacking.

What could it be, she wondered.

“Tia!”

“Mmm?”

At the sound of the dear voice, Tia’s body jolted up.

Her mother had come out from the villa, waving her hand.

Ah. She’s probably going to scold me for why I took off my gloves.

As she wondered where she had tossed them, something unexpected happened.

“Hey!”

“Mom?”

Julia burst out from behind a cover and jumped into the snow.

In an instant, the snow that had fallen from above covered Julia’s silver hair and maid outfit.

The mother who usually despised going outside on cold days was running toward her with a joyful expression for some reason.

While Tia stood there dazed, Julia grinningly began to scoop snow off the ground.

A snowball flew at Tia, who remained still.

“Muh?!”

“Fuhuhuhu!”

Tia felt the impact of the snowball hit her face, and snow cascaded down.

Tia’s bewildered expression immediately changed to one of shock.

Her mother was laughing.

With a face she had never seen before, with a voice she had never heard before…

Like that of an innocent girl.

‘So this is how my mother genuinely smiles when she’s truly happy.’

Thinking that, Tia felt a sudden daze wash over her.

Until now, her mother had never truly felt happiness even for a moment.

Realizing that made her chest ache.

She felt pathetic for not knowing that until now.

“Muh!”

“What are you doing? Not throwing? Are you just going to take hits, my daughter?”

Once again a well-aimed snowball hit Tia on the forehead.

Watching her mother smile as she brushed her hair back, the heat began to rise in Tia.

Now guilt or anything else didn’t matter.

Tia packed a snowball and charged at her mother.

Now it didn’t matter.

She only wanted to let her itchy body lead her in a playful romp with her mother.

.

.

.

“Huh. I wonder why I earnestly requested a short break.”

After parting the curtains, the duke let out a sigh of disbelief.

In the back garden, where heavy snow was pouring down.

There were the mother and daughter, giggling as they threw snow at each other.

“Julia is laughing like that.”

It wasn’t a fake, formal smile but real laughter.

With his insight, he could easily see things like that.

After watching the mother and daughter for some time, a smile gradually spread across the duke’s face.

It was a scene that brought great satisfaction.

“Ugh!”

“Are you okay, mom?!”

Before Tia could throw another rapid snowball, Julia fainted.

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