I Won't Go Back To My Family Who Abandon Me

****

[When are you going to awaken?]

It was a question she'd heard many times. Come to think of it, it seemed to have become more frequent after her younger brother awakened.

[You'll be quite pathetic if you don't set an example for your younger brother!]

He was ashamed of her for not awakening, so the Duke told her to pretend she had.

A play that wasn't even funny. What was even more amazing, the fact that the people around her were being deceived by the act. Even though it was a lie that could easily be revealed, the Duke, who was bound by people's eyes and his reputation, did his best to act out this play.

[Hold the sword properly. If you don't know how to do anything, you should just try harder.]

Even though she was born into a family famous for swordsmanship and martial arts skills, Keena wasn't very interested.

Perhaps that's why she always incurred the Duke's wrath for not even having an ability. Later, he even became the one to take it out on her.

The Duchess, who could no longer stand to see her like this, asked Kiena with tears in her eyes.

[Keena, please do it for mom. Let's make an effort today, okay?]

[If you can't do it even if you try, then mother will persuade father.]

She was the only person who stood by her side, even if everyone ignored and despised her.

In the end, Keena had no choice but to make an effort to awaken. No, she rose beautifully to the stage her father had prepared for her, and became the perfect impostor.

Later, the duke lost interest in her with a look of boredom on his face. To be precise, 'abandoned' was the correct word.

Nevertheless, Keena did not hate or resent the Duke, who completely let go of her.

Her mother, however, would comfort her like this.

[I've never seen my daughter trying so hard.]

[That's enough for mom.]

She was the only one who loved me and was always on my side. The one person who she wanted to keep until the end, even if she lost everything. [I've never seen you so focused on something.]

[Just seeing this is enough for me.]

She thought she'd never see her again, and that she would never meet anyone who was just like her.

'I hate you so much, Leticia.'

Of all things, she had to be breathtakingly similar to her.

"This is..."

Keena blinked slowly.

A soft bed underneath her back and a thick blanket covered her. When she looked at her injured arm, it was wrapped in a clean bandage. "Oh, right."

Keena swept her hair roughly and burst into laughter. In her broken memory, she belatedly remembered herself collapsing in a heap in Leticia's room. "Oh, my..."

The moment she slowly got up and tried to get out of bed, the wound throbbed and a curse tried to escape her lips. While barely swallowing it down, she looked around the room for a while, then Keena opened the door with a hand wrapped around her injured arm.

Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone in the hallway. It was the perfect time to leave quietly.

'I should change my clothes before that.'

Keena sighed as she pulled her tattered clothes on. She had a rough idea of what she looked like without having to look in the mirror.

She had no idea where the clothing were kept, so she entered a room at random. Looking at the room she'd entered, which was filled with so many books that it reminded her of a small library, she had a feeling that she knew whose room it was.

Looking around, Keena found a closet in a corner. As soon as she opened the closet door.

"What are you doing now?"

As soon as the door was opened, she found the master of the room standing there with a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm going to borrow one of your shirts."

Keena calmly searched lan's closet while talking. Ian wasn't even angry with her, even though she was acting like this was her room. "This is my room."

"I see."

With a casual reply, Keena held the white shirt she had taken out against her body. It was a little big for her, but out of all the shirts he had, it was still the smallest and this one seemed to fit her the best. "How long are you going to stand there like that?"

"What?"

"I'm going to change"

"If you're going to keep watching, I..."

The door slammed shut before she could say she didn't care if he watched.

***

"What are you doing? Not eating?"

66

There was an appetizing stew in front of her, but Keena just stared at Elle without touching it.

'I would have gone out the window if my body was healthy.'

The original plan was to get out of lan's room and sneak out of this mansion. However, she ran into Elle in the hallway, she couldn't escape and was dragged to the dining room.

Keena surreptitiously looked around and said.

"I'm an intruder, who entered without permission."

"I know."

"I even took the liberty of stealing clothes."

"Oh, really! I know, so don't waste your breath, and eat! Even if you leave, you should eat something before you go!"

Elle shouted in frustration at her continued hesitation. She wanted Keena to leave as soon as possible, but she was worried that she was thinner than before. She was even hurt, so it was hard to just let her go.

"Okay, you can eat."

Keena realized that she wouldn't let her leave before taking a bite. She took a spoonful, and as soon as she was about to eat it, lan blocked her.

"Don't eat it."

"She told me to eat, and you told me not to eat. What do you want me to do?"

"If you eat it, your stomach will hurt, so don't eat it."

ແ

"....?"

The moment Keena turned her head to see what he meant, Elle glared at lan sternly.

"Who do you think you are? Don't tell her not to eat what I made."

"I'm worried that someone who's injured will get sick."

"Is my dish something that you can't eat?"

"You didn't know that by now?"

Keena quietly stirred her stew, as she casually watched the twins fighting.

'It looks delicious to me.'

The moment Keena took a bite, she was nauseated almost immediately. As expected, warnings shouldn't be overlooked.

"What? Why is it so fishy?"

"What do you mean by fishy? That can't be true."

"See? I told you not to eat it."

Leaving lan behind, who said he knew it, Keena checked the stew. Apparently, it was a fish stew, but it was really fishy.

"Did you boil the fish without removing the intestines?"

"Oh... Do you have to take out the intestines?"

If she knew this would happen, she would've just left.

Keena, who looked at the stew and pushed it to the side with a belated regret, said carefully.

"I... You have a guest."

Looking at her expression, it seemed like a difficult guest had arrived.

lan reacted first and looked out the window before Elle could even ask who it was, he frowned and sighed.

"Who is it? Who is it?"

"It's Leticia's family."

"Why is her family coming here?"

"How can I know that?"

Leticia, who was the only person the Leroy's would try to contact, was currently touring the territory with Enoch. There was no way they didn't know that, so it was strange that they had come here. "I think it has something to do with me."

Keena, who was still sitting and looking at the twins, said this with a smile. However, the smile she wore was as cold as a midwinter wind.

***

"Are you okay?"

They walked around until late at night and had finally returned to their accommodation.

They had already been touring for several days and had distributed relief supplies. It was quite difficult to move to a different village every day, but Leticia never complained about being tired.

Rather, Leticia asked with a worried look on her face.

"I'm not tired, but are you okay Enoch?"

"I'm doing what I have to do."

"I hope you're not overdoing it, but I don't think you slept last night either."

At some point, she'd noticed that Enoch was getting haggard. At first, she thought it was because of travelling. Looking at Enoch, who was always awake before her, she worried that he wasn't sleeping well.

"Do you have insomnia?"

"It's because you said that."

"What? Oh, no way..."

Another possibility passed through Leticia's mind, who'd never thought he'd have insomnia.

"Do I have bad sleeping habits?"

"Do I talk in my sleep?"

66

She asked in hopes that it wasn't the case, but there was no answer back. She accepted the silence as an answer in the positive, Leticia grabbed Enoch's arm with a red face.

"Oh, my gosh."

Accepting the silence as affirmative, Leticia flushed and grabbed Enoch's arm tightly. She didn't know what kind of a sleeper she was, or what kind of sleeping habits she had. She was about to say something, when Leticia realized that she should apologize first.

"It would be better if you just talked in your sleep."

"What?"

"You always kiss my cheek before bed, you don't skip a day."

"Oh... I didn't know that you wouldn't like it."

She couldn't believe that Enoch didn't like something that she did.

Leticia couldn't stand the embarrassment and scratched her cheek. Enoch spoke first before she could say anything.

"I'm not saying I don't want it."

....?"

"I meant you should be careful."

"Yes, I'll be careful. I was going to be careful."

When Leticia nodded with a somewhat gloomy look, Enoch frowned slightly and slowly approached her.

"Do you know what you're supposed to be careful about?"

"That... because you don't want a goodnight kiss?"

"I don't mind."

"Then what?"

She didn't understand why he asked her to be careful unless he didn't like it, so Leticia tilted her head in confusion. The wind scattered her pink hair from her pale shoulders.

Enoch captured the picture as he stood in front of her with a smile. Leticia belatedly noticed something was wrong, and stepped back without realizing it.

However, when she bumped into something near her waist and turned around, she saw a wooden table. Even before she could move to the side, Enoch put his hands on the table with Leticia in between.

"You don't even know what I'm thinking."

As soon as her blue eyes intertwined with his, Leticia felt her mouth dry out, but she didn't avoid his gaze and faced him straight on.

"What are you thinking?"

"Do you really want to know? About how I want to be with you?"

The hand that had been gently covering her cheek slowly touched her soft lips. The persistent but affectionate touch was unfamiliar to her, so Leticia shrank into herself.

All she could do was quietly hold Enoch's wrist and look up at him.

He was the one she always thought of as neat and serious. Someone who would hug her when she was having a hard time, and comfort her when she was down by telling her it would be all right.

"I'm not that innocent."

11

....

"The same goes for me towards you."

Her heart was overwhelmed to the point of suffocation, to think that the person she wanted desired her as well. However, she couldn't bear this feeling right now, and Leticia slowly lowered her eyes.

She still wanted to express her feelings though.

"So be careful."

He didn't know what she was thinking either.