Chapter 33

– Yes? Didn't you hear me calling you?

– No…

– You're lying, – Judy stared at Sebastian.

Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut because he was afraid of the gaze of icy green eyes.

– Hey, – Judy grabbed Sebastian's chin, forcing him to open his eyes and look at him. – Do you know why I came?

– No. Don't know. Why are you doing this? My father will not stand aside.

– So my father will stay away?

– …

No matter how proud Sebastian was of his father, the Grand Duke was a step higher than a simple Duke.

When Judy didn't see any signs on Sebastian's face that he was going to apologize, he sighed and pushed the boy away.:

– Did you touch my little sister?

– Sister, is she really your sister? But, it's not like that! – Sebastian thought, remembering the girl he saw. – This can't be happening! The color of your hair and eyes is completely different, isn't it?

Judy's eyes became even colder.

He really wasn't going to hit Sebastian, but in the end, he couldn't stand it and hit him on the lips.

Because of his anger, Judy couldn't control the force, so Sebastian's lips immediately burst.

Sebastian, who was hit for the first time in his life, saw the blood and screamed as if he was about to lose consciousness.

– Aah! I'm bleeding… Aah, I'll tell Dad! It hurts me! It hurts! It hurts!

Or no, Judy twisted his wrist again, as if he was going to hit Sebastian again.

When Sebastian saw that Judy was going to hit him again, he immediately covered his face with his elbows:

– What did I... uh... do wrong... where was I wrong?

– Idiot. Are you in pain right now?

– Of course it hurts. Wouldn't it hurt you? – Sebastian asked angrily, who felt that he had been hit unfairly.

But Judy hit him again:

– Because of you, my sister was in much more pain.

– Did I beat her?

If Judy had hit Sebastian in the face again, it would have been too noticeable, so this time, the boy kicked him in the soft stomach, which should have softened the blow decently.

Bam! – with a thud, Sebastian flew into the corner.

– Are you stupid? Does it hurt from being hit? You can easily heal your wounds, but you cannot heal wounds that are inflicted with words! Your stone head! – Judy openly said that Sebastian was pathetic.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around his aching stomach and glared at Judy. His stomach hurt, but he couldn't scream about it, because then Judy would hit him again.

– My sister hasn't regained consciousness for two whole days.

– ...because of me?

– Yes.

Sebastian's eyes widened a little, as if Judy's words had shocked him.

Despite what he usually said, his real character wasn't that bad.

It's just that typical prejudices have arisen in him, which arise when you live in a rich and influential family, and the people around you support your every action, as if you are God and your every word is the truth.

The problem with such parenting is that the child becomes strong for the weak, but weak for the strong.

Sebastian also had this problem, but it was based on the problem of the entire society of nobles.

But Sebastian was genuinely upset that Esther had been ill for two days because of him.

The boy hesitated for a few moments, and then finally said softly:

– ...I'm really sorry.

– It's pointless to apologize to me. Meet with Esther and apologize to her personally.

– Oh, but, I'm too ashamed…

– Yes? Then maybe it would be more correct to use it? – Smiling, Judy showed Sebastian the wooden sword he had brought.

As a result, Sebastian turned out to be very accommodating.

Copious tears poured from his eyes and dripped down his chin:

– Ok. I'm sorry. I'll meet her in person.

Judy nodded contentedly, having heard what he wanted from Sebastian:

– This is the right decision.

– Should I go right now?

– Don't you want to get up first? – Judy held out his hand to Sebastian.

Although Sebastian flinched, afraid that Judy wanted to hit him again, he took his hand and, with great difficulty, got up:

– You know... if everything's okay now, don't you want to come visit me? I'll show you my little sister.

– To visit? All right, then I'll take Esther with me.

'An unexpected invitation,' – Judy squinted and tried to understand Sebastian thoughts.

He wondered if Sebastian was hiding another expression, but after a few seconds Judy came to the conclusion that as long as he was with Esther, his sister could not be in danger.

– Great.

Like many growing up children, after Judy unilaterally hit Sebastian several times, a truce came between them.

*****

– Ha-a-a… – Esther exhaled heavily.

She stood at the window and looked out at the street, but her gaze kept going somewhere far away.

Sighing again, Esther looked at her hand with a serious expression on her face.

'Why did he take my hand?'

Despite the fact that some time had passed, Noah was still in Esther's thoughts.

At first it seemed to her that it was because of his beautiful appearance, but every time his sad eyes and strong hands floated up in the girl's thoughts.

– Wait, stop thinking about it! Shaking her head, Esther slapped her cheeks.

'I think about it, just because I need to finish the drawing, as soon as I finish drawing it, I will immediately stop remembering!'

But it wasn't that simple.

After looking at the sketch, Esther turned her gaze back to the street and moaned softly.

In the girl's hand was a piece of paper on which was drawn a perfectly completed boy's face.

Esther had seen him only once, but she could draw him in great detail, because her thoughts kept coming back to him.

– I must have really gone crazy, – the girl whispered, and her cheeks turned red.

Esther didn't know what to do with it, so she hid the drawing in a book lying on her desk.

She was very worried and was fanning her burning cheeks when it suddenly became very noisy outside the window.

'What is it?' – Esther stuck her head out of the open window.

– Oh, what to do… It looks like a snake bite... Hans! Wake up!!

– God…

– Call a doctor!

– We are not the people they will come to challenge.

There was a mixture of screams and desperate voices, not knowing what to do with the victim.

When Esther leaned out a little more, she saw that one of the kitchen workers was lying on the ground.

Despite the fact that he was quite far away, the girl thought that she knew him.

– Legs... legs…

– Hans?!

The man's voice trailed off as if he had died. The pain was so intense that he lost consciousness.

Just by looking at his bluish face and swollen legs, one could understand that the situation was quite serious.

Shocked, Esther, without thinking about anything, ran out of the room.

– Miss? Where are you going?! – Dorothy screamed, but immediately ran after the girl.

When Esther got to the garden and realized what was happening, she caught her breath.

Hans was lying on the ground, and the other two servants were confronting the hissing snake.

–Was he bitten by a snake? – Esther tried to get closer to the victim, but the servants who saw the girl were scared and stopped her:

– Miss, no! It's dangerous here, there's a snake on this side!

Dorothy also grabbed Esther by the waist, preventing her from going there.

Even at first glance, it was clear that the snake was extremely dangerous, because it had already bitten one and was now trying to attack others.

Esther stopped and calmly put her thoughts in order.

'Should I save him?'

The girl was convinced that she could easily go there and put an end to what was happening, but after saving Hans, her abilities would be revealed. So now Esther was wondering if she should take that risk.

– Dorothy.

– Yes?

– Hans... wasn't he the one who made me doughnuts last time?

– Oh, it seems so?

There was a lot to say in this situation, but that was what was important to Esther.

After Esther's illness, the kitchen workers, each in their own way, took a place in the girl's heart.

They cooked very tasty food and snacks, but Hans was remembered by Esther because he cooked and brought her doughnuts.

'He's too good to die,' – Esther finished thinking and removed Dorothy's hands.:

– Step back.

– But…

– Everything will be fine.

There was a strange strength in these words of the girl and Dorothy's hands weakened by themselves.

Esther went to the snake, which appeared from nowhere.

It looks like this snake is waiting for cubs, it was still half the size of Esther, and the skin looked strong.

It was an extremely dangerous viper that knocked down an adult man, but it didn't seem dangerous to Esther.

The girl looked straight into the snake's bright yellow eyes.

'It looks like this snake is waiting for cubs,' – there was no sign of it, but Esther just realized it. 'She attacked a man because she was afraid he would hurt her.

Although she looks threatening, she is very afraid and wants to run away. Her eyes are asking for her life…'

– I'll do it, – when Esther came forward, the servants were confused and froze.

– Impossible. No way. Step back!

– Miss, it's really very dangerous…

For the residents of the house, Esther was a very small and fragile girl.

When Esther said she would deal with the snake herself, there was no way the servants could let her. After all, if a girl, the daughter of a Grand Duke, is bitten by a snake, all responsibility will fall on them.

– It's all right, so step back, – Esther blinked slowly, looking at the servants.

As the pink eyes filled with power, the servants stumbled and retreated.

For some reason, they couldn't disobey little Esther.

The girl approached the snake and everyone froze tensely.

At the moment when the long silence reached its limit, when something was about to happen, the unexpected happened.

The snake stopped hissing and quietly curled up. Instead of attacking Esther, she retreated and became affectionate.

Looking at her, Esther asked the servants:

– Is there a basket here?

– Oh, the basket? Yes, I was somewhere…

The servants were picking fruit, so the basket was found, but it was not empty.

Esther took the basket and removed all the fruit from it. It turned out to be the perfect size to put a snake inside.

– Come here, – the girl smiled and held out the basket forward, and the snake, as if understanding her words, carefully crawled into the basket.