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Ayla walked past the rows of flowerpots to the deepest part of the Greenhouse.
Before long, she reached a place where moonlight poured down from the round glass ceiling.
At that moment, she felt a faint pulse from the egg in her arms.
"You want to hatch soon, too, don't you?"
This place would have plenty of sunlight and moonlight.
Since it was close to the forest, there would be plenty of Mana around as well.
Ayla carefully placed the egg on a soft cushion she had brought separately.
Then she squatted beside it and gently stroked the egg.
"They say you have to say nice things to hatch an egg."
Just like plants grow better when you say kind words to them, the book said that eggs also need to feel secure.
But Ayla wasn't very good with words.
Instead of whispering this and that, she gently patted the egg.
"Let's meet after you hatch. I'll be waiting."
At that moment, she felt the egg tremble slightly.
After leaving the egg in the Greenhouse, Ayla visited it often.
As she did, she felt strangely attached to the egg.
She would wet a clean cloth with warm water to wipe the eggshell, and she would make hot packs out of Magical potion ingredients.
Taking care of the egg became her daily routine.
Raising something was more rewarding than she thought.
As she raised the egg, she felt her sharp, edgy heart slowly healing.
'I guess I didn't have many places to put my heart until now.'
It was a new realization.
As she became more relaxed, she naturally started telling the egg all sorts of stories whenever she visited the Greenhouse.
"I went to get a dress made with Peony the other day. But she seemed more excited than I was. It's a design I've never worn before, but it would be fun to wear it together on the ball day."
Even though she knew the egg couldn't answer, Ayla kept chattering.
"I'm thinking of matching the color of the dress to be similar to Felix's. Oh, you don't know who those two are, do you?"
Ayla smiled awkwardly and continued.
"Peony and Felix are my... um, what should I say? Yeah, friends. Actually, my situation was so difficult that I made them my companions because I needed help, but they are both such good people."
Ayla said that and quietly took a breath.
Her heart still ached whenever she thought of the moment they took her out of the dark warehouse.
Even though they were only connected by a contract, the fact that they had desperately searched for her made her want to cry.
She tried to control her emotions and continued.
"We're going to eat delicious food together at the festival this time, and we're going to see the fireworks. I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know if I deserve to enjoy this kind of leisure..."
It was when Ayla was stroking the egg and smiling gently again.
Flutter.
Suddenly, a small tremor was felt in the egg.
Ayla opened her eyes wide and looked at the egg.
Now she could be sure. That the vibration she felt was not an illusion.
"Did you just answer me?"
Ayla smiled slightly and playfully poked the egg with her fingertip.
Flutter flutter.
Then the egg trembled again as if responding to her laughter.
Ayla looked surprised for a moment, then smiled brightly.
Was it because her tightly closed heart had loosened somewhat?
Ayla was able to carefully reveal the truth that she had never told anyone before.
"Felix and I are going to have the first dance at the ball this time. I haven't told anyone... but I'm actually a little excited."
Ayla recalled the time she danced with Felix a while ago.
The time when she was clumsy in front of Peony, holding his hand.
Felix had clearly said that he had never learned to dance separately, but he seemed to have a natural talent for using his body, and his skills quickly improved in just a few tries.
Before long, she forgot that she was practicing and became immersed in the dance.
Sometimes when their eyes met, she sensed a strange warmth in his gaze.
Whenever Felix and Peony were so kind to her, Ayla found herself constantly wavering.
If only these two people were by her side, wouldn't she not have to go through the trouble of getting Ayla Blanche's position back?
Rather than being in danger trying to find out who was targeting her, shouldn't she give up revenge to a certain extent?
Just... should she accept these people's kindness and enjoy her life as it is?
She was constantly caught up in these weak thoughts.
Ayla, who had been staring blankly at the Greenhouse ceiling, shook her head.
'That can't be.'
Her future, which was destined for a miserable death, couldn't be so easy.
Besides, Felix and Peony were still young and hadn't even graduated from the academy.
She didn't know what dangers lurked in their future, so she couldn't drag them, who knew nothing, into her affairs.
'I want to rely on someone, and that someone is those kind kids.'
Regaining her composure, Ayla muttered to the egg.
"Sometimes I just want to tell you everything and rely on you... but don't worry. I know I shouldn't do that."
Ayla said that and dropped her head, burying her face between her knees.
Ayla stayed in the Greenhouse for a long time before leaving.
As it happened, there was someone watching her leave with bated breath.
'Why does she come here every night?'
Rosia had recently learned through an undead rat she had created that Ayla often visited the Greenhouse.
Ayla even stayed in the Greenhouse for a long time every night.
However, the rat could only track Ayla's location and did not have the ability to determine what was happening inside.
So Rosia had to come here herself to see what Ayla was doing.
After confirming that Ayla had moved away from the Greenhouse, Rosia used Magic to open the lock and slowly stepped inside.
The Greenhouse was large, but Rosia had a rat.
With its red eyes shining, the rat led Rosia inside.
How far had she walked?
As soon as it reached the deepest part of the Greenhouse, the rat scurried over and crawled under a soft cushion.
What Rosia found there was a huge egg.
The moment she saw it, she was seized with a feeling of holding her breath.
Rosia raised her eyebrows as she touched the smooth surface of the egg with her fingertips.
"What is this?"
After being stunned for a moment, joy flashed in Rosia's eyes.
'This was it?'
Rosia had been wondering why everything wasn't going according to her plan.
She had been preparing to destroy the Duke Blanche family for over a year.
She had prepared so thoroughly, but why hadn't she been able to take control of the Blanche family yet?
She couldn't understand how Ayla could still hold her head high and attend the academy.
'Besides, somehow she even overcame Mana insensitivity recently.'
She always wondered how such things could happen suddenly.
That's because the timing was too coincidental, wasn't it?
'She recovered from Mana insensitivity as soon as she was kicked out of the Blanche family?'
Rosia thought that Ayla must have been up to something.
And now, the answer was right in front of Rosia.
'This is definitely a Monsters' egg.'
It also looked like an egg of a fairly high-ranking Monsters.
'Monsters' eggs are often used as materials for ancient Forbidden Magic.'
Creatures in this world are usually divided into those with Mana and those without.
And the names also differed depending on the type of Mana they possessed.
For example, creatures full of the energy of moonlight mainly became Monsters.
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