Chapter 3: Senet windsor (2)

After the scream echoed, the quiet house instantly became chaotic.

Servants and maids bustled through the corridors, and footsteps from afar grew closer.

The first person to arrive, besides them, was a lady.

Her wavy brown hair, the color of faded roses, cascaded over her shoulders, and she wore an indoor dress exuding a fragrant perfume.

Stopping at the doorway, she froze the moment she saw my shortly cut hair.

Her blue eyes widened, and her eyelids trembled subtly.

“Se… Sennet… What in the… Oh…”

Muttering something, she couldn’t finish her sentence, her hands cut through the air, and she collapsed weakly backward.

The hem of her dress spread across the floor, and her face, previously filled with shock, had turned deathly pale.

While the servants and maids helped her up, the next person to appear was a boy with a youthful look still on his face.

His less-illuminated chestnut hair was half-disheveled over his forehead, and his eyes were a clear black.

“Sister…?”

Upon seeing me, the boy who had been walking towards me stopped about two steps from the door, his eyes wide, speechless.

Last was a man with a straight back and a bear-like physique.

His silver hair was neatly cut short, and his dark uniform was without a single wrinkle.

His black eyes were expressionless, quietly holding a heavy gaze.

“Dear, what is all this commotion… Sennet…?”

Stopping at the doorway, his eyes widened as he looked at me.

His gaze went to my hair, to my face, then back to my hair.

Eventually, the sternness faded from his eyes.

“Senneeeettt!!”

A booming voice instantly echoed throughout the mansion.

As if forgetting to breathe, he clutched his head with both hands and lunged towards me.

“What happened! What happened?! Who did this to our Sennet!!”

Even when the surrounding servants bowed their heads in surprise, he made no attempt to maintain any dignity.

He knelt on the floor and began gathering the cut hair into his hands.

“My hair… My beautiful daughter’s hair…”

Clenching his fists and trembling his lips, he discovered the scissors fallen on the floor.

Then, as if lost in thought, he remained kneeling, not moving at all, before dramatically spreading his arms towards me.

“It’s okay, Papa thinks our daughter is beautiful no matter how she looks! But why… why… why…!?”

At that moment, the man exploded with emotion like a crumbling fortress wall and pulled me into a tight embrace.

His embrace was warm and rough.

His strong, large arms, befitting his size, embraced me so naturally, overcome with emotion, and caressed my head.

Behind us, footsteps, surprised murmurs, the lady collapsed on the floor, and the teary-eyed boy were all chaotically intertwined.

I quietly watched the entire scene from his embrace.

We shouldn’t have any relation—

But amidst the warmth and commotion felt beyond the soft, warm touch, my heart was incredibly noisy.

‘These people are my family.’

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

My reason and emotion, ridiculously, were accepting these strangers as family.

The fact felt strangely unfamiliar, and a little… not bad.

****

After recovering from the shock, my family immediately began to question me about my hair.

Their daughter, who had gone out, suddenly chopped off her long hair without a word, even though it had been long just that morning?

Though they were overly dramatic, their shock was understandable.

Saying I cut it because it was annoying didn’t seem convincing, so I just made a non-excuse about an ‘image change,’ but it seemed insufficient to satisfy them.

Instead, it only deepened their suspicion, turning a simple inquiry into a persistent interrogation.

If the maid who had been with me since Isellia Saluut’s mansion hadn’t explained on my behalf, I would have been in a considerably difficult situation.

The problem was that the explanation itself was quite shocking.

[Miss Sennet made a mistake and was expelled.]

I couldn’t help but feel tense.

Duke Saluut, Isellia Saluut’s father, is a prominent figure, serving as the country’s prime minister.

Since I caused trouble and was expelled from such a family, they would surely think this household would face considerable damage.

Just when I thought I was relieved, now they would interrogate me again.

If I hadn’t thought it was a dream, I wouldn’t have done such a thing… but it was an irresistible temptation.

However, my mother paused for a moment, then spoke very quietly.

“…You must have had a hard time.”

She neither blamed nor rebuked me.

She didn’t ask for a reason, nor did she ask for an explanation. She simply acknowledged first that my heart must have been in pain.

“Yes, my daughter. You don’t have to be so disheartened. Everyone makes mistakes.”

My father, who said that, also comforted me without any interrogation.

My brother wasn’t speaking, but his eyes weren’t cold, so it didn’t seem like he was trying to blame me.

‘…It would be tactless to tell the truth in this atmosphere.’

‘I should just keep quiet. It’s not something to be proud of that I pulled the villainess’s drill hair.’

“Father, Mother. Let’s have dinner before it gets too late. Sister must be hungry too.”

At that moment, my brother, who had been quiet, opened his mouth.

His voice was small and low, but strangely clear.

Thanks to him, the heavy atmosphere subsided, and I was lifted by my father and carried on his shoulder towards the dining room.

At the dinner table, subtle candlelight glowed.

The fireplace was lit, and silver spoons, knives, and forks, slowly stimulating appetite, moved across the table.

A long day came to an end.

Despite the commotion of the day, the servants and maids moved with peaceful expressions, and the tableware on the table was neatly arranged at precise intervals.

Four people sat at the table.

But their moods were all different.

My mother had changed her dress, and her face had not yet fully regained its color.

Her hair was neatly styled, but her fingertips seemed to lack strength.

She would occasionally glance cautiously at me, then turn her gaze back to her soup bowl, repeating the action.

My younger brother sat opposite her, quietly biting into a piece of bread.

His black eyes followed his spoon, occasionally turning towards me, just like Mother.

He wore an unreadable, expressionless face, but he subtly seemed concerned.

And my father, seated at the head of the table,

“Eat this too, my daughter. The harder it is, the more you should eat.”

was personally cutting the steak on his plate and bringing it to my mouth.

His eyes looked as steadfast as his large body, but somewhere deep within them, they softened gently.

There were faint wrinkles on his forehead, and the corners of his mouth were slightly turned down, yet one side of his lips was subtly upturned, making him seem like someone who cherished his daughter immensely.

Indeed, otherwise, he wouldn’t have clutched my scattered hair on the floor and wailed…

“Ah. You should, my daughter?”

A bite-sized piece of steak was already right in front of my nose.

His concern was nice, but honestly, it was burdensome and embarrassing.

I wasn’t even properly sitting in a chair; I was sitting on this man’s—my father’s—lap, being fed like a baby bird.

Regardless of my outer appearance, for me, someone in her twenties on the inside, to do such an embarrassing thing…

“Ah~”

But the meat is innocent. I should quickly eat it before more juice drips.

‘…What is this?’

‘It’s slightly firm on the outside, but as soon as my teeth touch it, it yields incredibly softly.’

‘Juice fills my mouth, and the savory, rich flavor of the meat overwhelms my tongue.’

‘Far from being tough—it melts before I even chew.’

‘This isn’t just meat…’

‘It’s insane. I’ve never tasted meat like this before.’

“How is it? Don’t you feel a bit more energized after eating?”

My father asked briefly and, without waiting for an answer, picked up his knife and began meticulously slicing the remaining steak on the plate.

His familiar motions, creating neat pieces, somehow made him seem a little excited.

“You’ve returned to your usual self, Sister.”

“Munch munch… Hmm?”

When I bit into the next piece of steak offered to me, my brother said something strange.

“Yes, it’s a great relief that you recovered your spirits so quickly.”

“I was worried about you remaining disheartened, so I’m relieved.”

Following him, my father and mother also spoke with voices full of relief.

My mother’s face began to regain its vitality, her complexion brightening, and my father smiled more as he sliced the remaining steak.

A quiet current of ‘relief’ spread.

Just by taking a bite, my brow relaxed a little, and I managed something akin to a smile… and these people were now relieved.

Somewhere in my head, it ached.

‘I am not the real Sennet.’

‘Strictly speaking, I’m just a transmigrator inhabiting this body; I don’t even know what kind of child the ‘usual Sennet’ in their memories was.’

‘Yet, these people were naturally—as if they had found a familiar scene again—looking at me with relief.’

“Ah… Father… I’ll eat it myself.”

It felt somehow awkward and strange… so I quietly picked up a fork and chewed the meat one more time.

This time, its flavor felt slightly fainter.

“Oh, ‘Father,’ you say. My daughter, did you forget our promise?”

I was momentarily stunned.

My father, with wide eyes, stopped his hand holding the fork and his motion of cutting the meat mid-air, staring intently at me.

It was like the expression of someone who detected that something that should be familiar, was not.

“P-promise…?”

As I tried to ask cautiously, lowering my voice as much as possible, my father frowned ever so slightly and said,

“We promised not to be so mature at home, didn’t we? Come on, call me comfortably again. Say ‘Papa’.”

I was stunned once more.

I instinctively swallowed a strange breath that was neither laughter nor embarrassment, and one of my cheeks subtly warmed.

‘Could it be that calling him that is normal?’

That thought flashed through my mind, and I suddenly turned to look at my mother.

“Call Mom ‘Mama’. Just like usual.”

I pressed my lips together and lowered my face.

‘Me… can I adapt well as Sennet Windsor…?’