Chapter 257.1: A Feeling of Family (Part 1)
"Ah, right! Rachel, here. I'm giving this back to you."
Just as Rachel was sighing over how she’d never had such a rich friend in her past life, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Salana pull out a small wooden dagger from her pocket.
Because it was made of wood, no matter how carefully Salana had tried to clean off the bloodstains, the blood had still seeped into the grain of the wood, leaving behind what now looked like natural patterns.
But from the way it looked, Rachel could tell Salana had done her best to clean it. Judging by her personality, she probably didn’t let the servants help. She must have used her own little hands to carefully scrub this dagger, which clearly held great meaning for her.
If she was already this determined now, then when she grows up, Salana might be even more capable than her parents.
“…Thank you for taking such good care of this little dagger.”
Holding the small knife, Rachel could feel Salana’s sincerity. It made her want to reach out and pat the girl’s head. She was just so sweet and lovable.
But then Rachel remembered she still looked like a child herself. Reaching out to pat someone’s head like a grown-up would look weird.
So she pulled her hand back, and instead leaned closer to Salana, trying her best to give a bright, cheerful smile, like a child would.
“Since you gave it to me, of course I took good care of it! I put it up every day in my secret base! I even placed fruit offerings in front of it every day! It’s just… I couldn’t find anything called ‘incense’... and I don’t have any perfume either…”
“…?”
That one sentence made Rachel’s warm feelings instantly drop by half.
“You really didn’t need to worship it... That’s a bit scary.”
“But I thought that would help you get better faster!”
“Uh... huh...?”
Staring at Salana’s innocent and sincere expression, Rachel was momentarily lost for words.
That definitely didn’t sound like a “get well soon” ritual. It was more like some kind of eastern-style shrine offering.
Where had she even learned that from? A storybook?
What kind of stuff were they letting this kid read?
But then again... Salana did seem like the type who read all kinds of books. Hopefully, she wouldn’t come across anything too weird.
Carle… that guy better be properly monitoring Salana’s bookshelf.
Most likely, Salana didn’t actually understand what “worship” meant. She probably just saw keywords like “blessing” or “prayer” and assumed it was like a church ritual.
“Well… how do I explain it… it’s actually kind of complicated. Something grown-ups need to research and think about. So you don’t need to do all that anymore, okay? Didn’t your mom, dad, or the maids say anything about it?”
“My parents? Nah, they didn’t see it! I told you, it’s my secret base!”
Even though there was no one else nearby but Rachel, and her mom was happily chatting with Armand in the distance, Salana still leaned in close to whisper, as if sharing a huge, top-secret secret.
“Secret base?” Rachel asked.
“Yup! It’s a little house my parents gave me. Inside are my favorite dolls and the snacks the maids give me. I even kept the little dagger there and had my dolls guard it! Mom and Dad don’t usually come in. It’s my secret base!”
“…Huh?”
Rachel listened with growing curiosity.
“You’re saying… you have a room where no one disturbs you?”
“Mm-hmm! Well, it’s not completely empty all the time. Sometimes the maids knock and check on me. They also clean it regularly. But they always ask for permission first. They won’t just come in without asking.
Mom and Dad said that little house is my gift. They trust me not to do anything bad in there. But if something ever happens that I can’t handle, I should come to them and trust them to help. That’s our promise!”
"Your parents are really open-minded..." Rachel muttered and fell into thought.
If Armand could be like that too, things would be so much easier. What she needed most right now was a place like that. A place where no one would disturb her.
Her alchemy wasn’t the kind that required isolation from the public. Even making a body wouldn’t hurt anyone else.
But what she needed was privacy, since she still wasn’t ready to let anyone know she was an alchemist...
—Wait. Why not just go for it?
Rather than constantly playing mind games with Armand and Evelia, two people with sky-high awareness, it might be better to just be open about it. Of course, not to reveal that she is an alchemist. But to openly express that she wants to learn alchemy.
She had already once told Armand she was interested in alchemy. A child being curious about something new and mysterious was perfectly normal.
It’s just like when kids fixate on something they’ve never had. So acting a little overexcited wasn’t a big deal.
Instead of sneaking around, why not boldly do little “harmless” experiments in front of Armand?
Show him some childish tinkering with potions and materials. Then do the real work in secret, preparing the tools she needed to escape.
Maybe she could even make him think she was just a curious little kid who’d lose interest in a few days. That way, he’d lower his guard, giving her time to finish her real projects.
This kind of two-layered experiment, what you show above the table vs. what you hide below—
Rachel had done plenty of times back when she worked for the royal family. She never revealed all her skills. The higher-ups only saw what she allowed them to see.
Anyway…
She needed to first create a Soul Stone, a special crystal to store her soul. Only then could she safely switch bodies. As for materials, she'd save up and find what she needed eventually.
The same went for the body she’d transfer into. She could craft a basic one and leave it in storage. Then she’d carve alchemic seals on her own body so even if she left, she’d still carry the materials she needed with her.
But...
Rachel hesitated. Did she really want to run away?
At first, she was determined to escape, but now, this life… didn’t seem so bad anymore?
Still, she decided to stick to the original plan. Better to be prepared than not.
All she needed now was a good place, her own private secret base...
“Ah, Carle, you’re here.”
Meanwhile, while the two kids were whispering and plotting, Carle arrived at Armand’s estate after finishing his work with the knights.
“Yeah. How are you? Still alive?”
Looks like Salana learned her casual greeting style straight from her dad.
When Carle saw Armand, who was chatting with Melian, the first thing out of his mouth was also, “Still alive?”
“Thanks to you, yeah. Still alive.”
Armand just chuckled at the joke, he was used to it.
He’d only found out from the old butler that Carle had carried him back. Even now, his memory of that day wasn’t complete. Just a few blurry moments stood out in his mind.