Please Save My Child - Chapter 6

“But still…”

Estelle realized she had brought up the wrong topic and looked as if she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry… Please don’t hate me…”

Seeing Estelle’s tears fall in heavy drops, the two mother and daughter were the ones who panicked instead.

Reina and Bonita hurriedly approached Estelle, trying to soothe her.

It took quite some time before she finally calmed down.

Then, she hugged both Bonita and Reina tightly, one after the other.

Despite having the power to place anyone beneath her feet if she wished, Estelle was terrified of being hated.

She trembled at the thought that these two, who had nothing, might leave her side.

Once Estelle had cried her heart out and settled down, it was time for Bonita to return.

“Hey… Bonita.”

“Yes?”

“Can I… call you Boni too?”

“…Yes! I-it’s fine!”

Bonita, who was holding Reina’s hand tightly as they prepared to leave, blushed furiously at Estelle’s request.

Estelle, not expecting Bonita to agree, leaped with joy and suddenly ran off somewhere.

Moments later, she came running back with something in her hands.

“Then that means… we’re friends, right?!”

“…What?! B-but, Miss, you are…”

Bonita knew that Estelle belonged to an aristocratic family far above her own status.

Could someone like her really be friends with such a noble lady?

As Bonita hesitated, struggling to deny the word friend, Estelle’s eyes turned pitiful, like a sad puppy.

“W-we’re friends!”

“……!!!”

“Y-yes! We’re friends!”

In the end, Bonita couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

And so, she unwittingly became the friend of the only daughter of one of the most prestigious ducal houses in the empire.

Estelle’s eyes sparkled as she placed something in Bonita’s hand.

“This… it’s called a friendship bracelet. The kids where I used to live used to wear them a lot.”

“It’s beautiful…”

It was a small bracelet intertwined with colorful gems.

Estelle smiled shyly.

“Originally, it was just a string bracelet, but when I asked the other maid sisters, they said it would look better with something shiny, so they gave me these.”

Those maids, seeing Estelle’s astonishment at the gems, had lied and told her they were just imitation stones.

And Estelle had believed them without question.

Bonita seemed to believe Estelle’s words as well.

Only Reina knew the true worth of that bracelet.

“Boni, it’s time to go.”

“Okay!”

“Miss, thank you for this precious gift. Please be sure to sleep warmly under your blankets tonight.”

“Mm! Reina, see you tomorrow.”

Reina was glad she was skilled at hiding her expressions.

Otherwise, her emotions would have been laid bare, revealing the ugly reality of an adult’s thoughts.

The bracelet Estelle had so casually handed Bonita was worth several times more than the light green dress she was wearing.

***

That day was just as ordinary as any other.

Reina assisted Estelle with her meals and spent time playing with her.

The weather was pleasant, not too chilly.

Reina thought that if the weather was this nice on her day off, she could spend some good time with Bonita.

“Reina, I’ll play by myself today, so you can go home first!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Hurry!”

Estelle pushed against Reina, urging her to leave.

She stubbornly insisted that she would play with the other maid sisters.

‘Was I that obvious?’

Even a child could tell that Reina had been preoccupied with other thoughts.

Left alone in the hallway, Reina hesitated before heading to the servants’ quarters where Bonita would be waiting.

The room was a bit small for the two of them, but it was the best home Reina had ever shared with Bonita.

Bonita usually waited for Reina in their quarters while she worked.

Sometimes, she would go to watch the knights train, but that morning, she had said she wouldn’t go today.

As Reina opened the door, an unnatural silence filled the room.

“…Boni?”

Even though she called out as she entered, there was no answer.

Even when she opened the door fully, Bonita was nowhere to be seen.

Panic set in, and Reina’s eyes darted around the room—until she spotted a stark white envelope placed on the bed.

The moment she saw it, her heart pounded violently, as if it already knew what was inside.

With trembling hands, she opened the envelope.

The contents were short and to the point.

[If you want to save your daughter, kidnap Estelle Winternight.]

The deadline was set for tonight.

And if she informed anyone, they would kill Bonita.

“…M-my god…”

Reina collapsed to the floor.

Her face drained of color as she clutched her head.

“…The young lady…”

To save Bonita, Reina had to kidnap Estelle Winternight.

There were many people who could save Estelle.

But only Reina could save her daughter.

As this realization struck her, she let out a ragged breath.

The location written in the letter wasn’t too far, but it wasn’t close enough to be reached at a leisurely pace either.

“I… I have to save Bonita first…”

Saving her daughter came first.

If she could rescue Bonita first and then leak information to the ducal household…

Wouldn’t that ensure Estelle’s safety too?

Wouldn’t it?

As Reina tried to gather her swirling thoughts, a sharp ringing sound pierced her ears, followed by excruciating pain.

It was a familiar sensation.

The same pain she had felt four years ago—when she became Reina.

“Ugh…”

Letters, words, and images filled Reina’s mind.

Estelle, begging in the streets.

A fateful encounter with Duke Winternight.

Estelle entering the duke’s household and becoming its young lady.

And then…

‘What… is this…?’

A kind maid to Estelle—Reina.

[“Any last words?”

The duke’s gaze flashed with a dangerous light.

A pink-haired maid, kneeling on the ground in tattered clothing, begged for her life.

“Master, please have mercy. My daughter was kidnapped—I had no choice.”

“If I forgive you now, does that mean I should forgive anyone else who does the same?”

No matter how pitifully the maid pleaded for her life, the duke’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

Without mercy, the sword in his hand pierced through her.

This was a side of the duke that Estelle did not know.]

“What… is this?”

Reina.

A maid executed for kidnapping Estelle.

This world was a novel.

And Reina—she was nothing more than a tool.

A device that would allow Estelle to feel the love of her father for the first time.

Wanting to give everything to one’s beloved child—wasn’t that what all parents desired?

At least, that was Reina’s understanding of what a parent should be.

But wanting something and being able to do it were two different things.

Reina had little to offer.

She had always wanted to give Bonita everything, but their circumstances made it impossible.

And so, Bonita had grown up without knowing such luxuries.

Reina had always thought of herself as a terrible guardian.

But Bonita—Bonita loved her, regardless.

Whoever claimed that parents loved their children unconditionally—perhaps they were wrong.

Watching Bonita, Reina had come to believe that unconditional love was not what parents gave to their children.

It was what children gave to their parents.

“…Boni…”

It was miserable.

So utterly miserable.

Reina despised her own situation.

And she loathed the cruelty of it all.

Right now, there was only one thing she could do for Bonita.

Kidnap Estelle—to save her daughter.

That was the only way.

How twisted.

That Estelle’s first confirmation of her father’s love would come from something like this.

All Reina had wanted… was to save Bonita.

But in the novel…

‘How had it played out?’

Scattered fragments of the story surfaced in Reina’s muddled mind.

The Reina in the novel had pleaded for forgiveness, claiming she had acted only for her daughter’s sake.

But the duke had refused.

He had told her—if she truly cherished her own child, she should have known that others felt the same way about theirs.

That was the kind of man the duke was.

A father who would do anything for his daughter.

A man who could never forgive those who sought to harm her.

Reina had died.

And what happened to Bonita after that—those details didn’t come to her.

But surely, the fate of an extra’s daughter would not have been a kind one.

This was the nature of love for those who had nothing.

Bonita.

That precious child was Reina’s treasure.

But to the rest of the empire, she was nothing.

She was not like Estelle—whose every move was recorded, who was loved, who was watched.

She was not a treasure of the ducal household.

She was not spring, nor was she a star.

She was only Reina’s treasure.

Reina’s spring.

Reina’s star.

“……”

Reina braced her trembling legs and forced herself upright, staggering.

There was no time to hesitate.

Every moment of hesitation slipped through her fingers like grains of sand.

And once those grains ran out, she would lose the only thing she had.

It was always in the moments that required the most rational thinking that she found herself unable to remain calm—just like now.

Clutching the threatening letter tightly, Reina headed toward the main mansion.

Her only saving grace was that she knew parts of the novel.

And in those parts, the one behind this plot was revealed.

That meant she had something of value to trade with Duke Winternight.

No matter how much of a monster, villain, or cold-blooded man he was said to be—

If she offered him this information…

Wouldn’t he save her daughter?