Backstage Trap - Chapter 16

One child dreamed of the future because she longed for someone else’s life.

Another had no need for dreams at all, because he had been born into the kind of life others envied.

It was the moment Lucia understood there were boundaries that simply could not be crossed.

* * *

Life at the Lancaster estate was every bit as comfortable as the social worker had promised.

She no longer had to earn money just to survive. No one followed her around tormenting her day after day. No one looked at her the way cattle traders appraised livestock before selling it.

… Well. There was someone who kept watching her rather suspiciously.

“There he is again.”

“…Again?”

At the stablemaster Hans’s remark, Lucia stopped brushing the horse and turned in the direction he was looking.

A pale-haired boy stood half-hidden behind a tree, secretly watching her.

“…He never comes any closer.”

Their eyes met across the distance.

The owner of those violet eyes, clear as spring violets, immediately ducked back behind the tree in embarrassment, as though ashamed of being caught spying.

“Why does he always just watch from so far away?”

“Hmph. How would someone like me know what’s going on inside the head of a young master?”

Hans was right.

The person secretly observing Lucia was the most precious child in the entire estate. Ian Lancaster. The young master of the Lancaster family, the very household that had taken Lucia in.

His gaze had a mixture of curiosity and admiration.

“…Do you think it’s because I helped him at school? If that’s the case, he could just say thank you.”

Thanks to the Lancaster family’s support, Lucia had been enrolled in the same prestigious private academy as Ian.

“Rondry, does she really need to attend the same school as Master Ian?”

“You need to think ahead. The First Lady has taken an interest in the Lancaster family. If word spreads that Lady Lancaster is sending Lucia to such an expensive private school and raising her almost like her own child, that interest may turn into genuine protection. It’s an investment worth making.”

Whatever the reason behind it, Lucia was grateful.

The tuition alone was more money than she could have earned in a lifetime polishing shoes. Still, despite her gratitude, she’d made a conscious effort to keep her distance from Ian at school.

Getting too close to him would only cause him trouble. Or so she believed.

But then—

“Hey, Lancaster! Do something about that ridiculous way you talk! Or better yet, go back to your own country! Hahaha!”

Ian was being bullied at school for being from Eldora. Or rather, that wasn’t the real reason.

His extraordinary beauty made him wildly popular with the girls, and the boys simply couldn’t stand it. Being from Eldora was merely the easiest excuse they could find.

And Lucia had never been able to ignore someone in trouble.

Even back when she disguised herself as a boy to shine shoes, if she saw another child being beaten by an adult, she’d rush in without thinking.

More often than not, she’d end up getting slapped alongside them. She knew she should value her own safety. Every time afterward she’d tell herself, Don’t do that again.

Yet the next time she witnessed something similar, the promise would disappear, and she’d charge forward like an angry calf all over again.

Helping Ian had been no different. It wasn’t because he was special. It was simply because she couldn’t shake that old habit.

Even then, ‘helping’ was perhaps too generous a word. She’d merely stepped in and told the boys to stop.

Surprisingly, the boys bothering Ian backed off without much resistance. Not because they were afraid of Lucia. Not because they felt guilty about picking on a smaller girl.

“Forget it. Let’s go. What’s the point in wasting time on someone like her?”

They left because she wasn’t worth engaging with.

The school preached equality. But everyone knew Lucia was just a foster child. Lucia herself understood perfectly why they’d walked away.

A fight only happened between people of similar standing. Bullying only stayed entertaining when the victim had something worth taking away.

Lucia had neither. She was so insignificant she wasn’t even fun to pick on.

If they openly harassed a pitiful foster child like her, the people around them would only ask why they were stooping so low. The smarter children understood that.

Not long afterward, rumors spread that the Lancaster family had gained the First Lady’s favor and protection.

From then on, no one dared bully Ian Lancaster again.