31. a Salamanca's Scars

...

"Her name is Salamanca. Starting today, she will live in our residence. Just think of her like your own young sister, ok, dear Cellia," said daddy.

Sister?

Wait.

What happened?

Why did daddy suddenly tell me to think of this little girl named Salamanca as my sister?.

Isn't he just going to stay here temporarily?. But why is my daddy telling me to consider her my little sister as if he wants to adopt Salamanca as his daughter!.

Suddenly I became restless.

"Salamanca, this is Cellia's older sister. Do not be afraid. You're safe here..." said my dad to Salamanca. The little girl seemed to have a lot of fears. It made me feel sorry to see her like that.

Earlier I also heard about daddy's conversation about slave traders. Could it be that Salamanca almost became a victim of human trafficking?!. That's really bad. I remember the incident at the festival when I was almost sold by a slave trader if Enziel hadn't come to help me.

I walked over to Salamanca and tried to approach her. From what I see, it looks like Salamanca has suffered a psychic attack. From her attitude. She must have been traumatized by slave traders. Has she had a bad day?. Was she subjected to physical abuse?.

Reflexively, I looked at Salamanca's body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet to see if he had any wounds.

Unfortunately I couldn't confirm this because Salamanca was wearing long clothes from his arms to his feet so that his body was covered. I can only see his face. There were no injuries, only a look of fear on his face.

"Sala, I can call you that, right?. Salamanca name is too long!" I said to Salamanca and this little girl just nodded. She seems to be a very obedient child.

"Sala, have you eaten?" I asked. Because it was still early, I thought Salamanca hadn't had breakfast like me.

This little girl came back just by her body language. She shook her head.

"Dad, can Sala have breakfast with Cellia?!" I said to my daddy later.

"Of course you can, dear, but daddy can't accompany you to breakfast today. Dad has something to do... you can just have breakfast with Salamanca, okay?" Dad explained. It seems like he also looks busy. I see that dad's clothes are very neat.

"Where are you going, dad?" I asked. I was curious, where would my daddy go that he couldn't take the time to have a quick breakfast with me.

"Daddy should go to Marquess Vallois' residence first, okay?. Marquess Vallois also has business and has to leave for the Lulan kingdom, so daddy must meet him as soon as possible to resolve daddy's affairs..." daddy explained to me.

He rubbed my head gently then spoke to Vio and gave her a message to look after me and Salamanca while he was away. After that, daddy really went straight to finish his business.

"Daddy will go first, dear," said daddy. He kissed my cheek before leaving.

"Young Lady, Miss Salamanca. Let's go to the dining room... No!. First of all, let's go to the bathroom, Young Lady. You haven't showered yet," said Vio, who suddenly changed her direction. I then realized that I was still wearing my sleeping clothes.

"But Cellia is already hungry!"

"Please hold on a moment Young Lady. You must eat clean. Let's take a shower first..."

"Hmp!" I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance. Vio is sometimes very strict with me even though I know she does it for my good and for hers too.

Then I remembered the condition of Salamanca. What if Salamanca also takes a bath with me?. I have to see the condition of her body!. I'm quite worried about her. I'm afraid she has scars from physical violence committed by slave traders.

"Sala, you also bathe with Cellia, okay?"

"Young Lady, Miss Salamanca has bathed and is neat. She will be waiting for you in the dining room-"

"No!. Sala has to shower again and change her clothes! Vio, give Sala my nice clothes!" I said forcefully and in the end Vio could only do what I wanted instead of making me cry. Besides, soaking in warm water in the morning isn't bad for Salamanca, right, even though she might have been cleaned before being brought here by daddy.

While we were in the bathroom, I finally saw Salamanca's condition. I was relieved because Sala didn't seem to have any fresh wounds from physical violence by slave traders, but I could see that there were quite long scratch marks on her back. The scratches were three scars as if they were old scars from the claws of a large animal that had dried up.

"Sala. Does it hurt?" I asked while holding the three scars on her back. Salamanca just shook her head again.

"Are these the claw marks of a large animal or beast?" I asked again. I'm still curious about this.

This time Salamanca nodded. I can't believe a little girl like her was ever hurt by a big animal!.

"Really?. What animal did you scratch?. Has it been a long time?"

" ..." she said. Her voice sounded shaky and scared even though I didn't know what she was saying. Did I make her remember the bad things about her scar?.

"What?. Your voice is very small. Cellia couldn't hear it, Sala"

"Bas-ker-ville," said Salamanca in a broken voice. Her voice was still low, but at least I could hear she.

"Baskerville?" I said repeating what her said to make sure whether I heard wrong or not. And Salamanca nodded again. That means this big scratch was caused by Baskerville?. That totem in the shape of a hellhound?!.

But, how did she get this wound from Baskerville?. This is an old wound and is not the work of the slave trader who wanted to sell her.

So, whose Baskerville totem did she get this wound from?.

Is it possible from the totem going out of control?! I had read about an out of control totem that could attack the contractor. However, Salamanca was still small and it was impossible for her to already have a totem. That means he received an attack from someone else's totem, right?.

What a bad fate. She received a wound from the Baskerville totem, was almost sold by a slave trader, and now she has to live in a strange environment and separated from her parents. But I'm sure, daddy is taking care of the Salamanca family. Besides, daddy talked to Vincent earlier that Salamanca would only stay here temporarily, right?. That means she will definitely be able to return home.

"It doesn't matter. Sala will definitely come home and meet mom and dad again-"

"No!. Sala doesn't want to go home!. Sala doesn't want to go home..." shouted Salamanca. She suddenly became hysterical and kept shaking her head while covering her ears and cowering in fear.

I was very surprised by Salamanca's response. What happened to her?. Why doesn't she want to go home?.

"Okay. Sala doesn't need to go home. Just stay here with Cellia. Sala isn't going anywhere. Don't cry, okay..." I said to Salamanca and we finished soaking in the warm water.

Luckily Vio wasn't there and was taking something when Salamanca became hysterical earlier, so I didn't need to worry that Vio would report this to daddy. If Vio reports this, father will definitely take other action and take Salamanca away from here. I'm very sure it's because dad really cares about me.

I'm afraid that Salamamca's hysterical attitude will be misinterpreted as someone who is depressed and considered crazy. Even though those who are depressed are not completely crazy. They only experience mental disorders and hope that someone will provide assistance even if it is a little attention.

I am concerned about those who experience mental disorders but unfortunately only a few people respect mental health. Most people don't care about that. They choose to ignore and don't want to get involved or they might go crazy too. It's sad. But the world is cruel and harsh....

Since Salamanca was hysterical, she seemed very attached to me as if she had found a place to hide. Wherever I went, Salamanca followed me obediently like a small puppy following its mother.

But, Salamanca looks more like a cute and fragile rabbit. I suddenly thought like that when I saw her white hair which looked soft like a rabbit's fur, plus her hair style was tied in two ponytails which made it look like English Lop, rabbit ears hanging down.

Salamanca really looks like my real sister because our hair color is a bit similar, only Sala's eye color is emerald while mine is ruby.

Okay. Once again. In this life, I will experience the phase of being an older sibling and living together with a younger sister who is not related to me by blood.

Luckily, this time I only had to take care of one little sister. Not like in my previous life where I had to be the older sibling of twenty half-siblings in an orphanage. It really drained my energy and thoughts. Especially when every time I have to give in to them on many things.

But I still wish I could have an older brother instead of being an older sister.

"Sala, do you want to come with me to that room?. I want to see Prince Kharel who is sick..." I said to Salamanca. I suddenly thought of Kharel when I thought about wanting to have an older brother.

"Prince Kharel?"

"Yes. Do you want to come with me?" I asked again. I was afraid that Salamanca was afraid of strangers, so I asked to be sure.

Salamanca looked hesitant, but in the end she nodded her head and preferred to stay with me wherever I went.

Because it's already midday, I think Choco Kid must be awake, right?.

Slowly, I opened the door to this room. Oh, I was just thinking about this. What about rooms for Salamanca?. Will Salamanca sleep in my room considering she keeps sticking to me?.

Kritt!.

The sound of the door opening was still loud even during the day.

When I stepped in, I saw someone in this room and he was sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"Your Highness Yvone!" I said.

"Oh, Young Lady. Good afternoon..." said His Highness Yvone.

I walked over to him followed by Salamanca. I was curious, why is His Highness Yvone here?. Did he come to pick Kharel home?. After all, His Highness Yvone is Kharel's older brother.

Hm. Older brother. I think it's fine to think of His Highness Yvone as an older brother. I thought suddenly. I'm thinking about that issue again.

"Oh, who is with you, Young Lady?" Asked His Highness Yvone. I'm sure he was just asking casually like that. It's impossible for he to forget the person he himself helped, right?.

But it's okay. I'll chime in too. Anyway, I don't have a topic to talk to His Highness Yvone. From the start my goal was just to see Kharel's condition. Not talking to him.

"She is Cellia's younger sister. Her name is Salamanca. You can call Sala," I said.

"Oh. So the name is Salamanca..." muttered His Highness Yvone. He seemed to be paying attention to Salamanca and for some reason I reflexively stood in front of Salamanca.

I suddenly remembered the marriage proposal letter that His Highness Yvone made to me and I was afraid that he would also marry Salamanca and make Salamanca his concubine when her grew up!.

Oh, that's right. I just realized something that His Highness Yvone will be the king of Yevonia and I will be his queen when I grow up?!.