Chapter 428 — "Taking Over"
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
"It's Uncle Gaoyang!" The instant she saw him, the little girl grew excited. She broke into a huge smile, struggling to hold her head up and waving the one arm she could still move. "You came to see me!"
Gaoyang came before Patty and bent down with a smile: "As promised, I've come to see you."
The little girl looked delighted. This sun-filled room seemed a different world from the castle outside, steeped in tension; here the shadow of war seemed never once to have fallen. Patty chattered excitedly to Gaoyang for a long while, and only at the very end asked: "Uncle Gaoyang, when can Mother come home?"
"Soon," Gaoyang said, crouching before the little girl with a smile. "I'll bring her back this time."
The little girl's head trembled—she was nodding, though she could not govern the motion well: "Oh. I miss her a little."
"You don't seem frightened at all." Gaoyang brushed Patty's hair lightly, not daring to use any force for fear of hurting the child. "Did you know? Your mother is actually fighting a war against me."
"I know," Patty said. Then she paused for a few seconds, and across that scarred face there suddenly surfaced a small, sly smile. "But... you're really Mother's friend, aren't you, Uncle? Don't worry, Uncle—I won't tell anyone!"
Gaoyang was taken aback, then laughed helplessly.
Then he rose, said goodbye to Patty, left the room, and came out into the corridor.
The middle-aged steward who had served Ropenny Glan so faithfully—who had held the castle together after the viscountess's "disappearance"—stood in the corridor waiting for him.
"Ropenny told me you were someone to be trusted."