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Thus she excused herself, stating that she needed to prepare for their classes in the future, and left the room with the maid offering to help her find her way out.

With this, the mother and daughter remained in the piano room while the other women walked out.

The smile remained on the Madame’s face as she extended her hand toward the child.

Understanding what her mother expected from her, Hilda placed her hand into that big palm and held onto it.

The Baroness’s eyes softened when she felt how tiny that hand was but feeling the subtle callouses present on those little fingers, her heart ached for the kind of life her child must have lived so far.

During the years that she should have enjoyed her parents’ care and concern, her daughter had been struggling to keep herself warm.

.....

This thought pierced the mother’s heart which was now aching for the miserable life the little girl must have lived before meeting her only a few months ago.

Hilda was enjoying the warmth coming from her mother’s hand and thus had not sensed the change in the older woman’s mood.

“Where did you hear that song, child?” The Madame’s gentle inquiry snapped her out of her thoughts.

The two figures, one small and the other big were walking together into the corridor, heading towards the room prepared for the child when this question was heard.

The Baroness wasn’t too inclined towards music but she had surely heard about the song that the child wished to learn.

Recalling that it wasn’t a happy tune but one that oozed sorrow and grief, the mother was perplexed and thus wished to know the reason behind the child’s request.

However, she first needed to figure out where such a little girl who had lived a commoner’s life thus far had heard it.

After all, admiring music and learning it were luxuries that nobles enjoyed.

Commoners wouldn’t bother to learn the name of the pieces they heard in passing and would often forget all about it soon as well.

Therefore, she needed to know where the girl had not only heard the piece but also learned its name as it wasn’t a common one in the first place.

Hilda raised her head and glanced at her mother whose eyes reflected her guilt and worry along with a trace of curiosity.

Not hiding what was on her mind, the child revealed the exact time and place where she had first heard that song.

“When I was living with my parents in the Lumex fief.” She explained how this song had been used in the play that the King had ordered to be depicted throughout their kingdom before the plague had begun.

The play about maintaining hygiene and being watchful about cleanliness had a segment where the main character plays this tear-jerking musical piece to drown himself in his sorrows after the tragic death of his unborn child.

This was where Hilda had first heard this song which had caused an irksome feeling to rise in her heart, unlike the sadness that soared in others.

Back then, she had been unable to figure out what could have led to this annoying feeling that appeared out of nowhere.

However, now that she had returned to the past along with all of her memories, she knew exactly why she had felt that way when she had watched the performance.

This was also how she had learned the name of that musical piece which she had not known until she had grown old and met certain people in her previous life.

Nevertheless, she would not reveal this part to her mother and thus remained silent after explaining only what was needed.

The Baroness sighed in distress when she heard the child calling that couple her parents but knowing that she had indeed failed to protect her daughter in the past, she did not have the heart to correct her.

If it wasn’t for the commoner couple then there was no saying if the baby who had been stolen from her would have survived until now.

She had investigated their life so far after she had reunited with Hilda.

It took her some time to gain all the information that she needed but the people she had sent brought back a lot more than she had anticipated.

Through them, she learned about the commoner couple who were childless but one day had found an abandoned baby.

The man brought the baby back to his wife who declared that she would take care of this child as her own.

Henceforth, the couple adopted the child and brought her up as though she truly was their own.

Discovering that they weren’t involved in the incident that broke her heart back then but were the child’s saviors, she never bore any grudges against them.

Instead, she was grateful that after they had found Hilda when she was just a baby, they took good care of her for so many years.

Sadly, they had perished in the plague or she would have done her best to reward them for their kindness.

“Mother?” Hilda’s voice woke her up from her thoughts, only to find that they had already reached the child’s room.

After bringing the child back to the estate, the Baroness had done her best to keep her happy.

To help her assimilate into this new environment, one of the best rooms in their mansion had been assigned to her.

“Nothing. Why don’t you rest?” The Madame patted her head before asking her to enter her room.

A maid would call her when lunch was ready so she could rest until then.

Hilda obediently nodded her head before entering her room while the mother stared at the shut door for a while before returning to her own room.

Along the way, she found her trusted maid who was walking towards her after having sent the Governess away.

The two then entered the Madame’s room where the maid poured her a cup of tea and stood aside while her Madame sipped it in silence, lost in her thoughts.

___

More than a year ago, the same maid had poured her a cup of tea back then as well.

At that time, the Madame and maid were in a different room, a storeroom of sorts where the Baroness had carefully placed all the items she had received from her maiden family after she had married into the Baron’s household.

An entire room wouldn’t be sufficient to fill up the items that the Baroness received from her maiden family but this particular room contained only those items that the Madame held close to her heart.

Among them was one item that had changed their future, helping her reunite with the daughter she had previously given up all hopes of meeting ever again.

Thinking of how she received these items and how everything had turned out brought up too many conflicting emotions within her.

Nevertheless, she was grateful for the fact that these events had led to her finding her child at long last.