The Extra Decided to Be Fake

.”

“You have excellent taste, miss! If I were to describe that doll, I would say that the eyes are made of black pearls…”

The person who looked the oldest among those who came out of the doll workshop clapped and gave a verbose explanation about the dolls, while the maids who were with him played along with the hand drums and interrupted to comment on how pretty the swan that Lillian held was.

“It seems that the lady likes the bird more.”

“The curve of the swan is really beautiful.”

Among them, Mary stroked Lillian’s swan once and suddenly explained the reason for receiving the doll gift.

“His Lordship had to leave the mansion for a few days.
Since you will feel lonely staying alone, he left doll friends for you instead.”

“Ah…”

That’s why.
No wonder, she suddenly received such a nice gift.

When Lillian nodded her head without showing any special reaction, Mary smiled as if relieved.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon.
You’ll sleep with this today, Miss.
And when His Lordship comes back, you can thank him.”

“Yes, I will.
Thank you.”

“Oh my, what did I do?”

Lillian laughed and nodded her head.
And to appear as a good child, she greeted the people in the room, but suddenly realized that something was strange.

“Um, by the way…”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Are all the people who came from the workshop here? I want to thank the others too.”

“Well, you have a kind heart.
There are four more people here.”

“I see… thank you for letting me know.”

It was really strange.

There were definitely five strangers that Lillian saw.

***

“Did I see it wrong?”

“No, there were definitely five people, excluding the coachman.”

Although there was some distance, and she couldn’t see clearly because of the carriage, Lillian saw the shadows on the ground.

There were five shadows coming out of the carriage.

“Then where did the remaining one go?”

On a day when even Cedric wasn’t there, there was not only a stranger wandering around but also a missing person.

Lillian became uneasy in an instant.
Of course, she didn’t show it.

She could have immediately asked Mary about her doubts, but then she would have had to mention that she went up to the tree.

‘Adults don’t like children climbing trees or playing around.’

The daycare teachers always scolded the children for climbing trees.

On the surface, they said that playing on trees would dirty their clothes, but children like Lillian who were skilled at climbing trees knew how to do it without getting dirty.
Perhaps it was because their behavior was considered improper.

And the people in the manor wouldn’t like such a child either.

Taking advantage of the busyness of the people from the doll workshop who were organizing their belongings, Lilian quietly pulled on Nisha’s clothes.

“Nisha, may I go play in the room?”

“Oh, of course.
Shall I escort you?”

“No, thank you.
I want to show the mansion to the swan.”

“How cute.
Then be careful and if you happen to get lost, ring the bell!”

“Yes.”

Of course, she wouldn’t get lost.
Lilian knew both the inside of the mansion and the intricate paths of the garden by heart.
However, as always, Lilian bowed politely and headed straight to the hallway.

At first, the faint sound of footsteps grew louder in tandem with the anxiety in her head.

‘This is a mansion.
Even if one person sneaks in, no one will notice.’

And what if that person was someone sent from the orphanage to catch her?

The face of Curtis, who had threatened to sell her to slavery, vividly flashed in Lillian’s mind.

Back then, there was Cedric to protect her, but there was no one here.

If she was unlucky, she could be dragged away without ever getting Swan’s revenge.

‘I have to make sure.’

Lillian went out to the garden and headed towards the carriage that came from the doll workshop.
She climbed up into the driver’s seat and looked inside, but no one was there.

‘Then, could they be inside the mansion?’

No, if that were the case, she would have been able to see them too.

So the answer was simple.

‘They are still in the garden.’

Are they hiding?