Chapter 4

Mini Things to Note:

* * – Sound effects

” ” – Dialog

‘ ‘ – Thoughts

Italics – Flashbacks/ A memory of the past

[ ] – Letter thingy/other narration (you’ll understand soon)

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Chapter 4

– – –

The lowered voice of the Duke was scary, but it really was unreasonable to eat more.

I was still having a hard time breathing, so I couldn’t do it anyways.

‘What should I do…’

It was when I was not doing anything for a bit.

“Oh, your grace.”

One of the maids, who seemed like she wasn’t even there at first, stepped forward and knelt.

“May I dare say something?”

She had a tragic look on her face.

It was an atmosphere and face I often saw in my past life.

It seems like this was going to be the scene where the loyal servant makes a pledge with a heart of loyalty to the tyrant in a historical drama.

So what the hell are you going to say?

“The young miss’ stomach is small. It’s different from the masters. If she eats more than this, she’ll be overly full.”

Eh?

It was a little strange, the words spoken by the maid sounded like the ones of a person who was prepared to die.

The Duke of Paeraton silently looked down at the maid for a moment.

I couldn’t read anything from his cold and expressionless face.

Before long, his handsome lips moved slowly.

“And you are?”

“I, I’m called Anna.” Anna said her name with a trembling voice, but the Duke turned his head indifferently.

It was Anna.

I was a person who saw her face every day, but only now did I know her name.

I thought about asking for my own name again and again as well, but each time before I spoke, I gave up in a defeated attitude as if I was hitting an iron wall.

But that didn’t bother me.

This was because I was used to giving up, since I was neglected a lot when I was staying in the Marquis of Tarenka’s mansion.

“You will listen to this child’s orders in the future.”

The Duke only left those words.

Even then, Anna raised her head and looked at the Duke before bowing deeply.

“Yes, your grace.”

As I stared at the maid, a thought came to mind.

If he was caring enough to give me a dedicated maid, then…

“Well, can I continue to stay here?”

“What a useless question.” A cold answer came back.

But now I know that the Duke has no intention of kicking me out.

‘Yeah, from the perspective of the Duke, it’s easy for him to just remove me from being his daughter on paper when he wants to anyways.’

He can also just send me to a relative’s house at any time.

However, he brought the abused child from a relative’s house, and it was going to be much harder to get her out again.

‘Since I’m a noble, it’ll be important like a matter of pride and honor.’

Even if you are considered to be a villain, you wouldn’t send me anywhere else.

Good.

My personal safety has been secured.

‘Though I had thought about it way earlier, I was too scared to ask’

Well, ever since I was born here, my existence had been ignored for nearly a lifetime.

So I can’t help it.

“You really can’t eat any more?” The Duke asked with sharp eyes.

I was afraid of him telling me to eat even more, so I quickly nodded and said, “Yes.”

“Okay.”

And for a moment, silence came.

Erm.

I looked around, pretending to be fine and not noticing the awkwardness in the air.

The Duke kept looking at me without taking his gaze off.

I used to be eating before, but now I was very uncomfortable to be receiving that attention without doing anything at all.

I ended up putting both of my hands together for no reason.

‘It’s like he’s worried about how to deal with this rat-like thing.’

Somebody, please save me.

“Your grace.”

Did you hear that voice?

With the sound of a knock, the door opened, and the Duke’s aide entered.

Thanks to this, I was able to escape from the Duke’s sharp gaze.

Oh, I really thought his gaze was going to burn a hole in my cheek.

“I’m sorry. I got a call from the Imperial Palace today because you returned home in such a hurry…”

The Duke, who was staring at the aide with a frosty face, quickly rose from his seat with a faint sigh.

It appeared that the early return wasn’t planned at all, and he simply came back early because he wished to.

Before leaving the dining hall, the Duke turned to me.

“Don’t do anything unnecessary and just stay still.”

Hmph, how clean the windows I polished are, and to say that my noble labor is useless.

But I only thought that way inwardly, and nodded on the outside.

“Okay.”

‘It’s difficult to live a good life.’

I put my hands on my belly stuffed with bread before getting up and walking around.

I don’t have to struggle with someone who doesn’t even think of me as a daughter. I realized it so many times to the point of getting tired of it in my previous life.

‘If you continue to live here, you won’t need to worry about anything else.’

When it’s needed, food comes out, and warm bath water comes out. What will be difficult?

Aside from life in the Marquis of Tarenka’s house, it was like sweet honey, even when compared to the previous life.

“Young miss.”

After arriving in the room, Anna, who I thought was going to go back first, hesitated instead and spoke to me as if she was determined.

“Now do you know? His grace has no intention of throwing you away.”

“Yeah.”

I realized that throwing me out could be a problem for the Paeraton family’s reputation.

“You don’t need to do anything like mopping or dusting here.”

“Okay.”

“You’re still too young, and you’re the Duke’s only daughter.”

Huh?

“So just know that you’re safe, and please enjoy yourself here.”

To be able to rest assured.

I thought I didn’t show anything, but it seems that Anna’s eyes were very anxious.

Until the first time Anna started talking, she showed no signs of speaking to me.

When I said nothing, the other maids and servants also carefully opened their mouths.

“If you’re sick, tell me that you’re sick. Don’t suffer alone. You must have had a hard time treating your calf…”

“I keep having nightmares with the young miss’ body like that…”

What?

I was a little surprised, and looked at the maid and servants.

Aren’t these people bothered by me?

I thought it was only a job, and that’s why they take care of me. I thought they weren’t interested in me at all.

Even if I talked, I answered with a short reply and I too shut my mouth.

In the meantime, they appeared quietly and disappeared doing what they had to do.

By the way.

“Are you worried about me?”

“Of course I am!” Anna, who was yelling out loud with a sulky face, blushed.

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

“Why is there such a misunderstanding……”

“Because you don’t ever say anything, and it seemed like you didn’t want to answer even if I talked to you.”

“How dare we…”

The maids looked at me with gloomy faces somehow, and asked quietly, “Would the young lady want to talk to us?”

“Yeah.”

As I looked up and nodded, a faint smile appeared on the faces of the maids and servants.

“The young lady is different from the other members of the Duke’s family.”

“That’s right. She’s more like an ordinary child.”

Whoo, and another maid shouted, “Nancy…!”

Nancy. It’s Nancy.

Anna and Nancy.

Nancy’s face turned pale as the other maid shouted out her name.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, miss. I made a slip of the tongue…”

Well, I was reincarnated, so I’m not a normal kid.

But is that something to apologize for?

“It’s okay. I like normal things.”

It was true.

I always wanted to be normal.

An ordinary child.

An ordinary student.

An ordinary office worker.

I wanted to live like that.

“You’re too kind.”

Because Nancy looked at me with such a great emotion on her face, I ended up laughing inwardly.

People who acted as if they had no emotions were so easily moved.

But I didn’t hate it.

The maids who used to look lifeless now seemed to have a sense of life.

It was the result of the first person who came here to change it.

I smiled without knowing it.

【???? • ???? • ????】

After the maids and servants left, I quietly crossed the room and went in front of the mirror.

‘The Duke’s only daughter.’

The words I heard from before echoed in my mind.

‘…a family.’

I had a family.

However, can you call it family just because you all live in one house?

I didn’t know. I’ve never had a family.

But.

“It’s obvious the child your frivolous mother gave birth to is illegitimate.”

“So, the Duke of Paeraton also abandoned you. You are not his blood without Magic.”

“Thank me for taking the shame of the family.”

A mother I’ve never seen before.

I tried hard to reject the idea that my mother was that kind of person, but I’ve grown up listening to those words all my life in this life.

‘Yes, if I were the “daughter” of the Duke of Paeraton as Anna said, then I don’t have to be anxious.’

You wouldn’t throw me out anyways.

But what if I’m not related to the Duke?

If the mother gave birth to an illegitimate child from an affair, wouldn’t the child be thrown out the moment it is revealed?

No matter what you do with the seeds of infidelity, your reputation will not suffer.

I bit my lips and looked in the mirror.

The Duke of Paeraton and I had no resemblance to each other whatsoever.

The face of the Duke was as sharp as a newly smelted sword.

My face was pure and soft, no matter what anyone else saw.

The Duke’s eyes are red like blood.

My eyes are blue like paraiba.

‘And not to mention our hair…’

Unlike the Duke’s hair, which was pitch black, my hair was a very, very, soft pink, like the petals of spring.

‘There is nothing about us that resemble each other.’

In addition, I had no magic.

I’m not sure why, but there must be a reason for the Marquis to bring up Magic when he treats me as an illegitimate child.

‘Magic must be a thing in the Duke of Paeraton’s bloodline.’

I was reincarnated after hearing that I would be given a special ability, but the Duke is not even willing to have it all.

Progressively, puzzle pieces have been put together proving that I am not the Duke’s biological child.

‘If my real mother had a child who was born from an affair…’

I don’t think I’m going to end up being kicked out, but instead, I’m going to be killed in a sense of betrayal.

My romance fantasy novel senses say so.

Duke Paeraton is said to be a tyrant/black curtain/villain attribute.

‘Eh, in order to survive, I must work inside anyways.’

Like a real daughter.

At least don’t bother him too much for his affection.

I know very well the code of conduct in this case.

‘Well, I’ve read thousands of romance fantasy novels!’

Looking in the mirror, I was making a insidious smile.

【???? • ???? • ????】

I took a deep breath, staring at the large door, clenching my two potato-like fists.

Okay, I can do this!

I made up my mind with my eyes shining, but when I looked at the door that was huge enough to cause an intense amount of pressure, my courage disappeared.

It was just the duke’s office, but I didn’t expect the door to be so intimidating.

‘—Let’s stop making excuses.’

I know the truth.

The reason why I’ve been pacing infront of the door for the past few minutes.

It took a lot of courage to approach him first, knowing that I would probably be rejected and that he hated me.

“What is this ugly rat?”

I kept thinking of what the Duke had said when he first saw me.

Ah, in such a situation, you have to behave casually as well as be sneaky.

The ladies of romance fantasy novels, you’ve got a lot of courage!

I finally realized how great the other female leads were, being able to survive under their tyrant fathers.

‘Woo, really just, let’s go in after counting to ten.’

It was when I counted to 4 with my hands on my chest.

The heavy door opened silently.

I was surprised and stepped back without knowing, but my dad’s assistant said through the open door,

“Young miss, his excellency, the Duke, tells you to come in.”

How did you know I was at the door?

The assistant opened the door wide as if he was motioning me come in, and I stepped into the office, swallowing my saliva.

The office was bigger than I thought, and there were more people in it than I imagined.

However, many of them existed like a background, and in my eyes, only the Duke of Paeraton was in there.

An unrivaled presence.

Sitting in a relaxed position on the sofa, he was more like a drowsy beast than a person. Yet, he was still dangerous and cruel.

The Duke’s red eyes stared at me coldly.

My courage keeps getting smaller, and it’s making me want to scream.

“Dad!”

I ran to daddy and clung onto his leg.

“I missed you.”

I hesitated and looked up at the Duke.

You have to spend a lot of time together to get closer, but you can’t be scared.

I’m trying to withstand the Duke’s attacking eyes.

“…”

It was so quiet that you could hear someone’s breathing from within the room.

As I turned my head, I saw one of the vassals grabbing his collar with a pale face.

No, I’m not scared even if you are, so why are you scared?

It wasn’t just that vassal. Everyone in the office had a pale and frozen face.

Faces that are likely to break if you hit them.

It’s like they saw a time bomb being lit—

‘Hey, this isn’t it?’

The arms that held the Duke’s legs slightly relaxed.

‘You’re usually looking at me with a smile and saying I’m cute, or did you miss me?’

You shouldn’t have been a fool, and you would’ve been loved.

I was an orphan in my previous life, and it was really awkward to be fooled by my elders.

The duke lifted me off my feet, it was probably annoying to have me hugging his legs.

‘Ah, I’m surprised.’

Why do you keep lifting me up like a dog?

“You missed me?” The duke asked slowly.

An intimidating tone with dark red eyes.

As I tried to calm my trembling body, I nodded my head.

“……you’re feeling uncomfortable.”

It is very uncomfortable.

‘No, did you know I was more uncomfortable than the people around us right now?!’

Did such a person stare at me with those terrifying eyes when I ate?

“No, it’s not uncomfortable.”

Unlike what my heart said, I shook my head.

“It’s just unfamiliar.”

The Duke raised one eyebrow.

“Because I haven’t seen my dad in a long time.”

“…”

“So I want to be together now.”

I stretched out my hands toward his slightly distant face.

“I told you you had to stay close to me if you didn’t want to be strangers with each other!”

Yeah, yeah, I’ll get him attached to me somehow.

If we have a relationship like you’ve always raised me, then even if you know that I’m not your real daughter, you won’t kill me.

“…”

The Duke was silent.

Did your arms start to hurt? His hands, which were holding my body, shook. As a result, I leaned forward in the air, and my hands stretching out the Duke’s face were—

“Oh my…!”

I ended up poking the Duke in the cheek.

The sound of gasps were heard repeatedly at the same time.

It was like a chorus.

Can’t they make any other facial expressions than those that look like they’re about to die?

I looked over the sofa and took a deep breath.

Let’s stay calm.

I couldn’t have done anything ‘bad’ to the Duke’s cheek.

The touch that was wrapped around my palm right now was too cold for my soft skin.

You must have touched the Duke’s clothes. You’re wearing silk, Duke.

It’s just as warm as a normal person’s body temperature for clothes.

No, I don’t think so. Please…

I glanced down.

The Duke was staring at me with an cold expression.

A charismatic face that makes you tremble just by facing it. But right now, his face was a little different from usual.

That’s because my small palm was holding the Duke’s cheek.

He’s a married man and he’s a father, his skin is also very fair and soft.

He’s as soft as a baby.

[TL Note: LMAO THAT COMPARISON—]

Sweat began to flow from my forehead.

It was the moment.

A note came before me.

[Conditions met.]

[ Identifying… the contractor of <Aphthanes>. Verification complete.]

[Awakens the attribute <Russian Cash>]

‘Wait, what…!’