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~Chapter 7~
What is with this old man all of a sudden?
Wasn’t his loyalty a little excessive?
“…Y-Yes?”
I nervously watched his expression while stuffing my mouth with sandwich.
“I admit he’s an impressive person, but personality-wise, there’s no way anyone could actually find him likab—”
“Give me that.”
It happened in an instant.
The gardener—whose lips had suddenly twitched—snatched the orange juice from my hand.
“!”
Having my daily sustenance stolen, I immediately shrieked.
“Why are you stealing juice from a little kid?!”
“You said as long as you get your carbs, protein, and fat, that’s enough. So why do you need juice?”
“That doesn’t mean you can give it to me and then take it back! Haven’t you heard that even dogs aren’t disturbed while eating?!”
“You should be grateful I gave you the sandwich in the first place. Ungrateful children aren’t allowed in the garden. Get out.”
“W-What?! Mister!”
What the heck? Why was he suddenly escalating things?!
“Out.”
“No way—ugh!”
The man reached for me.
Not wanting to lose, I gripped the bench so hard my fists trembled, but his enormous hands effortlessly grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up.
“Mister!”
Still holding me hostage, he strode straight toward the garden entrance.
“Ahhh, mister! Why are you suddenly acting like this?!”
“There you go again. That mouth.”
“Miiister!”
“Close that pouty mouth of yours. We’re going to the annex. Move out.”
Without even blinking, the gardener set me down inside the mansion.
Then the door shut right in my face.
“…Seriously?”
He kicked me out of the garden just because I said one thing?
That rational-looking man was actually this petty?
And it wasn’t even about him—it was about the Duke!
Usually, servants in noble households secretly badmouthed their masters behind their backs, didn’t they?
I knew he was loyal, but this loyal?
For a moment, my brain completely short-circuited as I stared blankly at the closed door.
Then—
Thud. Thud.
“?”
The door suddenly flew open.
Standing there was none other than the gardener.
Still glaring down at me with those sharp eyes, he spoke.
“Even I don’t need juice stolen from a little brat. You drink it.”
And then, as if by force, he shoved the juice back into my hands before disappearing again.
I stood there, utterly dumbfounded.
Then, slowly, I came back to my senses.
A scoff escaped me.
“…And in the middle of all that.”
Seriously.
“You still made sure I kept the juice…! Is this flirting, old man?! If you don’t plan on raising kids, then stop acting like this!”
I shouted at the now-empty garden.
* * *
[Ariena]
Written in elegant cursive, the garden’s name had been taken from his wife’s.
Only the direct bloodline of House Crost could enter this place.
Every inch of it was perfectly maintained, immaculate and orderly—
Yet somehow, it felt as barren as a desert.
Because while Calypse had been away at war, every direct member of House Crost had vanished.
I’m the only one left.
Standing before the silent garden after the war’s end, Calypse came to one conclusion.
A meaningless war.
A long shadow stretched behind him.
The people who once cheered for him.
The Emperor who praised his military glory.
The nobles who looked upon him with envy.
All of it was hollow.
The ones I wanted to protect… were my wife, heavy with child.
My eldest son Cedric, who had once lifted a wooden sword and promised to help me someday.
My second son Lucas, who cared for nothing but books, yet came running out just to wave goodbye to his father.
…And my unborn youngest daughter, Eve.
He had gone to war to protect the kingdom’s people.
But in truth—
It had all been for them.
“Haa…”
His face twisted as though on the verge of tears, but all he could release was a long sigh.
Because behind him, knights still stood waiting for orders.
“…Dismissed. Rest.”
“Yes, sir!”
That day marked the end of the cheers for the war hero.
House Crost searched the entire Frozen Kingdom for his missing wife and children—
But all that ever returned were his knights’ darkened expressions.
“We’re sorry, Your Grace.”
On the 159th day of the search—
Before the knight even opened the door, Calypse already knew from his face.
And he realized something else.
His knights’ expressions were starting to resemble his own.
I’ll need a mask.
From that day on, Calypse’s mornings began by putting one on.
The grief of losing his family was his burden—not theirs.
At first, his knights had been unsettled.
But over time, they came to mistake his mask for the ideal virtues of a duke:
Rational.
Cold.
Unshakable.
He even stopped visiting the garden daily.
And on the rare occasions he did—
“Who are you to enter this garden?”
“I’m the gardener hired by His Grace.”
He would hide his face beneath a robe and tell ridiculous lies.
His own sorrow could be exposed.
But Duke Calypse Crost’s sorrow could not.
And so, House Crost regained its former vitality.
As though nothing had happened.
As though his family had never disappeared.
As though Calypse alone was the only one who knew.
Yet every night, he awoke gasping from dreams filled with his missing family’s screams.
In the shadows that followed him.
In the empty chair across from him.
In the solitary dining hall.
Every breath was suffocating guilt.
He had failed to protect them.
And then, one day—
Calypse no longer needed the mask.
Because he had decided to go to them instead.
He had never cared how his life would end.
But once he made a decision, he followed through.
The only thing he had ever failed to do… was protect his family.
So perhaps the fastest way to apologize…
…was to join them.
[Potion of Death]
Standing in the garden one final time, he pulled a vial from his pocket.
He opened the cork—
“E-Excuse me!”
Someone trespassed into the sacred place that belonged only to him and his family.
“A scary person is chasing me. I’m going to hide inside your robe for just a second.”
The culprit—
Was a tiny golden-haired brat no bigger than a chestnut.
Twin pigtails sprang up like arrows.
Huge sapphire-blue eyes sparkled brightly.
“Phew. Safe.”
Without permission, she crawled right into his robe and settled herself comfortably, sighing in relief with shameless audacity.
“…?”
Too stunned to process what was happening, he looked down.
A tiny white hand popped out from inside the robe, followed by her face as she glared at someone nearby.
A maid from House Crost.
…What in the world?
But there was no time to question it.
The “scary person” the child mentioned was clearly this maid.
And the maid was clearly searching for the girl.
“Have you perhaps seen a little girl run this way? Around five years old?”
At that moment, Calypse shoved the child’s head back inside his robe.
Probably a maid’s daughter causing trouble.
If that was all, he didn’t mind.
Before dying, he could at least serve as a hiding place for one child.
But then—
“She said she knows where the young lady is.”
The moment he heard news of the daughter he had nearly given up on…
The dead silence inside him began to crack.
He sent the maid away and spoke with the child alone.
The little brat refused to reveal where his daughter was.
Instead, she began rattling off her conditions.
“Please become my dad. A dad who protects me from bad people.”
An absurdly bold little thing.
“And what exactly does your definition of ‘safety’ include?”
For the first time, the face hidden behind his mask twisted.
…Definition of safety?
Her speech was far too advanced for a five-year-old.
But that wasn’t why he frowned.
This child radiated one thing with every fiber of her being:
The desperate will to live.
“…Honestly, my goal right now is just to survive somehow, eat delicious desserts, make friends, and maybe even get a boyfriend someday. So? Don’t you want to help me?”
He couldn’t understand it.
She wanted to live…
For something so trivial?
To eat tasty things.
To make friends.
To fall in love.
Even though she had no one.
No family.
A street orphan.
And yet—
She found hope in that?
He had no words.
It sounded ridiculous.
But he couldn’t crush a child’s dream, either.
So his decision to join his family…
Was postponed.
At first, it was for the sake of finding his youngest daughter.
But as they talked—
He became curious about this strange child.
And then—
One day, while passing by the laundry room, Calypse spotted that tiny golden head again.
And inwardly laughed.
Because the laundry she was touching glowed blue.
It was the unmistakable reaction of poison magic.
When he saw the words appearing on the cloth, he became certain.
The girl was a spy sent by Duke Pose.
To think I’ve fallen so far that even a five-year-old can manipulate me.
He closed his eyes in bitter disbelief.
He was furious at Duke Pose for exploiting a child’s innocence.
He laughed bitterly at his own stupidity.
And yes—
He felt a trace of resentment toward the girl who had deceived him.
Just as he was about to summon his knights—
“Haa… If I’ve done this much, I should be able to survive, right? I really, really want to escape Duke Pose’s household…”
That sigh.
So unlike a child’s.
It stopped him cold.
As if begging him—
Please listen.
The exhausted child carefully folded the cloth.
Strange.
If it was truly a secret order, she should have hidden it.
But she didn’t.
Instead—
She deliberately laid it out where anyone could see.
As though she wanted someone to notice.
To understand.
“Who told you to do this laundry?”
“…Huh?”
Calypse understood immediately.
‘Mister, want to try raising a kid?’
Those words she had followed him around saying all day…
Hadn’t been jokes.
They were desperation.
“Your Grace! We believe we’ve discovered a spy from Duke Pose’s household. A maid uniform with this message—”
“I know.”
Now—
It was an adult’s turn to help.
Calypse didn’t even glance at the cloth his knight brought him.
But for the first time in a very long while—
His deadened eyes burned vividly once more.
A sharp, living crimson.
“Bring the maid named Dorothy to my office. Immediately.”
