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Chapter 15
“It must be true, then.”
“Well… yeah.”
I admitted it honestly. Better to just come clean before things got more tangled.
“When you told me to act my age instead of talking about presents, and then said you couldn’t spare more time for me… I just suddenly felt so upset…”
Something welled up in my chest again. Don’t cry. We’re finally making progress here! Still, this man is clearly not fit to raise a child.
“I shouldn’t have told you to act your age. You already are.”
“…”
“If it was just the gift—”
“Duke.”
That’s not the issue. I had to correct him on this, so I clutched his sleeve tightly and said,
“I wasn’t expecting a return gift from the start. But you were the one who said it—‘I’ll repay my debts.’”
“…”
“I… I’ve never really received anything. Everyone around me was struggling just like I was… But you’re someone amazing. I thought… you could.”
Even if you’re a villain, being completely insufferable makes you a second-rate one. You have to at least keep the basic give-and-take to grow into a proper villain.
So I thought… at the very least, you’d know how to handle something like a small gift. I… I would’ve smiled even for just a single candy.
“Please don’t make people expect things…”
Before I realized it, heavy tears were falling again. Ugh, I just got myself to stop crying earlier. I lowered my head.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. You’re really something, Han Seyul. Your body went back to being ten, and now your brain feels like it’s ten too?
Stop whining. This man isn’t your dad. He adopted you out of necessity—he’s a villain.
No matter what I do, he’ll still use his own son as a tool, kill his stepdaughter, and… in the end, never feel remorse…
“…I’m sorry.”
…Huh? Did I mishear that?
I looked up in shock, and sure enough, that unimaginable voice came out of Duke Schlayger’s mouth.
“I’m sorry, Sol.”
“…”
“I shouldn’t have said something I couldn’t follow through on. I failed to keep even a basic promise.”
“Uh…”
I didn’t expect this… I actually got an apology.
While I stood there stunned, the Duke took a step back and picked up a small box from the desk.
“I’ve prepared your gift, albeit late. It’s a bit old, and I’m sorry about that, but I picked it out myself.”
“Th-thank you!”
The small, palm-sized box wrapped in light green cloth made my heart flutter just by looking at it.
It was the first time I’d unwrapped a gift box since leaving the orphanage. But I told myself not to get my hopes up! He probably just grabbed some random thing off his desk!
With my cheeks twitching from both excitement and skepticism, I carefully pulled the pretty ribbon. The fabric made a soft sound as it slipped off the box.
Inside the box was…
“Wow…!”
A dreamcatcher?
One of those decorations you hang by your bed to bring good dreams. It was about 20cm long. Ivory-colored yarn formed a messy nest-like circle, and a pink jewel was nestled in the center like a little egg.
It was really cute. He said it was old, but it didn’t look it at all.
“It’s so pretty! Thank you!”
“I’m glad you like it. Next time, I’ll try to prepare something brand new.”
“It’s okay! Was it something my brothers used?”
Haha, maybe it’s just my bias, but kids like Benen, who act all prickly now, were probably scaredy-cats when they were little. Maybe it was his.
But the Duke said something unexpected.
“My wife bought it, saying she’d hang it above the youngest child’s bed. But it was never used.”
“The youngest… you mean Elber, right?”
“No.”
His words stopped there. An awkward silence followed… I watched his throat move as he swallowed with difficulty.
Maybe I should’ve changed the subject as soon as he brought up his wife. But I didn’t know how to steer away from this kind of talk, and the Duke continued.
“My wife once mistook the early signs of a fever for pregnancy.”
“Oh…”
“If it feels ominous, feel free to put it away. I don’t believe in superstitions, but you might be different.”
“I—”
I didn’t get to respond. The Duke abruptly left the room. Come to think of it, he said he was busy today. But I’m not letting him go just like that.
I ran down the hallway with all my strength and managed to grab his sleeve just as I ran out of breath.
“Huff… D-Duke!”
“What is it?”
He looked down at me with a blank expression. The shadow that crossed his face when he talked about his wife was gone. Still, I wanted to say this.
“Thank you. For remembering what we talked about. For giving me your time.”
“I’m surprised you even know a word like ‘allocate.’”
“And above all… thank you for picking such a nice gift. I’ll make sure to hang it up!”
“…”
“Well then, good luck with your work!”
I gave him a deep bow, then returned to my room and took out the dreamcatcher again. The more I looked at it, the prettier it seemed.
Knowing it was meant for a child made the nest-like design make more sense. The pink jewel was adorable too.
He had three sons—did they believe the fourth would be a girl?
…But if she mistook the illness for pregnancy, then there never really was a fourth child.
Duke… did you love your wife?
I remembered people saying she was an orphan and low-ranked noble, and that their marriage faced heavy opposition. Didn’t you even use that for image-making?
But I keep thinking about the struggle in his expression earlier. And the fact that he kept this item after her death…
…Well, maybe even villains love their wives.
Anyway, one thing is clear: this gift is precious. I gently touched the pink gem.
This morning, I had to deal with a nasty etiquette teacher. I learned a headache-inducing subject. I cried in embarrassing places…
“But it was a good day.”
Even though it was still early afternoon, Latiger was already in a foul mood.
One reason was the etiquette teacher, Marchioness Gracia, whom he’d re-hired after years. She’d trembled in outrage at the idea of teaching an orphan and only agreed after being offered extra pay.
But what annoyed him more…
Was in the mirror.
“…Damn it.”
He had boldly declared, “I don’t leave debts unpaid,” and then completely forgotten about it.
When the memory of the gift came back to him, Latiger first looked around his desk. The most eye-catching thing was a beautiful quill gifted by a merchant.
But the problem was what he said yesterday—“It’s only a gift if you pick it yourself.” That quill clearly wasn’t his choice or his taste. He’d really dug his own grave.
He considered buying a jewel in a rush, but then remembered something his wife had bought.
“If my wife bought it, then it’s practically like I bought it.”
With that thought, Latiger gave the fabric mobile to Sol.
He worried she might dislike a dead person’s gift, but even after hearing the backstory, Sol had smiled brightly and thanked him.
That was a relief.
…What wasn’t a relief was the moment she opened the box and smiled like a child—his wife’s smile flashed before him.
Back when she still didn’t know illness was rotting her from the inside, she’d smiled while holding her swollen belly and said, “I think the fourth will be a girl.”
A cruel misunderstanding.
A daughter who never existed. But… over a decade after his wife died, a girl appeared by chance and smiled as she received that very gift.
It was a strange irony. Like the world had orchestrated this connection on purpose.
“…Enough. Don’t get caught up in pointless thoughts.”
There was something else bothering him. In the corner of his desk sat the cufflink box Sol had given him yesterday.
“Annoying.”
Still, Latiger opened the box. The blue glass cufflinks were stylish, with a cute shell detail inside.
But they were cheap, store-bought accessories you’d find at any local shop. No Duke would wear something like this.
It’d be troublesome if he ever wore them by mistake—best to stash them away…
Yet after a brief hesitation, he just left them on the corner of the desk.
“How did that kid even know to give a gift to someone she just met?”
It was too mature for a child, even for one hardened by orphanage life. He half-suspected she was actually a cursed adult trapped in a child’s body.
But remembering her sobbing in the closet over not getting a gift…
“…She said she wanted ice cream, didn’t she?”
She’d clearly said “ice cream” in a loud voice he could hear even outside the closet.
“Do we still have an ice cream maker in the estate?”
They could always make sherbet. It was a privilege of living near the Silver Mountains.
But proper ice cream had to be stirred constantly as it froze to prevent it from hardening—meaning a machine was necessary.
He remembered having it when his wife was alive… But after she died, he’d shoved the machine away. Ten years was plenty of time for it to break down.
“Should I order a new one?”
Not because he wanted to indulge the kid’s whining, of course…
But somehow, he was already imagining the child smiling as she held an ice cream.
It had already been several days since I started sleeping with the dreamcatcher above my bed. Maybe it really worked—I’d been having good dreams every night. Last night’s was about frying kimchi in pork belly grease.
“You seem to be in a good mood today, young miss.”
“I’ve been having good dreams lately. …Hey, Linda, isn’t this outfit a bit flashy?”
“You should wear something like this once in a while.”
Linda smiled mysteriously as she helped me into a dress fancier than usual. That wasn’t the only strange thing.
After a happy breakfast, I was patting my full belly in the living room when the Duke approached. His slicked-back hair made him look ready to give a formal speech.
“Sol, get up. We’re going to get ice cream.”
Huh? Ice cream? Out of nowhere?
His blank face gave nothing away.
“Uh… what about the boys?”
“You don’t want ice cream?”
“It’s not that, but…”
“Come on.”
Well, I had to obey.
I followed the Duke and climbed into a large carriage.
Hmm… is this him taking my advice from last time? Lowering people’s guard by going out alone with his “daughter” for ice cream?
…But only after the carriage started moving did the Duke lean back against the seat and say,
“Didn’t I say I’d introduce you as my daughter at the local nobles’ banquet?”
“Oh, right. You did.”
“That’s where we’re headed now.”
“…Wait, what? Hold on, I haven’t learned all my etiquette yet!”
“We don’t have time to wait. Better to rely on people’s generosity while you’re still young.”
The Duke smirked.
“Still, I didn’t think you’d really come just because of the ice cream.”
I would’ve come anyway! Why is it only in moments like this that you act like a real parent!
