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Chapter: 12
The daughter who had always obeyed her suddenly collapsed with a raging fever.
Despite enduring the inconvenience and taking care of her, the only thing Julia received in return was the devastating news that the girl’s tears had completely dried up.
Trying to shake off the miserable feeling, she stopped by a gambling den for a short while—only to realize that an entire week had passed.
Expecting Ophelia to be waiting as usual, worried sick and wiping away her tears, Julia hurried home.
But the house was eerily cold, devoid of any sign of life.
“Ophelia?”
It was dawn, so silence wasn’t unusual—but an inexplicable sense of unease crept over her. She rushed to Ophelia’s room.
What greeted her was an empty room. An empty bed.
It made no sense, considering the sun had only just begun to rise.
Panicking, Julia ran to her own room—and gasped when she discovered that all the valuables she had carefully gathered from her gambling winnings were gone.
“Th-That crazy bitch!”
She had raised her like a goose that laid golden eggs, and this was how the ungrateful brat repaid her—by stabbing her in the back!
This wasn’t the time to stand around. Julia rushed toward the mountain behind the house.
“Please, please, please!”
Worried that Ophelia might have discovered the pearls she had hidden there, Julia ran with all her might.
Ignoring the cuts and scrapes on her hands, she dug into the earth like a madwoman.
“Ah—there! It’s here!”
Before long, the buried box emerged from the soil. Julia clutched it tightly to her chest, heaving a sigh of relief.
“Of course. That dull girl could never have known about this box! Thank goodness—thank goodness!”
It was infuriating that her daughter had run away after stealing her property, but if the girl truly could no longer cry, then honestly, she was nothing but a parasite who wasted food.
She tried to tell herself it was better this way—but the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
“Couldn’t she at least leave some money behind as thanks for raising her? She steals from me instead?”
She wanted to hunt the girl down and give her a proper beating.
“Should I report her as a thief?”
Muttering to herself, Julia opened the box—
And her mind went completely blank.
It was empty.
The pearls that should have been piled inside—the precious ones she had carefully collected over the years—were all gone.
“N-No… this can’t be!”
Screaming, she dug deeper into the ground, but no pearls appeared.
Grabbing her head, Julia let out a series of hysterical shrieks.
“That damned bitch!”
As she cursed Ophelia, a rustling sound came from behind her.
Could it be that her daughter hadn’t made it far—and had returned after hearing her voice?
“Ria, you—!”
Eyes blazing with rage and hope, Julia spun around—
And froze.
“H-How… how is this possible…?”
A dignified middle-aged gentleman with neatly slicked-back dark blue hair stood there, staring down at her with cold, piercing eyes.
“W-Well, I—I am—”
Trembling as her sins flashed through her mind, Julia lowered her head—only for something cold beneath her chin to force it back up.
“H-Hii—!”
It was a sword.
The man lifted her chin with the flat of the blade, keeping it pressed there as he spoke.
“Julia Tesso. Is that your name?”
Her teeth chattered in fear, but the reaction only seemed to make him press harder. The sword dug into her jaw, and tears streamed down her face.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Y-Your Grace, the Duke of Hexwood.”
“So you do know. Then you must also know why I came all this way.”
How could she not?
To satisfy her greed, Julia had kidnapped the precious young daughter of the Hexwood family and raised her as her own.
She had deliberately moved from one remote countryside to another, even changing names and identities to avoid being discovered. How, then, had the duke managed to find her?
Did I grow careless because fourteen years had passed? Should I have been more cautious?
She had to deny it—somehow.
“I fled in fear of punishment for failing to protect the young lady after the kidnapping incident. I deeply regret my failure and have lived in repentance all this time. If you choose to punish me now, I will accept it willingly.”
“Look me in the eye when you speak. Is that truly all?”
When she couldn’t answer, the duke let out a low sigh.
“You really do look like someone who knows nothing.”
When the Duke of Hexwood seemed to retreat more easily than expected, Julia seized the chance and nodded frantically, nearly snapping her neck.
“Yes! Yes! I truly know nothing!”
“Of course. You wouldn’t.”
“Yes, I—”
“You wouldn’t even know that your daughter sent a letter asking me to show mercy to her pitiful mother. Isn’t that right?”
Her energetic reply died in her throat.
“…What?”
For the bewildered woman, the Duke of Hexwood calmly read aloud the letter that had reached him.
By the time he finished, Julia’s face was deathly pale.
That bitch… she’s trying to kill me.
Once, when her gambling debts had grown too large, she had desperately needed money.
Ophelia, having grown up cheerful, rarely cried—so Julia had whispered stories like those in the letter into the girl’s ear to provoke emotion.
When Ophelia had sobbed, saying she might be a burden to her mother, Julia had felt relieved to have paid off her debts safely.
And she remembers it even now?
With just a few hurtful words, the girl would cry and increase her wealth—a gentle, obedient daughter who missed her mother whenever she stayed away too long.
And now that same child felt like a demon who had come to ruin her life.
“How curious,” the duke said coldly. “That your daughter sheds the same mysterious tears as my missing daughter.”
Julia closed her eyes, convinced it was over.
But she quickly opened them again when she felt a colder sensation against her neck.
This time, it wasn’t the flat of the blade.
It was the sharp edge.
“How dare you raise Hexwood’s precious blood as a source of profit? You truly took our family lightly!”
The thunderous roar echoed through the mountains, and the tears Julia had barely managed to stop burst forth again.
“No, Your Grace! That’s not true! It’s true I kidnapped her out of greed—but I could never abuse such a precious young lady! I raised her like my own child, cherished beyond measure! I never spent a single pearl—I saved them all, but the young lady took everything when she ran away!”
Mixing lies with fragments of truth, Julia desperately tried to reduce her punishment.
“It’s not believable in the slightest, Father.”
It was useless.
“According to the villagers’ testimonies, the child suffered from an incurable illness and was never allowed outside without her mother’s permission. Meanwhile, that very mother was frequently absent for long periods due to gambling.”
A young man—clearly resembling the duke—had appeared and calmly laid out the facts.
“They also said you wagered pearls in your most recent gamble. You told people they were part of a necklace your late husband had given you at your wedding.”
Tch.
Clicking his tongue in disgust, the duke stared at her with utter contempt.
Not only his own blood, but a noble child who carried the precious magic of the merfolk had been lost to one human’s greed.
He had never given up searching for his daughter—but now, fourteen years had passed. Even when everyone said she must be dead, he could not abandon hope—for the sake of his family.
And just as the last remaining ember of hope was fading with time, the kidnapper had suddenly contacted him.
Yet even that shock paled in comparison to the letter’s contents.
His daughter—whom he had believed dead—was alive.
A noble child born of merfolk blood, a child who would become the very flesh and blood of the family, was alive.
His blood had run cold with emotion. He had abandoned all his duties and rushed here at once—
But he was too late.
“Arrest her. Make her reveal everything she knows about the child. Track down and confiscate every pearl she used without knowing her place.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Organize a tracking unit. Never forget—the child is the origin and hope of our family.”
“It would be my honor,” the young lord replied firmly.
“I’ll find the young lady. Please—please show mercy!”
Sensing the agony that awaited her, Julia struggled desperately—but resisting the knights of a ducal house was impossible.
When the forest finally fell silent, the Duke of Hexwood gently rolled a pearl in his palm.
Small and unimpressive in size—yet to someone with merfolk blood, he could feel the mysterious power contained within.
“Felion has arrived in the imperial capital, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. We were told he came at the summons of the Imperial Palace.”
