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Chapter 7
“Food tastes so much better when Dad feeds me.”
“Really?”
“Yup! But, Daddy…”
“What is it? Is it because you like being fed by me?”
“No. It’s because you keep giving me nothing but greens! I like meat too! Give me some meat!”
At my complaint, Father, who had been holding a fork full of fresh green vegetables, laughed awkwardly.
“Y-you have to eat a balanced meal.”
“You said to eat a balanced meal, but where’s the balance if there’s no meat?”
“I-I was going to give you some.”
With that excuse, he quickly brought over the beef he had pushed aside earlier. I jumped up from my chair and started skewering pieces of meat onto my fork like a kebab.
“You’re going to eat all of that?”
Father’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No, not me. It’s for you! You have to eat a lot of meat if you want to be strong.”
“Dad prefers vegetables to meat.”
Ugh, and that’s exactly why you’re so frail.
“Come on! Say ‘ah~’ and open wide!”
Unable to refuse me, Father hesitated for a while before finally opening his mouth.
I shoved the fork full of meat straight into it.
“It’s good, right? It tastes better because Amannet gave it to you, right?”
Like an actual child, I beamed up at him, waiting for his response.
Maybe he really did find me cute, because his red hair swayed as he nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes. It tastes much better. Really delicious.”
“Good.”
It made me happy—but my chest also trembled a little.
Dad might not know it, but this moment was precious to me.
In my previous life, I regretted so deeply all those dinners I’d missed with him because of the twins. I thought there’d always be more time.
So this time, let’s stay together for a long, long time.
Just like you once protected me, this time, I’ll be the one to protect you.
I looked at him with a bright, genuine smile—not the fake kind.
Our dinner continued quietly, peacefully, like any ordinary family’s meal.
When dessert—pudding—was finally served, I looked up at Father and asked,
“Oh, right. Dad, are you going to get a new nanny for the twins too?”
“Hm?”
“You weren’t planning on it, were you?”
“No, that’s not it… It’s just, those boys seem to be afraid of adults.”
Father looked a bit troubled.
“Hmm. Then let me help you choose! The boys and I are both kids, so I’ll know who they’ll like best. If you pick someone young and gentle, they won’t be scared.”
At that, Father nodded with a proud smile.
“My Amannet… Who did you take after to be this clever? I didn’t even think of that.”
“Hehe. So I’m clever?”
“Of course. You’re brilliant. You’re right—it’s best to do it that way.”
“Yay!”
Feeling happy from his praise, I scooped up a big spoonful of pudding and stuffed it into my mouth. It melted like cotton candy the moment it touched my tongue.
“My little girl seems to like her brothers quite a bit.”
No way. Absolutely not! They were the ones who killed me, remember? Even if I felt a tiny bit sorry for them now, that didn’t mean I liked them. But… what’s done is done.
“Well, maybe a little?”
“Really? Still, you can’t like them more than your dad.”
“Hmm~ We’ll see.”
Father shook his head in mock disbelief.
“Amannet…”
Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll never like those two more than you. I’ll just be nice enough to survive and stay safe.
Who could possibly find the story’s hidden villains “adorable,” anyway?
“Ahh, I’m so full.”
I rubbed my stomach contentedly after finishing my pudding.
“My daughter didn’t answer me.”
“Then I’m going back to my room now. I’m going to laze around all day.”
“Are you really going to like your brothers more than me?”
“That depends on how you do, Dad! So make sure you pick a really good nanny!”
Like a knight who’d just been handed an important quest, Father nodded with great determination, his red hair swaying.
“Don’t worry. This time, I’ll choose the nanny myself. Even if I have to search the whole kingdom, I’ll find the best one for our Amannet.”
“You mean you didn’t choose the last one?”
“Most of the servants here were chosen by your grandmother. Not that they’re bad, but… this time, I’ll handle it personally.”
“I see.”
Ah, so that’s why. No wonder that nanny was such a terrible person—it was Grandmother’s choice. Now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense that the nanny had sided with her and lied about me later on.
If Grandmother picked her, then of course she’d be loyal to her.
That meant Grandmother was probably furious right now.
The thought alone made me grin. She’d always treated me like a half-blood, constantly comparing me to my uncles’ children.
To anyone else, firing one nanny might seem trivial. But thinking back to how powerless I’d been before—unable to talk back, crying silently while Grandmother scolded me—this felt like a huge victory.
When I was older, I’d stopped crying… but she still found ways to remind me I was less than her “real” grandchildren.
There was never anything that didn’t go Grandmother’s way—except for Father’s marriage to Mother, and his refusal to remarry.
I almost wanted to see her face now, hearing that her handpicked nanny had been fired.
Holding back my laughter, I nodded.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Dad. Find a new nanny soon. I’m full now, so I’m going to go lie down. You know, to maintain this perfect body, I have to eat well and rest well.”
After declaring that, I hopped down from my chair.
“What about going for a walk with Daddy?”
“I’m not in the mood for a walk today. I just want to roll around and be lazy. You should too, Dad! Don’t try to walk it off. Just rest and relax! That way you’ll gain some weight and get stronger.”
I grinned so wide my eyes disappeared and waved at him.
“Then should Daddy walk you to your room?”
“No. I’m not a little kid anymore.”
I needed some alone time—and I also had to think about how to deal with the twins.
So I dashed out before Father could follow. As much as I loved being with him, once we started spending time together, he’d forget all about his work as Marquis.
That’s why I hurried back to my room before he could stop me.
Some maids trailed behind me out of habit, but they didn’t interfere, so I managed to make it to my room alone.
The moment I got there, I jumped onto the bed and hugged my lion plushie.
“Hmm… Something’s strange, though.”
Something I hadn’t thought about before suddenly came to mind.
Rolling around on the bed, I sat up sharply.
“Did Grandmother know about the twins?”
The mansion we lived in—the west estate—was separate from the main house, so not many people knew about the twins’ existence. But Grandmother managed all the household staff.
She must have known.
If she did, why didn’t she say anything? Why let it happen?
Or worse—was she involved?
Was she the one who allowed them to stay here… or the one who put them here in the first place?
I sighed deeply.
There was no way to know for sure yet. Even if I had an adult’s mind, I was still a child—and if I hadn’t cared to learn about something in my past life, then I simply didn’t know it.
“Ugh, forget it!”
I flopped back onto the bed, hugging the lion tightly and rolling from side to side.
“For now, the problem isn’t Grandmother—it’s the twins. Grandmother will stay quiet for a while, so let’s deal with them first. What would be best for two lonely boys?”
But no matter how hard I thought, nothing good came to mind.
If only I could remember how things were before… But back then, all I’d done was throw tantrums and scream whenever anyone mentioned the twins.
Eventually, everyone just stopped talking to me about them altogether.
“Haa…”
After rolling around and groaning for a while, I finally sat up.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
No matter how much I thought about it, all I could remember were the awful things I’d done to them before.
This time, I’d have to face them head-on.
