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Chapter – 12
If I became a duke’s daughter, I’d never go hungry.
I wouldn’t have to shiver in the cold when I slept.
And above all—
“I wouldn’t have to go to the orphanage!”
Honestly, that was the best part.
Being sent to an orphanage after it became known that I had a special power would be no different than being thrown naked into a hunting ground.
Whether a good orphanage existed or not no longer mattered.
If I went to an orphanage in this state—
“Those people will come after me.”
The ones who kidnapped me in my previous life, that so-called Snake Den.
Judging by the conversations I overheard while I was imprisoned, that mysterious group had a long history.
Kidnapping, experimenting, and imprisoning people seemed to have been their long-standing practice.
So if I got sent to an orphanage now…
Ugh. Just imagining it is disgusting.
But if I became the daughter of the Panteibe family, things changed.
Bad people wouldn’t be able to approach me easily.
No one would dare recklessly make an enemy of Panteibe, one of the most powerful families in the Empire.
Umm…
After struggling for a while, I cautiously asked:
“Then… does that mean the Duke is going to adopt me?”
“No. I’m going to introduce you as my illegitimate daughter.”
…Illegitimate daughter?
He was going to introduce me as an illegitimate child?!
“…W-why?”
“No reason. I just feel like it.”
…I didn’t notice when he was “Oliver the Uncle” but—
Is the Duke of Panteibe… actually kind of weird?
Of course, being a “blood-related” daughter had more advantages for me than being adopted.
Because it would mean I carried the Duke’s blood.
My power is a completely new type of ability that has never existed before.
So no matter what, I would draw attention.
In that case—
“A mysterious orphan with an unknown background who awakened a new power” vs. “A blood relative of the Duke who just happened to awaken a different, rare ability.”
Between the two, the latter sounded far more normal.
Normal.
I know how precious that word is.
So, um, so…
“It’s good that you like it. From now on, you are my daughter, Marshmallow. I’ll just say I found you while on an undercover mission, without knowing you existed.”
Ah, come on. That’s just shameless.
The Duke hummed and added cheerfully,
“And actually, I could even say the reason I went undercover in Bramshua in the first place… was because I happened to learn I had a daughter there. How’s that, Marshmallow?”
Well… asking me won’t make it sound any less ridiculous…
And honestly, I still couldn’t fully accept the situation.
Becoming the Duke’s daughter was beneficial for me, but…
“I don’t undewstand.”
“You don’t understand? Was something difficult to follow?”
“No, that’s not it…”
I fidgeted with my hands resting on my belly and asked,
“I don’t undewstand why you wanna take me with you. The Duke doesn’t get anything out of it…”
I really didn’t get it.
Sure, I gained something by becoming a duke’s daughter—but the Duke only suffered loss.
An unmarried duke suddenly having an illegitimate child?
That was social reputation suicide.
So why go through the trouble for me?
“Nothin’ in the world is free. The world is cold and harsh…”
Even getting alms on the street involved give-and-take.
Pity, and the giver’s sense of doing something good.
I used to bow my head to the dirt and act as pitiful as possible for that.
Because that was all I had to offer.
…He’s not planning to kick me out after a few days, right?
I wanted to believe Uncle Oliver wasn’t that kind of person.
But he was also the terrifying Duke of Panteibe.
Hmm…
“It would be nice if the Duke had somethin’ good too…”
✧✧✧
What good thing would there be in taking Marshmallow as my daughter?
Coldly and objectively speaking—there was none.
Even so, the reason he wanted to take Melony was simple:
Because he wanted to.
This child tugged on his mind. This child reminded him of Lavella. This child said she was afraid of the orphanage.
She said that if she could, she wanted to go home with him.
Rather than leave her somewhere and keep worrying, wasn’t it better to keep her by his side?
That was the only reason.
Of course, a child who firmly believed that nothing in life came for free wouldn’t accept that.
…Perhaps I should give her a reason she can accept.
Having made up his mind in an instant, Contier’s eyes lowered lazily.
“If you become my daughter, I’ll benefit a great deal too.”
“…Weally?!”
The child who had been sagging like a wet rag lifted her head, eyes sparkling.
The moment she heard that he would gain something too, her eyes lit up.
Really, what a strange kid.
“Of course. I have no intention of getting married. I plan to manage the dukedom for a while and then pass the title to my nephews when they grow up.”
Nod, nod.
Her little head bobbed earnestly as she listened.
“But there’s this old man who keeps nagging me to get married. It’s getting unbearably annoying.”
“And… Melony can fix that…?”
“Oh, absolutely. If I have a daughter, fewer women will try to marry me, and that old man won’t be able to force just any woman on a man who already has a child.”
It was just a convenient excuse for the child, but the more he said it, the more Contier realized it was actually true.
The child’s brows furrowed.
She seemed to be thinking hard.
Then, as if a revelation struck her, her eyes widened.
“…The old man… is the Duke’s father…?”
Her grave whisper made Contier laugh.
“Haha.”
He let out a short laugh and gently tugged Melony’s soft cheek.
Seeing her face suddenly made him want to speak of something he had never told anyone.
“And lastly.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve lived my whole life being called a genius.”
“…Bleh.”
Her face soured instantly.
Her immediate reaction amused Contier, and he let out a small chuckle.
“But someone once told me not to live only as a genius. To sometimes allow myself to be a fool.”
A woman flashed across his mind.
A woman with lavender hair fluttering in the wind, smiling like sunlight.
She was the first to tell him that living as a genius must be lonely.
‘If we ever have a child… become a fool for them, okay?’
‘A fool?’
‘A doting dad, a doting mom—like that. You’ve lived your whole life as a genius, so with your family, you should live as a fool. What do you think?’
What did he think?
‘If a child who resembles you is born, I’ll gladly become a fool.’
‘And if the child looks like you?’
‘…I’ll try my best.’
‘Haha! Okay! It’s a promise!’
Her bright smiling face slowly faded like mist.
The faint smile on Contier’s lips faded with it.
“Duke? Are you okay?”
It was the child’s worried voice that pulled him out of his daze.
Contier stared blankly at her, then reached out and poked her soft cheek.
Squishy. It could stand to be chubbier.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Probably.
He could endure this much now.
“Anyway, I promised. To try being a fool.”
“…But what does that have to do with me? I dunno how to make the Duke into a fool…”
“It has everything to do with you. If I’m going to be a fool, I need you.”
“Weally? What do I have to do?”
Her purple eyes sparkled like stars.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just be my daughter.”
Just sparkle like that. Loudly, brightly, messily.
“If I’m your daughter, you’ll become a fool…?”
“Probably?”
Her humming-like response left Melony tilting her head.
She looked like she half understood and half didn’t.
“Does it make a bit more sense now?”
“Um… a wittle.”
She nodded, then added very seriously:
“So it’s like… a deal. Melony becomes the Duke’s daughter and works hard to stop marriage and make the Duke a fool—”
…She definitely didn’t understand at all.
