🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 04
“Idis.”
“Yes?”
At Grandpa’s call, I stopped stirring the brown soup in my bowl.
“Are you sick? Why aren’t you eating properly?”
When I looked up, I saw Grandpa watching me with concern.
Ah… he noticed.
“No, it’s nothing. It was just a bit hot, so I was eating slowly.”
I smiled brightly, hiding my uneasiness.
“Is that so? Give it here. I’ll cool it down for you.”
Watching his wrinkled hands take the plate, I let out a quiet sigh.
It had already been three days since Roberic last came.
I had somehow managed to chase him away, but he wasn’t the type to just give up like this.
…What should I do?
He was more reasonable than I expected, so I could push him back on my own—but if he ever used his status and power, I had no idea how to deal with it.
“Maybe I should change the pot. It’s hot, but the ingredients are still half-raw…”
I was lost in anxious thoughts about the future, while Grandpa was muttering complaints about the poor quality of the pot.
Knock, knock.
“…?”
“!”
A sound came from outside the door.
Slow. Clear.
Clang!
The spoon fell from my hand.
The loud noise echoed painfully in my ears.
…No way.
I looked toward the door, my lips suddenly cold.
Is it Roberic?
Is he going to force his way in even if Grandpa is here?
“Sit still.”
Grandpa stood up and went to open the door.
Thump-thump—my heart beat violently.
And then—
“……You bastard!”
It was Perion.
“…?”
Why are you here?
“……”
Standing like a grim reaper against the darkness, Perion stared silently at Grandpa with a hardened expression.
“Why are you here?! Get lost this instant!”
Grandpa roared.
Given what Perion had done until now, this reaction was completely understandable.
“Move.”
Even so, Perion didn’t respond.
Grandpa grabbed the door forcefully.
Thud.
“This brat…”
But Perion’s grip stopped the door from closing.
A murderous voice, similar to the one that once struck Roberic’s head with a stone, spilled from Grandpa’s throat.
The atmosphere turned tense. I bit my lip.
Why did he come here? If this turns into a fight, at least say the reason first!
“I have something urgent to discuss regarding Grand Duke Heillian.”
As if reading my thoughts, Perion finally spoke.
“!”
Grandpa, who had been glaring at him, visibly flinched.
“Even if you refuse to listen… you won’t regret it?”
Perion looked down through the half-open door.
“….”
Something about the Grand Duke?
I looked at Perion in surprise.
“Don’t waste time. Say your business. And then leave.”
That was Grandpa’s final answer.
He released his grip, and the old door swung fully open.
“…Your strength is still the same.”
“Shut up.”
Perion wiped the sweat from his brow.
His red eyes—similar in color to Roberic’s but sharper and duller—turned toward me.
…What is he here to talk about?
I looked at him cautiously.
“…This matter concerns that child.”
At last, Perion revealed the reason for his sudden late-night visit.
“…What?”
“You must leave. Leave to a place where Grand Duke Heillian cannot find you.”
The “proposal” brought by Perion, who had suddenly come in hiding from Roberic, was this.
“…What?”
Grandpa frowned deeply.
“And what do you gain from this? How can I believe this has nothing to do with Roberic Arne Heillian?”
Perion slowly looked at me before answering.
I stiffened slightly and clenched my hands.
“Proof, you say… I will be honest. I do not want your granddaughter to be recognized as the Grand Duchess of Heillian.”
Perion revealed his true intentions without filtering them.
“The current situation is the most stable. That peace would be destroyed by that child.”
He clearly did not want my existence—Roberic’s only blood-related child—to disrupt Shastia and Alea’s position.
“…Even I do not understand it, but His Grace intends to accept your granddaughter as the Grand Duchess.”
“What?! That bastard—what right does he have!”
Grandpa shouted in shock.
“…He does have the right. He is her father, after all.”
Even if I was the child of a disgraced villainess, I still carried the Grand Duke’s blood and Bastavan’s noble lineage.
While Alea had no noble blood at all.
Perion, unable to hide his anxiety, continued:
“Tell me your conditions. I will meet them. Surely you do not want your granddaughter to become the Grand Duchess of Heillian either.”
A very Perion-like reason.
I understood his intent, but still felt disgusted.
Could he really go this far to protect a woman and child who already belonged to his master?
“…Hah.”
Grandpa looked visibly shaken.
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
There was hatred and distrust in his voice.
Perion had played a major role in the downfall of the Bastavan family in the original story.
“Is the decision difficult?”
Perion looked down coldly.
“Then I will say one more thing. His Grace is becoming excessively fixated on that child.”
“…What?”
I already knew that.
But even Perion noticed it?
That damn man.
“…The fact that he came here saying he is the father already felt strange, but a man who knows shame would not act like this…”
“Enough. Do you accept or not?”
It was clearly a chance.
If Roberic truly intended to bring me to the Grand Ducal residence, then there was no way to stop him.
Our only option was to run away.
Far away where Roberic could not find us.
Across the imperial borders.
“….”
Grandpa remained silent for a long time, deep in thought.
But eventually, he reached the same conclusion as me.
“…I accept that proposal.”
At last, he agreed.
* * *
“I ask you to decide the destination soon. We cannot delay preparations. Even I have limits in diverting His Grace’s attention.”
Perion left after saying those words.
The gold, keys, and identity tokens he left behind still lay scattered on the table.
“….”
But why was there still such heavy silence?
I sat on the sofa, swinging my legs, glancing at Grandpa.
He looked deeply troubled.
Understandably so.
Leaving the home he had lived in for seven years… escaping to an unknown land with the help of someone he hated… because of me.
And the uncertainty of whether we would even escape safely.
I felt heavy too.
Damn Roberic.
If not for him, none of this would be happening.
We would just be living a quiet, ordinary life.
…How did he even find out about me?
That question, which I should have asked long ago, finally surfaced.
Seven years without noticing anything.
And suddenly now?
“Idis.”
“Yes?”
Grandpa’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
When I looked up, he was watching me with a complicated smile.
“You must have heard what that man and I discussed earlier.”
“…Yes.”
I answered hesitantly.
“I doubt you fully understand it. But it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know anything. This old man will handle everything.”
His warm hand rested heavily on my shoulder.
“And… Idis, what do you think about moving somewhere far away?”
I bit the inside of my cheek.
“If you don’t want to, we don’t have to go. Don’t think about anything else. Just choose what you want.”
He added quickly, noticing my hesitation.
How unfair.
I steadied my wavering heart.
I couldn’t become a burden to Grandpa.
“…It’s okay. I’ve actually wanted to leave the village for a long time. I’m fine anywhere, Grandpa.”
I would rather leave than stay here as Roberic’s daughter.
“Then we’ll go.”
“…Yes.”
A painful smile formed on Grandpa’s face.
“You grew up too quickly.”
His hand on my back felt weaker than usual today.
“…Where are we going, though?”
I asked carefully.
To some unknown small kingdom?
Or maybe… Nisha was possible too.
A nation hostile to the Roshan Empire.
“…To where an old friend is staying.”
“Pardon?”
I tilted my head.
Grandpa’s expression turned from pain into something closer to nostalgia.
“It is a place separated from all kingdoms and empires. There is no better place for us.”
I blinked.
Just as I was about to ask more—
Ding—ding—
The clock rang through the dark house.
“It’s late.”
Grandpa smiled gently.
“What time is it now?”
I pursed my lips.
“…Time for good children to go to the dream world.”
“Well said.”
He stood up and offered me his hand.
“You will have good dreams tonight. Forget all your worries… and allow this old man to appear in your dreams as well.”
