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Chapter 1
Prologue
At the fresh beginning of a summer day,
a garden party was being held in the imperial palace gardens of the Etherion Empire.
“What a gorgeous party. Maybe because children are allowed to attend, the atmosphere feels so lively.”
“I know, right.”
In the green garden, where fragrant green grapes were ripening,
high-ranking nobles stood in small groups here and there.
Even as they chatted, their eyes kept flicking toward the entrance.
“By the way, did you hear? Duke Wintervalt is coming to this party. That must be why there are so many people.”
“Yes, I heard. I was surprised—he’s someone who usually hates things like this!”
“Oh—he’s arriving!”
Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out.
Beyond the white arched gate, a man appeared, draped in the arrogant presence unique to one who ruled over others.
He was merely walking, yet the pressure he radiated was so overwhelming it made the back of onlookers’ necks damp with sweat.
Perfectly sculpted features made up of sharp, powerful lines.
Silver hair, neatly slicked back without a single strand out of place.
What stood out was the subtle pink hue mixed among his hair.
There had once been a time when the man had gone missing for five whole years.
That faint pink tint was said to be a side effect from that period.
No idea what you were doing during those five years you disappeared, but…
People glanced at him while recalling the rumors circulating in high society.
“……”
Eyes as cold as a northern blizzard slowly swept over the surroundings.
A man who commanded both respect and fear from all.
The head of the northern House of Wintervalt, infamous for its cruelty.
The arrogant and beautiful troublemaker of Etherion—
Kalec Wintervalt.
“Huh? But…”
Someone tilted their head.
“What about that child beside him…?”
Kalec’s presence was so striking that it took a while to notice.
Looking closer, there was indeed a small child toddling along right next to him.
“Well… now that you mention it, I did hear that Wintervalt has been sponsoring a child lately. Don’t tell me he actually brought the kid to a party?”
…That Kalec Wintervalt?
The cold-blooded northerner who looked like he wouldn’t even spare a glance for children?
“Ohoooo…!”
At that moment, the child—lips rounded—let out a short exclamation.
The child’s pink bobbed hair was clumsily tied into two pigtails, as if done in great haste.
About eight years old, perhaps.
Trying to keep up with Kalec’s stride, the child panted lightly, cheeks red like rubies.
“Ohoooo! There are so many people!”
Kalec looked down at the child indifferently.
Then, suddenly, he scowled.
“Put that magnifying glass away. And why are you carrying that shell again?”
His voice was low and cold.
But the child didn’t care.
“It’s a bag with collecting tools and a plant guide! You said—no, I mean, Your Grace—said you’d show me the palace garden!”
“And why would you need that at a party? Wasn’t it enough to roll around the duke’s vegetable patch all day? You’re still going on about plants even here?”
“Aah, moo—why are you being so mean again…”
As the child puffed out their lips and muttered, Kalec lifted the corner of his mouth as if he’d been waiting for it.
“Of course. Being vicious and driving you away is my goal.”
“That’s too bad. My goal is to be nice and stick by your side forever, Your Grace.”
The child smiled, eyes crinkling.
Then, without a shred of fear, hugged Kalec’s leg tightly.
“Like this!”
That way I’ll help you recover your memories, and stop the future from going the way it’s supposed to…
I’ll make sure you don’t die, Dad!
Of course, no one knew what the child was really thinking.
“Hah.”
Kalec, meanwhile, simply looked down at the round crown of the child’s head, as if used to it.
His sharp gaze scanned the small body from head to toe. His mind was complicated too.
Not for any deep reason, though.
Did this kid eat their afternoon snack?
Something trivial like that. It wasn’t intentional—just a stray thought.
There was no reason for him to worry about this brat, was there?
After all, Duke Wintervalt was known far and wide as the coldest man in the empire.
“You.”
“…?”
“Go bring crackers topped with bright red salmon, and some horribly mashed green grape juice. Right now. The reason is—”
The man lifted his chin arrogantly.
“Because I am hungry.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
The child snapped their short arms and legs together like a toy soldier and answered cheerfully. Kalec’s well-shaped eyebrows twitched.
“Don’t call me ‘Your Excellency.’”
“Why not? You promoted me from maid to secretary just yesterday… You said you brought me to the party today as your chief secretary…”
Ah. Right.
Kalec relaxed his brow and clicked his tongue inwardly.
You whined so much about wanting to stay at the mansion that I told you to at least be useful and become a maid…
But when the kid kept trying to wipe desks with a rag, he’d promoted them to secretary instead.
Thinking about it, wasn’t that kind of awful?
Telling an eight-year-old to be a maid?
And after all that, why won’t they leave my side?
The child had suddenly appeared at the duke’s estate several months ago,
claiming Kalec was their father—
and holding the heir’s ring engraved with the Wintervalt crest.
…Did I really raise this kid in some mountain valley for five years?
He couldn’t remember.
Because a few months earlier, Kalec had suffered an accident and lost all memories from the past five years.
So of course—
“Daaad! I’m back!”
—he couldn’t possibly remember a child who came rolling into his arms like that.
I was definitely planning to drive them away.
How did things end up like this?
For some reason, the order to chase them out just wouldn’t come.
I’m the Duke of the North. I’m cold-blooded.
Kalec gave up on thinking any further.
Lately, he was simply acting unpleasant and hoping the child would give up and leave on their own.
…Whether it was working or not was another matter.
“Here you go!”
Just as he finished thinking, the child came fluttering back with a plate and a glass of green grape juice.
Kalec commanded in the most dignified and unpleasant voice he could manage.
“Good. Eat everything first. For the record, this is to check for poison. I’m not looking out for you.”
In truth, he had already seen the attendants check everything for poison.
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
The child obediently munched on the crackers and gulped down the juice.
“Ahh, I’m full! Good thing—no poison! Can I go look around now? This garden is amazing! It’s a hundred times better than the duke’s estate—I want to explore!”
“Hah! How naïve. Do you really think you can just do whatever you want?”
“……”
“Fine. Stay quietly by my side with that sulky face.”
Kalec brushed a cracker crumb off the child’s chubby cheek with his large hand and smiled even colder.
“Well? Have you grown attached yet? Judging by those twitching cheeks, you must be thinking how annoyingly unpleasant they are. In that case, pack your bags and head straight to the Wintervalt Orphanage. The one I pour monthly donations into so children can live comfortably. It’s even notorious for being brand-new—so new it makes people cry.”
I have to drive them out. I must.
An eight-year-old kid suddenly appears, claims I’m their father—how absurd is that?
“Nooo—!”
“Tsk. You candy-drop. Keep yapping and I’ll shove you in my mouth and roll you around.”
“That’s a scary way of saying you want to kiss me!”
“That’s not it.”
It really wasn’t.
Feeling a sense of crisis, Kalec decided to escalate his threats.
The most effective threat was always: bury them where no one will ever find them.
“Mark my words, Lirin (Winter)valt. This afternoon, I’ll plant you in the duke’s vegetable patch. Right next to that three-year-old bean sprout lying around.”
“Aww, you don’t have to say you’ll raise me so lovingly like that…”
Why won’t this kid’s spirit break?
“Gasp! Look, green grapes everywhere! Your Excellency, I have to go look!”
Tired of the conversation, the child wiggled toward the grapevines, magnifying glass in hand.
As they were about to bolt, Kalec instinctively grabbed the drooping turtle-shell backpack on their back.
“What now?”
“…The bag.”
“…?”
That bag had been irritating him for a while now.
And Kalec never tolerated anything that irritated him, even a little—his personality was that rotten.
So absolutely, positively, this had nothing to do with worrying about the kid or thinking the bag looked heavy. Absolutely not.
“I am confiscating your bag.”
“Wow, it was kind of heavy! How did you know? You’re so kind, Your Excellency! Please hold onto it!”
Dangling from the dark man’s hand was a light-green turtle backpack…
“This is really not right.”
What am I even doing?
At this rate, can I really drive this kid away?
Am I going to end up raising an imaginary daughter all the way to adulthood?
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
Meanwhile, the onlookers whispered among themselves.
“What is this?”
“They look… like a close father and daughter, don’t they?”
Murmur, murmur.
Running through the garden, the child overheard the whispers and sighed.
“Honestly.”
You have no idea how hard it was to get things to this point!
Training an amnesiac villain dad!
