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Chapter 07
“Ha… this. Ha… how… how…”
Elisa Winterwald fidgeted at the corner of her mouth, unsure of what to do.
Though he was known outside as the “Ice Duke,” that was merely a crafted image. In reality, Elisa was a woman who expressed her emotions very openly.
“Even the snowflake dragon emblem is clearly imprinted, so this viewing orb isn’t fake! Oh no, what should I do! Pinky… how on earth did you end up meeting Kalec?”
“Five years ago… I was abandoned when I was three… but my dad found me and raised me.”
“This is insane. That guy did such a humanitarian thing? He didn’t really… kidnap you?”
Murmurs spread around.
No matter what the people around him said, Kalec exhaled slowly and calmly sipped his tea.
The shock, like being hit on the back of the head with a club, had somewhat subsided.
Even though it was hard to believe, it seemed roughly true that he had raised this child as his daughter over the past five years.
Now, the question was how to handle this situation.
“One… three… six.”
He quietly counted the people in the reception room. Except for Elisa and his aide Luska, he might have to eliminate the four maids. It was an instinctive calculation.
“…”
After some time, his eyes, which had cooled down, finally regained their color.
“…Hoo. Get a grip.”
Kalec composed himself again.
The household staff of the main Winterwald mansion had been loyal for generations, serving the family faithfully. Moreover, the recent sweeping personnel changes made them even more reliable. That meant, even though they were short-handed…
They would not blab the contents of the viewing orb and reveal that Kalec had lost his memory.
Reminding himself of that fact, he suppressed the murderous impulse flickering inside him.
“Truly… infuriating.”
Losing his memory made him feel that so many things were out of his control. He hated situations he could not dominate.
Of course, the most uncontrollable thing of all was…
“Ugh! Then I’ll just go now!”
That tiny little brat.
“What? Where are you suddenly going?”
Elisa jumped to her feet and asked the child.
“Theo… I’m going to get my little brother! He appeared briefly in the viewing orb earlier.”
“…No way, that kid too?”
“Yes. Theo was also taken in by Dad.”
“Ha! A perfectly harmonious three-person family, huh.”
“Very harmonious indeed…”
Elisa had given up trying to understand.
“But, um…”
The child opened a turtle-shell-like backpack wide, rummaging for the viewing orb, and spoke.
“You’ll open the door, right…?”
“…”
“If the door is closed when I bring Theo, he’ll have to sleep outside…”
“…”
“I don’t mind, but Theo is three years old. It’s early spring now, so it’s a bit cold outside. A three-year-old could catch a cold…”
Doesn’t an eight-year-old catch colds too…?
Someone seemed to mutter that.
Kalec was even more incredulous.
The child had casually stated they wanted to live in the mansion.
“That’s absolutely impossible.”
Bringing in a child he had no memory of? He might as well hire ten more maids—it would be easier.
Kalec frowned, observing the child carefully. He was ready to tell them firmly and coldly to leave.
But…
“C-Could I?”
Ha! So confident until now, and now checking for approval?
The child twisted their fingers nervously while pursing their lips. It was irritating; they seemed tongue-tied.
Elisa shot him a questioning look, silently asking what he intended to do.
“I-I don’t mind sleeping in the front yard if living here is too difficult… You could just think of it as planting a single blade of grass, right?”
As the silence stretched, the child, sensing unease, babbled on.
A child who knew of his lost time.
A child who held the Winterwald ring.
A child who was both annoying and inexplicably worrisome to watch.
Finally, Kalec made up his mind.
His firmly closed lips parted.
“Fine. The ring, the viewing orb… I can’t deny it. I may not remember, but I must take responsibility for what I’ve done.”
“…”
“Bring your little brother. I’ll prepare a place for you.”
The child’s expression instantly brightened.
Elisa and the others looked surprised by Kalec’s decision.
“Okay! Then I’ll go!”
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“Leave the ring behind. It’s mine anyway, and you won’t need it to prove your identity anymore.”
“But… Dad gave this to me. It’s mine. He said it’s wrong to take back something once given… and now the person who said that is right in front of me. You may not remember, but it’s true…”
Muttering and fussing, the child’s refusal caused a vein to pop on Kalec’s forehead.
The little one didn’t give in at all.
He forced himself to regain composure.
“Hoo… Fine. I’m not taking it away. Keep it safe, and I’ll return it when you can take responsibility for it.”
The child’s eyes sparkled and locked onto him, then brightened into a grin.
“Oh! Got it!”
Clatter, clatter.
The child dug through the heavy turtle-shell backpack, pulled out the ring box, and handed it to Kalec.
“Then I’ll go!”
Bow, whoosh!
The pink head dashed off without a pause.
The mansion, swept by a tiny whirlwind, was in utter chaos.
Kalec stood by the window, lost in thought.
Elisa, wearing a reluctant expression, approached him.
“Kalec, are you serious? You’re really going to take in the kids?”
“Of course not.”
He smiled sharply.
“Huh? You just said you’d prepare a place for them.”
“Yes. But I never said it was my house.”
“…Then you…”
“It seems I did live with that little brat in that shabby house… so I’ll manage the situation. I’ll provide suitable compensation.”
Elisa thought it sounded like he planned to “buy their silence.”
So cute, like a little squirrel… too bad. My lady would’ve fallen for them instantly.
The old lady had intended to comment further, but stopped.
She was no longer the head of the family, so she didn’t want to interfere. At least, not now.
Kalec turned to his aide, standing like a shadow.
“Luska, purchase a suitable house outside the capital. If the child comes looking again, take them there.”
He had just become duke, with many problems to solve both inside and out, and now he was forced to care for a child?
He wasn’t the type to do unwanted tasks willingly.
And the more I see, the more troublesome this will become…
He clenched the ring box tightly.
“The ring is in my hands anyway. I’ll send trustworthy staff to watch over them for now…”
Clatter.
At that moment, Kalec, meaninglessly opening the box, froze. Luska lifted his head.
“Watching… you wrote that down. What next?”
“…”
“Sir?”
The man stiffened.
Elisa peeked over his shoulder, curious, and then…
Pfft.
She burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! Kalec!”
“…”
“You got smacked on the back of the head after acting so tough!”
No wonder the child had been hiding their hand in the backpack and hesitating.
Daring to run off with the duke’s treasure as a hostage?
“Hey! Isn’t that your daughter?”
Elisa couldn’t stop laughing.
Kalec clenched his teeth, staring at the empty box.
