MDRH 79

Chapter 79

The air in the reception room turned cold.

As if someone had cut it clean with a pair of scissors.

Baron Jaeger rose from the sofa, then—thud!—fell to his knees hard enough to shake the floor.

His red eyes glistened with moisture, and his voice trembled with it as well.

“Your Highness! Lady Elise is Your Highness’s flesh and blood, the one you have long sought!”

“……”

Lucilea couldn’t even blink. Slowly, her gaze shifted from Baron Jaeger to the girl called Elise.

She’s… my daughter?

[Lu, Lucy… What are they talking about?!]

Cookie’s voice quivered too. But Lucilea could not answer.

I don’t know either.

Then what about me? Who am I?

In the original story, Elbadin’s daughter—the one who tormented Serdian—was Lucilea.

Then who on earth was this girl before her, Elise?

The girl, introduced as Elise, sat upright across from Elbadin.

If she was Elbadin’s lost daughter, she must be eight years old—the same age as Lucilea.

But her posture and expression were far from that of an ordinary child.

Even under the piercing gazes of many eyes, she remained strangely calm and composed.

She should have been elated to discover her father, but in Elise’s eyes there was no shallow excitement—only overwhelming emotion and the grief of having endured long years.

That excessive composure only lent more weight to the claim that she was the “real” daughter.

Judging from presence alone, she was unmistakably Elbadin’s child.

Then, breaking the silence, Riat spoke up.

“This hardly seems the right place to discuss such matters. Perhaps we should relocate—”

But Elbadin raised a hand, silencing him.

He remained seated, legs crossed, eyes lowered.

Even when faced with this shocking revelation, his gaze did not waver.

He spared not a glance for Baron Jaeger, nor for Elise, the girl claimed to be his daughter.

“Baron Jaeger.”

His voice was hard and cold.

Baron Jaeger bowed his head.

“Speak, Your Highness.”

“In the past eight years, do you know how many people have come to me, each claiming to have brought me my child?”

“……”

The temperature in the room dropped further. The pressure radiating from Elbadin was like an invisible blade pressing down on everyone present.

“And do you know what became of those who could not prove their claims?”

“……”

For the first time, Elbadin’s crimson eyes turned toward Baron Jaeger.

“Prove it. If, by any chance, you fail to do so… you will pay for daring to wag your tongue about my child with your life.”

Normally, he was calm and detached, but whenever it concerned his lost child, controlling his emotions was impossible.

That icy aura pressed down on Baron Jaeger, who broke out in a cold sweat, his breathing rough.

“I–I will prove it.”

With trembling hands, he placed a box he had brought onto the table and opened the lid.

Inside were two items.

“These are the belongings found with the young lady when I discovered her!”

A ragged scrap of dress fabric the size of a palm, and a sapphire necklace dulled by the passage of time.

“At the time of adoption, I did not know what they were. I only kept them, thinking they might help find her parents someday. But only recently did I learn that this necklace belonged to the Grand Duke’s household.”

Lucilea gasped.

That’s…!

Even Elbadin’s gaze shifted, no longer merely cold.

He looked slowly, carefully, over the items in the box.

Every thread of the fabric scrap, every gemstone in the necklace.

The tension was suffocating.

Finally, Elbadin spoke.

“They belonged to Radia.”

All eyes in the reception room turned toward him.

Elbadin reached into the box and carefully lifted the piece of cloth.

As though confirming its feel with his fingertips, he spoke again.

“The dress and necklace she wore the day she disappeared… yes, they are the same.”

Baron Jaeger’s face lit with hope.

Elbadin’s words had all but acknowledged Elise as his daughter.

At that, Baron Jaeger turned toward Elise. The girl, who had until then sat silently, rose to her feet.

With composed elegance, Elise bowed to Elbadin.

“I’ve longed to meet you… Father.”

Her voice was steady, much like her demeanor until now.

But at the end, it trembled ever so slightly. It sounded as though she was suppressing her emotions, making her words all the more heartrending.

The very picture of a daughter meeting her long-lost father after eight years.

That evening, the special unit’s dinner with Baron Jaeger was, of course, canceled.

Elbadin arranged rooms for Baron Jaeger and Elise, and ordered absolute silence on the matter until the evidence could be fully verified.

As the children left the reception room and returned to their chambers, a heavy silence hung between them.

Back in her room, Lucilea sat down on her bed and pulled open the drawer of her nightstand.

Inside was a framed portrait of Briola. Lucilea carefully took it out.

It was one of the few things she had carried with her when leaving Mille village.

Grandmother.

Stroking the portrait tenderly, she dismantled the frame and slowly pulled the picture free.

Behind it was an old piece of cloth tucked away for safekeeping.

It was the same kind of fabric scrap Baron Jaeger had brought.

Though torn at a different spot, the fabric, color, and design were identical.

“My dear, keep this safe. It will help you find your roots.”

At the time, Lucilea hadn’t understood Briola’s last words.

But after regaining her memories and recalling the original story, she realized.

She knew now what that cloth was, and why it was connected to her roots.

Yet she had never intended to reclaim her identity or reveal herself to her father.

She had considered throwing it away, but as her late mother’s keepsake, she couldn’t bear to. So she had carried it all the way to the Grand Duke’s estate.

And now, another girl—Elise—had appeared with a matching piece of fabric, along with the necklace.

“Grandmother, another child has come to claim those roots.”

Lucilea gave a hollow laugh.

“She even has the necklace. Really, what is she? Could she truly be his daughter?”

She looked down at Briola’s portrait with a bitter smile.

Then—

[Lucy! Are you just going to sit by like this?! Huff! Huff!]

Cookie flapped his wings furiously, taking a battle stance.

[We need to drive that fake out!]

“Drive her out?”

Me…?

[Lucy! Snap out of it! That fake is trying to steal our bowl of rice!]

“……”

[She came in here to flip her life around! We’ve got to put her in her place!]

Lucilea thought hard, then finally spoke.

“Can we be certain she’s fake?”

[…Whaat?]

“The proof is solid. Mother’s dress, the necklace, the Baron’s testimony, even her looks.”

[…Lucy.]

“She’s more of a daughter than I am. And besides…”

She never intended to claim that role anyway.

So why should she step forward in this?

Who was she, really…?

“I’m just… an eight-year-old kid barely managing to keep my own life together…”

[Oh, Lucy…]

That night, she couldn’t sleep.

She lay awake, unable to decide how she should act, how she should see this girl called Elise.

Even when morning came, she had no answer.

At dawn, Lucilea headed to the East Wing to have breakfast with Serdian.

To get there, she had to pass through the rear garden of the main mansion, which connected to the training grounds.

There, she happened upon Elbadin returning from practice.

Eek!

The moment she spotted him, she tried to run, but their eyes had already met.

Resigned, Lucilea walked over to Elbadin and Riat to greet them.

“Good morning, Your Highness! Sir Riat!”

Riat smiled kindly and dipped his head.

Lucilea noticed Elbadin’s light training attire and asked,

“You were training this morning, weren’t you?”

Elbadin nodded.

“Where are you off to so early?”

“I was on my way to eat breakfast with Serdian.”

At that, Elbadin chuckled faintly.

“Strange, isn’t it?”

“Huh? What is?”

“Serdian. He’s not the sort to keep a noisy, talkative child like you by his side.”

“…Are you picking a fight with me first thing in the morning?”

As they traded greetings and light jabs—

“Father!”

A voice interrupted them.

Both Lucilea and Elbadin turned their heads.

Elise was emerging from the West Wing.

She smiled brightly at Elbadin as she approached.

Stopping before him, she looked up and asked,

“I heard you haven’t eaten yet. May I join you for breakfast, Father?”