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chapter 21
So… it’s just a small local newspaper, but it still makes me nervous.
Even so, the reason I didn’t immediately think about running away from the orphanage was partly because of the kindness the nobles had shown.
“If you stay in the orphanage, it must be hard to find someone who will protect you in urgent times.”
“The director is here, but she’s busy because there are so many kids.”
“I wish I could help if possible.”
…Was that a hint they wanted to become my guardian?
These were the nobles who always praised me as clever and cute since I was the first one to run out and greet them whenever they visited.
‘Are my efforts finally paying off?’
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who sensed positive signs—other children talked about it too.
“Hey, I heard the baron’s wife told Rose to come visit her house!”
“Does that mean Rose is getting adopted?”
Since the director kept pushing me to the front whenever sponsors came, rumors spread that I was already going through the adoption process.
But unfortunately, as far as I knew, none of the sponsors had explicitly expressed a desire to adopt me.
└ [Even if she doesn’t get adopted, she could’ve entered the temple… a shame]
└ [The god isn’t showing up anymore? Were they just an extra]
I don’t know. Maybe the god was just passing by.
Right now the sponsors are my only lifeline. On my way back after doing my best to act cute for the nobles just like the director wanted, I noticed Jeff looking at me with a weird expression.
└ [Pretty-boy Jeff has arrived]
From the kidnapping incident onward, that nickname stuck to Jeff.
He stopped acting like a little brat, so calling him pretty wasn’t exactly wrong. Lately, Jeff had been quiet and wasn’t bullying other kids.
Though… the look on his face now was close to the old him, like he came to pick a fight.
“Rose. If the adults say they’re taking you, are you gonna go?”
“Of course. Do you want me to get adopted quickly?”
“……”
Jeff pressed his lips together, fidgeted, then jerked his head away.
“Fine! Go then, go!”
He threw something at me and stomped away toward his friends.
I looked down. A cookie wrapped in paper.
From the day after the kidnapping incident, Jeff had voluntarily become a “bread errand boy.”
└ [Jeff likes Rose]
└ [Classic tsundere male lead. Checks out.]
He must be doing it out of gratitude.
I managed to prevent the fire incident, Jeff’s gang doesn’t seem like they’ll cause big trouble anymore, and I found out the director genuinely wants to keep running the orphanage.
They even had the kitchen worker lady take on childcare duties to save on labor costs… which is questionable, but at least it means the orphanage won’t collapse.
‘Now my life is the problem…’
I heaved a sigh unbefitting a five-year-old and chewed my bitter life together with the cookie…
❖ ❖ ❖
“A fire broke out at the orphanage we were sponsoring.”
“A fire is the least of it. Apparently a staff member tried to drug a child and kidnap them—for the sponsorship money.”
“…Ha.”
Duke Myers Valente pressed his fingers against his throbbing forehead.
Count Mateo had pushed him into meeting a sponsorship intermediary, and the moment he did, some fist-sized thug appeared calling him a scammer and picked a fight.
So the duke painstakingly sent funds directly to the orphanage Mateo sponsored—and the place ended up with embezzlement, arson, and kidnapping.
That alone was ridiculous enough, but it wasn’t even the end.
“And so… a few rumors have started about you, Your Grace…”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Well, it sounds absurd, truly absurd. But since people don’t really know you, they tend to…”
“Get to the point.”
Count Mateo’s voice shrank. After all, he was the one who strongly recommended sponsoring the orphanage.
“Well… it turns out the orphanage recently received sponsorship from Duke Clarke as well.”
“That sounds like a rumor about Duke Clarke, not me.”
“No, ah… the rumor is that you pretended to sponsor the institution in order to keep Duke Clarke in check, and… that you sent your subordinates to destroy the orphanage and pin the blame on another faction…”
All because they happened to sponsor the same orphanage?
Duke Valente was dumbfounded. And yet, absurdly, there were actually people who believed it.
He was known not only as a war hero but also as “the ruthless imperial knight commander who wouldn’t hesitate to behead even a child.”
Within the Develoah Empire, his name was mostly invoked like this:
— Hey! If you don’t listen to Mom, Commander Myers will come and roar and take you away!
— Waaah! Scary!
As if he were some man-eating beast or a sack-carrying bogeyman.
The title of “the knight commander who would kill even children if they were the enemy” spread and warped into “a homicidal maniac who draws his sword whenever he sees a kid.”
Count Mateo knew this well—this was exactly why he encouraged the duke to sponsor the orphanage in the first place. But things got twisted, and now rumors said he destroyed an innocent orphanage.
“Nothing good comes from being involved with children.”
Duke Valente truly believed that.
He didn’t actually feel murderous whenever he saw a child, but he did dislike them.
Since this was how things had turned out, Count Mateo, feeling guilty, hesitantly offered a solution.
“His Majesty has been pushing the ‘Let’s make the Duke act like a duke!’ initiative… so leaving these rumors alone might not be wise—”
“Point.”
“You should personally visit the orphanage.”
If he personally showed concern, the rumors would lose some traction.
If it were merely his own reputation being damaged, he could ignore it. But it was the Emperor who insisted on giving him the ducal title despite opposition—he couldn’t just disregard that.
“…Arrange the schedule.”
“Excellent decision! This might even turn into a blessing in disguise. Please play well with the children!”
Duke Valente narrowed his eyes. He fully intended to play neither with the children nor with Count Mateo.
❖ ❖ ❖
└ [Whew, Dad is finally coming—now we just wait lol]
Who now? Another duke? A marquis? Or maybe some foreign royalty?
The “noble-detecting comment fairies” were once again chanting endlessly about Father is coming.
└ [No, for real this time]
└ [It’s the knight-commander duke!]
They did have reliable noble-detection abilities, so I believed a duke was coming.
But why “Father”?
I know Duke Valente sent sponsorship funds to our orphanage.
And since there’s a connection, him visiting isn’t strange.
But jumping straight from that to “he is your father” made absolutely no sense.
└ […Huh? Why was I convinced he was the dad?]
└ [Idk, it’s just fate]
So reckless.
Like when they mistakenly claimed I was the kidnapping target instead of Jeff.
└ [Anyway, the orphanage arc is almost over]
└ [And it’d be lame if she suddenly got adopted by some tiny local noble house]
So the “reason” was simply timing and vibes.
└ [His arrival is confirmed, so let’s just wait!]
At that moment, the chatter of the comment fairies suddenly cut off—
❖ ❖ ❖
“Was there anything unusual about that orphanage?”
“According to our findings, no. The director originally ran a simple business, and the orphanage was modestly supported by local nobles.”
“Then why did two dukes take interest in it?”
“Duke Valente likely followed Count Mateo’s lead, since the orphanage is near his territory. As for Duke Clarke, records show he briefly met the director at the previous title-granting ceremony. Before that, there seems to have been no connection.”
Count Torto tapped his fingers on the desk.
According to the report, it was pure coincidence that both dukes sponsored the same orphanage.
It wasn’t impossible—yet Count Torto was someone who distrusted even the smallest coincidence.
“And during the investigation, we discovered something else…”
His aide placed a newspaper on the desk.
“Apparently there is a girl at the orphanage with blond hair and blue eyes.”
Count Torto’s eyebrow twitched.
“Age?”
“Five years old.”
If the child of that insolent woman who fled while carrying “his seed” was alive, she would be exactly that age.
They confirmed the woman died in her hometown, but the child’s survival was unknown.
He had ordered an investigation, but it wasn’t urgent. The existence of an illegitimate child could threaten him, so he wanted them found eventually.
But—
“Duke Clarke had a son, didn’t he.”
A scandal that shook the noble society recently.
Duke Clarke brought home the child he’d been raising in secret and officially established him as his successor.
Until now, nobles tried to propose matches to Duke Clarke himself. But things changed.
If they married him and had a child, it wouldn’t matter—the successor was already decided. So now people aimed directly at the successor instead.
Even those who had been pestering Count Torto’s son, Gerold, with proposals involving their young daughters or granddaughters now shut their mouths and changed targets.
Count Torto drummed his fingers on the article again.
If his illegitimate child was alive… and was a daughter…
“I should visit, if only to see what exactly caught the attention of two dukes.”
└ [RUN!!!]
Next
So… it’s just a small local newspaper, but it still makes me nervous.
Even so, the reason I didn’t immediately think about running away from the orphanage was partly because of the kindness the nobles had shown.
“If you stay in the orphanage, it must be hard to find someone who will protect you in urgent times.”
“The director is here, but she’s busy because there are so many kids.”
“I wish I could help if possible.”
…Was that a hint they wanted to become my guardian?
These were the nobles who always praised me as clever and cute since I was the first one to run out and greet them whenever they visited.
‘Are my efforts finally paying off?’
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who sensed positive signs—other children talked about it too.
“Hey, I heard the baron’s wife told Rose to come visit her house!”
“Does that mean Rose is getting adopted?”
Since the director kept pushing me to the front whenever sponsors came, rumors spread that I was already going through the adoption process.
But unfortunately, as far as I knew, none of the sponsors had explicitly expressed a desire to adopt me.
└ [Even if she doesn’t get adopted, she could’ve entered the temple… a shame]
└ [The god isn’t showing up anymore? Were they just an extra]
I don’t know. Maybe the god was just passing by.
Right now the sponsors are my only lifeline. On my way back after doing my best to act cute for the nobles just like the director wanted, I noticed Jeff looking at me with a weird expression.
└ [Pretty-boy Jeff has arrived]
From the kidnapping incident onward, that nickname stuck to Jeff.
He stopped acting like a little brat, so calling him pretty wasn’t exactly wrong. Lately, Jeff had been quiet and wasn’t bullying other kids.
Though… the look on his face now was close to the old him, like he came to pick a fight.
“Rose. If the adults say they’re taking you, are you gonna go?”
“Of course. Do you want me to get adopted quickly?”
“……”
Jeff pressed his lips together, fidgeted, then jerked his head away.
“Fine! Go then, go!”
He threw something at me and stomped away toward his friends.
I looked down. A cookie wrapped in paper.
From the day after the kidnapping incident, Jeff had voluntarily become a “bread errand boy.”
└ [Jeff likes Rose]
└ [Classic tsundere male lead. Checks out.]
He must be doing it out of gratitude.
I managed to prevent the fire incident, Jeff’s gang doesn’t seem like they’ll cause big trouble anymore, and I found out the director genuinely wants to keep running the orphanage.
They even had the kitchen worker lady take on childcare duties to save on labor costs… which is questionable, but at least it means the orphanage won’t collapse.
‘Now my life is the problem…’
I heaved a sigh unbefitting a five-year-old and chewed my bitter life together with the cookie…
❖ ❖ ❖
“A fire broke out at the orphanage we were sponsoring.”
“A fire is the least of it. Apparently a staff member tried to drug a child and kidnap them—for the sponsorship money.”
“…Ha.”
Duke Myers Valente pressed his fingers against his throbbing forehead.
Count Mateo had pushed him into meeting a sponsorship intermediary, and the moment he did, some fist-sized thug appeared calling him a scammer and picked a fight.
So the duke painstakingly sent funds directly to the orphanage Mateo sponsored—and the place ended up with embezzlement, arson, and kidnapping.
That alone was ridiculous enough, but it wasn’t even the end.
“And so… a few rumors have started about you, Your Grace…”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Well, it sounds absurd, truly absurd. But since people don’t really know you, they tend to…”
“Get to the point.”
Count Mateo’s voice shrank. After all, he was the one who strongly recommended sponsoring the orphanage.
“Well… it turns out the orphanage recently received sponsorship from Duke Clarke as well.”
“That sounds like a rumor about Duke Clarke, not me.”
“No, ah… the rumor is that you pretended to sponsor the institution in order to keep Duke Clarke in check, and… that you sent your subordinates to destroy the orphanage and pin the blame on another faction…”
All because they happened to sponsor the same orphanage?
Duke Valente was dumbfounded. And yet, absurdly, there were actually people who believed it.
He was known not only as a war hero but also as “the ruthless imperial knight commander who wouldn’t hesitate to behead even a child.”
Within the Develoah Empire, his name was mostly invoked like this:
— Hey! If you don’t listen to Mom, Commander Myers will come and roar and take you away!
— Waaah! Scary!
As if he were some man-eating beast or a sack-carrying bogeyman.
The title of “the knight commander who would kill even children if they were the enemy” spread and warped into “a homicidal maniac who draws his sword whenever he sees a kid.”
Count Mateo knew this well—this was exactly why he encouraged the duke to sponsor the orphanage in the first place. But things got twisted, and now rumors said he destroyed an innocent orphanage.
“Nothing good comes from being involved with children.”
Duke Valente truly believed that.
He didn’t actually feel murderous whenever he saw a child, but he did dislike them.
Since this was how things had turned out, Count Mateo, feeling guilty, hesitantly offered a solution.
“His Majesty has been pushing the ‘Let’s make the Duke act like a duke!’ initiative… so leaving these rumors alone might not be wise—”
“Point.”
“You should personally visit the orphanage.”
If he personally showed concern, the rumors would lose some traction.
If it were merely his own reputation being damaged, he could ignore it. But it was the Emperor who insisted on giving him the ducal title despite opposition—he couldn’t just disregard that.
“…Arrange the schedule.”
“Excellent decision! This might even turn into a blessing in disguise. Please play well with the children!”
Duke Valente narrowed his eyes. He fully intended to play neither with the children nor with Count Mateo.
❖ ❖ ❖
└ [Whew, Dad is finally coming—now we just wait lol]
Who now? Another duke? A marquis? Or maybe some foreign royalty?
The “noble-detecting comment fairies” were once again chanting endlessly about Father is coming.
└ [No, for real this time]
└ [It’s the knight-commander duke!]
They did have reliable noble-detection abilities, so I believed a duke was coming.
But why “Father”?
I know Duke Valente sent sponsorship funds to our orphanage.
And since there’s a connection, him visiting isn’t strange.
But jumping straight from that to “he is your father” made absolutely no sense.
└ […Huh? Why was I convinced he was the dad?]
└ [Idk, it’s just fate]
So reckless.
Like when they mistakenly claimed I was the kidnapping target instead of Jeff.
└ [Anyway, the orphanage arc is almost over]
└ [And it’d be lame if she suddenly got adopted by some tiny local noble house]
So the “reason” was simply timing and vibes.
└ [His arrival is confirmed, so let’s just wait!]
At that moment, the chatter of the comment fairies suddenly cut off—
❖ ❖ ❖
“Was there anything unusual about that orphanage?”
“According to our findings, no. The director originally ran a simple business, and the orphanage was modestly supported by local nobles.”
“Then why did two dukes take interest in it?”
“Duke Valente likely followed Count Mateo’s lead, since the orphanage is near his territory. As for Duke Clarke, records show he briefly met the director at the previous title-granting ceremony. Before that, there seems to have been no connection.”
Count Torto tapped his fingers on the desk.
According to the report, it was pure coincidence that both dukes sponsored the same orphanage.
It wasn’t impossible—yet Count Torto was someone who distrusted even the smallest coincidence.
“And during the investigation, we discovered something else…”
His aide placed a newspaper on the desk.
“Apparently there is a girl at the orphanage with blond hair and blue eyes.”
Count Torto’s eyebrow twitched.
“Age?”
“Five years old.”
If the child of that insolent woman who fled while carrying “his seed” was alive, she would be exactly that age.
They confirmed the woman died in her hometown, but the child’s survival was unknown.
He had ordered an investigation, but it wasn’t urgent. The existence of an illegitimate child could threaten him, so he wanted them found eventually.
But—
“Duke Clarke had a son, didn’t he.”
A scandal that shook the noble society recently.
Duke Clarke brought home the child he’d been raising in secret and officially established him as his successor.
Until now, nobles tried to propose matches to Duke Clarke himself. But things changed.
If they married him and had a child, it wouldn’t matter—the successor was already decided. So now people aimed directly at the successor instead.
Even those who had been pestering Count Torto’s son, Gerold, with proposals involving their young daughters or granddaughters now shut their mouths and changed targets.
Count Torto drummed his fingers on the article again.
If his illegitimate child was alive… and was a daughter…
“I should visit, if only to see what exactly caught the attention of two dukes.”
└ [RUN!!!]
