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chapter 25
Duke Valent looked down at me with suspicious eyes.
“What could you possibly do?”
Sure, a normal child my age could only really play, eat, and sleep well.
‘But I’m not a normal kid.’
I recalled the first things I learned after being adopted into the Torto Count’s family—how they said I had to at least pull my own weight.
“I—I’m good with etiquette!”
“Etiquette?”
The duke narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t understand.
…Well, secretly hopping onto his carriage and begging him to take me along wasn’t exactly the height of polite behavior.
“Or… maybe dancing…?”
“Are you saying you’ll dance in front of me every day?”
I’d meant that I’d mastered noble social dances, but it came out sounding like I was bragging about being good at performing cute tricks.
Things I learned as a lady weren’t much help here, apparently.
What would get a positive reaction from this knight-duke?
“U-Um… I could learn the sword…?”
“You think you can wield a sword with that tiny body?”
The duke looked me up and down. Not that there was much to look at—my small frame said enough on its own.
He soon shook his head.
“You really have no plan, do you?”
└ [What are you expecting from a five-year-old]
└ [She’s an assassin, she can learn it!!]
When was I ever an assassin?
Anyway, Duke Valent—who had seemed to score a few points with the fairies for being broad-shouldered—was now losing favor again.
Not that any of the fairies’ opinions, which only I could hear in my head, mattered to him.
‘Don’t I get some protagonist buff in moments like this?!’
└ [We don’t know…]
└ [Her father just destroyed all the clichés]
So clichés only work when they’re allowed to work… that’s how a protagonist gets her shine.
‘Well, fine.’
Time to adjust my goal.
Becoming his ward was still far off—first priority was not getting kicked out.
Something I’d learned from the Torto household… When negotiations get tough, move to the “threat” stage.
“If I go back now, they’ll tease me for being kicked out…”
“What?”
“If rumors spread that the duke rejected me in a single day… the adults won’t like me, and nobody takes in a child who’s disliked…”
“……”
└ [Is this… blackmail?? lol]
└ [Kids’ mumbling persuasion is actually so strong… like a puppy whining]
└ [But honestly, what she’s saying kinda makes sense T_T Harsh world for kids]
‘If the duke truly meant to send me away, he should’ve done it the moment he found me.’
He probably hadn’t considered how much it would damage my future to take in a child and then send her right back out.
As I started acting like I’d die if he sent me away, the duke let out a deep sigh.
“…So how long exactly do you plan to stay here?”
└ [Surprisingly warm guy?]
└ [This is how he slowly falls for Rose]
└ [Is this finally starting the parenting arc??]
“Can… can I stay here?”
“You’ll soon find that this isn’t a place a child would want to live in.”
The duke’s cold demeanor remained unchanged, to the fairies’ disappointment…
* * *
“Why is there suddenly a child here?”
“They say she’ll stay for a while?”
The maids whispered as I appeared in the mansion.
With temporary residence permission, I was assigned to stay in the maids’ quarters.
└ [No fancy royal suite… sigh…]
└ [Have you given up already LOL]
└ [The world is harsh to Rose…]
Well, big expectations only lead to big disappointment.
But I didn’t expect anything in the first place!
└ [Our heroine is too used to being deprived T_T]
└ [Somebody please pamper her!!]
To them, I was just a random little kid who suddenly dropped into their lives.
They didn’t seem thrilled, probably thinking I was extra work.
“I thought working for a duke’s household would be nice, but the knights create so much laundry… and now we have to watch a kid too?”
“But who is she? Why would such a little girl stay here?”
“No idea. Hey, kid. Who are your parents? Do they work here?”
“I don’t have any…”
“What?”
“I—I don’t have parents.”
The maid who asked, expecting me to be a servant’s child, froze.
Another maid nudged her and whispered.
“Maybe… she’s a knight’s child. The ones who went to war.”
“So the father must’ve… died on the battlefield— ah! I shouldn’t have said that!”
They were making excuses for me, so fine—better to go along with it.
The maids quickly changed their expressions and smiled warmly.
“Oh my my. The mansion is big, plenty of rooms. Make yourself comfortable.”
“The head maid is coming!”
A middle-aged woman in a slightly different uniform approached.
└ [Careful with the head maid]
Why?
└ [Because she embezzles money]
There’s an embezzler here too?!
These fairies had previously guessed the caretaker’s embezzlement, gambling, and human trafficking correctly. So their credibility was alarmingly high.
The head maid, who had a gentle appearance, crouched down in front of me.
“Miss Rose, is that small bag all your belongings?”
“Yes.”
“I see. I’ll assign you a room, so stay there. Let me know if you’re uncomfortable.”
└ [Seems like a good person??]
└ [Never mind, embezzlement cancelled]
What?!
‘If you’re going to cancel after two seconds, why accuse her in the first place!’
└ [If not the head maid, then the nanny embezzles]
└ [No no, the nanny gets kicked out for aiming for the mistress position]
What kind of shared delusional cliché universe do they live in?
“Someone will need to share a room with her. Anyone willing?”
“I’ll do it.”
A maid raised her hand—and instantly the fairies changed targets again.
└ [Maids also embezzle often. She’s probably the villain]
“Nella, caring for a child may be harder than you expect.”
“I took care of my younger sibling for a long time when they were sick.”
└ […Cancel]
‘…’
Okay, they were definitely being trigger-happy with accusations.
Until I adjusted to this mansion, I’d better only believe half of what the comment fairies say.
* * *
During my first night in the Valent household, the comment fairies argued nonstop.
The topic?
└ [Is she the future daughter-in-law this time?]
└ [She met the father first though… maybe adopted daughter instead]
Daughter-in-law vs adopted daughter.
Surprisingly, the “adopted daughter” side was gaining traction compared to their usual daughter-in-law obsession.
└ [If she becomes the daughter-in-law here, all other male leads so far get eliminated]
└ [She has to be adopted to go to the Leon route T_T We want the father-in-law vs father showdown]
└ [Wait, but Edin is a commoner. Adoption by a duke would cause issues]
└ [Secondary male leads must suffer…]
└ [Am I the only one who likes Jeff the tsundere??]
I hadn’t even secured guardianship, let alone adoption—why were they planning entire life routes for me?
“Rose, you’re up early?”
“Yes, unni!”
The maid sharing my room—her name was Nella—entered carrying a bundle of cloth.
“I looked for clothes for you, but there aren’t suitable girls’ clothes. These are Young Master Damian’s old clothes I got permission to take from storage. They’re pants—will that be okay?”
“Anything’s fine!”
└ [If they’re old clothes, Damian must be older… ok noted]
└ [Older brother route maybe?]
└ [Show us the duke’s son’s illustration, we’ll tell you whether he’s ML or brother]
Damian Valent.
The young master who, like the duke, rarely appeared in public.
Before my regression, he should’ve been at the age to receive marriage proposals, but his popularity with noble ladies was… questionable.
‘Rumor said his personality was rough, maybe because of all the scars.’
But maybe he was different as a kid.
“What kind of person is the young master?”
“He’s very similar to the duke. He’ll enter the academy soon, so he’s been studying with a private tutor.”
└ [Private tutor?! That’s abuse]
└ [Ah, maybe that’s when he got the scars]
…Do they have some rulebook I don’t know about?
The fairies who had been debating daughter-in-law vs adopted daughter suddenly united.
└ [If you want to win over the parent, you have to win over the child first]
└ [Let’s go rescue the little duke!!]
I’d decided to only believe half of what they say—but this time they weren’t wrong.
After getting dressed in the clothes Nella brought, I decided to go check out the annex where Damian lived.
* * *
“I’m going to be a swordsman like Father! Why do I need to learn this?!”
It was very easy to locate the young master.
The moment I approached the annex, an explosive voice echoed across the yard.
“But the academy will gather children from various noble families. This also affects the duke’s reputation—”
“I don’t care! I’ll beat everyone with my sword!”
“You m-mustn’t say such things! You’ll have swordsmanship lessons separately, so please sit during my lesson—”
“If you can beat me with a sword, I’ll sit down. I don’t listen to weaklings!”
“Uuugh…”
Hmm. This situation…
‘This isn’t the tutor abusing the student.’
Looks like the student is abusing the tutor…
