TCL 35

chapter 35

Even the comment fairies were overflowing with praise.

I wasn’t sure if this counted as fast—or maybe not fast at all—but I still didn’t expect to get a guardian this suddenly. My eyes widened in surprise.

“You finally look like a child now.”

Seeing my honest reaction, Hestina gently patted my head.

“I have more than enough resources, so taking on a ward is no problem. There was no reason it had to be the Duke, right?”

“N-no, not at all. I followed the Duke here purely by coincidence, but I would’ve been fine with anyone. Thank you.”

“Don’t hold it against the Duke. He’s the type who, once he takes responsibility, must see it through to the end. He couldn’t make a decision lightly.”

A guardian’s role wasn’t a one-time sponsorship—it meant a long-term responsibility until the child grew up.

I understood that, so I nodded.

└ [What if she just adopts her instead??]
└ [If it’s our Cool-and-Refreshing Mom, she could do it]

The excited comment fairies went a step further, but adoption was on a whole different scale from guardianship.

And besides, I had literally just mentioned that I planned to look for my birth parents.

Hestina also didn’t seem to be considering adoption right now, because she added:

“If you ever need something and I’m away for a long time, you can contact the Linward County estate.”

“Are you going somewhere?”

“I already told you. There are many things I wanted to try as Hestina. Our Linward County has plenty of money. I think I can start all sorts of businesses.”

The Linward Count family.

They didn’t belong to any faction, so they weren’t famous in social circles. They focused on commerce, so I’d only heard their name occasionally in trade-related matters.

Torto Count used to suppress any family that tried to grow through business, so information about them naturally trickled down.

He wanted to monopolize every profitable opportunity.

But even he never tried to pick a fight with Linward County.

“Once Damian grows older, I was thinking of getting into trade. I’d be away for long periods.”

Just as she said—Linward County specialized in international trade.

Their business field didn’t overlap with the Torto family, who only circulated money within the empire.

So that’s why I never saw Lady Hestina before regression.

If she worked in trade, she would’ve constantly traveled across distant lands.

Knowing it wasn’t due to illness eased my mind.

This time, as my guardian, she offered me another choice.

“The tutor says you understand lessons very well. If you want to study, I can send you to a school for young children. When you’re older, you could even enroll in the Academy.”

“School…”

Since I had no home, she probably meant a school with a dormitory.

And honestly, with a guardian—especially one who understood that I did not want to be adopted by that blond old man—I could return to the orphanage without much trouble.

Even if Torto Count showed up demanding I be handed over, fabricated information about my parents plus my guardian’s opposition could probably delay things for another two years.

└ [Huh?? Going back to the orphanage??]
└ [Shocking twist in what was supposed to be a childcare story]
└ [But what about Damian!! His personal tutor!!]
└ [If she’s going somewhere, she should just return to the bunny-like Edin at the orphanage..]

The comment fairies were confused… but facing this choice actually clarified my feelings.

“Um… can’t I just stay here instead?”

“Why here? As I said, this isn’t really a place for a child—”

“But…”

When I thought about the future I knew, one direction seemed far better.

“Wouldn’t it be better to make this a place suitable for children? Not just this mansion—this entire city. Turning it into a place where children can live well.”

This time, Hestina’s eyes widened. She clearly hadn’t expected that.

But then her expression settled again, becoming thoughtful—more realistic.

“It would be wonderful if it ended up that way. But that takes a very long time. We can’t make your childhood wait for that.”

“The truth is… I’m smarter than you think.”

└ [Also she’s on life round 2]
└ [And she’s cute]
└ [And she’s the Saint]

I didn’t add the comment fairies’ words, since I wasn’t bragging.

“Honestly, studying with other kids won’t help me much. I left the orphanage because I wanted to choose my own path. So—”

Since Hestina became my guardian, the future where I was adopted into the Torto family had become much more distant.

And because that urgency faded, my mind had space—and new future possibilities filled it.

“Not just me—couldn’t children grow up here too? Instead of needing to leave to study, we could have a school where anyone can learn to read. A place where children study and grow here, work here when they’re older… and more people start calling this place their hometown…”

Once I began talking, thoughts I hadn’t realized I’d been holding poured out freely.

I worried I was saying something too idealistic, so I quickly lifted my head.

Hestina was watching me with eyes full of interest.

“Did someone tell you this? Or did you think of it yourself?”

“Well… the knights said no one in their hometown could read. And the Duke said he hoped for a world where children didn’t need to pick up a sword.”

“And you heard that… and came up with all this.”

Hestina lightly tapped her fingers against the table.

Thankfully, she didn’t treat it as childish delusion—she was genuinely considering it, realistically.

“For things to turn out the way you say, it will take a very long time.”

“Yes… that’s true.”

It wasn’t something I could achieve alone.

I thought the conversation would end with me being labeled “a kid with big dreams.”

But—

“That means…” Hestina smiled.

“…I might be able to help you with a lot of it.”

As if she were already imagining the same future I described.

* * *

“You brought an interesting child.”

“I didn’t bring her. She followed on her own.”

“I heard that part too.”

Duke Valent’s office.

Hestina sat across from him, smiling as if amused.

From the Duke’s perspective, a child who secretly hid in his carriage and then refused to leave was not an amusing story.

“I let her stay temporarily due to circumstances, but I plan to send her back soon.”

“No. Let her live here.”

She had taken Damian and Rosé out the moment she arrived—what happened during that time?

The Duke looked at her with clear suspicion, and Hestina added lightly:

“I decided to be her guardian.”

“…And what does that have to do with her staying here?”

Since Hestina didn’t live here, it was odd that she would leave her ward behind.

“She’s Damian’s subordinate number one, isn’t she?”

“You sound just like Damian.”

“Hehe. What I mean is—when Damian grows up enough to have people under him, wouldn’t it be good if that child were there? Like the relationship between you and Count Mateo.”

Of course, for things to happen the way she described, it would take years and years.

Even the child has such a clear vision of the future.

So why wouldn’t Hestina be able to imagine a distant future too?

“Come to think of it, Rosé’s orphanage was also somewhere Count Mateo recommended, wasn’t it? How long do you plan to rely on him alone?”

“It’s not relying… he just enjoys meddling.”

He said that, but the Duke must have trusted Mateo enough to follow his advice.

He was surrounded mostly by knights, not nobles.

If anyone among the nobles cared about his affairs, it was only Mateo.

He’s been on battlefields where comrades meant life or death. It’s only natural he doesn’t easily keep people close.

But now he was no longer the Commander of the Imperial Knights—he was a Duke. He needed more people at his side.

The emperor assigned attendants, and the imperial faction provided nobles, but… there were few people who could truly be called his people.

Hestina, having become an outsider, believed she shouldn’t be involved, which was why she planned to leave entirely.

But—

“From now on, Linward County will unofficially support you.”

“The Count family… will?”

“Yes. Oh, and I don’t mean merely support. We plan to start some business here, playing to our strengths.”

She had found something she wanted to do.

Staying near her family, doing work she enjoyed.

“His Majesty won’t object, right?”

And honestly—her thoughts added—

And even if he does, so what?

Hestina had always been like that. And there was no reason to start tiptoeing now.

A soft, relieved smile spread across her face, as if she had finally found her answer.

└ [The Emperor and Mom fighting over the Duke—romantic rivalry begins!]

…What nonsense are they talking about now.