TDPMVI 12

Chapter : 12

During the estimated time of conception, Enril had been away for quite a long while, so she couldn’t even claim the child was his.

To make matters worse, on the day of the imperial banquet, more than one person claimed to have seen Trisha coming out of the room where Pater had been staying.

Perhaps because of that, Enril Stukia—the elder brother—suddenly died of an abrupt illness.

However, after succeeding his brother as head of the house, Pater did not take Trisha in as the duchess…

It was only natural that criticism toward him grew fierce.

Of course, there were some who said there must have been a misunderstanding or another reason, and that they would wait for Pater’s explanation.

After all, the Stukia brothers’ close bond was widely known.

“My brother did nothing wrong. Everything is my responsibility.”

But for some reason, after saying those words, Pater shut the castle gates.

Without offering any excuse or explanation.

From that day on, “trash” became synonymous with Stukia.

It became the decisive reason why the Stukia territory turned into a land where anything could be thrown away.

“If he can throw away a woman carrying his own child, then anything can be discarded there!”

Because of that, when the duke—who had been perfectly fine when he closed the gates—suddenly lost his eyesight, no one questioned it.

A curse from someone abandoned by the duke.

It was a plausible story, and the duke himself never denied it.

‘Well, it’s all just rumors. No one really knows the truth.’

In any case, from a servant’s point of view, he wasn’t exactly the kind of lord one could wholeheartedly devote loyalty to.

‘So I didn’t expect to find good people in Stukia Castle…’

I looked at myself in the mirror.

Before I knew it, the maids had scrubbed me squeaky clean. Hot water must be precious in such a cold place, yet they used it generously.

They even lit the fireplace, filling the room with a comfortable warmth.

From start to finish, it all felt far too much for someone like me.

“We should have given you a cleaner room. We’re sorry. We hadn’t prepared a room for a child in advance…”

And yet they apologized, saying it wasn’t a good enough room.

They even brought warm food, saying, “We rushed, so this is all we could prepare.”

It wasn’t strange that a place without a child didn’t have a room prepared for one. If anything, this much was already something to be grateful for.

While I looked around in a daze, the maids finished arranging the bedding.

“Sleep well.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“…Good night.”

I smiled awkwardly as I returned their goodnight wishes.

After sending Lisa away, I hadn’t expected anyone to wish me good night again.

For some reason, my heart felt ticklish, and I burrowed deep under the blanket.

That night—

“What? The duke’s daughter has appeared?”

“Is that true?”

The vassals of Stukia, who heard the news late, were thrown into an uproar.

A few days ago, an order had come down from the temple and the imperial family.

For the honor of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, a successor must be decided.

And in that situation, the duke had declared he would take in some abandoned child as his daughter. Naturally, the vassals were shocked.

“It hasn’t been confirmed that she’s truly his daughter.”

“You don’t even know her background? Surely she’s not from the streets?”

“If she were from the streets, that might even be better. What if she’s been planted by some insignificant house whose name we don’t even know?”

One of Stukia’s vassals let out a hollow laugh.

When he heard the castle gates—closed for over ten years—had finally opened, he thought the duke had come to his senses. But in the end, he had caused trouble anyway!

“This is unacceptable. Let’s go see the duke at once!”

Without even announcing themselves, the vassals flung open the door to the duke’s office.

The room was so dark the inside was barely visible.

In that space filled with nothing but darkness and silence, someone sat.

Long black hair cascading down as if it hadn’t been tidied. A straight nose, firmly closed lips, a sharp jawline. And in his hand, a strong cigarette.

Pater Stukia—the Duke of Stukia and the master of a heap of trash.

“You haven’t shown your faces once, and yet here you are all at once.”

As if completely unbothered by the sudden intrusion, Pater responded leisurely.

As though to prove his dissolute nature, his shirt hung open enough to reveal his firm chest.

One elderly vassal cleared his throat awkwardly, but Pater paid no mind and simply continued smoking.

“Is it true?”

“What is?”

“…We’re asking whether it’s true that you’ve brought home a daughter.”

“Ah—right. My daughter came to find me.”

Pater said it as though he had only just remembered.

“I didn’t even tell her the way here, yet she came. Isn’t she sweet? I don’t know her face or name, but her mother must have raised her well.”

His tone remained relaxed throughout.

He had clearly decided to be shameless about it.

“…We cannot agree.”

“I intend to take in my own daughter. By what authority will you stop me?”

“What if she’s a spy planted to destroy Stukia?”

“A spy…”

Pater murmured slowly.

That was possible.

The imperial family. The temple. Or perhaps another house with a deep grudge against Stukia. There were many candidates.

But—

“Yes! No one knows who my dad is! Not even my mom!”

That much was likely true.

Though he could not see, Pater’s senses were sharper than most.

Mana was a corrupting force. It reacted sensitively to the malice and turmoil within others.

If the child had truly lied, he would have known first.

“A-And I like the cold.”

“I like the dark, too.”

“I-It doesn’t have to be as your daughter. I-I can be a servant instead…”

The child had spoken nothing but the truth.

“Or I-I could even be the duke’s eyes…”

And that trembling voice.

For some reason, it hadn’t felt unpleasant.

Besides, wasn’t it the first time since that day that someone had boldly stepped inside after offering him a wicked man as prey…?

“…”

The habitual smile that had lingered on Pater’s lips faded for a moment.

With the hand not holding the cigarette, he slowly clenched and unclenched his fist.

Several years ago, someone had planted a wicked supernatural ability within his body.

That ability manifested in various forms—sometimes whispering cruel words to him, sometimes appearing before his eyes in grotesque shapes.

It was the result of the mana dwelling within him, the power granted by God, and that supernatural ability colliding.

No matter what he tried, the foreign power lodged inside him would not disappear.

But the moment he held that child’s hand, he felt as though that sensation had vanished.

Unless one was a priest with powerful divine power, supernatural abilities could generally only be withdrawn by their owner. And most such abilities were inherited.

So there were only two possibilities.

Either the child had been sent by the temple—or she was that man’s child.

That was why, when he held her hand again, he felt nothing from her.

The emotion he felt then…

Yes, it must have been emptiness.

He thought he had finally grasped a clue to the one he had searched for so desperately, only to be dragged back to the starting point.

‘What was I even expecting?’

As a bitter laugh at himself began to escape—

“…If you need a daughter now, couldn’t you simply bring that person here?”

It was one of the vassals who had protected Stukia for a long time.

Though they kept it quiet, everyone believed it.

That the daughter of Princess Trisha Klein of the Duchy of Klein was Pater’s daughter.

To have committed an affair with his older brother Enril’s fiancée—an utterly scandalous act.

But there were far more nobles who maintained the façade of peaceful households while keeping mistresses behind the scenes.

Though criticism would be unavoidable, forging ties with the duchy would ultimately serve as a shield that would only strengthen Stukia.

Perhaps even more so than the imperial family or the temple.

So now was the time to speak what they had long held back.

“Your Grace, you already have a daughter. Why leave your biological child and instead take in a girl of unknown origin?”

“If you truly need a child, then acknowledge the princess’s daughter, Heidi, as your own. The princess has not yet married…”

Even as they spoke, the vassals trembled in fear.

They did not know what consequences invoking this taboo might bring upon Pater.

It was then.

“Daughter.”

Pater murmured in an even, toneless voice.

“A daughter… That’s right. There was that.”

“…”

“I had a daughter too.”

As though he had completely forgotten, the faint scoff that escaped him sounded both hollow and like mockery directed at himself.