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Chapter : 16
The smoke rising above told just how hot the tea was.
The small teacup began gradually filling with the scorching tea.
Yet the duke didn’t stop.
He continued to tilt the teapot.
“Ugh… ah…!”
Even as the overflowing tea scalded the count’s hand, it kept rising endlessly.
Unfortunately, the teacup’s handle was too thin to support the cup widely.
Eventually, unable to endure the heat, the count dropped the cup.
Clang!
The teacup, painstakingly selected by the chef, shattered into meaningless fragments.
I couldn’t help but flinch and take a step back. The sound was that fierce and loud.
“Hmm.”
Even without seeing, one could guess the situation from the noise. The duke muttered, seemingly regretful.
“Dropping the teacup… showing age with tea like this.”
“……”
“At this rate, one couldn’t even drink poisoned tea.”
The count collapsed to his knees.
“P-please spare me! I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“What was your intention then?”
“I-I was too worried about taking in someone whose origin I didn’t know as a child of Stukkia…”
He repeatedly banged his head on the floor.
“Please, forgive me just once! Consider my loyalty to you all this time…!”
Even to me, knowing the whole situation, it was a pitiful plea.
Then the duke let out a low hum.
“You have been here a long time, haven’t you?”
“Y-yes. There’s probably no one who has served Stukkia as long as I have.”
“Then perhaps retiring now wouldn’t be so bad. The place… yes. The underground prison will do.”
The count’s face turned pale.
He tried to rise, seemingly to plead, but Caron approached faster. Just as the count tried to protest:
“It would be wise to save your neck.”
Caron said politely.
“You’ll be yelling a lot later in the prison, after all.”
“……!”
“It wouldn’t be wise to rest now, would it?”
He smiled gently.
At that, the count could only let out a strained, breathless sound.
After Count Roman was dragged out lifelessly,
everyone just waited nervously.
“Finally, I can meet my daughter.”
The duke said with satisfaction, motioning his hand.
“Come now, my daughter.”
His hand waved gently, almost like enticing a dog with a blade of grass.
‘I’d never been called a daughter before… at first, I was a bit embarrassed…’
I quickly regained my composure.
He was likely acting this way deliberately with so many eyes watching.
I smiled brightly and stepped right up to the duke.
“Yes, Duke? Did you call me?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not ‘Duke,’ is it?”
Above the cloth covering his eyes, I saw his thick eyebrows twitch. Only then did I realize.
‘He wants me to call him “Dad.” Since the retainers are watching.’
But neither “daughter” nor “Dad” felt natural yet…
“Okay, I understand.”
So I answered again.
“Ah…”
“……”
“D-Dad…”
But I had to say it at least once!
My voice trembled pitifully.
It shook so badly that “Dad” sounded like “Dapah.”
‘I need to act boldly… I can’t be like this already!’
I chastised myself internally.
“…Hmm.”
The duke exhaled slowly.
I thought he might have been displeased, but seeing the slight upward curl of his lips, it seemed my answer was acceptable.
“Here.”
The duke showed me something.
A document filled with blank spaces.
“What… is this?”
“These are the forms used by the family when adopting a child. Once filled, they are notarized by the royal family and the temple, officially making you part of the family.”
Caron added an explanation to my question.
I had heard of adoption forms before.
Back when the blessing of the gods—supernatural abilities—overflowed,
nobles produced many heirs to gain more power. If a child was born with abilities, it was seen as an expansion of the family’s assets.
Those who couldn’t have children would indiscriminately adopt,
not knowing which child might manifest abilities, creating the bad habit of adopting and abandoning children.
The temple, tasked with protecting children, established a law.
The law required the family’s full agreement to adopt a child—essentially a vow never to abandon them.
However, this form was rarely used. Once the law existed, indiscriminate adoption vanished as if it had never been.
A law meant to protect street children, it wasn’t used much in noble households.
It existed, but practically, it wasn’t used.
‘But showing me this means…’
“What do you think?”
The duke asked lightly.
“The first gift a father gives his daughter. Do you like it?”
He must be asking if I have the confidence to gain the consent of the entire Stukkia family.
‘Can I really handle this?’
‘Even now?’
Royal and temple notarization.
Hearing those words, I swallowed nervously.
It meant there was no turning back.
But if I hesitated now, I never would have come to open the door of Stukkia personally.
“Should I fill it out here?”
“….”
When I asked quietly, the duke, who had been watching me, handed me something—a small quill.
I pressed my name firmly at the top.
With it, I put my wish to become the duke’s daughter.
As I slid the form forward, the duke said, as if waiting for this moment:
“Now that our daughter has taken her hopeful first step…”
He slowly raised his head to those around him.
“Even the spry old grandfathers will have to help, won’t they?”
The retainers flinched.
Seeing there weren’t many, they must have been influential figures even among the opposition.
If such people not only didn’t oppose but signed the adoption, the opposition couldn’t criticize.
“W-we… um…”
“Could we speak for a moment…?”
They hesitated and stepped back.
“You must write.”
Unless they wanted their fingers broken after the cane.
But with the duke’s added words, everyone fell silent.
Thus, in the adoption consent column, the names of grandfathers I had never seen were written.
The retainers left, faces pale.
Each muttered, “It’s over… it’s over…” It seemed their mission had been serious.
At least for now, no one would dare oppose me. That alone was satisfying.
“They probably wouldn’t sit still, but that was quite a childish method.”
“You are young, milady. They must have underestimated you.”
Caron said.
“It’s not unusual. Ordinary tea leaves and Ramus tea leaves look nearly identical. That’s why so many were harmed. You noticing it shows your intelligence.”
“I’m scared I’ll be like that when I’m older. Is aging really like that?”
By now, his gentle smile that had encouraged me to call him “Dad” was gone.
‘He only showed that side in front of the retainers.’
I had to be careful not to call him “Dad” by accident.
Just as I was thinking this:
“So…”
The duke suddenly spoke.
“How did you know?”
I paused at the question.
At first, it seemed about the tea leaves, but the duke’s face was turned toward me.
‘Not the tea leaves… he means how I knew Count Roman’s scheme.’
Count Roman had been a loyal retainer of Stukkia, both publicly and in practice. If I hadn’t returned to the past, I wouldn’t have known he was a bad person.
Of course, I couldn’t say I had returned.
‘Saying I “just had a feeling” wouldn’t work. They might see me as a spy who betrayed Count Roman.’
So I answered honestly:
“I never thought Count Roman was a bad person.”
Although he may have hidden his intentions, he was one of the few adults who treated me kindly.
“And… his thoughts weren’t entirely wrong either.”
“Not entirely wrong? Why, because you’re a spy from another family?”
The Duke of Stukkia chuckled, as if making a trivial joke.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I’m actually from Agnito.”
The smile disappeared from the duke’s face once more.
