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Chapter 30
An awkward silence filled the room.
No one could bring themselves to speak first.
“Dad…”
Chloe called out to the duke, addressing the Duke of Ameron with a familiarity that even Flaria and Haren found difficult.
“So you’re saying this child is your daughter?”
“Yes.”
His expression didn’t change at all, and everyone looked utterly dumbfounded by his attitude.
“No, but when? And who is this child’s mother?”
“……”
The duke remained silent.
“Then explain yourself. You suddenly bring home an illegitimate child—of course you need to explain!”
“Chloe is my daughter. Think of her as your daughter as well, just like Flaria. Flaria, Haren—she is your sibling, so treat her well. She’s unfamiliar with both noble society and the imperial capital.”
Leaving only those words behind, the Duke of Ameron stood up and left. The duchess followed after him, saying something, but he offered her no explanation.
“Nice to meet you. Father told me we’re the same age.”
Chloe reached out her hand toward Flaria and Haren.
“Ha, damn it. What kind of situation is this?”
Flaria muttered a curse under her breath, having held it in until now. It was understandable—if your father not only had an illegitimate child, but that child had been born in the same year as you, no one could stay sane after learning that.
“So your father is the Duke of Ameron… which means he’s our father too?”
“Yeah.”
Chloe answered brightly.
Looking at her face, I was struck anew by the thought: the female lead of a novel really is different.
She was a completely different type of beauty from the cold, elegant Flaria. With an innocent, pure air about her, she looked exactly like the kind of woman you’d call a “female lead.” On top of that, her bright, golden hair shone like the sun, making her stand out even more.
I guess this is the kind of person male leads fall for at first sight and devote their lives to.
Blushing slightly, Chloe spoke carefully.
“To be honest, I was lonely. Dad said I was the only child he loved, but since I didn’t have any siblings, I was lonely. You two must’ve been happy, being together.”
“Ha.”
I was speechless the moment I heard that.
‘The only child he loves.’
Was that really something to say in front of her half-siblings? Even I found it outrageous—how must they feel?
But… was there a line like this in the novel?
Something felt off.
In the novel, Chloe had been timid, unable to say anything.
But the Chloe in front of me now wasn’t timid at all. She confidently extended her hand toward Flaria and even uttered the outrageous line, “I’m the only child Dad loves.” Worse still, her eyes sparkled as she glanced around.
It was far too different from the scene I remembered from the novel.
“Now I can live as a noble. So, Flaria—want to go shopping with me tomorrow? Help me pick out some dresses.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You have to help me. I’ve never been part of noble society before, and people don’t even know who I am—they might look down on me. So you should come with me.”
“Ha.”
Flaria’s eyes were practically spewing curses, but Chloe didn’t notice and kept chattering on.
“And there’s an imperial banquet in a week, right? I’m so excited. It’ll be my first time going to something like that. Dad said I could attend too.”
Flaria finally stood up, as if she couldn’t endure it any longer.
“Hey, you—”
“Flaria. Calm down.”
Haren stopped her in a composed voice. It was the first time I’d seen him so calm.
Without another word, he stood up as well.
“Espin, would you like to come back to our room with us?”
“Yeah.”
Haren held out his hand to me, and I took it as I stood.
“What? What about me? Are you ignoring me?”
Chloe’s voice rang out behind us, but we ignored her as though we hadn’t heard a thing.
“Damn it. Honestly, I could imagine any other noble cheating, but never our father. He was always saying we must never disgrace the House of Ameron.”
“Ha…”
Flaria vented her anger while Haren let out a deep sigh.
Haren hastily wrote something down, left the room to deliver it to someone, and then returned.
“Flaria…”
I thought it would be best to leave a family argument, but it wasn’t something easy to speak up about.
“And if she’s our age, that means he got someone pregnant at the same time. He must’ve lived a very busy life. Damn it—of all things, for something this filthy to happen in our house.”
“Watch your language, Flaria. He’s still our father.”
“Father, my ass. A man who doesn’t even like us—he’s our father? You heard it too. She said she’s the child he loves most. Then what are we?”
Flaria poured herself a drink and downed it in large gulps. Her eyes, usually so confident, looked strangely sad today, so I patted her shoulder to comfort her.
“Flaria. Those were her words. Don’t take them to heart.”
“Yeah, Flaria.”
“Damn it. I can’t trust Father anymore. He raised a daughter that big without us knowing.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
In truth, until a few days ago, the duke himself hadn’t known he had another daughter. Chloe had only come to him recently, following her mother’s dying wish. He hadn’t even known that his other daughter was alive in this world.
“Espin is right. We asked him to explain the situation first. The investigation results should come soon.”
Haren poured himself some of the alcohol Flaria had been drinking and swallowed it, his expression bitter.
“Espin, I’m sorry you had to see this.”
“It’s okay… We’re close, after all. But shouldn’t we go check on the duchess first? I’m worried about her.”
At the mention of their mother, concern filled both Flaria’s and Haren’s eyes.
Though they often complained to her, they worried about her more than anyone.
Born into a prestigious family and having become the Duchess of Ameron, she had lived with pride in her nobility and a life beyond reproach. That pride had been her confidence, her self-worth.
And now, the greatest stain on her life had appeared. Even her children knew how deep her wounds must be.
“Yes. Right now, the one we need to look after is Mother.”
“Haren, let’s go to her.”
“Okay.”
“Then I’ll head back now.”
“Sorry, Espin.”
Haren and Flaria hurried away. Left alone in the empty room, I soon stood up as well.
“Oh? You’re—”
As I stepped outside, Chloe was standing in front of the room and pointed at me.
“Wait.”
She shoved past me and peeked into Flaria’s room over my shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Well, the butler said I should use a room on the second floor… but I don’t like any of them. This one’s the biggest… I want to use this room.”
“This is Flaria’s room.”
Trying to kick out the rightful owner after barging in—unbelievable.
Angered by her shameless attitude, I shut the door to Flaria’s room.
“Well, Father will decide that. I grew up sleeping in a small room, so won’t Father give me a big one now?”
“And why are you speaking so informally?”
Who talks down to someone they’ve just met? Not even commoners behaved like that. Even Rose in our household used polite speech with strangers.
“What, are you from a family higher than a duke’s? As far as I know, only a grand ducal house or the imperial family outranks a ducal house.”
“What?”
Chloe curled one corner of her lips upward in a clear sneer.
“And don’t interfere in our family matters. You’re an outsider. Now, could you step aside? I still need to finish looking around the rooms.”
She shoved me aside with force and barged straight into Flaria’s room.
“Oh, this is nice. I should ask Dad to buy me one too.”
Her selfish, overbearing behavior was nothing like the person I’d seen in the novel.
Something was definitely wrong.
