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chapter 6
“I know everything I need to know.”
I put on an air of nonchalance.
“But, as the advisor grandfather said, there’s still a small possibility that I could be your daughter…”
“What are you saying?!!”
“Eek!”
Ryan shouted, and I jumped, placing my hand on my chest as I looked at him.
We fell silent for a moment.
“……”
“……”
Ryan blinked rapidly as he stared at me for a while. He furrowed his brow, clearly confused.
“…Really, my daughter?”
What is he saying? I tried hard not to laugh at his foolish expression.
“Hey, that’s not true!”
Ryan pouted and added,
“Okay, let’s be clear. You’re from Windsor Castle, right?”
“What’s that?”
“Wow! Pretending not to know without even blinking an eye?”
“……”
“You think I went to the bakery as a kid and wouldn’t know anything? I at least know about the existence of that castle.”
Ryan glanced around before lowering his voice and whispered, holding up five fingers.
“Listen carefully. I’m the fifth child of my family and the youngest by legitimate birth. My mother passed away when I was ten.”
“Ah… yes.”
“My father, wanting to have many children with ability, had my mother pregnant five times, which weakened her health…”
“……”
“But the real reason my mother collapsed from shock was that my father built Windsor Castle. He started openly raising the children he had elsewhere there.”
That’s right. All of my father’s illegitimate children were raised at Windsor Castle.
I was one of them.
“You, you grew up at Windsor, right?”
Seeing me remain silent, Ryan pressed again.
“…Yes… probably?”
“‘Probably’? No! Be sure! Your biological father is Duke von Basenberg. Technically, I’m your twelve-year-older half-brother.”
“……”
“You knew all along, didn’t you!”
“I knew… but…”
Finally, I admitted it and quietly grabbed Ryan’s sleeve.
“But so what!”
“I’m powerless… If I go around saying I’m the Duke’s daughter, it could be dangerous. I might even die…”
“Really now?”
“So… Oppa? Since you’re powerless too, I’ll pretend to be your daughter.”
I twisted my toes nervously and spoke as pitifully as possible.
“Can I call you Dad?”
“Huh.”
Ryan, looking exasperated, pinched my cheek sharply.
“How shameless of you.”
“Ahh! Ahaha! Ahahaha!”
I tried hitting the back of my hand against his, signaling surrender, but Ryan just giggled.
Then, something caught my eye as my cheek was being pinched.
On Ryan’s left inner forearm, twelve knife scars were faintly visible.
‘I think I saw them earlier too…’
Looking closer, it was obvious. These were self-inflicted scars.
Sensing my gaze, Ryan quickly rolled down his sleeve and turned away.
‘Uh-oh. The atmosphere just changed.’
Silence.
Ryan walked without a word.
What were those scars for?
Had he deliberately hurt himself whenever he couldn’t control his thirst for revenge?
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how resentful and angry he must feel.
A man abandoned by his father, falsely accused as a murderer, and forced to spend half his life in a detention camp.
‘I wish he’d at least explain to me that he’s not really a criminal.’
Then I could tell him I believed him. Even a little reassurance like that would help.
“Dad… did you really kill all the people in that village?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“But… you’re powerless. How?”
“Does being powerless mean I can’t kill? I personally slit all their throats. Then I burned the village to erase the evidence.”
“Ah… I see.”
As I responded gloomily, Ryan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“I’m crazy.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know my crimes. If things go wrong, you might end up dead by my hand too. So you should run now.”
Suddenly?
Ryan grabbed a few of his clothes, draped them over his shoulders, and practically shoved the suitcase containing gold bars into my arms.
“Take your chance and go.”
I was flustered. After coming all this way together, he suddenly wanted me to leave?
“Ah! Wait, just a moment!”
But Ryan quickly moved away.
Had I made a mistake? I couldn’t read the sudden change in his mood.
‘I knew he’d try to separate me from him eventually.’
I had anticipated this.
If Ryan, seeing me as just baggage, tried to leave me behind…
‘I’ll have to show my worth with my abilities.’
I decided to reveal some of my powers.
‘But here…’
I anxiously scanned the crowded city center. With my own pace, I could hardly catch up to Ryan, who was deliberately pulling ahead.
‘Oh no!’
How do I catch him?
Ignoring the sound of Vania’s struggling footsteps behind us, Ryan rolled up his sleeve.
Twelve scars.
Each one was carved by Ryan himself, counting his years in the detention camp—once per year.
Enduring the pain, he inflicted them on himself whenever his drive for revenge wavered, to keep himself disciplined.
‘I have work to do.’
Revenge.
No, revenge was just a convenient excuse.
He planned to destroy the rotten family with his own hands, knowing only he could do it.
‘Don’t lose resolve.’
Today, he met a little sister he didn’t even know existed.
…Should I just live with her?
Yes, Ryan had briefly thought such a crazy thought while creating shade for me and worrying about his seasick older brother, tapping my back for three hours straight. That small hand felt strangely kind to a man starved for human connection.
But it was impossible.
He had work to do.
He hadn’t considered life after revenge, but seeing people earlier made him realize:
The stigma of being a heinous criminal.
And after succeeding in revenge, he’d get the label of filial impiety for killing his father.
Vania could have lived a normal life if she hadn’t gotten involved with the family, father, or siblings.
‘He was always going to leave me behind anyway.’
Better to let go before we got attached.
Then,
“Daadddd!!!”
Ryan froze.
In the middle of the bustling harbor city, the crowd suddenly went quiet at the sound of someone calling for “Dad.”
“Don’t leave me!”
Swallowing, Ryan only rolled his eyes. People were glancing at him.
He turned hesitantly.
There stood Vania, crying with a suitcase almost her size.
“Don’t lie! I’m scared of Dad! You could really kill me!”
“No…”
Ryan panicked and looked around. People were whispering.
What? Kill? Whisper, whisper.
Child abuse? Whisper, whisper.
Of course, Ryan didn’t literally hear it; he just guessed what the crowd might be saying.
“Still… even though we just met, I’m still your daughter…”
Wow. Never raised her? Whisper, whisper.
Neglect too? Whisper, whisper.
Ryan froze in thought. The penalty for child abuse in this country is severe. Now he’s no longer a minor; he might get fifty years.
He imagined a 74-year-old with trembling skinny legs, saying, “Hohoho… I’m a 62-year-old Abyssus…” on release—terrifying!
Unaware of his thoughts, Vania continued to chatter with a scared face.
“Of course, I’m scared of dying too…”
“Ahhh!”
Ryan screamed internally and rushed forward.
Whether acting or genuine, that cute, bold kid’s thoughts didn’t matter—he had to shut her up first.
“But Dad… aaah!”
“Oh, oh, our daughter!”
Ryan scooped Vania up and bounced her around.
“You little cutie~? Why cry over a little prank by Dad~? Don’t cry, don’t cry! Peekaboo~!”
“……”
Ryan broke into a cold sweat as he looked around.
A young woman with a parasol glanced at him, and when their eyes met, she hurried away.
What’s she doing? Calling the military? Ryan reached out desperately.
“No!”
“…What?”
“I don’t know exactly, but it’s definitely not that.”
The young woman scowled and left.
