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Chapter 04
…Can I just go home?
To that nice, cozy home…
I completely lost it the moment he said he wasn’t even going to look at Beloa.
What on earth had given me that kind of courage?
The me from barely fifteen minutes ago.
Sitting stiffly on the sofa in the Grand Duke’s office, I swallowed hard.
Ugh…
The atmosphere felt so tense that even moving a single finger seemed like it would get my head chopped off.
“Ermia Tekins.”
Flinch!
I’d only just managed to calm myself down.
Yet simply hearing Leandro Grand Duke say my name shattered my composure all over again.
“Arson in the streets.”
A document fluttered from the stack in his hand and landed on the floor.
“Fraud by soliciting investors for a mine that never existed.”
Flutter.
Another sheet drifted down.
“Smuggling luxury goods.”
Flutter.
Wait.
Don’t tell me…
“Defaming your stepmother and half-sister before being expelled from a charity banquet.”
Flutter.
“Attempted poisoning of a protesting victim.”
…Are all those documents about my crimes?
I blinked at the mountain of paperwork.
I’d only arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate with Beloa about two hours ago.
He gathered all this information in that short amount of time?
“In addition…”
“Loan sharking.”
“Kidnapping.”
“Blackmail.”
“Attempted murder.”
“Extortion.”
“Illegal possession and sale of magic scrolls.”
Flutter. Flutter. Flutter.
The papers fell at a frightening pace.
Soon the floor was buried beneath a mountain of documents.
“And this evening…”
“You fled after blowing up the Tekins estate.”
Flutter!
Only one sheet remained in Leandro Grand Duke’s hand.
After reading it, his golden eyes narrowed slightly.
“This is not technically a crime.”
“But it is deeply immoral.”
Flutter.
The final page landed atop the pile.
Across it, in bold letters, were written:
[A Report Exposing the Hidden Crimes of the Tekins Family.]
“You are a criminal, Miss Ermia Tekins.”
The moment his gaze met mine…
The overwhelming pressure I’d felt before came crashing down on me once again.
He had only listed my alleged crimes.
Yet instinctively…
I understood.
At this very moment…
I was someone eligible for immediate execution.
In other words…
If the Grand Duke suddenly drew his sword and killed me right here…
No one would find it strange.
Just like the man I’d witnessed months ago.
“Aaaah!”
The memory replayed vividly before my eyes.
Only this time…
I’d be the one cut down.
I’m scared.
“So.”
“You claim you brought me my niece.”
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear him.
Had he smiled just now?
Or had I imagined it?
“But she resembles you more than she resembles me.”
What’s wrong with me?
I knew, logically, that he wouldn’t kill me yet.
At the very least, he’d hear everything about Beloa first.
And yet…
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d suddenly stand up, draw the sword at his waist…
And cut me down.
My palms grew wetter and wetter.
My vision blurred before snapping back into focus.
No.
It’s okay.
He has no reason to kill me immediately.
It’s just a misunderstanding.
I didn’t commit those crimes.
I brought Beloa here.
Just calm down.
Say something…
At this rate…
He’d truly decide I was nothing more than a fraud.
But my throat felt completely sealed shut.
Not even the faintest sound escaped.
“Especially considering the pink hair…”
“The unmistakable symbol of the Tekins family.”
His voice echoed between the pounding beats of my heart.
“You should have at least cast someone more convincing.”
“Miss Tekins.”
“No!”
The words burst out before I could even think.
Staring straight at Leandro Grand Duke, I shook my head.
My breathing came out ragged.
“No, Your Grace.”
“I understand why you suspect me.”
“But not Beloa.”
“Not her.”
She really was your family.
The circumstances had changed because of me.
But according to the original story…
She had endured for over three years while desperately longing for her real family.
“…Beloa truly is your niece.”
“Please believe me.”
Please…
Even if it’s just a lie…
Don’t ever call Beloa a fake.
“This…”
“I believe this will clear up Your Grace’s doubts.”
I slid a small pouch I’d carefully hidden inside my clothes across the desk toward him.
I should’ve shown him this from the beginning.
Instead…
I got scared.
And because of me…
Beloa had to hear things she never should have.
I’m sorry, Beloa.
Quietly apologizing to her in my heart…
“What is this?”
Perhaps because I’d suddenly shouted after sitting there with my head lowered the entire time…
Or perhaps because he’d sensed my sincerity…
A tiny crack appeared in the Grand Duke’s otherwise expressionless face.
Even the pressure in his voice softened.
Just a little.
A very…
Very tiny bit.
“It belonged to Lady Hilda Leandro.”
“It’s one of her keepsakes.”
Taking the pouch from me, the Grand Duke untied the string with practiced hands.
Inside…
Was an amulet.
It was cracked.
Dirty.
Worn with age.
So old it barely opened anymore.
A locket meant to hold a miniature portrait.
“…”
Without speaking, the Grand Duke stared at it.
The golden eyes that had seemed so frightening moments earlier trembled ever so slightly.
Click.
When he pressed the clasp…
The lid opened far more easily than expected.
The moment he saw the portrait inside…
He silently ran a hand over his face.
That was all.
A moment later, he looked at me again.
His expression had already returned to its usual calmness.
“Is there something you desire, Miss Ermia Tekins?”
His gaze had become as unreadable as before.
Yet…
His hand remained tightly closed around the amulet.
He hadn’t outright said whether Beloa was genuine.
But…
There was room for consideration now.
Of course there was.
Because Beloa was real.
“Tell me what you want.”
“You have earned that much.”
Finally.
We’d reached the point I’d been waiting for.
“What is it you seek from me?”
This was it.
The final step.
Don’t panic.
I swallowed once.
Then—
“Your Grace!”
Bang!
I slammed my forehead onto his desk.
The Grand Duke’s brow twitched.
“I know my sins!”
Right.
Don’t forget the tears.
“I understand that bringing Beloa here doesn’t erase everything I’ve done.”
“Therefore…”
“I wish to accept my punishment willingly.”
“Punishment?”
“Yes.”
Looking directly at him, I nodded firmly.
“If Your Grace permits it…”
“I wish to abandon the name Tekins.”
“And spend the rest of my life in a convent.”
Within this empire…
Being stripped of one’s noble status and reduced to a commoner was considered a punishment nearly as severe as execution.
To lose your family name.
To become one of the commoners nobles looked down upon.
To spend the rest of your life working.
Many nobles considered that fate worse than death.
But for me?
That’s nothing!
I’d already spent my previous life as a slave to a company worse than being a commoner.
Becoming a commoner would practically be a promotion!
The convent part was admittedly an exaggeration.
But giving up the Tekins name and living as an ordinary person?
I meant every word.
Besides…
It was the safest option.
If I’d only sent Beloa here by herself…
The trash back home would’ve blamed every crime on me.
But if I willingly accepted an appropriate punishment first…
Then the Grand Duke would have no reason to execute me later.
Lowering my head again, I shouted with absolute sincerity.
“Please allow it, Your Grace!”
I expected him to nod immediately.
Instead…
Heavy silence filled the room.
…What?
Things had been going well just moments ago.
Was he deciding how best to arrange my demotion?
“Miss Tekins.”
My tiny hope shattered with a single sentence.
“I believe you are under a misunderstanding.”
Mesmerized, I slowly raised my head.
Our eyes met.
“Your crimes…”
“Cannot be absolved simply by abandoning your family name and entering a convent.”
With eyes that remained completely unmoving…
The Grand Duke calmly pronounced my death sentence.
“The only favor I can offer…”
“Is to grant you a slightly more comfortable process in return for recovering my sister’s keepsake.”
…What?
My heart pounded violently.
So…
In the end…
I was still going to die?
After struggling this hard?
I thought it would work.
He continued speaking.
But I couldn’t hear another word.
I was sure it would work.
Like in novels.
Like in movies.
I believed…
Someone would finally choose me.
They didn’t.
No.
I swallowed.
More than anyone else…
I knew the Grand Duke would kill me without hesitation.
I’d read Flower Path countless times before transmigrating.
No.
Please.
I don’t want to.
“…don’t.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I don’t want to die!”
It exploded out of me.
The worst move I could’ve made.
Yet I couldn’t stop.
“I…”
“I don’t want to die like this.”
“I finally escaped that place!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Was it because I burned down the mansion?”
“I didn’t have a choice!”
“If I hadn’t done it…”
“I would’ve stayed trapped there until I died!”
I wasn’t even sure what I was saying anymore.
Everything I’d buried inside me simply kept spilling out.
“I want to live!”
“I want to live!”
“Miss Tekins.”
“I don’t care what it takes!”
“I just want to survive!”
“I want to be happy this time!”
Had I ever asked for anything extravagant?
I only wanted a quiet.
Peaceful.
Ordinary life.
To cut ties with the family who treated me like a fool.
To finally live for myself.
To care about my own happiness.
My own health.
My own life.
Was that really such a terrible wish?
Terrible enough to deserve dying…
Twice?
“It isn’t!”
“Miss Tekins!”
Suddenly…
My vision cleared.
I slowly let out the breath I’d been holding.
“Calm yourself.”
Holding my wrist, Leandro Grand Duke gently guided me back onto the sofa.
Then he placed a glass of cold water before me.
“As of this moment…”
“I will not kill you.”
“Even if I execute you later…”
“It will only be after proper legal proceedings.”
“You are a noble.”
“Not a commoner.”
“…”
Was…
Was that supposed to comfort me?
The sheer absurdity of it somehow made all the emotions lodged in my throat subside.
“However.”
“I am willing to offer you an opportunity.”
“An… hic… opportunity?”
“Yes.”
His eyes remained perfectly calm.
“I will give you a chance.”
“A chance to live.”
“And perhaps…”
“To become happy.”
“W-What… hic… kind?”
Still clutching the glass tightly, I stared at him.
Whatever came out of his mouth…
I had no choice but to accept it.
It was my only path to survival.
A slave contract.
Being handed over as a human test subject.
Even something that unfair…
“I want you to become my fiancée.”
…I would have to—
Huh?
“For a period of three years.”
I promptly spat the mouthful of water I’d just drunk right back into the cup.
“I swear that I will never love you.”
“I will never lay a hand on you.”
Wait.
This is…
That thing.
“So?”
“Miss Ermia Tekins.”
“…Excuse me, but…”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a childcare story, not a contract marriage novel?”
