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Chapter 8
Startled, Leponea’s eyes, which she had shut, flew open.
Late at night, where even the light was swallowed by darkness.
A boy, riding on the back of a silver wolf-shaped creature, was looking down at Leponea’s terrace from mid-air.
The boy, who looked only three or four years older than Leponea, had a face so handsome it would be firmly imprinted in one’s mind even after a brief glance.
It wasn’t something one should say while looking at a child who was at most nine years old, but his hair, darker than the abyss, was sacred as if he had draped the night sky over himself, and his golden eyes, brighter than the sun, were downright dazzling.
‘A face I’ve never seen before.’
It was a face not present in Leponea’s memory, who never forgot anyone she had seen once.
“What are you?”
At Leponea’s question, the boy gave no answer. He just stared silently at the terrace as if he had come to confirm something.
“I really didn’t know if it would work either.”
“What?”
“I’m glad you’re alive. Aren’t you?”
The boy muttered incomprehensible words to himself. His voice, strangely tinged with euphoria, sounded dangerous.
To look at a plainly living person and say they are alive not once, but twice—he was clearly a rude child.
“Then I’ll need to confirm future events as well.”
“What?”
“Ha. See you again.”
“What do you mean by th— Ah!”
Before Leponea’s question could even finish, the boy, having left his strange words, simply turned around. The silver wolf he was riding kicked off and flew, and a wind so strong it was hard to keep her eyes open blew once more.
And by the time Leponea opened her eyes again, the boy was already gone.
‘…What in the world? Did I fall asleep standing up? Was it a dream?’
Leponea blinked, staring at the empty, vacant sky.
‘Falling asleep standing up… There’s no way that was a dream. Tch.’
Leponea recalled the short memory from the previous night, her chin propped in her hand as she sat slouched.
Because of that boy who showed up as he pleased and left as he pleased, she had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
‘He definitely looked at me and said, “You’re alive.” Does that mean he thought I was dead?’
But no matter how much she thought about it, that child was a face she was seeing for the first time.
‘Thinking about the heirloom’s location is enough to make my head feel like it’s going to burst, and now what in the world is he?’
Leponea chewed her lip and pressed firmly on her temples. But her fingers lacked strength, so it wasn’t much help.
‘Then, could he have mistaken me for someone else?’
Thinking that, the boy’s intently staring gaze came to mind. It made no sense for him to mistake her for someone else while giving her such a persistent look.
‘He couldn’t have been sent by the Pope, could he?’
Leponea, calculating the possibilities, soon shook her head.
‘If the Pope had sent him, he would have killed me on the spot last night, not just left.’
The Pope never taught her to leave targets alive.
‘I don’t want to get entangled in more troublesome matters.’
Grumble.
Just then, her inconsiderate stomach sent a signal. Because she overslept, breakfast was delayed, and this was the result.
Humans are truly creatures of adaptation.
‘Since when did I start eating breakfast regularly?’
There were times when she was locked alone in the underground dungeon for days without food for failing to properly execute the Pope’s missions.
How can it make such a fuss over missing just one meal?
Leponea patted her stomach reproachfully with her palm.
“Don’t get used to being full. It’s only temporary.”
Grumble.
Despite Leponea’s scolding, her stomach continued to rumble loudly.
“We’ll go eat later. I said wait.”
Grumble.
Her stomach retorted that they should eat right now.
“Have you no pride?”
Grrrumble.
“You stomach with no pride.”
Leponea muttered as if there was no other choice and soothed her stomach.
“Fine. I know it’s not the time for pride. If you’re going to be this noisy, I have no choice.”
Having neatly finished her self-justification, Leponea reached out, pulled the bell rope, and announced she was awake.
It seemed better to fill her stomach first and think later.
Because it was just too noisy.
A short while after ringing the bell, a polite knock was heard. When Leponea said to enter, the bedroom door opened and two maids entered.
“Young Lady, did you rest peacefully last night?”
“Good morning, Young Lady. Did you have pleasant dreams?”
They were Birdie and Becky, maids assigned to the main mansion who were put in charge of Leponea.
They were the maids who had washed Leponea when she first arrived at the mansion and went to fetch the Young Masters’ clothes.
“Yeah.”
Even the nickname ‘Ponya’ was mortifying enough to make her cringe at first, but hearing it constantly had made her indifferent by now.
Anyway, it was a nickname she would only hear while staying in this mansion, so reacting to it every time was more bothersome.
“His Grace had breakfast earlier today due to work. He told us not to wake you so you could sleep soundly.”
“S’okay.”
Her pronunciation slipping because her tongue was relaxed from thinking about other things was also less embarrassing now.
After washing her face and changing into a dress, Leponea sat in front of the mirror.
‘Busy work…’
She recalled the maids she had seen while roaming the mansion recently, busily working, saying they had to receive guests who might suddenly arrive without prior notice.
“Would you like to have your meal in the pretty greenhouse in the garden today?”
Becky asked while brushing Leponea’s hair. Her unruly, wavy hair, which had been unkempt, of varying lengths, and reached her waist, had become much softer now.
Leponea, whose hair was tied prettily into two pigtails again today, thought of the greenhouse. The greenhouse in the garden was quite far from the main mansion.
‘Ah. I get it roughly.’
Leponea smiled.
“Why? The dining room?”
Leponea pretended not to know anything and asked back.
Birdie, who was selecting pretty hairpins, smiled and answered.
“Because a guest is visiting today, the main mansion will likely be crowded and hectic. Do you have any breakfast menu you’d like? If you tell me, I’ll let the head chef know!”
“Hmm. Anything’s fine.”
While pretending to nod, Leponea observed Birdie and Becky’s expressions in the mirror. At Leponea’s reply, the two let out a sigh of relief.
It was confirmed.
‘The Craitan vassals must have arrived.’
As if she had been waiting for it, Leponea smiled.
No one had told Leponea that vassals were coming, but it was a natural occurrence.
There weren’t many guests who, even without prior notice, would storm the Ducal residence and still be politely received in the main mansion.
It was something easily understood with a little thought.
‘They must have heard the news of my adoption and rushed here to oppose it.’
That’s how noble society typically was.
Vassals pledge loyalty to the Ducal family, and it is their duty to correct the master if he heads down the wrong path.
To suddenly adopt a young child of unclear origin and identity as a daughter—no one would view it positively.
‘Honestly, the fact that I was adopted so easily from the start without any opposition was more strange.’
Perhaps because she learned everything about noble society from the Pope, it felt like a natural progression.
‘Anyway, since the documents have been submitted to the Imperial Family, annulment is impossible unless the Duke changes his mind.’
Was it because she was already bound by the documents? She felt relatively unperturbed even if vassals swarmed in.
Duke Craitan adopted Leponea to soothe his guilt over his lost daughter.
Therefore, for now, the Duke had no reason to change his mind and annul the adoption.
‘It was fortunate that I completed the document quickly, even by shedding blood, and submitted it to the Imperial Family.’
She looked down at her finger, which bore no scar thanks to the doctor’s quick treatment.
‘The main mansion will be noisy for a few days.’
Even though the outcome couldn’t be changed, now that they’ve come this far, the vassals wouldn’t retreat easily.
It was obvious that, unable to reason with the Duke, they would stay at the mansion for a few days and pressure Leponea.
‘There are ways to help resolve the family’s matters in a positive direction and prove my usefulness to the vassals, but…’
Leponea had no intention of stepping forward to solve the family’s matters.
If a family needs to borrow the hand of a young child to solve its affairs, it wouldn’t be strange if it had collapsed long ago. That is the family head’s competence. Leponea wasn’t the family head and had no intention of handling matters on his behalf. Unless they gave her the family head position, that is.
‘This works out perfectly.’
Leponea patted her grumbling stomach as if telling it to endure and spoke.
“…Birdie.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
“Is the Duke in the grand conference room right now?”
“Pardon?”
Leponea, who had never once sought out the Duke first until now, was asking for his location, and of all days, today. Birdie seemed flustered.
When Birdie lifted her flustered face, she made eye contact with Leponea, who had been watching her plainly through the mirror.
Birdie subtly averted her eyes. That alone was answer enough.
“Yesss.”
Letting out a triumphant sound without realizing it, Leponea hopped down from the chair.
“Young, Young Lady. Where are you going?”
Leponea moved her short limbs diligently and exited the bedroom. Birdie and Becky followed closely behind.
“Hmm. To see the Duke.”
“……Pardon?”
With no intention of explaining further, Leponea recalled the location of the grand conference room and hurried down the corridor with her small feet, walking briskly.
Grand Conference Room.
“Adopting so suddenly. It was too hasty a decision, Your Grace.”
“If the child caught your eye, sponsoring her would have been better, we think, Your Grace.”
The grand conference room was noisy with the gathered vassals.
“It’s not that we don’t celebrate the birth of a new Young Lady. But if that child were to covet the Ducal family’s assets—”
“What do Prince Havelian and Young Lord Pellens say?”
“Now is not the time for this, everyone. Since the adoption has been decided, we must first solidify her status. Have you investigated if there are any criminals in the child’s bloodline, Your Grace?”
“Are you suggesting we accept the adoption? She’s a child of unknown parentage, raised who knows where and how. What if she has a contagious disease?”
“But rather than wasting time searching for the lost Young Lady, whose fate is unknown—”
SLAM!
Duke Craitan, who had remained silent the whole time, pressing his temples and just listening, slammed his palm, gathered with aura, onto the desk.
The desk, made with magical tools, fortunately didn’t break but vibrated intensely.
Feeling the murderous intent in that vibration, all the vassals fell silent.
“I granted freedom of speech, but you are increasingly crossing the line.”
His rough voice felt suffocating, as if gripping their throats.
“Do I need your permission to adopt my own child?”
