Chapter 12

If I become a duke’s daughter, I won’t have to starve.

I won’t have to shiver from the cold when I sleep, either.

Above all.

‘I won’t have to go to the orphanage!’

Honestly, this was the best part.

Being sent to an orphanage with the knowledge that I have an ability was no different from being thrown into a hunting ground bare-handed.

Now, the existence of a good orphanage was no longer important.

If I were to go to an orphanage in my current state-.

‘Those guys will target me.’

The ones who kidnapped me in my past life, a.k.a. the .

Thinking back on the conversations I overheard while locked up, that unidentified group seemed to have quite a deep history.

Kidnapping people to experiment on them and locking them up seemed to be an activity they had been doing for a long time.

So, if I were sent to an orphanage now…

‘Ugh. Just imagining it is awful.’

But if I became Panteyebe’s daughter, things would be different.

‘Those bad guys wouldn’t be able to approach me easily.’

Because making an enemy of Panteyebe, counted among the top families in the Empire, wouldn’t be easy!

Grr.

After agonizing over it, I subtly threw out a question.

“Then, awe you going to adopt me, Duke?”

“No. I’m thinking of introducing you as my illegitimate child?”

Illegitimate child?

He’s going to introduce me as an illegitimate child?!

“…W-Why?”

“Just because. I want to?”

…I didn’t know this when he was Mr. Oliver.

‘Is Duke Panteyebe a bit more… strange than I thought?’

Of course, being an illegitimate child had more advantages for me than being an adopted child.

‘Because it means I’m of the Duke’s bloodline.’

My ability is a new type that has never existed in the world before.

So inevitably, I would draw attention.

If that happened-.

‘An orphan with no clear ties who has a new type of ability’ versus ‘a mutant who was born with the bloodline but has a different ability.’

Wouldn’t the latter feel a bit more ordinary between the two?

Ordinary.

I know how precious this word is.

So, um, so…

“I’m glad you’re okay with it too. Then from now on, you are my daughter, Marshmallow. You’re the daughter I found during my undercover investigation without even knowing you existed.”

Ah, dear. This is utterly shameless.

The Duke added, humming as if to himself.

“Should I say the reason I infiltrated Bramchois in the first place was to meet the daughter I happened to learn about? How about that, Marshmallow.”

W-Well. Asking me that won’t really…

Above all, I still couldn’t fully accept this situation.

Becoming the Duke’s daughter was beneficial in many ways, but…

“I don’t undewstand.”

“You don’t understand? Was there a difficult part?”

“No, it’s not that…”

I wiggled the hands resting on my stomach and asked.

“I don’t undewstand why you want to take me. You have nothing to gain, Duke…”

I really didn’t understand.

It was a gain for me to become a duke’s daughter, but conversely, wasn’t it a loss for the Duke?

An illegitimate child for an unmarried Duke.

‘It’s the perfect condition to hit rock bottom in terms of image.’

But why on earth does he want to take me?

“There’s no such thing as fwee in this wowld. The wowld is cwuel…”

Even the charity I received on the streets had a give-and-take.

Pity, and the satisfaction of doing a good deed.

I bowed and scraped as best I could for them.

I banged my head on the ground and acted as pitiful as I could.

Because that was the only thing I could offer.

‘…He won’t keep me for a few days and then kick me out, will he?’

I want to believe Mr. Oliver isn’t that kind of person.

Because he is also the terrifying Duke Panteyebe.

Grr.

“It would be good if you had something to gain too, Duke…”

* * *

‘The good thing about taking Marshmallow as a daughter?’

From a cold and objective standpoint, there was no such thing.

Still, the reason he wanted to take Melony was simple.

‘I just wanted to.’

Because this child that kept catching his attention, this child who reminded him of Labela, said the orphanage was scary.

Because she said she wanted to go to his house if she could.

Rather than keeping her far away and constantly worrying, isn’t it better to keep her by his side?

That was the whole reason.

Well, a child who seems to believe there’s no such thing as free might not be convinced by this reason.

‘…It would be better to make up a plausible reason for her.’

Having made the decision in an instant, Contie’s eyes drooped languidly.

“If you become my daughter, there will be a lot of benefits for me as well.”

“…Weally?!”

The child who had been drooping perked up and stared at him with sparkling eyes.

To think her eyes would light up at the words that there was something in it for her too.

She really was peculiar.

“Of course. I have no intention of getting married. I plan to hold onto the dukedom reasonably and pass the title to my nephews when they grow up.”

Nod, nod.

The small head, engrossed in the story, moved up and down diligently.

“But some old geezer keeps rushing me to get married. It’s so annoying I could die.”

“And Mewony can sowve that if I’m thewe…?”

“Of course. It will definitely be solved. If I have a daughter, the women trying to propose will decrease, and the old geezer won’t be able to push just any woman onto someone with a child.”

It was a plausible reason prepared for the child, but as he spoke, he concluded that the child’s existence would truly be helpful.

The child’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘Looks like she’s thinking about something.’

Soon, the child who had been agonizing diligently made an expression as if she had realized something.

“…So the old geezew is youw fathew, Duke…?”

At the utterly serious mutter, Contie couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Haha.

Letting out a short laugh, Contie gently pinched Melony’s soft cheek.

Suddenly, looking at this face, he wanted to tell a story he hadn’t told anyone.

“And lastly.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve lived my whole life only being called a genius.”

“…Huh.”

The child’s face instantly turned sour.

Finding that immediate change amusing, Contie let out a small chuckle.

“But someone told me this. Don’t just live as a genius, try being a fool sometimes.”

A woman came to his mind.

A woman with violet hair fluttering, smiling like sunlight.

The woman who was the first to tell him, who had only been called a genius, that he ‘seemed lonely.’

“If we ever have a child between us, you be the one who’s a fool for the kids.”

“A fool for the kids?”

“Like a fool for a daughter, a fool for a son. You’ve lived your whole life as a genius, so live as a fool for your family. How about it?”

How about it.

“Okay. If a child who looks like you is born, Labela, I’ll gladly become a complete fool.”

“And what if the kid looks like you instead?”

“I’ll still try my best.”

“Haha. Deal! You promised?”

The brightly smiling face gradually blurred.

The smile that had been hanging on Contie’s lips also faded in an instant.

“Uncwe? Awe you okay?”

It was the child’s worried voice that woke the dazed Contie.

Contie blankly stared at the child, then reached out and poked her soft cheek.

So soft. It would be nice if she were a bit chubbier, though.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Probably.

Because I can endure this much now.

“Anyway, I made a promise back then. To try being a fool.”

“…But what does that have to do with me? I don’t weally know how to make you a fool, Duke…”

“It has everything to do with it. Because I absolutely need you to become a fool.”

“Weally? What do I need to do?”

The violet eyes sparkle.

“You don’t need to do anything in particular. You just need to be my daughter.”

Just like that, with sparkling eyes, boisterously and noisily.

“If I’m youw daughter, I make you a fool…?”

“Probably?”

At the humming answer, Melony tilted her head.

She had a confused expression, as if she almost understood but not quite.

“Do you feel a bit convinced now?”

“Mm, a wittle bit.”

The child nodded and added seriously.

“So, it’s wike a deal. Mewony acts as youw daughter, wowks hawd to intewfere with youw marriage, and makes you a fool…”

…I don’t think she understood at all.