Chapter 9

I became the villain's lost daughter, Chapter 9 (9/218)

"Father, it's Airen."

At the sound of the pleasant, low voice, my small heart began to thump.

Airen Krobaharts.

The heir to the duchy and Erita's only brother.

For a moment, all other thoughts vanished except for the excitement of meeting my new family.

"Come in."

With Father's permission, the large door opened. My hands, clasped together, felt sweaty.

"......"

The moment I saw Airen enter, I knew him at first glance.

He looked so much like Father in his youth.

Airen appeared to be two heads taller than me.

'I heard he's five years older than me.'

When our eyes met, Airen hesitated for a moment before slowly walking towards me.

As the distance between us shortened, the sound of my heartbeat grew louder in my ears.

Airen's eyes, which had stopped in front of me, flickered slightly.

After a long silence, Airen's Adam's apple moved.

His silence made my mouth dry.

Then it happened.

Suddenly, I felt an unknown force pressing down on my entire body.

My body began to tremble involuntarily.

In fantasy novels, they say that the protagonist's magic flares up when they're angry. This must be it.

The magic I actually felt was heavy.

"Ugh..."

My legs gave out, and my body swayed.

Father's arm caught me just as I was about to collapse.

Wrapped in his strong arm, my heavy body felt light again.

"Airen, if you can't control your emotions, come back later."

"......I'm sorry."

Airen, who had been startled by Father's words, bit his lip.

"......I'm sorry."

Turning his gaze to me, Airen apologized with a face full of self-reproach.

Then, looking at me with trembling eyes, Airen's lips moved.

But when he closed his mouth again, I couldn't easily guess his feelings.

Feeling a bit uneasy, I looked up at him, and finally, a hoarse voice came from his lips.

"Erita, can I go over there with you for a moment?"

The voice that called my name was deeper than before, a choked, heavy voice.

He must be asking because I swayed earlier.

Since I wasn't hurt and wasn't really scared, I nodded slightly.

Then, Airen slowly walked over and crouched down to my eye level.

He looked like Father but with a slightly softer face.

"......Can I hug you once?"

Hesitating for a moment at his slightly trembling, gentle voice, I eventually nodded.

The embrace was much larger and warmer than I expected.

Holding me gently, Airen carefully brushed my hair.

"My sister. I won't leave you alone again."

His softly murmured words sounded like a promise to himself.

***

After leaving Airen's embrace, I felt awkward and just rolled my eyes around the room.

...I don't like this atmosphere.

I wish we could say something to break the silence, but Father and Airen were just looking at me without a word.

Fidgeting with my fingers felt strangely annoying, so I stopped.

"Erita."

"Yes!"

While feeling awkward, I quickly responded to Father's call.

Airen smiled slightly at my reaction, but I pretended not to notice.

"Your father and I will leave now. Do you want to look around your room?"

"......Look around?"

"Yes. Wouldn't it be better to change into more comfortable clothes?"

These clothes are comfortable enough, but it would be a hundred times better than this awkward situation.

"Then I'll do that."

"Good. I'll tell Mary. Feel free to look around and come to my study later."

Nodding firmly, I answered, and Father patted my head and stood up.

"Erita, see you later."

Airen, who smiled at me, followed Father.

The door closed with a click, and I flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

...This is the Krobaharts duchy.

Airen's face from earlier naturally came to mind.

I thought he might be cold, but he smiled gently at me.

'Airen must have missed Erita a lot......'

The sadness and clear relief and joy that he couldn't hide when he first saw me.

I couldn't tell if it was a good thing that I entered Erita's body.

It felt like I was deceiving them, who were genuinely happy. After all, the Erita they loved isn't me.

Is it fortunate that the body of the Erita they loved remains, or is it unfortunate that the body is here but the soul is mine?

A selfish desire welled up inside me.

If it's me in there, I hope they think it's fortunate that I'm alive.

So that later, if they ever find out, I hope they don't hate me.

Losing the desire to look around the room, I just stared at the ceiling until Mary came in.

***

Click

The heavy door closed behind Airen as he followed Aslan into the study.

"Airen."

"Yes, Father."

Aslan, sitting on the sofa, looked at Airen, who was sitting straight with a complex expression.

The impact of losing his mother and sister at once when Airen was young was greater than expected.

After the accident seven years ago, his son lost his smile.

But when he saw Erita just now, he clearly smiled.

Aslan thought it was fortunate.

"You know I've been searching for Erita for the past seven years."

Airen nodded.

Since last year, Airen, who had completed his successor training early, sometimes took over some of Aslan's duties, so he knew well.

"However, there were suspicious aspects during the process. So I don't plan to announce that we've found Erita for now."

"......Was it not an accident?"

Aslan chuckled, impressed that Airen had already guessed the situation without being told.

"You didn't even hear the story, and you already figured it out."

"I'm not a child who can't tell that much anymore."

Aslan looked at his son's calm voice and smiled, nodding.

"You're right. The incident seven years ago was not an accident."

With Aslan's confirmation, Airen's demeanor visibly hardened.

Given how much he loved his mother and sister even as a child, this reaction was natural.

But after a moment of excitement, Airen quickly composed himself.

"You must have an idea about the mastermind."

"Yes."

"That's why you're keeping it a secret."

Impressed by Airen's accurate deduction, Aslan continued with a hint of pride.

"There's no concrete evidence, but it's related to the royal family. ...Probably the Empress."

Aslan recalled what he had heard before.

'It's a tattoo!'

'A tattoo?'

'Yes! I saw it briefly, but the person who handed over the child had a skull tattoo on their arm!'

The content spewed out by the trembling director was beyond expectations.

Based on this, the clues pointed to the royal family.

They might have thought they had erased all evidence, but it was just their mistake.

Aslan couldn't stop laughing as he read the documents.

The Empress and the Lenozen Dukedom.

They were the kind of people who would dare to do such a thing.

If they thought I wouldn't find out, they were greatly mistaken.

"It must be the First Prince, not Empress Ashira."

Ashira Valeria.

The Empress of the empire and the mother of the Second Prince, Kallion Ruin Elber, was a long-time friend of Serbia.

Moreover, the Valeria Marquess family, the Empress's family, had a close relationship with Serbia's family, so it was unlikely to be her.

"I also think it's the First Prince, but we don't have solid evidence yet."

Airen clenched his fists in frustration.

Now that he had found the culprit who harmed his mother and sister,

It was frustrating that he couldn't do anything without evidence!

"Should we just wait until we have evidence?"

Finishing his words and looking at Aslan, Airen felt a chill run down his spine.

"No. We can't just wait."

"Then......"

"Airen."

"Yes, Father."

"A skilled hunter sets traps before starting the hunt."

Airen's deep red eyes flashed.

"If there's no evidence, we can set traps."

"......!"

"When the bait is taken, we will have a just cause. A just cause that even the Empress can't escape from."

A satisfied smile formed on Aslan's face as he murmured.

***

Knock knock

Lying on the bed and staring blankly at the ceiling, I jumped up at the knock.

"Miss, it's Mary."

"Y-Yes! Come in!"

The door opened with a click, and I saw Mary, whom I hadn't seen since morning.

"Miss! It's so nice to see you here!"

Mary, walking quickly towards me, laughed.

Her bright smile seemed to have something that made people feel good.

"Yes! I'm glad to see you again, Mary."

Pushing aside the worries that had been on my mind, I followed Mary and just smiled.

"By the way, have you looked around the room?"

"Um, well......"

I evaded the question. I had been staring at the ceiling.

"Actually, I've been in charge of organizing this room for about three years now!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

I didn't know that.

As the daughter of Serbia's maid and Erita's nanny, Mary seemed to have a better position in the mansion than I thought.

"Lord visits almost every day, so I had to clean thoroughly to keep it dust-free."

All my cleaning skills come from that.

Hearing Mary's playful complaint, I hesitated for a moment but then smiled, thinking, "I see......"

But I wasn't feeling very comfortable inside.

What must Father have been thinking every time he saw the clean room with no signs of use?

I slowly looked around the cozy room.

Then I saw a child's bed. I slowly walked over to the window. It was probably a cradle suitable for a two-year-old.

I imagined Father, unable to throw away the furniture his daughter used, gradually bringing in larger furniture as the years passed.

"......Father must have missed her a lot."

As I stroked the smooth, slightly worn wood, I felt Mary, who had followed me, fidgeting behind me.

"Miss...... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel this way......"

"Um, no. I don't have any memories of Father, but I'm grateful that he thought of me every day."

I shook my head to reassure the downcast Mary and forced a bright smile.

"Anyway, I want to change clothes! Father said to go to his study."

"Miss......"

"Mary, I want to go to Father quickly. Can you help me choose a pretty dress?"

I didn't want Mary to feel bad, as my gloomy mood wasn't her fault.

"Um? Mary."

Noticing my unusually lively voice, Mary's expression wasn't very good, but I pretended not to notice and urged her.

"......Yes. I'll do that. Let's choose together?"

"Yes!"

"Great. Let's go to the dressing room. That's where Miss's clothes are kept!"

Fortunately, Mary's expression relaxed, and she led me to the dressing room.

After that, the awkward atmosphere quietly disappeared as I was amazed by the sheer number of dresses and Mary's enthusiasm for dressing me up.