Chapter 23

I overdid it with the role of the adopted daughter 023

"Hehe. It's a knife. A knife."

Cold sweat trickled down Viola's back.

'If it's the Bichen I know...'

Sure, let's have a knife fight!

She's the type of character who would be overjoyed and start swinging a dagger wildly.

'Huh?'

But she didn't.

'She's just standing there?'

Swinging a knife at her didn't seem to faze her at all.

I'm not sure if it fits Bichen, but today she seemed a bit more reserved.

Today, the unusually reserved Bichen asked with a simple, cheerful smile.

"What were you doing?"

"I was looking in the mirror."

"Why? Did you get princess syndrome?"

It seemed that the eight-year-old Bichen thought that looking in the mirror meant having princess syndrome.

Viola slightly frowned.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here. Are you hurt?"

Bichen pointed to her knee.

"Look."

There was a scratch on her knee.

It wasn't a big wound.

"But?"

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Considering she said she wouldn't feel pain even if stabbed, what could be hurting her now?

Bichen said confidently with a serious expression.

"You need to put some ointment on it."

"Why?"

"Because Viola puts ointment on it, of course."

"Do it yourself."

"I've never done it before. I don't know how."

"Then ask the butler."

"I don't want to."

"Why?"

"I just don't like it!"

Bichen confidently held out the ointment.

"Here. Take it."

Even though Bichen was scary, she was still cute in her own way.

Begging for medicine made her seem like a real eight-year-old.

Still, she's just a kid.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

If you do everything for her, she'll get spoiled.

Viola asked.

"What will you do for me?"

"Do I have to do something for you?"

"Of course."

"What if I don't?"

"I won't put the ointment on."

Bichen pouted.

Hmph, I'll do it myself, she said, but two seconds later, she turned around again.

"What do I have to do?"

"Promise to grant me one wish later."

"A wish?"

Bichen scratched her head.

She thought for a moment. A wish. That's a bit too big of a deal.

Viola didn't miss the opportunity and opened the ointment cap.

She took a bit of ointment on her finger.

Left,

Right,

Bichen's eyes followed the ointment.

They looked like a dog's eyes following a treat.

If she had a tail, it would be wagging.

"Um, okay."

Viola held out a piece of paper.

"Here. Sign it."

"Sign?"

"Yeah. If you sign, I'll put the ointment on."

Contracts are very important.

If I can get a wish in exchange for some ointment, that's a great deal.

"Here, your blood..."

She was about to give Bichen a pen, but Bichen didn't wait.

She bit her finger and signed with the blood that came out.

'Scary, scary.'

She's definitely not in her right mind.

Viola quickly bowed her head to hide her shocked expression.

She hid her trembling and applied the ointment to Bichen's knee.

"Ouch, it's hot! Be gentle!"

Bichen complained. The ointment was all applied.

But Bichen stood there, fidgeting.

"What are you doing, not going?"

"Hehe."

She held out her finger.

"You need to put some here too. It's bleeding."

That's because you bit a perfectly good pen and made it bleed.

Her obsession with ointment was much stronger than expected.

"Hey, Viola."

Bichen was thinking hard.

For some reason, she didn't want to leave this room.

So she thought.

Why I need to be here.

But no matter how much she thought, there was no reason.

So she just blurted out something.

"Bichen is jealous of Viola?"

"Of what?"

"You have a welcome banquet."

"Are you jealous of that?"

"Yeah. I never had one."

Of course. Bichen was born a Bellato. She wasn't adopted, so she never had a welcome banquet.

"I'm not allowed to say anything. I'm just supposed to eat."

Viola knew this.

At the welcome banquet, the siblings don't say anything. They just sit there like decorations and eat.

The main characters of the welcome banquet are the Duke Heron, the Duchess Isabella, and Viola. That's it.

Because it's not just a simple welcome banquet.

If it were a real welcome banquet, the family would greet each other, get to know each other, and have a good time. But she knew it wasn't.

Welcome banquet.

The actual subtitle in the novel is 'The Duke Family's Fierce Testing Ground.'

A place to evaluate and test Viola's qualifications as a Bellato.

"You just eat."

"...Yeah."

Bichen looked down.

"Next time, let's play together."

"Okay!"

Bichen perked up a bit.

"You promised to play together?"

"Yeah."

"Got it. Promises are meant to be kept, you know?"

"I know."

Bichen, now fully perked up, smiled and went out.

In a way, she was a very easy child to handle.

That's how the day passed.

***

4:00 AM.

Xeon woke Viola.

"Milady?"

"....."

"Milady?"

Viola mumbled unconsciously.

"......I'm going to sleep."

Mmm, mmm, Viola seemed to be eating something in her dream.

Xeon checked his wristwatch.

He looked at the soundly sleeping Viola.

"Sleep for one more minute."

He watched her with warm eyes for a minute, counting in his head.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

It was time to wake her up.

"Milady?"

He bowed his head.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to shake you a bit."

He put his hand on Viola's shoulder and gently shook her awake.

Suddenly, Viola's hand blade flew towards Xeon's neck.

"Whoa!"

Xeon easily dodged the hand blade.

The hand blade was infused with mana.

"A thin sheet of metal would be no match for you."

Xeon, unfazed, woke Viola up again.

"Milady, you need to get up."

Finally, Viola woke up.

She had no idea that she had swung her hand blade.

"It's only four in the morning."

Are you crazy? Why are you waking me up at 4 AM?

"You need to get ready."

"It's only four in the morning......"

"The welcome banquet is scheduled for 9 AM."

"So? It's still four in the morning!"

The banquet is at 9 AM, why are you waking me up at 4 AM? Do you want me to die?

Viola's eyes involuntarily filled with a murderous intent.

Xeon smiled.

"Time is short. It's painful, but you need to get up."

Xeon supported Viola's back and helped her up.

Ah, I'm so sleepy.

I want to sleep more.

A seven-year-old body is too weak to resist the urge to sleep.

'So sleepy.'

Viola involuntarily closed her eyes.

Her body seemed to move for a moment, but it felt like a dream. Xeon smiled and said.

"Milady? I almost got my carotid artery cut."

Xeon held Viola's wrist and defended his neck.

Then he gently put her wrist down.

"I'm really sorry for waking you up so early, but you didn't have to try to cut my neck, did you?"

"......"

"Twice, no less."

I didn't mean to.

This body moved on its own.

She wanted to say it but couldn't.

Sleep kept overwhelming her.

Xeon smiled and said.

"Next time, try angling your hand blade 3 degrees to the left."

"......"

He even pointed out her shoulder muscles.

"If you relax this part and swing, your success rate of killing will increase by over 10%."

He gently helped her up.

"Sir Seiban is waiting."

Nod, nod.

Sleep was overwhelming her.

A seven-year-old body was very vulnerable to sleep.

***

In short, Viola kept nodding off.

She couldn't remember exactly what happened in between.

The maids bathed her in a tub filled with fragrant oils and dressed her in a long dress.

They styled her hair and gave her a massage.

'It's 8:30 AM.'

It was 8:30 AM. By this time, Viola was able to regain her senses.

The preparations were almost complete.

Viola, who was almost asleep, didn't feel much inconvenience.

When she opened her eyes, most of the preparations were done.

Arlin, who found washing and drying her hair the most annoying, experienced an unexpected convenience.

A voice came from behind.

"You are so beautiful. More graceful and beautiful than any seven-year-old I've ever seen."

An interesting fact was that Seiban's face had changed.

The voice was definitely Seiban's, but the face was different. Viola knew the reason.

'He's a mask maker who peels faces off corpses to make masks.'

Thinking of this, she involuntarily broke out in a cold sweat.

Seiban shivered and said.

"At this level, you could pass for a descendant of Duke Heron."

His breath was slightly excited.

He seemed to be thrilled just thinking about the Duke.