Chapter 31

I ended up playing the role of the adopted daughter a bit too well. Chapter 31, Part 4: Hera asked,

"Why did you insult me?"

From Hera, who was sitting in a wheelchair, a sharp, piercing aura could be felt.

It was a slightly different feeling from Bichen.

If Bichen had the aura of an untamed wildcat or a leopard, Hera seemed to have the aura of a venomous snake, hiding its poison in its fangs.

"I guess you received my letter, didn't you, Onee-san?"

The content of the note itself was nothing special.

["I want to be close to you, Onee-san."]

The phrase "be close to you" was almost an insult.

Because Hera couldn't walk.

Suggesting that she wanted to be close in the Bella Tu household implied that Hera was no match for her.

Viola turned her body.

Then she smiled brightly.

"I didn't mean to insult you."

"If it was only an insult, you wouldn't have come looking for me."

If it were just an insult, she wouldn't have come here.

She would have categorized her as a potential enemy.

Still, it was fortunate. Regardless of the process, Hera had come to her.

Han Arin, who had been a reader, knew this well.

'Onee-san has a crush on me, right?'

She knew everything from the story.

In the early part of the story.

Right after the welcome banquet, Hera developed a strong liking for Viola.

She reached out to become an ally but was driven away by Viola.

'I still have a crush on her.

So, Onee-san, I'll invest in you. Please make sure you soar to the top!

I love you, my stock.'

The meeting with Hera.

This part was one that Han Arin personally found very disappointing.

Suddenly, the regrets she had as a reader came to mind.

Viola recalled the original content.

"Hera gave up on becoming the head of the family.

Instead, she decided to help someone who would become the head."

She had physical limitations.

So she didn't want to become a duchess herself.

She approached her brothers with her sharp claws hidden.

She made her own judgment and decision.

Who to groom as the successor.

Who to team up with and walk alongside.

She continuously tested and supported her brothers.

In a way, she was the most demanding of the brothers.

In the novel, the duke also said:

["The child chosen by Hera will be the successor, my lady."]

["This child cannot become a king on their own. But they can raise a king."]

However, Viola disliked such a Hera.

That was Viola's mistake in the early part of the story.

Han Arin reaffirmed her resolve.

Absolutely not. The moment Hera becomes an enemy, everything falls apart.

Every moment would be filled with worry about being betrayed, and life would become a continuous crisis.

Viola might have enjoyed that, but Han Arin didn't.

"If it was a genuine insult, I'll apologize. I still don't know Bella Tu well."

"Is that so?"

Hera laughed in disbelief.

Did a girl who didn't know Bella Tu do that at the welcome banquet?

Viola asked.

"Why did you come, Onee-san?"

"To check on my little sister, as an older sister should, right?"

"Is that so?"

Viola walked towards Hera without hesitation.

She met eyes with Hera, who was sitting in a wheelchair.

Being much shorter, Viola could still look Hera in the eye without bending down.

"Then check. My face."

She brought her face closer.

Their noses were almost touching.

"Feel free to check thoroughly."

"..."

Hera was slightly taken aback.

Their faces were too close, close enough to feel each other's breath.

"At the welcome banquet, Hera felt a strange emotion.

It was a liking born from admiration."

If I were in her position, could I have done that?

The admiration started from there.

I couldn't have done that.

Hera had something that Viola didn't.

A wild, unyielding confidence that never shrank from anyone.

A haughty gaze that seemed to be born with the fate of a predator.

Hera felt these things at the welcome banquet.

It was the same now.

Viola felt a strange ease from her.

Clearly a younger sister, but she felt like an older sister.

'That's not something you can fake or act out.'

It was a kind of talent that only the naturally gifted could possess.

Hera misunderstood.

Viola, still making eye contact, continued.

"I still don't know much about Bella Tu."

"Let's say that's true."

"But I do know one thing. Survival of the fittest. If you can't prove your worth in Bella Tu, you'll be eliminated."

"I understand."

Viola placed her fingers on Hera's shoulder. She slowly circled around Hera. Acting Bella Tu had become natural for her.

"When I first saw the family tree, I was puzzled. How could a crippled duchess survive here?"

Hera is twelve years old.

Children under ten are not protected by the rules.

The Bella Tu bloodline chooses their path at ten and begins to grow as a successor candidate.

At twelve, it's time to start playing their role.

"There's no official record of missions. How did this Onee-san grow in Bella Tu for two years? I thought about that."

Viola smiled.

Our Onee-san.

Do you like smart people?

I'm smart!

"If it's okay, would you listen to what I have to say, Onee-san?"

*

The reason the crippled duchess Hera could survive here.

Han Arin knew this reason well.

Hera couldn't take on a physical role. She used her mind.

At ten, she chose the path of the 'White Bella Tu' and began to grow.

"I heard you often visit Father's study, even without missions."

"Quite a detailed investigation."

"Yeah. The butler is very capable."

...No, I read it all in the book.

"So, what do you want to say?"

"Being able to survive here with that body. Doesn't that mean you have some special ability I don't know about?"

This was the tailored approach Viola chose.

Hera looked at Viola.

Just then, Viola was passing by Hera. Her profile was visible.

Her purple hair swayed.

"I have an older brother who's not quite right."

"Bichen?"

"Yeah. I thought about why he doesn't come after you."

Because Duke Heron gave the direct order.

Not to touch Hera.

"No matter how I think about it, the only interpretation is that Father gave a direct order. He must have ordered everyone not to touch you."

It's a definite fact.

She read it all in the novel.

"You're right. Father gave that order."

"Then he must have given the same order to all the brothers?"

Hera didn't deny it.

It was all true.

"Father is a rational person. He wouldn't do that without a reason."

"So, you must have some special ability? That's why you want to be close? Even though you don't know what it is?"

Viola stopped.

She whispered in Hera's ear like a villain in a novel.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

Hera's body flinched.

A ghostly aura could be felt in her voice.

This was truly a natural talent.

It felt like a crazed ghost was whispering.

Viola intended to use a beauty strategy, but it turned into a ghostly strategy.

Of course, Viola didn't realize it would come across that way.

She was just doing her best.

What was important now was to make Hera her ally.

Viola pointed out a fact from the novel.

"Onee-san doesn't want to be a duchess, right?"

"..."

"What you want is to be a King Maker, isn't it?"

Hera narrowed her eyes.

'I never showed this in front of my brothers...'

She was indeed thinking this, but she had never shown it outwardly.

Her brothers might have known, but a seven-year-old girl.

Especially one who had only been in this house for a little over ten days, couldn't have known this.

'Interesting.'

The new younger sister.

Hera decided to have a conversation with Viola.

Is this a child I can choose?

How accurate is Father's judgment?

Is this admiration I have justified?

Is it just a fantasy I have about this child?

Hera shrugged and met Viola's eyes.

Viola almost flinched.

'This Onee-san's eyes are alive.'

They became bright and lively.

This look,

'Let's engage in a deadly competition!'

was very similar to Bichen's when she became lively.

Han Arin knew why Hera's eyes were alive.

'She wants to seriously test me.'

Then I need to pass that test well.

Hera said,

"I've never said such a thing with my own mouth, not even once."

"I know."

"But you seem to be certain about it?"

"I'm confident."

"How?"

I read it in the novel.

"Onee-san is smart."

"Yeah, I'll admit that."

"Onee-san also knows that anyone directly protected by Father can never become the head of the family. That's a shortcut."

"True."

"Then why would a smart person like you seek Father's protection?"

"You mean I sought it out? Can you take responsibility for that?"

"I've met Father twice."

She pointed out a fact.

"He's not that meticulous."

That's part of my favorite character's charm.

Viola swallowed her words.

"Why would a not-so-meticulous person take the initiative to tell us not to touch our smart Fourth Duchess?"

Viola continued reciting the content from the novel.

As if she had deduced it all herself.

"Father may not be meticulous, but he is rational."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Smart Onee-san sought protection, and rational Father accepted the request."

Hera's eyes started to shine even more.

"Keep going."

"Onee-san doesn't want to be the head of the family. Instead, you probably volunteered to support someone who would become the head."

In the original story, Viola completely ignored Hera because of this.

"Father and Onee-san probably made a deal. Onee-san would get protection in exchange for giving up the position of head. In return, you would support the successor to ensure Bella Tu's prosperity."

"In Bella Tu, people who take on this role are called 'White Bella Tu,' right?"

"Right. They're called White Bella Tu."

"Exactly. As a White Bella Tu, it was probably the best choice for Onee-san, given her physical condition. It was a smart and rational decision."

Viola was sincere.

She had definitely admired it when she was a reader. This deal was made when Hera was ten.

Duke Heron liked the ten-year-old Fourth Duchess Hera who proposed this deal and accepted her proposal.

Viola shrugged.

"I'm serious. I think you are Bella Tu."

You can't become a killer like Bichen.

Instead, she did her best.

Han Arin, who had been a reader, knew this very well.

"You think I'm Bella Tu?"

"Because you did your best.

I respect that."

"..."

"I'm serious."

Hera felt a strange emotion.

She had never heard anyone call her Bella Tu.

...Respect.

An unexpected word came from Viola.

A coward protected by Father.

A cripple who wasn't even considered a competitor.

A half-Bella Tu who couldn't become the symbol of Bella Tu, the Black Bella Tu, and instead chose to hide and use her mind as the White Bella Tu.

This was the current state of the Fourth Duchess Hera.

The first person to call her Bella Tu and express respect was Viola, among her brothers.

Hera smiled.

She looked at Viola with a strange expression and said,

"You."

Viola felt a sharp sting inside. Hera's eyes were sharp. She said something meaningful.

"Wearing a mask that doesn't suit you and acting. Isn't that suffocating?"

Boom!

Her heart felt like it had dropped.