Chapter 7

I overdid my role as the adopted daughter, didn't I? In the 7th episode, the butler Pelon of the Vicen family doubted his ears.

'This means someone skilled with a bow shot the person in the watchtower and sneaked in through the gate.'

'Then, brother, the smell of blood you detected can be explained, and a battle has already taken place.'

Just in case, I whispered to Xenon.

"Did you explain it?"

"No, I didn't."

In fact, the butlers had read most of the situation from the moment there was no one in the watchtower.

However, what the butler figured out and what a seven-year-old princess figured out were different matters.

"Did the duke secretly give you special training?"

"No, he just found me by chance and brought me here."

"But how...?"

Pelon couldn't understand.

No matter how much genius was displayed, he couldn't comprehend how such insight was possible.

"Ugh, I just can't understand it."

"When you can't understand, sometimes it's best to just accept it."

"Can you accept it?"

"When you can't understand, just accepting it is enough."

"You must feel relieved."

Pelon frowned.

"I'll go ahead and escort Lord Vicen."

Pelon's body disappeared.

He went ahead to secretly escort the running Vicen.

Xenon followed Viola, who was walking slowly.

"Princess, aren't you going?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why not?"

"I found very small footprints here. They didn't move in a group. They don't seem to be from the bandits."

In fact, she knew everything.

That Tundra had come here.

"Probably a child skilled in tracking. About twelve years old, I think."

"Interesting, isn't it? Why did they come here on their own?"

"What do you think?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

He gave a plausible reason.

"Maybe the brother of the woman who just died. Probably out of revenge, a child who can't distinguish right from wrong rushed here without thinking."

"..."

"Why? Is my analysis wrong?"

"No, it matches exactly with what I analyzed."

Viola continued walking.

A scream was heard from a distance.

A fierce scream.

It seemed Vicen was subduing the bandits.

Viola's body trembled.

'Get used to this world.'

Viola continued speaking.

She walked through the courtyard. There were old wooden buildings scattered around.

"A child who can't distinguish right from wrong, blinded by a desire for revenge, chasing after this place."

"Probably hit by an arrow or struck by an axe before they could properly take revenge. That's why there was no commotion inside."

Xenon listened to Viola in silence.

He guessed that Viola wasn't just talking for the sake of it.

'She wants me to hear this.'

Viola Bella knew her position and role precisely.

That's why she was now perceiving everything and deliberately telling him.

In a sense, it was a self-promotion.

For Xenon, it was astonishing.

'Impressive... really impressive.'

Viola said,

"Then, isn't that person hiding somewhere around here?"

"You seem pretty sure they're hiding."

Creak—

The door opened.

A boy was seen in the corner.

His hair was a mess, and his leather clothes were covered in dirt and sweat.

He was bleeding from various wounds.

Viola felt as if she had been hit on the head.

'What?'

This story wasn't in the novel.

'Why are you...?'

He looked so much like someone she knew.

***

There was always a comforting phrase for Arin, who had been abandoned in an orphanage.

'It's okay.'

It was from her five-year-old brother, Kang Hanjun.

'It's okay. I'll help you.'

Those words approached Arin like magic.

He didn't say things like, "Your parents will come back soon."

He just said he would help her.

He said he would be there for her, and he always was.

When she went up to the school rooftop, the first person she thought of was Kang Hanjun.

Time passed and passed.

Eventually, Arin turned nineteen.

Her feelings became complicated.

'Do I like my brother?'

It was an ambiguous feeling.

Was it because she liked him as a man, or did she just feel he was a reliable protector?

'Don't get confused. My brother is just like a protector to me.'

Just because they had been together for a long time.

Because they had spent a lot of time together.

Because they had many shared memories.

That's why she thought it was a good thing.

One day.

Kang Hanjun introduced his girlfriend to her.

She was a pretty older sister.

That day, Arin felt like she was going crazy with jealousy.

She had already fallen for Kang Hanjun.

She admitted it to herself.

But she kept it hidden.

If she confessed now, she would definitely be rejected.

Kang Hanjun's warm eyes always held love, but it wasn't romantic love.

Time passed faster than she thought.

'I'm an adult now.'

She decided to be honest with her feelings.

'I'll confess boldly and accept rejection.'

But when it came to actually confessing, she was scared.

'I'll think about it for one more day.'

And the next day.

She had to wear black clothes.

The person she was thinking about confessing to was too far away.

Kang Hanjun, who had always been there for her, became a star in the sky and disappeared.

It was a traffic accident.

That day was the day he had a date with Arin.

She cried for a long time in the corner of the funeral parlor, wearing black clothes.

"You said you'd buy me something delicious. You said you got your salary. Why didn't you buy it for me?"

No matter how desperately she called, Kang Hanjun didn't come back.

But now, he appeared like this.

In the form of a twelve-year-old child.

***

A boy who was breathing heavily like a beast was seen.

His body was battered, but his eyes were alive.

Tundra saw a girl who suddenly appeared.

She was very small.

She looked about five or six years old.

"Who...?"

Viola approached Tundra.

As if she was under a spell.

He was exactly like Kang Hanjun.

It wasn't just a resemblance.

"Stay back."

Tundra pulled out a small knife from his pocket.

It was an old, shabby knife.

His hand holding the knife was trembling.

Viola looked at Tundra's face.

'Exactly the same.'

Viola stood right in front of Tundra.

"I'll stab you if you come closer!"

Viola ignored his words.

She squatted down and lifted Tundra's leg.

'Calf.'

She checked the calf.

There were three dots on the left calf.

In a triangular shape.

'What...?'

Why is this the same too?

This content wasn't in the novel.

'Why is there such a coincidence?'

Suddenly, she felt dizzy.

'So dizzy...'

Tundra had thought about it a thousand times in his head.

Should he stab her?

Should he not?

The girl in front of him was too small to stab.

But she felt somehow threatening.

'Is she the chief's daughter...?'

The way she acted without hesitation and the clothes she wore seemed high-quality.

'If she really is the chief's daughter...'

He gritted his teeth.

'Even if you're just a kid, I can't forgive you.'

Tundra asked.

"Are you the chief's daughter?"

"..."

Answer. Are you the chief's daughter?"

Viola didn't answer.

No, she couldn't answer.

Viola, who made eye contact with Tundra, felt more and more dizzy.

'Why am I so dizzy...?'

Suddenly, Tundra's eyes seemed to enlarge.

It felt like huge eyes were getting closer.

It was as if he had seen something he shouldn't have.

Thud!

It felt like something in her head snapped.

At that moment.

Tundra, who had been waiting for an opportunity, quickly extended his arm.

He pointed the knife at Viola's neck and stood up.

He said to Xenon.

"Take me to the chief. Otherwise, this kid dies!"

But then.

A chilling voice came from Viola.

"You pointed a knife at me?"

Viola's eyes and aura changed instantly.

Xenon smiled.

'Now, Princess Bella will finally show her true self.'

To Xenon, Viola's actions seemed strange.

Approaching so defenselessly and lifting the child's leg.

She kept showing an overly vulnerable state.

'She deliberately exposed her weaknesses.'

Then, this situation made sense.

'Princess Bella seems to be interested in that young boy.'

So, she deliberately provoked him.

The provoked boy pointed a knife at the princess.

'Everything is going according to the princess's plan.'

The princess's strategy seemed to have succeeded perfectly.

'So, what will she do now?'

Finally, the real Viola Bella.

He decided to watch how she would move.