Chapter 77

I overdid it with the adopted daughter role 077. Life wasn't easy.

It was even harder in that world, which wasn't an easy one, called 'The Shadow of Bellato.'

"Viola!"

The person who burst in, opening the door without knocking, was none other than Bichen.

Bichen was wearing a white cotton T-shirt and black cotton shorts, with red marks visible here and there.

It seemed he had met the Duchess Isabella during dinner.

"What's the matter, at this hour?"

"Am I hurt?"

Bichen's face was full of a broad smile.

He also looked like he was expecting something.

"Look at this."

Bichen lifted his cotton T-shirt.

He showed his stomach to Viola, which was not in good condition.

Burn marks that had been hidden by the T-shirt came into view.

'They seem to have gotten worse.'

It appeared that the Duchess Isabella's discipline had intensified.

Despite this, Bichen's face was full of vitality.

"Hehe. I got a scolding."

He walked closer to Viola with a smile.

In his right hand, he held some ointment.

Bichen looked at Viola with eyes full of anticipation.

Viola slightly frowned.

"What?"

"You need to apply it."

"What do you mean?"

"The ointment."

Bichen stretched out his arm and handed the ointment to Viola.

Upon closer inspection, burn marks and wounds were visible on his arm as well.

Even with his superhuman recovery ability, quite a few wounds remained.

"Apply it quickly."

"Does it seem like you're enjoying this?"

"Would anyone enjoy getting scolded?"

Bichen looked at Viola as if it were absurd.

"Is there anyone in this world who enjoys getting scolded?"

Bichen shrugged it off.

Whether this could be called a shrug or not was debatable.

"Phew."

Viola sighed involuntarily.

"Why are you sighing?"

If it were you, wouldn't you sigh?

The younger sister's feelings were complex and subtle when she saw her older brother smiling after being beaten by their mother.

'Did I start to care for him without realizing it?'

It seemed she had developed some affection for Bichen.

She didn't find it pleasant to see him in such a wounded state.

Seeing him grin and ask for the ointment, she could easily guess his psychological state.

'It seems he thinks that applying ointment is the only way to confirm our closeness.'

Bichen was very different from other children his age.

He had no knowledge or experience in how to make friends or interact with people.

'He might be a genius at how to kill people efficiently and easily, though.'

Everything else was a blank slate.

"Your injury doesn't make me feel good."

"Why?"

"I have to apply the ointment."

"Is it because it's troublesome?"

Honestly, it wasn't troublesome, but that would be a lie.

Most importantly, she was very sleepy.

However, Bichen's innocent eyes made it hard to say it was troublesome.

"Just... I don't like seeing you in pain."

Bichen smiled brightly.

"That's a relief."

"Relief for what?"

"If you said it was troublesome, I would have killed you."

Viola once again felt the reality of this world, 'The Shadow of Bellato.' How could someone say such things with such a bright and innocent face?

"Turn around."

Sighing, Viola started applying the ointment to Bichen's back.

***

"Alright, I'm done. If you sleep well, you'll be fine by tomorrow."

With his superhuman recovery ability, and now with the best magical ointment, he would be completely healed by tomorrow.

"But I'm not sleepy."

Viola slapped Bichen's back.

A crisp sound echoed.

"Why, why are you hitting me?"

"You kept nodding off while I was applying the ointment."

"Me, me?"

Bichen's expression was always pure.

It was an expression that couldn't lie.

Right now, Bichen clearly looked sleepy.

His eyes were half-closed, and his mouth was slightly open.

"Yeah, you kept nodding off. You even snored."

"Snored?"

Bichen shook his head vigorously.

"I don't snore."

His face turned bright red.

It seemed that snoring was a very humiliating and embarrassing thing for Bichen.

"Really, Bichen doesn't snore."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Viola."

Viola sighed again.

Somehow, being with Bichen made her sigh a lot.

She placed her hand on Bichen's head.

"Go to your room and sleep, Bichen."

"…Huh?"

"We can meet tomorrow and the day after."

Han Arin, who was a reader, knew why Bichen was resisting sleep.

Bichen didn't want to part with Viola.

Bichen, who was very inexperienced in human interactions, seemed to subconsciously think that he could only meet Viola when there was a proper reason (like applying ointment).

"Just have some tea sometimes. So go to sleep today."

"I don't drink tea. Tea is for girls."

"Didn't Father enjoy jasmine tea?"

"T-that's...!"

Confused, Bichen hesitated for a moment before changing the subject.

"Ah, right. There's something really important I need to talk about."

"What is it?"

Just go to sleep.

I'm so sleepy, Bichen.

Viola yawned loudly without realizing it.

"Are you sleepy?"

Bichen tilted his head.

"Should I sing you a lullaby?"

"Is that the really important thing you wanted to talk about?"

"No, no. That's not it."

When talking to Bichen, she often found herself following the flow of his consciousness.

He was the type who found it difficult to have normal, common conversations.

"What's the important thing?"

"Y-you know. The forget-me-not ball. I was thinking I could personally escort you there."

Bichen's face was flushed.

***

Viola felt like crying a little.

It was around 1:15 AM.

'I'm so sleepy.'

She was sleepy but couldn't sleep.

The two were having an unexpected confrontation.

"I can't go back until we settle this."

"The matter has already been settled, young master."

Tundra and Bichen.

They had been at a standoff for over 30 minutes.

"Let's fight outside the Winter Castle."

"I won't attack prey without the lady's permission."

"Are you saying I'm prey?"

"If the lady commands it, then yes."

"Is that what you think?"

Bichen seemed ready to draw his dagger at any moment.

However, this was inside the Winter Castle, and he couldn't actually cut Tundra.

"I'm stronger than you, so I should be the one to escort her."

"Butler Zephon is stronger than you, young master."

"He doesn't have any fingers.

If a martial artist's balance is disrupted to that extent, he would suffer severe aftereffects, right?

Maybe I'm stronger."

Bichen was proud.

Tundra replied calmly.

"If that's the logic, then Lady Medea should be the one to escort Lady Viola."

"Ha! Medea is a girl.

Escorting is done by men."

"That's an outdated idea. The culture where only men escort has been gone for at least 20 years."

"Ah, whatever!"

"Bichen's logic is flawed. If we follow your logic, the Duke should be the one to escort the lady."

"Father doesn't do escorting!"

Viola just gave up.

She decided to let them fight it out.

She climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.

'It's so noisy.'

She didn't like the noise, but her desire to sleep was even stronger.

Already exhausted from expending a lot of mental energy, Viola fell asleep.

Time passed.

'Huh?'

A different noise from usual came in the morning.

"Ji!"

"......nda."

Viola slowly sat up.

She rubbed her eyes and checked the time on the magic clock on the wall.

8:00 AM.

The time when Zephon usually came to wake her up.

She saw Zephon's face.

"Lady, have you woken up?"

"Yeah."

Zephon handed her the toothpaste-infused mouthwash as usual.

Viola was truly satisfied with this magical convenience in this world. She didn't need to brush her teeth; just gargling kept her mouth clean.

"I've prepared the washing water at the usual temperature."

"Thank you......"

She couldn't continue speaking.

After gargling, she felt more alert and heard voices coming from a corner.

"Lord Bichen, the lady has chosen me."

"No, she didn't."

Zephon smiled and said,

"Lady, I asked them to argue in the bathroom so as not to disturb you."

"......Yeah."

So from 1:15 AM to 8:00 AM.

For a full seven hours, they had been arguing about who should escort her.

"Did you draw your swords?"

"No. I told them that if such an unfortunate incident occurred, they would never be allowed to escort her again."

Did that threat work?

Viola's head started to hurt.

'Ignore it.'

For the time being, it seemed best for her mental health to ignore it.

"Your fingers... how are they?"

"They are inconvenient... but I need to adapt."

"You can reattach them, you know."

"I left them off as a way to discipline and train myself. I want to be more meaningful to the lady."

"......Okay."

Just reattach them.

He has some strange stubbornness.

While she appreciated his determination, it still made her sad to see him like this every time.

Whether he understood her feelings or not, Zephon continued.

"By the way, I plan to report to the Duke about the circumstances and content of the argument between Lord Bichen and Tundra over the escort. Is that alright?"

"Do your job."

"Understood."

Zephon wrote a fairly detailed report about why Tundra and Bichen had argued.

With his excellent memory, Zephon accurately recounted part of the conversation from the previous night.

["Lord Bichen's logic is flawed. If we follow your logic, the Duke should be the one to escort the lady."

"Father doesn't do escorting!"

Such arguments went back and forth...

The argument lasted for over seven hours and still had no conclusion...]

Two weeks passed after Zephon submitted the report.