Chapter 2

### Chapter 2: Possessing the Daughter of the Fleeing Secondary Female Lead (2/171)

#### Chapter 1: What Happens When You Possess the Daughter of the Fleeing Secondary Female Lead

“Mom, what is a mistress?”

When I was about five, before I possessed this body, I once overheard the villagers talking. They were discussing the woman the richest merchant in town had recently taken up with.

The village aunties cursed the woman, calling her a mistress, while the uncles snickered.

Money is good, they said. It allows you to live with a young and beautiful woman, and so on. They muttered such things until their wives slapped them.

I didn’t know exactly what a mistress was, but it was clearly not a good thing. Thinking my mom knew everything and would give me an answer, I asked her as soon as I got home, but I received an unexpected reaction.

Clang!

As soon as my question ended, my mom, who was preparing dinner, dropped and broke a plate.

“Oh, I was just lost in thought for a moment...”

As she picked up the plate, her hands were trembling, and then, “Ouch!” she let out a small groan. Blood was seeping from her fingers.

“Mom?”

I ran to her. She quickly waved me away.

“It’s okay. It’s dangerous, so stay back. I’ll clean it up.”

I never got an answer to my question. But instinctively, I realized I should never ask my mom about mistresses again.

Later, I learned what a mistress was from the girl next door. It referred to a woman who sells her beauty to men.

I didn’t fully understand what that meant, but my mom was definitely a beautiful woman. She always wore shabby clothes and never put on makeup, yet she exuded a different aura from the ordinary village women.

Her abundant silver hair, deep and clear eyes like a lake, well-proportioned and harmonious features, and slender figure.

Because of her striking appearance, my mom’s life was not easy. There were many men who had designs on her, a beautiful woman without a husband.

If that was all, it might have been manageable, but as I grew, some strange men started to reach out to me as well.

When this happened, my mom, with a pale face, chased them away and quickly took me home. The next day, we moved to a different place.

From then on, my mom dressed me in boys' clothes. She cut my hair short and firmly instructed me.

“Arcadia, you must never tell anyone that you are a girl. Understand?”

My mom started calling me ‘Ar’ to make it sound more neutral.

Boys' pants were much more comfortable than skirts, and playing with boys was more fun than with girls. I ran freely in the mountains and fields with the boys.

One day, while climbing a tree with the boys as usual, I slipped and fell.

Just as I was about to fall, a vast amount of knowledge flooded my mind. To be precise, it was the moment when my current consciousness entered the body of Arcadia.

This place was the world of the novel I had read. In the novel, Arcadia falls from this tree and severely injures her head. To treat her, her mother had to sell a precious ring she had kept.

This led to the Duke of Iskars finding out where my mother was and taking us away. A year later, a rebellion broke out, and both of us died.

Realizing all this, I quickly reached out and grabbed the tree. I didn’t fall like in the novel; I hung on to the tree. I eventually let go due to exhaustion, but I only sprained my ankle instead of injuring my head.

From then on, the story of the novel changed completely. My mom didn’t sell the ring, and the Duke of Iskars couldn’t find us.

I thought it was fortunate. At least my mom’s life was saved.

In the novel, my mom was portrayed as passive and indecisive, even being called a sweet potato. But in reality, she was brave and tenacious. She gave birth to me at 18 and worked hard for my sake. Her soft hands were now full of calluses, and her once fair skin was tanned by the sun.

Despite this, her beauty never faded. Many men tried to tempt her with promises of a comfortable life, but she chose to live a hard life with me.

To her, I was her only family, and I felt the same way.

My old life, which disappeared before I possessed this body, no longer had any meaning. What was most important to me now was the reality I was living in and my only family, my mom.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

“Where is Olivia?”

The Duke’s words fell on my head. His face was stern. When I didn’t answer immediately, he raised his sword and pressed it to my neck.

“I won’t ask again. Where is Olivia?”

The knights beside him gasped in shock.

It was understandable. We weren’t suddenly attacked, and I was just a powerless child. For him to threaten me with a sword was clearly excessive.

Moreover, anyone who heard our conversation would have guessed that I might be his child. Yet, he was threatening his child with a sword on their first meeting.

“Your Highness, Duke...”

Even the knight who had just threatened me with a sword tried to stop him.

“Perhaps you should lower your sword and speak...”

Instead of being shocked or scared by the Duke’s actions, I bit my lip slightly.

The Duke of Iskars was always like this. He was cold and cruel to everyone except my mom. Even to his own daughter, he showed no mercy. To him, I was the very reason my mom fled from him.

Because my mom, upon hearing his command to get rid of the child in her womb, ran away.

I lifted my head and shouted.

“I’ll tell you. Where my mom is now.”

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

After the sudden intrusion on the road, the Duke of Iskars immediately set off to find my mom.

When he heard that my mom was dying from the poison of a monster, his face turned pale.

He showed no surprise or joy at meeting a child he didn’t even know existed. His concern was solely for my mom.

He pathologically hated his mistresses having children. To him, children were unnecessary and troublesome. Even after finding my mom and me in the original story, he used me as a hostage to threaten her. He said if she ran again, she would never see her child.

To him, I was just that. Knowing this, I wasn’t disappointed.

“Um...”

The knight who was taking me on the horse hesitantly spoke.

“Well, let’s talk casually.”

He seemed to be struggling with how to treat me. I looked like the Duke’s child, but the Duke hadn’t acknowledged me and even threatened me with a sword.

If he treated me as the Duke’s child and the Duke didn’t acknowledge me, it would be awkward. So, he decided to treat me like a regular child.

“Don’t worry about your mom. Oh, by the way, I know your mom, Lady Olivia, very well. We’ve known each other for a long time. Don’t worry about her. With the Duke himself taking action, everything will be fine. He’s the kind of person who can solve any problem.”

His light brown hair and eyes, and his particularly young face, made me immediately recognize him.

Jas Rikaind, the Duke’s vassal and a loyal knight who dies for the Duke in the original story.

He became a full-fledged knight of the Black Dragon Knights at the youngest age and was known for his kind and talkative nature.

“And don’t be too disappointed by the Duke’s actions just now. He’s always cold to us, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. He’s actually quite affectionate, and he’ll change his attitude toward you over time. And also...”

I was grateful for his concern, but my mind was too complex to listen to him.

“Sir.”

“Ah, right. If you have any questions, just ask. And I’m not ‘sir’...”

“I want to think alone, so please be quiet.”

His mouth closed immediately.

Usually, I would use a 6-year-old’s way of speaking, but I didn’t have the time to consider that now.

He whispered to the knight beside him, his face full of shock.

“From the way she acts, she’s definitely the Duke’s blood!”