Chapter 15

"To adopt that girl as a daughter-in-law! Do you know what kind of girl she is?"

The principal's attitude was desperate.

She had been a thorn in his side, someone he wanted to send away anywhere, but things were different with the Duke of Schuetz.

That cunning girl would expose everything he had done.

He had to stop that at all costs.

"Do you know the story of the famous thief who tried to steal from Lord Latiniel?"

The principal's venomous gaze fell on Eli.

"That thief was this girl's mother. Blood doesn't lie; she was caught stealing from me too!"

At the principal's words, Ante's eyes widened in surprise.

He knew the story of the thief who had shaken the empire.

During the turmoil of the war, a thief had broken into the heavily guarded imperial palace and stolen the emperor's treasures.

The emperor had launched a massive manhunt, but the thief was never caught.

'Later, she was caught trying to steal from Lord Latiniel.'

And she was hanged at the castle, he had heard.

'But I never heard that she had a daughter.'

It turned out to be this girl.

Ante's gaze fell on Eli, who sat quietly without any sign of denial.

Because everything the principal said was true.

The principal realized the momentum was on his side. This was his chance. He pressed Eli as if passing judgment.

"So, my lord, please reconsider. Taking in that woman as a daughter-in-law would tarnish your honor—"

"Enough."

The duke muttered in a monotone.

"How long do I have to listen to this barking?"

"Barking? You don't believe me, my lord?"

"You know better than anyone that you are worse than a dog."

The principal's mouth snapped shut at the duke's icy words.

Regardless, his gaze was fixed on Eli.

So this was a kind of gamble for him.

Everyone would roll their eyes at his impulsive decision.

But Erhardt did not change his mind.

Approaching Eli, he knelt on one knee and looked at her.

"The choice is yours."

"……"

"Will you come with me?"

Eli's green eyes trembled. She alternated her gaze between the sputtering principal and Damian, then slowly spoke.

"I have one condition."

Her words surprised everyone.

It was an outrageous request for an orphan. They would be grateful just to be taken in, let alone with conditions.

But the duke only asked in a dry tone.

"What is it?"

"Please fire all the teachers here. All of them."

"You, you……! What are you saying!"

The principal shouted hysterically. Despite the shock, Eli's expression remained unchanged.

"Even if Damian and I are adopted, these children will still suffer."

"……"

"So, please hold the teachers accountable and turn this place into a good orphanage. So that no more children are sold like commodities."

The duke's eyes deepened. Eli met his gaze without flinching.

"I will do as you ask."

Finally, the duke gave his consent.

"Ante, proceed with the immediate revocation of the teachers' qualifications."

"Yes, my lord."

Ante looked around at the teachers.

"Unthinkable, my lord! You can't trust that cunning girl, my lord—!"

But the principal's curses from behind the door soon fell silent.

It happened in an instant.

With one word from the duke, everything was settled.

'I did ask her, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly.'

Eli stared at the now empty room, her face dazed.

"Everything will be as you wish from now on. So, let me ask you again."

"……"

"Will you come with me?"

The duke said, looking intently at Eli.

'What is his purpose in taking me away?'

She didn't know, but Eli wasn't afraid.

'Until Damian meets the real female protagonist.'

Until then, she would stay by his side.

Eli nodded and took the duke's outstretched hand.

* * *

A line of carriages with the noble family's crest was parked in front of the orphanage.

The principal, who had acted like the owner, and the nursery teachers who had followed her were gone.

The Schuetz family had decided to take care of the orphanage in the meantime.

"A new principal, selected by the duke's family, will be coming. We plan to hire more nursery teachers to ensure there are enough."

This meant the children would no longer have to do hard labor.

"Thank you."

It was a short greeting, but her eyes sparkled as she surveyed the orphanage.

She was a strange girl. If she was the emperor's spy as he suspected, she would have accepted his offer without hesitation. Instead, she boldly set conditions.

Moreover, she was genuinely happy about the changes in the orphanage.

But.

'That's not my place to say.'

After all, he had accepted her absurd conditions.

Perhaps it was because she reminded him of someone.

"I can solve the problem you are troubled with, Your Highness."

A voice that he thought had faded and forgotten echoed in Erhardt's mind again.

"In return, I have one condition. Marry me."

Erhardt took out a cigarette as usual.

It was so strong that a normal person wouldn't touch it, but without it, he might go mad.

"Sis, where are you going?"

At that moment, a little girl holding a rabbit doll approached Eli.

"Yep. I'm going very far away."

"Then we won't see each other again?"

The girl's voice quivered.

"Why not? We can see each other again."

"But…… the other sisters never came back."

Eli hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. I'll come back."

By then, you might have grown up and left this place.

Eli hid her last words and extended her pinky finger.

The girl, looking like she was about to burst into tears, linked her pinky with Eli's.

"Sis, you promised. You have to come back, right?"

"Don't forget me, okay?"

With that promise, the children began to gather around Eli.

Erhardt, who had been frowning slightly, stepped back to avoid the children.

No matter how much Ante called him a 'moral bankrupt,' he wasn't so mindless as to smoke such a strong cigarette in front of children.

At that moment, he felt a burning gaze. Erhardt turned his head.

His eyes met Damian's, who was looking at him with a wary expression.

"You can't kill someone just by glaring. Unless you have a sword in your hand."

Damian's body trembled at the sharp tone.

Biting her lip in frustration, Damian muttered in a low voice.

"……I, I don't understand. Why are you taking Eli and me? What do you plan to do?"

"You'll need to learn some manners when we return to the estate."

"Answer me."

Faced with Damian's unyielding attitude, Erhardt put away the cigarette he had taken out.

"Didn't I say? I'm not taking you; I'm just putting you back where you belong."

"……"

"You'll understand soon enough. What you were originally meant to have."

Saying this, he looked at Damian indifferently.

"Right now, you're nothing more than a wild animal."

"……"

"But if you return to your rightful place, at least your eyes will look different. Then you might be able to protect the people you want to."

Damian bit her lip in frustration.

But she couldn't refute it. Everything the man said was true.

When Damian collapsed due to mana absorption, if this man had been similar to her master, Eli might have been in danger.

In other words, she was too weak to protect Eli.

She didn't want to go with him.

To her, adult men were terrifying and frightening.

But……

"You have to go, Damian. Back to where you belong."

But Eli said this to her. She said they had to go back.

"Then…… what about Eli?"

"……"

"Is Eli not coming with us?"

In response to Damian's question, Eli looked a little sad and said,

"Of course I'm coming too. I promised, remember? To stay by your side."

Her last words moved Damian.

So Damian set a condition for Erhardt.

"……Don't make Eli do any work. Absolutely not."

Don't make her do anything that would make her suffer.

He frowned as if wondering what he was talking about.

"A child that small doing work? You don't need to worry about such nonsense."

Despite Erhardt's response, Damian's guard didn't seem to drop.

"……If you hurt Eli, I won't let you get away with it."

Damian, who had been glaring fiercely, turned around abruptly.

Ha. Erhardt let out a hollow laugh.

'Just like his father.'

The way he wagged his tail in front of his wife but suddenly changed his attitude.

'He didn't even need a mana stone.'

He was expressing that he was Clider's child with his whole body.

Erhardt clicked his tongue.