Chapter 32

* * *

Balzac Astra had recently been suffering from a strange illness.

It wasn't that he was angry, but he often felt a strong urge to smash something.

At random times, his chest and the area below his neck would itch, and sometimes his lips would tremble.

The doctor, after hearing Balzac's description, swallowed hard.

"I haven't seen such a disease yet..."

Balzac's expression darkened.

The doctor flinched, his shoulders rising.

Balzac Astra's reputation was well-known.

He's a really scary kid.

If things go wrong, he can fold an adult horizontally and vertically. I don't even want to imagine how he does it.

Seeing such a scary kid frown made him feel a chill.

"I will uncover the nature of the disease if you give me some time!"

"Make it as quick as possible."

"Yes."

Tsk, Balzac clicked his tongue, stood up, and stormed out of the medical facility.

'Should I have gone to a healer instead of coming to the medical facility?'

He might have been cursed, like Joshua.

It's a disease the doctor hasn't heard of or seen.

While walking, he heard a distant scream.

"Roar! It's me~"

"I'm going to eat you! Yes~"

The maids were chasing something.

Looking closely, he saw the familiar yellow head with small pigtails on either side.

Elliot was waddling.

'Ah, not again.'

The urge to break walls.

Seeing him waddle like a duckling, the symptoms started again.

Yesterday, seeing his small hand holding a cookie like a maple leaf, it happened.

The day before, seeing his cheeks wobbling while chewing, it happened.

"Aha, I caught you!"

"Ah!"

As soon as the scream was heard, Balzac dashed over.

"You—!"

Balzac scolded the maid with a fierce expression.

"How dare you torment a member of the Astra family!"

His loud voice made the maids flinch.

Elliot, in the maid's arms, stared at him with wide eyes.

'Must look pretty cool, huh?'

Balzac usually doesn't care much about others.

But Elliot is so small, like he might crumple if hugged, so he decided to pay a little attention.

Balzac told the maid.

"Put him down."

"Yes..."

Elliot jumped out of the maid's arms.

Then he stared at Balzac.

Balzac cleared his throat and said.

"You don't need to be that grateful."

"It's not a favor."

"What?"

"I'm playing tag. Haven't you ever played, Balzac?"

"..."

Both twins were born with powerful offensive blessings.

When they were young, their blessings couldn't be controlled, so their parents kept them apart to prevent them from hurting each other.

By the time they could control their blessings, they had become rivals, so they never played such games.

Elliot, blinking at Balzac, said.

"Balzac is the tagger. We're catching people."

Then he shouted, "Start!"

Elliot and the maids ran off in all directions.

'What... what is this...'

After standing there for a moment, he took a step.

"Save me, yes~"

"Aah, it's me~"

As the maids ran slowly, whoosh, thud!

Balzac leaped and closed the distance.

Seeing Balzac, who was far away, suddenly rush over with a menacing aura, the maids' voices changed.

"Save me!!"

"Aah!!"

It felt like a predator was chasing them from behind. The maids felt their fur stand on end, like rabbits being chased by a tiger.

Despite running frantically, it took only three minutes.

In just three minutes, Balzac caught two maids side by side and turned his head.

Elliot, who had been watching the scene with a pale face, took a step back.

As soon as their eyes met, he ran frantically.

Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.

He ran incredibly hard, but couldn't shake off Balzac.

It took only 30 seconds to catch Elliot.

"Ah!"

"I got you."

Balzac grabbed Elliot's side with both hands and lifted him up.

The child's eyebrows drooped, looking dejected.

"Balzac won."

"Then what do we do now?"

"Now I'm the tagger."

Elliot jumped out of Balzac's arms.

"Now I'll hide. Start!"

Balzac started to run slowly.

Elliot, with shining eyes, chased him enthusiastically.

Despite his soft and cuddly appearance, he showed surprising determination.

No matter how far he ran, he never gave up chasing.

'Somehow... it's kind of fun?'

Balzac adjusted his pace, then suddenly sped up when he was about to catch him.

"Ah!"

Just as Elliot, with a red face, jumped to catch Balzac.

"It's dangerous."

Someone caught Elliot.

It was Joshua.

Balzac's expression darkened.

"What."

"I saw you on my way to the library. Hello, Elliot."

Joshua greeted Elliot with a gentle look, which was unusual without Daemon.

"I heard Elliot likes picture books?"

"...Yes."

"There's a new book in the library. Do you want to go together?"

Balzac exclaimed.

"He's playing with me."

Joshua's eyes narrowed as he glared at Balzac.

"Who he goes with is Elliot's choice."

The brothers' gazes clashed in the air.

"I'm playing tag with you. I'll let you ride a horse later."

"Don't you want to go to the library? I'll tell them to prepare snacks for you to eat while reading."

Elliot looked back and forth between the twins.

Then.

With a rustling sound, Daemon walked over from a distance.

He was holding a clump of fur.

"There's a puppy."

"Wait a minute—!"

Elliot's face lit up as he ran over.

"You can play with it in the castle. Do you want to?"

"I want to!"

Then he grabbed his father's pinky finger and ran off.

Daemon, glancing back at the brothers, smiled crookedly.

Balzac and Joshua gritted their teeth.

'How despicable.'

'How low.'

The two were silently burning with anger.

* * *

I gently stroked the soft, black puppy's back.

"So soft."

Holding my cheeks, my face turned red, and the maids and soldiers watching me sighed in delight.

Betti trembled, saying, "Cute plus cute equals super cute..."

Heidi smiled and said.

"It's good that Enzo brought a puppy."

"Enzo, there's a puppy?"

When I looked at Enzo, he said.

"Yes. Since both brothers are often away from home, Mother felt lonely, so we brought one."

"That's nice."

The puppy licked my hand.

'So cute!'

When I was Yoo Hye-min, I always wanted to have a puppy.

But my younger sister Se-eun hated dogs, so it wasn't possible.

After becoming an adult, due to my stepfather's business troubles, I had to send most of my salary home, so I couldn't afford to keep one.

I stared at the puppy, lost in thought.

Just watching it was never boring, and before I knew it, quite some time had passed.

The small, cute puppy yawned and rubbed its head against the cloth it was sitting on.

"I'm sleepy."

"Sure."

"Then, are we going to Mother now?"

With a voice full of regret, Enzo looked troubled.

The other maids and soldiers also groaned, looking uncomfortable.

Father, stroking the puppy with a downturned mouth, asked.

"Should we get a dog in the fief? If you promise to take good care of it, we can bring one."

"Really?!"

My face lit up, but then I slumped.

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm going to Grandpa's. Mother will be alone."

The fief is full of people, but if they consider me their master, they will be very lonely without me.

Heidi tried to persuade me.

"But you'll come back during the break. We can take good care of it until then."

"I have to work hard at Grandpa's. If I have a puppy, I'll want to come back to the fief often."

'Ten days until I go to Grandpa's?'

Thinking about it, the peace was almost over.

There were many things happening in the fief, but nothing life-threatening.

Once I enter the duchy, the real 3rd war will begin.

Betti looked confused.

"Do you have to work so hard to forget about the fief? You're already wise and wonderful."

"I have dirty blood, so I have to."

Being a child with commoner blood.

If I don't work hard, I'll hear all sorts of things.

'Children with commoner blood are no good.'

That's what I'll hear.

'My position has changed.'

No one will be able to call me a nobody from the 12th tower.

With various achievements and my father's return.

Now, the only thing left is for the fief to grow.

'I need to secure my position firmly.'

If I do that, my life will be smooth.

Being a villain who dies from bullying is terrifying, but the life of a duchy's lady is sweet.

Thinking about it, I smiled to myself, but something felt off.

The surroundings had become very quiet.

'I shouldn't have mentioned the dirty blood!'

I was so captivated by the puppy that I let it slip without realizing it.

This supporting character penalty.

I fidgeted and looked at my father.

Father's face was stiff.

* * *

Night.

I went to bed earlier than usual.

The atmosphere in the castle was too depressing to bear.

Heidi and Betti, who were tucking me in, glanced at me.

"Miss..."

Heidi approached cautiously, with Betti following.

"You are precious to us."

"You are the treasure, happiness, and joy of this fief."

I glanced at the maids and pulled the blanket over me.

"Good night."

'Really uncomfortable.'

Outside the blanket, I heard the maids sigh deeply.

The maids tapped my chest a few times.

"Have sweet dreams."

"Very sweet dreams."

Then I heard them leave.

I peeked out from under the blanket.

'I must have worried them a lot.'

I need to be more spirited tomorrow.

I really like the people in this fief.

Brave Heidi.

Kind Betti.

Smart Michelan.

And gentle Enzo and Mosko.

They all look at me with very, very affectionate eyes.

The feeling of being 'inside the fence' for the first time.

I developed an unfounded belief that none of them would hurt me.

'I didn't plan to get along so well with people.'

If the plan fails, I only thought about running away.

So I tried not to get attached, but seeing such warm eyes always made my nose tingle.

I turned to the side and lay down.

Then.

I heard the bedroom door open behind me.

And soon, someone sat on the chair next to my bed.

'It's Father's scent.'

When I turned over, Father gently rubbed my eyes.

"Father..."

"I didn't know how to say it, so I couldn't say anything to you."

"..."

"Because I'm not good with words, I didn't want to hurt you, even though I thought you might have heard such things."

"..."

Father gazed at me intently.

"I met your mother on the battlefield."

"!"

I didn't expect Father to talk about Mother, so I opened my eyes wide.

"Your mother came to me when I was on the brink of death, cursed."

"..."

"We were together out of necessity, and you were born."

Father's eyes were very dim.

He didn't want to tell me that I was born without love.

He closed his eyes tightly.

I sat up carefully and looked at Father.

"So, Father, do you not like me?"

Father's eyes opened quickly.

In his pained eyes, I saw myself.

"No. No, Elliot."

Father reached out and stroked my cheek.

"Your mother was from a distant land, far from the Astra estate."

"..."

"That she came to Astra, heavily pregnant, overcoming countless dangers... means she felt the same way as I did."

"..."

"Because you are precious. Because I love you so much."

Father slowly hugged me.

He patted my back many times.

"You are our breath, our life, everything to us."

"..."

"Your blood is filled with the love of me and your mother."

It was a very awkward thing to say.

So awkward that it was embarrassing.

Father was a cold person. How much must he have thought about telling me this?

'It was a little hurt.'

I pretended it was fine, but no child wants to hear about dirty blood.

But now, I'm really okay.

Because here are the parents I longed for so much when I was Yoo Hye-min.

"Okay!"

I smiled and hugged Father's neck.

Father stroked my back affectionately.

Then.

Bang!

A noisy sound came from the door.

"Don't push."

"I couldn't hear!"

Turning my head, I saw the twins fall at the door.

When Father and I looked at them, they awkwardly stood up.

Balzac scratched the back of his head.

"Elliot said he heard about dirty blood. I wanted to find out who said it... to kill them."

"..."

Joshua kept his head down and said nothing.

Even as Balzac approached me, Joshua didn't move.

'Why?'

I blinked.

Father and Balzac clenched their fists and looked at Joshua, who was staring at the ground.

"...Sorry."

"..."

"Sorry."

Balzac looked at Joshua, surprised.

"What? Did you call him dirty blood!"

"..."

I never called him dirty blood. I called him a bastard.

But it was because I was in excruciating pain from the curse and he couldn't dig up the cursed garden.

'Hmm.'

I waved at Joshua.

"I want a picture book. (I want to read a picture book.)"

"!"

"I want to hear the story of the chick family. (I want to hear the story of the chick family.)"

Joshua's eyes widened.

Balzac frowned.

"Come here, you sinner!"

"Are you okay?"

"Okay!"

Father moved aside,