Chapter 6

"Thank you─"

I bowed my head slightly and continued.

"─Conrad."

"……!"

"……!"

"……!"

"Flowers are pretty. Conrad is nice. (The flowers are pretty. I like Conrad.)"

With my hands clasped together, I said this, and Conrad laughed, saying, "Ah…."

"That must be the freesia I gave you. I'm glad you like it."

Conrad looked very pleased with my greeting.

His eyes were more curved than usual.

At that moment,

"Ahem."

A choking sound came from somewhere.

Turning my head slightly, I saw Debusi, who looked like his face was about to explode.

He seemed to be trying to hold back, but the moment he caught a glimpse of Grandfather out of the corner of his eye, he burst out.

Hahaha! Haha!

I had never seen anyone laugh so wildly before.

'He seemed so composed at first.'

It was surprising that he could laugh so loudly in front of Grandfather.

Then I remembered something from *Bing.Hei.Son*.

'Grandfather and the Debusi family are close friends.'

In his youth, Grandfather was the eleventh son of a penniless predecessor.

The Debusi family had supported him all along, even to the point where the elder brother of the viscount had died protecting him.

'So that's why he can laugh so freely without fear.'

Debusi, whose eyes were moist with laughter, said,

"Ah, to see such an expression from the Duke."

"……"

"To witness such a sight in my life, I am."

Grandfather had a very frightening expression.

He looked like he might tear the viscount apart at any moment.

'The atmosphere is bad.'

It seemed that today wasn't a good day to talk with Conrad, so I decided to just do what I needed to do and leave.

I took out what I had brought from the room.

It was a crumpled drawing I had made.

I approached Grandfather and handed him the drawing.

"What is this?"

"It's Grandpa. (It's Grandfather.)"

Recently, I had been drawing a lot in my free time.

I had drawn many people, including Grandfather.

"There you are. Grandpa gives me bread and tucks me in. (There you are. Grandfather gives me bread and tucks me in.)"

"……"

"And, with Grandpa, no one bothers me. (And, with Grandfather, no one bothers me.)"

"……"

"Thank you."

To win the favor of someone important, a bribe is the best.

I still remembered this from my dirty social life.

Grandfather unfolded my drawing.

It was messy and crooked, but it was clear that I had put a lot of effort into it.

Staring at the drawing, Grandfather suddenly shouted,

"You should have given this first!"

Startled, I instinctively hid behind a maid.

Debusi laughed wildly again, and Grandfather glared at him.

'Why, why is he doing this?'

After looking at me, who was clearly frightened, Grandfather strode away, still holding my drawing.

* * *

Conrad was holding my hand with a beaming face.

He was leading me to my room.

'With Grandfather gone, I have time to talk.'

I confirmed that the maids were far away and looked at Conrad.

"Conrad."

"Yes, Miss."

"Many people came today."

"Yes, you received greetings from the collateral relatives."

"Will many come tomorrow too?"

"No. From tomorrow, the castle will be quiet again."

"Then what about tomorrow?"

I subtly asked about the castle's schedule.

"You can just have fun. You have a couple of months of free time."

"Why?"

"Because the lessons have been delayed due to various complications."

"……"

"Also, the aftermath of Colonel Tollyso and the disbandment of the direct relatives' private armies… Well, it might be too difficult for you to understand."

Conrad, who really liked me, explained things in simple terms.

He probably thought I didn't know much.

'They disbanded the private armies of the direct relatives?'

That wasn't in the novel.

After some thought, I realized, 'Ah, I see.'

This time, I understood that Conrad was the bait.

Conrad hadn't betrayed, yet the guard information had leaked.

This meant there was someone else who knew the guard information.

Someone who knew as much as the closest adjutant.

'The Duke's children.'

That's why they disbanded the private armies.

'Wait, is this an opportunity?'

I had successfully entered the castle.

Now it was time for the next step.

'Saving Father.'

This was the right time.

With the private armies of the direct relatives disbanded, they needed someone to fill the gap.

"Many adults and children came today."

"Yes, the collateral relatives brought their children."

"Father and the children are together, but Elliot is with his mother."

"……!"

Conrad flinched.

After a moment of shock, he knelt.

"You have a father, Miss."

He looked very pained.

"He must be thinking of you from afar."

"……"

"And you have the Duke. The Duke thinks of you a lot."

"……"

"Today, the collateral relatives came to greet you because the Duke asked them to."

'Is that so?'

No wonder so many came at once.

'I must have caught the Duke's attention because of the attack!'

I was thrilled.

But Conrad still looked pained.

He whispered several times,

"You are not alone. Your father is just far away."

'Right, I need to make Grandfather aware of this too.'

That my father is far away.

Far enough to not be involved in the attack.

So, to Grandfather, my father was 'the most trustworthy among the current children.'

Conrad left me at my room and departed.

I rested my chin in my hands, deep in thought.

'But why was Grandfather angry?'

No matter how I thought about it, there was only one answer.

Because I greeted Conrad first.

I groaned and grabbed the armrest.

'Was Grandfather that petty?'

In the novel, he was ruthless, but not that despicable…

Still, it seemed he wouldn't do anything to me.

When he really decided to do something, he was calm and taciturn.

'Anyway, I need to be careful for a while.'

I didn't want to ruin the plan to bring Father back because I made him angry.

I came to this conclusion and got up from the chair.

Just as I was about to grab the doorknob, the maid Hilda called out to me.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to play."

"Don't go outside the main castle. The collateral relatives who came to greet you are still in the castle, so it will be chaotic."

Greta, another maid, frowned.

"Why aren't they leaving?"

"They're probably stalling to talk to the powerful people in the castle."

"It's because of the submission of the Tollyso Marquisate."

"Right. The person to take over that land hasn't been decided yet. They're trying to get some scraps."

"To do that to Miss. How shameless."

"Since when were they ever decent?"

The maids grumbled with grim faces.

While they were talking, I opened the door.

When they finished their conversation, the maids called out to me as I walked down the corridor.

"Have a good trip!"

I walked out into the corridor, accompanied by the maids' farewells.

'I need to familiarize myself with the castle's layout.'

Until now, I hadn't explored much because I was afraid of the guard monsters. I didn't know what would happen if I met one in this small body.

But today, with so many people coming and going, the monsters seemed to have been cleared away.

They didn't want the collateral relatives to be attacked by mistake.

Instead, a large number of soldiers were guarding the castle.

So, I decided to take this opportunity to explore the castle.

Exploring the castle was fun.

'It feels like an adventure!'

It was huge and magnificent, making it enjoyable to look around.

I wandered around the main castle.

'Wow, the armory. It really feels like a fantasy novel.'

'The kitchen is here. The smell of baking bread is so nice!'

'The end of the fourth-floor corridor connects to another building.'

After wandering for a while, I came to the west exit on the first floor.

"Wow?!"

There was an incredibly beautiful garden.

A trellis covered with fresh roses, even in winter.

Soft, carpet-like grass.

A fountain with a statue of a woman holding a bucket, from which clear water trickled.

I excitedly ran into the garden.

It was even more beautiful from the inside.

Pretty stones were laid around the fountain.

I thought about collecting some smooth ones to give to the maids.

I crouched down to find the prettiest stones.

'But I need a way to make Grandfather more aware of Father… Ah, this one is pretty.'

Just as I was about to pick up a stone, something hit my head.

"Ouch─!"

The pain made me sit down abruptly.

'What was that?'

Looking up in surprise, I saw a child of about five or six.

I must have hit the top of his head.

Judging by his fancy clothes, he was a noble child.

One of the children brought by the relatives who were stalling to talk to the powerful people.

"Ow, ow…"

The child, rubbing his head, started to whimper.

Then,

"Ah─!"

He burst into tears.

'Oh no.'

I was already startled from the headbutt.

But with the other child crying so loudly, I was completely flustered.

'If this happens, I'll get a supporting character penalty.'

Sure enough, my lips started to pout, my nose tingled, and tears welled up in my eyes.

I was starting to feel like a child.

I twisted my skirt tightly.

'I can't cry. This is near Grandfather's office.'

Crying children are annoying.

Grandfather might think I'm a nuisance.

But no matter how hard I tried to hold back, snot kept coming out.

Then, a voice came from outside the garden.

"Julian, where are you?"

"Mom─!"

The child cried even louder, and the woman hurried over.

She picked up the crying child.

"What happened? Hmm?"

"Waaah!"

"Did you bump your head? Let me see."

She sounded very worried.

"Who was so careless─"

The woman frowned and turned her head sharply toward me.

Only then did I see her face clearly.

It was one of the nobles who had come to greet me earlier.

She seemed to recognize me, as her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Miss."

"……"

The noblewoman sighed, unable to say anything to the Duke's granddaughter.

"My child was at fault."

"……"

"Still young. Please understand."

She stood up with the child in her arms and bowed to me.

"Then, I'll be going."

The child continued to cry as his mother carried him away.

"There, there."

"Mom…"

"Shh. You need to learn to endure pain. That's how you can go to the 12th Tower."

"But it hurts. It hurts!"

The child whined, but the woman didn't seem annoyed at all.

She lovingly stroked the child's head several times.

"……"

I stood there silently until they disappeared in the distance.

Then I ran my hands through my hair.

'Still hurts, even if you stroke it.'

So, I'm not jealous at all.

…Not jealous at all.

At that moment,

"Elliot."

A familiar voice called out.

Turning my head quickly, I saw Grandfather.

"……"

"Phew…"

I tried to hold back, but tears welled up.

'I'm crazy, I'm crazy!'

Where did this sudden wave of tears come from?

I had just decided to be careful in front of Grandfather.

I tried hard, but my body, turned into a child by the supporting character penalty, couldn't stop the tears.

I covered my eyes with my palms and sobbed.

"Daddy…"

I couldn't call for Mother, so Father was the only one left.

'What a cursed novel.'

Dalia was possessed as an adult, but I was possessed in this young body and given a penalty?

Thinking about it made me even more sad.

Then, something large landed on the top of my head.

It was Grandfather's hand, placed there awkwardly, like on a sofa armrest.

It was a very, very awkward touch.

But.

But still…

"Sniff─!"

I cried even louder, and Grandfather stiffened.

For some reason, I wasn't envious of that child anymore.

* * *

Viscount Debusi let out a sigh.

The Duke, who had been out all day with a faint smile, returned carrying Elliot.

So, the terrifying Duke, carrying a small child, no bigger than his forearm…

He had served the Duke for 30 years.

He had never even imagined such a scene.

Moreover, Elliot was sleeping peacefully in the Duke's arms.

'What kind of harmony is this? …Wait.'

Elliot's eyes were red.

"Did she cry?"

"Clear the jacket from the sofa."

"But, what could make such a young lady cry?"

"……"

"She's the one who jumped off a cliff to save the Duke."

The Duke threw the jacket at Debusi's face.

Debusi, who made a choking sound, frowned.

"What did you throw at the lady?"

"She got hurt in the garden."

Debusi nodded, understanding.

Then he covered Elliot, who the Duke had laid on the sofa, with the jacket.

"What happened?"

"She seems to have bumped into a collateral relative's child."

"The one who didn't cry even after scraping her hands from jumping off a cliff. She must have been badly hurt."

"It was more of a different issue."

The Duke recalled Elliot in the garden.

She had looked enviously at the collateral relative's child being stroked by his mother, and then stroked her own head.

"What do you mean?"

Debusi urged, and the Duke clicked his tongue.

"She looked envious of the collateral relative's child with his mother."

"……"

Debusi looked at Elliot's face closely.

"It's understandable."

"……"

"You know, don't you?"

The life of Duke Astra was terrible.

The previous Duke was obsessed with creating a child with special blessings.

The current Duke, Chronos Astra, was one of those created children.

His father was cruel.

Cruel enough to lock his own child in a laboratory for various experiments.

"Didn't you envy children with their mothers while in the laboratory?"

"About something I don't even remember."

The Duke sat down in a chair without a word.

After a brief look at Elliot, he turned to Debusi.

"About the 2nd generation (the Duke's children)."

Debusi flipped through the documents.

They were reports on the activities of the 2nd generation.

The Duke's eyes turned cold as he scanned the documents.

A man obsessed with recruiting nobles.

A man in contact with the royal family.

A man embezzling the family's assets.

All of them were repulsive in different ways.

Debusi sighed.

"There's no connection to the Tollyso Marquisate, but…"

"……"

"Their actions are excessive."

"……"

"We need someone to keep an eye on the 2nd generation."

The Duke recalled what he had heard today.

"Miss seems to think she doesn't have a father. After all, he is very far away. It would be good for her to meet him once…"

What he had heard from Conrad.

And,

"Daddy…"

The Duke, who had been silent, looked at Debusi.

"Summon Diamond."

"……!"

Debusi's eyes widened.

Diamond Astra.

The Duke's second son, known by many names.

The one born with the strongest blessing in the Astra family.

The monster of the battlefield.

The invincible knight.

The most powerful in the empire by force, he was Elliot's father.

'Although his relationship with the Duke is the worst, one thing is clear.'

He was far away and couldn't have been involved in the attack.

But it was strange.

'Why is the Duke, who never showed interest in Lord Diamond, suddenly…?'

It was incomprehensible.

After a while, a messenger set off for the north, where Diamond was, carrying a return order.