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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: 4화
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The servants, usually so quiet they were almost invisible, were now murmuring and lined up along the corridor.
"The line's here! No cutting!"
"Don't push! Keep your place!"
And they were even bickering.
Sigmund approached them and grabbed a servant by the shoulder, asking,
"Hey. What's this line for?"
"What do you mean, what line? It's to meet the new young miss... Huh! Your Grace the Grand Duke!"
The servant, who had been answering casually, thinking he was talking to a colleague, jumped in place when he saw Sigmund.
"Are all these people here to see Mabel?"
Just as he said, the line led to the reception room.
When he followed the line to the reception room, what he saw was...
"U-um, excuse me! My tummy is really full now...!"
A pair of short arms and legs flailed amidst a table laden with snacks and the maids attending her.
"But Young Miss, you haven't even had any cake yet~?"
"That's right, that's right. The Head Chef made a huge cake~ He'd be so sad if you didn't even have a bite~"
On one side of the table, which wasn't even half-empty, sat a five-tiered cake.
When had they prepared that?
Faced with this unexpected situation, Sigmund was not just surprised, but bewildered, and a little dumbfounded.
'I thought everyone would resent her, being an Ashilonia child.'
He hadn't hidden where he'd brought Mabel from.
Nor had he specifically told the servants to keep quiet.
This meant that those who surrounded the child, lining up just to see her face, weren't bothered by Mabel's origins, even knowing them.
'But if so, why?'
Sigmund's question was soon answered.
"Oh my, I heard about it, but she really does have purple hair and red eyes, doesn't she?"
"Wow, she has all the characteristics of the direct lineage of the Esclid Grand Ducal Family!"
"It really makes sense that they're calling her a bastard child. Don't you think?"
"Who says not? I thought His Grace the Grand Duke might be impotent, since he doesn't even date, let alone socialize with any young ladies. But well, who knew? They say it's the quiet cat that climbs onto the stove first."
The maids, pressed against the doorframe, whispered amongst themselves.
Unaware that Sigmund was right beside them.
The talk of impotence and such was displeasing, but he understood now.
'Aside from everyone disliking the Ashilonia family, they're acting this way because they truly believe she's my daughter.'
Besides, the child had looked so pitiful and disheveled that they couldn't just leave her be.
Fortunately, although Mabel seemed a little overwhelmed, she didn't appear to dislike the attention.
Sigmund's hurried steps, worrying that she might be scorned, now seemed pointless.
"But I'm really full now."
"What a shame. There's still so much prepared."
"Then how about we stop with the snacks and have dinner later~?"
"Dinner, dinner...?"
Mabel's eyes trembled uncontrollably.
'N-No, they're not joking, are they...?'
Even now, her tummy was plump from all the scones, madeleines, and muffins she'd eaten. And they wanted to feed her more?
Were they trying to make her tummy burst and kill her?
'Actually, they're just tormenting me because I'm an Ashilonia, aren't they?!'
Mabel squeezed her eyes shut with a 'boo-hoo' and trembled all over.
"Oh my, she's like a hamster."
No matter how much they doted on her, she couldn't take any more.
She had been swayed by the maids' enthusiasm until now, but it seemed the time had truly come to escape.
Mabel scanned her surroundings, searching for an escape route.
Just then, her eyes met Sigmund's, who was observing the situation from the doorway.
'Saved!'
Mabel immediately raised both arms high and cried out,
"Mister! Help me!"
"Over here, over here!"
At the sight of her short, slender arms flapping, the maids collapsed one after another.
Her tiny body possessed surprising destructive power.
Even Sigmund, who had been observing the situation, found her so adorable that he couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, I'll help you."
Sigmund strode forward and easily lifted Mabel from amidst the maids.
In that short time, who knew how much they'd fed her? The child felt a little heavier.
Moreover, Mabel was still in the same clothes she'd worn when she got off the carriage, as if she hadn't been able to wash.
It was good that she was eating well and adapting, but leaving her like this would surely lead to a stomach ache.
"That's enough, everyone. She just arrived. What are you all doing, not letting her wash or rest?"
Startled by Sigmund's reprimand, the servants drooped their heads dejectedly.
"Oh, oh, you don't have to go that far..."
Mabel, who had inadvertently caused the servants to be scolded, was flustered.
But Sigmund was firm.
"If you get sick from this, you're the only one who loses. You'll be living here from now on, so it wouldn't do to be sick on your first day, would it?"
Mabel's eyes widened.
Live here from now on? Me?
Just as Mabel was about to respond to Sigmund's naturally flowing words,
"Please don't scold the servants too much."
A polite voice came from the direction of the door.
"They're just doing it because our young guest is so adorable, aren't they?"
A man with striking dark green hair and black horn-rimmed glasses smiled faintly.
'Oh, that person is...'
Mabel's eyes widened as she recalled a character from the novel.
"Now, please put the Young Miss down. I will guide her to the guest room."
Sigmund's aide, Dein, gestured.
"Right. It would be better for her to rest until dinner."
No, what I mean is, I really can't eat anymore...
Anyway, thanks to that, Mabel was finally able to escape the noisy commotion.
'Ugh, so full...'
When she rubbed her upper belly, it was noticeably bulging.
If she had eaten even a little more, she might have truly gotten a stomach ache.
But still, she felt good.
'Everyone knew I was an Ashilonia.'
On the contrary, they told her not to worry about family affairs like that, saying what would a child know about such things.
Even though she must have been dirty and smelly from not washing, they warmly stroked her and held her hand.
"Hehe."
A warm, fuzzy feeling.
Her chest kept tickling with warmth, and Mabel quietly smiled.
It was then.
"You may be relieved that you've successfully infiltrated the Grand Ducal Castle, but that's as far as you'll get."
"......?"
Dein, who had been climbing the stairs at a pace inconsiderate of a child, turned back and spoke.
"Because I'll soon expose everything."
A hint of contempt and disdain flickered in his brown eyes.
"Your dark intentions, just like your mother's."
As Mabel stared up blankly, Dein clicked his tongue and turned his head away.
As if he had seen something unpleasant.
Mabel felt that expression was familiar.
Because it was the same look as the people at the Ashilonia Ducal Residence.
So she wasn't shocked or hurt.
Rather, she thought Dein's reaction was justified.
'Considering the damage Sophia inflicted on the Esclid Grand Ducal Family, that reaction is normal.'
However, it was Mabel who had been kidnapped.
'I'd only be scared if I had some ulterior motive.'
Mabel didn't take Dein's words to heart.
She simply hadn't responded, but Dein's eyes, as he walked ahead, sharpened.
Dein was convinced that Mabel had an ulterior motive.
No matter how innocent and adorably she smiled, it wouldn't work on him.
'No way would he fall for the same trick twice.'
Sophia had been just like that.
One day, ten years ago, she had visited the Grand Ducal Castle with a somber face full of worries.
Dein clearly remembered a conversation he had overheard by chance that day, while passing by the study.
- Sigmund, I need your help.
Sophia desperately clung to Sigmund.
- Caesar wants a child. An heir, that is.
Dein wondered why Sophia had come to Sigmund to say such a thing.
He wanted to hear more, but Sigmund caught him and ordered him away, so he couldn't listen further.
A few days later, Sigmund announced that he was researching 'a certain medicine' with Sophia.
It was a medicine to cure Caesar's azoospermia.
He couldn't understand why she was researching a cure for her own husband with Sigmund.
So at first, Dein didn't think highly of Sophia either.
However, he slowly warmed to her as he saw her passion for alchemy.
Eventually, he even secretly cheered for Sophia, who was working so hard for her family.
Thus, everything seemed to be concluding well, at first glance.
Because Sophia had successfully conceived.
However, Caesar, who harbored an inferiority complex towards Sigmund, didn't believe in Sigmund and Sophia's collaboration.
- The medicine I drank was an infertility cure? Hah, she must have carried another man's seed in her womb.
He even suspected the two of them of infidelity.
Then, just before Sophia disappeared, Sigmund's laboratory was broken into.
The culprit was quickly identified.
'Sophia Ashilonia, the Duchess.'
The runaway Duchess had stolen her childhood friend's research as a way to secure her own survival.
'It seems the theses he wrote for her weren't enough.'
Sophia betrayed everyone in the Esclid Grand Ducal Family who had been kind to her, fulfilling her greed to the very end.
'Everyone's eyes must be messed up. They're all fooled like idiots just because she's a little cute.'
To Dein, Mabel, who was her daughter and an Ashilonia, didn't look good at all.
Whether Sophia or Caesar was behind her, she must have come to do something harmful to the Grand Ducal Family.
This time, he intended to stop it himself.
'I won't let the Esclid family be played by the Ashilonia family any longer.'
But how should he do it?
How could he reveal the true identity of this little devil, whose unwashed scent even smelled like a puppy's sweet-smelling paws, to everyone?
A sharp glint flashed in Dein's eyes.
'Yes, that method would be good.'
Dein quietly smiled a knowing smile.
With the intention of stripping Mabel, who wore an innocent face as if she knew nothing, to the bone.
* * *
The next day.
"......"
Mabel lay sprawled on a soft, fragrant duvet, blinking blankly.
'Morning... it is...'
Good heavens.
She had taken a wonderful bath yesterday and meant to lie down for just a moment, but she'd fallen asleep right then and only just woken up!
