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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: 6화
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A moment later, the plate of sweet, refreshing fruit pudding in front of Mabel was empty in an instant.
‘She’s so tiny, but she eats really well.’
Mabel munched away, her cheeks puffed out.
‘I was going to tell her to leave some if it was too much trouble to eat.’
Could she actually be a hamster or a squirrel? Sigmund's eyes narrowed in reasonable suspicion.
“Ah, I’m full,” Mabel said, rubbing her protruding belly as she put down her fork.
Seeing this, Sigmund began.
“Now that you’ve eaten your fill, shall we talk about what we couldn’t finish yesterday?”
“Huh? What?”
“You said you knew where Sophia was, Mabel.”
Oh, right! Mabel’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
Her heart had softened in the warm atmosphere of the Grand Ducal Castle, and she’d momentarily forgotten!
Mabel quickly nodded.
“Yes! Whether she’s still there… Ah, no, she’ll definitely be there!”
“But why would you tell *me* that?”
“Mister… Head of Household, you like our mom, so you’re looking for her, right?”
The moment she was about to say “Mister,” Mabel saw Sigmund’s eyebrow twitch and quickly changed her words.
However, Sigmund’s face hardened even further.
Mabel retraced her words, wondering if she’d made a slip of the tongue, and then realized.
‘This was a genuine feeling Sigmund never expressed in the novel!’
In other words, it was strange for Mabel, who had only met him yesterday, to know this.
What should she do? As she racked her tiny brain to come up with an excuse, Sigmund said with a cold sneer,
“Caesar, is it?”
“…Huh?”
“Your father said that? That I like your mother?”
“Uh… yeah…”
She didn’t know. Mabel hadn’t seen Caesar in person very often.
She’d probably seen him more times in portraits.
So, of course, she didn’t know whether Caesar went around spreading such rumors!
But instead of telling the truth, Mabel nodded.
“Yes, yes! Th-that’s right!”
It wasn’t entirely a lie, though, as Caesar genuinely believed Sigmund was Mabel’s biological father.
Those cold, sneering eyes of Sigmund. His red eyes were exactly like Mabel’s.
‘How great would it be if the Head of Household was really my biological father?’
Then she could live in such a harmonious Grand Ducal Castle.
Every day would surely be joyful.
But unfortunately, Mabel’s biological father was indeed Caesar.
Mabel possessing all the characteristics of the direct Esclid lineage was just a red herring in the novel.
“Right, so you’re going to tell me where Sophia is…”
Hearing Sigmund mumble, as if putting a puzzle together, Mabel felt a pang in her chest.
‘Ugh, to lie to the first person who called me by my name… my conscience…’
She vowed never to lie again… but her resolve was immediately put to shame as Sigmund asked a difficult question.
“Is that why you knew about me too?”
“Ah, um…”
A lie… I didn’t want to tell one… They say one lie begets another, and it was true.
“Yes… that’s right. He said that only Sigmund had eyes the same color as mine and would loiter around the house…”
“Hah, right. He would definitely go around blabbering like that.”
Fortunately, Sigmund seemed to believe her and let it go.
“So, where were you trying to go after leaving home?”
Ah, thankfully, she didn’t have to lie about this question.
“The orphanage!” Mabel answered with a bright face.
At the same time, Sigmund’s expression hardened impossibly.
“Well, they said I wasn’t my dad’s daughter. So they said I’m a child who shouldn’t be in that house.”
“…”
“Then I found out there was a place called an orphanage, and I tried to go there.”
The more Sigmund listened to Mabel’s calm recounting, the more his heart ached.
How could she speak so indifferently? How many times, how often, must she have heard such things…
“So, um, I’ll tell you where Mom is, so could you just take me there?”
“…”
Mabel was already fidgeting with her hands out of habit.
He worried that the hands the maids had applied medicine to while the child slept might bleed again.
Sigmund told her not to, and replied,
“No.”
Unlike his gentle concern, his voice was firm.
Mabel was flustered.
“Why?! Aren’t you curious where Mom is?”
“No. Not curious. So I can’t grant your request.”
That’s impossible! He’s the sub male lead! Why isn’t he curious where the female lead is?!
Mabel, who had been gaping in utter bewilderment, finally spoke with a sulky expression.
“Alright. Then there’s nothing I can do.”
It was a shame, but she didn’t want to force him.
“So, if you could just let me go—”
“That’s also a no.”
“Huh? Uh, why?”
But why *this* time? Mabel, her words cut off, blinked rapidly and asked again.
‘No way, was he really planning to kidnap and imprison me…?’
Just then, horror quickly dawned on Mabel’s face.
“You’re still a child, Mabel. It’s dangerous for children to wander outside without a guardian.”
“But I can get around just fine by myself, so it’s okay?”
“That’s true. But did you forget? Mabel, you were kidnapped by me.”
Sigmund grinned, the corners of his lips turning up.
‘No way! It was real? It was *really* real?!’
And I believed him…!
It was the moment Mabel was about to say something about her disappointment.
Knock, knock. With a knock, Dane entered the dining room.
“My apologies for interrupting your meal.”
“No, it’s fine. Give it here.”
Mabel glared at Sigmund, her face flushed, as he took the documents Dane had brought in.
“Ah, Dane.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Bring Mabel something cool. Like a sorbet.”
Not sorbet, let me out! Mabel wanted to say, but Sigmund immediately seemed to focus on the documents, so she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
Even so, she couldn’t soften her glaring gaze.
“What? Are you curious about this?”
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Sigmund asked, his gaze fixed on the documents.
“No, I’m not curious.”
“It’s alchemy. This is what I’m researching right now. A new formula for finding the ‘Horned Spirit’…”
No, I’m not curious! Mabel glared at him, letting Sigmund’s incomprehensible words go in one ear and out the other.
Among the squiggly letters, the only familiar sight was elemental symbols, identical to those in modern chemistry.
So, Mabel answered indifferently, as if in defiance.
“Mm, oh, ah, yes, wow.”
But suddenly, Dane, who had been watching the two, had a sharp look in his eyes.
Mabel didn’t notice, though.
***
A moment later, Mabel returned to her room and finished getting ready with Ella’s help.
“It’s such a shame that Sir Dane will be showing you around the Grand Ducal Castle~ I could have shown you around myself!”
The maids grumbled regretfully, each biting on their handkerchiefs.
But since Sigmund had personally ordered it, they couldn’t volunteer.
“Have a safe trip, Young Lady.”
“Yes.”
Mabel waved to the maids and thought as she left the room.
‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll escape somehow!’
A shadow fell over Mabel’s head, who was burning with fighting spirit.
“You’ve come out right on time.”
It was Dane.
When he had left the dining room, saying he’d see her shortly and parting ways with Sigmund, he had a faint smile.
However, the Dane Mabel now faced had a strict expression and pushed up his glasses with a sharp motion.
“It seems you intend to lower my guard by being perfectly punctual, but I’ve already seen through it!”
Today, too, he was excitedly making a fuss on his own.
“Hmph, though I’ve been ordered by His Highness to explain the Grand Ducal Castle’s various parts, it would be best to abandon any thoughts of finding secret passages or preparing escape routes. You’ll only despair at the ironclad security.”
Tch. That’s a shame.
Anyway, this docent-like teacher’s preamble was too long.
Fearing his words would only get longer if she kept standing, Mabel approached Dane and firmly took his hand.
But at that moment, Dane’s body stiffened.
“W-w-what in the world are you doing…?”
Yesterday, Ella had told Mabel. That from now on, if she was ready, she could just take his hand.
So she’d taken his hand as a sign to hurry up and go, without further ado… ‘Was I wrong?’
As Mabel tilted her head, her adorably tied pigtails swayed with her.
“D-did you think I wouldn’t be able to shake off your hand just because you’re a child? You are an Ashilonia. No matter how cute you are, I won’t be unable to shake you off, won’t… *Guh*!”
Dane’s eyes behind his glasses trembled violently, and at his equally trembling voice, Mabel let go of his hand.
“Oh…”
Then Dane wore a crestfallen expression this time.
‘What’s wrong with this person?’
Dane repeatedly clenched and unclenched the hand Mabel had held, muttering something.
“Soft… warm…”
It was too soft for Mabel to hear.
Mabel blinked her red eyes and asked,
“Aren’t we going?”
“Damn it, to be so nonchalant after completely captivating me. Such cruelty…!”
Dane rambled on with more incomprehensible words, then slapped both his cheeks with a resounding *smack*, as if in frustration.
“Hmph, I won’t be swayed by you again. No matter what you do!”
Dane, with clear handprints on both cheeks, strode purposefully ahead.
‘He barely had any screentime in the novel, but his character is truly unique.’
There probably isn’t anyone funnier than him in the Grand Ducal Castle.
Mabel followed behind Dane, whose strides were shorter than yesterday, thinking such thoughts.
