Chapter 15
For a split second, my internal circuits jammed, and my body froze like a block of ice.
“…Well, then. Excuse me.”
As if the words had slipped out unintentionally, May bowed with a flustered expression and hurried away.
A chilling silence pressed down on my shoulders.
“…….”
May was right.
I was the one who had broken our contract in the first place.
At that same hour, in the office.
With the child’s sweet scent gone from the room, even the lingering traces of playfulness vanished.
Especially the moment after Aisha left.
No longer needing to maintain a soft expression, Calips’s eyes instantly sharpened.
It was enough to make Knox, who had just been venting his anger, flinch instinctively.
“You truly don’t know what should and shouldn’t be said in front of a child.”
At that cold remark, Knox felt Calips finally return to his usual self.
Though he reflexively snapped to attention, it was actually a relief. At least it meant His Grace hadn’t actually gone mad.
“That is why I fed her strawberries and brought her back, isn’t it? I will ask you straight, Your Grace. What is it about that brat that you like so much?”
“What do you mean, ‘like’? Is it such a big deal for a Ducal House to take in and raise a child with nowhere else to go?”
“If that were the case, you would have sent her to an orphanage sponsored by the Duchy or to a noble family looking to adopt. You once said yourself that such things are an adult’s duty.”
In truth, Aisha was not the first orphan to enter the Duke’s estate.
After the young lords and lady went missing, the people of the kingdom became desperate to find the lost children of Crost.
Or, to be more precise.
‘They were desperate to create a Lady of Crost.’
The young lords’ faces were known to the public, so there was no helping that. However, the young lady had disappeared before the Duke, who had been away for five years, could even see her face.
The only clues were that her hair and eye color matched either his or the Duchess’s. That was all.
Orphanages and low-ranking nobles across the country went into a frenzy. Whenever they saw a child who looked even remotely like the Ducal couple, they insisted by any means necessary that the child was the lost lady.
Knowing how much bitterness Calips had felt each time he sent those children off to good homes, Knox grew even more frustrated.
‘He has worn a mask ever since he lost his children.’
Knox knew. He knew the face and the emotions hidden behind that mask.
“What on earth has changed you, Your Grace?”
Thus, Knox argued his point even at the risk of being rude.
Before he was a hero, Calips was a human being. He could break. He could make mistakes. It was an aide’s job to support the head of the house in anticipation of such situations.
“…….”
A suffocating silence followed.
Calips, now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looked deep in thought. His face was that of a man seriously weighing his words.
Finally, he let out a sigh and answered quietly.
“Nothing has changed.”
“Then why…”
“Saving that child. There were no other options left in my life besides that.”
“…Pardon?”
Options left in my life. Saving her.
Knox’s eyes narrowed as he pieced together his master’s cryptic words.
That meant… if he hadn’t saved the child…
“…Your Grace!”
As the meaning of the answer finally sank in, Knox’s face turned pale.
Despite this, Calips remained unmoved. As if it were something he had contemplated for a long time, his red eyes held nothing but a trace of exhaustion.
“To work myself to the bone only to end up with nothing but medals. What reason do I have to live?”
“Is that why you asked for the Potion of Death back then?”
Calips closed his eyes.
“Think what you want.”
“What do you mean, ‘think what I want’! Your Grace, over my dead body will I let—”
“Ugh.”
This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to say anything. Sometimes, Knox cared for Calips more than Calips cared for himself.
Watching his master recoil in disgust, Knox let out a long sigh. Ultimately, as an aide who could neither cast the child out nor fully accept her, he had only one choice left.
“…That child, Aisha. I shall take charge of her instead.”
“……?”
Calips, who had been covering his ears half-jokingly and half-seriously, slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the Duke’s surprised face, Knox gave a firm nod.
He hated to believe it, but he had to admit it. That child had saved the Duke.
“I will watch her myself to see if this child, Aisha, truly has given up being a spy.”
If she was that important to the Duke, she needed to be tested. He had to see if she really had saved His Grace—or if she was just waiting for the right moment to stab him in the back.
Meanwhile.
Unaware of all this, I had entered emergency mode.
‘I have to earn his trust, no matter what.’
May’s sincere advice had made me realize one thing.
‘It doesn’t end just because I’ve been adopted.’
The Duke hadn’t adopted me because he liked me. It was closer to him adopting me out of pity. If even the one person who trusted me felt this way, what must the others think?
I didn’t even need to think hard about that. After all, there was Knox, who was still pestering me.
“Do a five-year-old’s cheeks usually get as round as freshly baked bread when they eat?”
“…….”
As I was busy chewing my steak, a long finger poked my cheek.
Again. He was watching me again.
‘No reaction is the best reaction.’
I rolled my eyes away from his gaze, which felt like he was observing some strange magical beast.
Resting his chin on his hand, Knox spoke flatly.
“Or is it… because this brat is a spy?”
“Eat your meat!”
I hurriedly shoved the fork I was holding into his mouth.
However—
“Mmm. Delicious.”
As expected of the aide of Crost. He didn’t even flinch at a surprise attack from a former spy. Instead, he was actually savoring my steak attack.
‘I can’t let my guard down. This man is wary of me.’
For some reason, Knox had been monitoring me all day since that incident.
Knox Illias.
He was Duke Calips’s most prominent confidant and the second son of the Marquisate of Illias, vassals to the House of Crost.
He wore his long blue hair tied back neatly. With a monocle that added to his intellectual image, his other exposed teal eye was as beautiful as a forest swept by a sea breeze.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, he was quite a handsome man.
However, that was only on the outside.
Considering he was a monster otaku with an extreme ‘T’ personality type—and considering he was a petty adult who enjoyed teasing a five-year-old former spy—he was quite a beauty, provided you ignored all that.
‘The reason he opposed Calips’s execution wasn’t because he felt sorry for me; it was because he was worried it would ruin the Crost family’s reputation.’
Knox’s public image as a perfect, intellectual gentleman was entirely manufactured. It was all for the sake of the House of Crost.
‘In the original story, he was a guy who had no interest in people. I thought if I just hung around, he’d eventually leave me alone.’
I never expected him to pay this much attention to me.
After savoring the steak for a long time as if to mock me, he finally swallowed. Then—
“…Lady Aisha is a spy—”
“Spider-Man!”
“The little lady is a spy—”
“Spa massages are my hobby!”
“…What is a Spider-Man, and what is a spa massage?”
“Things like that exist!”
He kept provoking me like this for one reason.
“Hmm. Anyway, even for a five-year-old, you certainly have the crisis management skills of a spy.”
He was probably curious about the extent of my abilities. I appreciated the compliment, but I could do without the suspicion.
“You certainly have the skills of a grown man bullying a five-year-old.”
“…Mister?”
It was then.
At the sound of that familiar low voice, I turned my head to see a man as large as a mountain standing there.
“Brat. Come here.”
“Yes! …Oh.”
I was about to leap toward him like a frog at his cool entrance, but—
‘He may have adopted you out of pity, but he probably doesn’t trust you. You were the one who lied first, after all.’
The uncomfortable truth pierced my heart, making my body hesitate.
“…Brat?”
Ah, he’s calling me.
Snapping out of my daze, I hid my expression and gave a bright grin.
But he had already noticed something was off and was walking toward me, dropping to one knee. Thanks to that, his red eyes were now level with mine as I sat in the chair.
Then, he opened his arms.
“…….”
It seemed he wanted me to hug him.
“…Aisha.”
His low voice even took on a hint of half-bewilderment and half-disappointment as he urged me.
‘This won’t do. I already have zero trust points; if I don’t even act cute…!’
I quickly shook my head and put on a radiant smile.
And then.
“Ahaha, Misteeeer~!”
Calling out to him in a slightly exaggerated tone, I gave him a wink.
Clunk, clunk.
I walked over awkwardly and fell into his arms. Or rather, it felt more like I just leaned my head against him.
“…….”
He looked down at me for a moment before his gaze shifted upward.
“Knox.”
“Yes.”
“Kneel.”
“Pardon?”
