Chapter 2
<Chapter 2>
‘…Either way, it means I’m going to die.’
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the Potion of Death inside my pocket.
If I act as the fake daughter like in the original story, I die. If I don’t, I die for disobeying orders.
I was the only A-rank spy among the five-year-olds, but I wasn’t particularly important.
This meant the Duke of Pose hadn’t sent me here because he was certain the mission would succeed.
The Duke knew I would take my own life before the Crost family could catch me.
He figured I’d be obedient because I was young. He’d brainwashed me that way ever since I first learned to read. That was all he wanted.
‘…This is no different from my past life.’
I quietly grit my teeth.
The lie that everything would be fine if I just studied. The lie that it would be okay once I got into college. The lie that things would get better once I got a job.
What was the result of listening to the people who gave advice as if they were taking responsibility for my life?
Overtime? Everyone does it. You just have to endure.
Life is supposed to be hard. Didn’t I tell you being a student was the best time of your life?
Those were the only words I ever got back.
“…….”
I slowly opened my eyes and let go of the Potion of Death.
One death full of regret was enough, and one foolish life was enough.
I would no longer make choices where the outcome was so obvious.
“Mr. Knight.”
When I finally spoke after a long silence, the gatekeeper sighed.
“Right. Finally talking, are you? So, are you really the daughter? What proof did you bring?”
I took a deep breath and began to speak clearly.
“In a room with a cozy fireplace and a fancy canopy, Mother told me. She said the people of Crost enter an Ice Cave immediately after birth to endure the bitter cold.”
“…What?”
The knight’s eyes flickered at my words.
The Ice Cave. A secret pocket dimension created by the Duke of Crost using his Ice Ability.
Spending several weeks in the Ice Cave right after birth to grow accustomed to the cold was an essential rite of passage for the Crost direct line.
Fundamentally, to use the Ice Ability, one couldn’t be weak to the cold; they had to be familiar with the power from a young age.
For that reason, direct descendants lived and slept in the Ice Cave with a nanny for four weeks to attune to the ability.
“By Mother, do you mean the Duchess?”
The knight asked, dropping to one knee. I nodded.
“Oh, heavens… dear God.”
The knight covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes even reddening as if he were deeply moved.
“…Is that… is that really true?”
Eventually, with tears welling in his eyes, the knight switched to a respectful tone.
“—Is what the Lady of the direct line told me.”
“Huh?”
Whoosh—
An awkward breeze blew between me and the weeping knight. The eyes he was dabbing with a handkerchief seemed to dry up instantly like grains of sand.
Wow, this knight is really sentimental. He’s making me feel bad.
“Ahem!”
I cleared my throat, my voice still sounding young and dainty.
“When did I ever say I experienced it myself?”
If I pretend to be the fake daughter, I die.
Knowing that, why would I lie?
I swallowed the words I was thinking and let out a small sigh.
“I’m saying that’s what happened! The Lady of the direct line told me. And I know where she is.”
“…What did you say?”
The knight’s eyes narrowed, not missing my last words.
“You know where the Lady of the direct line is?”
“Yes.”
There was only one way for me to survive this situation. Quit being a spy and give the Duke of Crost the information I knew.
‘The novel said the Lady went to an orphanage.’
In truth, information about the Lady rarely appeared in the original story.
Five years ago. Shortly after the Duke’s first and second children were kidnapped, the pregnant Duchess disappeared as well.
The problem was that while the Duchess was never found, the Lady was discovered in an orphanage much later.
As a corpse.
‘In the original, the estimated age of the body was around elementary school age, so she should still be alive now.’
“So, I’d like to request an audience with the Duke.”
A strange child knowing history that only those close to the family would know? He would have no choice but to think I was somehow connected to the Lady.
“M-my goodness….”
The knight dropped the handkerchief he was holding.
“Lord. F-finally, the Lady….”
He then grabbed my hand with a trembling, solemn expression.
“Kid. You’re in big trouble if you’re lying, you hear me?”
“Yes.”
I was worried he might be suspicious, but luckily, he wasn’t.
I nodded and entered the Crost Duchy Castle with the knight. With this, the first step was a success.
I swallowed hard, bracing myself for what was to come.
I was done with an ending where I just died after doing what I was told.
‘…Whoa. The ceiling is really high.’
“Kid. Hurry up.”
Maybe it was because I’d spent five years stuck in the Duke of Pose’s training camp. Everything in the outside world was so fascinating.
I unintentionally looked up too far and almost fell backward from the weight of my head.
“Ugh.”
Now wasn’t the time for this. I had to move my legs busily to keep up with the knight’s stride.
Patter, patter—
As I ran toward the knight with my short legs, the sound of my footsteps echoed through the quiet hallway.
‘By the way, what should I ask for as a reward for finding the Duke of Crost’s daughter?’
To be honest, money is the best, but…
I’m still only five years old. On top of that, I’m a spy tied to the Duke of Pose.
Once I get the reward, I’ll have to run away to somewhere the Duke of Pose can’t reach me.
Could I really run away with that much money with this tiny body?
Shake, shake—
‘No. Absolutely not.’
Sigh, this pathetic little body.
What’s the point of spy training if the physical stats don’t back it up?
I narrowed my eyes and sighed.
‘The Lady is so lucky. She has a reliable guardian like the Duke of Crost… If she returns to the castle, bad people won’t be able to touch her.’
Hmm. Wait a second. I just had a great idea.
If running away is too hard, I can just find someone strong enough to protect me.
A reliable guardian that even the Duke of Pose wouldn’t dare touch…
‘Should I ask a member of the Crost family to become my legal guardian?!’
“…Whoa. This could work.”
I was shocked by my own brilliance.
Is this why the Duke of Pose made me a spy?
Because I’m too smart?
“What could work?”
It was then. The knight, who had been walking ahead, turned his head.
Someone like this knight might be safe from the Duke of Pose’s reach.
The Duke of Crost cherished his people dearly. If anyone messed with them, he would get angry on their behalf, saying they had touched his knight.
With the thought flashing in my mind, I immediately spoke to him.
“Mr. Knight.”
“What?”
“Have you ever thought it would be nice to have a child?”
“I already have a child.”
“What?!”
Oh my. He was already taken.
“Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I just sometimes think it would be nice to have parents…”
I let out a deep sigh and muttered awkwardly.
The knight looked at me with a puzzled face, but I looked away.
It was then.
“Ah, Miss Dorothy.”
The knight suddenly stopped and gently pushed my back.
“This is the child I mentioned. Please look after her until permission for an audience is granted.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be going then. Make sure you tell them where the Lady is.”
The knight, who had suddenly introduced me, said his goodbyes and patted my head.
What? I wasn’t going straight to the Duke?
Then again, he’s the head of a Duchy; meeting him wouldn’t be easy.
“Yes. Goodbye.”
I was bowing to the knight for now.
“…So. You say you know the Lady of the direct line?”
“Yes.”
At the soft question, I finally raised my head to look at the other person.
However.
“You should have been ordered to become the Lady, not to reveal her location.”
I locked eyes with a woman whose brown eyes flashed with a chilling warning.
Right. I had forgotten.
I wasn’t the only spy who had infiltrated the Crost family.
Six years ago. The first spy who successfully infiltrated the Crost Duchy by using the job of a maid.
It was Dorothy.
Dorothy.
In the original story, she was a character who worried that her position would be diminished because of Aisha, who had successfully pretended to be the fake daughter.
That worry eventually turned into rage, and she bullied the innocent Aisha for a long time.
Of all people, I had to be caught by her the moment I was about to betray them.
Glance—
For now, running away seemed to be the priority.
“Whoa, look over there!”
I exclaimed and pointed somewhere, intentionally acting like a child.
“What is it?”
“It’s a pretty older brother!”
“What?”
At my starstruck words, Dorothy reflexively turned her head.
“…A-ahem. Do you mean me?”
In that spot stood an old man nearly a hundred years old, blushing while holding an ancient book.
“…That’s not a pretty older brother.”
Dorothy, turning back with a bewildered expression, crumpled her face in anger.
“Wait, dammit!”
I had already run away.
“Dammit, this short body. Dam-mit!”
I ran with every ounce of strength I had.
“Kid, don’t be scared! I just have something I want to ask!”
“…Huff, huff… why didn’t I remember that woman?”
She was a minor supporting character, but her personality was so eccentric that I used to curse her out, calling her ‘Crazy Dorothy.’
However, it was natural that I hadn’t thought of her.
In the original, Aisha met Dorothy a month after successfully infiltrating.
But because I had changed the story by saying I ‘knew the Lady’s whereabouts,’ I had ended up meeting her much earlier than scheduled.
And a fact I realized anew after reincarnating as Aisha: five-year-olds have much shorter legs than expected.
I was running at full speed with all my might.
Patter-patter-patter—
To others, it probably looked like a bicycle with training wheels passing by.
The distance between me and the pursuing Dorothy was quite large at first, but it was gradually closing.
As soon as I squeezed out my last bit of strength and passed the castle gate, a garden unfolded before me.
First, I hid behind the nearest bush. Since running was too hard, hiding was my only option.
It was while I was hurriedly looking around the vast garden.
“H-hey, over there!”
There happened to be someone approaching this way.
I didn’t know their rank because they were covered in a black robe, but it looked like I’d found a place to hide.
“A scary person is chasing me. I’m going to go inside your robe for a second.”
Rustle—
“……?”
Terrified and desperate, I recklessly dove into the man’s robe.
I could feel his bewilderment in the way he stumbled backward.
