Chapter 56
To my surprise, Dad allowed me to keep the baby.
He didn’t even seem to mind that the baby had purple eyes.
‘Because the real danger is something else.’
He simply stared at the baby cradled in my arms, leaving me with those cryptic words.
“…The real danger is something else? What is it?”
I mean, I was happy that I didn’t have to hide the baby anymore. But Dad’s words were definitely a bit ominous.
‘Sleep with the cat. And if the cat looks like it’s going somewhere in the middle of the night, lock the windows and the door immediately. Got it?’
Recalling his subsequent advice made it even more—
“…Definitely strange.”
He was hiding something.
And the fact that the baby seemed to know what it was, too, was strangely annoying.
“Baby. Did you plot something with Dad?”
I met the baby’s eyes as I held him up, but—
“Nyaa.”
The baby just gave a wide yawn as if he didn’t know a thing.
Hmm.
“Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not like Dad would ever do anything bad to me.”
Right, okay. Let’s let it slide!
Besides, I had plenty of other things to worry about lately, so I decided to move on.
‘The strangest thing is Kyle coming to the castle so often.’
When we first parted ways, I wondered if I’d ever see him again.
But then he appeared out of nowhere a week ago, and lately, he’s been coming to the castle every other day.
And every single time, he climbs the castle walls and enters through my bedroom window!
I wondered if he was sneaking in like that because Dad had scolded him so harshly last time, but then I saw him run into Dad in the hallway—
‘Hello.’
He displayed the peak of a twisted personality with a casual greeting rarely seen in a class-based society.
‘Hello.’
He even greeted Knox, who was with Dad, quite cheerfully.
What was more surprising was that no one got angry.
Dad just muttered, “He was supposed to be hired as a servant. I’ll have to tell May to give him some personality training,” and walked past with a grimace.
Just when did he hire him as a servant? Every single thing was a mystery.
However, neither Dad nor Knox gave me any explanation.
“That brat Kyle… if he shows up one more time, I’ll uncover the truth even if I have to torture it out of him.”
As I muttered while clenching my tiny fists, the baby in my arms flinched.
“Baby. What’s wrong?”
“Nya, nyaang?”
As if he understood my words, the baby shook his head rapidly and closed his eyes again.
‘What is this? I feel like the world is filming a prank show with me as the target.’
Something was off, but putting the issue of the peaceful Kyle aside for now.
What I was watching most closely these days was the Pose Duchy.
After retrieving the baby, I finally came to my senses and realized this was an issue I should have reported sooner.
Knock, knock—
When I gave a cheerful knock on the office door with my small fist, I heard Dad’s voice telling me to come in.
I opened the door while holding the baby in my arms.
And I began my introduction with a determined expression—
“Father. The golden seed has arrived.”
“If you’ve caused any trouble, tell me now.”
Calips replied indifferently without taking his eyes off his documents.
“Trouble? Since when did my image become so tarnished, Father?”
Excuse me, I brought top-secret information. Is this any way to treat your daughter?
When my lips puffed out into a pout, his lips, still lowered toward the documents, curled up slightly.
“Whenever you start a sentence with ‘golden seed’ or whatever, you’ve always caused some kind of trouble, my daughter.”
Tap, tap—
Despite his words, his finger tapped his knee.
It was a sign for me to come sit on his lap.
Hmph. It’s not that I cause trouble; it’s that I overcome adversity.
Anyway, as I wiggled my way onto his lap, his strong arms wrapped around me, naturally pulling me into his embrace.
The fact that Calips was wearing glasses meant he was concentrating.
“I wonder what kind of trouble you’ve caused this time.”
Even so, Dad set all his documents down and spoke to me.
He’ll be so surprised when I tell him about the King and the Duke of Pose, right? I swung my legs with a sense of pride already bubbling up.
“…Huh?”
My legs stopped swinging.
It was because of a familiar word written on the document he was reading.
‘…Conversation between the Duke of Pose and the King… Excerpt…? Cause of the monster outbreak incident….’
Um. Wait a second.
Why is my top-secret information right there?
“…….”
I rubbed my eyes with my fists, thinking I’d misread it, but it was real. I narrowed my eyes and read the rest of the text.
‘…A man suspected of being a spy for the Pose Duchy died in the Kingdom…?’
There’s even information I didn’t know!
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“When did you hire another spy besides me?”
“…….”
After looking at me with narrowed eyes, he picked me up as if he’d made a decision.
“You’re just here to play. Dad is busy right now, so come back later.”
“Aaaaah, Daaaady!”
Flap, flap—
I flailed my arms and legs like a fish out of water, trying not to be outdone, but he didn’t even pretend to listen as he walked out into the hallway.
Then—
“Knox.”
“Yes?”
“What is Lucas doing right now?”
“He is attending his heir lessons.”
“Then tell him it’s time for a short break and let him loose.”
“…Pardon? Yes, sir.”
Knox tilted his head in confusion but went off somewhere.
A moment later. From the far end of the hallway, the sound of thundering footsteps echoed as a grey blur appeared.
“Dan. de. lion—!”
It was Lucas, let off his leash.
‘…No way?’
Quickly catching on to the situation, I whipped my head around to glare at Calips—
“You’re not using Lucas because I’m in the way, are you…?”
“Children should play like children. Look at that, Lucas is so excited because he doesn’t have to do his lessons.”
“Dandelion!”
“Ugyak.”
Lucas arrived in 0.5 seconds and spread his arms wide while standing on his tiptoes. Dad gave a small chuckle and passed me over to my brother just like that.
“Dandelion, it’s been a while. Have you been well? Did you miss me? Have you heard about my heroic deeds? During that monster incident, I…”
Dangle, dangle—
I was sucked into an infinite hell of chatter while being held in Lucas’s arms.
But I remembered.
Right before Calips had picked me up.
[Large quantity of the Pose Duchy’s madness-amplifying potion required. Likely to take about a week.]
In the sentence I’d caught a glimpse of, it said it would take a whole week to find the potion.
Why is he looking for the potion?
I was curious about Calips’s intentions, but what was more surprising was that it would take a week to find it.
‘…Why are you taking such a difficult detour when you have this golden seed right here, Father?’
“Ugyak.”
Though I was currently being jostled around in Lucas’s arms.
‘Potion. Find it. In one day.’
I clenched my fists out of my brother’s sight and wore a determined expression.
A few days later. The long-awaited day to steal the potion.
After eating a hearty lunch, I shouted in the hallway.
“Today is the day Aisha sleeps all day long—!”
As I yelled loudly enough for the whole world to hear, May, who was walking down the hallway, smiled and nodded at me.
Good. I’ve laid the bait.
“Hehe.”
I rubbed my tiny, fly-like hands together and opened my bedroom door with an expression that said I was ready to get to work.
The next thing to do was set the secondary bait.
“Just in case another maid comes into the bedroom….”
Wiggling onto the bed, I pulled the duvet over two stacked pillows.
“Hmm… I think this should be okay.”
It wasn’t perfect, but from the doorway, it would look like I was curled up under the covers.
“Perfect.”
It wasn’t perfect at all, but the destination was close enough to get to and back within two hours.
“Baby, sleep quietly too.”
I stroked the baby curled up on the bed.
I felt a bit lonely since I’d been holding the baby all day lately, but it would be more convenient without him today.
“Bye. I’ll be back soon.”
After leaving that one-sided farewell, I slipped out through the window wearing the tattered robe Kyle had given me.
How to sneak out of the Crost Duchy Castle? If you took the high castle walls instead of the gates, you could avoid the knights’ eyes.
Shashashak—
Feeling like a cockroach, I quickly crawled down the castle wall and landed safely on the ground on the other side.
“Okay. It starts now.”
I felt like I was out on a picnic for no reason. I opened my cute rabbit bag to check my supplies.
“Poison needles, check. Water bottle? Check. And beef jerky in case I get hungry on the way….”
Fortunately, the destination was Torn City, which wasn’t far from the castle.
After walking diligently for about an hour.
“Waaa—Mom!”
“Hurry up, you brat.”
The characteristic pointed roofs of the North came into view, and the sounds of people talking could be heard here and there.
Orange roofs built atop black stone walls. This was Torn City.
“These strawberries are so sweet. Buy them before they’re gone—.”
“Don’t you have any fresh apples from the South instead of strawberries?”
“Why look for expensive fruit when delicious strawberries are this cheap~.”
Over there was a fruit stall. There was a butcher shop. There was a cheese shop. There was a bakery.
My eyes darted around as I scanned the surroundings with my hood pulled low.
‘Wow. Come to think of it, I’ve never been able to see the city properly.’
I should come here with Dad and Lucas later.
As I walked through the market street, a semicircular central plaza appeared.
Children were running around, and women were sitting at terrace tables drinking black tea.
Outdoor tea time in this cold North.
‘As expected of Northern people. They’re strong.’
But this wasn’t my destination. The only deserted place in Torn City.
The back alley known as Fergus Road was my final destination.
After walking deep into the narrow alleyway, shops with somewhat muted colors began to appear.