Chapter 14
Episode 14
Meanwhile, the priest slumped down, and a Dubled knight dragged him by the scruff of his neck, throwing him into the carriage as if discarding him.
After entering the castle, the Dubled employees couldn't hide their delighted expressions.
"Oh, little miss. You've had a rough time."
The butler reached out to me, and I quickly hugged the Duke's neck.
"Ah, little miss..."
The old butler's eyes welled up.
It wasn't revenge for stopping Leah from trying to save me from the priest.
I'm already shy around strangers, and the priest's rough touch startled me so much that it brought back painful memories from before my regression.
Now, I'm even afraid of familiar adult men.
Above all, the memories from before my regression felt so real that I was overwhelmed, and I could only think like a complete child.
As the butler staggered back in shock and disappeared due to my rejection, Leah and the maids gathered around me.
The maids began to gently soothe me with kind voices.
"The master has just returned and needs to wash and purify his clothes."
"No."
"Be a good girl, okay?"
"No."
"Come on, little miss. This way."
"No!"
Just leave me alone. How can I calm down except in his arms? My heart is pounding.
It seems like it's because he was the one who saved me from that frightening situation.
The employees tried to pry me away from the Duke, but I struggled and clung to his neck.
Leah looked at me with a worried face and then glanced at the Duke.
"Um, Master... the little miss was very startled... and she's been wanting to see you the whole time. She's usually very gentle... um... today, or, half a day, or, even just a few hours..."
Leah pleaded desperately, as if she was about to bite her tongue. The Duke rested his chin on his hand and looked down at me.
"Get out. I'll take care of this one."
As soon as Leah's expression brightened, the Duke tilted up the corner of his lips.
"Really, how annoying."
"Pardon?"
"She likes me too much."
The Duke twitched his lips and asked.
"Isn't that so?"
Leah answered with an awkward face.
"Ah, yes... that's... right."
I stared at the Duke with a dumbfounded expression.
Anyone would think I was constantly acting spoiled, demanding to be with the Duke.
As I thought that, the employees rushed out like a receding tide.
Left alone with the Duke, I sighed, "Ahhyoh," and clung to him like a flying squirrel. My chubby cheeks squished up, distorting my face, but I felt relieved.
'Still, I'm grateful for today.'
If it weren't for Duke Dubled, I would have been adopted into the Valua family and repeated the misfortune of my second life.
As I peeked up at him, he was looking at me.
Suddenly, the words I had heard earlier came to mind.
[Get your hands off my daughter.]
My daughter.
He said my daughter.
'Then...'
I fidgeted with my hands and glanced at him.
"Can I stay here? Is it here too?)"
However, the Duke didn't answer. Was it just something he said because of his antipathy towards the Order that crossed the castle gates without permission?
I became anxious and began to mumble.
"I'll be able to wear socks soon... (If you wear it a little, the socks can become thin...))"
"......"
"I'll only eat a little bit of rice. (I'll just eat a little bit of rice.))"
"......"
"I'll be good. And, and... I will live carefully. And, and...)"
"Stay here."
I blinked, and he brushed the sweat-dampened hair behind my ear.
"I will adopt you."
It's strange. His expression is as indifferent as always, and his voice is dry, but why does it feel like there's something so soft contained within?
Crack, crack. The sound of firewood burning in the fireplace echoed softly in my ears.
The large hand stroking my back moved very gently.
The frost on the window slowly melted into the warmth of the room.
"Sleep."
"......"
"You can sleep, LeBlaine."
Like a lie, I fell into a slumber.
As I fell asleep like that, I missed the news that the butler brought to the Duke.
The news that the Dubled Dukes were heading here.
A few days later.
I lay on my stomach on the carpet, swinging my legs back and forth.
"Write it. Here, here! (Write it.) Here, here!)"
"Yes, yes. I'll write it for you."
Leah chuckled and grabbed a crayon.
<LeBlaine Dubled>
I held up the sketchbook and looked at my name with a blissful expression.
LeBlaine Dubled.
Dubled.
'I succeeded!'
I cheered inwardly.
When the priest arrived, I thought it was all over, but before I knew it, I had even received the Dubled surname and officially registered my name in the family register.
'The Dubleds are amazing.'
Even after breaking the arm of a Neriad Order priest, I was still successfully adopted.
It was none other than the Emperor who calmed down the priests who were foaming at the mouth, saying that the Child of Destiny could not be entrusted to such a violent Duke.
'He must have taken a bribe.'
Ah, the sweet taste of capital.
Now, goodbye to the nights of worrying about being dragged off to Valua or Amitie.
'I'll just grow up here for five years.'
Before Mina, the real Child of Destiny, appears and I'm left alone.
When I'm about ten years old, I'll be able to control my 'adult thoughts' and leave.
'Let's stay quiet and out of sight. And I need to save up some money for travel expenses.'
Just as I was about to put the sketchbook down, something shiny caught my eye.
A button on the maid's uniform was dangling from a loose thread.
"It's going to fall off. (To fall down.))"
"Oh my, it is. I need to sew it back on."
"Give me the button. (Button adjustment.))"
I politely put my hands together and drooped my eyebrows.
'Buttons can be sold for a decent amount of money.'
"The fallen button? Yes, I'll give it to you..."
As the maid answered, fiddling with the button, Leah shook her head with a stern expression.
"No. What if she puts it in her mouth?"
The maid smiled awkwardly at Leah's words.
"Ah... what should we do, little miss? You can't have the button."
Thirty high-quality buttons, like the ones on the Dubled uniform, would fetch a whopping 3 francs. That was enough to buy two potatoes.
Growing desperate, I went into attack mode.
With tearful, sparkling eyes, I neatly folded my hands and held them out.
"Give it to me. (It's two.))"
The maids, with determined expressions, tore off the threads of their skirts like soldiers going into battle.
Then, they threaded the buttonholes and tied them together. Then, they looked at Leah with eyes that said, 'Mission accomplished.'
"Now she won't be able to eat them."
This time, Leah couldn't say anything.
"Oh... uh, yeah, I guess not."
I was a little embarrassed, but I was glad that I could collect the buttons anyway.
'A good start.'
I need to put them in my elephant bag when the maids aren't looking.
Seeing me so excited about getting the buttons, Leah smiled helplessly.
At that moment, several pairs of shoes were seen moving quickly through the slightly open doorway.
"It's Count Teramore and his cronies. We're going to be busy."
"I wonder what fault they're here to find this time. Aren't they afraid of the master?"
"They're the founding contributors of the Dubleds, so the master can't easily dispose of them. In some ways, they're more difficult than blood relatives."
As the maids grumbled, Leah's gaze darkened.
"Take good care of the little miss. It's not good for her to be seen by them."
The maids bowed their heads.
After noon, the maids left to find their respective tasks.
"I'll bring your lunch. Can you be good?"
"Yes."
As soon as Leah left, I gained a moment of solitude.
'One, two, three... five buttons.'
I was counting the number of buttons I had collected today when I turned my head at a sudden feeling of being watched.
'Oh my!'
Outside the window, an old man with white hair and a white beard was staring at me with strange eyes.
'I thought it was a ghost.'
I pressed down on my pounding heart and looked at the window.
'Huh?'
But something was strange.
He was a grandfather I had seen somewhere before.
'Did I see him before my regression?'
The corners of the white-haired old man's mouth slowly moved into a smirk as he stared at me. As his rotten fangs were revealed, I unconsciously tensed up.
It was an unpleasant feeling, but strangely familiar.
'Where did I see him?'
As I struggled to remember the old man, a voice was heard from outside the window.
"Count Teramore."
Teramore was the person Leah and the maids had mentioned earlier.
The old man replied, keeping his eyes fixed on me.
"Yes."
"He conveyed that His Excellency is having difficulty making time due to excessive workload."
"Whenever this old man comes to visit, His Excellency is always so consistently overworked."
"Since you always come without notice, it must be difficult to make time separately."
The person talking to Count Teramore was Noth.
Noth's expression was more rigid than usual.
Count Teramore clicked his tongue and nodded.
"It can't be helped. Then, can I at least see the little miss before I leave?"
The old man, startled to see me inside the window, covered the window with his body and said.
"She's very shy. She's probably not even used to the Dubleds yet, so let's arrange a separate meeting later."
"I was hoping to smell the scent of a baby after a long time."
He chuckled and muttered, "What a shame," before leaving.
Noth lowered his head and sighed deeply, as if he had just gone through a major ordeal. In the meantime, I grabbed the window and stood on tiptoe.
As I poked my face out, Noth's eyes widened as he happened to look up.
"Hi! (Hello!))"
"Little miss..."
He smiled brightly.
Good, good. A child who greets well is popular with adults.
'Noth is a high-ranking person in the Dubleds, so should I try to win him over a little more?'
I stretched out my arms and shouted.
"Hold me. (Ana Jo.))"
"S, should I?"
He opened the window and scooped me up, and I clung to him tightly.
"It's a good day for a walk, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Did you have fun with the maids today too?"
"Yes-!"
As I answered loudly, he said excitedly.
"You answer so well. Good. I'll do something fun for the good little miss. Here, up, up!"
Noth lifted me high into the air.
'Oh, this is fun.'
I laughed gleefully.
At that moment.
"You look well."
A chilling voice was heard from behind Noth.
"Huk."
Noth froze in place, holding my sides.
"Y, Your Excellency."
"You look very happy. With my daughter."
