Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Next was Henri's turn.
He wasn't as fierce as Isaac, but he certainly had outstanding talent.
Henri also emitted aura.
Rather, he handled aura more delicately than Isaac.
However, when his training partner was replaced, he couldn't exert his strength at all.
Henri's new opponent was an old man with graying hair.
Even though he was much weaker than the previous young opponent, Henri fell to the floor several times.
'Is he going easy on him because he's an old soldier?'
The opponent seemed to think so too, as he frowned and shouted at Henri.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Henri quickly got up and avoided the old soldier's attack, but soon his pupils dilated as he saw something, and his face turned pale. Soon, the child lowered his head, and at the same time, the sword fell from his hand with a thud.
The old soldier stood firmly on the ground and raised his wooden sword.
'He's going to get hurt!'
"Henwi, no! (Henri, no!)"
I screamed and quickly dashed between the old soldier and Henri, spreading my arms in front of Henri.
"Don't hit Henwi! (Don't hit Henri!)"
"Young Lady, this is a fair match, so..."
The old soldier said with an awkward smile, but I frowned.
"Henwi didn't gwasp the sword. He was wooking at the gwound. (Henri didn't grasp the sword. He was looking at the ground.)"
"..."
"It's not a match when Gwandpa is angwy and hits Henwi. (It's not a match when Grandpa is angry and hits Henri.)"
The old soldier flinched and looked at the sword Henri had dropped.
"Oh... I think I got too excited."
The old soldier reached out to help Henri up.
But Henri didn't take his hand and stood up on his own, staggering.
Henri left the training ground, and I quickly followed the child and hugged his arm.
"What are you doing."
"Henwi, you'we huwt. Let's put medicine on it. (Henri, you're hurt. Let's put medicine on it.)"
"I'm fine."
"Awe you scawed of the doctow? No, the doctow Gwandpa is a kind person. (Are you scared of the doctor? No, the doctor Grandpa is a kind person.)"
He was always kind when he treated me when I was sick. He's easygoing and kind, so he's not scary at all.
"There's no way I'd be scared of a doctor! I just hate old people-!"
The child, who was shouting like that, flinched and closed his mouth.
I stopped abruptly on the street and stared at him.
'Hates old people... could it be.'
I knew the hidden circumstances of Dubled because I had lived as a Duke's Young Lady for several regressions.
Dubled was a wealthy family with wealth, power, and fame on the surface, but the inside was a terrible den of demons.
If you receive one, you lose one. Dubled was a world where everything was a cold transaction.
For generations, the children of Dubled had to give up the warm care of their parents in exchange for enjoying the abundant wealth accumulated by their predecessors.
The direct descendants of Dubled are raised by the head of the family and his close aides as soon as they are born. They can only meet their parents on a few anniversaries at most.
It was a system to instill absolute loyalty to the head of the family from a young age and to designate the most outstanding person as the successor.
And the three sons, who are the children of the current Duke Dubled, were all raised by him until the predecessor died.
'That scary old man.'
Duke Amitié, my father in the first life, shuddered whenever he mentioned the predecessor of Dubled.
[Cain Dubled is a terrible fellow. Isn't he a devil who murdered his second son, Chris, in front of his grandson? Do you know why he killed him? Just because he was a cripple. He killed his own flesh and blood because he didn't need a flawed child.]
What if Henri was the grandson who was with him when the predecessor killed his second son?
'Then he has no choice but to be traumatized by the old man.'
I bit my lip.
Yes, no matter how smart he is, he was just a child.
An child who regards having a trauma to an old man as a flaw, and has the obsession that if he has a flaw, he will die.
And Henri must have been hiding the abuse because of that obsession.
'The Duke didn't know about the abuse because Henri was hiding it so thoroughly.'
Teramore would have known about Henri's obsession. So he dared to abuse the Duke's bloodline without hesitation.
He's a really nasty old geezer.
'So what do I do now?'
The wise thing to do is just keep my mouth shut.
Would people believe a young child if I revealed it?
Unlike the previous incidents in Dubled, this one involved a vassal.
The people here have seen Teramore for much longer than me.
Of course, their trust in him would be higher.
'Everything I've built up so far could collapse.'
It was an issue that could even lead to talk of disownment if I made a mistake.
Then I would have to repeat my previous unhappy life.
But-
Henri's hand was trembling. I couldn't turn away from the child who was pale as if he was about to die.
'I don't like this young body. It's troublesome because my conscience hasn't disappeared yet.'
I worked hard to stand on tiptoe and stroked Henri's head. Then the startled child pushed my hand away.
"What are you doing."
I looked at the prickly Henri and sighed.
"What on earth..."
"I'll pwotect you, Henwi. (I'll protect you, Henri.)"
Then Henri narrowed his brows with a look that asked if I had eaten something wrong.
I have no choice but to protect you. So repay the favor by not bothering me while I'm here.
The next day, I pestered Leah to go to the Duke's office.
When I peeked my face through the crack in the door, Noth, who was with the Duke, called out, "Young Lady." and approached me.
He bent his knees to meet my eyes and asked as if he was glad to see me.
"What brings you here?"
To dig up information about Teramore.
You need to know your enemy to come up with a plan to defeat them. But I couldn't get deep information from my room, which is only frequented by employees.
'In that case, I have to go to someone who has a lot of information.'
The Duke Dubled, who owns one of the best intelligence agencies in the Empire.
"I wanted to see Gongzhanmi."
Noth, who was clutching his heart as he watched me fidgeting with my hands, groaned, "After all, a daughter is the best..."
Then he picked me up and headed to the Duke.
"The Young Lady has arrived."
"She can't stand to be away from me."
"Shall I take care of her then?"
When Noth asked, looking at me with a beaming face, the Duke quickly snatched me away and quickly sat me on his lap.
I put my hand on the table and peeked up to steal a glance at the Duke's documents.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
I was trying to spy on the information of the Duke's vassals, but I quickly made an excuse because I was preemptively pricked.
"Gongzhanmi's handwriting is pwetty. Amazing~! (Duke's handwriting is pretty. Amazing~!)"
"You're admiring something that's not a big deal."
Then Noth chuckled and replied.
"She doesn't know how to write yet, so it must seem amazing."
The Duke picked up a blank piece of paper from one side of the desk.
Then he put a pen in my hand and covered the back of my hand with his big, warm hand.
I wondered what he was going to do, but it seemed like he was going to hold my hand and write for me on the blank paper.
My hand didn't move well, so it was written a little crookedly, but I could recognize the letters at a glance.
<LeBlaine>
And one more time.
<LeBlaine Dubled>
"Can you read it?"
"It's Leubu's name. (It's LeBlaine's name.)"
"The maids often wrote it for her, so she remembered it."
At Noth's words, the Duke chuckled and stroked my head.
'I was worried about what would happen if I came all the way to the office and he didn't like it, but it seems like he's not in a bad mood. That's a relief.'
The Duke really didn't mind having me by his side while he worked.
I stayed quiet so as not to be a hindrance, and eavesdropped on various stories.
"How is the establishment of the advisory body progressing?"
"We plan to inform the vassals of the contents today."
"Okay."
Most of them were headache-inducing stories about politics or power struggles.
But there were also helpful stories.
A vacancy was created in the position of Elder, so the Council of Elders was planning to elect a new Elder.
The candidates were Teramore and Baron Misengke, who was at odds with Teramore.
'If this goes well, I can get away with it without lifting a finger.'
I smiled slyly.
That afternoon.
I pretended to be out playing and killed time in the garden in front of the entrance where many people passed by.
I sat on Leah's lap and played with picking flowers, and stole a glance at her wristwatch.
'It's four o'clock now...'
Baron Misengke was scheduled to meet with the Duke at four thirty, so he would pass through the gate around this time.
I stretched my neck and waited, wondering when he would come, and then someone entered the gate.
Chestnut brown curly hair, drooping eyes, a plump figure in his mid-thirties. And a scar under his chin.
It was exactly like Baron Misengke's description.
I hugged Leah's shoulder and said.
"It's cowd. (It's cold.)"
"Shall we go inside then?"
"No, I'm going to give this to Nyeah before I go."
When I showed her the flower crown I was making, Leah clasped her cheeks and was moved, saying, "You're going to give it to me?!"
Leah looked around and confirmed that there were guards in the distance, and then she got up.
"I'll go get a coat and a blanket."
"Okay."
As soon as Leah hurried towards the castle, Baron Misengke crossed the gate and entered.
He was about to go straight to the main castle, but he found me and turned his steps towards me.
"I meet the famous Child of Destiny here. I am Karn Misengke."
"I'm Leub. Hello."
When I greeted him as childishly as possible, he scanned me up and down.
He seemed curious about what I had used to attract the Duke's interest and be adopted.
"What were you doing here? It's chilly."
That's right, I was waiting for that question.
I smiled and said.
"Waiting for Tewah Gwandpa. (Waiting for Terah Grandpa.)"
"Teramore?"
As expected, his expression wasn't good as soon as Teramore's name came out.
"Leub is going to take cwasses with Henwi and Izakku too. (LeBlaine is going to take classes with Henri and Isaac too.)"
Baron Misengke's lips twisted at my words that I was waiting to ask him to let me take classes together.
"Everyone is misunderstanding. Teramore is an old man who is not qualified to teach the direct descendants of Dubled. His family is humble, his knowledge is not very broad, and-"
When I deliberately blinked my eyes, Baron Misengke explained it easily.
"I mean, there's nothing to learn from Teramore."
"No, Gwandpa is smawt. (No, Grandpa is smart.)"
"What words did that guy use to coax you..."
"He said I'm going to wear a weally cool wobe now too."
It was referring to the deep crimson robe worn by the Great Elders representing the Dubled Council of Elders.
'Misengke, that robe that you're also aiming for.'
When I raised my arm and spoke, Baron Misengke's expression changed immediately.
"Did he say that?"
"Yeah. Leub heard him talking to another vassal ajusshi."
"That's ridiculous. That position is...!"
"But he said everything was settled. He said he was going to give the wobe to Gwandpa."
"Could it be that the Chairman..."
I drove a wedge into Misengke, whose face had hardened.
"He said he was going to watch the idiot who thought the robe was his shed tears of blood together."
At that moment, the pronunciation was correct for a child's speech, but Misengke didn't seem to feel any strangeness.
The veins bulged on Misengke's hand, which was clutching his pants.
