Chapter 44
44
Bune became gloomy and silent when I tilted my head.
Why is she depressed again? I wondered what to do with this timid demon, and poked a strawberry with my fork.
I put it in my mouth with plenty of whipped cream, and the sweet and sour juice and savory, soft cream harmonized, making my mouth ecstatic.
'I don't think I'll ever get tired of eating about a hundred of these.'
Just as I put the last remaining strawberry in my mouth with a regretful heart, the door burst open.
It was Isaac.
"Let's go see the present!"
Present?
Henri, who came in after him, said, "Don't startle her," and gently wiped the whipped cream from my mouth.
"What's the present?"
When I asked that, Isaac chuckled like a mischievous boy.
I felt strangely uneasy.
I went to see the present with Henri and Isaac, glancing at them every now and then.
Ears as a present? ...That's not likely.
Children's Day has passed, so it won't be a toy either.
My birthday is still far away.
Then what present are they talking about?
After arriving at my destination, I confirmed that my anxiety was not wrong.
In front of the Duke, numerous vassals were kneeling and bowing their heads.
"Please kill us, Little Miss!"
"Please spare us, Little Miss!"
On one side, they were clamoring to be killed, and on the other side, they were begging to be spared.
I stood frozen, only turning my eyes to look at the Duke, Henri, and Isaac.
The Duke looked at me with eyes asking if I liked it, and Isaac had a proud expression.
"Igo moya...?"
"Those bastards who made a fuss about adopting Cattleya Willston last time."
At Isaac's proud answer, I looked back at the kneeling vassals.
They were the vassals I had seen in the audience chamber the day I summoned Bune.
Some had wounds and bruises. Most of them were fine, but their faces were pale yellow, as if they would faint if touched.
"Gu-gunikka ige... (So this is...)"
When I muttered, Isaac said, "Ah," and smiled brightly.
"Are a few missing? That's right, exactly three are missing. Two are in the torture chamber, and one is hung on the castle as an example."
Henri continued.
"The one who was hung is still alive. But it looks like it'll be over soon."
Before going to the Temple, I hit Cattleya and implicated the vassals. I expected it then. That the vassals would pay dearly for that day.
But I never wanted it to be this bad.
"Gongzhanmi. And Annie, Ishak."
When I muttered quietly, the three of them looked at me.
"Yes."
"Should we have just cut off all their heads?"
At Isaac's excited words, the vassals' faces turned white.
"No!"
I frowned and said.
"Jugimyeon mieo. (If you kill them, I'll hate you.)"
The three of them flinched.
"I don't like this. I don't like the present. Tell the vassals to go home!"
Enlightenment had arrived.
The kneeling vassals were deeply moved by LeBlaine, who made the Duke and his miniature versions helpless.
Two days ago, after LeBlaine left for the Temple, the Territory of Dubled was devastated.
Those involved in the Cattleya Willston incident were all dragged to the castle.
[Y-Your Grace. How could you do this?]
When someone barely managed to speak, trembling, Henri smiled sweetly and looked around at them.
[Isn't it a capital crime to try to swallow up the family by making a collateral relative the head?]
[N-No way. We just couldn't bear to see the Child of Destiny, who is like a puppet of the Temple, in charge of the inner palace, so we thought it would be better to have a relative, Young Lady Willston...!]
At his words, the vassals agreed in unison.
They had been presumptuous.
Surely, he couldn't do anything to all the people in the hall.
They were all descendants of prestigious families with jurisdictions, and they had served Dubled for a long time, so they couldn't be easily touched...
[Kuaaak-!]
...or so they thought.
Until one of the elders had his wrist cut off before their eyes.
Five years after Theodore Dubled inherited the position of head of the family. The vassals, who had become accustomed to peace, finally realized.
That this man was a ruthless person who slaughtered his brothers and even dragged down his strong predecessor.
[Your heads are high.]
When the Duke spoke languidly, the vassals, their faces pale, immediately slammed their heads to the floor.
And this was the result.
The Duke and his miniature versions had been attaching all sorts of charges for days.
[Embezzlement of funds from the relief center]
It was only 3 francs.
[Accepting bribes in the shopping district]
The florist had insisted on giving him a tulip for his wife.
[Refusal to attend court]
It was only one day.
The charges were absurd, but they were enough to make the vassals shudder.
It meant that the Duke knew everything, even the trivial things that they themselves had forgotten and that no one else knew.
In other words, all the vassals were within the Duke's sight.
Listing trivial charges on purpose was a sign to confess voluntarily. It meant that if he started to investigate properly, even their in-laws and distant relatives wouldn't be safe.
They wondered if they had no choice but to die like this.
But...
"But, Little Miss, those guys pushed you around."
When Isaac said, flustered, LeBlaine said firmly.
"Gureon georu saram jugimyeon an dae. (You can't kill people for that.)"
Henri, who was next to her, tried to persuade the child.
"A cog that has gone wrong once must be taken out and destroyed. That's how it works properly, LeBlaine."
"People are not things."
The Duke called out, "LeB," and reached out his hand.
"Sileo."
"Why!"
LeBlaine looked around at the three people who were restless and frowned.
"I won't play with Gongzhanmi, Annie, and Ishak."
"...!"
"...!"
"...!"
The vassals were shocked to see the three people, who were as stiff as if they had heard a thunderbolt.
'Ah, Little Miss...'
The saying that she was the Child of Destiny who would bring hope was not a lie.
How could our Little Miss be so benevolent!
The vassals were safely released.
In front of the castle, it was noisy with the cries of families whose children, husbands and wives, and parents were worried about dying.
"Oh, you fool! I told you to go on a dragon subjugation rather than stand up to His Grace!"
"Honey, wife! I was worried you would die... Heueuk!"
"Father, are you okay? Your wrist is dangling? I'm so glad your head isn't dangling!"
Bune seemed dissatisfied when she saw them.
[Why are you sparing those who deserve to die?]
'They didn't deserve to die.'
They didn't abuse children like Teramore, or forcibly take women like Urso.
And above all, I understood why the vassals tried to drive me out.
Some may have tried to get favors by registering Cattleya in the main family, but at the bottom of it all, there was definitely loyalty to Dubled.
I am the Child of Destiny established by the Temple, so it is certainly dangerous for me to take full control of the inner palace.
Above all, if Dubled's status was swayed by the orders of a commoner child called a fake, it would plummet.
'Besides, if I killed them all, the Chairman of the Council would have stepped in, right?'
Jean-Marc Nuanok, the Duke Dubled's greatest rival.
[Who is that person?]
'Um, to put it simply... a very scary person?'
The predecessor, who was famous for his tyranny, yielded to the Council, not only because they had worked for him.
The bigger reason was that the Chairman of the Council was Jean-Marc Nuanok.
Nuanok, who had been with Dubled since its opening, had close ties with the nobles of The Capital, and the Temple prioritized his words over those of the Duke Dubled.
[Why does a vassal have such power?]
'When you're the Chairman, you're not just a vassal. You're the second-in-command of Dubled.'
Moreover, in the near future, he will completely collude with the Temple and boast an even more powerful force.
'But why is he so quiet these days?'
He should have stepped in already at other times.
Just as I was worrying, the Duke Dubled, who were watching my mood, asked quietly.
"Little Miss, are you still angry...?"
"LeBlaine, shall we take a walk on a nice day?"
I, who was sitting sprawled on the sofa, only moved my eyes slightly to look at them.
The two of them became gloomy.
"From now on, you won't hang people recklessly, right?"
The two people, whose faces brightened, quickly ran over.
"I won't hang them!"
"Yeah."
I sighed and jumped off the sofa.
"Then let's go for a walk."
"Shall we go to the garden?"
"How about the greenhouse?"
I left the room with the Dukes, who seemed to be wagging invisible tails, on either side of me.
The two of them bickered a few times and decided on the garden as the place to take a walk.
This was because Isaac strongly insisted that there was a flower he wanted to show me.
I was surprised when I went out to the garden.
"Wow-!"
The flower bed where tulips had been blooming a few days ago was now full of primroses and violets.
Primroses and violets, which are wildflowers, were hard to see in the flower beds of nobles. Most of them preferred expensive and labor-intensive flowers like tulips.
But I like simple wildflowers better. Especially violets, which are my favorite flowers.
"Leubu likes these flowers."
Isaac became proud.
"I knew it and told them to plant them!"
"Thank you."
When I smelled the flowers with excitement, Henri chuckled.
"What's wrong with the idiot doing something commendable for once?"
"I'm not an idiot."
"Okay, I'll acknowledge it today. I don't know about tomorrow."
The brothers started bickering again, so I pulled on their sleeves.
Then, I made flower rings for Henri and Isaac, who were squatting next to me.
I was trying to divert their attention before they started fighting in earnest.
Isaac was interested in the flower ring as intended.
"Little Miss, how do you know how to do this when you're so small?"
"I learned it at the orphanage."
Isaac looked curious as to why they taught how to make flower rings at the orphanage.
I said, removing a small piece of dry grass attached to the stem of the flower ring.
"Nobles give their babies rings when they are born, right?"
"Yeah. A ruby ring."
It meant to grow up healthy until the day they wore the family seal.
"Commoners make flower rings and put them on their fingers like this. The orphanage babies don't have mothers, so the older kids at the orphanage make them and put them on."
"Why do commoners give flower rings that aren't worth any money? It's annoying."
"Because they love them."
It meant that even if they couldn't give their child an expensive ruby ring like the nobles, their love for their child was the same as the nobles.
"So that's why they teach the kids how to make flower rings at the orphanage... Huh?"
The two of them weren't even listening to my story and were staring intently at the flower rings I had made for them.
"If a flower ring means 'I love you'..."
"Since LeBlaine gave this to us..."
"She..."
Then their faces turned red and they hugged the hands with the flower rings on them.
