Chapter 40

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: I Will Prove My Worth. (1)
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Eastern Duke Russell White stopped before the drawing-room.

As the chamberlain was about to knock, he raised a hand to stop him.

Russell gazed silently at the closed door.
‘If I open this door…’
Russell had sent Rachel over a hundred letters, by his own count. By the time Ariana was old enough to read, he had written to her too. Over fifty times, probably.

But he had never received a single reply.

The last letter he sent was seven years ago.
"I wish to meet Ariana. If you set the time and place that is convenient for you, I will adjust to it."

In his heart, he longed to rush to the Bronte Ducal Estate where Rachel lived, but his strained relationship with the Western Duke made it impossible for him to enter the Western Territory freely.

To meet Ariana, Rachel's help was essential.

But if even this was refused, he resolved that he would somehow go to the Western Territory and see Ariana. As if she had divined his thoughts, Rachel sent a reply for the very first time.
"Ariana does not wish to meet Your Highness. Ariana regards my husband as her father and is doing well. If she were to meet Your Highness, wouldn't it strain the relationship between Ariana and Duke Bronte?

The Western Territory is where Ariana will live her life. Are you truly considering disrupting Ariana's life because of your own desires, Your Highness?

Your Highness's continued letters are making my husband uncomfortable. Duke Bronte has always regarded Ariana as his daughter, but every time Your Highness sends a letter, he is reminded that Ariana is Your Highness's daughter.

If you truly cherish Ariana, wouldn't setting aside your longing for her sake also be a father's love?"
When he read that reply, his heart plummeted.

So that was it. He had been so consumed by longing that he hadn't considered Ariana's perspective.

For Ariana, who had left the Eastern Territory immediately after birth, the Western Territory would be her homeland, and the Bronte Ducal Estate her home.

Duke Jacob Bronte, not Russell whom she couldn't even remember, would be her father.

He had yearned to see Ariana, longed for the small, lovely warmth he had felt just once when he held her, and so he had failed to consider Ariana's feelings.

So he had given up.

He yearned to see her so much that he wished she would appear even in his dreams, but if it negatively impacted Ariana's life, it was a wish he had to abandon.
‘If I open this door.’
Ariana, whom he had longed for so deeply, was there.

The moment Ariana was born, the moment he held her small, fragile body in his arms, felt as vivid as if it had happened just yesterday.

The affection he hadn't given, the words he hadn't spoken, overflowed in his chest.

Russell took a deep breath, then nodded towards the chamberlain.

The chamberlain knocked.
"Eastern Duke Russell White and the Former Eastern Duke and Duchess are entering."
After a brief wait, a delicate voice was heard.
"Yes."
The door opened.

Russell swallowed dryly, trying to relax his eyes, and strode into the drawing-room.

A small girl, who had risen from the sofa, caught his eye.

The girl, with light blue hair, fair skin, and deep blue eyes, was gazing directly at Russell.

Russell was about to raise his arms to embrace Ariana, as his father had suggested, but before he could, Ariana bowed respectfully.
"I greet Your Highness, the Eastern Duke, and the Former Eastern Duke. I am Ariana."
A low, soft, yet resolute voice stopped Russell in his tracks.

A clear line was drawn, etched between Russell and Ariana.

Russell stood awkwardly, gazing at his daughter, who felt more distant than his own vassals.

Her hands held her skirt, her knees were slightly bent, and her head was deeply bowed. Her expression was hidden beneath her flowing hair, impossible to discern.

Ariana remained in that posture, as if waiting for Russell to acknowledge her greeting.
"Raise your head."
Only then did Ariana straighten her posture. She clasped her hands in front of her, stood politely, and directed her gaze towards Russell's chin, as if she dared not look directly at the Eastern Duke's face.

This was not the reunion Russell had envisioned.

Ariana was acting like a commoner encountering a high-ranking noble on the street.

But it wasn't Ariana's fault.

A father she had never met would naturally make her uncomfortable.

How could he make this child feel at ease?

If it were his gentle second son, Jadie, or his cheerful youngest, Pelos, they would quickly put Ariana at ease, but Russell lacked their knack.
"Your Highness, the Eastern Duke. Please forgive my sudden visit."
As if misunderstanding Russell's silence, Ariana sought forgiveness.

That's not it.

He was pondering how to soften his voice, worried that anything he said might sound like a reprimand, when Ariana spoke again.
"I have no intention of claiming my rights now, simply because I am of Your Highness's blood. However, if you would grant me a small room in Chase Castle, I will assist Your Highness with all my resources and efforts."
Every single word that flowed from Ariana's lips pierced Russell's heart like a knife.

Only then did Ariana's appearance truly register in Russell's eyes.

In his joy at finally meeting Ariana, he hadn't even noticed her condition.

A tattered, frayed dress, a body so thin it seemed she hadn't eaten well, a physique smaller than her peers, and the faint traces of old bruises on her forearms visible beneath her sleeves, along with yellowish, cracked fingernails.

Russell had seen children in such a state before.

Children who were abused by their parents or masters looked like this.
‘Why?’
He was bewildered.
‘Why is Ariana in such a state, like those children?’
There was only one reason, but he didn't want to admit it.

No matter how cruel Rachel was, he didn't want to believe she had abused her own daughter to this extent.

Russell, feeling as if he'd been struck from behind, remained speechless, but Ariana continued.
"I know that Your Highness has fallen out of favor with His Imperial Majesty because of the Western Duke of the Western Territory. I have a clever plan to reverse this situation..."

"Child."
At that moment, Theodore, the Former Eastern Duke, cut Ariana off.

Ariana looked at Theodore with a startled expression, as if she had never been called "child" in her entire life.

Russell, simply intoxicated by the joy of meeting his daughter, hadn't noticed, but the Former Eastern Duke and Duchess had realized Ariana's condition the moment they saw her.
"Before we discuss such matters, it would be best for you to wash and eat, wouldn't it?"

"Thank you for your consideration. But before that, I wish to prove my worth."
Caradine couldn't bear to keep watching Ariana speak so clearly and precisely, so she turned her head away.

For that young child to try to prove her worth just to stay here.
"I want to show you that it is safe to allow me into Chase Castle."
Theodore frowned, and Ariana's heart sank.
‘Did I say something wrong? I thought I acted like a child.’
Ariana had never lived like a child, so she didn't know how to act like one.

The closest she had seen children were Helena and Victoria, and she couldn't imitate Helena, so she had mimicked Victoria.

She thought she had done well enough, but both the Eastern Duke and the Former Eastern Duke and Duchess had worn grim expressions from the moment they entered the drawing-room.

Russell's gaze had been cold throughout, and the Former Eastern Duke and Duchess had been frowning.

The atmosphere suggested that she might be expelled without even staying a day if she made a single mistake, so she thought proving her usefulness was paramount.

When the Former Eastern Duke called her "child," she was surprised as she had never been addressed so kindly before, but the mention of a meal made her tense up.

It seemed they couldn't just send her away now that she was here, so they intended to feed her before dismissing her.
"I have no connection to the Western Territory. I did not come here under the orders of the Western Duke or Duchess Bronte, but I understand it's difficult to believe simply because I say so. Therefore..."
Ariana couldn't finish her sentence.

It was because Caradine, who had suddenly approached, tightly embraced Ariana.

A pleasant scent emanated.

The scent was so sweet and warm that Ariana almost burst into tears without realizing it.

But then a question arose.
‘Why is she hugging me like this?’
No one had ever hugged Ariana in such a way before.
‘She’s never even seen me before.’
Suspicion arose.
‘What does she want from me?’
Everyone who had ever been kind to Ariana had always had an ulterior motive, so she couldn't help but be suspicious this time too.

Ariana, who had lived a life where trusting kindness only led to being exploited, had no emotional capacity to purely accept another's affection.
"Child, it's alright."
The elderly lady stroked Ariana's hair.
"Everything is alright, so let's rest first, shall we?"
+++
After much coaxing and comforting, they entrusted Ariana to the head maid. The head maid led Ariana away to guide her to the bath.

A heavy silence settled in the drawing-room after Ariana left.

Russell's complexion was pale as he stared blankly at the drawing-room door.

Soon, his red lips parted, and a cracked, hoarse voice emerged.
"The bruises on her arm..."

"It seems she was abused."
Caradine said.
"Severely."
At her firm addition, Russell's broad shoulders trembled.
"Abused... By whom, exactly?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Rachel is her birth mother, though..."

"You know, don't you? There aren't only good parents in the world."

"The letters clearly said she was doing well..."

"It was our mistake to simply believe those words and leave her be. It seems a great deal has happened to that child while we remained confined to the Eastern Territory. I'll need to investigate."
The elderly lady, who had once traversed battlefields alongside her husband, regained her formidable demeanor after a long time and left the drawing-room with a grim expression.

Russell collapsed onto the sofa. He bent forward at the waist and stared at the table. His blue eyes were filled with painful sorrow.
"She was too small."
Theodore, who had been standing with a somber expression, replied.
"Yes. And too thin."

"To prove her worth..."
Her mature manner of speaking, unbefitting a child, and her elegant posture overflowing with dignity, became a blade that cut Russell's heart. Her shining eyes, so unlike a child's, struck Russell painfully.

Russell vividly remembered what his nieces and nephews were like at Ariana's age, and how they spoke. He had often imagined how Ariana might be living, based on their appearances.

But Ariana's appearance defied Russell's imagination.

The thought of how much painstaking effort a child must have put in to achieve such an demeanor made his heart ache unbearably.
"If her own mother abused her, then there's no telling what others might have done. I can only imagine what the Western Territory was like for Ariana. Seeing her in that state, she must have run away because she wanted to live."

"What kind of parent in this world would do that to a child!"
Russell shot to his feet, shouting fiercely. The ferocious aura he possessed when traversing battlefields emanated from his entire being.

Theodore calmly watched his son and spoke.
"Her mother abused her, and her father neglected her. To that child, parents are such untrustworthy beings that she's been made to believe she might be abandoned at any moment if she doesn't prove her worth."