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“Adopted Daughter” Role Too Well Done 012 Episode One Hour Ago.

Duchess Isabella noticed something strange.

Today, Bichen seemed much more spirited than usual.

It was odd, yet it felt good.

Duchess Isabella sat down in her chair.

“Bichen, you seem spirited today.”

“Yes.”

Right after the whipping ended, Bichen was kneeling.

“Have you finally steeled your heart?”

Duchess Isabella examined her palm.

Blood had gathered.

It stung and burned, but that was fine.

Bichen seemed to have matured a bit.

Isabella smiled in satisfaction.

“Bichen, you will become a lion.”

In the distant future, you must devour me.

Only then can you truly become the master of Bellatu.

“You must become even more ruthless than now.”

“I understand. Can I get up now?”

“Of course.”

As Bichen stood up, Duchess Isabella smiled benevolently.

“You may put on your clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yes. Today’s discipline ends here.”

Bichen pondered for a moment.

“Hmmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Bichen glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

She didn’t care that the clock was a product of magical engineering, precise to a tenth of a second, crafted by the renowned master Kuma.

She only observed the second hand’s movement.

“Mother, you should sleep now.”

It was already 1 AM.

The whippings had started at 10 PM, so she had endured them for several hours.

Duchess Isabella felt something was off again.

Bichen had never acted this way before.

‘Bichen used to wish to stay with me, even while being punished.’

Bichen loved her mother, Duchess Isabella, strangely much.

Even when being whipped.

She still preferred to be together.

Yet now, she urged her to go quickly.

Duchess Isabella sensed something.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

“Yes.”

Bichen chuckled. Duchess Isabella’s eyebrows twitched.

It was because she saw Bichen’s expression brighten.

“Who could our son be waiting for? It couldn’t be an older brother or sister.”

Definitely not the father, so there was only one choice left.

Lately, Bichen seemed particularly interested in the adopted daughter, Viola, whom the Duke brought from the slum.

‘Viola?’

Duchess Isabella smiled faintly.

“You’re waiting for your little sister, aren’t you?”

“Hmm.”

Bichen took a moment to think. Should she honestly tell her mother? There was no reason not to, but it felt oddly like she shouldn’t.

Yet, when she thought about it, there was no reason to lie. Bichen, after a moment of consideration, replied.

“Yes, Viola.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun to play with her.”

Isabella had vaguely heard Zeno’s reports.

She also had an inherent desire to dominate and ambitions toward the absolute.

‘She has the madness that is essential for Bellatu.

‘And she possesses the rationality to control that madness.

With the quality of mana included, her killing talent was said to be beyond imagination.

‘She must be an exceptional child.’

Since the Duke recognized and brought her, she must indeed be special.

“There’s a rumor that she’s a remarkable child. So what should our son do?”

“He must die.”

“Exactly.”

Duchess Isabella approached Bichen closely.

Holding the injured Bichen tightly, she brushed back Bichen’s golden hair.

“Your competitor?”

Bichen smiled brightly.

“I will thoroughly dismantle them!”

“Exactly.”

Bichen was still nestled in Duchess Isabella’s embrace.

Bichen looked up.

“Mother.”

“What?”

“I like it when you hold me.”

Bichen, who was giggling, lost her center.

“Still, don’t let your guard down, my son.”

Duchess Isabella took two steps back from Bichen.

Bichen collapsed.

Bichen’s pupils went dilated.

“If I were your competitor, you would be dead. The most fearsome enemy is the one you give your heart to. You must not give your heart to anyone.”

Duchess Isabella extended her hand.

The butler, Zeno, standing behind Bichen, offered a white cloth.

Duchess Isabella rubbed her nails with the cloth. The white cloth turned dark. It was poison.

“It’s discipline.”

Duchess Isabella looked down at the collapsed Bichen.

“Don’t be careless. Always carry the poison in your heart.”

…Yes, Mother. I’m sorry.”

“If you make a mistake, my heart will ache too much.”

Bichen lost consciousness.

Duchess Isabella roughly wiped her eyes with the poison-stained cloth.

Her eyes turned bright red, and tears of blood began to flow.

Her eyes burned intensely.

This was punishment for her.

For not raising Bichen to be strong enough.

She gazed blankly at the unconscious Bichen.

“This mother has an obligation and duty to raise you to be strong.”

If it meant raising her son to be strong, she could do even worse feats every day.

That’s what she believed was a mother’s great love.

*

“Coming from the slum, a lowly person of unknown lineage dares to speak so nobly about not associating with your esteemed son.”

Hearing that, Zeno almost burst out laughing without realizing it.

“Indeed, our princess.”

He hadn’t expected her to retort like that.

To boldly counter such rudeness in the face of the momentum Duchess Isabella was exuding…

Duchess Isabella laughed heartily.

“Did it sound that way to you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad you heard it that way.

But that wasn’t exactly it.”

Duchess Isabella continued nonchalantly.

“I wasn’t saying not to associate; I was saying I would gift you a white flower.”

It referred to the white chrysanthemum.

The flower that Tundra had placed on his father’s grave.

The white flower signified death.

In simpler terms, it was a warning of death.

“Did you understand? I’m not sure if those living in such lowly places sleep alongside flowers.”

“Not lowly, but they are rather poor.”

“Isn’t it the same?”

“There’s a difference. You can be noble even in poverty, and you can be base even in wealth.”

“Anyhow, is it true that the poor also sleep alongside flowers?”

“The poor also commemorate death.”

Just like Tundra did.

“You’re being extravagant. That the mere act of buying a flower for a deceased person is something the Duchesses consider luxury.”

…….

“They may be poor, but at least they wouldn’t make their son like this.”

Ah-rin was a bit angry.

Ah-rin wanted to have a family.

A Mom and Dad, like everyone else. She wanted them too.

Not having those people like everyone else made things truly hard and lonely.

For her, family held a very special meaning.

More precious than a rare gem she wanted but couldn’t have.

Isabella sneered.

“Perhaps others have no right to comment on the way a mother loves her son?”

“Are they really outsiders?”

Viola got closer to Bichen.

The small back barely able to bear the sight of such painful wounds.

“We have become siblings, Mother.”

“I hope you don’t cross the line, my daughter.”

“It seems like you are the one crossing the line.”

Viola squatted down.

Bichen was gradually regaining her senses.

Viola’s voice faintly reached her.

“Winter Castle. Every child under ten years old is entitled to protection.

If the mother, one of the mistresses of Winter Castle, breaks that absolute law, I wonder how those below will think.”

“Discipline is perfectly fine.”

“Let’s wait and see if it really is.”

Viola glanced back.

“Zeno, you have the magical recording device, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, my princess.”

“Record it.”

At that moment.

Duchess Isabella moved.

Skipping past Viola, she grabbed Zeno’s neck.

Viola momentarily screamed inwardly.

‘What, how is she so fast?’

It felt like she was moving, melting into the shadows.

Such movements.

Though she knew through text, seeing it with her own eyes was terrifying.

Indeed, the one with the real power in this household. Duchess Isabella.

Gulp.

‘This is madness.

If I make a tiny mistake, I might really lose my neck.

Isabella’s nails dug into Zeno’s neck.

“Stop it, Butler Zeno.”

A few drops of blood flowed from Zeno’s neck.

But Zeno just smiled gently.

“I’m sorry, but… I am someone who takes orders from the princess.”

He pulled out the magical recording device with his right hand.

It resembled a modern camera.

Viola smiled leisurely.

“I see you know this is wrong, given how desperately you’re trying to stop it.”

Zeno asked.

“Should I record it? But… it feels like my neck might get pierced. It’s already bleeding.”

“No, that’s fine. I can’t lose a butler.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Zeno put the recording device into the spatial pocket.

When Duchess Isabella released Zeno’s neck, he took out a cloth from his front pocket and wiped his neck.

He casually wiped his forehead, which showed no sweat.

“Phew. That was close.”

Duchess Isabella said.

“Our youngest daughter has a naughty side. The welcome banquet will be quite a spectacle.”

Viola lifted her skirt and bowed.

Thank you for your warm welcome in advance, Mother.”

In truth, she never intended to record anything in the first place.

That was just a bait.

What she was really aiming for was something else.

“But what to do? Bichen now knows this is wrong.”

Bichen’s body was wriggling.

That meant she had regained her senses. Even if she couldn’t raise her body, she would have heard everything.

“Right, brother?”

A groan of agreement was heard.

Nailed it.

“Don’t move. I’ll apply the ointment for you.”

As if understanding those words, Bichen’s body trembled.