Crossing the Line in the Role of Adopted Daughter

In accordance with Princess Viola’s orders, Tundra was also provided with good accommodations and food.

Zeno knocked smartly and entered Tundra’s room.

In Zeno’s right hand, there was a silver tray.

“Here’s your food, little toy dog.”

“Call me Tundra.”

“Of course.”

Zeno smiled brightly.

He discovered a note on the desk.

“What’s this?”

The letters were visible.

It read “Companion.”

“My father always told me to dream… that dreams come true.”

He always had me write it down and recite it, teaching me that the dream would come true.

“What does that have to do with a companion?”

“Do you know what the aristocrats call their pet dogs these days?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure?”

A gust of night wind blew fiercely through the slightly open window.

Woosh—an eerie sound echoed.

Tundra’s bangs fluttered in the wind.

The chilly air settled down, making the atmosphere heavy.

Though young, he certainly possessed the aura of a protagonist in this world.

“A pet dog.”

“A pet dog?”

Tundra’s eyes grew serious.

He revealed his lofty ambition.

“Yeah. I’m going to be a pet dog. That’s the new dream I’ve decided on.”

He resolved to do so.

If he learned swordsmanship diligently and was recognized as a man…

Could he not become the pet dog of his benefactor, Princess Viola?

He promised himself that he would have someone by his side who would say they would stand with him even after he lost everything.

Someone who would hold his hand, pat his head, and reach out to him.

It felt like a small beam of light had entered the darkness where everything had vanished.

“Your dream is to be a pet dog?”

“That’s right.”

Companion (伴侶).

It means being paired and living together.

The word ‘companion’ ignited a fire in Tundra’s heart.

Zeno nodded.

“Being the pet dog of a princess. That’s quite an ambitious dream.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Congratulations on having a good dream, Tundra.”

“Thank you.”

Zeno genuinely congratulated him, and Tundra took it seriously.

At that moment.

Viola pulled up her blanket.

“Today feels eerily cold.”

*

The next day, Viola headed to the Duke’s mansion annex with Zeno.

Zeno explained.

“There are many guests residing in the Duke’s mansion annex.”

“I know.”

That’s usually the case. A mansion of this size typically has annexes, filled with many guests.

The guests reflect the mansion’s grandeur.

Those who can stay as guests of the Bellatu Duke House are certainly not ordinary individuals.

Dignitaries, heirs of renowned families, outstanding knights, and exceptional mages, among others.

Among them, Hixson was a peculiar figure.

Hixson, who was said to have fought alongside the Duke in their childhood wars, was once revered as a hero.

“Though now, he’s become a drunken bum.

If Hixson weren’t the Duke’s comrade, he would have been kicked out of the annex long ago.”

It was through a chance encounter that Hixson came to discover Tundra and began to teach him swordsmanship.

Hixson, while imparting his knowledge to Tundra, became a character who found redemption.

“The knight you seek, Lady, is a man once known as a hero.”

“I know. I saw it in the annex appendix you gave me.”

“You’re quite well-prepared. But why specifically Sir Hixson?”

Well, in the novel, that’s how it goes. Tundra, who learned from Hixson, displays extraordinary genius and grows rapidly, doesn’t he?

“That can’t be said.”

Viola curled her lips into a smile.

“Until my dog becomes a loyal hunting dog, I can’t let him be monitored.”

“Oh, so that’s why it’s Sir Hixson.”

Hixson is the drunken rascal of the annex. Just an old hero now, soaked in liquor.

No one would keep him in check.

A princess’s dog learning from a drunk.

It would just be gossip.

“But his skills are the real deal.”

“How do you know that?”

“I saw him a while back.”

“Where?”

In the novel.

“In the slums.”

“I see.”

Zeno also knew. A few years ago, Sir Hixson rampaged through the slums.

He was looking for his lost daughter. It seemed he had seen Hixson then.

Did he deduce the proficiency of Hixson’s swordsmanship back then?

If Viola had read Zeno’s thoughts, she would have internally responded like this.

No, I saw it in a novel.

Anyway, Zeno thought.

‘To have read Sir Hixson’s swordsmanship level and remember his face so precisely…’

If it was a few years ago, Viola must have been around three or four years old.

What astonishing memory and perception! Truly extraordinary.

Zeno began to guide with satisfaction.

“He should be drinking in the courtyard of the annex at this time. I’ll escort you, Lady.”

*

Viola recalled the contents of the novel.

“Hixson grew up under a violent father. His only wish was to rescue his mother from his father’s abuse.”

When he turned fourteen, he picked up a kitchen knife to save his mother.

“At fourteen, Hixson became a murderer.”

And he ran away.

In the outside world, there were second and third fathers.

Many were worse than his father.

He escaped his father only to find that the world was more dreadful than him.

“Hixson vowed.

‘I must become strong.'”

Hixson became strong.

He learned swordsmanship by following around wandering knights and sought out various swordsmanship schools to defeat swordsmen.

He grew stronger. After becoming friends with Heron Belatu, he became a war hero, battling through wars.

One day, the younger Heron had asked Hixson,

“What’s your dream, Hixson?”

Hixson replied,

“To be a warm husband and a great father.”

“A husband? A father?”

“Yes. Living with my loving family, those who love me. That’s my dream.”

“That’s a sorry excuse for a dream.”

That day, Hixson and Heron fought for four hours.

In the scuffle, Hixson received a severe wound in his abdomen, and Heron suffered a major injury to his arm.

Years passed. Heron had to admit,

“In the end, you made your dream come true.”

“Yeah.”

Hixson met the wife he truly loved and had a daughter he wouldn’t trade for the world.

“First of all, let’s celebrate.”

“Do I still look pathetic in your eyes?”

“Your dream is modest, but I wouldn’t say it’s pathetic.”

The two, having fought many battles, came to understand each other more.

Hixson spoke.

“I’m withdrawing from the war now.”

Heron agreed.

It was a pity to lose such a powerful comrade like Hixson from the war, but Heron respected Hixson’s genuine heart.

He had seen it for several years.

His friend dreamed of a home—his family as a sanctuary. He lived his life for that dream.

One day.

Hixson’s daughter was kidnapped. While Hixson set out to find his daughter, his wife was found dead.

Hixson lost both his beloved wife and daughter in one day, and he became a drunk.

That was three years ago.

*

Zeno was right.

“Ah. There’s Sir Hixson sitting in the courtyard.”

He was drunk and shouting loudly.

“Zeno, you wait here.”

“The drunken Sir Hixson is dangerous.

Lady, he’ll be like a rabid dog and won’t see anything in front of him.”

He had caused accidents more than once while drunk. He had injured several people in the annex.

It was amazing that the Duke had kept Hixson alive this long.

“I’m fine.”

“It’s not that I’m worried you’ll get hurt.”

Zeno smiled brightly.

“If he harms you, I’ll be cutting off both of Hixson’s legs.”

“But still. I respected Sir Hixson once.”

Viola gazed at Zeno, their eyes meeting.

“Zeno?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I told you to be discreet if you wanted to test me, didn’t I?”

Zeno scratched the back of his head.

“I was trying to be subtle, but the Lady is just too perceptive.”

What a pickle.

She swallowed those words. It was indeed a test.

‘If he harms the Lady’ was the test.

The Bellatu princess shouldn’t be afraid of that. Unless there was another reason.

Fear should never be a reason.

“Consider this your last warning.”

Acting true to being a Bellatu.

“If you repeat the same mistake just once more, I’ll question your worth as a butler.”

Those words were more terrifying to Zeno than any warning.

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Leaving Zeno behind, Viola stepped closer to Hixson.

Hixson was throwing a drunken fit, yelling while throwing bottles.

She threw a straight ball.

“Uncle. Will your dead daughter come back because of this?”

Hixson turned sharply! His eyes were bloodshot.

His red-tinted eyes looked drugged. His body trembled uncontrollably.

“What the hell is this crazy kid!”

He certainly did not seem in his right mind.

Viola moved even closer. Hixson picked up a bottle.

He looked like he had drunk quite a bit. His cheeks and eyes were flushed. He acted as if he would hit Viola.

If he were a normal child, he would have been scared out of his mind and fled.

Slurring his speech, Hixson said.

“Get lost.”

Viola moved even closer.

She was almost pressing against Hixson’s body.

“Uncle.”

Viola looked up at Hixson.

“Your daughter is dead.”

“This crazy brat!”

Hixson raised his palm like a pot lid.

Viola didn’t flinch. But inside, she felt like she might die from fear.

‘He, he wouldn’t really hit me, would he?’

Hixson would never hit a child.

No matter how drunk or unfocused he was, he would never lay a hand on a child. It was something he had upheld all his life.

However, facing the gaze of Hixson, who was once a hero, she felt like her head might explode.

‘Trust the settings!’

Though scared, she held it in. She met his eyes and concealed her fear.

Hixson’s raised arm trembled in the air before it finally calmed down.

“I told you to get lost.”

Ultimately, Hixson didn’t hit Viola.

With an indifferent face, or perhaps with the gaze of one looking at something severe, she continued to stare at Hixson and opened her mouth.

“Can you tell me who killed your daughter?”

“What?”

An oddly chilly breeze blew, which was far from a pleasant spring breeze.

“I saw it.”

Viola’s violet hair fluttered in the wind.

At that moment, Viola curled up the corners of her mouth in a smile. An oddly menacing expression was formed.

That expression, combined with Viola’s lifeless beauty, exuded a strange atmosphere.

It was truly the ambiance befitting Bellatu.

Of course, she hadn’t intended it to go this far.

It was just her innate expression and aura.

Hixson’s eyes met hers. Viola added,

“Shall I tell you who killed your daughter?”

Viola decided to unravel the story in her own way.