I overdid the role of the adopted daughter 020.

The door to Duke Heron’s office swung open.

Chief Butler Carlton drew out a thin sword.

Carlton was one of the few associates able to wield a sword even in front of Heron Bellatu.

He aimed it at the man who had just entered through the door.

“Sir Hixson. Please maintain your decorum.”

Who would dare open the Duke’s office door without knocking, especially from the Duke’s mansion?

Hixson casually pushed the thin blade aside with his finger.

Duke Heron, seated and reviewing documents, opened his mouth.

“Let it be.”

Hixson chuckled and moved closer to Heron. Heron didn’t even glance in Hixson’s direction.

“What’s this?”

“You’ve adopted a cute daughter, haven’t you?”

In an instant, Heron flinched.

“Cute?”

Hearing the word “cute” from Hixson felt odd.

The word “cute” clashed with Bellatu like oil and water.

It should have been that way.

She shouldn’t be cute.

“Yeah. Quite cute indeed.”

“Not very Bellatu-like, huh.”

Hixson plopped himself onto Duke Heron’s desk.

“Do you remember what my long-held dream was? The dream you scoffed at, saying it was a pathetic spectacle.”

Heron continued signing documents with his quill, seemingly ignoring Hixson’s words.

“I lost that dream, and my world crumbled away.”

“And?”

“And I became a drunkard.”

Hixson crossed his legs, sitting back.

“I know why you kept me in this annex.”

He pointed at Carlton with his finger.

“That stuffy old man must have constantly advised you to chase me away.”

“Your snake-like wives have likely been waiting for a chance to poison me.

I was a good-for-nothing who tarnished Bellatu’s reputation, after all.”

“Indeed, you know well.”

Heron signed another document.

He handed it to Carlton.

Carlton bowed and took the document before exiting the room.

Now, only Duke Heron and Hixson remained in the office.

“Yet, you kept me in the annex.”

Duke Heron finally looked at his old friend Hixson.

He spoke candidly, without hiding anything.

“I kept you nearby so that if you didn’t recover, I could kill you myself.”

“How long did you plan to wait?”

“Five years.”

Five years, huh.

Hixson burst into laughter, “Hahaha! Just like you, Heron. You never change.”

“Is that how my friend Heron respects me?”

“You seem to have regained your senses.”

“Yeah. Although it’s a bit grand to call it a new dream, I feel like I might be able to dream again.”

Heron’s eyebrows twitched.

“A dream?”

“Yeah. Your daughter. More precisely, Viola, who’s only registered as your daughter on paper.”

“What are you trying to say, buddy?”

“The absolute rule you and I set during our childhood. You know, right?”

No child under ten should be harmed.

That was the promise between Heron and Hixson.

In fact, it was Hixson who proposed this promise.

“Children deserve protection, and they have the right and qualifications to grow up loved.”

“And?”

“You accepted your daughter on paper, but I’m thinking of accepting her in my heart.”

“What do you think? You’re not really interested in the father role, are you? You just need an excellent heir.”

“……”

“Don’t like it?”

Heron silently regarded Hixson.

He didn’t ask for details.

“Do as you wish.”

Hixson got up from his seat.

“She reached out her little hand asking for help.”

“……”

“She wanted me to stand by her. She said she needed an adult to rely on.”

“Not very Bellatu-like.”

“Not normally.”

Hixson grinned.

“But it wasn’t cowardly at all. Even while asking for help, her attitude was so very Bellatu-esque that I was astonished. It had a curious vibe.”

“……Is that a sweetening of the narrative?”

“Why would I? I’m just saying it as it is. It’s extremely Bellatu-like, yet strangely different from Bellatu.

An incredibly charming little one.”

“Sounds like Zeno spoke similar words.”

Indeed, it felt very Bellatu-like, but a more advanced version of Bellatu.

It seemed Hixson felt something similar.

“I’m thinking of being a fence for that girl so she can grow up more rightly, in a prettier world.”

Heron nodded.

“Do as you please.”

He looked like he didn’t care too much.

An attitude suggesting, “How dare you do anything to the child who inherits the Bellatu name?”

“I’ll take my leave.”

Hixson stepped out the door.

A smile lingered on Hixson’s lips.

‘What’s with him?’

The Duke seemed different than usual.

‘He seems fond of Viola.’

That couldn’t be true.

But somehow, it appeared so. He still couldn’t admit it to himself.

That night.

Crack!

Seven of Heron Bellatu’s quills broke. No one knew why.

*

Two days before the welcome banquet.

Duke Heron suddenly invited Viola to dinner.

The reason was unclear.

Viola felt extremely uneasy.

A dinner with her favorite was something she had always dreamed of, but this wasn’t the atmosphere she wanted.

Silence permeated the air.

It felt like she was sitting on a bed of nails.

Before her lay delicious sweet potato soup and duck roasted in a special sauce, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat.

About ten minutes passed.

Only after ten minutes did Duke Heron finally speak.

“You wear a good mask.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Not knowing what he meant, she pretended to be calm. Like a beast. Like a Bellatu.

“You asked Hixson to stay by your side, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ask him to hold your hand?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Viola sensed it.

This was a test.

Bellatu must not ask for help in a cowardly manner.

Bellatu should be in the position to offer help, not to receive it.

She smiled deliberately.

“Because I thought if I used him well, I could make him mine?”

Duke Heron gazed at Viola.

Viola held her ground and met his gaze. Inside, she was trembling.

Duke Heron’s eyes felt like black holes. Just looking into them made her feel like she’d be sucked in, her whole being torn apart.

‘This is strange. Their ways of acting are oddly different from my favorite.’

The Duke doesn’t have private meetings with candidates for his heir.

He knows each action could empower someone.

She felt puzzled inside but maintained a meaningful smile on the outside.

With a sinister expression befitting a villain, she declared, “An idealist dreaming beautiful dreams.

Easy to exploit, isn’t it?”

She poured all her efforts into acting.

To avoid falling into Duke Heron’s trap.

“Seems like it.”

Excuse me?

Viola felt a little flustered. It seemed Duke Heron was more pleased than she expected.

“You extended your adorable little hand, pulled it back then.”

“I did reach out my hand.”

Viola looked down at her hand.

Hmm.

It was small and cute, incongruous with her character setting, but indeed beautiful.

“Hixson held that hand, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Viola gave a thoughtful hum, then looked at Heron.

With the heavy, grim atmosphere set aside, his attractiveness radiated.

“Don’t offer your hand carelessly.”

“…Pardon?”

“Be careful. It could disappear in an instant.”

Viola gulped down her anxiety.

This world is not one to be underestimated.

“Let’s eat.”

Clatter, clatter.

Aside from the clinking of forks and knives against the glass bowl, not a single sound could be heard.

Viola cautiously watched Duke Heron.

‘I can’t breathe!’

She couldn’t tell whether the food was going down her nose or into her mouth.

She finished the main course, and a honey-glazed frozen persimmon was served as dessert.

‘Delicious!’

Viola’s eyes widened.

She had eaten plenty of persimmons on Earth, but this flavor was unlike anything she had ever tasted.

It melted sweetly in her mouth.

The honey and persimmon blended beautifully.

It felt as if sweet pudding was dissolving in her mouth.

“You seem to like sweet things.”

“Yes, I’m a child after all.”

The Duke gazed at Viola intently.

Viola felt suffocated again.

“Father.”

“Speak.”

“Could you stop staring at me while I eat?”

With a slight distance maintained, Zeno, who was sitting behind her, flinched.

‘Your Highness?’

Who could speak to Duke Heron like that?

To tell him to stop staring.

Duke Heron must have been unfamiliar with such words.

Fortunately, he showed no particular reaction.

He simply asked shortly.

“Why?”

“It’s rude to stare while eating.”

Duke Heron recalled Rael. Rael had spoken like this too.

“Could you please stop staring at me?”

“That kind of brazen staring is rude.”

Heron had only ever received such words from Rael.

At that time, he had replied:

“I am your husband.”

Back then, Duke Heron had been smiling faintly, but now his expression was blank. He said flatly, “I am your father.”

He glanced around.

“All the comfortable environment and delicious food you are enjoying comes from me. The egg tarts you craved so much and this chilled persimmon were all given by me. So, I believe a little rudeness on your part is permissible.”

“But I didn’t ask to be brought here. You brought me here because you wanted to, and now you’re trying to show off because of it?”

Was it a coincidence?

Viola’s attitude had some resemblance to Rael.

She spoke her mind without holding back.

‘You married me out of love, didn’t you?’

‘I love you too, but you proposed first, so how can you show off about that?’

Duke Heron raised his fork.

In that moment, Viola flinched slightly.

Given the atmosphere and his stance, it felt like he might poke her own eye out with that fork.

He stabbed the persimmon with his fork.

“While it isn’t a pleasant thing to hear, it’s not untrue.”

But then.

The sight of his adopted daughter, licking her lips while looking at him, entered his vision.

Her eyes seemed to ask, ‘Father, does that taste good?’

“Didn’t you say it was rude to stare while eating?”

“I’m your daughter.”

Viola tossed back the same words Heron had just said.

“You were the one to be rude first.”

That was the Bellatu way.

What one is given is returned.

It doesn’t matter whether it is a favor or a grievance.

Even towards Duke Heron, that principle must be upheld.

It was quintessentially Bellatu-like.

Viola felt Heron’s gaze upon her.

His eyes were fixed on her.

If she averted her gaze, it would only reveal her fear.

So, it was better to just stare back!

That’s right, she’d just admire his good looks.

That would make it less frightening. He really is good-looking. Hmm.

Viola didn’t look away.

Thanks to her indulging in his attractiveness, she was less scared.

He was handsome, undeniably so.

Duke Heron met Viola’s gaze as well.

Those extremely Bellatu-like eyes strangely seemed a bit pretty.

Coincidentally, Hixson’s words lingered in her mind.

‘You’ve adopted a cute daughter, haven’t you?’

Cute.

The gaze persisted.

She could see eyes staring at her intently.

For some reason, she couldn’t understand why those eyes contained such fondness.

You’ve adopted a cute daughter, haven’t you?”

Crack!

The fork Duke Heron was holding bent like a taffy.

Those round eyes, were they cute?

No, it couldn’t be.

Absolutely not.

That child simply has a natural talent for switching masks with ease, possessing the virtues of a ruler.

The Duke coldly inquired, “Are you claiming self-defense?”

When Viola continued her reply, Heron faced an unexpectedly absurd situation.