비올라 skillfully answered, “Yes. It’s self-defense.”

She spoke clearly, but the term “self-defense” came out a bit jumbled.

It seemed like a difficult word for a 7-year-old with the maturity of almost 5.

Suddenly, Carlton’s words popped into my head.

“Probably because she didn’t eat well, her growth has been very slow.”

Then, I caught sight of her small frame and big eyes.

For some reason, my heart twitched.

Heron pronounced it again, “Self-defense.”

“Yes. Self-defense.”

“Self-defense.”

Viola noticed what Heron was doing.

She pressed her lips together.

She clenched her tongue tightly.

“Self-defense!”

She couldn’t overcome her physical limitations.

“Pronounce it correctly. Self-defense.”

“Self… de… fence.”

Damn!

The pronunciation was all wrong.

Meanwhile, Zeno doubted his own eyes.

“Is the Duke… faintly smiling?”

Just a faint smile, but it was definitely there.

Zeno’s sharp eye caught that. He didn’t know why he was smiling, though.

Duke Heron spoke again.

“Self-defense.”

“Self-de- fence!!!”

Viola was irritated.

Although she appeared expressionless, she wished she could just punch that smirking Duke right on the nose!

‘If I did that, my head would probably roll off?’

Anyway, her irritation surged.

Even when she said other words, her pronunciation slipped a bit, but “self-defense” was particularly bad.

‘Looks like a weak body when it comes to growth,’ she thought, meeting Heron’s eyes.

His gaze was slightly amused.

That subtle smile instilled a strange sense of defeat in Han Ah-rin’s mind from the 21st century.

Unknowingly, her cheeks flushed slightly.

‘Oh gosh.’

In my 21 years of life, I never imagined a day would come when I’d be mocked for my pronunciation.

An indescribable shame surged from my toes to my head.

“No manners, poor pronunciation, and you even exude a vibe of hostility.”

In fact, Heron didn’t feel offended at all.

On the contrary, he was quite satisfied that she was brimming with that energy.

Viola should be like that.

If she felt mocked and didn’t give off any hostile vibe, he would have been disappointed instead.

However, Viola was taken aback.

Her body seemed to have unintentionally emitted that hostility once again.

She snapped back to reality.

Then, that hostility that had leaked out suddenly disappeared.

“You manage your hostility well.”

Heron misunderstood perfectly.

He believed she was a child who could control her hostility, recalling Zeno and Hixson’s words.

‘Very much like Bellatu, yet not like Bellatu.’

She couldn’t hide her terrible greed for cold persimmons.

Yet, at the same time, she had an acute ability to hide her lingering hostility.

All of this seemed like a thoroughly calculated performance.

The fleeting moments of hostility.

The innocently perilous gaze.

Barely suppressing the instinct to kill.

That must be her true self.

I liked that aspect of her, Viola.’

But it was strange.

I kept noticing her plump, peachy cheeks.

‘Not your cute little face.’

Was it perhaps because of her insufficient etiquette training?

There was still some orange persimmon smeared near her lips.

I had no idea why she kept getting it all over herself while eating.

‘Do you get it?’

With those tiny hands, she was diligently trying to eat something.

The way she gripped her fork was rather clumsy.

More than Bellatu-esque, I kept noticing that.

It really was an odd sight.

*

At dawn, the first light broke, and the early birds began to chirp.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A loud knocking sound not in harmony with the peaceful morning echoed. Few had the gall to knock so roughly on the princess’s door.

The door shattered.

The person who knocked was none other than Hixson.

“Uncle, was that a knock?”

“That wasn’t….”

Hixson laughed awkwardly.

“I just couldn’t control my strength.”

“Control your strength?”

The story went that Hixson had not trained for the past three years. He hadn’t activated his mana either. After three years of that, he just started training again. Apparently, because his mana was suddenly activated, he was having trouble controlling his strength lately.

“You’re a war hero, right?”

As Hixson patted his belly, he revealed his serious case of beer belly.

“Three years is plenty of time for a person to go downhill.”

“And to fix it?”

“A month should do.”

Viola nodded.

“Fix it quickly.”

Hixson trudged over and sat in a chair.

“Viola, thanks to you, I think I’ve got a handle on it.”

“Yeah. That’s good.”

Just getting it started was all that was needed.

That guy was once a hero on par with Duke Heron and would figure things out on his own from here.

“By the way.”

“Huh?”

“You had dinner with Heron yesterday, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?”

Viola flinched.

‘An idealist dreaming beautiful dreams.

Such an easy target to manipulate, right?’

Could it be that he’d heard about it? She felt uneasy.

From Hixson’s demeanor, it didn’t seem like it.

“He said you have no manners, poor pronunciation, and you’re even exuding hostility.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Hixson looked at Viola as if he found it amusing.

“Despite how it doesn’t seem, Heron was originally a very caring guy.”

“I know.”

“That guy… Huh? You know?”

Hixson looked at her incredulously.

“You just knew he wasn’t the warmest, right? He hadn’t said a kind word.”

“Yeah.”

In Viola’s heart, her bias for her favorite character stirred deeply, unconsciously.

He’s my fave character, you know.

Even if you critique my favorite, I’m the one who’ll do it.

Hixson continued to look astounded.

“That dude’s Heron Bellatu.”

“I know.”

“But how do you know?”

“I just know looking at him.”

Our favorite character has a cute hedgehog, you see.

He’s surprisingly nice. A bit scary, but Hixson shook his head in disbelief.

“On what basis are you so confident? Why is your gaze so self-assured? I don’t really understand, but it’s kind of annoying?”

“Why? Can’t I be confident?”

“Why are you being so sincere about it?”

“Well, it’s because I mean it.”

“Ah, I guess that’s fair?”

Hixson scratched his head.

“But defending your father like this…”

He looked irritated, but it didn’t seem to dampen his spirits.

In fact, he was enjoying himself.

Viola spoke again.

“So, why are you mentioning my father?”

“That guy. He seems to have a particular interest in you.”

“Yeah.”

“Eh? Is that all you have to say?”

“Well, he must have been interested to adopt me in the first place.”

“Adopted into the continent’s strongest Duke House and receiving attention from the great Lord of Winter Castle, Heron Bellatu. Your reaction is so underwhelming. I expected something like, ‘Oh? Wow! Incredible!’ or, ‘I was adopted into such a noble family!’ or, ‘The famous Lord of Winter Castle is my father!’ Something, you know, a bit more—how do I say it—more expressive for a 7-year-old? Am I being unreasonable?”

Viola frowned slightly.

She locked eyes with Hixson.

“I don’t like violent fathers.”

Indifference is a form of violence too.

Especially in this wild ecosystem.

Hixson’s expression suddenly brightened.

“See, I knew it?”

Hixson seemed oddly pleased.

He felt as if he had beaten Heron.

“Well, yeah. Who would like a violent father?”

It had been a long time since he felt as if he had overcome Heron.

“I’ll protect you. I’ll be right by your side.

I’ll be a decent adult for you.”

“First, get rid of that belly.”

“…Huh?”

“You’ll get caught when wielding a sword if you don’t.”

Hixson chuckled awkwardly.

He couldn’t contradict that as it was true.

He changed the subject.

“So, where are the four I need to tame?”

*

Viola leaned against the door.

Tundra’s first meeting with Hixson.

If it went as in the novel, the two would have a showdown.

Tundra didn’t want to lose to anyone, and Hixson disliked such kids.

She watched to see if it would play out like the novel.

It seemed that Viola wasn’t the only one intrigued.

Zeno, next to Viola, wore a look of great interest as he watched the two.

“To think Hixson would be the trainer. I never expected that.”

“Despite his belly, he’s actually a good trainer.”

A voice chimed in.

Tundra appeared displeased with Hixson.

“You’re my trainer?”

In reality, Tundra couldn’t accept it.

She had expected someone remarkable as a swordsmanship master.

Yet, suddenly, a fat uncle showed up.

Although he was fit, he wasn’t what Tundra had envisioned.

Tundra glanced over at Viola.

“You told me to learn swordsmanship for my master.”

Tundra’s voice brimmed with anger.

Beneath that anger lay deep frustration.

“I wanted to become an excellent adult and stand beside my princess.”

To do that, she had wanted to learn swordsmanship.

She wanted to be by the side of the person who reached out to her.

She was trying hard to become a pet dog.

“But this kind of treatment…”

It felt like her newly formed dream was being trampled.

No matter how she looked at it, Hixson couldn’t be considered a good swordsmanship teacher.

His complexion was bad, and he reeked of alcohol.

His body was undisciplined.

A body that had deteriorated beyond repair. It felt like they had brought in a drunkard.

“You told me to sharpen my teeth.”

Tundra bit her lip slightly.

“You called me a toy. Is this how you’re humiliating me? Am I just a toy?”

Was dreaming of being a pet dog too much of an extravagance for her?

In the past few days, she had genuinely been excited.

She gritted her teeth.

Hixson shook his head.

“Your attitude toward adults is pretty lacking.”

“Adults?”

“It seems you need to start over from the beginning in conversations with adults.”

Hixson giggled.

“I tend to teach my students quite strictly.”

Hixson turned away.

“Kid. From now on, it’s time for you to train with me, the trainer. Could you step aside?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s going to be a rough time.”

“Uncle, you look so excited.”

“I like those who have this kind of look in their eyes.”

Heron once had that sort of gaze too.

Now he’s become like a sly fox, hiding both the cunningness of a snake and the bravery of a tiger, but he wasn’t always like that.

He was just like this boy.

“Reminds me of an old friend.”

Viola struck a nerve.

“You don’t have any friends, Uncle.”

“How would you know?”

“You look like someone who doesn’t have many friends.”

“That stings. I had a glorious past once.”

“That past is something you kicked away.”

“Anyway, you have quite a talent for stating the facts.”

All of Viola’s words hit the nail on the head.

Surprisingly, he was struck directly.

Feeling jabbed, Hixson enjoyed this conversation.

“But I believe.”

“What do you?”

“I believe you’ll be a decent adult.”

At those words, Hixson cleared his throat dramatically.

Viola’s remarks pierced his heart sharply.

If only my daughter were alive, I would’ve surely been a great father to her.

I could have been a fantastic adult.

‘It’s not too late even now.’

Viola threw out a decisive line.

That was why she previously scolded him about his belly.

“And if you lose that belly, you’d probably look a bit cooler.”

Hixson made up his mind.

He vowed to be a good adult for Viola.

His desire ignited.

“I’ll make sure to look very cool.”

Hixson turned his neck.

With a cracking sound, he found a heavy wooden training sword in his hands.

The way Hixson looked at Tundra was completely different from the way he looked at Viola.

“Shall we have a hot conversation, just the two of us, as men?”