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Adopted Daughter Role Overdone 040

“Viola!”

The hallway echoed.

Thump! Thump!

Someone came running with heavy footsteps.

A human who could act on their own in the duke’s residence—Hixson, the duke’s comrade and close friend.

“You little brat!”

Hixson was furious.

“Sir Hixson, it’s been a while.”

“What sin has this beast, who can’t even speak, committed?”

Hixson loved animals.

He was known for preferring them over humans.

“Do you want to die?”

He especially adored dogs and cats, to the point of being called a cat lady for always sharing food with stray cats roaming the streets.

Kundo looked at Hixson with a slightly displeased expression.

“Sir Hixson?”

“Follow me.”

In the winter castle, violence was not permitted.

However, it was a different story in the training grounds.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“You insult Bellatu.”

Kundo nodded, not overly flustered.

He knew Hixson was much stronger, but could not refuse.

If it were Bellatu, it had to be done.

Even if he was stronger than me, I shouldn’t avoid a fight coming my way.

“Let’s move to the training grounds.”

They arrived at the training grounds.

Hixson started beating Kundo without any weapons.

He hit him solely with his bare fists.

Kundo’s cheekbone sunk, and two finger bones fractured.

Kundo lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

In contrast, Hixson looked entirely unfazed.

“Get this guy taken care of.”

Kundo’s butler frowned slightly.

“You’ll need to take responsibility for this incident.”

“Hmph! What responsibility?”

Hixson rubbed his nostrils with his finger.

“How is it my responsibility if he’s weak and got beaten by me?”

…Prince Kundo is only nineteen years old.”

“So?”

“He has limitless growth potential.”

With time, Kundo would grow stronger while Hixson would weaken.

That point was clear.

“Even if such a guy grows up, what’s that to me?”

“I hope you won’t regret today.”

Kundo’s butler hoisted him up.

He would recover from the cleric’s treatment without any aftereffects, but what about his broken pride?

Kundo’s gaze landed on Viola.

“How cowardly.”

Viola shrugged.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

The White Bellatu used strategy.

It was fine to draw upon other powers besides one’s own.

“It would have been nicer if you had called it mercenary tactics.”

Ultimately, Kundo lost consciousness, and Hixson approached.

“Are you okay, Viola?”

“I’m fine, of course.”

“I was surprised.”

“What about?”

Hixson raised his wrist.

A magical calling bracelet was wrapped around it.

It formed a set with the bracelet on Viola’s wrist.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary silver bracelet, but it was an artifact imbued with a warning spell.

When Viola infused mana, it would emit a warning sound from the bracelet on Hixson’s arm.

“The call was really loud?”

The intensity of the call varies according to the concentration of the infused mana.

But this time, the call nearly exceeded maximum volume and almost exploded.

“I almost broke the bracelet.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s just old?”

Hixson shrugged at Viola’s puzzled look.

‘She can’t seriously be that clueless.’ The truth was, Viola genuinely didn’t know.

She was unaware that her mana’s purity and amount far exceeded the average level.

Thus, even without using much power, she nearly broke the bracelet.

“Anyway, you’re really okay, right?”

“I told you I am.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Tundra. You make sure to bury this little one well.”

Viola handed the dead cat to Tundra.

…Yes.”

Tundra took the cat.

However, Tundra looked a bit strange.

His eyes were red.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing at all.”

Holding the cat, Tundra walked away.

A clearing far from the training grounds.

There, Tundra dug into the ground with his hands.

Tears dripped down Tundra’s knuckles.

‘I couldn’t do anything.’

If only I had really been strong enough.

Strong enough to not let social status be an issue.

‘Then my Lord wouldn’t have to endure such humiliation.’

Cats held special meaning for them.

For some within the shadow of Bellatu, a cat could symbolize a demon or represent a fallen person.

Throwing a dying cat like that.

It was an act of mocking and criticizing filthy people.

That made him furious and enraged.

‘If only I was really strong.’

Pitter patter.

Just then, rain began to pour down.

The winter rain was cold.

Tundra, who buried the cat, remained hunched over in the rain for a long time.

‘I have to get strong.’

He couldn’t precisely understand his Lord’s intentions.

But one thing was clear: his Lord was determined to become the White Bellatu.

In that case, he needed to be a supporter and uphold that resolve.

‘At this rate… I’m utterly useless.’

Three years ago.

Viola had extended her hand to him.

She had said she would stay by his side after he lost his father and sister.

‘I need to get strong for my Lady…’

But suddenly, he didn’t feel the rain anymore.

Raindrops plopped! Plopped! around him.

While the rain fell on the surrounding ground.

It wasn’t landing on him.

He turned his head to look up.

An umbrella was visible.

And Viola’s face appeared.

“I knew you’d be like this.”

She seemed to understand what Tundra was thinking and why he was hunched over.

Viola reached out her hand.

“Get up.”

“But…”

“It’s an order.”

Tundra hesitated for a long time before finally taking her hand.

Viola’s hand was still small and warm.

“You did your part well.”

Viola patted Tundra’s head.

“You held on well. The person I called was Hixson, not you.”

No more rain fell on Tundra’s face.

But something thick, like heavy raindrops, dripped down his chin.

“I will become strong.”

Tundra vowed firmly.

“I’ll grow strong enough that even trash like the 3rd prince won’t dare look at me.”

Tundra’s eyes reddened.

“And I’ll take care of everything that insults my Lord. Definitely.”

Tears mixed with raindrops streamed down Tundra’s face chaotically.

*

Hixson sat with his legs crossed, giving Viola a glare.

“What a monstrous girl.”

“What do you mean by girl to a princess? How uncouth.”

“How did you know the 3rd prince would come?”

“The 3rd prince is a lunatic who desperately wants me to become the Black Bellatu? So I prepared in advance.”

That’s why he gave Hixson the magic bracelet.

“And my father knows it well, too.”

“So both you and Heron predicted this situation?”

“Yeah.”

Viola drank banana milk instead of black tea.

Perhaps due to her ten-year-old body, she preferred sweet milk over tea.

“My father would want to see how I respond.”

“As the White Bellatu?”

“Yeah. I had to show mercenary tactics instead of brute force. So I called Uncle, and Uncle got angry at the 3rd prince. It was a suitable justification.”

“A justification, was it?”

“You made a cat lady angry.”

Viola shrugged.

“My father wouldn’t have an issue with it at all.”

“Why’s that?”

Well, our father is also a hedgehog butler.

“My father loves animals.”

…Eh? What’s that?”

“He dislikes people who oppress animals.”

“That’s news to me.”

Of course—it’s something that only exists in the lore.

Hixson shuddered slightly.

“Anyway, you anticipated the 3rd prince’s visit and set the stage, right?”

“Yeah. I’m sure a report went up by now?”

*

Viola’s expectations were spot on.

She had expected a report to come immediately.

However, she hadn’t thought that this conversation would be shared with the 1st princess Medea.

Medea, the 1st princess.

The most likely candidate to be the next duke opened her mouth.

“It truly happened as Father said.”

“Yeah.”

As the duke had said, the 3rd prince returned as a blood pudding.

Viola had brought down the 3rd prince using not her own power but an external figure named Sun.

Though it was an action unbefitting the Black Bellatu, it was understandable behavior as the White Bellatu.

“I met Kundo.”

“How was he?”

“He’s currently recovering thanks to the cleric’s prayers, but it will still take a few days.”

“I see.”

A moment of silence ensued.

Heron and Medea were not particularly close as father and daughter.

Medea spoke again.

“However, there’s something odd.”

“Odd?”

“Sir Hixson said he used only his fists, yet Kundo had injuries on his chest.”

Medea wouldn’t describe anything as an injury unless it was a serious wound.

“It seems the injury must have happened inside the skin before Hixson’s spar and then burst open.”

Cutting through the skin from the outside is far easier than cutting inward.

It requires a sharper, more refined energy, along with mastery of mana.

A sophisticated sword technique that destroys from within.

“It wasn’t the trace of Sir Hixson.”

“Then?”

“It seems it was Viola.”

“I see.”

A faint smile appeared on Heron’s lips.

Of course, Viola had no idea.

“Father.”

“I have often heard of being the continent’s first, the first in history, the first in the world.”

“That’s right.”

With overwhelming talent and steady effort, Medea had risen to that position.

She is also known by the nickname “White Cold Wind.”

Cold wind indicates the frigid winds blowing from the north.

The White Cold Wind referred to a massive snowstorm that could occur once in ten thousand years.

According to the empire’s records, it was noted that 100,000 people perished when the White Cold Wind blew.

“I couldn’t do anything like that at ten years old.”

Her smiling eyes thickened.

“Especially not against someone stronger than me. Kundo is already trained in the Bellatu’s swordsmanship. I never expected to injure him. It proves not just my capability as the White Bellatu but also that I have what it takes as the Black Bellatu.”

“Are you getting a bit interested now?”

“Yes.”

Medea asked.

“Would it be alright if I meet that child?”