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Episode 61: I Played the Role of an Adopted Daughter Too Well

Hixson’s apology was rather rough.

“…I’m sorry.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“So, what specifically for?”

Hixson’s face turned awkwardly red.

Why is it so hard to apologize as you get older?

“I used to hit you a lot in the past.”

“I heard you turned into a good-for-nothing drunkard.”

“When are you talking about?”

“And correct your wording.”

Viscount Seaal set down his cup, which he had been sipping warm black tea from.

White steam wafted up from the transparent cup.

“You didn’t hit me that much.”

“…?”

“I just stood quietly because it wasn’t worth responding to.”

“Really?”

“I thought responding to violence with more violence wasn’t befitting a noble’s dignity.”

Viscount Seaal chuckled softly.

“We can consider the past past.”

“Really?”

“When you lost your daughter, I honestly thought it was poetic justice.”

Hixson frowned.

He had gathered his courage to come apologize, only to feel like his wounds were being poked.

Should I just hit him once?

After all, it’s been a long time since he’s been rumored to be a good-for-nothing; it felt like living that way wouldn’t matter anymore.

“My heart was so evil. So let’s just call it even.”

“You know how to say ‘even’? I thought you were always going on about dignity and honor until my ears were bleeding.”

“Let’s agree to it then.”

Viscount Seaal extended his right hand.

“I confess I had evil thoughts. I apologize and seek forgiveness.”

“What are you thinking inside? Fine. So, you’ll accept my apology? No backtracking later?”

Hixson shook hands with the Viscount.

“And… I’m sorry about your son.”

A strange sense of camaraderie formed between the two.

One had lost a beloved daughter, and the other a beloved son.

Viscount Seaal cleared his throat and released Hixson’s hand.

“I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“I heard you took on the role of Princess Viola’s guardian?”

A broad smile spread across Hixson’s face.

He wiggled his finger back and forth.

“No? Viola said she needed my help?”

“Princess Viola?”

The Viola he knew was cold and rational.

She didn’t seem the type to reach out for help.

“She said it would be nice to have a good adult by her side; she said she needed an adult.”

“Surprising.”

“What’s so surprising?”

“That she chose you to be the good adult.”

“True.”

Hixson found it amusing too.

What about him made her ask for help?

Why did she reach out to him?

“The Viola I know is a person of unwavering principle.”

“I know. That’s one side of Viola.”

“Princess Viola needs your assistance while simultaneously recognizing your need.”

“My need?”

“Isn’t it that she wanted to help someone like you, a good-for-nothing?”

“Viola wanted to help me?”

Hixson fell into thought for a moment.

Thinking about it, it seemed like it could be true.

Meeting Viola changed his life.

“She rehabilitated me from living like a loser.”

How should he express that?

Could it be called a sort of salvation?

“In the end, she did help me. But why?”

“Princess Viola is White Bellatu. I’ve never seen a successor who fits the title better.”

That was true.

Hixson agreed.

“Princess Viola seems to have an insight into judging talent.”

Otherwise, none of these situations would make sense.

“She extended her hand to someone like you, nearly a minor, and even specifically came here as a special envoy to win me over. And…”

The Viscount paused for a moment.

It was difficult to say.

The child of his beloved woman.

That child was to be born from his wife’s infidelity.

“What is it, pausing like that?”

“And she declared herself the guardian of my child.”

“What? Are you having a baby?”

The Viscount nodded.

It might not be exactly his child.

But he swallowed those words.

At the point of deciding to forgive his wife, it seemed that didn’t matter anymore.

“From now on, it’s solely mine and my wife’s child. That’s how it is.”

Had he not forgiven her, it wouldn’t have mattered, but at the point of forgiveness, he had to embrace everything about his wife.

That was how Seaal viewed forgiveness.

“I hear our child has tremendous magical talent.”

“How can you know that when it hasn’t even been born yet?”

As the Viscount nodded, Hixson snorted in disbelief.

“Huh!”

“What’s with that?”

“Aren’t you overly idealizing Bellatu?”

What?

Hixson flared his nostrils.

His attitude was incredibly indifferent.

“You know Heron Bellatu is my friend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“No matter how monstrous the Bellatu bloodline is, does it mean they would have such abilities?”

“…”

“You should have some sense of proportion in your fantasies, buddy. Why do you think Viola said that? She probably thought it was strange not to directly help you, so she just gave you an excuse. How can one discern a fetus’s magical talent? Is she a god?”

Seaal felt a shock like he had been hit on the head.

Thinking about it, it did seem that way.

To discern a fetus’s magical talent? That was something even mages in the Magic Tower couldn’t do.

‘Ah…’

Seaal fell into deep shock and couldn’t speak for a while.

He felt as if another side of Viola was appearing.

Hixson chuckled softly and continued,

“It’s true she’s a Bellatu with a thousand masks to wear.”

“…”

“But the real Viola is warm and adorable.”

“Your criteria for ‘warm and adorable’ is a bit strange. Are you perhaps going mad?”

It’s true. She seems unaware of it herself.

He didn’t say that, though.

“Right. Even I think it’s a bit strange saying it. Isn’t it?”

Hixson burst into laughter.

‘Only I know Viola’s warm and adorable side!

He decided to cherish that precious secret alone.

But just then.

Viscount Seaal’s butler knocked hurriedly.

“What is it? Didn’t I tell you not to disturb us?”

“There’s a great commotion in the castle town.”

“A commotion?”

“Sir Jeremy has appeared.”

The butler continued his report.

It seemed that the handsome Prince Jeremy had shown up, and numerous women enamored by his beauty had clung to him, leading to small accidents.

The Viscount’s head began to throb.

“Three carriage collision accidents, six incidents of pushing and getting hurt, two hair-pulling fights. Is that all?”

“Yes, that’s about the summary.”

The butler adjusted his glasses and continued his report.

“They call it a new culture among the youth.”

“A new culture?”

“Yes. It’s almost to the point of madness, a group expressing their affection to such an extent that they call themselves ‘girl fans’ or ‘fanbase.’”

“Girl fans? Fanbase? Such odd terms exist now.”

“Some among them are quite extreme. They idolize Sir Jeremy.”

“What on earth is happening in our territory?”

The butler took a deep breath.

This was the main topic.

“Especially, it seems some extreme fans, having presumed to be the ‘lovely young noblewoman’ he awaits…”

Hence, the uproar became even larger.

Those “extreme fans” who believed that ‘lovely young noblewoman’ referred to them had even fought over grabbing each other’s hair.

“However, it seems they are specifically waiting for Princess Viola.”

*

[I’ll be waiting in the town square.]

Viola frowned.

The short note bore the name “Jeremy” at the end.

Viola recalled the content of the novel.

“When Jeremy appears in the town square without disguise, accidents caused by extreme fans are incessant.”

Even without seeing it, she could tell.

There must already be a commotion.

‘Considering it’s the early stages of fandom culture…’

The author had narrated it directly.

It was said Jeremy was like the first-generation idol in this world.

Before a mature fandom culture established itself, it could be viewed as the very beginning.

This led to the setting where there were more extreme fans than in 21st-century South Korea.

‘It’s best if I don’t go out, right?’

No matter how she thought about it, staying quiet seemed like the best option.

If she got involved with Jeremy, she might get hit with all kinds of insults and stones from that fanbase.

But then, the words on the note began to generate on their own.

It seemed it was made to reveal the letters after some time passed.

[If you don’t come out in one hour, I will sing the praises of Viola Bellatu.]

Viola let out a deep sigh.

‘The praises of Viola Bellatu?’

To Jeremy’s fanbase, the greatness of Bellatu didn’t matter at all.

The moment Jeremy sang the song of praises for Viola Bellatu, many of Jeremy’s fans on the continent would view Viola as their sworn enemy.

‘What is this scheming, exactly?’

Viola called Zeno.

“Mask.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The special mask from the puppet master Seivan Marcos.

It was crafted so exquisitely that you couldn’t tell it was a mask; it was identical to a human face.

Once Viola finished her transformation, she started walking ahead.

“Zeno, follow me. Tundra, too.”

To prevent any potential mishaps, she brought along two strong escorts to head to the square.

She intentionally rode in the largest and most splendid carriage in the Viscount’s household.

She had requested the Viscount arrange the security guards in advance.

‘This should minimize unnecessary disputes.’

Near the fountain in the square, Jeremy was sitting, surrounded by hundreds of fans stealing glances at him.

Some were crying as if they had fulfilled their lifelong wishes.

“Zeno, is the Viscountcy big enough to gather hundreds of young girls?”

“It seems they came over by carriage from the nearby Earldom, my lady.”

“……… I see.”

“Is it really necessary to go through all this just to meet Sir Jeremy?”

The sturdy carriage and two horses used in a military parade, plus the mask made by Seivan Marcos and the Viscount’s security guards.

“I can’t lay a hand on innocent subjects. I have to ensure they do not commit any trespasses.”

“Wouldn’t revealing that you’re Viola Bellatu help ease things?”

Viola shook her head vigorously.

While Zeno was indeed a wonderful butler, it seemed he didn’t truly understand the fear of extreme fans.

“Even being called Bellatu won’t matter. Not before them.”

“…Will it really?”

“They will narrow their eyes and glare at me. If my identity as Viola Bellatu were to be revealed…”

Her vision darkened.

They would surely not see Viola Bellatu in a good light.

That would lead to creating countless invisible enemies, perhaps thousands or even hundreds of millions.

Just thinking about it made her feel the sky darken and sent shivers down her spine.

Yet, she spoke differently.

“They would trespass against Viola Bellatu, and then Viola Bellatu would have to deal with them. I don’t want to shed any unnecessary blood.”

“Truly, a lady indeed.”

Before long, they arrived in front of the fountain.

The carriage door opened, and with Zeno’s escort—Zeno was also wearing a mask—Viola stepped down.

She could feel the numerous gazes upon her.

Wow.

She felt the thrill of life.

And then her heart began racing.

“No, Viola. Stay still.”

She felt the intensity of the gaze so strongly that it seemed the Viola from the original work might leap out.

The intensity from the extreme fans had, in some ways, a worse edge than Bellatu’s intensity.

“Seems you’ve predicted this situation well, Prince Jeremy.”

“You have arrived.”

Jeremy jumped down from the fountain and bowed deeply.

“I’m thrilled. I’m at a loss for words that the lady would honor us with her presence.”

“Well, allow me to put you at a loss for words.”

“What do you mean?”

Jeremy had intentionally called Viola, having predicted the entire situation.

In such a scenario, even the mightiest of Violas would have nowhere to run, and that thought was mistaken.

He didn’t yet know Viola well enough.