입양딸 역할을 지나치게 잘해버렸다 095화힉슨은 황당한 장면을 마주했다.

“What on earth is going on here?”

The water was nearly up to his ankles.

He could also hear the sound of someone sobbing sadly.

“Give it back! Let me have it!”

A child’s voice, throwing a tantrum, resonated through the room.

That voice pierced through the noise-canceling mana barrier set up by Zeno, reaching Hixson’s ears quite clearly.

“Viola, have you taken up swimming as a hobby?”

“Not really.”

Viola sat on the bed with an apathetic look, just staring at the water that had now risen to her ankles.

As time went by, the water had now crept up to her knees.

Zeno smiled cheerfully and said, “If Pongpong cries any harder, the water’s gonna spill out!”

He swung his sword once.

With a crack, the area around the door froze solid.

It was a waterproofing job using the Lasbon Ice Sword technique.

Pongpong, while throwing a fit, half-sobbed, “I’m going to kill him!”

Hixson scratched his head.

“So, the one who’s threatening to kill you is your father, right?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“So Zeno is desperately trying to keep that sound from reaching Heron.”

“Yep.”

“You do realize that no matter how hard you try, this news will eventually reach Heron, right?”

“Yep.”

She knows everything.

Pongpong was furious after discovering that the one who had (perhaps?) killed the cute flowers she fed and nurtured was none other than Heron.

“Wow, I didn’t expect a lunatic to threaten to kill Heron inside Winter Castle. Tossing threats around like they’re confetti.”

“Seriously.”

“Viola, why are you so calm?”

“Do I look calm to you?”

“You look super calm.”

No.

That was Hixson’s misunderstanding.

In reality, Viola was quite troubled.

It was just that her established image and behavior gave off a vibe of someone coldly analyzing the situation.

“What are you planning to do?”

Hixson frowned slightly.

He didn’t know why, but he felt annoyed.

‘That wretched Heron…!’

He was the one who had gifted flowers to Viola.

Given that, who knows what kind of trouble he might stir up this time?

Somehow, he imagined that Heron was laughing while reading this situation in his study.

How would the mischievous and adorable Viola react and deal with this?

He felt a strange anticipation for how much time she might take to figure it out.

“What if Uncle Hixson were my father?”

“If I were?”

Hixson’s brow deepened further.

“I would be happy.”

“Why?”

“So I could talk to my daughter one more time? It would be justified, and I could enjoy the charming antics of my adorable daughter. What a good opportunity, right?”

“…Yeah, right.”

Viola regretted asking.

She withdrew her gaze; Hixson, in turn, felt a bit hurt.

“What’s wrong? I’m serious.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

“Hey, I really mean it!”

“Got it.”

Hixson felt somewhat disappointed, but because of his promise to be a good adult, he couldn’t express that disappointment.

‘Oh, right.

I had momentarily forgotten because of Pongpong, but the reason I came here was to check on Viola’s wrist and arm condition.

“Is your arm okay?”

“Yep.”

“How can it be okay?”

Hixson walked through the water and grabbed Viola’s fingertips to examine them closely.

He looked at them as if observing a precious treasure.

“What the… It really is okay?”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be.”

“Not like that…”

Hixson knew that even without Viola training as a martial artist, she had the innate talent.

In other words, Viola was naturally gifted.

However, that quirky ring was too heavy and excessive for Viola to bear at the moment.

“Shouldn’t your movements feel heavier and your chest feel tight?”

“None of that is happening.”

“Really?”

Viola wasn’t pretending; she was genuinely okay.

Hixson felt it was mysterious.

Yet, irritation began to rise within him.

‘That guy probably smiled again, thinking, “My daughter can lift this without a care.” There’s no doubt that’s how he thinks.

I’ve never liked that guy; today, he’s especially grating.

Anyway, the reason why Viola was fine while wearing that ring was explained by Pongpong.

“Waaah!”

Pongpong wailed sadly but seemed to still want to boast.

“It’s my power, you fools!”

Pongpong’s tears stopped as it got busy boasting, and in the meantime, Zeno raised the mana and froze the spirit water completely, turning it into powder.

He packaged the neatly cut ice into a specially crafted magic jar.

“We’ve acquired ice made from clean and tasty spirit water.”

Zeno’s face was lit with a smile.

“I think I can make a much tastier strawberry ade now.”

Having wasted the power of a knight of the third rank or higher on ice extraction, Zeno wore a rather satisfied expression.

He appeared infinitely relaxed and peaceful, while Pongpong looked frantic with excitement.

“The pretty flowers I gave water to grew tremendously because of the best water from the Spirit Realm!”

Listening to him, it could be understandable that Pongpong felt sorrowful from its perspective.

The water it brought back had been scolded from the Spirit King.

And that spirit water was known by the special name “Arena,” which could only be brought to the human realm once.

“I got scolded so badly for bringing that!”

“Was that… Arena?”

Viola was equally astonished.

It was Arena that had raised that started-out villainess, Heidi, into a top-level villainess in this world.

Arena was a very special water, often described in novels as the elixir of immortality.

Of course, it didn’t provide true immortality, but it was incredibly famous for being “water that performs miracles.”

“Do you know about Arena?”

“The water of miracles. It’s said to exist only in the Spirit Realm.”

Goodness.

You mean you poured that in the flower field?

Viola was stunned.

‘How much do you have to love flowers to pour Arena, which is treated as treasure among humans, onto a flower field?

No matter how I think about it, the characters appearing in The Shadow of Bellatu are definitely not sane.

“Yep. I gifted Arena to the nurm’s.”

“What’s a nurm?”

“I named them that. To grow strong and healthy.”

Listening to that, the flowers blessed by the spirits, the Marguerite flowers, were said to have received their name from Nurm and gained properties similar to spiritification due to the blessing of Arena.

“Oh, I see. That’s why Viola could lift that ring so easily.”

“Exactly. Viola is good enough at spirit affinity that you could say she’s a spirit herself.”

So she was significantly unaffected by the influences of spiritification, the flower of the spirit world.

Pongpong took on a serious expression.

“So when are we going to kill Heron?”

“Can’t kill him.”

“Why not?”

“He’s much stronger than you and much stronger than me.”

“Then let’s hurry and get stronger! Let’s kill him!”

Wow, this kid is saying dangerous things.

It’s like they’re raining on my happy and beautiful rosy future.

“Everything inside the Duke’s Mansion belongs to my father. He created the Marguerite Flower Field, and I had nothing to do with making it.”

Ah, I don’t care about that!

I don’t care!

I need to get revenge for the nurm’s!!

Pongpong tried to protest but then closed its mouth.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To my father.”

“R-really going to kill him?”

Suddenly, Pongpong’s face turned pale.

While it had shouted about killing someone, it seemed that was just bravado.

Pongpong had already sensed the lingering mana in the Marguerite Flower Field where the flowers had vanished.

It could indirectly feel Heron’s immense power, and now that Viola was saying she would go see Heron, it felt a twinge of fear.

“Of course, I’m not scared or anything. But still, killing him seems a bit much?”

Ignoring Pongpong, Viola looked over at Zeno.

“Zeno, schedule an appointment with my father. I’m going to go see him.”

“On what grounds?”

It isn’t something you could just waltz in to meet someone.

Zeno, always relaxed, seemed a bit worried this time.

“I’m going to ask for an apology.”

“Excuse me?”

Hixson facepalmed.

“Are you out of your mind?”

That wretched guy seems to cherish his daughter quite a lot, but that’s a different issue.

To demand an apology from Heron for cutting the flowers in the flower field is out of the question.

That can’t happen.

Setting aside personal feelings, the reason it’s unacceptable is because Heron, due to his authority, would cut your head off just for challenging it.

Hixson had a handle on who Heron was.

“Are you serious about this?”

“Get real. You’ll get yourself into big trouble.

No, wait. I’ll go with you.”

In the worst-case scenario, at least he could buy some time for Viola to escape.

Hixson steeled himself in his own way.

“I will convey… the princess’s wishes to the Duke.”

*

There was a heavy atmosphere in the Duke’s study.

Carlton sighed hundreds of times inwardly.

‘What on earth is Princess Viola thinking?’

It’s true that Princess Viola has been showing outstanding performance lately.

Carlton thought this was the most dangerous time.

Many people have messed up because they were too caught up in their growth and success.

He didn’t think Viola was one of those, yet it seemed like she was still just a kid.

‘No matter how well the princess is doing, how could she ask for an apology from the Duke and schedule a meeting like this?!’

In reality, Carlton thought very highly of Viola.

He believed that while she may not be able to become the head of the family, she could be a significant asset to Bellatu.

‘How can I protect her?’

The heavy atmosphere in the office was radiating from Heron.

If an ordinary person, unable to handle mana, stepped into this space, they would likely struggle to breathe.

It was the kind of dense energy that could lead to asphyxiation if one were unlucky.

Knock, knock.

A knock was heard.

Viola entered the study.

To her right was Pongpong.

“Let’s go.”

The little one that had been bouncing around threatening to kill Heron was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, it timidly followed Viola, clutching her skirt.

“Nice to see you again, Father.”

“Yeah, I heard you demanded an apology.”

Heron was already aware of the entire situation.

It was that Pongpong spirit who watered the Marguerite Flower Field, and it knew that Pongpong had been shouting about killing him.

“It’s the first time a child has come demanding an apology out of the blue. Where’s Hixson?”

“I’m not weak enough to borrow Sir Hixson’s strength.”

Viola looked confident.

From Carlton’s view, it was a dangerously misplaced confidence.

‘Courage is good, but it must be distinguished from recklessness, 6th Princess.’

In truth, Viola wasn’t overflowing with confidence.

She was terrified out of her wits.

But she had become adept at pretending to be bold.

Nobody believed Viola was scared.

“I think I understand my father well. Even if you’re in a bad mood, you’re the kind of adult who recognizes when someone is right. And I’ve come here to precisely judge what is right and wrong as White Bellatu.”

“Speak up.”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed.

Viola found it frightfully difficult to meet those eyes.

Heron was the kind of person who would acknowledge the right words, even if they made him feel uncomfortable, yet at the same time, he would never forgive incorrect statements, even if they flattered him.

‘From the moment Pongpong started shouting about how he would kill you, the answer was already settled.’

There was no way to escape this cowardly act.

If she had to face it, she had to confront it head-on.

Her heart was racing, but she still moved as if she were relaxed.

She walked forward, standing in front of the Duke.

She removed the ring from her finger and held it up respectfully in her palm.

“I demand an apology for the disgrace you bestowed upon me, Father.”

Carlton found those words utterly incomprehensible.