* * *

“Tié, why are you here?”

The Marquis asked in a completely different voice than when he spoke to me.

Clatie, who came into the hall, put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.

“Dad, you shouldn’t step on a child like that.”

The Marquis chuckled and kicked his foot on my shoulder.

“Our Tié can be nice too. She worries about kids like this.”

“Tch.”

Clatie pouted her lips. A shy blush rose on her cheek.

“My birthday is coming up soon.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re cleaning the hall, right?”

“You don’t have to have a big party in such a large hall.”

As she said that, Clatie’s pupils shone like stars, wondering if she was looking forward to a grand birthday party.

“It’s our daughter’s birthday. Can we just be careless?”

“Dad’s also careless.”

A light pink shoe stopped in front of me.

“Are you okay?”

A gentle voice descended on me like a flower petal.

I sat up and nodded.

“Then cheer up.”

Clatie smiled and hugged the Marquis’s arm. The Maquis stroked her head lovingly.

The affectionate lady started walking towards the door.

“Hmm, Dad, my shoes got wet with dirty soap water.”

“This Dad will buy you a new one, so don’t worry.”

“Wow, Dad is the best!”

I was left alone, watching them.

Soap water was pouring all over me.

Thud, the door closed.

I stared at the firmly closed door and lowered my head.

“…Let’s clean up quickly.”

I don’t know what kind of punishment I’ll get if I don’t finish.

* * *

Rumble!

Thunder struck from my stomach.

I tried to twist my body as much as possible, but it was no use.

My stomach growled, still demanding food.

I received punishment from the Marquis for not cleaning the hall properly.

He hit my calves thirty times with a thin whip-like stick.

As I groaned in pain and couldn’t stand properly, he said to me,

“From today, there will be no dinner for a week.”

That meant I had to survive on one meal a day.

Usually, I only ate two meals a day, breakfast and dinner.

And even then, it wasn’t a proper meal, just hard bread and watery soup with no solid ingredients.

As the Marquis left, Clatie came in.

“Oh, poor you.”

Clatie clicked her tongue sympathetically at the bruises on my calves.

“Don’t be too sad. Dad is a fair person. It wouldn’t be fair if he gave you free meals just because you’re my cousin, would it?”

Even if we’re cousins, you and I are different.

Her pupils were saying that.

“Work hard from now on. You have to finish your work well. That’s what Dad said. Those who don’t work shouldn’t eat.”

With a proud smile on her face for encouraging me, Clatie left the room.

Thinking back to that moment, anger surged within me.

‘Who needs such measly food…!’

Rumble.

I wanted to say that I didn’t need such food, but my stomach was growling too much.

‘It hurts.’

My empty stomach ached, and my calves, which were red and hot from the whipping, also hurt.

My breathing was rapid.

My exhales were hot.

My head was dizzy.

‘I’m in agony.’

I had been wearing my wet clothes without changing them until they dried, and it felt like I was going to catch a cold.

Even though I had hidden myself in an old blanket, the cold winter night froze my body.

In the midst of my fever and chills, the marquis’s voice echoed.

“You should be grateful to me.”

“Your father irresponsibly left you here and doesn’t even provide child support.”

“So, I have to pay for your meals? Do you know how much you eat? Do you know how much it costs to raise you?”

“In the end, you couldn’t even pay for your own meals! You’re so lazy! Be grateful for my mercy in providing you with food and a place to sleep, useless thing.”

I covered my ears, but the marquis’s voice didn’t stop.

Now, I didn’t feel hunger or pain in my calves.

I clutched my chest and sobbed.

“It hurts so much…”

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.

I didn’t want to, but my spirit kept breaking.

In front of the marquis, my whole body trembled, and I couldn’t even speak properly.

To my young eyes, he was too big.

“Don’t forget that I’m the one who took you in and raised you when even your real father abandoned you.”

“Well, we’ll have to see if he’s really your father. Can’t you even use magic?”

I tightly grasped the old blanket.

‘Was I really abandoned.’

At first, I thought it wouldn’t be like this.

No matter how much of a devil the other party was, a contract is a contract.

But this is the result.

‘I’m such a fool for believing in a devil’s contract.’

I don’t know how many times I’ve been disappointed.

I don’t even expect promises that won’t be kept anymore.

So, there’s no need to be disappointed.

Sniff.

My nose felt stuffy.

Tears streamed down my face.

It’s such a small thing, why am I crying?

I’m still young, that’s why, hmph!

Sniff, sniff.

‘That damn devil.’

He said I was from a wealthy family.

He said he gave me abilities.

He said he would give me a father and an older brother.

‘…I thought I would have a family.’

“Ah-choo!”

My whole body shook with the sneeze.

I sniffled and tightly wrapped myself in the old blanket. It doesn’t provide much warmth, but it’s better than nothing.

‘There’s no cold medicine here, and my young body is too weak.’

I’ve almost died a few times.

Today is no different.

…Maybe it would be easier to just die.

‘No, no! I can’t be weak!’

Even if it’s unfair, I can’t die like this.

I will survive in this zero-star world.

* * *

“Tie, happy birthday!”

“Wow, you’re still so young but already so beautiful.”

“When you grow up, all the men in the empire will fall head over heels for you.”

Surrounded by her family, Clatie smiled brightly and looked like an angel, cute and lovely even to me.

She was wearing a light pink dress today, and it was so luxurious and splendid that I couldn’t think of it as a child’s clothes.

The voluminous dress hem, which was cute enough to reach her ankles, was decorated with several layers of lace, and the lace was embroidered with small diamonds.

Even if you’re rich, you won’t indulge in such extravagance for a child’s clothes that would last for less than a year.

However, when Clatie’s birthday approached, the marquis showed how much he loved her by sending her an expensive dress like this.

It was such a beautiful dress that it was dimensionally different from the clothes she usually wore, so I always look forward to what kind of dress Clatie would wear.

‘Even if Clatie begged him several times or asked for hints, the marquis never told her what kind of dress it was.’

He probably kept it a secret so that she could be happier when she received it.

‘She’s really loved…’

I turned my gaze to the beautifully decorated party hall.

Of course, the hall was sparkling clean and decorated.

The marquis probably didn’t think I could clean everything by myself.

‘He just wanted to torment me.’

I looked down at my feet, tightly pressed against the corner wall.

The shabby shoes that were barely on my feet didn’t fit in here.

Even the serving maids and footmen were wearing better shoes and clothes than me.

‘I look pathetic.’

Even though I was standing still in the corner, I could feel the mocking gazes.

It was a peaceful birthday party among family members, but I couldn’t fit in.

Well, looking at myself now, who would consider me as a member of this noble family.

In reality, I wasn’t attending the birthday party as a noble lady from Phaeraton or as Clatie’s cousin.

“Oh my!”

Clatie’s surprised voice echoed loudly.

The whipped cream had fallen onto her shoe while cutting the cake.

She was worried that her new shoes would be ruined, and her lovely face turned into a frown.

“Why are you just standing there like that!”

At that moment, the marquis’s voice sharply hit my back.

“Hurry up and wipe it off!”

Yes, I wasn’t attending this event as Clatie’s cousin.

‘I’m here as Clatie’s servant… attendant.’

If I delay any longer, the marquis will punish me again.

I quickly approached Clatie and spoke to the surrounding maids.

“I, I need to wipe it off…”

She awkwardly turned away before I could finish my sentence.

It was obvious why.

‘It must be the marquis’s order.’

Without asking any further, I kneeled in front of Clatie and pulled up my ragged sleeves to wipe it off.

The sensation of the greasy cream clumping up as I wiped it off with my tattered sleeves made me feel sick.

But there was something even more unpleasant than that.

The countless gazes of the marquis’s family on my back as I bent over.

When I lifted my head, I met the marquis’s eyes directly.

Disdain, ecstasy, and a sense of triumph filled his eyes.

“Is that all you’ve cleaned? You need to shine it!”

The marquis sneered.

My small hand clenched tightly around my sleeve.

“Are you not listening again? Was a week of starvation not enough? Or was it not enough punishment?!”

I bit my lips hard.

I wanted to stand up and shout at the abuser.

But my small body trembled and couldn’t move.

It’s scary. It’s frightening. I’m scared.

My body moved involuntarily, creaking.

My posture became lower, and my lips were close to Clatie’s shoes.

As Clatie urged me on, she shook her foot. As a result, my lips almost touched her shoe.

‘It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.’

I am… a precious person.

‘Really?’

A voice full of doubt was heard from the bottom of my chest.

I tried to ignore it and blow my breath, but then…

“Did my memory fail me?”

A faint but clear voice cut through the silence.

“I don’t think my daughter was blonde.”

When I lifted my head, a man in a cloak was standing crookedly with his cloack pinned on his one shoulder.

He was frowning as he was looking at Tie.

More precisely, at the pink dress Clatie was wearing.

“D-Duke Phaeraton?!”

The marquis shouted, stunned.

My heart raced and then sank.

The Duke of Phaeraton?

That man?

My gaze towards him shook.

The Duke of Phaeraton.

He is my father, I am a princess from that family.

* * *

He was a man with an enormous presence even though he was standing there casually.

Wide shoulders and long arms and legs.

A tightly cinched waist.

A cold face that seemed like no blood would come out even if it was poked.

An enormous momentum emanating from his entire body.

Yet, he couldn’t hide his good looks.

‘Wow… he looks like a male protagonist in a romance novel…’

Eyes redder than even the deep darkness, hair darker than the abyss, and pupils redder than the purest dove’s blood.

If he were described in a novel, there would surely be such a sentence.

He looked more like the protagonist than any male protagonist I had imagined.

“W, weren’t you on the Western Front?”

The Western Front?

I frowned at the marquis’s words.

‘Does that mean the duke was in the war?’

I didn’t know.

“It’s over.”

“What?”

“The war is over.”

The marquis shook his head as if it was impossible.

“It’s over, but surely…”

“Do I look so free that I have time to handle the rest of the mess myself?”

The duke’s eyes became as sharp as a razor.

Even though he still had a crooked posture and a lazy attitude, just that alone changed the atmosphere.

Clatie and the marchioness struggled to breathe and stiffened their bodies.

“Haha, of course not.”

The marquis approached the duke with a forced smile on his pale face.

“By the way, why did you come here without even contacting us?”

“Isn’t it obvious why I came?”

Ignoring the marquis, the duke moved his steps.

Perhaps because his legs were so long, he arrived in front of Clatie with a few relaxed steps.

His red pupils scanned Clatie.

Clatie couldn’t bear his cold and sharp gaze and shook her head.

Her trembling body and pale face were about to foam up.

The duke’s gaze narrowed. His blood-red pupils moved slowly.

“Ah.”

Our eyes met.

The duke’s eyes twitched.

“What kind of rat is this little brat?”

“Uh, she’s an employee of our house.”

“Surely, someone who looks like this wouldn’t be the princess of Phaeraton.”

The duke’s voice dropped dangerously low.

The marquis, who was explaining something next to him, froze and couldn’t continue.

Not only the marquis’s family but also all the employees around couldn’t even breathe easily.

A suffocating silence.

It was so thick and dense that you couldn’t even hear a needle drop.

I lowered my head.

A little brat, a rat.

That’s right.

Even I could tell that I looked shabby and insignificant.

‘He probably doesn’t like the fact that I’m his daughter.’

He would want to deny it.

But…

“Um, can’t you take me with you, at least?”

I gathered all the courage I had and looked up at the duke.

I can’t live here anymore.

I will surely die if I stay here any longer.

The red pupils facing me twisted in anger.

“What?”

“Ah, is it because I didn’t…couldn’t take a bath.”

I clenched my mouth tightly, trying to look as neat as possible, and walked towards him with trembling steps.

“I won’t be bothersome. I can take a bath alone.”

Thump, thump, my heart felt like it was ringing in my ears.

“I can do the cooking and cleaning too! I can pay for my meals. I’ll eat just a little bit….”

The duke said nothing.

“I’ll polish your shoes every day too! I can make them shine brightly!”

My courage was dwindling.

I didn’t want to do this, but my head kept lowering and I only saw his jawline, not his eyes.

“And, also, another thing.”

His jawline was stiff.

My head was completely lowered to the ground.

I saw Clatie’s shoes with cream still on them.

I hated it here.

I wanted to live in a warm, cozy, and comfortable place.

Now, in this life, and always—

“I want to go home….”