“You look so affectionate and close. Like a family.”

Dad held the open carriage door and chuckled lazily.

“Y-Y-Y-Your Excellency…”

The old vassal trembled with cold sweat.

“Hmm? Why are you shaking, lord vassal? Did you want to stroke my cheek that much? Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll stop teasing.”

I took the old vassal’s hand and pressed it against my cheek.

But the old vassal was as stiff as a rock and didn’t move.

“Now, pat pat!”

Feeling frustrated, I slapped the old vassal’s palm against my cheek.

“That’s it! I’m a good kid who keeps my promises!”

I stood up straight and put my hands on my hips, but the old vassal didn’t look pleased at all.
He looked like he was about to foam at the mouth…

Then, I heard Dad’s voice from behind.

“Oh, a promise…”

When I turned around, Dad was staring at the old vassal as if he was going to eat him alive.

“I’m really curious about what kind of promise it is.”

Hey, isn’t it the content of the promise that you’re curious about?

Like how much a person can endure or something like that?

I had my doubts, but I couldn’t know for sure.

Dad dragged the old vassal away somewhere.

It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t stop it.

When I jumped out of the carriage, the butler smiled at me.

“Welcome back, Youngest Miss.”

Ah.

Yes, I had a home to come back to.

There were people welcoming me.

My home.

“Yeah, I’m back!”

I smiled broadly.

* * *

The Duke of Phaeraton looked at his young daughter with a serious expression.

This child is really a dangerous existence.

She has the ability to control other people’s bodies, and the problem is, it has nothing to do with her own will.

Even now, watching her eat chocolate cake made my hand twitch.

I wanted to stroke her fluffy hair.

‘But it seems to awaken violence.’

Watching her plump cheeks shake as she ate made me suddenly want to break through the wall.

That wasn’t all.

‘It’s strange.’

The Duke of Phaeraton observed his youngest daughter, rubbing his chin.

‘Why do I feel full just looking at you?’

Since entering the tea room, he hadn’t touched any tea or snacks.

He was in the middle of giving his daughter serious education.

But for some reason, his stomach growled.

‘Is this the ability to control human physical reactions? It’s really dangerous.’

This was the first time Phaeraton had been without ?magic?.

‘Since there is no precedent, I don’t know what this ability is.’

In any case, it was a dangerous ability.

After a brief hesitation, he spoke up.

“Ruru.”

“Yes?”

The child looked up with a face smeared with chocolate.

Once again, he felt his hand move and the Duke of Phaeraton clenched his fist tightly.

“Did you understand what I said?”

“Mhm!”

The child smiled widely and nodded her head.

‘…Another incredibly violent impulse just came over me.’

Her laughter seemed to have tremendous destructive power.

If it’s just him, he could endure it, but if it were someone else, they would have destroyed everything while screaming ‘Aaah!’

“Well then, let’s test it out.”

This was a really serious problem.

The Duke of Phaeraton’s eyes sharpened.

“What if someone else tries to stroke your hair?”

“No way!”

“What if they pinch your cheek?”

“I hate it!”

“Shall we go eat candy?”

“It’s dirty!”

“What about a kiss on the cheek?”

“Ew, no!”

“What if they try to pick you up?”

“Kidnapper!”

The child waved her fist like a fluffy cotton ball towards the air.

‘As expected, she’s smart like me.’

The Duke of Phaeraton nodded his head.

But there was one thing that bothered him.

‘Her words are too weak.’

Stop what you’re doing. Do you want your fingers to fly off?

Wouldn’t these words be more appropriate?

Anna taught him that ‘you should always use kind and proper words with a child,’ but it was not very effective.

‘Just warning them kindly before actually doing it. Isn’t that polite?’

The Duke of Phaeraton seriously pondered and reached out to his daughter.

With what he had just taught her, he didn’t think the other person would be particularly shocked.

“No way!”

Flinch.

The Duke of Phaeraton’s hand stopped in mid-air.

“I hate it!”

At the following words, the Duke of Phaeraton’s face turned pale.

Ruatisha raised her hand and pointed at the Duke of Phaeraton.

“Kidnapper!”

“……!”

The Duke of Phaeraton’s eyes shook violently with tremendous shock.

A murderer on the battlefield.

A slaughterer in the darkness.

He, who never wavered in any terrible situation, stopped breathing at his daughter’s words.

It’s not weak.

The effect is too strong, which is the problem.

“Ru, Ruru….”

The Duke of Phaeraton reached out to his youngest daughter again, but all that came back was a firm refusal.

“It’s dirty! Ew, no!”

Ruatisha slapped the Duke’s hand with a clap.

It shouldn’t hurt the Duke of Phaeraton.

But, instead, he felt severe pain.

For the first time in his life, he realized what it felt like to have a nail driven into his chest.

Blood flowed profusely.

But the daughter who didn’t know anything about it laughed heartily, as if saying ‘Did I do well?’

* * *

Clatie bit her nails.

Her nails, which had always been pink and glossy without a single scratch, were now a mess as if a mouse had eaten them.

But Clatie didn’t have the energy to care about that.

‘Why?’

Why did this happen?

She looked around the dark room.

The room, which was decorated like a fairy’s room in a fairy tale, had become messy.

The flowers in the vase had withered and there was dust in the corners.

‘What’s wrong, I’m already tired of that doll. Why is it still in my room?’

Come to think of it, she had bought a new doll every day, but that was also a long time ago.

The employees were all fired, and even the remaining few didn’t do their job properly.

People came to visit every day and shouted at her father.

Her mother kept fighting with her father and eventually left for her parents’ house.

She asked if Clatie wanted to go with her, but Clatie shook her head.

‘Well, my mother is from a viscountcy.’

Leave this marquisate and go live as a viscount?

‘That half-breed is even living in the Duke of Paeraton’s estate even though she’s an illegitimate child!’

It’s impossible.

‘This is all because of that brat!’

Everything changed after that day when she left.

Clatie remembered the appearance of Ruatisha, who had come to Marquisate of Tarenka.

A child who put her hand in a fluffy silver muff with a sparkling glow and walked with a light step.

There was nothing more luxurious or noble from head to toe.

‘She’s still acting like the Princess of Paeraton.’

That’s why she enjoys such treatment.

The child walked down the hallway with a confident step.

How dare she?

She was originally in a position who lays flat on the floor and polished the floor in that hallway.

That was her true appearance, but now her expression, posture, and walking were completely different from what Clatie remembered. It was like a different person.

‘Why did she come here so shamelessly?’

Clatie realized what she was thinking.

‘She came to apologize to me.’

Ha, I guess I’ll accept it.

My father will kick her out anyway.

But the situation went completely differently from Clatie’s expectations.

That idiot didn’t even come to apologize to her, and her father even met her in the greenhouse.

‘What on earth is happening?’

That question tormented her when she saw Duke Delvatren, Duke Iskamil, and Marquis Sherdel.

That child shamelessly mingled with those high nobles even though she’s an illegitimate child.

What was even more surprising was that the three people treated her kindly.

Especially Duke Delvatren, who was not particularly fond of children.

As someone who had always been loved and praised, Clatie had no qualms about approaching anyone first.

The first wall she felt was Duke Delvatren.

But how could they be like that?

‘Should I give you some candy? I have delicious candy at home.’

This doesn’t make sense.

Other nobles are the same.

How can they be so fond of a child they’ve only seen once?

‘She was originally a child who was hated by everyone!’

It’s impossible.

‘She’s not that kind of person. It’s all a lie!’

I have to tell them!

With that thought, she went in front of the three people, but all she got when she came back was a cold gaze.

Even the kind-hearted Duke Iskamil turned his face away with a stiff expression.

‘This is all because of that fake!’

Thinking that way, she ran to her father.

But her father said he was busy and didn’t listen to her.

And from that day on, the nightmare began.

‘That naughty girl made all this happen. I raised her until now, and she doesn’t even appreciate it!’

Clatie looked down at her dress, feeling unsatisfied.

It wasn’t as good as what that child was wearing.

“Dad said he would buy me a new dress.”

He said he would buy me a new dress because the one I wore on my birthday party was completely ruined and I was sad.

‘Come to think of it, that dress was ruined because of her.’

Clatie bit her lip and stood up.

“Just wait and see! I’m going to buy a new muff, headband, and dress too. I’ll look better than her!”

With a snort, Clatie strode away.

As she walked down the hallway, she felt something strange.

The air was different.

There were no people, which was natural since the employees had been fired, but something was strange.

Somehow the air felt dry and prickly.

Clatie hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind and stepped forward.

She wanted a new dress as soon as possible.

It was when she entered the hallway where the Marquis’s office was located.

“Ah…!”

Clatie ran into an intruder.

It was a reckless bunch who dared to step on the Marquis’s territory without permission.

But.

They were armed in black and were elegant and beautiful like predators melted into the darkness of the night.

Clatie unknowingly stared at them blankly.

At that moment, the face of the man who stood at the forefront, illuminated by the moonlight, appeared.

His face was so perfect and arrogant that it was doubtful if he was human.

His bright red eyes revealed a cruel and vicious expression.

“U-uncle….”

Swoosh, the Duke of Phaeraton’s eyes slowly moved and fell on Clatie.

But that was all.

His gaze returned to the front.

“Ah, ah…”

Only after the Duke of Phaeraton disappeared into the Marquis’s room did Clatie exhaled her held breath.

Tears flowed out.

How could someone’s eyes be so cold?

She felt like a crawling worm on the ground.

Even breathing in this world was a luxury for trash like her.

Clatie trembled palely and shuddered.

Her short gaze was more violent than any words.

Clatie’s figure lying down, unable to get up, was more pathetic than her cousin who had looked down on and ignored her so much.

* * *

“D-Duke Phaeraton!”

Marquis Tarenka screamed in horror and shouted at the intruder.

It was staggering to see someone who had invaded the Marquis’s territory without hiding their face.

But at the same time, he was afraid.

“What do you think you’re doing! I won’t make this an issue if you leave now!”

Even though he purposely shouted loudly, Duke Phaeraton did not even blink.

Instead, a black and murky energy slowly emerged around him.

A sinister energy that swelled up while consuming light and inflating the body.

?Magic?.

Marquis Tarenka turned pale.

“Ah, ah, even if you’re who you are, you can’t just come in here and harm me!”

A sly smile spread across the lips of Duke Phaeraton.

“Is that so?”

“The Marquisate of Tarenka is a loyal family! How are you going to fix this! If the Emperor and other nobles find out…!”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

“Even if my father, the former Marquis, doesn’t like me, I am still his child! He won’t just sit still if he finds out about this!”

“You have nothing to worry about right now.”

The magic that circled around Duke Phaeraton suddenly swelled up.

“Save your worries after you’re dead.”

Marquis Tarenka quickly opened his mouth when he saw the magic approaching him in an instant.

“Brother-in-law!”

Kwang!

A dark energy that had been moving shattered the wall without a sound.

A red mark of blood appeared on Marquis Tarenka’s cheek. It was the result of a slight brush with magic.

“Why on earth are you doing this!”

Intense fear sometimes makes one forget their fears.

“Yes, that’s right! I’m the one who persecuted Princess Phaeraton. I insulted the Duke’s pride!”

The Marquis shouted angrily.

“But she’s not really the princess, is she!”

“…Not the princess?”

“That child isn’t the Duke’s legitimate child! The Duchess had another man’s child!”

Kwaaang!!