35.
At my mention of starting slowly, she seemed satisfied. Her eyes curved into crescents as she released my cheek, which she had been holding hostage.
“You haven’t been eating much since earlier, though. Is there something you don’t like?”
“No, it’s delicious! I actually eat everything except eggplant. It’s just that….”
“Just that?”
I seized the moment, putting on a sullen expression as I began to pour out stories about Aiden-ajusshi.
“Actually, for the past few months, there’s been someone who took me in and cared for me, even though I’m an orphan.”
“Is that so? He must be a good person.”
“Yes. But it weighs on me that I came here immediately without even being able to tell him that I won the adoption competition.”
The Duke opened her mouth with an expression of regret, as if she had made a mistake.
“I was so eager to bring you to the Ducal estate that I rushed things. I am sorry. I should have asked for your opinion as well.”
After contemplating for a moment, she took a light sip of wine and offered me a suggestion.
“After dinner, I will have you taken to where your guardian is. How about you spend the night there? I will have the carriage sent for you again tomorrow afternoon.”
I bowed my head and thanked her quickly, lest she revoke her words.
“Thank you for your consideration!”
“In the future, if something like that happens, don’t keep it bottled up inside. Speak up.”
“Yes!”
When I answered spiritedly, she patted the top of my head as if she found me endearing.
“And do tell the person who looked after you that I will invite him to the Ducal estate soon, and that I hope he will visit if he has the time.”
Truth be told, I had been hoping that if I showed how much I missed ajusshi, she might invite him to the estate.
It was fortunate that things had flowed exactly as I intended.
I smirked inwardly, painting a future where ajusshi became my personal guard.
A knight who was a former mercenary? What could he not do?
In a world where even a commoner orphan could become a Lady, making that happen was nothing at all.
✦ ✦ ✦
After the meal with the Papiope people, Tania went to Aiden’s house with the Duke’s permission.
“Ajusshi-!”
Before the servant could help her down, Tania hopped out of the carriage all by herself.
She then ran straight toward Aiden’s house.
*Dada-da!*
“Young Lady, you’ll trip like that…!”
The guard and the maid sent by the Duke were flustered by Tania’s sudden behavior and called out to her.
At the sound of their worried voices, Tania stopped running and looked back.
Perhaps because she had come from the streets, their trivial worries felt unfamiliar.
Ajusshi had cherished her beyond measure, but he had also raised her tough, saying that children were meant to grow up by getting hurt.
After she grew up a bit, there hadn’t been many people who worried about her falling.
Tania smiled brightly at them to show she was okay.
“Thank you for escorting me. That is my guardian’s house, so you can go back now.”
“No, it is our duty to assist you, Young Lady. ……And, Young Lady.”
“Yes?”
“Since you have become a Lady, you must use formal language when speaking to those of lower status.”
“That is correct. You can speak comfortably when addressing us.”
Tania rolled her eyes.
Any other child might have felt uncomfortable, but….
Having served servants in her previous life, she knew that the ability to speak informally was also a form of power.
Might as well enjoy what she could.
“Okay, I understand. And you heard that I’m staying here for the night, right? You just need to come back here tomorrow. I’m counting on you.”
The casual tone felt surprisingly natural on her tongue; it wasn’t bad at all.
Seeing that Tania’s polite language had secretly bothered them, the faces of the knights and maids brightened.
“Yes. Then, we will have the carriage waiting here again tomorrow afternoon.”
“Have a peaceful time, Young Lady.”
Just as she was about to enter the house after waving to the departing carriage, someone called her name.
“……Tania.”
When she turned around at the voice calling her, she met Aiden, who was looking at her with a complicated expression.
Aiden, who had rushed out upon hearing Tania’s voice, had witnessed the grown men bowing respectfully to the child before leaving.
And he had also noticed the seal of the Papiope family on the carriage.
Given the circumstances, Aiden realized at once that Tania had won the adoption competition.
He had been on his way to the Talent Development Center, feeling that Tania was exceptionally late.
But whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.
The daughter he had been worried about had come to find him herself.
In the state of having become the Duke’s daughter.
It was certainly something he had permitted.
He had even taken her to the Talent Development Center himself, telling her to enter the adoption competition.
But now that he actually saw Tania, who had become someone else’s daughter, his breath caught in his throat.
A filthy sense of jealousy surged up.
Becoming the Duke’s daughter was clearly a great honor and an opportunity that would never come again.
She would live a much more affluent and better life than she ever would living as his daughter.
Perhaps she had instinctively craved the position she had lost and had returned to her rightful place.
Even so, he felt a strong impulse to stop her.
To ask her if she couldn’t just not go. To remain his daughter.
……But did he even have the right to ask such a thing?
He hadn’t even known that Tania had been abandoned by his younger brother until he heard it from the child’s own lips.
To ensure no one knew that he and Tania were father and daughter, he had deliberately suppressed his urge and stopped visiting the child once she turned five.
That was the conclusion he had reached after visiting his brother consistently for several years to see if the child was doing well and if there were signs of abuse.
Perhaps it was a mistake to have handed his brother a large sum of money all at once, saying it would be difficult for him to visit in the future.
He had never imagined that the moment his visits ceased, his brother would abandon Tania on a forest path full of monsters.
Before quitting the Geumeunhwa Mercenary Corps, he had ensured his brother, who had abandoned his own niece and fled to another country with the money, paid the price.
But no matter how much he had avenged her….
He could not deny that all of this was a catastrophe born of his own misjudgment.
How scared she must have been, a little child abandoned in the forest.
How grueling it must have been, drifting through the streets.
Even without him, she was a child who could have entered the Papiope Talent Development Center and become the Duke’s daughter on her own.
Just like she had now.
As Aiden could not say a word due to his complicated thoughts, Tania opened her mouth cautiously first.
“Ajusshi, I…… I won the competition.”
Then, at some point, her expression crumpled, and tears as large as peas began to stream down her face.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can be your daughter anymore.”
His kind daughter, rather than being happy and boasting about her win, was walking on eggshells around him.
This shouldn’t be happening.
If he had any shred of conscience left, he should be congratulating her on her win sincerely.
She was a child who always acted so maturely—how burdened must she be feeling to be shedding tears?
Aiden immediately pulled Tania into a bone-crushing hug.
“What on earth do you have to be sorry for? Don’t cry over something you deserve to boast about and be congratulated for.”
He felt ashamed of himself for having felt a filthy sense of jealousy toward a Duke he didn’t even know, even if only for a moment.
“Tania, don’t worry about me. Go to the Ducal estate and live happily, without wanting for anything.”
Initially, asking Tania to be his adopted daughter had been his last desperate struggle.
He had thought it better for her to live a happy life, even if her life was threatened, than to be alone and unhappy again.
One misjudgment—breaking ties for the child’s safety—was enough.
He had intended to stay with her and protect her 24 hours a day.
But now it was different.
Since Tania had become a Lady of the Papiope Ducal House, her environment and safety had improved incomparably.
Now, he just had to ensure ‘that person’ never discovered that he and Tania were father and daughter.
Everything would be resolved if he and Tania cut ties and lived like strangers.
Tania, who had been sobbing in his arms, opened her mouth with a hiccup.
“Ajusshi, I have a favor to ask.”
“……Yes, tell me anything.”
Since today might be the last time he could be with her, he intended to grant whatever he could.
But the child’s request was something he had never imagined.
“Can you become my personal guard after I’m adopted into the Ducal house?”