41.
I replied with a playful chuckle.
“You’re a famous person, sir. How could I not recognize you, Grandpa? Even under a mask, your imposing presence is impossible to hide.”
At that, the Former Duke let out a groan, unable to press me further.
To reveal how I had identified him, he would have had to expose his own ability.
He had used a technique to dampen a target’s cognitive perception at the underground auction house. It was clearly one of his replicated abilities.
He must have been wondering how I knew he was Declan Papiope even though he had muffled his own existence.
It was simple.
Abilities that interfere with the mind are useless against someone with a stronger will.
Unless your mind is caught off guard, you can break free with just a flicker of concentration.
Since the Former Duke had never met an Abilitator stronger than himself until now, his confusion was only natural.
For similar reasons, the nobility guarded their bloodlines with such fervor.
They kept their abilities—that finite “pie”—restricted to a handful of people to ensure the potency of their gifts.
That was why there were almost no illegitimate children among the imperial nobility.
If a child were born by mistake, they would hunt them down and erase them.
In any case, since my adoption into the Papiope family seemed to be a settled matter, it was time to move on to the main point.
“I was actually planning to find you, Grandpa, so this worked out perfectly!”
The Former Duke pointed at himself with his index finger, looking perplexed.
“……Me?”
“You remember our bet? The one involving a wish?”
“You—you didn’t come to Papiope just for that, did you?”
“Well, you could say it’s a two-birds-one-stone situation.”
I pulled my lips into a wicked smile, the look of a loan shark arriving to collect on overdue interest.
Well then, client. It’s time you settled your debt.
✦ ✦ ✦
Having finished stating my wish to my grandfather, I wandered around the Duchy with a light heart.
The estate was so vast that I hadn’t even traversed the grounds by the time dinner arrived.
I headed to the dining room, curious if Lucian would actually attend.
To my surprise, he was already at the table.
He noticed me enter and met my gaze, but flinched the moment he spotted the back of my hand.
As expected, it was the bluish-purple bruise that caught his eye.
Perhaps because my body was frail, the color had bloomed darker than I anticipated, catching even me by surprise.
The Duchess also spotted me. Her initial smile vanished, and she jumped up from her seat in alarm.
She rushed over, grabbed my wrist, and her face crumpled.
“Tania……! How did you get this bruise?”
I had told Lena, my temporary maid, to keep her mouth shut. Since the Duchess had assigned her to me, I had been worried about word getting out.
However, seeing her reaction, I was relieved to realize the news hadn’t reached her yet.
“Oh, this? I accidentally banged it on a door.”
As I covered for Lucian’s wrongdoing, relief flashed across his face. He had been watching me with an anxious, hunted expression.
“Oh, my. You should have been more careful. It must have hurt terribly.”
The Duchess let out a small sigh and gently wrapped her hands around mine. Her warmth seeped into me instantly.
“Why didn’t you go to the physician right away? Didn’t your maid tell you the Duchy has a healing Abilitator?”
“She did!”
“Then why……?”
Because I needed Lucian to see the bruise, that’s why.
He needed to face the physical consequence of what he had done.
“I thought it would heal on its own. I’m fine! Thank you for worrying.”
“Tania, do you think I would just watch my daughter suffer?”
“Yes? But…….”
The Duchess offered a playful smile and pulled her hands back.
Just like that, my skin was perfectly unblemished.
“Uh……?”
Blinking in confusion, I realized then that a healing ability would naturally be among her arsenal of replicated powers.
“Let’s keep it between us that I healed you,” she whispered in my ear, tying a handkerchief around the back of my hand.
The fabric carried a faint, subtle scent of the Duchess.
A calm, woodsy fragrance that put my heart at ease.
“Thank you…….”
“Oh, what wouldn’t a mother do for her precious daughter?”
I stared at the handkerchief, wearing an unreadable expression.
A corner of my heart felt ticklish.
It felt as though the absence of a mother—a void I hadn’t even acknowledged—was finally being filled.
In truth, I hadn’t spent much time wishing for a mother.
After all, I had Mr. Aiden.
I had only ever thought about how much I wanted him to be my father.
But now that I actually had a person called “mother”……
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
No, it felt so warm that I think I’ve become a little greedy.
“Tania, let’s eat.”
Just as the Duchess, who had bent down to my eye level, straightened up to return to her seat, I grabbed her sleeve to stop her. I spoke in a very small, low voice.
“Thank you, Mom.”
For an instant, the Duchess’s eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe her ears.
Then, she beamed with joy and jokingly teased me.
“You said you’d start calling me ‘Mom’ slowly, but you’re faster than I thought.”
One might have expected me to be embarrassed by my sudden shift in attitude in just a single day, but I brazenly shot back.
“Ahem, I’m the type to adapt quickly. How about that? I’ll survive anywhere, right?”
“Goodness, what magnificent strength! You’ll never starve, that’s for sure. Now, shall we?”
The Duchess took my hand and led me to the table.
Then, as if handling a piece of fragile glassware, she helped me into my chair.
Today, I sat across from Lucian again.
As the Duchess took her place, I met Lucian’s red eyes. He looked deep in thought.
Without hesitation, I beamed at him.
Lucian jumped, startled by my greeting, and averted his eyes like someone who had just committed a crime.
Tiny beads of sweat had formed on his smooth forehead.
He seemed to have been pricked by his conscience ever since he saw the bruise on my hand.
He wasn’t an inherently bad child.
Even when he had harshly pushed me away earlier, he had looked shocked, as if thinking, ‘That’s not what I intended.’
How long had we been exchanging glances? The Duchess began the meal and lightly asked about my day.
“Tania, what did you do today?”
“I looked around the Duchy! It was so huge I couldn’t see it all, though. Hehe.”
“And?”
“I went to the kitchen and got some cookies! Everyone was so kind I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
“It seems the servants like you. Sounds like a productive day.”
“Yes. And luckily, I met the grandfather I couldn’t see yesterday, and we talked.”
“My father……?”
“Yes. My grandfather.”
The Duchess immediately furrowed her brows.
“Did that old man give you a hard time? He likes children, but he’s been sulking lately, so I was worried he wouldn’t have said anything nice.”
“No. Unlike your worries, my grandfather was very kind.”
He had helped me get out of the underground auction house, and he had graciously agreed to honor the wish I had won from our bet.
“Re……ally? My father may have a warm heart, but he isn’t the type to express it nicely, so that’s fascinating.”
“Maybe he likes me, too?”
“Well, perhaps he was a bit kinder since you are so young…….”
While I was having a pleasant conversation with the Duchess, I glanced at Lucian.
Dinner had started upon my arrival, but perhaps due to his guilt, he was barely touching his food.
When the conversation lulled, the Duchess noticed something was off with Lucian.
“Lucian, is something the matter? You don’t look well.”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing. I’m eating just fine, see?”
He forced a smile, stretching his lips before taking a bite.
The Duchess raised her eyebrows, but choosing not to pry into what he wanted to hide, she turned her focus back to me.
“That’s a relief. If you need any help with anything, let me know.”
“……Yes.”
It was then.
Someone made a loud, boisterous entrance into the dining room.
“Hmph, tch. Eating without me, the head of this house! You unfilial brats.”