VDHI 10

At the sudden remark, Leponia quietly sucked in a startled breath.

‘Did he realize why I’ve been wandering around?’

Duke Krytan lightly tapped the leg that looked as though it could snap at any moment and spoke.

“At the rate you keep walking around on those legs, they really might break someday.”

“Huh?”

Human bones do not break just from walking around. There was no way this man didn’t know that, so what was he talking about?

“I’m thinking of calling in a craftsman soon to make you a wooden riding horse you can use around the mansion. Once it’s finished, ride that instead.”

Leponia narrowed her eyes and examined Duke Krytan.

That was probably just an excuse. Maybe he had noticed something suspicious and was trying to stop her.

‘But it’s already too late.’

Thanks to all her diligent wandering, she had already finished figuring out the inside of the main building.

“Okay.”

Seeing that Leponia didn’t stubbornly resist even once, Duke Krytan patted her back.

“Daughters are difficult.”

Unlike his words, the hand patting her seemed surprisingly accustomed to handling children. Maybe it was because he had personally raised two sons.

That large hand, which looked like it would hurt if it hit someone, suited gentle pats unexpectedly well.

Grrrgle.

The moment her tension eased, a thunderous sound echoed out at the same time.

The duke and Leponia both turned toward the source.

Grrrgle.

‘You tactless stomach!’

Her stomach, which had stayed quiet until now, noisily cried out as if it could no longer endure.

“That’s quite loud.”

The duke smiled brightly as though he found it very pleasing.

“I came to see you, Duke, ah, it’s because I still haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“That’s my fault then.”

Even at Leponia’s awkward excuse, the duke admitted fault without hesitation. A noble with such pride and dignity admitting fault so easily surprised Leponia instead.

The duke left the conference hall and headed toward the dining room. Naturally, Leponia wrapped her small arms around his neck.

She had been carried around constantly these days, so she was used to it now.

“Ponia. Is there anything you’re curious about?”

“Hm?”

“Even now, you didn’t ask where we were going. And when I told you not to wander around until the wooden horse is finished, you didn’t ask why.”

“……”

“Ponia. I’ve never seen you ask why.”

It meant she didn’t bother him with unnecessary questions, nor stubbornly resist when explanations weren’t given. In other words, it was praise.

“I’ll keep trying hard.”

Leponia muttered quietly. Saying, “As expected, daughters are difficult,” the duke entered the dining room.

“Bring meat.”

Even though it was only a late breakfast, the duke immediately demanded meat for the child’s first meal and carefully seated Leponia in her chair.

While the food was being prepared on the table, neither of them spoke.

After hesitating for a long while, the duke awkwardly spoke first.

“Come to think of it, you changed your hairpin today. It suits you well. It’s pretty.”

Leponia touched the hairpin she had worn for the first time in her life.

He probably meant the hairpin was pretty, yet for some reason her face grew hot.

There was no way something this pretty could suit her.

“D-Duke, I heard you already ate.”

“Still, eating alone is lonely.”

Leponia lifted her head as though she had heard something strange.

“Ah. Not you, Ponia. Me.”

After adding those words, the duke ordered another meal prepared for himself. Unless he had woken up before dawn to eat, only an hour or two could have passed since his last meal. And he was eating again?

“I guess hearing nonsense since morning made me hungry.”

Could it be that he was eating with her on purpose?

Leponia fiddled with the fork decorated with chirping chicks. Soon all the dishes arrived, and Duke Krytan began eating neatly.

Leponia picked up her utensils as well.

“Ponia. Is it good?”

“Yeah. It’s good.”

“I should reward the head chef. Tell him to come to my office during the afternoon break later.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Watching the duke continuously eat with enjoyment, it really did seem like he had been hungry.

‘Eating with me because he was thinking of me? Yeah right, no way.’

Relaxing her expression, Leponia comfortably continued eating. If nothing else, she certainly agreed that the chef deserved a reward.

‘I wish I could eat this again later.’

But that would never happen. Once she left this mansion, she would no longer be able to enjoy food like this, nor this kind of comfort.

‘Then I should enjoy it as much as I can now.’

As Leponia focused on eating, Duke Krytan’s hand finally stopped moving.

The approaching butler quietly handed the duke a tea good for digestion.

A week had passed since the retainers arrived at the mansion.

The retainers moved around very busily.

“Do you even know how great the Krytan family is? It is the most prestigious noble house in the Empire after the Imperial Family. Someone like you—”

“Wow. So I got adopted into such an amazing family. Thanks for telling me. But if that’s true, then I’m the daughter of the most prestigious family after the Imperial Family… Is it okay for you to call me ‘you’ like that?”

They tried to intimidate the child by telling her how great the family was.

“Duke! My ring has disappeared! It was a precious ring gifted to me by my wife! Earlier, the young lady was staring at it like she wanted it, so perhaps—!”

“Is this the ring you said you lost?”

“My ring! As expected, the young lady stole my ring! Duke! This is clearly a criminal act! A crime occurring in the guardian family that protects the Empire’s peace and safety! This cannot simply be overlooked—”

“Earlier, the duke and I saw you sneak into his bedroom and leave it there yourself.”

They tried framing the child as a thief to ruin her reputation.

“Duke. I find the young lady suspicious. In my opinion, she may actually be a spy sent to destroy this family….”

“What’s a spy?”

They tried driving a wedge between the child and Duke Krytan.

“Young Lady. I’ll give you as much money as you want. In return, if you would just leave this family…”

“Duke, they said they’ll give me money if I leave the family. How much should I ask for?”

They even tried persuading the child with money.

And every single attempt failed completely.

“She’s no ordinary child.”

Late at night.

The retainers secretly gathered and spoke among themselves.

“She never leaves the duke’s side from morning till evening, so there’s no chance to sow discord.”

“We should’ve realized it when she barged into the conference hall on her own. It seems she plans to firmly take root here.”

“She’s a cunning child. A child who doesn’t know her place has become greedy.”

They had thought there was no need for some grand scheme against a mere five-year-old child.

That had been arrogance.

“This isn’t the time to go easy on her because she’s five. If someone so young is already this greedy, what will happen when she grows older?”

The retainers exchanged secretive glances. Killing intent thickened in their dim eyes.

“Let’s hire mercenaries, kidnap the child, and kill her.”

“I agree.”

“We’ll have to choose someone thorough, without loose ends.”

No matter how clever a five-year-old was, she could not defeat a skilled mercenary.

The retainers finally played their last card.

“I feel sorry for the child, but as people loyal to the Krytan family, we need to protect the house.”

“Of course. Everything we do is for the Krytan family.”

“It’s the fault of that child for becoming too greedy. We warned her endlessly.”

The retainers reached an agreement.

They unanimously agreed that the five-year-old child should die.

After exchanging opinions several more times, they quietly dispersed, having decided to hire an assassin.

All traces of the retainers disappeared, leaving only the cries of night birds behind.

Leponia, who had hidden behind a pillar while concealing her presence the entire time, stepped out.

“Trash.”

After Duke Krytan had tucked Leponia into bed and left.

The retainers had seemed to be secretly gathering, so Leponia quietly followed them.

“Haa…”

She had expected them to devise a new plan since all their previous plans had failed.

But she hadn’t expected them to conclude by deciding to kill a five-year-old child.

“No matter where you go, it’s hard for children to survive.”

Crossing her short arms, Leponia indifferently gazed up at the moonlit night sky.

‘If they’d just left me alone, I would’ve found the heirloom and left on my own.’

A skilled mercenary without loose ends, huh.

Recalling the retainers’ words, Leponia sneered.

“That’s me.”

Among the many children taught by the Pope, Leponia had been called the top student as the eldest daughter.

As Leponia returned toward the main building, she looked upward.

Perhaps because there was so much work, the window to the duke’s office was still brightly lit.

‘He spends all day playing with me, so nighttime is probably the only time he has left to work.’

Because of the chaos caused by the retainers, Leponia still had not been assigned a knight escort.

Perhaps aware of this, Duke Krytan also seemed to be carefully observing the knights lately.

‘The retainers probably know that too.’

Which meant they would try to finish things before she was assigned protection.

Leponia hummed as she walked toward her bedroom.

“Hmm hmm hmm.”

Of course, since she had never actually listened to music before, her humming was completely terrible.

As she entered the bedroom, warm heat wrapped around her. Following the duke’s insistence that children must not get cold, the fireplace in Leponia’s bedroom had never once been extinguished.

The maids constantly rotated shifts to ventilate the room and manage the firewood, so it was almost time for one of them to arrive.

Leponia climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.

After steadying her breathing and pretending to sleep, the maid entered the room exactly on time.

The maid checked the fireplace, ventilated the room, and even confirmed that Leponia was sleeping well. Then she carefully shut the window and left the bedroom.

Once the maid was gone, Leponia slowly sat up.

Then she headed toward the adjoining dressing room.

It was mainly used for changing clothes. Humming softly, Leponia retrieved an alcohol-based fragrance she had previously noticed.

Sniff sniff. It smelled nice no matter how many times she smelled it.

When she opened the window, a gentle breeze blew inside.

“To the owner of this bedroom, sorry.”

Indifferently apologizing to the “real Young Lady Krytan,” Leponia kept her distance and tossed the alcohol fragrance toward the fireplace.

Crash—!!

With the sound of shattering glass, flames burst upward. The rapidly growing fire danced with the wind before catching onto the drapes.

Fwoosh—!

The flames devoured the golden curtains, spread to the velvet drapes, and quickly swallowed the carpet, wooden chairs, and sofa.

The Pope had taught her that if she ever needed to burn down a mansion to destroy evidence, she should use the oil lamps or alcohol fragrances scattered throughout the estate.

That way, no one would be able to determine who committed the arson.

‘This should be enough.’

As the carpet near the bedroom door burned fiercely, the escape route was quickly blocked.

Having finished all preparations, Leponia walked toward the bed deep inside the bedroom.

‘How long will it take?’

And then she lay down in the exact same position the maid had checked earlier.

On the bed inside the burning bedroom.

“Duke.”

With the corners of her lips curled upward, Leponia closed her eyes as if drifting to sleep.

“You’d better notice quickly. If you’re late, I’ll die.”