Chapter 17
“Ah.”
Dwayne held his head as if it hurt.
The only fortunate thing was that most of the nobles who would likely appear on the list were the kind who had a high chance of living at the bottom of society.
The kind whose sudden death wouldn’t be strange at all.
“Dispose of the trash only once a day, please!”
While the Grand Duke’s adjutant was grumbling and lamenting his fate, it happened.
The Grand Duke looked at Aria, who was staring up at him blankly.
“……”
“What is it?”
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a card, then wrote on it.
[Father, thank you.]
“……”
She killed people, and yet she was saying thank you.
Watching her, Dwayne came to a perfect conclusion.
“She is perfectly suited to be the Grand Duchess of Valentine.”
I’m the only normal one in this castle.
Dwayne felt like crying for some reason.
And upon reading the card, the Grand Duke also came to the same thought as his adjutant for once.
‘Is this something to be thanked for?’
He had thought she might burst into tears this time. It was quite unexpected.
‘Perhaps this is what they call being well-behaved.’
Without realizing it, the Grand Duke placed his hand on top of her head.
Aria, startled, grabbed his hand.
His strength was so great she was pressed down and couldn’t even lift her head.
‘What am I doing, pressing down on a child’s head?’
The Grand Duke tilted his head lazily, stroking his chin.
Aria’s eyes were wide open.
A look that clearly said, “Why are you doing this?”
“Hm.”
He removed his hand from her head.
And even that action remained a mystery to him that day.
After that, Aria visited the Grand Duke every day.
As her time there grew longer, the once bleak office gradually began to fill with various items.
It started with a child-sized sofa, then flowers, books, toys, dolls—things kept increasing endlessly.
‘Why did I buy all these?’
Tristan, the Grand Duke of Valentine, could not understand it.
At first, it had simply been because Aria was sleeping uncomfortably, buried among the wolves.
‘Wolves may have soft fur, but their bodies are thick and muscular.’
So he brought in a soft, fluffy child-sized sofa that would let her relax the moment she sat down.
[Father, thank you.]
He did not forget to take the card she handed him with a bright smile.
After that, he noticed she often just stared into space blankly.
‘She looks bored.’
All she did in the office was pet the wolves, stare out the window, and fall asleep.
Once he started noticing those things, he remembered what the head maid had casually mentioned.
“The young lady seems to really like flowers.”
So he brought in several flower pots.
[Father, you’re amazing!]
Aria was delighted and spent all day staring at the plants.
‘Whether she looks out the window or at the plants…’
It felt like she was just replacing one gaze with another.
Thinking it might be better for her to read, he allowed her access to the library.
Aria reacted even more enthusiastically than expected.
[Father, you’re the most wonderful person in the world!]
She clutched the card tightly in both hands, smiling brightly and bouncing with joy.
This was a child who remained composed even when her own father tried to sell her as a sacrifice.
It was the first time he had seen her so happy.
After that day, Aria began choosing books from the library and sometimes read them in the Grand Duke’s office.
‘Now she’s spending all day reading books too.’
It had simply shifted from the window, to flowers, to books.
From Tristan’s perspective, she still seemed to lack something.
So he bought out the most popular toy store in the capital.
Even to himself, it felt a little insane.
‘She doesn’t even seem to like them that much.’
Maybe I shouldn’t have bought it.
The Grand Duke stared at a large bear plush that radiated an overwhelming presence even while working.
But when he saw Aria walking over and sitting down, leaning against the bear, he abandoned that thought.
Buying the toy store might not have been a bad decision after all.
But still…
“Something still feels lacking.”
“Pardon? Again?”
Is this an office or a child’s playground?
Dwayne looked like he had far too many things he wanted to say.
But Tristan was seriously thinking alone.
“Light it.”
He casually placed a cigarette in his mouth and gestured to Dwayne, then paused. He glanced at Aria.
“No, don’t light it.”
He simply kept it between his lips.
Then he accidentally met Aria’s gaze. Her half-asleep eyes widened.
She rummaged around and brought out a bottle filled tightly with colorful small beads.
[Here, for you.]
She looked up at Tristan, her pink sapphire-like eyes sparkling.
A gift?
“What is this?”
[It’s rock candy.]
“Candy? So small candy exists?”
He looked between the bottle and Aria with a dubious expression.
It was the same look one might give a stray cat that had brought back a mouse.
“You’re telling me to eat this?”
Aria nodded.
The Grand Duke casually tossed the cigarette onto the desk and poured the so-called rock candy into his mouth.
It was just sugar.
‘What is the point of eating this?’
Then he looked at the bottle again and remembered it was something Aria always carried close to her chest when coming to the office.
It seemed she had given him something she treasured most.
‘Hmm. Candy…’
Children like sweets.
He realized what was missing.
The Grand Duke smiled in satisfaction and took the card Aria had given him along with the bottle.
He intended to order the kitchen to prepare different desserts every day.
However—
“The Young Master gave similar instructions, but the young lady actually cannot properly eat anything except soup.”
The head chef spoke cautiously.
“Even desserts… aside from a few drinks or candies, she cannot consume them at all…”
Tristan’s expression darkened sharply.
“So.”
The Grand Duke of Valentine tilted his head lazily, a cigarette between his lips.
“Speak. I’ll at least listen.”
“Y-Your Grace. The young lady is certainly suffering from malnutrition, but there is no issue with her physical health. However, her body rejects food due to… generally…”
“Get to the point.”
The summoned physician broke into a cold sweat, rambling before hurriedly continuing.
“Psychological factors.”
“Psychological?”
Cure, the physician in charge of Aria, felt wronged.
Although there were more than ten physicians residing in the Valentine estate, all of them specialized in trauma treatment.
It was no wonder. In Valentine—especially among the Valentine bloodline—everyone was dull to pain.
If something bothered them, whether object or person, they would remove it without hesitation and forget it entirely.
‘But the young lady is different. Her heart is hurt.’
Cure had no confidence in treating Aria.
Physical wounds and emotional wounds were entirely different fields.
“For people who cannot swallow food like the young lady, they usually end up swallowing something else instead.”
“What?”
“Emotions. Joy, sadness, anger, irritation.”
The Grand Duke flicked cigarette ash onto the carpet with a look that suggested he didn’t understand why anyone would swallow such things.
He was the pinnacle of indifference.
Though unmatched in every other aspect, his capacity for empathy was severely lacking.
“When suppressed emotions build up to the limit, there is no space left for food.”
“Explain simply.”
“It means she does not express laughter when she wants to laugh, or cry when she wants to cry.”
Cure added, “If she does not release the emotions she has bottled up inside, she will not recover.”
“You seem knowledgeable.”
“In theory, yes, it should be accur—”
“So you knew this and still failed to treat her?”
“Pardon?”
Cure’s pupils shook violently.
He collapsed to the floor, trembling like a leaf.
But the Grand Duke simply tilted his lips faintly and extinguished his cigarette on the white coat.
Sizzle—
The sound of burning fabric made the physician’s face turn pale.
Though he felt no physical pain, the psychological pressure alone made him feel like collapsing.
“Dispose of him.”
“Y-Your Grace! Please! Spare me!”
At his command, the black falcons standing behind him moved in unison and restrained the physician.
Cure was dragged away, screaming in despair.
Watching this, Dwayne leaned in and whispered.
“Your Grace.”
“What.”
“That physician is the only one who identified the psychological cause behind the young lady’s eating problem.”
“So?”
“It is still a very new field in medicine. If you execute him, it may become harder for the young lady to receive treatment in the future.”
“……”
Tristan fell silent.
He took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled smoke like a sigh.
“…Bring him back.”
The black falcons obediently dragged the physician back like a trained dog.
“And even though that physician failed, perhaps Your Grace could heal the young lady’s heart yourself.”
“Me?”
At those words, everyone turned to look at Dwayne.
As if looking at a shameless flatterer.
Even the Grand Duke himself asked as though it were absurd.
“Me?”
“Yes. The young lady has already opened her heart to you, hasn’t she? She even gave you her precious rock candy in a bottle.”
“Hm…”
“And she currently has no stable place to stay. It would be best if Your Grace provided one.”
It did sound reasonable.
The Grand Duke recalled the cards Aria had given him.
The child had said Father was the best, and even that he was the most wonderful in the world.
‘She even said she liked being by my side.’
She was clearly dependent on him emotionally.
“It’s about time for the brat to come.”
As if finishing his business, he rose from his seat and left the underground room leisurely.
Cure, who had narrowly escaped death, could only stare at his back while clutching his chest in relief.
