Chapter 02
Glancing through it, I realized it was a proper genre novel, with no illustrations at all.
‘Where did I even get this?’
It was the kind of book young girls might usually read. But isn’t five a little too early for this?
“Ariel, where did you get this book?”
“The maid was reading it, and the cover was pretty, so I asked for it,” she replied.
“I see. Let’s make a promise: you can read it when you’re a little older, okay?”
“Why?”
What could I say in response to such innocent eyes asking why? There were plenty of reasons, but I couldn’t think of a simple, clear explanation a five-year-old could understand.
While I was racking my brain, Ariel lightly answered:
“No, if you say so, I’ll promise.”
“Uh… thanks.”
Why does she seem more mature than me?
I patted Ariel’s head, silently scolding myself for my own shortcomings.
“If you’re thankful, give me a kiss!”
“Huh? A kiss?”
“Yes. Big sister. You used to do it all the time when we were little, but you don’t anymore.”
Pouting, she drooped her eyebrows and fiddled with her fingers.
Why did I feel like I’d done something wrong?
By “when we were little,” Ariel really meant when she was a baby. I hadn’t expected her to remember.
Normally, I liked children, but seeing the twins growing up even prettier than I imagined, my goal of “I have to raise them so they don’t become the villain of the novel!” faded, replaced entirely by, ‘Wow… they’re just unbelievably cute! Truly angels!’
‘So basically, every time they smiled, I ended up kissing, patting, and… smothering them.’
Then, when they were about four, the duke’s butler, Dane, had requested I tone down that behavior, so I had stopped.
“That’s not fair! I want one too!”
Hearing this, Eriel, who was standing nearby, pushed Ariel and whined.
Ariel glared at Eriel once, then snuggled into my arms.
I figured it wouldn’t hurt sometimes, as long as the children liked it.
“This is a secret from everyone else,” I whispered to the twins, putting my index finger to my lips.
Children need a certain amount of affectionate contact to grow.
The two of them nodded vigorously, imitating me with their fingers to their lips, saying, “It’s a secret!”
I lightly kissed the cheeks of my adorable twins.
My beloved children.
After that little episode, we ultimately decided they would read the fairy tale books that were in my room.
The story was about a wandering wizard traveling from place to place—a completely ordinary, unremarkable fairy tale.
I showed off the storytelling skills I had honed in kindergarten.
“And then an orc appeared! Hiss—crunch! Kill the humans—crunch!”
Performing the orc’s lines dramatically, the twins clutched my sleeves in fear.
Monsters are an unknown and terrifying thing for young children, and their reactions were so cute that I continued my performance with even more enthusiasm.
Thud.
The door opened without a knock.
Anyone working in the duke’s household would knock and ask before entering. But without a sound, the door suddenly swung open, and the twins froze.
The creaking door gave off the impression that a monster might leap out.
“I could hear the noise from outside the room,” came a voice.
It felt like the temperature in the room dropped below zero.
A presence scarier than any monster had appeared.
“I apologize, Duke,” the twins said, unable to utter a word.
“You two…”
The final boss of the duke’s household scanned the twins with cold green eyes.
Feeling that gaze, their trembling increased under the sleeves.
Just as I was about to speak, the duke spoke first:
“Behave according to your family’s standards.”
Having said that, he closed the door without waiting for an answer.
The frozen atmosphere only began to thaw once his footsteps receded down the corridor.
‘Did he hear my performance?’
Though it seemed like he was scolding the twins, in reality, it was directed at me.
‘Was my orc acting so convincing that even the stoic, indifferent duke had to pause his steps?’
A mix of reality hitting me and frustration at the duke who happened to witness it came over me at the same time.
I guess shame was all mine.
Suppressing my embarrassment, I apologized to the twins:
“Are you okay? Sorry… because of me, you got scolded too.”
The twins were still frozen, clearly shaken by the sudden appearance of the duke.
I let out a short sigh and closed the book.
The best way to recover from a shock is something sweet.
I took the twins’ cold hands in mine.
They were so dazed they followed me wherever I led.
On the way, I asked a passing maid to prepare snacks.
“Prepare some sweet chocolate cake and warm milk in the greenhouse, please.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she replied.
We walked slowly to the greenhouse.
Breathing in the fresh oxygen from the plants felt calming.
Seeing all that green seemed to soothe the twins as well, their vacant eyes regaining life.
“Were you scared when the Duke suddenly appeared?”
“…Yes.”
“You didn’t even come on our birthday,” Eriel muttered.
Ariel and Eriel had never experienced the kind of grand birthday parties typical for noble children.
Instead, we had quietly celebrated with close maids, Butler Dane, the nanny, and myself, blowing out the cake candles together.
Even then, the duke had not shown his face.
In fact, the twins had only faced the duke a handful of times since they were born.
Moreover, appearing suddenly like today, without warning, was a first.
“Here’s the chocolate cake and warm milk,” the nanny said, arriving just in time.
Ariel sipped the warm milk, warming her frozen hands, cautiously nibbling at it.
“Does father… dislike us?”
Her words weren’t really a question.
There was a hint of resignation in her tone.
“No. The Duke doesn’t dislike you,” I said firmly.
Even so, I didn’t know his true feelings.
He didn’t appear in the story at all.
I couldn’t know for sure, but he didn’t hate the twins.
On the contrary…
“That’s right. Father doesn’t dislike us. He just… has no interest at all,” Eriel said cynically.
This time, I couldn’t argue. I vaguely thought it might be true, but I couldn’t say something that would hurt the children.
Hearing that, tears welled up in Ariel’s large eyes.
She didn’t want to cry, pursing her lips, blinking not once though the corners of her eyes reddened.
“Ariel…”
The children were innocent.
There was no reason for them to be sad or hurt.
Born from adult greed, the twins were denied recognition of their humanity and treated merely as components of the duke’s household.
Eriel, who was destined to inherit the Ardentaine Dukedom, had been trained as a prodigy from the moment she could speak.
Ariel had the same fate. She was assigned the duty to marry into a family that would benefit the Ardentaines.
The twins were raised by teachers as rigid and mechanical as the duke himself, believing emotions were useless. Even now, their education continued in this way.
At least I and the nanny tried to teach them emotions, and Butler Dane helped out.
‘Even though Dane looks like he wouldn’t shed a drop of blood, he cares deeply about the Duke and the twins,’ I thought.
As the eldest staff in the duke’s household, Dane had served the Duke since he was young. His affection for the Duke was probably as strong as a parent’s.
“I’m fine,” Ariel said.
Even with tears welling in her eyes, no one would believe her.
Eriel, beside her, began to tear up as well, seeing her sister cry.
I pulled the crying twins into a tight embrace.
They were only five years old.
If this were Korea, it would be the carefree age for pampering and receiving love.
Seeing children this young crying for lack of parental love hurt my heart as well.
Of course, I knew there were children who had endured even harsher childhoods than the twins.
But I could not simply watch the ones in front of me suffer.
While comforting the twins, I made a decision.
“I’ll go talk to the Duke.”
“Huh?”
“No…”
Even though I loved them and raised them like my own children, I could never truly be their parent.
Though we were cousins, that bond was not enough. They needed parental love.
So I had to do what I could for them.
“Because I love you,” I said, smiling brightly.
My parents in this life had passed away early, leaving me without even a memory of their faces.
But the love I received in my previous life remained vivid.
‘It was a happy family.’
My parents had always loved me and respected all my choices and opinions.
My older brother looked after me even when we bickered.
That’s why I was able to endure the hardships of society.
‘It was a blessing.’
A true blessing. Something so natural I had never been grateful for.
Only after death did I realize how precious that love, protection, and trust were.
That is why I wanted to give it to the twins too.
‘The love I received.’
I hoped I wouldn’t be thrown out. Even if I overstayed my welcome, I could survive.
‘If the ice-cold Duke ignores me, I’ll just keep talking until he reacts.’
I decided to spin a happiness fantasy in my mind.
I rose, patting the twins’ heads as they cried.
“I’ll be back.”
My voice held a sense of resolve.
The twins watched me with tearful, dazed eyes.
They seemed unsure whether to stop me or not.
Leaving them in the greenhouse, I went to find Dane.
No matter how headstrong I was, barging straight into the study would have required more courage than I had.
“Dane, can I see the Duke right now?”
“The Duke?”
“Yes. I have something to say.”
“I’ll go ask him,” he said.
He sounded surprised that I was seeking the Duke, uncharacteristically for Dane.
I waited in the reception room.
What if he’s too busy? Should I have just gone straight to the study?
I was lost in a flurry of thoughts when Dane returned sooner than expected.
“I’ll take you to the study,” he said.
“Uh… okay.”
The fact that Dane was guiding me there meant the Duke had agreed. Now the tension hit me all at once.
It was a different kind of fear than the twins’ fear of the Duke.
