TPHT 05

Chapter 05

I quickly racked my brain.

Was there anything like this in Black Ogre Murder?

“I don’t remember a single thing.”

And that was only natural. No matter how famous Black Ogre Murder was, I’d only read it once, just like any other book.

“Melissa.”

The Grand Duke Karditsa called her name without further explanation.

“We mustn’t trouble Deputy Director Harrington any more than this.”

I swallowed dryly.

One thing was certain.

Grand Duke Karditsa did not dislike or feel indifferent toward Melissa.

If he did, he wouldn’t have contorted his entire face with such blatant relief the moment he saw her.

‘But…’

Good intentions didn’t always lead to good outcomes.

Even if the Grand Duke genuinely cared for his sister as family, Melissa was so afraid of him that she kept hiding behind me—a complete stranger she’d met for the first time today—rather than behind her own brother.

And that gruff tone of his…

‘There’s definitely a problem.’

At this rate, the future of their relationship was as clear as day.

Given the age gap and the circumstances, it would only spiral toward disaster.

‘I absolutely cannot let things stay like this.’

Even if Grand Duke Karditsa wasn’t the mastermind who would plunge the empire into a sea of flames, I still wouldn’t have been able to turn my back on Melissa.

Melissa had woken up overnight in a completely different body, in a completely different world.

Having lost her mom, her dad, and even Choco.

With no way to ever go back.

‘This child needs me.’

I gently pried loose Melissa’s right hand, which had been clutching my skirt so tightly it was painful, and instead held that small hand firmly.

The child’s little hand was damp with cold sweat.

‘…What are adults doing to this little kid?’

Looking straight at Grand Duke Karditsa, I spoke.

“I happened to meet Lady Melissa by chance. And for some reason, she seemed to feel very close to me.”

“…Let’s talk outside.”

After barely calming Melissa, who was starting to sniffle again, I obediently followed the Grand Duke outside.

He slammed the door shut and stared at me piercingly.

“What trick did you pull?”

I’d expected something like this, but it was far more threatening than I’d imagined.

“Her Ladyship is going through an extremely difficult time. So, though it may be presumptuous of me, I couldn’t help but look after her. It was purely out of concern for her, so I hope you’ll be generous enough to understand.”

“You’re giving an answer completely different from what I asked. I clearly asked what kind of trick you used.”

“I simply listened to what Her Ladyship had to say.”

I tried to convey, as politely as possible, the sentiment: If you had just listened to your own sister, she wouldn’t have ended up like this, you asshole. But my words didn’t get through at all.

“That alone can’t possibly be the reason.”

The Grand Duke blatantly dismissed my words.

“Until now, I’ve brought all kinds of people—reputed nannies, tutors, even academy professors. But not a single one of them managed to win Melissa’s heart.”

He took a step closer to me.

“And yet, some commoner who might have rolled in from who knows where, who couldn’t even bother to wear a proper dress to a ducal ball… managed to captivate Melissa?”

My back touched the cold marble.

Without realizing it, the Grand Duke had slowly backed me into a corner, and now I was pressed against the wall, looking up at him from point-blank range.

A strange smell brushed my nose.

A cold, unfamiliar metallic scent—the kind that comes from handling metal for a long time, as if it had soaked into him.

My stomach churned.

From excitement?

No.

From primal fear!

Every instinct screamed at me to run, but that wasn’t an option.

‘This… no way.’

Had I accidentally planted a death flag without realizing it?

Wasn’t it a basic qualification for the hidden villain in a rofan novel to casually slice down extras?

And I was the ultimate extra of extras!

If he killed me on the spot, who would even care?

Director MacGuffin would just click his tongue and move on.

My colleagues at the Treasury would probably cheer.

By now, the Grand Duke had completely closed the distance between us, his shadow engulfing me entirely.

As my eyes darted around, I caught sight of his hand pressed against the wall.

A pale, bloodless hand, tightly clenched.

If that strength were misdirected even slightly, my life would vanish in an instant.

A life-or-death situation.

Clearly, I should be begging for my life, but…

‘This is so unfair!’

What on earth had I done to deserve being threatened like this!?

I had merely comforted a crying little sister. Shouldn’t he be thanking me instead of radiating such murderous intent?

In the end, the words I’d only been thinking came tumbling out.

“Have you ever once properly listened to your sister, Your Highness?”

“…?”

For the first time, confusion flickered in the Grand Duke’s eyes, which had been burning with killing intent.

…Only a very slight amount, though.

‘Is this… working?’

I felt like I understood, just a little, the kind of person Grand Duke Karditsa was.

Without showing any sign of fear or agitation, I continued.

“Her Ladyship is lonely. Everyone waits on her hand and foot, but no one truly listens to her.”

“…Don’t act so smug, as if you know everything just because you exchanged a few words with my sister.”

I smiled.

Broadly.

Smugly.

“Then do you, Your Highness, know your sister well enough to be certain that I am wrong?”

“Hmph.”

Grand Duke Karditsa stepped back, but his piercing gaze never left me.

A few seconds passed.

A silence that felt like an eternity.

It was Grand Duke Karditsa who looked away first.

He gazed for a moment at the door where Melissa was waiting, then turned back to me.

With eyes that had softened—just slightly.

“I’ll give you a chance. If you truly know Melissa well, and if you truly care for her…”

It was strange.

I should have been afraid… but I wasn’t.

Because his voice, threatening as it was, somehow sounded like the voice of someone begging for help.

“Prove it.”

“A-are you really going to make fried rice?”

“Of course.”

I grinned at Melissa.

The first weekend after the ball.

I was staying with Melissa at the ducal family’s villa in the capital.

Fortunately, the Grand Duke agreed to my request: to send all the servants away and leave just the two of us.

His eyes were still filled with suspicion, but when Melissa earnestly pleaded, he seemed unable to refuse.

“He brought us all this precious rice, so we have to cook it properly.”

“U-ugh… I tried to explain, but no one could make it. They just got scolded for asking to make some strange food…”

Well, of course.

In this world, rice was treated as a very luxurious ingredient, consumed only in the form of rice pudding.

The so-called “rice” Melissa described would be unimaginable to them.

“Without a rice cooker, how can you make rice?”

“You can use a pot.”

Come to think of it, it’s been ages since I last cooked rice.

I’d only craved home and Korean food and gone wild making similar dishes for the first year or two after possessing this body.

After that, I got too busy surviving and stopped cooking entirely.

And even back when I cooked passionately, I’d never made fried rice.

Did I really think I could produce a proper fried rice now? Well, somehow it would work out.

The important thing is to get closer to Melissa.

Truth be told, even though Melissa had desperately clung to me that day, we still weren’t what you’d call close.

Because Melissa was trying so hard to look good in front of me.

Making promises she couldn’t keep.

Just like right now.

“I’ll really become good. Really… I’ll study hard too.”

“You don’t have to study hard. You don’t have to be good, either.”

I retorted, chopping the scallions vigorously.

It wasn’t my imagination that the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board grew louder.

“But…”

Melissa glanced at me nervously.

“If I’m not good, you’ll leave me too, won’t you? Like all those other sisters, brothers, aunties, and uncles…”

“Sisters and brothers?”

“Uh-huh. The count’s daughter, big sister… But she said she’d never seen a weird kid like me and left. Then the professor uncle who came next did the same… He called me mentally retarded.”

…My hand gripping the knife trembled involuntarily.

Thwack, thwack-thwack-thwack, thwack.

Unable to even hug the child, I only chopped the scallions more roughly on the cutting board.

…I lied to myself that my reddening eyes were because of the scallions.

When the fried rice was finally done, Melissa’s eyes went wide.

“It’s really fried rice.”

“Would it be fake?”

Melissa, still staring at the fried rice with round eyes, began to murmur.

“I… I really, really love fried rice. Even at Chinese restaurants, I only order fried rice. Dad used to tease me that he’d steal my shrimp every time…”

Melissa bowed her head, took a bite of the fried rice, and chewed hesitantly.

After a long while, she suddenly blurted out.

“But you know… Dad always gave me the shrimp from his fried rice.”

“…”

My throat tightened.

The child hadn’t been missing the fried rice itself—she had been longing all along for the memories of being with her family.

‘I shouldn’t have made this.’

I should have just made something ordinary like pasta or stew, and played drawing pictures or doing puzzles with her.

Come to think of it, that would have been better for getting closer.

‘…I shouldn’t have made food that stirs up memories of a place she can never return to.’

Just then.

“B-but, you know…”

Melissa said, her voice quivering.

“Big sister’s fried rice… is even more delicious. Really…”