VDHI 03

Lephonia raised the head she had been keeping lowered.

“Greetings to the Duke!”

The knight who had been carrying Lephonia stiffened and saluted sharply.

“There’s been quite a commotion for a while now.”

Because the sunlight was behind him, his face was hard to see clearly. But perhaps because he was far taller than the knight, the sheer pressure of his presence made her body flinch.

“What’s that?”

“We received a report about a child wandering around without a guardian, so I was on my way to take her to the orphanage.”

The Duke.

The knight had definitely called him “Your Grace.”

And in this empire, there was only one man who could be called a duke like that…

The moment she met those icy blue eyes that looked as cold as frozen steel, she unconsciously held her breath.

Soft silver hair fluttered in the wind. It was clearly the same color as Lephonia’s, but unlike her filthy hair, his shone brilliantly like moonlight.

The upright guardian who protected peace and safety.

It was none other than Duke Kreitan.

As an aura user, his appearance barely aged, but even so, he looked far too young to be the father of two sons and a missing daughter.

‘So this person was a knight of the Kreitan Ducal House.’

Lephonia stared at the knight’s uniform. The blue uniform could only be worn by knights of the Kreitan family within the empire.

‘I should’ve recognized it from the start.’

It wasn’t as if becoming a child had made her memory worse. She had simply been too flustered to notice something this obvious.

“Child?”

Duke Kreitan turned his gaze toward Lephonia in the knight’s arms.

Their eyes met. In that instant, his eyes—eyes that seemed as though nothing in the world could shake them—wavered for the first time.

“…Laila?”

The duke muttered in a hollow voice.

‘Laila? What’s that supposed to mean?’

Lephonia frowned. At the same time, the duke approached her with a dazed expression. He had been intimidating enough when she was an adult, but now that she was five years old, he was even more frightening.

“What’s your name?”

The duke asked rather urgently.

“Le-Lephonia.”

Overwhelmed by his presence, Lephonia answered with her real name without thinking.

“How old are you?”

“Five.”

“And your parents?”

Lephonia shook her head vigorously. Duke Kreitan gestured to the knight as if telling him to explain further.

“Ah. When I asked her, she said she didn’t have any. Um… she said she was abandoned. It seems she was really living alone in an ownerless house.”

It was my house.

“Abandoned?”

Duke Kreitan frowned as he looked at Lephonia. Unable to withstand the ominous pressure surrounding him, Lephonia quietly lowered her gaze.

“…You said you were taking the child to the orphanage?”

“Yes.”

“And after that?”

“Pardon?”

“What happens after she’s taken there?”

“Ah… first they confirm her identity and look for her parents…”

“She already told you her name and clearly said she was abandoned. What happens after that?”

“W-Well… she’d stay at the orphanage until someone wanting to adopt or sponsor her came along.”

“I see.”

The moment the knight finished speaking, the duke reached toward Lephonia, who was still in the knight’s arms.

‘Huh?’

Large hands slipped beneath her arms and lifted her up effortlessly.

‘Whaaat?’

Blinking rapidly, Lephonia stared at the duke holding her.

Then it happened. A thick, formless energy suddenly poured from Duke Kreitan’s body into hers.

“Ah!”

Startled, she cried out. But it didn’t hurt.

‘This… is aura?’

As though measuring something, Duke Kreitan narrowed his eyes and released more aura.

‘Wait… did he realize I’m a criminal?!’

Lephonia swallowed nervously.

“…No. But something about this… hmm.”

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t discovered anything, and the duke withdrew his aura.

The knight, who had been watching in confusion, called out carefully.

“Y-Your Grace?”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s no need to take her to the orphanage.”

Their eyes met. Strange, unreadable emotions swirled within the duke’s blue eyes.

“I’ll take this child myself.”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

What in the world was happening all of a sudden?

The sound of carriage wheels rolling shattered the silent stillness.

‘What exactly is going on right now?’

Lephonia hugged her knees tightly and glared warily at the duke sitting across from her.

Duke Kreitan.

For some reason she couldn’t understand, he was sitting directly opposite her.

‘Where is he taking me?’

Noticing her stare, the duke turned his head away from the carriage window.

His blue eyes looked cold enough to freeze people where they sat. Lephonia clenched her small hands tightly and boldly asked,

“Where are we going?”

Despite her determined expression, her voice came out soft and fluffy like a child’s.

The duke rested his chin on his hand and lazily observed her before speaking.

“You said you were five?”

The duke rubbed his chin.

“You’re tiny.”

Lephonia frowned at the sudden comment. She really had always been smaller than other children at the orphanage, so she couldn’t exactly deny it.

“…They say if you’re small when you’re little, you grow more once you’re an adult.”

Though even as an adult, she hadn’t been particularly tall.

“Really? Then you should work hard.”

The duke chuckled lightly.

‘Still, I guess that’s better than being ignored completely.’

Lephonia glanced at him cautiously.

“Your name is Lephonia?”

She flinched at hearing her name.

“…Yeah.”

She was still flustered that she had blurted out her real name, but Lephonia calmly organized her thoughts.

“Are you planning to sell me?”

“Do I look like I would?”

The duke answered her question with another question.

“…Who knows.”

Even the orphanage director, who was famous for being kind and caring toward children, secretly sold off older kids for profit.

And the holy, revered Pope wasn’t much different.

So what difference would the righteous Duke Kreitan make?

Even if she succeeded in jumping from the moving carriage, this five-year-old body would be caught before getting very far.

That was simply the limit of being five years old.

So persuading Duke Kreitan here was faster.

“You won’t get much money even if you sell me.”

Lephonia muttered the warning while hugging her knees tightly.

“Who’d pay a high price for me? I’m so skinny I look like I can’t even do proper work. The way I am now, I probably wouldn’t even make it onto the auction stage. I don’t even look healthy, so even those perverts who buy children for blood probably wouldn’t be interested.”

As Lephonia spoke bluntly without pause, the duke’s face gradually hardened.

Apparently, hearing that she wasn’t worth much money displeased him.

“Do you even know what an auction is?”

“It’s where people buy and sell things.”

Lephonia answered immediately.

“And you know that, yet you talk about auction houses… Ha, no. Forget that. Still, you know quite a lot.”

“I heard the knight call you Duke. I figured a Duke might not know, so I’m telling you.”

After speaking so much, her pronunciation became muddled again. Having a five-year-old tongue was truly humiliating.

“Who told you things like that?”

“I heard it here and there. I’m not lying, it’s true. You can check for yourself if you want. You really won’t get much money for selling me.”

“Should I thank you for informing me? Thank you, then.”

Even while saying thanks, Duke Kreitan’s face was filled with killing intent.

Fear stiffened her mouth, but she had to keep talking.

“Just hire me as a maid.”

“A maid?”

“I’m good at working.”

This had actually been Lephonia’s original plan from the start: get hired as a maid in the Kreitan Ducal House and steal the heirloom.

Things had gone differently than planned, and she hadn’t even confirmed where the heirloom was, but for now this was still an opportunity.

“I’m good at cleaning and laundry. I’m even better at organizing.”

She had learned everything from noble etiquette to cleaning, laundry, and organization. Lephonia was confident in all of it.

“Didn’t you just say you looked too skinny to do any proper work?”

“I only said I look like that. I never said it was true. People can’t recognize outstanding talent because I look sickly, but I’m giving you a chance, Duke. Talent as exceptional as me… ah.”

She stopped mid-sentence when a large hand grabbed her wrist. Duke Kreitan gently rolled up her sleeve.

Beneath the loose fabric, a thin wrist no thicker than a handful was revealed.

“For such exceptional talent, you don’t look very suited for maid work.”

“…I’m young, so I can survive on very little food. I don’t cost much to feed, and my wages can be low too, so I’m very cost-effective.”

“Ha.”

Duke Kreitan carefully released her wrist and let out a sigh.

Did this fail? Right now, this was her best plan.

Biting her lip, Lephonia desperately continued explaining her value.

“Since I’m young, my bones break less easily, and even if they do break, they heal quickly. Even if my bones break carrying heavy things, they’ll heal fast, so you can make me do as much as—”

“Enough.”

Duke Kreitan cut her off firmly.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I have no intention of selling you, and I have no intention of hiring you as a maid either.”

“…Huh?”

Lephonia blinked.

At that moment, the carriage came to a stop, as if they had arrived at their destination.

As Duke Kreitan stood up, the carriage door opened immediately, as though someone had been waiting outside.

‘Where is this?’

Startled, Lephonia cautiously peeked outside the carriage.

“Gasp!”

She inhaled sharply in shock. Outside stood countless servants bowing respectfully toward the duke.

Behind them stood an enormous mansion grand enough to be called a castle.

‘This place is…’

Lephonia’s eyes trembled.

‘The Kreitan Ducal Estate!’

Why am I here?

I was planning to infiltrate it anyway… though I guess this technically counts as infiltration.

Through the open carriage door came the voices of the servants greeting him.

“Welcome back, Duke Kreitan.”

Duke Kreitan.

Hearing the title directly with her own ears made her body tremble. Right now, Lephonia was standing alone in the middle of enemy territory without a single weapon.

‘Did he realize who I am and bring me here on purpose?’

At this point, that seemed like the most likely explanation. Otherwise, there was no reason the duke would bring an outsider into a mansion famous for its tight security.

‘And I didn’t even realize I was being dragged into enemy territory.’

Lephonia clutched her head with her tiny hands. The estate would be filled with Kreitan knights, so escape was impossible.

Then how was she supposed to survive?

“What are you doing?”

As Lephonia frantically worked her small brain, a large hand appeared before her eyes.

It was Duke Kreitan’s hand.

Blinking, Lephonia stared at the hand extended toward her.

What exactly was she supposed to do with that?

Was he telling her to confess obediently?

“Ha.”

A sigh fell over Lephonia’s head as she seriously contemplated it.

Then the duke gently took hold of her tiny hand.

“Come here.”