VDHI 07

Early at dawn, the Duke of Kreitan, the physician, and the butler gathered in the duke’s office.

“What is it you need to say? I have to go submit the adoption papers, so make it quick.”

“Your Grace, are you truly alright with this?”

“An adoption so suddenly… When I mentioned it before, you said you had no intention of adopting a child.”

“I did.”

“Then why?”

“Since I adopted a child without any prior notice, the vassals probably think I’ve gone mad.”

The butler did not deny it.

“Send letters with an appropriate explanation so no unnecessary rumors spread.”

“The little guest cannot be the lost young lady.”

At the butler’s deliberate reminder, the duke’s hand paused for a moment.

Even under the duke’s icy gaze, the butler calmly continued.

“If the young lady were alive, she would already be a proper young woman by now. Not a child barely four or five years old.”

The physician, carefully watching the exchange between the duke and the butler, cautiously spoke up.

“Still, she truly resembles the duchess. For a moment, I thought the duchess herself was sitting there.”

The butler had thought the same thing.

When he first saw the child stepping down from the carriage, he had genuinely thought the duchess had returned alive.

Until now, there had been many frauds claiming to be the duke’s lost daughter.

But after exchanging only a few words, the duke had immediately punished them for fraud or insult.

Some had lost their lives, while others had all their property confiscated before being driven out.

The duke had never shown even the slightest mercy to those who impersonated his daughter.

That was why Lephonia’s sudden adoption was such an unprecedented matter.

The butler sighed deeply.

“If you’re concerned because she resembles the madam, there are other methods besides adoption.”

“I know the two children are different. I’m not so insane that I can’t tell them apart.”

“……”

“And I’m not adopting her simply because she resembles Laila.”

Laila.

Even speaking that name made his chest ache with affection, enough to stop his heart.

She was the first and last woman the cold-blooded Duke Kreitan had ever loved.

“It may sound frivolous, but this isn’t a light decision. And I have no intention of casting the child aside on a whim.”

The duke offered no further explanation. In truth, there was nothing he could explain.

“I felt something.”

“Something?”

Even for Duke Kreitan, whose senses had become incredibly sharp through aura, it was a power he could only detect with utmost concentration.

Something like that existed within the child’s body.

That was why he had poured aura into her the moment they met to confirm it, yet he sensed nothing afterward.

And still, something.

His aura had definitely reacted to and been drawn toward that strange, indescribable power.

How could he possibly explain this feeling?

Lephonia.

He knew well enough that the child was not born between himself and Laila.

Yet the moment he saw her, he felt she was his child.

Ridiculously enough, he felt as though he must not let her go like this.

Ever since awakening his aura, his sharpened senses had told him to love that child.

“This is the first time since I fell in love with Laila at first sight.”

“Yes?”

“Perhaps… I’m simply exhausted.”

The muttered words sounded like a lament spoken to himself.

Twenty years.

For twenty whole years, the duke had searched for his daughter, whom everyone else insisted was dead.

The butler sighed and began his report.

“I will report what we discovered about the little guest.”

Though her age did not match the lost daughter’s, her excessive resemblance to Laila made an investigation necessary.

“There are sixty people registered in the Empire under the name ‘Lephonia.’ The estimated number of unregistered individuals is around one hundred seventy, but none are five years old this year.”

“None?”

“Yes. We considered the possibility that the little guest may have mistaken her age, so we investigated children named ‘Lephonia’ between the ages of four and six. There was one six-year-old child, but it was a boy.”

Duke Kreitan stroked his chin.

“What about the possibility that someone from Laila’s family gave birth to a child and abandoned her?”

“She has no relation to the Rowald Count family, the duchess’s household.”

The butler answered firmly.

“As you know, the Rowald Count family was wiped out in an unfortunate accident long ago. The only surviving member of that family is—”

“My wife’s father.”

“Yes. Only Count Rowald remains. Even if he had taken a mistress and fathered a child… he would never abandon that child.”

The duke tapped his desk lightly.

“How is Count Rowald doing?”

“He is well. Though he still refuses to even turn his head in your direction.”

“I’m the sinner who caused him to lose both his beloved daughter and granddaughter. The fact that he still meets with Havel and Pellens is already fortunate enough.”

“Yes. We also investigated the house where the little guest stayed. The owner is a man, but he rarely visits and seems unrelated.”

The duke fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.

“The little guest is far too clean. There’s absolutely no trace of how she lived.”

How could a person live without leaving behind any traces at all? It was absurd.

“So she has no connection to our family, then.”

Then what exactly is this feeling?

The image of the fearless yet strangely calm five-year-old child came to mind.

“Do you know what that child asked me after everything that happened yesterday?”

At the duke’s self-mocking murmur, the butler stayed silent.

“She asked if I regretted it. She didn’t look anxious at all, nor did she seem merely curious like it was someone else’s business.”

And yet she had nervously watched his reaction after secretly scraping frosting off the cake, as though she knew she had done something wrong.

“The young lady seems indifferent when it comes to herself. …Perhaps it’s a defense mechanism.”

The physician quietly raised his hand and spoke.

“She remained perfectly calm even while I treated her wounds. Young masters usually cry at five years old when they bleed.”

As the physician spoke, the butler seemed to recall something.

“The maids said her entire body is covered in scars when they bathed her.”

“She lived alone outside, so that’s understandable. Children get hurt often without realizing it.”

The physician added the explanation with a bitter smile.

The butler nodded and continued.

“The problem is her reaction. Even when they told her it must have hurt, she reacted as though they were talking about someone else’s wounds.”

“She lived alone outside. It couldn’t have been a suitable environment for a five-year-old.”

The duke recalled Lephonia reading through the adoption papers before approving them.

“Come to think of it, she seems able to read despite being only five.”

“She likely wasn’t formally taught. Children living alone often learn naturally in order to survive.”

The duke began walking as though preparing to leave for the Imperial Palace. The butler followed behind, continuing his report.

“It is said that the young master of the Villeman family will soon inherit the dukedom. Your Grace will also need to attend at the Imperial Palace, so your uniform should be refitted.”

The Villeman Ducal House was one of the Empire’s greatest swordsmanship families. For generations, they had produced the Empire’s strongest knights and possessed military power rivaling even House Kreitan.

“Ah. That arrogant brat.”

Currently, due to certain circumstances, only the young heir and his grandmother, the Grand Duchess of Villeman, remained to continue the family line.

The heir was only nine years old this year, too young to inherit the title directly, so the Grand Duchess had acted as regent.

“He will officially inherit the dukedom, so please refrain from calling him brat or youngster.”

“The Grand Duchess of Villeman couldn’t have given up her position easily.”

“No. He will become the youngest duke in Imperial history. After the succession ceremony at the palace, a separate celebration party will be held later at the estate, so please prepare accordingly.”

“Leave the child-rearing to someone else. I’m already busy enough taking care of another child.”

Without further delay, Duke Kreitan departed for the Imperial Palace.

The very next day after Lephonia approved the adoption papers,

Duke Kreitan personally submitted the documents to the Imperial Family without hesitation. He had even gone at dawn and pressured them to process it quickly.

The Imperial Family approved it, and Lephonia officially became the Young Lady of House Kreitan.

Rumors about the duke adopting a child spread rapidly, and everyone became curious about the child’s identity.

“…Nice.”

Meanwhile, the center of those rumors, Lephonia, slowly opened her eyes while basking in warm sunlight.

The morning light streaming through the small window beside the bed woke her once again.

A bed as soft as lying on clouds, a luxurious blanket made from rare imported fabric, and even a pillow that didn’t hurt her neck.

Lephonia was experiencing a perfect comfort she had never once known in her entire life.

Of course, that didn’t mean things were peaceful.

‘Where in the world is the heirloom?’

Even while being dragged around by several physicians checking her health and having dresses and shoes tailored for her, Lephonia continued exploring every corner of the estate.

This weak body tired easily, so even simply walking through the estate took several days.

Lephonia had already grown somewhat accustomed to eating meals with the duke and touring the mansion with her assigned maid.

When lunchtime came, the duke would suddenly appear from who-knows-where to eat with her again before she resumed exploring the mansion.

Then by dinner, he would appear once more as though he were some kind of meal fairy to dine with her again.

And that wasn’t all.

“Ponya.”

“Yes.”

“…Ponya.”

“Yes?”

“Ha, Ponya.”

“Yes!”

There were even more days where he called her for absolutely no reason!

Whenever Lephonia answered the Duke Kreitan’s calls, the maids standing behind them clutched their hearts and pretended to faint.

“Young Lady, the way you answer is too adorable.”

“The way you nod so neatly is absolutely perfect.”

“How can you answer so well? Young Lady, could you possibly be a genius?”

…This place is seriously strange.

“Ha. Ponya.”

And yet Duke Kreitan, who kept calling her with that satisfied expression, was by far the worst offender.

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering? You should say ‘yes’ adorably again.”

Their conversations always ended the same way: with an irritated Lephonia glaring at him.

Because she had been abandoned in April, the orphanage director had nicknamed her after fruits eaten during that season.

She hated it, so Lephonia chose her own name.

Something easy to remember and easy to say.

Of course, there had never been anyone to call her by it.

Even after meeting the Pope, she had only ever been called “first daughter.”

Now that people called her name from everywhere, it felt strange.

Since she couldn’t continue exploring the estate late into the night, she washed up and went to bed early like a proper five-year-old.

“Then sweet dreams, Young Lady.”

Only after reading her two picture books and singing her a lullaby did the maid finally leave the room once Lephonia appeared asleep.

Click.

Lephonia, who had merely pretended to sleep, opened her eyes.

“Ha. Feels like the whole day passed doing nothing but eating.”

She patted her full stomach.

Still, after diligently walking around today, she had finally completed a mental blueprint of the mansion’s main building.

Though not perfect, she had roughly calculated the shape of the outer walls and hallways, even deducing the hidden passages connecting each floor.

But no matter how carefully she searched, there was no place where the heirloom could be hidden.

‘Could it be hidden somewhere outside the main mansion instead?’

The heirloom of House Kreitan was said to be personally managed by the family head and hidden deep within the estate.

Of course, only the head of the family knew what the heirloom actually was.

‘A place so secure no one could steal it. A place that can be frequently checked and managed.’

Which meant it had to be somewhere inside the mansion.

“Hmm.”

Lephonia recalculated once more, wondering if she had overlooked anything.

Bang!

At that moment, the terrace window rattled loudly from the wind outside. Lephonia turned toward the sound.

“Hm?”

A shadow was visible beyond the terrace window.

‘What is that?’

Frowning, Lephonia slowly approached the terrace and opened the door.

Whoosh!

The moment she opened it, a strong gust of wind blew in as though it had been waiting. Moonlight shimmered through Lephonia’s silver hair as it fluttered wildly in the wind.

Startled, Lephonia squeezed her eyes shut without even managing to scream.

At the same time, a young boy’s voice sounded above her head.

“You’re alive.”