Chapter 4
The moment I saw him, my body went rigid.
He was older now, but still broad-shouldered and towering.
Crimson eyes—the mark of House Calix.
Obsidian-black hair that made his striking features stand out even more.
An unparalleled hero who had achieved countless feats among all Grand Dukes of Calix.
A swordmaster said to appear perhaps once in a century.
He was the very man once called a genius: Grand Duke Gladian Calix.
And there he was, standing right before my eyes—smiling warmly at me.
Why was the Grand Duke of Calix standing here? And with his arms open, as if telling me to come into them?
I hesitated, unable to step forward rashly. Then the Grand Duke strode toward me, closing the distance in a few long steps.
“Come now, over here. I am your grandfather.”
I couldn’t say a word. I simply didn’t resist when he gathered me into his arms.
Something is seriously wrong.
Still holding me, the Grand Duke sat down. I could feel his gaze flicker over me.
He raised his voice toward the knights packed tightly into the room.
“Well now, with all these grim fellows crammed in here, of course my granddaughter would be frightened. Everyone out—wait outside.”
At his command, the knights filed out at once.
Cradled in his arms, I asked him,
“Um, Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Calix…? I don’t understand why you’re calling me your granddaughter. I’m not your granddaughter.”
He looked at me and answered in a much gentler tone.
“I will explain later. For now, wait.”
Reluctantly, I nodded. He shifted his gaze to the Baron seated opposite.
The Baron seemed cowed, slightly shrunken by the pressure of the moment.
“I hear you have taken good care of my granddaughter thus far, Baron?”
Baron Delani flinched, then—after steeling himself—replied,
“Our child is not Your Grace’s granddaughter. She is a girl we came into care of only recently.”
The Grand Duke’s eyebrow lifted, and his eyes turned predatory.
“I distinctly said she is my granddaughter.”
Sweat gathered on the hand I had on his shoulder. His shoulder was growing damp.
Whatever the truth, House Delani had done their best for me. I didn’t want to bring ruin down upon them.
“Hm. I shall consider that you’ve grown attached to the child in your care. I will see that you are compensated, so you won’t feel aggrieved.”
“B-but…”
Before the Baron could finish, the Grand Duke raised a hand to stop him.
“Enough. Did you think I wouldn’t know you were weighing the Grand Ducal House against the White Ducal House, Baron? How thoroughly distasteful.”
The Baron began to tremble like a leaf. Seeing him like that only proved the Grand Duke’s words true.
Was my memory wrong? I was certain Baron Delani was a vassal of the White Ducal House.
“Your Grace, it’s a misunderstanding. I would never—”
“Count Holt! Come in.”
The door opened at once, and Count Holt entered. He handed the Grand Duke some documents.
Without even looking at them, the Grand Duke tossed the papers right under the Baron’s nose.
When the Baron checked them, the color drained from his face.
“H-how did you…?”
“It seems you took the House of Calix lightly. To brazenly show your face here after signing a double contract with the White Ducal House.”
The Baron collapsed at the Grand Duke’s feet, pleading.
“Your Grace, please—please spare me. I didn’t mean to—”
Even without seeing the papers, I could guess what they were. A vassal of the Grand Ducal House making a secret contract with the White Ducal House—House Delani now had only downfall ahead.
Thinking back, I realized I’d come to believe House Delani served my maternal grandfather only after I’d entered the ducal household in my past life.
They must have found the lost granddaughter for the Duke, and my maternal grandfather, the White Duke, would have rewarded them handsomely.
So there was a reason House Delani survived even after crossing the Grand Ducal House.
I hadn’t known any of this and simply assumed the Baron was a vassal of the White Ducal House.
The Grand Duke’s powerful voice rang through the drawing room.
“Baron. Wouldn’t it have been better to accept my compensation when I offered it?”
“Your Grace, please—just this once, forgive me.”
Though the Baron had done wrong, it was obvious his house would be destroyed if they clashed openly with the Grand Ducal House.
And if House Delani fell…
Faces rose in my mind one by one: the Baroness and the maid and servants who had been kind to me.
I clutched the Grand Duke’s collar and shook it—begging him to look at me.
“P-please forgive the Baron. Please.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks before I realized it. What was this feeling? Even I didn’t know why the tears came.
Perhaps because of my tears, the Grand Duke grew flustered. The ice-cold edge he’d had before was suddenly gone.
“D-don’t cry. Chase, what am I to do when my granddaughter is weeping?”
“What else can you do, Your Grace? If you frighten a child like that, of course she’ll cry.”
The Grand Duke scratched his head.
“Hmph. After seeing nothing but these grim, black-clad men all day, having a young granddaughter suddenly appear—no wonder I don’t know what to do.”
“What’s so difficult about it? Treat her as carefully as you would fine glass,” Count Holt advised.
Following his counsel, the Grand Duke first rearranged his own fearsome expression.
“Do not be afraid. How could this grandfather refuse our granddaughter when she asks me to forgive?”
I wiped my tears with my sleeve and smiled up at him.
“Count, did you see that? Our granddaughter smiled at me,” the Grand Duke said, delighted.
His laughter filled the drawing room.
Just before I was lifted into a resplendently ornate carriage—still in the Grand Duke’s arms—
the Baron and Baroness and all the servants of House Delani had gathered to see me off.
Once I left like this, I might never see them again. I turned to the Grand Duke with a request.
“They took very good care of me at the Baron’s house. I’d like to say goodbye.”
He carefully set me down. The moment my feet touched the ground, the Baroness rushed over.
“Dear child, you must live well at the Grand Ducal House. I truly thought of you as my daughter…”
Whatever the Baron was, the Baroness had treated me with genuine kindness. I took her hand as tears filled her eyes.
“Thank you for loving me. Please stay well.”
She could say no more and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
The maid who had looked after me and the other maids approached, too.
“Our young lady will be loved at the Grand Ducal House as well. Be happy.”
“Please take care, my lady.”
“Mm, thank you for everything.”
I fought hard not to cry. If I started here, I felt I wouldn’t be able to stop.
I gave them one last wave.
Thank you—for everything. Please, all of you, be well.
When I turned back, the Grand Duke was already kneeling so that our eyes were level, his arms open wide.
Am I truly the Grand Duke of Calix’s granddaughter? If so, that would mean Father is from the Grand Ducal House. I’d never heard such a thing. I suppose I’ll only know once I confront the truth.
Without hesitation, I stepped into the Grand Duke’s embrace. He adjusted his strength this time so it wasn’t stifling or uncomfortable.
He lifted me lightly and climbed into the pinnacle of opulence that was the carriage.
As it started rolling forward, the tension in my body finally eased.
Only when we were alone did I bring myself to ask,
“You called me Your Grace’s granddaughter—why?”
“Do you know who your father is?”
I shook my head. Before my regression, I had asked out of curiosity, but no one knew. Not even my maternal grandfather.
And since Mother passed away early, there was no one who knew of my father.
“I have one son. There was a time when he disappeared. He ran away with your mother then. Do you know who your mother is?”
“No.”
In my previous life, it was true that I hadn’t known my mother was the only daughter of the White Ducal House.
“Your mother is Karina White of the White Ducal House. And your father is my son, Raymon Calix. Who would have thought heirs of two rival houses—who can’t stand each other—would fall in love? Ah, you wouldn’t know the details, but that’s how it was.”
So the Grand Ducal House had fallen out with them? This was the first I’d heard of it.
After the death of the Grand Duke in my previous life, I’d heard that his heir, Johan Calix, was gravely injured on the battlefield.
A house that once wielded power second only to the Imperial Family collapsed in an instant.
Thanks to that fall, the fame of the White Ducal House had soared even higher.
No… it can’t be.
My maternal grandfather had been strict, yes, but he was kind and benevolent.
“But I heard everyone in the Grand Ducal House has crimson eyes.”
The Grand Duke placed a hand atop my head and gently stroked it. His hand was rough and large, yet warm.
“As expected, clever—just like a granddaughter of mine. You’re right: House Calix bears red eyes. And yours are pink.”
“Yes. Mine are pink.”
With his index finger, he lightly tapped the tip of my nose.
It tickled, and I touched it without thinking. He looked at me the way one might gaze at an adorable little creature.
“Exactly. And that’s why Roblien is my granddaughter.”
Yaaawn—
I wanted to ask why my pink eyes proved I was the Grand Duke’s granddaughter, but a yawn kept slipping out.
“Um, a-about the pink…”
“This little one is very tired. Rest easy. Your grandfather is right here.”
I heard the Grand Duke murmur something, but my consciousness slipped helplessly into deep darkness.
