~Chapter 12~
“…Yes?”
For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.
I thought I had misheard him and stared at him with wide, round eyes. He simply gestured toward the paper.
No way. Could it be real?
Startled, I clutched the paper in his arms and read it.
“Direct line application….”
Technically, it wasn’t an adoption—it was a direct line application.
Was it like the family registry in our world?
I reached out to touch the paper almost as if in a trance.
Then, a pleasant laugh sounded above my head.
“Sign it. You’re not an ordinary little one, but I can handle it, so I’m doing this.”
I felt like I was about to float away.
He really had helped me escape. To save me.
“Uncle—!”
I jumped up and hugged him tightly, almost strangling him.
“…Alright.”
Even though my sudden frog-style martial arts hug could have startled him, he calmly lifted me into his arms.
“Grow up like this from now on. Don’t hide anywhere.”
Then his large hand gently stroked my back.
“Sniff… Yes! I’ll do my best to be dutiful!”
“…What does ‘be dutiful’ mean?”
“It means I’ll be the gardener uncle’s golden seed.”
Honestly, it wasn’t necessarily the best choice.
As he had fled with me, the danger of being chased by two families suddenly arose.
But the important thing was that he had adopted me.
‘I need to grow up quickly and gain enough ability to protect him.’
“Well, if you’re going to grow, grow big. An S-class mercenary isn’t enough for me anyway.”
“Sniff… Alright.”
Still in his arms, I signed the application.
“I’ve signed here. So now, you’re legally my guardian, right?”
I clenched my small hands and steadied my heart.
Uncle—or rather, Father.
I didn’t know exactly where Father had fled to, but we’d manage to live quite well.
With his experience as a gardener for the Crost family and my training as a spy, surely we could survive anywhere, right?
“Now that you’ve signed.”
At that moment, his red eyes, propped on his chin, glanced at the paper, and he shook a small bell he had taken from somewhere.
Jingle—
“Now, I should formally introduce you.”
“…A bell?”
That was normally used by nobles to summon their staff.
Just as I sensed something strange and tried to stand,
“Did you call, Your Grace?”
The massive doors, which I hadn’t noticed before, swung open to both sides.
And from beyond, a flood of people in various dazzling outfits appeared.
They lined up before us and solemnly knelt on one knee.
“…?”
Was this a dream? Was I dreaming?
I scanned their faces with a foolish expression.
The head maid. The chief lady-in-waiting. The chef. The captain of the knights. And Knox.
All of them were people from the Crost household.
“Your Grace.”
At that moment, their eyes, bowed to greet the gardener uncle, lifted—and
“…Your Grace, the mask!”
They murmured in shock, their eyes trembling.
“You’ve… taken off your mask…”
“What happened?”
“I took it off. It was hard to breathe.”
To their flustered questions, he answered casually.
“Mask? What does that mean? Is it hard for you to breathe?”
He ignored my question neatly and lifted me into his arms.
“This child will grow under me from now on. Treat her accordingly.”
“!”
“!”
“!”
And with his sudden declaration, the attention that had been on him shifted to me.
“Understood.”
“Please take care of her, Miss Aisha.”
“Please take care of me.”
“…Huh?”
Something was strange.
This uncle had surely escaped the Crost household.
So Knox, the aides, and the captains shouldn’t even be visible in front of us.
Yet at his declaration, they all lowered their heads in unison.
As if they were obeying the lord’s command.
“…….”
Wait a minute.
Only now did the strange sense of unease I’d felt since earlier start surfacing.
Why was the extra gardener uncle so unusually handsome?
Why was his bedroom decorated like a noble’s?
…Why wasn’t I dead?
“Uncle.”
“Yes?”
Hiccup—
I looked at him, even hiccupping from tension.
This uncle… now seemed unfamiliar.
“…Uncle, who are you?”
The once-quiet Crost Castle was in upheaval.
Because Duke Calips, who had kept his mask for five years, greeted everyone with his bare face.
“It feels like it’s been ages since I last saw Your Grace’s face.”
“Indeed.”
The head maid, Ressa, who had been listening to the longtime staff’s conversation as if still wandering in a dream, said.
“This is my first time seeing the Duke’s face. You’re so handsome—why wear a mask for five years?”
It was true.
Without the mask, Duke Calips embodied the North itself.
Skin pale as snowfields.
His black hair contrasting sharply, and his blood-red eyes, previously hidden by the mask, gave off a decadent yet chilling impression.
A gaze so cold it could pierce anyone.
And yet… it was so beautiful it could be called art.
“The Duchess and all the heirs were missing. He must have worn the mask to hide his grief.”
I see… Anyway, he looks amazing!
Among the whispering staff, the head maid’s face was unusually dark.
“…What could have changed the Duke so much?”
And it wasn’t just her.
Everyone in the Crost residence was curious.
Especially the chef, the captain, the head maid, and the steward.
Those who had devoted their lives to the Crost household couldn’t just stand by.
So they made a decision.
“But watching like this secretly… isn’t it rude?”
“The Crost household is about to be taken over by a commoner kid, and you’d just watch?”
“That’s true…”
They decided to watch over the child, Aisha.
From the windows, secretly!
Huddled by the slightly open window.
Inside, Duke Calips and the blonde little girl walked through the snow.
“…Your Grace is very emotional right now.”
“That’s right. We have no choice but to step in.”
“Forget the mask, but that child is a fraud. Why did you adopt her as direct line?”
“Has he lost his mind?”
“Maybe he’s just lonely.”
“All the heirs are missing. You’re adopting a child just because you feel lonely?”
No. Absolutely not.
They shook their heads firmly.
Calips was…
A hero who saved humanity from monsters.
Ruler of the North. The lord of the Crost household, leading his family while wearing a black mask!
“That kid must have approached the Duke deliberately. From the moment she said she knew where the noble’s daughter was, I should have realized she was lying…!”
Then it happened.
“Kid.”
At the Duke’s deep voice, everyone bowed their heads and pricked up their ears.
And peered through the window with just their eyes.
“You’ve been sulking for a few days?”
In the white snow, Calips followed Aisha.
Clump, clump, clump. The little legs running through the snow stopped.
“This adoption is a scam! I didn’t know you were the Duke!”
Then, she shouted loudly.
‘How dare she…!’
‘Call the Duke a fraud…?’
Those watching, eyebrows raised at her audacity—
“You should’ve read the contract carefully before signing it.”
Calips’ villainous words startled everyone.
‘Read the contract carefully before signing?!’
‘You’re telling this to a five-year-old?!’
‘Who am I even looking at right now?!’
To the child, he was tender, yet saying such things didn’t suit him at all.
Reflecting their feelings, the child’s blue eyes widened.
“…Is that something you say to a five-year-old?!”
“Who even brought up the contract in the first place? Said you wouldn’t sign without the lord’s seal?”
“Uncle—!”
“Kid, look at this.”
As the child raised her voice, Calips crouched to meet her gaze. And what he offered was top-grade steak.
Sniff, sniff.
“…!”
The child flinched at the smell.
“You said you went a few days without eating in protest, right?”
Then Calips spoke seriously:
“If you live with me as the contract says, you’ll get steak three times a day.”
“……”
“The orange juice you like? I can even buy an orange farm for you. But if you don’t accept…”
“Seeen.”
He threatened her in a serious voice.
At his words, the child narrowed her eyes in frustration, but…
Thump, thump—
Her stubby little legs began moving slowly.
“That’s right.”
“See, see.”
“Come inside the castle like that.”
“Grrr.”
Even at her ferocious sounds, Calips remained calm, fitting for the ruler of the North.
And so, the Duke and the child disappeared inside the castle—
“…….”
The people gathered at the window could hardly speak.
