Chapter 39……………………………………..
Just as Arianna finally closed her eyes, a familiar sound burrowed into her ears.
When she lifted her head, a glowing notification window shimmered in the darkness.
Hello, Reader. You have received three pieces of news.
Would you like to hear the good news first? Or the bad news?
“…Haa.”
Arianna had not yet fully awakened from the remnants of her nightmare.
She let out a long breath.
Perhaps it was because she had fallen asleep resolved to meet her brothers that she ended up dreaming something like that. It was only a dream—yet it was also something she had truly experienced.
Maybe it had been stored in her long-term memory; even though it had been more than ten years ago, the nightmare was horrifyingly vivid.
The faces of her brothers she had just seen still flickered before her eyes.
“…Little bird.”
Yes, Reader.
“It’s been a while.”
She was almost glad the notification window was talking to her.
If she had been left alone in her bedroom in the darkness, even someone as composed as she was might have been swallowed by all kinds of negative thoughts.
If she simply pulled the bell cord, the servants devoted to her would come running and hold her.
For example, Ramiel.
But…
I don’t want to worry the people who care about me.
Please make your choice, Reader.
As if interrupting her deepening thoughts, the little bird kept speaking.
Was it her imagination that it felt like the little bird was trying to comfort her?
They say even resentment can turn into affection.
As someone who had transmigrated, there were many things about the little bird she didn’t like.
Still, just not feeling alone for the moment helped Arianna gradually regain her composure.
“…I’ll hear the good news first.”
Her mood was bad right now, so she wanted to lift it with something positive.
The next moment, with exaggerated effects, a series of notification windows popped up.
Congratulations! The status window of character Adrian has changed.
Emotion toward the player: Curiosity
→ Paternal Love Lv.1
As a reward, a new skill, ‘Experiential Reading,’ has been created!
“Paternal… love?”
Arianna blinked slowly.
“……”
She may have looked calm on the outside, but she was actually extremely shocked—so much so that she couldn’t even think to ask what the “Experiential Reading” skill was.
Of course, her father’s paternal love was only Level 1, just like Perez’s.
When she thought of Perez—who had felt possessiveness toward her yet had never shown himself—she figured there was no need to be overly shaken just because her father’s emotional state had changed to paternal love.
Still, perhaps because of the dream she had just had, she hesitated.
…But what exactly is paternal love?
It was unfamiliar to her, since she had never received such an emotion before.
To begin with, she didn’t really understand what love between parents and children was supposed to be.
Anyway, if the duke had begun to feel paternal love toward her, there was only one possible reason.
“Don’t tell me it’s because I kissed Dad?”
Correct!
She felt slightly flustered that a duke who carried the title of “Butcher” would fall so easily.
Tsk tsk, Reader. When your father is this easy to win over, what have you been doing all this time not going to see him? You had a perfect opportunity to live as the heroine of a childcare story, yet you were too busy making money. You truly are obsessed with money.
“You really know how to get on someone’s nerves.”
Thank you for the compliment, Reader.
Arianna brushed her fingertips beneath her eyes.
She casually wiped away the lingering moisture from her nightmare and closed her mouth.
She admitted it—she was crazy about money.
Yes, she had unresolved feelings about it.
But—
“Can I really live as the heroine of a childcare story?”
That depends on you, Reader. Destiny is something you carve out yourself. If you wish, I can give you a quest that will enable a childcare-story route.
“…Yeah. I get what you’re saying.”
Arianna fell into thought.
Her small body beneath the blanket caught her eye as she glanced down.
Whenever the servants made a fuss about how adorable she was, she felt too embarrassed to respond properly—but objectively speaking, she really was a cute little girl.
But—
“…As a reader, whenever I read childcare stories, there was always something I questioned. A child deserves to be loved just by existing. So why does that tiny being have to struggle so desperately just to receive their family’s love?”
As a reader, she had found it entertaining enough not to bother leaving comments about it.
From an author’s perspective, that kind of development probably created catharsis for readers and helped maintain readership.
Still, even while reading, it had always left her vaguely uncomfortable.
A child might have to try to be loved. Not every parent loves their child, you know?
“…That’s not what I meant. Maybe I became more defensive because I’ve never been loved by my parents just for being their child. Call me an idealist if you want. I’m not the type to act cute—if anything, I’m rational. But I don’t want to be loved by faking a personality either. That version of me wouldn’t really be me.”
In this world, Arianna was nothing more than a five-year-old child.
Her father was an adult who had lived decades longer than she had as a duchess’s daughter.
Her brothers, too, were older siblings born years before her.
She wasn’t an illegitimate child with only the same father like Jiyeon’s past—both her parents were the same as her brothers’.
If family love required certain conditions to be met, then she didn’t want it.
She didn’t want to tie quests to family affection.
“If the love would vanish the moment I go back to my real personality, what’s the point of receiving it? I just want to be loved as my true self.”
You truly are an idealist. I felt that when I glimpsed your nightmare. But aren’t you tempted? You even have the ‘No Money but Adorably Tiny’ skill.
“Yeah. I think that answers your question.”
Arianna drew her knees up and rested her chin on them.
“I’ll let things flow naturally—whether it’s Dad or my brothers. I won’t make artificial efforts. One headache-inducing character I need a strategy for is enough—Perez is plenty. I don’t want to calculate things with my family too.”
The notification window didn’t change, but somehow it felt like it was smiling.
Feeling awkward for no reason, Arianna changed the subject.
“So what’s the bad news?”
…Duke Adrian, who has awakened paternal love, has just finalized Count Hubert’s execution on charges of embezzlement. The original heroine’s father will thus vanish on the execution grounds…
But Reader, I’m personally disappointed. It feels like flat, unsatisfying revenge.
True revenge soda should be personally delivered and force-fed, don’t you think?
“I didn’t think it was frustrating enough to need revenge in the first place… Wait, the heroine’s dad is dying? Then what happens to her?”
Because the Blessing of the World is in effect, she won’t fall into complete ruin. She’ll be registered as an adopted daughter to a distant relative, and her status will be lowered to a baron’s daughter. She’ll be sent to live in a remote frontier territory rather than the capital.
“Wait.”
Arianna was quick to catch on.
“Are you saying the original storyline is getting completely twisted?”
Yes. That is why it’s bad news.
Arianna’s eyes wavered.
Every plan she had made so far was based on the assumption that events would follow the original plot.
What? This isn’t the time for me to be wallowing in melancholy!
As if splashed with cold water, she shot upright.
The blanket slipped down, and the notification window retreated accordingly.
Have you finally grasped reality? Reader, you really don’t suit looking depressed.
“Wait, wait, quiet down…”
Arianna panicked.
“Don’t tell me that because of the butterfly effect, all the investment information I know will become useless? …But Chloe didn’t even have that big of a role in the original story, did she? It was a reverse-harem romance fantasy, so the heroine’s situation shouldn’t really affect future investment information, right?”
Unlike usual, the system window did not respond immediately.
For some reason, that silence felt ominous.
