Chapter 15
My thoughts weren’t flowing properly.
I had just woken up, my vision blurry and my head fuzzy.
‘It’s Dad.’
I kept calling him “Duke,” but in my heart, he was always Dad.
‘I want to get closer to him.’
I reached out my hand.
My eyelids fluttered from drowsiness, and my body tilted forward. The man in front of me came closer and caught me in his arms.
I let myself rest against him—no, I burrowed in deeper without realizing it. I could feel his breath hitch in surprise.
His large body wasn’t soft, so it didn’t feel cozy—but it felt solid.
‘Warm.’
We’d only known each other for a few days.
But to me, he was family.
I wanted us to be happy together, and even if I disappeared, I wanted him to have nothing but laughter in his life.
“…Adelle?”
Had Dad… ever called my name before?
“Hah… you don’t even let me stay angry at you.”
‘If I get close to Dad, I’ll be able to ask him to play with me someday.’
That was my sleepy thought.
Whenever I saw a happy family walking down the street, I pretended not to care, but I always envied them.
At the fountain, splashing each other with water—how could they laugh so brightly like that?
Their joyful atmosphere shone even more vividly than the sunlit water droplets.
When a child begged for an expensive toy, the parents would hesitate but eventually buy it for them.
When a child got hurt from playing carelessly, the parents would comfort them, sitting down beside them as they cried.
Playing among the village children, I always felt the difference.
They weren’t like us orphans.
‘They were always cleaner than us.’
They were always more loved, always learning more, always taller and stronger than us.
And most of all, no matter what mistake they made, they were forgiven.
If an orphanage kid got into a fight with a village kid, the village kid’s mother would always rush over and scold my friend instead.
[“You don’t even have parents!”]
When the village kids started to lose, they’d always attack us with those words.
And no matter how angry we were, those words drained our strength and made us cry.
Every person is born from parents. People aren’t born from eggs.
The only difference between them and us was that we were abandoned—or that we lost our parents to the war. That was all.
We hadn’t chosen any of it. Being born isn’t a sin.
But in a child’s world, a parent’s power is the child’s power.
“…Do you know how worried I was?”
I blinked up from within my father’s arms.
“I thought… I was going to lose you.”
The Duke’s voice trembled slightly. It was the voice of someone who had once lost someone dear—someone who had already fallen to the very bottom once before.
‘I thought I’d be okay even if I got abandoned again.’
Because, for even a moment, I’d been given a family. I didn’t want to be greedy.
But being in his arms made me realize all of that was a lie.
It felt too good. Too happy. The fact that someone was worried about me was overwhelming.
I didn’t want to be a “good girl.” I wanted him to tell me it was okay to cling to him. I didn’t want to be sent back to the orphanage. I wanted to have a family too.
I wanted to be happy.
Because you’re my dad, I love you.
“…Dad.”
Actually, I like this more than being patted on the head—being held like this, warm and safe.
I was scared I’d be abandoned again in a month.
I wanted to call you “Dad.”
I wanted to save Bea Sirta—the one you said you loved. And I wanted a mother too. I wanted to have one. I wanted us all to be happy together.
Please, call me your daughter. I want to be your daughter. I want you to praise me. I don’t want you to hate me.
“…Did you just call me Dad?”
The Duke sounded startled.
I nodded, my face buried in his chest. He froze stiffly.
But he didn’t ask if I had washed my hair. He awkwardly but gently embraced me back.
We stayed like that for a long time.
I could hear the steady beat of his heart, like when I hugged Sarina—but his heartbeat was much rougher.
I slowly woke up.
‘Wait… what did I just do?’
The warmth of his arms hit me all at once, and I opened my eyes wide in shock.
I had been the one to hug him first—and now I wanted to die of embarrassment.
‘I’m hugging my dad!’
“…I was worried, Adelle.”
I panicked.
“I’m sorry.”
“…You did nothing wrong.”
His voice was low and gentle—softer than I’d ever heard from him before.
It made me shiver—it tickled somehow.
But I didn’t hate it. It was unbelievably warm.
Even as he sighed, the Duke stroked my hair carefully, like it was precious.
“Do you know how worried we were, Lady Adelle?”
“Yes. I couldn’t see you anywhere—it felt like the world went dark before my eyes.”
“…My Lady, I’m so sorry. You said you were scared, but I kept bringing the horse closer… I never meant to force you…”
In order, it was Mikael, Fabian, and Ehin speaking.
Especially the teacher—he looked utterly devastated. I shook my head.
“I’m fine, Teacher.”
“No more riding lessons. From now on, all our animal classes will be indoors.”
Ehin’s kind eyes met mine. He looked like he was about to cry now.
When I looked to Mikael, he added quietly,
“Yes, we’ve also decided not to use the animal familiars anymore.”
They all felt sorry for me.
Even though I was the one who ran away, they all seemed to think it was their fault for making me.
I lowered my head.
“I’m okay.”
Because Khan believes in me.
“I can do it.”
Saying that made me feel like I really could. My eyes lit up.
“If it’s a small horse, I think I can ride it. So… I won’t run away or cry anymore.”
Mikael looked deeply shaken by my sudden change. Fabian’s eyes went wide, and even Ehin looked surprised.
‘If I learn to handle sacred beasts well, I can save Bea Sirta.’
Animals were still scary—but if it meant saving Mother, I could endure it.
If that could make the three of us—Mom, Dad, and me—happy together, I wouldn’t ask for anything more.
Just imagining it made me happy.
“It feels like the Lady has grown up all of a sudden…” Ehin murmured, dazed.
Then Chopin spoke up.
“Sorry to ruin the serious mood, but did you see His Grace’s face earlier? It was priceless! Ahem—‘Find my child. Now.’ He said it so coolly, and then the second he saw you—bam!—total melt-down!”
“Chopaaain…”
“What? You didn’t think it was funny? Honestly, he’s right on the edge of becoming a full-blown doting dad!”
At Chopin’s rainbow-haired humor, the tense atmosphere eased.
The knights tried to hide it, but they clearly liked Chopin’s jokes.
“He called me… his child?”
“Ah… well, yes, that was the word he used, though it’s a bit, uh, strong…”
Seeing Chopin stammer made me realize he probably thought I was shocked by the word choice.
But I didn’t care about that.
Just the fact that Dad had called me his daughter made me so happy.
It made him feel even closer.
“I’m happy.”
My cheeks flushed. The room fell quiet for a brief moment.
The knights glanced at each other, silently exchanging knowing looks.
Then, one after another, they started talking.
“I’ve never seen His Grace look so frantic before! His face was full of worry.”
“Not even in wartime, when victory was slipping away, did he ever look like that.”
“When he heard that the Lady had cried, his expression—oh, it was heartbreaking!”
“He glared at Ehin like he was about to kill him, hahah!”
Ehin looked crushed by Chopin’s teasing.
I shook my head quickly to say it wasn’t his fault.
“It’s not because of Ehin that I cried.”
“…So Dad really was like that…”
I couldn’t bring myself to smile too brightly.
I didn’t want to look like I was bragging about how happy I was. But it must’ve shown anyway, because a few knights turned away, hiding their smiles.
It seemed they were struggling to keep straight faces for a different reason.
“Thank you, everyone. And… I’m sorry.”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I missed Sarina—I wanted the pillow she’d hugged me with this morning.
The knights were quiet for a long time, as if they didn’t know what to say.
“Um…”
I looked at Terra.
She bit her lip and made a small groaning sound.
“My Lady, may I please just hug you once…?”
Her voice was half in pain.
“I really can’t stand it anymore…!”
I widened my eyes, then slowly got up and threw my arms around Terra.
I trusted her completely, leaning all my weight on her. Even if she moved aside, I wouldn’t have been afraid.
It felt good. It felt warm.
“Now I can die without regrets…!”
If the hug of someone who wasn’t even family felt this warm, then a mother’s hug must be incredibly warm.
I closed my eyes, lost in happy thoughts.
It was late at night—time to sleep.
I’d eaten and taken a bath.
Apparently, the whole ducal household had been thrown into chaos when I suddenly disappeared earlier, but somehow, it had all been resolved.
“If you can’t fall asleep, shall I read you a storybook?”
“Mm. I’d like that.”
I buried myself in the blankets, peeking my head out.
Sarina brought several picture books—ones I’d never seen before, not even in the orphanage.
“Mikael said good children should sleep early.”
“…My Lady, why do you like Sir Mikael so much?”
The unexpected question made me blink.
“I heard you even hugged Sir Terra. I thought you’d only hug me…”
Sarina looked down at the book as she spoke, her tone calm and even.
“Besides, Sir Mikael made you cry, didn’t he? He’s your guard, and he even lost sight of you.”
She sounded genuinely disappointed.
When she lifted her head slightly, I was already drifting toward sleep.
“Mikael has violet eyes.”
“…Pardon?”
“Violet eyes never lie.”
I said it earnestly.
“What?”
Sarina looked dazed at my innocent gaze.
“Just… because of his violet eyes?”
“Mm. And he’s kind.”
From the first moment I saw him, I thought his violet eyes were beautiful.
Sarina froze for a second, as if completely caught off guard by my answer.
“To think I’d lose because of violet eyes…” she muttered.
Sleepiness washed over me, and I blinked slowly.
“Did you know, My Lady? Sir Terra has apparently started your fan club. I knew she’d do something like that. They say it already has more than ten members.”
I was half-asleep and didn’t quite catch what she said.
Sarina smiled helplessly and began reading the story.
Her gentle voice was filled with affection.
“Once upon a time, there lived a kind-hearted noble lady…”
I listened with my eyes closed.
It felt less like a story and more like a lullaby.
Just before I fell asleep, I murmured the words I’d wanted to tell Sarina.
“Sarina, the Duke is too old.”
She froze mid-sentence.
Sarina is such a precious person.
Did I really say that?
I couldn’t remember.
Because right after that, everything went dark.
