Chapter 89
The food was delicious.
Lady Pine kept trying every trick she could think of to draw Elber’s attention, but soon her father yanked her by the ear and she quieted down.
Seeing that, the Duke leaned toward me and asked in a low voice,
“Is that also something fathers and daughters do when they’re close?”
“Don’t. If you pull my ear like that, it’ll come right off.”
“…I see.”
I swear, I’m terrified he’ll pick up weird things like that when I’m not around.
The meal ended, and the host and his wife personally escorted us to the ballroom.
Up until then, the four of us had been moving together in awkward unison.
But as soon as slightly faster-tempo music began and the host took his wife by the arm, I clung to the Duke.
Of course, I had an excuse.
“It would look strange if Seraphina danced with my father… so please, take care of my brother instead.”
“Ah, understood.”
Seraphina inclined her head to Elber without hesitation. He too bent forward politely.
The moment the two of them stood face-to-face, everyone’s eyes shifted to them—mine included.
A cold-looking black-haired, blue-eyed handsome man, and before him a golden-haired, green-eyed beauty who never lost her smile. It was like the cover of a romance novel come to life.
Please! Lock eyes already!
I was silently praying when Seraphina suddenly bowed her head toward the Duke.
“Father, please take good care of Sol. She’s very anxious since it’s her first ball.”
“….”
Seraphina… you’re making it sound like you’re my guardian.
The Duke, expressionless—maybe simply not knowing how to respond—answered,
“I am grateful you’ve been with Sol as her friend. I hope you enjoy yourself as well.”
“Yes. You too, Father.”
Even in front of him, Seraphina didn’t falter, lifting her dress slightly as she gave a graceful curtsey.
The people nearby audibly gasped. Even Lady Pine stared in a daze.
…So that’s the heroine.
Somehow, my heart eased.
I’m glad I don’t have to act like I’m the protagonist just because I transmigrated into a romance fantasy. I’m glad I could introduce the male lead to the female lead.
Just being close to these people is enough to make me happy.
“Father, shall we go now?”
“….”
After Seraphina stepped back, I reached my hand out to the Duke.
I could feel the eyes on us. Unlike the reverent looks people had cast toward Seraphina earlier, these were full of curiosity.
Well, of course. They’d heard for ages that Duke Schlaeger had adopted a daughter, and now they were finally seeing her. Naturally, they’d be curious.
This ball was meant to showcase that the Duke really was “daughter-crazy.”
And he clearly understood that.
He bent his knee before me. Even then, from slightly higher up, his blue eyes rippled like waves.
“Will you grant me the honor of escorting you, Lady Schlaeger?”
“Of course! Anytime, Father—kyaa!”
Before I could finish, he swept me up into his arms. In an instant, all the people’s heads below dropped away. Terrifying! And embarrassing!
There was no stopping it. The music had already begun, and the Duke encircled my waist and started to dance in the middle of the hall.
“Faaather! At least warn me when you’re going to pick me up! I’ll stomp on your feet!”
“Oh? Try, if you can. But will your feet even touch the ground?”
“Wh-what? Kyaa! Daaaad! Ahahaha!”
As he said, he didn’t put me down. Like a child’s plush toy, he spun me in the air as we danced.
But his arms held me so firmly that I never felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Instead, like riding a carnival ride, I couldn’t stop laughing.
The corners of his mouth… they looked slightly lifted. Was it genuine, or just acting?
The expressions of the onlookers varied wildly, which made it even more entertaining.
Some smiled warmly, but more looked horrified, as though they were seeing a hallucination. Voices even rose above the music.
“So the rumor was true…”
“What rumor?”
“They said Duke Schlaeger was completely besotted with the daughter he took in. I thought it was some silly country tale…”
Yeah, it is a silly tale. But soon it’ll be one everyone believes.
Through the flutter of my blue skirts swirling like spray, I saw Elber and Seraphina begin dancing awkwardly. I turned my gaze their way.
“Father, enough, enough! Put me down! I’m thirsty!”
Slowly, gently—so I wouldn’t fly off with the momentum—he stopped. I spun once in his arms before finally settling into his embrace.
“Ahaha, that was fun!”
“You said you were thirsty. What would you like to drink, Sol?”
“Red berry punch!”
“Understood. Wait here.”
He reached to pat my head but stopped short of the intricate hairpiece the maids had worked so hard on. Good job.
As he strode toward the punch bowl, people parted as though facing the emperor himself. After stepping aside, they whispered, stealing glances at him.
“His Grace… carried his daughter?”
“He danced?”
“Just showing up at a ball is shocking enough…”
“He’s running errands for a little girl? Are we sure that’s him and not a puppet?”
The last idiot spoke too loudly. From right behind him, the Duke’s grave voice rang out.
“If you wish to confirm I’m a puppet, try pricking me with a needle. But know the price will be paid with your own body.”
“M-my apologies, Your Grace! Please forgive my slip—”
His words cut off when he saw the glass in the Duke’s hand.
It was filled with punch just the way I liked: brimming with berry chunks, and even topped with a cherry probably stolen from another dessert.
Holding that dainty treat, the Duke’s solemn tone returned.
“Forgive… and then?”
“…Please forgive me!”
“Step aside. My daughter waits for me, yearning.”
The man practically rolled out of the way. The Duke marched back and extended the cup toward me.
It looked less like a father handing a snack to his daughter, and more like a general presenting the severed head of an enemy commander. Still, he even adjusted the cherry nicely before offering it, so bonus points for effort.
I accepted the cup with both hands.
“Thanks, Dad!”
“Say ‘Father.’ You’re no longer a child.”
“You teased me just yesterday, saying only children like sweets.”
“…I take it back. I must accept that you’re growing up, though it isn’t easy.”
Yes! He stumbled a bit, but that was still a pretty convincing “loving father-daughter” exchange!
While I sipped the punch, other guests cautiously approached him.
“It’s been too long, Your Grace! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you during this season.”
“I couldn’t entrust my daughter’s studies to others. Has Albion been peaceful in my absence?”
“Of course, thanks to you guarding the northern lands.”
Most people were already shorter than the Duke, and bowing made them look even smaller.
From my vantage point, the lowest in the room, I could clearly see their expressions: fear of the Duke, and confusion.
It was obvious what they were thinking: Why is the Duke acting like this?
Well, a single dance wouldn’t be enough to convince them: Ah, so the Duke really is daughter-crazy!
Time to crank up the theatrics. When I was ten, I could get away with acting childish, but at this age, what works?
…Guess I’ll go with the simplest trick.
“Father.”
I slipped my arm through his.
“What is it, Sol?”
“Isn’t Seraphina really beautiful?”
“….”
He didn’t answer right away. Did he not realize what I was prompting him to say?
“I thought she was pretty even in her school uniform. But dressed up for the ball… it proves I was right.”
“…Yes. I recall telling you several times she was beautiful.”
“She’s just that pretty.”
Come on, catch on already, Duke!
This is when you’re supposed to say, ‘What are you talking about? To me, you’re the prettiest one here, Sol.’
But instead, another clueless man cut in.
“Haha, so you’re friends with that lovely golden-haired lady?”
“Huh? Uh, yes…”
“She was the talk of her debutante. They said she was as beautiful as a goddess. But I heard her family fell on hard times, so she left society. Thanks to Lady Sol, we can see her again—”
He stopped mid-sentence. Idiot…
I heard a cracking sound underfoot. Looking down, frost was spreading from the Duke’s boots toward the man’s ankles.
But colder than the ice was the Duke’s voice.
“My daughter isn’t some trinket you fetch to amuse yourself, is she?”
“N-no, of course not—”
“To you, are the sacred students of Gruner Vant nothing more than spectacles?”
“N-not at all!”
“My daughter is beautiful.”
“….”
What kind of conclusion is that?
But the Duke apparently took the man’s silence as agreement, released the frost, and the man bowed repeatedly before practically fleeing.
I whispered to him,
“Father, wasn’t that a little strange?”
“Every word was necessary—and true.”
“True…? You could’ve just said something like ‘My daughter’s the prettiest’ and left it at that!”
“No one takes frivolous words seriously.”
“What? So were you planning to go around grabbing people by the collar and brainwashing them with ‘My daughter’s the prettiest’?”
“That’s not brainwashing. You really are the prettiest.”
“….”
Ugh. That berry punch feels like it’s stuck in my throat. Did someone else brainwash him into thinking I’m pretty?
While I was still dumbfounded, the dance ended.
Elber and Seraphina started toward us, but Lady Pine’s sharp glare at Elber diverted them to a table across the room instead.
At that moment, the Duke’s arm slipped around my shoulders.
“In the end, it seems I must tell you first that you are the most beautiful of all.”
Waaait a second! That’s not what we came here for!
