Chapter 08
I stared at the three of them, all looking so serious, until Baratheon, sensing my gaze first, came over and pressed a finger between my brows.
Without realizing it, I’d been frowning right along with them.
“No getting all serious, kiddo.”
“And you think you can keep secrets from me?”
“Sure. We’re adults, and you’re a child.”
“That’s discrimination!”
Not to mention I’ve got an adult’s mind inside!
At my protest, Shishe tilted his head and smirked.
“If you don’t like it, hurry up and grow.”
Wow, how infuriating.
Left speechless by Shishe’s comeback, I watched Lucas and Baratheon burst out laughing.
“Master! Young lady!”
Just then, Hedin came running toward us, looking rather flustered.
“What is it?” Lucas asked on our behalf.
Hedin glanced at me before answering.
“His Grace the Grand Duke will be arriving shortly.”
“The old man? Isn’t that earlier than planned?” Baratheon sounded surprised—and to be honest, so were the rest of us.
“Yes, it seems he hurried over. Most likely because of… the news.”
At those words everyone’s eyes turned to me.
Baratheon, looking serious, nudged Shishe with his elbow.
“She’s looking way better than when she first got here, right?”
“A huge improvement. No smell, some weight back, clothes fit perfectly.”
“Good. Let’s go!”
Baratheon scooped me up and strode confidently toward the mansion.
Marina whisked me off to prepare for the Grand Duke—my grandfather.
I changed out of the picnic-wrinkled clothes and had my hair neatly done.
Thankfully, thanks to Shishe we’d already had well-fitted outfits made.
To roam freely around House Ashinov, I’d clearly need the favor of its head.
Looking neat could only help.
Then again, what if he scolds me for buying sixty outfits?
I had no idea what this unknown grandfather would be like, and my mind was full of question marks.
Still…
Watching the staff lined up to greet him told me something.
He must be intimidating.
Why else would all the servants wait with such tense faces?
Only Lucas, Baratheon, and Shishe stood relaxed.
Well, being his grandsons probably makes a difference.
While I was thinking that, a stir rose at the entrance.
The Grand Duke had arrived.
At the head of a small entourage, a man rode up and dismounted in one fluid motion—
so graceful that even from a hundred meters away you could tell he was a swordsman.
“Welcome back, Your Grace,” Lucas greeted him first.
“You’re back, old man?”
“Good to see you looking well,” added Baratheon and Shishe, their words hovering between greeting and teasing.
The servants only bowed deeply.
But the Grand Duke’s first words weren’t a return greeting.
“Where is the child?”
Lucas smiled softly, as if he’d expected that, and gently pushed me forward.
Startled, I looked up—and met a pair of vivid violet eyes.
Ah.
The same color as my own in the mirror.
And we look alike.
A face just like Father’s—
and since I took after Father, it followed that this man and I resembled each other, too.
It would be stranger if we weren’t family with faces this similar.
Thankfully I didn’t resemble Pamel at all;
otherwise, every glance would have reignited my anger and made playing the dutiful granddaughter impossible.
The Grand Duke looked far too young to be anyone’s grandfather—early forties at most.
I heard he wields a sword, unlike other Pamel descendants…
Expert swordsmen often appear younger than their years, so it wasn’t impossible.
“…Danae?”
“Uh, yes.”
“I see.”
Such a plain reaction.
I wasn’t expecting a dramatic reunion, but still—
meeting his granddaughter for the first time in thirteen years deserved more than that, didn’t it?
While I blinked at him in surprise, he simply started walking.
The servants—and even the three brothers—watched me uneasily, making the atmosphere painfully awkward.
Then he suddenly stopped and turned back to me.
“What do you like?”
“Pardon?”
“To eat.”
“Uh… meat?”
Especially the head chef’s tenderloin steak—pure heaven, melting the moment it touched the tongue.
“And freshly baked bread,” I added.
“Then that will be the menu. Have it prepared; we’ll dine at once.”
After giving those instructions to the chef among the servants, he walked off again.
The staff quietly dispersed.
Only I and the three brothers remained.
“So… His Grace just invited me to dinner?”
“That’s right,” Lucas said.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way to be invited to a meal,” I murmured, still dazed.
The brothers chuckled softly.
Soon I found myself at the grand dining table, sitting across from the Grand Duke, fiddling awkwardly with my utensils.
I hate silence. This is so uncomfortable…
He was astonishingly quiet, enough to make me wonder if a person could really speak so little.
The heavy silence forced a sigh out of me.
“Um…”
Since he seemed perfectly at ease with the quiet, I had to be the one to break it.
“Why did you come looking for me?”
His slow movements with his utensils halted.
Those vivid violet eyes fixed sharply on me.
“You didn’t look for me for thirteen years. You never looked for Father either… so it’s surprising you’re searching now.”
His expression didn’t change.
He could have been a statue carved from stone.
“It’s not that I didn’t look. I couldn’t.”
“…What?”
“Because Linte didn’t want me to.”
I tilted my head, not understanding.
He continued.
“Linte longed for freedom. She didn’t want the weight of the ducal house.
For her coming-of-age gift at eighteen, she asked for freedom, and I gladly granted it.
After that, I never once tried to find her.”
Normally a parent would kick his son’s backside and shout, ‘Don’t be a fool!’
But neither Father nor the Grand Duke was normal.
Which explains the wealth, I suppose.
And as for their daughter—and granddaughter—that made me…?
The thought amused me enough to hide a quiet laugh, but he kept speaking.
“Then, a year ago, a letter from Linte arrived at the ducal estate.
A wandering mercenary delivered it, saying he’d been delayed by an accident.”
“Oh… and in that letter…?”
“Yes. She wrote about you, Danae.
But so much time had passed that you’d already left the village.
I searched for you ever since, and finally found you in that disgraceful inn.”
So if that mercenary hadn’t been delayed,
I might have escaped that vile place much sooner.
Still, I can’t help resenting him a little.
“Danae.”
The Grand Duke called me, pulling me from my silent grumbling about a man I’d never met.
“Do you also yearn for freedom? Do you wish to go back outside?”
“Do you really think I would? If you’ve heard how I lived…”
You wouldn’t ask that.
My foster parents were demons; life was a living hell.
Looking back, I still wonder how I endured it.
Probably because I was too ignorant to know better back then.
But I wasn’t that ignorant child anymore.
I knew injustice when I saw it—and that I had to escape it.
Besides, I had a grand plan: bring down House Ashinov from the inside and teach Pamel a lesson.
For that, staying here was essential.
“But you might be different,” he said. “You’re Linte’s daughter. She was… very special.”
“Yes. But I’m also your granddaughter, aren’t I? And you’re here.”
“…True.”
He blinked at my words, then nodded and returned to his meal.
Silence settled again.
So much for trying to win his favor.
…Fine. I’ll just eat my steak.
I sighed inwardly and began cutting the meat into neat, bite-sized pieces.
Just as I lifted the first piece to my mouth, he spoke, still looking at his plate.
“Call me Grandfather.
It suits us better than ‘Your Grace.’”
