~Chapter 11~
Aisha was truly a clever child.
The little girl had hidden herself in a sewer passage, fully aware that it was dirty and narrow, so no one would come in.
But Calips leaned down without a moment’s hesitation.
His well-pressed suit trousers and shoes were now covered in dust and dirt, but he didn’t care.
“Aisha.”
He would gladly do even more.
“Hold my hand. It’s dangerous over there.”
Because I am her only hope.
“And don’t even think of doing anything foolish.”
Ironically, I had once wished for death.
“You can’t die because you need to clean up the mess you caused.”
The golden-haired child flinched at his warning and lifted their head.
Had they been crying until just now?
The skin around their enormous eyes was reddened.
The child looked at the hand extended toward them and parted their lips slightly in surprise.
But then, as if realizing something, they shook their head.
“…If I help you, you’ll get caught too.”
Even in this situation, they worried about me. What a naive little one.
It wasn’t really the child’s fault in the first place.
A significant amount of time had passed since they first told me the story.
In that time, something could have happened to the princess—or perhaps she had been taken away from the Pose Ducal House.
Even if it was a lie, the child had their reasons for saying it.
“The adults take responsibility. The cursed adults who brought you into this situation have to bear it.”
The earnest, almost hoarse voice split into two as he spoke.
He could have reached if he stretched just a bit, but unfortunately, the sewer passage was too narrow for him to go any further.
“So grab my hand, Aisha.”
When his breath grew heavier from the frustration of almost reaching her, a rustling sound came from below.
Calips, who hadn’t been able to see what was happening while reaching out, froze. The moment felt like an eternity.
‘Please, please.’
As he muttered the words desperately, something small grasped his thumb.
“Don’t let go. Hold on tight.”
There was no time to be surprised.
With a single motion, Calips pulled the small body out and hugged Aisha tightly.
“!”
The child instinctively spread their tiny palms in tension, but he had no time to notice.
If he had been even a moment later, he might not have heard the tiny heartbeat of this child.
No one might have ever heard her alone, sobbing.
“…The Duke is my savior.”
The words the child had confessed to me suddenly came to mind.
But hearing the little heartbeat in my arms, I realized something.
It wasn’t true that I was her savior.
In fact, her tiny desperation saved me.
So, it was I who had been saved.
A short while later, the sky beneath the horizon began to glow with a red sunset.
“Aisha!”
“Aisha, where are you!”
The knights had never expected the child to hide in the Ariena Garden, so they were still searching outside the castle.
Nox, who was patrolling around the castle with them, let out a sigh.
“…We should’ve just chased her out then.”
In the end, disaster had struck.
The child’s claim that the princess was in the Pose Ducal territory had been revealed as false, and the little one had run off.
‘Of course. If they couldn’t find the princess, they would carry out the execution according to the contract.’
Truthfully, I had never believed it from the start.
What judgment could a five-year-old child make?
Calips had let his emotions overwhelm him, and I hadn’t properly supported him.
“…Your Grace?”
Just then, lost in my thoughts, I was snapped out of them by the murmured voice of a knight rummaging through the bushes.
“Your Grace…?”
Following the knight’s gaze, I saw a tall man walking toward the garden entrance, holding something.
No way…
With a feeling of unease, Nox raised his monocular and his mouth fell open.
The small thing he was carrying was Aisha.
And she was unconscious.
“Your Grace!”
Nox pushed past the knights and ran.
“You haven’t already carried out the execution, have you? Even with the contract, she’s just a child. If it’s known the little one was executed, the Crost Ducal House’s reputation…”
“Shh—”
At that moment, the red eyes behind Calips’s black mask lifted to look at Nox.
“She’s waking up.”
“Pardon?”
“An execution? What if she cries in fright?”
“Uh?”
Nox, at a loss for words, pinched his cheek, half-wondering if this was a dream.
It hurt. So it had to be real.
“Your Grace… for the record, it was you who first mentioned the word ‘execution,’”
“Again with that word.”
“Eh?”
The knight was simply pointing out past mistakes, but Calips sighed as if displeased with him.
“The child has already been through enough. Why stir up more trouble? Waking her up like this?”
He even scolded him.
The same person who had signed the contract specifying the execution.
“Your Grace… have you gone mad?”
Nox was dumbfounded by the unexpected team-kill.
Calips ignored him and disappeared, carrying Aisha past him.
“Your Grace found Aisha?”
A knight who had witnessed them rushed over.
“That Aisha… could it be that Your Grace personally…?”
“…What?”
Caught off guard by Nox’s sudden question, the knight could only watch Calips disappear into the castle.
‘…Are you seriously curious?’
I didn’t know why, but Nox’s assistant wasn’t the type to say nonsense.
“Can a man… give birth to a child?”
The knight scratched his neck, asking seriously, but Nox was still in shock and couldn’t answer.
That night, I had a wonderful dream.
I dreamed that my parents, who had nearly died in an accident, miraculously recovered.
I wasn’t left in the care of relatives but grew up loved in our small, happy home.
Such a common, fairy-tale-like story.
Oh, and the best part? The bed.
I had never slept in a bed before. But now I finally could.
Because…
Because—
…
“Ugh.”
I opened my eyes.
On a bed.
“…?”
Instinctively, I reached out, but something soft blocked me.
I realized I was cocooned in white blankets, only my face and eyes peeking out.
“…What is this… have I been kidnapped?”
Rustle.
I could easily escape this blanket cocoon with a little effort.
But the problem came next.
‘Is this a noble’s bedroom?’
The ceiling had luxurious religious paintings, white pillars, and a thick purple canopy over a king-size bed, its gold trimmings swaying in the breeze.
Definitely not a kidnapping. Otherwise, they would have tied me up with ropes, not wrapped me in blankets.
“Little one. Awake?”
A familiar deep voice called as the door opened.
Surely, it was the gardener.
“Gardener?”
But when I turned my head—
“…No, who are you?”
A stranger stood there.
Not in a dark robe, but in a neat white shirt.
Broad, muscular shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, dark thick hair. Smooth pale skin and red eyes staring calmly.
A handsome man straight out of a painting.
“Who? Aren’t I the gardener you’ve been calling so much?”
He answered as if it was an obvious question.
‘…The handsome man is the gardener?’
Do all the people in this world just happen to be ridiculously good-looking?
No. The knights weren’t like this.
Blinking, I rubbed my eyes and looked again, marveling at him.
Well, eye candy is always welcome.
Then the gardener brought a tray with sandwiches and sat down at the tea table.
“You have to eat breakfast. Sit.”
Tap, tap—
He tapped the table with his index finger, signaling me to sit.
Oh, right. I had been hiding in the sewer passage until the gardener found me.
But…
‘How did I even survive?’
I was a spy.
A spy who couldn’t fulfill the contract of revealing the princess’s location and therefore should have faced execution.
Since the gardener found me, Calips must have known as well.
But then why am I still alive?
And if the gardener is a commoner, why is his bedroom so lavish, like a noble’s?
And why is he so handsome?
I jumped off the bed with all these questions swirling in my mind.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
I was about to ask the real questions when—
“How did I survive—”
“First, eat.”
A sandwich was shoved into my mouth, cutting off my question.
Right. First, food.
I chewed and swallowed the sandwich.
“Done eating? Then—”
“Eat first, then clean up.”
A handkerchief blocked my question.
He focused on my face and wiped the crumbs from my lips. Satisfied, he smiled faintly.
“Good. Now, tell me.”
Finally. I unleashed the question I had been holding back.
“When do I get executed?!”
“That won’t happen. I tore up the contract.”
“Wha—What?!”
My jaw dropped at the shocking words, but his expression was utterly calm.
Could it be that taking responsibility as an adult meant he’d just tear up the contract and leave?
“Sir! Hey!”
I grabbed his collar and shook him—well, tried to. It didn’t budge.
“What do you mean tearing up a contract with the Duke’s seal on it! Did you run away from the Crost Ducal House because of me?!”
“…You’re quite the storyteller.”
He sighed and handed me something while I still held his collar.
“Calm down first. Read this.”
“…?”
“It’s the adoption application you wanted.”
