~Chapter 18~
“The young lady of Crost is here.”
Knox spoke again.
“A… young lady? Y, you mean we found the princess? No, I didn’t hear any such news….”
Startled, the marquis’s shoulders twitched at the word princess.
But after stroking his rough chin a few times—
“Ah. So you’re the Duke’s child.”
He looked at me and slowly raised the corners of his lips in a sinister smile.
It seemed he had heard that Duke Calips had adopted a child.
“Yes, yes. The Duke must have felt lonely after losing his family for five years… It would be understandable.”
He took one step closer to me and bent his knees.
“Little girl. Your ability?”
Seen up close, the marquis’s face had even more wrinkles. He looked like a greedy, snub-nosed monkey.
Ugh. Disgusting.
I leaned my head back and answered.
“No.”
“Oh? I see. None. No ability, no special power—just an ordinary child, huh? Hahaha!”
The marquis’s laughter echoed through the high-ceilinged corridor.
The maid sisters all looked unhappy, but no one said anything.
It was natural.
I was an unrecognized princess, and he was the father of an ability wielder.
“Want to see my ability?”
Then it happened.
Puffed up by the mention of abilities, Tex shrugged his shoulders and approached.
I shook my head, not really wanting to watch.
Crackle—!
“Eek!”
“Ah—! That startled me!”
The maid sisters covered their ears with both hands and screamed.
A massive icicle formed in the middle of the corridor with the terrifying sound of freezing water.
And apparently, he wanted to show it to me in great detail.
“…….”
If I hadn’t clung to Knox’s leg like a cicada out of shock, I would have been stabbed by the icicle.
“This is my ability.”
Tex crouched down slightly to show it to my short height, smiling as if enjoying people’s screams.
“Well, since you’re also Crost, I might take you as my younger sister if I become the heir later.”
But—
“No. You’re out of the succession race.”
I answered without a single moment of hesitation.
“…What?”
“Do you know why the Crost duchy gained people’s recognition?”
Tex frowned for a moment at the sudden quiz and answered roughly.
“Because of the ice ability?”
“No. It was because they protected people using the ice ability.”
Then I pointed at Tex with my finger.
“But you only threatened people. So you’re not qualified to be heir.”
“…….”
The corridor fell silent.
The Marquis Lilith, who had been smiling mockingly. The shocked maid sisters. Knox, who had been watching indifferently.
“…What do you know!”
Realizing he had been hit where it hurt, Tex tried to grab my collar.
But—
“She is the direct princess.”
A large hand separated Tex and me.
“If any further threatening behavior is directed at the direct princess, even the Lilith marquisate will force us to take action.”
Knox, expressionless, looked at the Marquis Lilith with cold eyes.
The marquis, who had been watching everything over Tex’s shoulder, tightly closed his mouth.
Even if I was an adopted child, I was still the officially recognized princess acknowledged by Calips.
“Tex. Let’s go.”
“B–but, Father!”
“Let’s go!”
The marquis also knew that causing more trouble here would only worsen rumors.
Grabbing Tex’s sulking hand roughly, he glared at Knox.
“…Knox.”
“Yes.”
“If that newly adopted orphan keeps talking like that, it seems you’ve been giving him indoctrinated education.”
The sharp finger jabbed Knox’s chest.
“If Tex grows up to become the head of the family someday, I will personally teach you my educational philosophy.”
Even if a man who looked like a snub-nosed monkey was right in front of him, Knox didn’t even blink.
“Yes. I look forward to that day.”
“…Tch! Unlucky fellow….”
After that, there was nothing the Marquis Lilith could do.
He glared at Knox, then at the surrounding maid sisters, and finally at me before dragging Tex out of the duke’s castle.
After Marquis Lilith and Tex disappeared—
“Why did the marquis come again?”
“I don’t know. He comes and goes like it’s his own house.”
“Haa, it’s stressful every time he visits.”
“But, um… does that mean Young Master Tex will inherit the heir position?”
“The Duke said he would hold the succession test after returning from subjugating the monsters this time, so… he’ll probably announce something then?”
“Isn’t Lady Aisha the one adopted as princess?”
“…But does Lady Aisha have the ice ability?”
Sighs and murmured conversations echoed everywhere.
Ah. Now I understand.
Why Knox didn’t want to acknowledge me.
‘Whether I’m a princess or not, since I don’t have the ice ability, Tex’s succession claim wouldn’t change.’
I stroked my chin in thought.
Actually, when I couldn’t find the princess, I had even considered searching for a prince instead.
‘But what if the prince also disappeared like in the original story, unlike now?’
If that were the case, even the uncle who had trusted me would inevitably be disappointed.
‘I need to find the prince without mentioning him… but still search for him.’
I had no plan, so I turned my head in thought—
And saw Knox’s back walking silently after sighing.
I gazed at that figure sadly.
“Hmm?”
Something on the floor suddenly sparkled.
When I went closer to check, it was a gold fountain pen.
‘Is it Marquis Lilith’s?’
It must have fallen when he roughly grabbed Tex earlier.
“…Ruth?”
But the name engraved on the pen wasn’t Lilith.
It was “Ruth.”
“Ruth? Is that Marquis Lilith’s nickname?”
That was common enough. Nobles often engrave their nicknames.
But then—
“Oh.”
Holding the fallen pen, I got a good idea.
If I can’t speak first…
…Then like this pen, I can make the other person become curious about me, right?
A few days later.
“You’re going to see Lady Aisha, right? Should I prepare tea and snacks in advance?”
The duke’s castle, which had been in chaos due to the marquis’s appearance, was trying to ignore the bitter atmosphere and return to its normal mood.
But Knox still shook his head with a stiff expression.
“No. I want to rest alone today.”
In fact, Knox’s mood had been at its worst since then.
‘A branch family dares to treat the duke’s castle like their own home.’
He knew that Marquis Lilith was aiming for the duke’s heir position, but he didn’t expect him to visit the castle without permission.
If Duke Calips had been present, such a thing would never have happened.
‘No, at least if it wasn’t Duke Calips… if the young master were here…’
Knox shook his head. Such hypotheticals were meaningless.
“So please tell Lady Aisha as well. Tell her to stay quietly in her room until dinner.”
“Yes. I’ll pass it on.”
Parting with Mai, he headed toward his private office.
“…….”
As soon as she disappeared, he turned his steps around.
‘Still, I can’t just spend time feeling depressed. I need to do something.’
Unfortunately, the marquis’s matter was not something he could interfere with.
But Aisha—
‘That spy brat’s truth can be uncovered even now.’
He walked outside the castle walls toward the fortress wall.
More precisely—
Toward the direction where Aisha’s bedroom window could be seen.
‘But you only threatened people. So you’re not qualified to be heir.’
Suddenly remembering the child’s words, Knox paused for a moment.
To be honest, at that moment, Aisha really felt like a princess.
No, rather than that Tex brat, he thought it would be better if Aisha became the heir.
“…No.”
But Knox shook his head.
“It might be an act.”
The monocle on his eye glinted ominously as he stared at the window.
Why were fraudsters who deceived others to extract information given the name of a profession?
Because they received professional training.
Naturally, Knox did not trust that little spy girl from the Pose Duke family.
Her cute face?
Spies usually have good looks.
Her chattering like a baby bird about the Pose family?
It was probably to loosen people’s hearts.
The way her cheeks puffed up when eating food?
Spies can easily disguise facial expressions.
‘If I keep sticking close, I thought I might find something.’
At first, he clung to the little girl 24 hours a day to catch even a tiny clue. But a problem arose.
When he stuck close trying to catch something, that brat couldn’t do her job.
‘If I give her alone time like this, she might reveal her true nature.’
He had relayed it through Mai, so Aisha should be alone by now.
He didn’t know what she was doing inside that bedroom.
But just in case—
If she was writing a report to send to the Pose Duke family, then that would be a solid excuse to expel Aisha.
“…Hah. Climbing the castle wall like a thief.”
The only thing bothering him was his pride as a Crost aide.
He thought about his career built up until now.
The youngest aide of the Crost duchy.
The first monster-raising expert.
President of the M.A.S.M.O (Monster-Loving-As-Much-As-We-Want Association).
‘But I have to do it.’
Adjusting his monocle, he steadied his mind and grabbed the bricks with his hand.
