PLTSVA 11

I was completely shocked to see that the visitor I had assumed to be the Duke was, in fact, a boy who looked exactly like him.

‘The eldest son? No, maybe the second.’

The eldest son was said to have inherited the Duchess’s green eyes, so this boy with cold navy-blue eyes must be the second son.

“…What’s your name?”

Miller asked, looking at me.

Next to me, Luca seemed to have lost interest already—he had even abandoned the usual polite greetings given to royalty.

“It’s Lia, young master.”

“Hah, even the name is similar to that child’s childhood name. Unless someone deliberately planned for you to pose as the missing princess…”

Do all the men of the ducal family go through this kind of denial? Well, to be fair, it’s not an easy situation to believe.

I diligently played my part.

“Luca, is the young master coming to the palace with us too?”

“That will not be happening.”

At Luca’s firm response, Miller quickly lifted his head.

“You’re going to the palace? Come to think of it, Father also mentioned that earlier…”

“Yes, we’re just guests here. Naturally, we’ll be heading to the palace.”

I shrugged as I spoke.

Then, I began pretending to get ready to leave, carefully placing the cookies and candies—of which I had received an excessive amount—into a small pouch the servants had provided.

“Lia, the desserts in the palace are incomparably better than the Duke’s cookies. No need to burden yourself carrying those.”

Luca shot a sidelong glance at Miller with a smug smile.

“Oh my, that sounds exciting! I can’t wait to go to the palace!”

“If you go, I’ll hire a personal chef just for you.”

“Really? So we’re going now, right? Should I go downstairs?”

As we bantered, Miller, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke.

“…Our chef is better.”

“…Pardon?”

“Tiramisu, macarons, strawberry tarts, brownies, gelato—what do you like? Whatever it is, our Shrimp Chef makes it the best.”

I was stunned by Miller’s confident declaration.

Your chef might actually be the best!

While I was feeling a strange sense of pity for the obviously destiny-named “Shrimp Chef,” Luca flicked a roulette card toward Miller.

Swish—

Miller turned his head to the side just in time.

‘……?!’

Was that really a card? The card Miller dodged embedded itself deeply into the hallway wall.

“Are you insulting the Imperial cuisine?”

Luca spoke with a slight furrow of his brow. Miller smiled as he replied.

“Not at all. But according to our Shrimp Chef, all the food in the palace is subpar. I believe only he can satisfy this girl’s palate.”

The maids passing behind him screamed at the sight of the card stuck in the wall. Three of them clung to it trying to pull it out, but it wouldn’t budge.

‘If that card had hit someone at that speed, they’d be dead for sure.’

I glanced back at Luca, who was lazily half-reclined on the sofa.

With a crooked smile, Luca said to Miller:

“Would you be able to say that in front of Gaori, the palace’s top chef?”

Gaori…?

I couldn’t keep up with this strange conversation and was about to ask them to cut it out when—

“Lia, come out for a moment.”

The Duke suddenly appeared through the open door and called me.

Startled by the unexpected call, I turned to look at Luca.

He nodded at me.

“…I’ll be back.”

I walked past Miller, who was staring at me, and followed the Duke.

I had to trot to keep up with the Duke’s long strides.

Seeing me panting with my poor stamina, he slowed his pace and began walking more leisurely.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Do you know about Lady Raelia of House Reyes?”

He asked as we walked down a long hallway drenched in sunlight.

I might be the one person in this world who knows the most about her. I know she has an incurable illness, I even know the cause… though whether it’s curable is another matter.

Still, I answered that I didn’t know.

“My wife knew that girls were rare in our family, but she always longed for a daughter.”

The Duke spoke.

“When she became pregnant with our third child and found out it was a girl, I had never seen her happier. She started making countless plans—buying dresses together, going on picnics…”

“………”

“The child was born safely, but my wife passed away a few months later. And on the third anniversary of her death, the daughter she left behind—her last gift—vanished.”

The cold print of the book I had read could never have conveyed the expression of pain on his face.

Words like “sad” weren’t enough to describe it. He looked calm, but I could tell he had lived the past twelve years with a heart cut to shreds.

Even though I already knew all this, I felt like I’d been hit in the head.

The depth of his emotion was incomprehensible—that was the first reason.

And the second… it reminded me of the family I had left behind in another world.

I followed him silently.

He opened a door and stepped into a room.

This was the room where the young lady of House Reyes had been kidnapped twelve years ago. It was spotless, and instead of looking like a room for a three-year-old, it had been redecorated over time into a room suitable for a fifteen-year-old girl.

“People called me mad. Renovating a room each year for a child who might never return. But I always said—what if she does come back someday? What if she sees the room covered in white sheets? Wouldn’t she be disappointed?”

“…Why are you telling me this?”

My heart was pounding.

A gentle warmth began to spread in the emptiness I hadn’t realized I carried since the moment I lost my family.

‘You know Mommy loves you so much, right? I’m sorry I scolded you earlier.’

‘Are you pouting? Fine, fine. I’ll make your favorite pasta tonight. Hah, I saw you smile just now!’

‘Shall we go for a walk after dinner? No? But I’ll buy you ice cream if you come with me.’

‘What’s the point of ice cream after all that walking? No way. Just eat the pasta I made, and let’s all go for a walk. The stars are beautiful tonight!’

The Duke’s silver hair fluttered in the breeze coming through the open window, and it reminded me of my own.

“If you’re willing, I’d like to register you as Lady Raelia. If she had grown up just as she was at three, she would’ve looked exactly like you.”

The faces I had tried to forget kept overlapping with the Duke’s face.

‘Shall I come pick you up? Mommy had a bad dream. Oh, is the bus already here? Alright, be safe!’

“Would you like to become my daughter?”

Tears slipped from my eyes before I even realized it, as I missed those people more than I could bear.

“I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“I said… I’ll be your daughter.”

The Duke was startled by how quickly I decided, asking if it was really okay to make such a choice so easily—but who in their right mind would hesitate to be adopted into the Duke’s household?

Especially someone like me.

“We’ve both lost precious people. I’m curious… can that void truly be filled?”

Fifteen long years had passed since I was separated from my original home.

‘Hell Joseon’—I used to wonder why I was born in such a country.

I said it every day, like a habit. But it was my home.

I didn’t necessarily miss that world, per se. Humans adapt. I could grow attached to a new place.

Still, the large hole in my heart remained unfilled.

I treated the children at the orphanage as siblings. Luca was like a younger brother.

But not once had I truly forgotten my real family.

Their faces and voices had started to fade—and that terrified me.

In this world without photos or recordings, if they disappeared from my mind, it would mean a final, irreversible farewell.

‘So please…’

If possible, please fill this emptiness before I lose my mind.

Before the day comes when everything fades, and I’m left with just this hole in my heart.

The Duke gently wiped away the trail of tears on my cheek with a large hand. Though he looked colder than ice, his hand was warm.

They say a warm hand means a warm heart. Hopefully he won’t exile me like in the novels… Not that I plan to give him any reason to.

“I promise. I don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve gone through, but now that you’re my daughter, you’ll be safe from anything.”

As if he had read my mind, the Duke ruffled my silver hair and spoke.

‘Oh? He smiled.’

Someone who didn’t seem like he could ever smile—especially someone so handsome—actually smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I should go see Luca now. I need to let him know I won’t be going with him.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Unlike when we came, the Duke and I walked back side by side.

I was the first to reach out and take his large hand.

The hand of the so-called “Mad Wolf of the North,” once called a murderer, paused for a moment in my small grasp—but soon he held it back warmly.

And in that moment, a faint memory brushed against me like a soft echo.

I had thought my first memory was being abandoned in a carriage and taken to the orphanage, but that wasn’t it.

‘Will she even be able to hold a teaspoon with hands this tiny?’

‘Cain, if you keep holding her hand like that every day, she’ll wear it out. She’ll have no fingerprints left!’

‘She’s my daughter—one day, she’ll be able to take down a bear with these tiny hands.’

I felt that warm and fleeting sensation.

I hoped one day, I’d be able to say: “I really am your daughter.”

And with that hope, we returned to the room together.