Devoir alternately looked at the Lord and me, and his eyes fluttered slightly.
He kept his mouth shut and lowered his head.
Even anguish came from the distorted expression on his face.
However, the Lord’s gaze was terrifying as he looked at Devoir, who had slumped after the fight.
The cold gaze made Devoir’s body tremble slightly.
Devoir, who could not say a word, got up and tried to leave the room.
The Lord called him up.
“Devoir.”
Devoir, who was about to go out at the Lord’s call, stopped suddenly.
The droopy back was very pitiful.
It was so shabby that I could hardly look at it. 11
But it seemed I was the only one who thought so.
A voice colder than ice came from the Lord’s mouth.
The voice didn’t sound like he was talking to his son.
It sounded like criticizing a hound who had failed to do his job properly.
“You have let me down.”
Devoir’s shoulders flinched at his words.
The fist he had been clenching so hard lost strength and fell straight.
But he left the room without answering or making any excuses.
The servants who were behind him followed.
It was because of a slight scratch on Devoir’s face, perhaps from being hit by a fragment earlier.
The bruise on his white cheek was red.
The afterimage flickered in front of me, and I kept worrying about it.
He looked around with his cold gaze and began to give orders.
“Call the priests of Lerothia.”
“Yes!”
“I can’t believe it’s breaking and trespassing into the family again.”2
He mutters to himself. He soon shut his mouth.
Then he asked me with a different expression from before.
“Are there any injuries?”
“—–I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
At the end of those words, his big hand rested on top of my head.
Then, as if trying to comfort me, the hand gently stroking my hair was cautious.
It was a delicate gesture as if wiping away the thin mist that had formed on a glass of ice.
A heavy question flowed from his mouth, which had been silent for a while.
“You must have been surprised.”
“No.” 33
I think Devoir must have been more surprised than me.
But I couldn’t spit those words out, so I kept my mouth shut.
Sweat was seeping from my hands.
Drops of sweat rubbed the hem of my skirt.
I was also surprised, but my body trembled.
In the meantime, I heard a rush of footsteps.
“Huh, what’s going on!”
It was Jien.
The Lord turned around and looked at her while she turned pale from fear.
“She must be surprised, so call a healer.”
“Yes.”
“I need to change the place where she sleeps. Tell the butler to give her a bedroom on the fifth floor of the mansion.”
“Yes, yes?”
At the end of Jien’s words, there was little doubt.
It was the same for me.
The 5th floor of the Ardelos mansion was one of the deepest places.
To some extent, it was a place that even Devoir, the only heir of the Ardelos family, could enter only with the permission of the Lord.
But he walked away with those words.
It was as if he had no intention of overturning his words any longer.
I was held tight in his arms.
Devoir was seen in the distance.
Ar’s face was pale.
He looked sick.
I looked at him with worried eyes.
But suddenly, my body became strange.
The intruder’s energy, which he thought had been absorbed into his body, reacted sharply.
An energy that I had never felt before ran through my body.
I barely caught my breath and clenched my fist hard.
Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to spread somewhere.
Perhaps noticing an abnormal reaction, the Lord stopped walking.
He turned his head to me.
I was terrified by his gaze without realizing it.
‘I wonder if he felt the energy of Deldea from me.’
Looking up at him in a wary manner, compassion was seen in the eyes of the Lord.
Soon he spoke in a quite severe voice.
“I put you in danger.”
“— What?”
“I just left the weak child unattended. I was conceited because I was in the house.”
“Yes?”
“Even though It’s late, I have to get things done. If your parents hadn’t appeared so far, that would be fine too.” 44
What he said was somewhat significant.
I didn’t know what his intention was.
But before I could say anything more, he had already opened his mouth.
The voice of the Lord echoed through the hallways.
“I plan to enlist this child into the family at the welcome ceremony. To Prepare.”
What?
I wasn’t the only one who was surprised to hear that.
Everyone opened their eyes wide with their mouths open.
The Lord declared that he would adopt me after the welcome ceremony.
Even his voice was plain as if he was discussing the lunch menu.
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However, he did not even add an additional explanation.
He just put me down and walked through the hallway.
Without even paying attention to the fact that the dozens of people who had gathered there became frozen like ice and forgot even the existence of the intruder.
After the Lord left, Jien looked at me with a surprised expression.
The round eyes were wide open as if she had heard something unbelievable.
Admiration soon erupted from her mouth.
“Oh my god! What’s going on?”
Her face was bright.
She couldn’t help but cover her mouth with both hands.
However, her eyes, already burning with excitement, showed how surprised she was.
Soon, the sound of clapping and applause echoed through the hallway.
“Oh my God! You’re going to be adopted! I knew this would happen.”
It was difficult for me to agree with her words.
Being an adopted daughter was something I hadn’t even thought of.
There was a big difference between a nuisance and an adopted daughter who lived in the Ardelos family.
If I really became an adopted daughter, Jien wouldn’t be able to treat me like she does now.
The adopted daughter of the Ardellos family, the strongest loser on the continent.
It was a place that an orphan would not be able to reject.
But I didn’t really want that place.
That’s me.
‘I’m going to leave this place someday.’
I clasped my hands.
The voice I heard was still vivid.
But I had to refuse.
I clenched my fist.
Then he looked at Jien and said with a firm voice.
“No. I don’t want to be adopted.”
“What? Why!”
In my words, Jien’s face was laced with astonishment.
As if I am kicking a whole gold ball.
She didn’t understand me.
It’s reasonable considering Jien’s situation.
The average person would have no reason to reject this offer.
And it was the same with others.
The white-haired butler, who had just heard of what had just happened, grabbed me.
Then he asked me, narrowly opening his eyes that were hidden by the monocle.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, please tell the lord as well.”
“Why? May I ask why?”
When asked by him, I agonized for a moment.
The words did not come out easily because I had no excuse in mind.
After hesitating, the butler continued.
“If the Lord commands, we have no choice but to follow. But, unfortunately, your opinion does not matter.”
The butler’s voice was kind, but the content was heart-piercing.
It was a matter of how dare you refuse the favor of the Lord in your subject.
It was natural to think that it was presumptuous to reject the offer.
He picked up an orphan who didn’t know anything and gave me this favor, but I was thinking about something else even though I couldn’t repay him.
‘Um, if I keep going like this, I think I’ll become a foster daughter.’
Actually, I didn’t care.
On the contrary, it could have been beneficial to consider it a comfortable life until independence simply.
But there was a huge problem.
All families had their blood relatives’ names engraved on their inscriptions.
It was the same with the Ardelos.
Only then I will be recognized as a member of the family.
Deldea rules underground, Ardellos rules on the earth, Lerothia is in the sky, and a family member’s name is engraved with blood.
The problem was that the blood of the three families in this world had quite unique abilities.
So it was clear that if my blood came into contact with the Ardellos’s blood, it would have an unusual reaction.
‘Then my identity will be revealed.’
However, I had no valid reason to refuse the Lord’s authority to adopt me as an adopted daughter.
Besides, everyone’s attention was already focused on me.
I was silent for a moment, feeling the gaze of those who looked at me.
I tried to roll my head until it cramped, but I couldn’t come up with a good reason.
What on earth should I do to convince them?
Being immersed in worries, I involuntarily remembered what had happened earlier.
Devoir drew a small flower on the paper he wrinkled.
‘Yeah, why didn’t I think of that?’
Everyone in the mansion knew that Devoir had a crush on me.
It was only later that it would have been enough to dismiss it as it was a childish remark.
I raised my head and said curiously.
“I’m going to marry Ar.”
“What?”
“So, I can’t become the adopted daughter of the Ardellos family.”
They all opened their eyes wide at my words.
Looking at those who seem terrified, I have the brightest smile ever.
Then, as if confirming, I spoke again.
“I even swore with Ar.”
Yeah, I did. I just drew a flower.
But the ripple effect of my words was quite powerful.
They all shook their heads and stumbled.
Meanwhile, no one seemed to doubt the authenticity of my words.
‘Because we’ve been sticking together always.’
I was fortunate to be able to escape the crisis.
I secretly sighed.
ꔚꔚꔚꔚꔚ
Rumors spread quickly like wildfire.
The speed was so fast that everyone knew, from the keeper of the stables in the castle to the children of the estate.
People were already crowded because of the welcoming ceremony.
Those from all over the world tried not to miss even the slightest rumors of Ardellos.
They always listened to rumors.
It was the same this time.
They all wondered how this situation would end.
There were also rumored parties among them.
The head of the Ardellos family and his son Devoir.
The Lord who conquered the continent was in a strange confrontation with a six-year-old child between them.
So, the Lord was the first to win.
He called his son, whom he had never met alone since the subjugation war, and told him to sit down.
There was an awkward atmosphere between the two.
It was a place where Devoir, who seemed to be somewhat dazed, and the head of state who still had indifferent eyes.
The maids quietly served refreshments.
As soon as they left, there was only silence in the reception.