Episode 7
My pupils shook violently.
A pink heart that had absolutely no business being on the cold duke’s face was sitting there shyly and cutely on his cheek.
‘Actually… it kind of suits him.’
Being handsome really was something else.
He could somehow pull off even that.
‘No, this is not the time to be thinking about that!’
Why had little hearts suddenly appeared on the duke’s cheek as a hint?
The reason was very obvious.
My years of reading romance fantasy novels were telling me one thing.
Put my lips on that heart.
In other words…
‘I’m supposed to give that cold, stern duke a little kiss on the cheek!’
What kind of hint was this?!
The words of that devil echoed in my head. He had said that I was innocent and naive, so I should always watch my back around him.
I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that damn devil!
I screamed silently.
“Hmm?”
The duke looked down at me, who had gone completely pale, with a puzzled expression.
“You look strange. Like a frog that’s been strangled.”
Ha. What frog?
Seriously, would you like to kiss that strangled frog once? Huh? Maybe then you’d learn to watch your mouth!
“What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t answer the duke’s question and only let out a deep sigh.
Well, you see, I just got a wonderful quest telling me to kiss you.
And apparently, if I fail, I die. Haha!
Damn it.
This world deserves zero stars!
‘Let’s calm down first.’
It was just a hint. The condition had nothing to do with kissing.
It simply meant I had to somehow convince the duke to let me have that book.
The duke is human too. Surely I can reason with him. Let’s just ignore this stupid hint.’
I desperately pretended not to notice the pink heart on the duke’s cheek.
The die had already been cast.
“D-Daddy…”
I’m doing it! I’m going to convince the duke!
I grabbed the duke’s clothes tightly.
“I’ll touch it very carefully. Just once. Can I take it out just one time?”
Blink, blink.
I looked up at him with innocent eyes, the same ones that had completely fooled the maids.
But then…
‘Huh?’
For some reason, the duke’s face became even stiffer as he looked down at me.
His eyes even grew sharper.
‘Eek…’
I said no, and you dare argue with me? I’ll kill you.
It couldn’t be something like that, right?
It wasn’t. Surely not.
Sob.
I moved my trembling lips and spoke as innocently as possible, pretending I knew nothing.
“Daddy, they say songs are meant to be sung, and books are meant to be read.”
Why?
“If that book hasn’t been read by anyone for hundreds of years, then I feel so sorry for it.”
The more I talked…
“I’ll gently pat it so the book doesn’t get hurt, okay?”
…the sharper his expression became.
With him looking at me like that, it felt like a knife was being driven straight between my eyebrows.
Waaah.
A-And I think he’s tightening his grip too…!’
It wasn’t just my imagination.
The duke’s arm around me was really getting tighter.
He wasn’t planning to crush me to death, was he?!
Save meee! Sob!
The murderous sharpness in the duke’s eyes only grew stronger, and I found it harder and harder to keep smiling.
At this rate, wasn’t I going to leave this life because of the duke instead of the quest?
And then…
‘H-Huh? There are more hearts?!’
Because I hadn’t kissed him, little hearts started popping up everywhere.
And they were even sparkling!
Boing, boing.
Kiss me! Kiss me! Kiss me!
I could almost hear the hearts talking.
‘Aaaaaah!’
You damn devil! What the hell are you thinking?!
It was making me feel so pressured, as if something terrible would happen if I didn’t kiss him.
“D-Daddy!”
Forget convincing him.
I tightly pressed my lips together.
Then I suddenly raised my face toward the duke.
When you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, you have no choice but to grab even a rotten rope!
Take this!
I charged straight toward the duke’s face.
Thud!
“Ow!”
My nose stung after crashing into something hard.
[You have failed the control.]
Dear reader, are you seriously that bad at controlling?
Even if you controlled it with your feet, you would’ve done better.
The target was even marked so kindly for you. How could you fail to hit that one simple target?
This is not the kind of behavior expected from a contractor of the great.
I’m truly disappointed! This is embarrassing! Shameful!
Why did this notification even appear?
Was it trying to make fun of me?!
What a useless thing. It didn’t help me at all!
I could practically imagine whoever sent this notification laughing somewhere.
Ugh, this was so embarrassing.
“…What are you doing?”
A low, cold voice descended over my head.
I lifted my face from where it had hit the duke’s shoulder and rubbed my nose.
I didn’t even need to look to know it had turned red.
Duke, your shoulder is really hard.
The duke stared at me with his brows furrowed.
His face was incredibly cold, but with all those little hearts popping around him…
Oh. He was still handsome.
He could pull this off.
“Daddy.”
This wasn’t because I had bad control.
It was because the duke was too tall.
I stretched both arms toward him, and thankfully, he lowered his face toward me.
His expression seemed to ask, “What?”
He had no idea what was about to happen to him.
Heh heh.
‘Actually, maybe it’s better if he doesn’t know.’
For some reason, I suddenly felt sorry for myself.
The hearts increased as if urging me to hurry.
Okay, okay! I got it!
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Smack!
Unlike before, a cute little sound rang out.
And a clear lipstick print was stamped right onto the duke’s smooth cheek.
Oh.
This felt… strange.
In my entire life, both in my previous life and this one, I had never kissed anyone like this.
This was my first time.
I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at the duke, so I turned my head to hide my burning cheeks.
Then I saw the butler and the maids silently screaming.
Ah.
So that’s why Munch painted The Scream after seeing expressions like those.
I thought the artist had exaggerated it for dramatic effect.
While I was busy escaping reality, the duke who had just been kissed on the cheek showed absolutely no reaction.
He was practically frozen like a statue.
Duke Daddy, how can you even look this handsome while turned into a statue?
He looked like a statue personally carved by a god.
At least the hearts were gone.
For a moment, I had thought someone had scribbled all over a priceless work of art.
Just as I was about to escape reality once again…
Crack.
A faint sound echoed through the silent stone chamber.
I tilted my head, wondering if I’d heard it wrong.
Crack!
This time, the sound was clear and unmistakable.
I turned my gaze and saw cracks spreading across the glass case covering the book.
“Huh?”
The moment I wondered if it was going to collapse, the glass shattered as if it had been hit by a shockwave.
Glass pieces…
No, dust scattered everywhere.
I stared with my mouth hanging open as the dust that had once been glass drifted through the air.
D-Did the glass case explode…?
Or, well, whatever happened, it didn’t just break.
It completely disappeared without leaving even a trace.
What was going on?
At that moment, the book suddenly appeared in front of me.
I stared blankly up at the duke, who was holding the book out toward me.
“Y-Your Grace!”
The assistant’s shocked cry rang out.
I snapped back to reality and quickly reached out.
But then…
Whoosh!
Just before my hand could touch it, the duke pulled the book behind him.
What the heck?
Was he teasing me?
Whether I puffed out my cheeks or not, the duke calmly held the book and turned it this way and that.
Then he casually tossed it into the air.
My mouth fell open.
‘My book…!’
That thing was ancient.
What if all the pages fell out?!
‘Are you having fun teasing a child?! You meanie!’
I glared at the duke, breathing heavily.
But the book stopped in midair.
Black energy slowly swirled around the floating book.
“There is no problem.”
As soon as the duke finished speaking, the black energy disappeared as if it had never been there, and the book dropped neatly back into his hand.
“Even if nothing is trapped inside it now, it is still a sealed book. We don’t know what residue might remain.”
Huh?
I blinked at his unexpected words.
Could it be that he hadn’t hesitated earlier because he was worried the book might be damaged…
‘But because I might be in danger?’
Was I interpreting him too generously?
The assistant who had been with the duke for a long time probably knew him much better than I did.
“Your Grace, even so, it is an heirloom that has shared the history of the Phaeraton ducal family and the treasure of the first duke. What if the young lady touches it and…”
“Is this yours?”
The assistant’s words were cut off by the duke’s one sentence.
Well, of course it’s yours, Duke…
No, it’s Daddy’s!
If the owner says it’s fine, don’t ruin the moment, mister!
“Wow! Daddy is the best!”
I smiled brightly and stretched out my short arms toward the book.
Give it to me already.
“The best?”
The duke glared at me with a frightening look.
Huh?
Isn’t being called the best a good thing?
Why are you suddenly acting like this?
You’re scary.
“Y-Yes… the best.”
I slipped my hand around the book, but the duke didn’t let go.
Seriously.
Why was getting my hands on one book so ridiculously difficult?
‘Should I turn him back into a statue…?’
From what I had seen earlier, my kiss seemed to work like Medusa’s kiss or something.
It was only a joke in my head, but a little heart suddenly appeared on the duke’s cheek.
‘No way.’
I looked at the newly appeared heart on the cold, handsome man’s cheek and gave a satisfied little laugh.
‘…Seriously, when I catch that devil, I’m going to kill him with my own hands.’
For some reason, the duke seemed to have moved closer to me.
I brought my lips to his cheek.
Smack.
After giving him one more little kiss, the duke’s hand holding the book slowly loosened.
For some reason, his shoulders seemed tense.
‘Oh?’
I opened my eyes wide.
He was happy because his daughter kissed him.
Wasn’t this the classic beginning of a daughter-obsessed dad?
Now that I looked closely, even his lips seemed a little more relaxed…
No.
They weren’t relaxed at all.
They looked even stiffer.
‘He looks really angry, though?’
He looked like he was thinking, What kind of strangled frog just touched my sacred cheek?
So maybe his tense shoulders were because he was pissed off!
*Sigh* Figures.’
Anyway, I got the book.
I happily stroked the cover of the incredibly old book.
Then it happened.
[You have acquired .]
[Quest has been completed.]
[You have received 500 Cash as a reward.]
[Quest <The Best Filial Piety (1)> has been completed.]
[You have received a $5,000 Cash Draw Ticket as a reward.]
Notifications appeared.
Phew. I survived the crisis of having my life cut short. And on top of that…
5,000 Cash Draw Ticket.
A smile naturally spread across my face.
There is no romance-fantasy reader in the world who would turn down free cash.
But the notifications didn’t end there.
[Marquis Erkel, the chief aide of the Duke of Phaeraton, is impressed by you.]
[Heinz, the chief butler of the Phaeraton ducal family, feels respect for you.]
[A group of senior maids in the Phaeraton ducal family feels respect for you.]
[Your influence within the Phaeraton family has increased slightly.]
[500 Cash has been awarded.]
Oh?
The original quest reward had only been one 5,000 Cash Draw Ticket, but I had earned another 500 Cash.
‘So if people react positively to me like this, I get more Cash?’
I didn’t really understand how it worked, but it was good for me.
But why are they impressed by me and respect me…?
I had no idea.
But the notification underneath was the most confusing of all.
[The satisfaction level of your persuasion target, the Duke of Phaeraton, is at its maximum. An additional reward will be given.]
‘Huh?’
I rubbed my eyes and checked the notification again.
[The satisfaction level of your persuasion target, the Duke of Phaeraton, is at its maximum. An additional reward will be given.]
The notification hadn’t changed.
Is the duke’s satisfaction level at its maximum?’
That was impossible.
He looked like he was still considering whether to flatten this frog and squash me into the floor.
“So, are you done looking?”
“Yes, yes!”
I quickly answered the duke.
I saw another new notification appear, but I decided to check it later.
As soon as I thought that, the notification window scattered and disappeared before my eyes.
The duke went straight back to his office.
Just like that…
Which meant he went back while still carrying me in his arms.
Unlike earlier, there were several retainers waiting in the open room beside the duke’s office.
I guess it was time for a report.
When they saw me being carried by the duke, they all went,
Gasp! Gasp!
They looked like they were having trouble breathing.
‘Do they all have asthma or something?’
They did this last time too.
When the duke glanced at them, they hurriedly caught their breath and carefully followed him into the office.
In the middle of all that, someone noticed the book I was holding and suddenly froze.
“Th-That book… surely not…!”
“A book? What kind of book is it? Gasp!”
The other retainers were shocked too.
‘Oh, was it even more valuable than I thought?’
Still…
‘It’s my book!’
I hugged the book even tighter, and the retainers laughed warmly at me.
As if they found me cute.
‘Huh?’
I thought about it for a moment and nodded.
‘Right. When a little kid does something like that, it’s cute.’
I had also thought children were cute when they secretly hid their chocolate behind their backs.
But I had never expected to become the one everyone thought was cute.
‘I’ve never received that kind of affection, not even when I was a child.’
Not in my previous life.
Not in this one either.
I fidgeted with the hand holding the book.
For some reason, I felt too embarrassed to look at the retainers.
The duke sat me on his lap while listening to the reports from his retainers.
Ugh. I want to go back to my room and check the Cash Draw Ticket and the additional reward. I also want to examine the book and see if my ability really works.’
I awkwardly looked around, and then something that immediately caught my attention reached my ears.
“Investors are flocking to the manganese mining business being run by Marquis Tarenka. But there is something strange… There are even rumors that our Phaeraton ducal family has invested in it. Of course, it’s difficult to call it merely a rumor at this point.”
Marquis Tarenka.
“This useless, worthless bitch! Someone like you needs to be beaten before you learn your lesson!”
The face of Marquis Tarenka, the man who had whipped me, flashed through my mind.
I raised my head and looked at the retainer who had spoken.
“If His Grace hadn’t ordered us to keep an eye on the Tarenka family, we would’ve simply overlooked it. It was something Marquis Sherodel said only once while drunk. He apparently denied it the next day after sobering up.”
Had the duke ordered them to keep an eye on the Tarenka family?
I glanced at the duke.
“But one thing is bothering me… Despite the many variables involved in mana stone mining, an unusually large number of investors have gathered. Far too many. Here is the list of investors.”
Because I was sitting on the duke’s lap, I could see the list too.
The Delvatren ducal family, the Iskamil ducal family, the Sherodel marquisate…
The list continued across the page and onto the next one.
Even though I hadn’t learned anything about this world, I could tell that many big names were on it.
“People who normally don’t move easily have started moving.”
“Isn’t it strange? If the mana stones they mine are empty of mana, they’ll just lose all their money.”
“It would only be possible if they were certain that the mana stones were full of mana. And the one thing that can give them that certainty is…”
“Information that the Phaeraton ducal family is investing in the mana stone mining business.”
The duke’s voice dropped low.
“Looks like Marquis Sherodel wasn’t simply talking nonsense while drunk. Where did he hear such nonsense?”
“Marquis Sherodel claims that he was drunk and misspoke, so the source is unclear. However, after tracking the movements of Duke Delvatren and Duke Iskamil, we found that all three invested around the same time.”
“Marquis Sherodel was very active at parties and clubs, but Duke Delvatren and Duke Iskamil were quiet. The three of them have never met privately.”
‘Oh? So it has to be one of two things.’
Just as I thought that, the duke leaned back deeply in his chair and spoke lazily.
“Then it must be one of two things.”
Oh.
Did we just think of the same thing?
“They either invested regardless of the nonsense that Phaeraton had invested, or…”
Exactly.
Or…
“Marquis Tarenka deliberately leaked the information to them.”
At my words, everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
Gasp!
Did I just say that out loud?’
