Chapter 04

“Let’s go.”

The carriage carrying the Duke and me set off.

It had only been an hour since he had told me he would adopt me, after rudely declaring that I had “more or less passed” the test.

‘No, are we really leaving just like this?!’

What about the adoption papers?

Didn’t they usually have me undergo about a month of education after an adoption was finalized?!

I clung to the window of the moving carriage and looked at the teachers who had come out to see me off.

The teachers also looked thoroughly flustered, and some of them even seemed genuinely disappointed to see me go.

“Are you disappointed?”

“Ah, n-no.”

I quickly turned around and answered with a bright smile.

‘I didn’t even have time to run away.’

I didn’t even have time to worry about death flags! Did this make any sense?

‘Come to think of it, why did this man die?’

Ah, I remembered.

Perhaps because he suffered greatly after his frail wife died, he eventually lost control of the power of Green, and during a hunting competition hosted by the Imperial Family, he went berserk.

The problem was that, in doing so, he nearly killed a member of the Imperial Family.

Whether intentional or not, attempting to murder a member of the Imperial Family was a serious crime, and the punishment was severe even if the attempt failed.

In the end, this man was killed by Duke Alph Argo, the Ruler of Blue whom he respected most, the head of House Argo.

Afterward, the power of Green was sealed, and his family was destroyed.

‘But then the story begins again when a female protagonist who possesses the power of Green appears.’

As I continued thinking, I suddenly stopped.

Huh? What was that? Why was there suddenly a female protagonist?

It was strange even to me that I had thought of it.

‘Is this another side effect of the experiments?’

I lightly rubbed my forehead with my thumb.

Ever since I’d been experimented on, all sorts of strange things had happened to me, so apparently this was another one of them.

‘Did I develop some kind of precognition?’

It was ridiculous.

I had died, come back to life, and returned to the past, yet the aftereffects of those experiments were still lingering everywhere.

I was even still living on borrowed time.

“Before we arrive, I’ll tell you a few rules and precautions.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

His words pulled me out of my thoughts, and I quickly answered.

‘I should be a good child.’

The adoption had already been decided.

There was nothing I could do about it now.

So for the time being, I needed to be as little trouble as possible and become a child who was easy to be proud of.

“From the moment we arrive at the mansion, call me Father.”

“Yes.”

“And my wife is at the mansion. She’s frail and in poor health. You may call her Mother. If she wants you to use another title, then use that instead.”

“Yes.”

I already knew that.

She would die in five or six years.

And less than two years after that, he would die when his power went berserk.

‘But five years after this man dies, a cure for that incurable disease will be developed.’

It was unfortunate that she had been born in the wrong era and couldn’t receive treatment.

‘And the person who developed the cure… was also a wife who had lost her husband to that disease.’

I remembered the newspapers being in an uproar for a while because an ordinary commoner woman had developed a new medicine.

“As I said, my wife and I lost a child a long time ago. You’re going to pretend to be the daughter we lost long ago. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. If you don’t mind, may I ask you one thing?”

The Duke of Aubrey folded his arms and nodded slightly.

There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t arrogant, right down to the tip of his chin.

“You said you lost a child. Why didn’t you look for her?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t have looked for her? Of course I did.”

“If you found her, then why….”

“She died. But I couldn’t tell my wife.”

Even this arrogant man’s eyes softened whenever he spoke about his wife.

“No more questions about this.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“All you have to do is properly play the role of my and my wife’s daughter. I adopted you partly for the sake of my wife’s mental and physical well-being.”

“Yes.”

In other words, they were planning to pretend they had found their lost child.

If the child had been lost when she was young, it wouldn’t be strange for her not to remember much, after all.

“The genetic test documents have been falsified and prepared on our side, so use your judgment and make sure your story matches ours.”

“Yes.”

“You have an older brother. He knows that you’re adopted, so if you need help when I’m not around, ask him.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll receive separate education, but don’t forget. For the next five years, you are the one and only princess of the ducal family.”

“Yes.”

“If anyone discovers that you’re a fake, consider yourself sent back to that orphanage.”

“Yes.”

As I calmly answered each of his words, a crease appeared between his handsome brows.

“Is ‘yes’ the only answer you know how to give? Let me tell you, my child was a bright, innocent, and kind genius in her own way.”

Then how would you know that if you lost her when she was a child?

Instead of arguing, I simply answered with a faint smile.

“She would be like that because I was like that.”

Ah, yes.

For someone with such an arrogant face to be the ultimate doting father was a little jarring.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

As soon as he heard my answer, he slightly narrowed his brows, closed his mouth, and made a small hmph before turning his head away.

I slowly closed my eyes as well.

A bright, innocent genius.

‘I wonder how a child who has lived as an orphan her entire life and suddenly gains parents would feel.’

She would surely be happier and more delighted than anything else.

She would be excited, but at the same time nervous, wondering what she would do if they didn’t welcome her.

I was confident in acting.

Back when I hadn’t yet been subjected to the full extent of the experiments, I had been that mad scientist’s eyes and ears.

I used to act out whatever image he wanted and steal information or objects he wanted.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine a situation, simulate it in my head, and then act it out.

“We’ve arrived. This is the Aubrey Ducal Residence, where you’ll be living from now on.”

While I was running various simulations in my head, the carriage stopped and the door swung wide open.

“Remember, from now on, you’re not Anisha. You’re Annette Aubrey.”

“Yes.”

I took a deep breath and was about to follow the Duke of Aubrey, who had already gotten out, when an escort knight quickly stepped forward.

“Allow me, my lady.”

“Ah, thank you….”

The escort knight lifted me up and carefully set me down.

“Rosanna, why are you out here?”

“You said you’d found our child.”

She had pink hair and black eyes, with skin so pale that her blue veins were visible. Even in the warm weather, she had a thick shawl draped around her shoulders.

The moment she saw me, her pupils widened dramatically.

“Oh my, you… A-Anette? My baby….”

“Ah….”

At her intense reaction, I shrank my neck and lightly grabbed the hem of the Duke of Aubrey’s trousers before hiding behind him.

‘There isn’t a child who would meet aristocratic parents they’ve suddenly encountered for the first time and immediately act familiar and delighted to see them.’

I glanced at the Duke of Aubrey.

For some reason, his body had gone completely rigid, and he was looking at me with a slightly surprised expression.

‘Did he find it surprising that I acted out even the little details so well?’

I’m not a natural-born genius like you, but I’m at least an acquired genius.

How many years do you think I’ve spent struggling to survive and be loved?

“Uh… M-Mother…?”

I spoke cautiously, then clung even more desperately to the Duke of Aubrey’s trouser leg, like a child afraid she might be rejected.

Every time I clung to him, the Duke of Aubrey’s body grew increasingly tense.

“Sniff… my baby…. My precious baby…. My beloved Annette….”

At my quiet call, Rosanna Aubrey collapsed emotionally.

She pulled me tightly into her arms.

“Y-You really are my…?”

“Yes. Yes, yes…. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you…. Mother was wrong…. I left you alone for such a long time.”

Her embrace was warm.

But it wasn’t an embrace meant for me.

Since it could never truly be mine, it would be a luxury to even expect it.

‘Act.’

Like a child overwhelmed with emotion and happiness, smiling with joy, yet crying as the sorrow of all those years came rushing back.

“Mother…!”

I stretched out my trembling little arms and hugged her.

“Sniff… you’re really my mother, right? You really are… my mother… right?”

“Yes, I’m your mother. I….”

In the arms of the Duchess, who eventually burst into tears, I thought of the saddest things.

Yes, that time when I could never escape.

The moments when I’d desperately wanted to be loved, only to be hurt and broken again and again.

The moment when, in the very end, I was cruelly betrayed and abandoned.

Before I could even finish thinking about it, tears trickled down my cheeks.

‘Ah, I managed to cry properly.’

I deliberately raised my head slightly so it would be visible.

I didn’t forget to let a faint smile appear at the corners of my lips, either.

‘I need to make myself useful.’

I needed to have value in this household first.

Only then would I be able to take revenge.

When I raised my head, I saw the Duke of Aubrey directly in front of me.

He was staring at me with astonishment.

‘Didn’t he think I’d be able to cry?’

The person you brought here is that much of a genius.

Seeing his surprised eyes made me inexplicably proud.

“Rosanna, you’re going to overwhelm the child. Your health isn’t good, either…. We also need to show the child her room, so why don’t you go inside for now?”

His voice was gentle, without even a trace of arrogance.

Rosanna Aubrey nodded.

“I’m sorry. I’m being so foolish….”

“It’s okay, Mother.”

I rubbed my swollen eyelids vigorously as I answered.

“Why don’t you go rest for a while, and have dinner with us tonight?”

“Yes, Mother!”

I smiled brightly, imitating a cheerful daughter.

Just as the Duke of Aubrey wanted.

“See you later.”

Rosanna Aubrey waved her hand several times, looking reluctant to leave, before finally entering the mansion.

I smiled brightly and waved back before lowering my hand.