Chapter 13

“What the—are they closed today?”

“That can’t be…”

Please, please just go away!

I held my breath, praying the heroes would leave quickly before Dad and the uncle came out from the basement.

The heroes muttered amongst themselves in front of the shop, then eventually moved on.

Only then could I finally breathe heavily and catch my breath.

‘I thought I’d be safe once I got to the capital!’

Turns out, the capital is even more dangerous. I anxiously chewed my fingernails, thinking about the faces I’d just seen.

I used to worry, what if I couldn’t recognize the main characters?

‘That was a useless worry.’

The moment I saw their faces, it was like someone had jammed the plot into my brain—I immediately knew they were the protagonists.

While I waited for Dad to come out, I kept an eye out, just in case the heroes came back.

And after quite some time, Dad and Uncle Dex finally emerged from the basement.

I quickly flipped the sign to “OPEN” and ran to Dad, grabbing his hand and tugging on it.

“Dad, let’s go! Please? Let’s just go back quickly…”

“Huh? Eve…? Did something happen?”

“Nooo, nothing happened. Just… let’s go already, okay?”

If we stayed here any longer, those heroes might come back. We had to return to the imperial palace as fast as possible.

Today is just not my lucky day.

If I foolishly try to enjoy the market on a day like this, who knows what worse might happen?

As I whined, Dad agreed and left the shop with me, saying we’d come back another time.

Clutching his hand tightly, I flung open the shop door and rushed out—

Thud.

There was a dull sound and then everything went white. In an instant, I was flung back and sprawled on the ground.

“Eve!”

Dad rushed over in a panic and bowed deeply to the person I had collided with.

“I’m so sorry. My daughter, she…”

“……”

“…?”

Why did Dad stop talking?

Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I cautiously opened my eyes.

The person I’d bumped into—no matter how many times you rolled them down a hill—was clearly a noble. I braced myself to apologize, but then—

“You little brat…”

The old noble’s face flushed red in an instant. Veins popped out on his face, and his wrinkled hands trembled with rage.

…Huh?

Sensing the strange tension, I slowly turned to look at Dad.

He was trembling like a chick before a predator.

“Um…”

Puzzled by Dad’s reaction, I tugged on his collar.

And then, completely unexpected words popped out of Dad’s mouth.

“F-Father-in-law!”

…Father-in-law?

Did he just say father-in-law?

What on earth was going on?

I stood there, dumbfounded, staring between Dad and the nobleman.

Neither of them spoke. They just looked at each other.

A tense silence settled over us.

In that moment, my mind started turning.

‘Why would Dad call that old noble his father-in-law?’

Even though I was only eight years old, I knew what a father-in-law was.

It meant your wife’s father.

And Dad only had one wife—my mom.

So Dad’s “father-in-law” would be my grandpa!

Wait.

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

Dad always said Mom came from a rural village and was just an ordinary commoner.

He also said he was just a “normal guy” from the next village over who made and sold weapons!

But this man, who looked unmistakably like a noble… was supposed to be Dad’s father-in-law? Mom’s father?

Did Dad hit his head or something? I looked at him with concern.

Then—

“Who are you calling your father-in-law, you fool!”

The old noble roared furiously.

His face was so red it looked like it might explode.

Both Dad and I flinched at once. I grabbed Dad’s sleeve.

Before the noble could shout again, Dad pulled me behind his back to shield me.

His hand trembled as he held me.

I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I obediently hid behind Dad as he pulled me.

Luckily—or maybe unluckily—the noble seemed so focused on Dad that he’d already forgotten I bumped into him.

Dad was about to speak to him when—

“What right do you have to set foot in the capital?”

“F-Father-in-law… It’s just, there are circumstances…”

“Weren’t you the ones who swore you’d never set foot in the capital again?!”

I stayed hidden behind Dad, quietly listening to the two of them argue.

I didn’t know for sure if this old man really was Dad’s father-in-law, but the way they were talking made it clear they knew each other.

I gently touched my golden-blond hair.

‘Mom had the same golden hair as me.’

Since Dad had dull brown hair, it was obvious I got my hair color from Mom.

And in this empire, “golden hair” was something only nobles had.

Commoners almost never had golden hair.

Unless they were the illegitimate child of a noble.

‘That’s why the villagers always found my hair so strange.’

Some bad people even tried to sell me to a noble family!

Anyway, my hair was rare enough to attract that kind of attention.

I twisted a lock of my golden hair and thought—

So was Mom really from a noble family?

Was this old man actually her father?

But then I stopped thinking.

That couldn’t be.

If Mom really were the daughter of a noble family, Dad and I wouldn’t have had to live like this in a shabby rural village.

Dad wouldn’t have had any reason to hide it from me either.

It’s not like it’s something to be ashamed of.

So there must be… something more complicated between those two.

That’s what I decided to believe.

I still didn’t know why Dad called him “father-in-law”…

Maybe “father-in-law” had another meaning I didn’t know?

Yeah, maybe that’s it!

Nodding to myself, I ended that line of thought.

Still…

‘I should’ve watched where I was going.’

Listening to this whole argument, I started feeling like everything was my fault.

‘Idiot. Just running around and crashing into people…’

If I hadn’t bumped into that old man, Dad wouldn’t be getting scolded like this.

Tears welled up from guilt.

[Hey, kid. It’s not your fault, so don’t cry like an idiot!]

X, watching from inside, tried to comfort me—and that only made me tear up more.

[Damn it! Why’d I even try to comfort you!]

X grumbled in my head, but I barely heard it.

‘Why am I so stupid?’

If we got out of this safely, I promised myself I’d never run around recklessly again.

Never…!

Just as my eyes were about to overflow with tears from guilt and frustration—

Clang!

“Get out of my sight this instant! Or else…”

The old noble’s furious voice rang out as a sword was drawn.

‘A sword?’

That was definitely the sound of a sword being unsheathed.

I couldn’t possibly mistake it. I’d grown up hearing the sound of swords clashing in Dad’s workshop since I was a baby!