Chapter 5
A little while later.
Ariel and Ahin were sitting across from each other with a table between them.
It was all thanks to Jane.
She had briefly gone to the kitchen to fetch some refreshments, only to be horrified when she saw Ahin wiping the table with a handkerchief.
“Young Master, why are you doing something like this…? I-I’ll do it. Please give it to me, Young Master.”
Only then did Ariel realize that the boy must have a close relationship with the owner of the house, so she reluctantly offered him a seat.
“Not only did you dare enter my quarters without permission, but you even laid your hands on my precious clump of earth. How insolent.”
…She did mutter that under her breath.
Still, thanks to that, Ahin was finally allowed to sit down and properly observe the “unusual illegitimate child.”
‘Hmm. I don’t see anything of her biological mother in her.’
The illegitimate child looked exactly like the Grand Duke.
However, unlike the Grand Duke, whose features were rigid and stern, Ariel had upward-slanting eyes like a cat, an adorable little nose and lips, and plump cheeks that gave her a rather lovable appearance.
‘Are all children normally like this?’
There were no children younger than him in the Grand Duke’s residence, so Ahin stared at Ariel with a somewhat unfamiliar curiosity.
Just then, Ariel frowned.
“Why are you staring so intently at my noble countenance?! How insolent.”
She lowered her voice slightly when she said the last part, but Ahin heard her perfectly.
He let out a hollow laugh.
‘She’s tiny enough to fit in my palm, yet listen to the way she talks.’
Where on earth had she learned to speak like that?
And what was with that sentence, where honorifics were mixed together so haphazardly?
It was utterly ridiculous, but Ahin could not bring himself to point it out. Instead, he quietly looked away.
For some reason, whenever the child became angry, his body froze of its own accord, and even when she arrogantly ordered him to do something, he could not bring himself to protest or raise his voice.
That was also why he had wiped the table earlier without uttering a single word.
‘I’ve heard there are people who take pleasure in being treated roughly, but… could I possibly have that kind of preference?’
Ahin was seriously contemplating his own tastes when—
Thud!
Ariel slammed her foot against the floor, and her furious voice rang out again.
“Why are you silent when you have been allowed to sit before this precious person?! If you have nothing to say, then—!”
“I-I admit that entering an unoccupied room without permission and taking a seat was my mistake. I apologize.”
Ahin hurriedly apologized, and the deeply crumpled expression on Ariel’s face relaxed somewhat.
Afraid that she would become angry again if the conversation stopped, he quickly continued.
“I’m Ahin Claudiff. What’s your name?”
“I am Lady Ariel.”
“Hmm, Ariel. That name sounds familiar…”
He muttered to himself and, as though he had suddenly remembered, blurted out, “Ah, that idiot…!” before hurriedly shutting his mouth.
The clear eyes staring at him suddenly became bloodshot, and for some reason, he felt that it would be a bad idea to finish that sentence.
“Ahem.”
After clearing his throat, Ahin hastily corrected himself.
“Ariel Claudiff. What a beautiful name.”
Ariel took a deep breath, her tiny chest rising and falling.
“Hoo…”
Then she tilted her head in confusion.
“No, I’m not Ariel Claudiff. I’m just Ariel.”
This time, Ahin was the one who became confused.
‘What’s the difference?’
He thought about it quietly for a long while before finally nodding.
‘Ah, I suppose Father hasn’t given her his surname yet.’
It would be troublesome if giving his hidden daughter the family name caused the secret to leak out.
For a moment, Ahin felt sorry for the child, who had not even been given a surname simply because she was an illegitimate child.
“Don’t worry. Now that you have entered the Grand Duke’s residence, you are also a member of the Claudiff family. You are entitled to bear that surname.”
“Huh?”
“So, starting today, your name will no longer be simply Ariel. You are Ariel Claudiff.”
“What are you talking about? Why would my name become Ariel Claudiff?”
“Why? Unless you had been living outside where no one knew about you, now that you have entered this house, it is only natural that you take your father’s surname.”
“Gasp!”
Ariel’s face turned pale.
She had merely fallen to the mortal world and was supposed to stay here temporarily, yet now a human trace had been attached to her name.
‘How could this happen?!’
Ariel made a miserable face before raising her head.
Only now did she become curious about the identity of the boy who had suddenly appeared and attached such a strange word to her name.
“You…”
Ariel stopped before asking her question.
‘Wait. What am I supposed to call the human who owns this house?’
After thinking for a long time, Ariel remembered the word Martin had used earlier—“father”—and quickly opened her mouth.
“What is your relationship with Father?”
Completely unaware that, from this very moment, she had apparently become a human’s daughter.
Ahin burst out laughing in disbelief.
‘Is that even a question?’
His appearance bore an astonishing resemblance to the Grand Duke.
No, “resemblance” did not even begin to describe it. He looked almost exactly like a miniature version of the Grand Duke.
Even people meeting him for the first time would naturally assume he was the Grand Duke’s son simply from his appearance.
Ahin answered with an incredulous expression.
“What kind of relationship? Obviously, we share the same blood.”
To Ahin, it was the most obvious statement in the world.
To Ariel, however, it was horrifying.
‘Share blood? What blood? Surely he doesn’t mean that “blood,” does he?’
Terrified, Ariel hurriedly asked,
“Do you mean the blood flowing inside this body?”
She assumed that perhaps the concept of “blood” among humans was different from the concept of blood that she knew.
But—
“Of course.”
The answer was a cruel confirmation.
Ariel’s mouth fell open.
‘Share blood? Does that mean he’s going to take this blood out and divide it between us? Why?!’
Ariel’s body trembled with fear.
Then Ahin continued casually,
“Among those who share my blood, Father is the only one still alive. Well, there’s one more as of today.”
“O-One more?”
There was another horrifying existence like that?
Ariel’s face filled with horror, but Ahin merely answered as though there were nothing strange about it.
“Yes. Because you’re Father’s daughter too. That means you share the same blood as me.”
It was an ordinary expression commonly used among humans.
But in Ariel’s ears, it sounded like this:
Wait here. I’ll draw your blood soon, too.
She had somehow fallen to the mortal world, only to end up having her blood taken by a human.
‘How could this happen…?’
Ariel made a miserable face and hugged herself tightly with both arms.
After meeting Ahin, Ariel became extremely wary.
‘I don’t know when they’ll come to take my blood.’
Terrified, Ariel could neither eat properly nor sleep peacefully.
Naturally, the Grand Duke’s residence went into a state of emergency.
“Make something the young lady might like right away! Hurry!”
At Jane’s command, the servants in the kitchen sprang into action.
“Send someone to His Highness immediately. Tell him at once that the young lady is ill!”
At Martin’s urging, the knights set out to find the Grand Duke, who was away inspecting the territory.
And as for Ahin—
“I’m sorry, Young Master. The young lady said you are absolutely not to be allowed inside…”
“……”
Because of the tight security, he could not even approach Ariel’s room.
Even so, Ariel’s wariness toward humans showed no sign of easing.
“My lady, please try this. It’s potato soup made with milk.”
“Or perhaps this steak? You seemed to enjoy it yesterday.”
“The roasted lobster is delicious as well.”
“Please, just try one bite.”
No matter what delicacies they brought before her, Ariel only shook her head firmly.
She hesitated slightly when they brought her cookies, but in the end, she still refused to open her mouth.
‘I can’t trust any of them.’
There was no telling what kind of poison they might have put in the food to harm her.
And so, after three days of refusing food and barely sleeping—
“L-Lady Ariel!”
Ariel suddenly collapsed.
Upon hearing that the Grand Duke’s illegitimate daughter had collapsed, the family physician hurried over.
“It is not a serious condition. She has simply become weak from not eating anything for several days.”
After examining Ariel while sweating profusely, the physician gave his mild diagnosis.
But Jane still could not raise her head.
“It’s all my fault. I should have made her eat, even if I had to force her…”
How could she have allowed the girl to become like this after only a few days in the Grand Duke’s residence?
Although her position was temporary, Jane had been responsible for caring for Ariel, so she could not help feeling guilty.
Martin did his best to comfort her.
“Don’t blame yourself. How could we dare force the young lady to do anything?”
“Of course I would have been reprimanded. But if I had done so, the young lady would never have ended up like this.”
Martin sighed at her self-reproach before turning his gaze toward Ariel.
When she had first arrived, her cheeks had been plump and healthy. Now, after only a few days, her face had become noticeably thinner.
‘Why did His Highness have to be away at a time like this?’
If the Grand Duke had been here, the situation would never have deteriorated this far.
With his permission, they could have forced her to eat or given her nutritional supplements.
‘He should never have left in the first place. How could he leave for a territorial inspection only one day after bringing the young lady here?!’
For the first time since becoming the Grand Duke’s trusted servant, Martin found himself resenting his master.
Just then—
“Martin!”
The bedroom door suddenly flew open, and someone rushed inside.
A breathless voice.
Green eyes filled with urgency.
Disheveled blonde hair.
Beads of sweat trickling down his jaw.
It was the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, who had gone to inspect the territory, had finally returned.
He looked as though he had rushed all the way back because he was worried about his sick daughter.
