Episode 5
Did I hallucinate because I’d just done something so shocking?
I rubbed my eyes over and over, but the words were still there.
Once the initial shock wore off, I had no choice but to admit this wasn’t an illusion.
Aftanes.
How could I ever forget that name?
It belonged to the bastard demon who had tricked me into reincarnating!
[Don’t worry. Since I’m specially reincarnating you like this, I’ll give you an ability too.]
That irritating voice was still crystal clear in my memory, even after all these years.
‘You said you’d give me the ability… and this is what you meant? Rush & Cash?!’
It sounded like the name of a loan shark company that would leave people drowning in debt.
I’d complained that he’d scammed me by not giving me any power…
But if this was the power he meant, I’d rather have nothing at all.
More words kept appearing before my eyes.
But I couldn’t read them anymore.
Because of what the Duke quietly muttered.
“…As soft… as a baby?”
D-Did I say that out loud…?
I couldn’t bring myself to ask.
I just trembled.
Maybe I should just bite my tongue and die right here.
The Duke’s crimson eyes glared at me like he wanted to devour me.
Sob…
“Hmm…”
The Duke let out a strange little hum and placed me down on his lap.
“…?”
I thought he was about to throw me across the room and send me straight to the afterlife.
It was a relief…
But while I nervously watched him, trying to calm my wildly pounding heartā
Squish.
The Duke poked my cheek.
…Huh?
Squish. Squish.
He kept poking it.
I was skinny, but I was still a little kid.
There was still some baby chubbiness left in my cheeks.
I stared at the Duke as he silently kept squishing my cheek.
Then I suddenly gasped.
‘Wait… is this how the tyrant starts turning into a doting dad?!’
My many years of reading romance fantasy novels told me so.
Every time the cold father squished the baby’s cheeks, his affection level always went up.
Maybe he finally thought I was at least a little cuā
“You’re like an angry pufferfish.”
…Of course not.
Damn it.
I got my hopes up for nothing.
The reader inside me screamed,
“This is the beginning of the denial phase before he falls for her!”
But my survival instincts, while staring at the Duke’s face from only inches away, screamed something completely different.
Look at those terrifying eyes.
There’s no way.
If you’re not careful, you’re going to die.
A pufferfish at least has poison.
All I could do was sit quietly with my puffed-up face while he continued poking my cheeks.
I thought he’d throw me away immediately.
But surprisingly, he kept me sitting on his lap.
Only after enduring a dinner that felt like it was giving me indigestion under the Duke’s unwavering stare…
Was I finally alone again?
“Go wash.”
After carrying me back to my room, the Duke left after saying only that.
Wait…, but I’m already clean!
I lifted my arm and sniffed it.
All I smelled was a pleasant fruity scent.
Then why did he keep taking me around with him until now?
“I was just not used to it. I couldn’t meet you before, Daddy.”
“So from now on, I want to stay with you. They said the best way to stop feeling awkward is to stay really, really close!”
Was it because of what I said?
‘No way.’
If I keep getting my hopes up, I’ll only end up disappointed.
I let out a small laugh.
Then I followed the maids into the bathroom.
Right now…
There was something much more important to me than figuring out what the Duke was thinking.
