Chapter 3
Usually, if someone were meeting their daughter for the first time in over a decade, they would be overwhelmed with emotion and shed tears at first sight, or perhaps be so consumed by guilt that they would have trouble finding the words to speak.
But this man had looked at me without the slightest hint of emotion and said, “I suppose there won’t be any need for a paternity test.”
That meant he hadn’t thought of me as his daughter from the beginning. He had only been thinking about how he could use me.
“Hah.”
“……”
“I really did say that.”
After hearing my words, Bernando looked dejected for a while.
Then, as though he found me fascinating, Bernando casually remarked,
“…I suppose you’re more like my father than you are like me.”
Until just moments ago, Bernando had been looking down at me with his arms folded and his upper body leaned back, as though he were graciously bestowing some favor upon me.
But now, he unfolded his arms and leaned toward me.
It was proof that he was paying more attention to me.
As further evidence, the red eyes that had looked bored all day now gleamed with interest.
“You seem perceptive, so I’ll just be honest with you.”
“……”
Bernando spread his empty arms toward me, completely defenseless.
Then he spoke as though there were no reason to hide anything.
“I want to make a deal with you. But it won’t be a bad deal for you. I promise.”
“……”
“I’m telling you honestly because you seem perceptive.”
“A deal?”
“Two days ago, my only son, my eight-year-old boy, died an untimely death.”
I stiffened at his words.
He had lost his son only two days ago.
His only eight-year-old son, at that.
He must have been devastated.
But Bernando didn’t look like someone who had suffered such an enormous loss only two days earlier.
Even as he spoke about his son’s death, he showed almost no emotional disturbance.
If anything, I was the one who was flustered.
I moved my lips, unsure of what I should say to Bernando, and finally managed to speak.
“…I don’t know what words of comfort I could possibly offer.”
“It was a carriage accident. We’re still investigating whether it was actually an accident or something planned, but I believe the latter is more likely.”
“…You must be deeply heartbroken.”
How could anyone possibly comprehend the grief of a parent who had lost their own child?
…Was that why Bernando had come looking for me?
It seemed that bloodlines were rather important to nobles, even though they meant absolutely nothing to commoners.
Was he trying to say that I was now his only remaining blood relative?
I thought through all the possible scenarios in my head.
The more than a hundred ridiculous soap operas I’d watched in modern times flashed through my mind.
But what came out of Bernando’s mouth was completely unexpected.
If it had been one of those typical melodramatic soap-opera plots, it would actually have been better…
Bernando spoke in a calm tone.
“Not really. I don’t particularly care.”
“…What?”
“You can always have another child. I’m only twenty-nine this year.”
What the hell! That’s not the point!
There was no trace of bravado or deceit in Bernando’s calm response.
Is this guy actually serious?!
Even if this was Hellbaros, come on!
Wow…
This man was completely hopeless.
I didn’t even know where I should begin criticizing him.
Wasn’t the preciousness of one’s own child universal, no matter where you were?
His child had died, and it hadn’t even been two days. How could he possibly say that he could simply have another one?
Wasn’t he sad?
Didn’t he feel even a little guilty toward his son?
“It’s only been two days since your son died. Aren’t you sad? Your reaction is astonishingly indifferent.”
Unable to contain my frustration, I spoke to Bernando quietly but reproachfully.
I hoped that my words might make Bernando feel even a little guilty.
But Bernando still looked perfectly calm.
In fact, as though he had suddenly thought of something amusing, the normally expressionless man wore the faintest—an incredibly, incredibly faint—smile for the first time.
“My father reacted exactly the same way you did. I told you, you’re really alike.”
“……”
A completely impossible-to-reason-with person has appeared!
I quietly took a step back from Bernando.
“Anyway, why exactly did you come looking for me?”
At my question, his expression hardened slightly as he answered.
He seemed to be recalling what had happened two days ago.
“When my son died, I reacted the same way inside the house. Seeing that, my father said to me… ‘You are not fully human.’”
He’s absolutely right!
I applauded enthusiastically inside my head.
Thank goodness someone had already told him, so I didn’t have to waste my breath saying it myself!
We had never met, but for some reason, I felt as though I would get along quite well with the Count.
“If I had been the Count, I would never hand the family over to someone like this either.”
Bernando, the eldest son of the Heartfinder family, had been the leading candidate to become the next head of the Count’s family, even among his exceptionally capable siblings.
But…
“I’m the eldest son of House Heartfinder, and even among my highly capable siblings, I had secured the position of the strongest candidate to become the next head of the family. But… what happened two days ago has completely shaken my position.”
“What?”
“The decision regarding the next head of the family lies entirely with the Count—in other words, my father. And my father told me, ‘I cannot hand the position of head of the Count’s family to an inhuman bastard like you.’”
“That…”
That’s also completely true!
I wanted to say it out loud, but I decided to keep my mouth shut and read the room.
If the Count had been standing in front of me, I probably would have been so delighted to find that we agreed that I would have grabbed his hands and jumped up and down with him.
Even if I were the Count, I wouldn’t hand the family over to someone like this.
How could someone who didn’t even understand the value of his own child possibly take care of the members of the Count’s household, his relatives, and the people living in his territory?
It made absolutely no sense.
Bernando could never become a good leader in his current state.
That much was obvious even to me after knowing him for only ten minutes…
So what must his father, the person who had known him his entire life, think?
Whether Bernando knew what I was thinking or not, he once again spoke with that same indifferent expression.
“My father made me a proposal and told me about you. He said that I actually had a hidden daughter.”
“……”
“I never imagined that my child could have been born during the war. But my father told me about you and ordered me to bring you home.”
“……”
I had been born nine years ago.
Apparently, around that time, a fairly large-scale war had broken out in the Baros Empire.
That was why I had assumed I was an orphan of war.
But Bernando’s father—my grandfather, I suppose—
How had he learned of my existence?
“Anyway, he said that if I found that child and raised her myself—”
Bernando emphasized the word myself.
“—perhaps I might develop at least a little humanity.”
“……”
After saying that, Bernando stared down at me.
…So that’s why you’re trying to take me with you?
I asked with my eyes, and Bernando lightly nodded.
Even though we’d lived apart for nine years, perhaps we were truly father and daughter after all, because it felt like we could communicate telepathically.
“That’s right.”
“……”
I was left speechless, my face blank with disbelief.
This…
This story was even more hopeless than I’d imagined.
It wasn’t exactly animal therapy…
Animal therapy, which involves interacting with adorable animals to develop a sense of responsibility, consideration, and morality while helping people overcome trauma or achieve psychological healing, had already been shown to have therapeutic benefits in the modern world.
But…
Could the same thing really work with a cute child?
If this succeeded, modern psychiatry would advance another step.
If that day ever came, I would name this treatment Baby Therapy.
…Though I was pretty sure that day would never come.
When I stared at Bernando with an utterly bewildered expression, he understood the meaning behind my gaze and spoke.
“…I don’t actually expect a father-daughter bond to develop between us. That’s why I said I wanted to make a deal with you.”
“A deal…?”
I looked up at Bernando anxiously.
He nodded.
“All you have to do is pretend that we have a close father-daughter relationship.”
Pretend!
A close father-daughter relationship…
With this man?
I froze with an expression as though I’d just been struck by lightning.
“Huh…”
“Both inside the household and in public.”
“……”
I could only stare at Bernando with my mouth hanging open in disbelief.
What kind of shameless person is this?
T-This man doesn’t even intend to change in the first place!
What happened to the whole Baby Therapy thing?!
Forget it!
Bernando looked down at me as though he’d discovered something entertaining and said,
“Originally, I intended to somehow win your favor so that I could gain my father’s approval. But since you seem intelligent, this works out even better.”
“……”
“I don’t think I’ll need to pretend in front of you.”
“……”
Will this man ever be able to regain the humanity he supposedly lost because of me?
Personally, I thought it would be impossible even after a hundred years.
Grandfather, I think you made the wrong choice!
Could I really reform this completely hopeless man?
“The arrangement won’t last very long. The Count is currently recuperating. Besides, I don’t think it would be bad for you to enter House Heartfinder. Have you ever heard of our family?”
“House Heartfinder…”
Actually, House Heartfinder was a name I’d heard quite often.
I had never heard of anyone called Bernando-whatever from House Heartfinder, though.
I’d heard that the Count was a truly remarkable man.
