TDFCSW 12

During the estimated time of the pregnancy, Enril had been away for quite a long time, so Trisha could not even claim the child was his.

To make matters worse, on the day of the Imperial Palace banquet, there were more than one or two people who had witnessed Trisha leaving the room where Pater had been staying.

Perhaps because of that, Enril Stykia, the elder brother, suddenly died from an illness.

However, after Pater inherited the position of family head, he did not take Trisha as his duchess…

So it was only natural that the criticism against him grew stronger.

Of course, there were some who believed there must have been a misunderstanding or another reason and waited for Pater’s explanation.

After all, the deep bond between the Stykia brothers was widely known.

“My brother did nothing wrong. Everything is my responsibility.”

But for some reason, those were the last words Pater spoke before closing the castle gates.

Without making any excuses.

Without offering any explanation.

After that day, the word “rubbish” became another name for Stykia.

It became the decisive reason why Stykia Territory turned into a place where anything could be thrown away.

“If he abandoned even the woman carrying his own child, then it deserves to be treated as a place where anything can be discarded!”

That was why nobody questioned the fact that the Duke, who had been perfectly healthy when he closed the gates, suddenly lost his eyesight.

A curse from someone abandoned by the Duke.

It was a believable story, and Pater himself never denied it.

Well, it was all just rumours. The truth was never revealed.

Either way, from the servants’ perspective, he was not the kind of lord someone would willingly devote their loyalty to.

That was why I never expected there would be good people living in Stykia Castle…

I looked at myself reflected in the mirror.

With the maids’ help, my body had already been washed until it was completely clean.

In a place this cold, hot water must have been precious, yet they had used it generously without hesitation.

They had even lit the fireplace, filling the room with a comfortable warmth.

From beginning to end, everything felt far too excessive for me.

“We should have prepared a cleaner room for you. I apologize. Since there was no child here before, we did not have a room prepared for one…”

Even so, they apologized, saying the room was not good enough.

They even brought out warm food, saying:

“We had to prepare everything so suddenly, so this was all we could make.”

It wasn’t strange that a place without children did not have a child’s room.

Rather, even this much was something I should be grateful for.

While I looked around the room in a daze, the maids finished arranging the bedding.

“Sleep well.”

“Have pleasant dreams.”

“…Good night.”

I awkwardly smiled as they wished me good night.

After sending Lisa away, I thought no one would ever say good night to me again.

For some reason, my heart felt strangely ticklish.

I buried myself deeper beneath the blankets.

That night.

“What? The Duke’s daughter has appeared?”

“Is that really true?”

The Stykia retainers were thrown into chaos after hearing the news late at night.

A few days ago, orders had come from both the Temple and the Imperial Palace.

The message was that, as one of the Four Great Ducal Families, Stykia needed to choose an heir to preserve its honour.

And yet, during such a situation, the Duke had suddenly declared that he would take some abandoned child as his daughter.

Naturally, the retainers were shocked.

“It has not been confirmed that she is truly his daughter.”

“You mean her origins are unknown? Surely she is not some street child?”

“A street child would actually be better. Could she not have been pushed forward by some insignificant family we know nothing about?”

One of the Stykia retainers let out a dry laugh.

They had thought that perhaps the Duke had finally come to his senses after opening the castle gates that had been closed for over ten years.

But instead, he had caused another incident!

“This is impossible. We must see His Grace immediately!”

The retainers entered the Duke’s office without even announcing their arrival and pushed open the door.

The room was so dark that it was difficult to see inside.

Only darkness and silence filled the space.

And there was someone there.

Long black hair that fell messily down his shoulders.

A sharp nose, tightly closed lips, and a defined jawline.

A strong cigarette held between his fingers.

The Duke of Stykia.

The owner of the rubbish heap.

Pater Stykia.

“I never expected you all to come together like this after barely showing your faces for so long.”

Despite their sudden arrival, Pater responded calmly, as if he had not been surprised at all.

His shirt hung loosely, exposing his firm chest, proving his carefree and reckless nature.

One of the older retainers cleared his throat.

“Cough.”

But Pater ignored it and simply continued smoking.

“Is it true?”

“What is?”

“…I am asking whether it is true that you brought back a daughter.”

“Ah.”

Pater seemed to remember only now.

“Yes. My daughter came looking for me.”

His tone remained relaxed.

“I didn’t even tell her the way here. Isn’t she a good child? I don’t know her face or even her name, but her mother certainly did a good job raising her.”

He spoke casually the entire time.

It was obvious he had decided to shamelessly commit to this act.

“…I cannot agree.”

“I intend to take in my daughter. What can you do about it?”

“She could be a spy planted to destroy Stykia!”

“A spy…”

Pater slowly repeated the word.

It was possible.

The Imperial Family.

The Temple.

Or another family with a deep grudge against Stykia.

There were many possibilities.

But—

“Yes. She said she doesn’t know who her father is! She doesn’t even know her mother!”

Those words had to be true.

Although he could not see, Pater’s other senses were far sharper than ordinary people’s.

Mana was an impure force.

It reacted strongly to the emotions of others, such as malice and confusion.

So if the child had truly been lying, he would have noticed first.

“Th-Then I like the cold too.”

“I like dark places as well.”

“I-It doesn’t have to be as your daughter. I-I can be a servant too…”

The child had told only the truth.

“Or I could become Your Grace’s eyes…”

And that trembling voice…

For some reason, he did not dislike it.

Besides, wasn’t this the first time since then?

The first person who had offered a truly terrible person as food, then confidently walked through the gates.

“…”

The habitual smile on Pater’s face disappeared for a moment.

The hand that was not holding the cigarette slowly clenched and opened.

Several years ago, someone had implanted a sinister ability into his body.

That ability appeared in many forms.

Sometimes it whispered cruel words to him.

Sometimes it appeared before his eyes as a horrifying shape.

It was the result of the collision between the mana inside his body, the power granted by God, and that strange ability.

No matter what he did, the foreign power within him refused to disappear.

But the moment he held that child’s hand…

He felt as though that sensation had vanished.

Unless someone possessed extremely powerful divine energy, abilities could normally only be removed by their owner.

And most abilities were inherited.

Therefore, there were only two possibilities.

The child had been sent by the Temple.

Or…

She was that person’s child.

So when he held her hand again, he felt nothing from her.

The emotion he felt at that moment was…

Yes.

It was probably disappointment.

He thought he had finally found a clue to the person he had searched for so desperately.

But in the end, he had returned to the beginning.

What had I even been hoping for?

A self-mocking laugh escaped him.

That was when—

“If you needed a daughter now, would it not have been enough to bring her here?”

One of the retainers who had protected Stykia for many years finally spoke.

Everyone avoided mentioning it.

But everyone believed it.

That the daughter of Princess Trisha Klein of the Klein Principality was Pater’s child.

The woman who had been Enril’s fiancée.

The woman who had betrayed him with his younger brother.

It was an unbelievable scandal.

However, there were many nobles who secretly kept mistresses while pretending to have peaceful families.

The criticism would not disappear.

But if Stykia formed a connection with the Klein Principality, those same rumours could eventually become a shield that strengthened Stykia.

Perhaps even more than the Imperial Family or the Temple.

So now was the time to finally say what they had been holding back.

“Your Grace already has a daughter.”

“Then why would you choose a child of unknown origin instead of your own daughter?”

“If you truly need a child, then take Princess Trisha’s daughter, Heidi, as your own. The princess has not yet married, so—”

Even as they spoke, the retainers trembled with fear.

They did not know what consequences bringing up this taboo subject would have.

Then—

“Daughter.”

Pater muttered without any emotion.

“Daughter… Right. I had that.”

“…”

“I had a daughter too.”

The hollow laugh that escaped him sounded as if he had simply forgotten.

Or perhaps…

It was a laugh of self-ridicule directed at himself.