I Was Adopted by the Villain Grand Duke Who Killed My Favorite Character - Chapter 19
I wanted to check what Luke had done to the necklace, but the opportunity never came.
It was all because of the Grand Duke who stayed in the same room as me.
I looked discontentedly at the Grand Duke sitting on the bed, turning the pages of a book. The sound of fluttering pages could be heard in the quiet room.
The Grand Duke, who would have normally returned to his office by now, was still in the room.
“Aren’t you going home, Grand Duke?”
“This is my home.”
“Ah. Right.”
It was true that this was the Grand Duke’s room, just that he was usually not here. I sat down next to the Grand Duke, wiggling my bottom into place and swinging my legs.
“If you’re busy, you can leave.”
The Grand Duke replied gruffly, keeping his eyes fixed on the book.
“That maid called Sen said you wanted to see me.”
When did I ever say that?
As I was about to deny it, I remembered Sen’s recent persistent leading questions. Her skill at inducing predetermined answers while offering snacks was top-notch.
“Grand Princess, don’t you want to see the Grand Duke as much as you want to eat this cookie?”
“Yes! Give me more cookies!”
This was my fault for falling completely for the cookies.
But to think he actually came because I said I wanted to see him. I couldn’t say anything more, knowing the busy Grand Duke had made time for me.
“That’s right. I wanted to see you.”
Reluctantly answering, the Grand Duke closed the book he was reading and stroked my hair. Feeling awkward about him caressing my hair, I fidgeted with my fingers.
After carefully observing my reaction, the Grand Duke removed his hand and spoke.
“You said you like kind people, right?”
“Yes.”
“I think I’m quite kind to you.”
“Huh?”
The Grand Duke’s expression remained unchanged as he proclaimed his own kindness with his own mouth. Do people usually declare themselves kind?
He might be an evil villain, but… he could be kind in his own way.
I remembered how he had desecrated the bodies of the imperial family and driven countless people to their deaths in the original story, but I tried hard to maintain a calm expression.
However, the expressionless face I maintained with effort crumbled at the Grand Duke’s next words.
“Moreover, I am strong.”
“Uh… yes.”
“Isn’t this enough to be your parent?”
I started to grasp what the Grand Duke was trying to say to me. Was his promise to give me love I’d never experienced before actually a declaration to become my parent?
As I pondered my response, my eyes fell on the gray ribbon I had tied around my wrist all this time.
‘Right. I was wearing this.’
I had been wearing it for so long that it felt like a part of my body now. I untied the ribbon and clumsily tied it around the Grand Duke’s wrist.
“Grand Duke. This is my answer.”
“How can a packaging string be your answer?”
“This string is the reason why you and I can’t become a family.”
I, who was not real but merely occupied the place of the dead Juno, was like that string that would be discarded the moment the box was opened.
‘The Grand Duke will regret being good to me once he knows the truth.’
Anticipating the future that would come, I felt uncomfortable with him trying to take on the role of a parent, saying he would give me love.
“This thing is your reason for rejection?”
The Grand Duke untied the ribbon I had tied to his wrist and summoned magic in his hand.
Whoosh.
The remains of the ribbon, burned in the Grand Duke’s grasp, fell to the floor. I opened my eyes wide in surprise at the sudden event.
“You… Right. I admit it. It’s unpleasant.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should…”
Even though it was just a ribbon, my insides were boiling. As the moment of helplessly losing Juno overlapped, I couldn’t stay still any longer.
The Grand Duke whispered to me as I glared at him, gritting my teeth.
“Still, it would be troublesome if you died.”
“What?”
“So don’t die.”
The Grand Duke who uttered those words looked like a doll incapable of feeling emotions. Looking at his desolate face devoid of all expression, I could naturally understand.
This was the ‘real’ face he had been hiding.
It was too sorrowful an expression for a villain who had lost something precious, denied love, and resolved for revenge.
‘What could the rebellion mean to you?’
There had to be meaning in the revenge sought by someone who made such an expression.
I felt I needed to find out why he was staging a rebellion. At the same time, I had a feeling that the moment I knew the reason, I would make an irreversible choice.
***
I didn’t think the Grand Duke, who had declared he would give me love, would easily give up on becoming my parent.
‘But this is too much.’
Recently, the Grand Duke seemed determined not to leave my side even for a moment.
‘Today, he even ate snacks with me.’
I felt conflicted as I recalled the image of the Grand Duke skillfully feeding me snacks. His affectionate attitude felt like a silent coercion.
Of course, the cookie that melted softly the moment it touched my tongue was perfect.
Even the awkwardness of sitting on the Grand Duke’s lap became meaningless in the face of the cookie’s taste. He held my cheeks, squeezing them from both sides and murmured.
“Are you actually chewing what you put in your mouth?”
“I’m eating properly.”
“What if your cheeks burst doing that?”
I tapped the Grand Duke’s arm and opened my mouth wide, signaling for more cookies.
It would be nice if he gave me delicious cookies instead of unnecessary words.
The Grand Duke twisted his eyebrows as he looked at the cookie crumbs on my cheeks and wiped my face with a wet towel. Even when I moved my head to the side, the wet towel persistently followed.
“You’re no different from a pig.”
“I’m not a pig!”
“I’ll believe you when you can eat without getting anything on your cheeks.”
Even as he said this, he continued to put cookies in my mouth.
As I recalled the taste of the cookies I ate then, I thought coldly.
‘He’s trying to tame me with food, I guess.’
Although my body was that of a young child, I was an adult who had lived dozens of lives. I had no intention of falling for the Grand Duke over a few pieces of cookies.
Just as I firmly resolved not to fall for the Grand Duke’s charming behavior, Sen entered the room, waving a picnic basket in her hand.
“Grand Princess! Would you like to have today’s snack outside?”
“Yes!”
My feet naturally started tapping at the thought of being able to eat snacks. Sen dressed me in an outdoor robe and took me to the garden.
I sat in a corner of the garden under the bright sunshine, eating sandwiches. After eating my fill of snacks, I thought about the necklace.
Since I was already outside, it seemed like a good idea to check it secretly.
After wiping my hands, which were stained with sandwich sauce, with a napkin, I said to the maids.
“I’m going to play with dirt around here for a bit.”
“It’s fine to play, but don’t go too far.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
After promising to play nearby, I took out the necklace a little distance away from the maids.
As expected, I felt something off about the necklace, as if some device had been installed.
‘What kind of function does this necklace have?’
I let my magic flow along the tiny amount of energy I felt from the necklace. It didn’t require much magic just to examine its function.
Flash!
As light gathered on the necklace touched by magic, my mind instantly became hazy. As time passed, my foggy mind gradually cleared.
I realized the hidden function of the necklace.
“A mental curse?”
Through multiple rebirths, I had developed immunity specifically to mental curses.
If I didn’t have the memories from when I was a grand magician, or if my immunity was even slightly weaker, I could have fallen for it. It seems to be the type that brainwashes the wearer’s mind.
‘How brazen.’
I never thought the Heidus family would so blatantly tamper with a gift sent to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Suddenly, I recalled Juno’s behavior as described in the original story, which had seemed suspicious. The Juno I actually met was quite expressive.
However, in the original story, Juno is portrayed as an expressionless doll-like character throughout.
[The Crown Prince spoke to the illegitimate princess but received no response. She wore a crown and was overbearing, yet seemed like an idiot.]
Could this necklace be related to why the Juno in the original story lost her emotions?
Just considering this possibility made me grip the jewel tighter.
‘It’s fortunate that it happened to me.’
Even if it hasn’t happened yet, there’s someone I suspect of trying to harm Juno. As long as there’s even the slightest possibility, I can’t forgive the Heidus family.
It seems I have something to do before I’m discovered not to be the real princess.
“You touched something you shouldn’t have.”
As I was hiding the necklace back in my clothes, a maid who had run from afar called out to me.
“Grand Princess, I think you need to return now.”
“Is the Grand Duke here?”
“No. A noble named Luke from the Heidus family has arrived. He says he wants to apologize.”
The very person who cast the curse has come at just the right time.
The fact that he came in person so soon after giving the gift probably means he wants to check if it’s working.
I stood up, dusting off my bottom.
This was an opportunity to find out why Luke sent me a cursed necklace and what he wanted.
Heading to the drawing room with determination, I was left speechless by Luke’s unexpectedly serious appearance.
“Greetings, Grand Princess. I’m Luke from the Heidus Marquis family, whom you met before.”
“Isn’t it your leg that’s injured?”
Luke greeted me while lying on a stretcher, wrapped in bandages. His swollen face was full of signs that someone had beaten him up.
“Well, on my way back, I encountered some bandits. The public safety isn’t very good, you see.”
It was 100% the Grand Duke’s doing.
There’s no way there would be bandits in an area regularly patrolled by knights. The Grand Duke seemed unsatisfied with just breaking his leg.
“Since we’ve met, could we talk alone this time, Grand Princess?”
“That’s too dangerous, we can’t allow it.”
“It’s okay, Sen. Luke is my friend after all. Right?”
“Of course, Grand Princess!”
Sen, who had been vehemently opposing, backed down at the mention of ‘friend’. Wanting to know Luke’s true intentions, I willingly chose to be left alone with him.
Finally, when we were alone in the spacious drawing room, Luke, who had been lying on the stretcher, sat up.
“I thought I was going to die from suffocation.”
He stood firmly on the leg that should have been broken and grinned at me. Could it be that even the injuries on his face were fake?
“To think the Grand Duke would send knights disguised as a bandit group just for a commoner child.”
So the injuries were real after all.
Seeing Luke reveal his true colors so blatantly, I had a feeling things were going to get troublesome. Luke approached me with a vile smile.
