I Was Adopted by the Villain Grand Duke Who Killed My Favorite Character - Chapter 9

A few days later, in the afternoon.

The rose garden, bathed in warm summer sunlight, was incredibly beautiful. Black butterflies lazily fluttered around the fully bloomed roses.

The weather was just right, with a cool breeze blowing.

‘So what…’

Unfortunately, this leisurely walk wasn’t my time alone. The Grand Duke, who was walking in step with me, turned to look at me with an indifferent expression.

Just then, the wind blew, pushing back the Grand Duke’s hair and revealing his handsome forehead.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all.”

In the end, the Grand Duke didn’t budge from his insistence on keeping me in his room. Instead, what he proposed as a compromise was this walk today.

‘Such a leisurely villain.’

Shouldn’t a Grand Duke not have time to take walks with me? As I pouted with eyes full of discontent, the Grand Duke picked me up.

Surprised by the suddenly elevated view, I tightly gripped the Grand Duke’s clothes.

“Grand Duke?”

“You should have said if your legs were hurting.”

“They don’t hurt.”

I protested softly and lifted my head.

Thanks to the tall Grand Duke, I could see things that weren’t visible before. Spotting a squirrel on a tree branch, I tugged at the Grand Duke’s clothes.

The Grand Duke silently walked in the direction I was pulling without resistance.

As I stared blankly at the squirrel, the Grand Duke spoke in a rather kind voice.

“That’s a squirrel.”

I know that.

Are you looking down on me just because I lived in a cage?

The squirrel, seemingly unafraid of people, didn’t run away and stayed still. As I reached out towards the squirrel, I suddenly turned to look at the Grand Duke.

A week ago, I never thought I’d be spending time like this with the villain Grand Duke. The peaceful surroundings and the warm atmosphere enveloping my body.

Even living together with the Grand Duke, which I had worried about, went by without any problems. It was all thanks to the Grand Duke who had been considerate of me.

“Why aren’t you honest?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you, Grand Duke. You have no reason to be nice to me.”

I knew I was acting willfully towards him, the Grand Duke. I even punched his abdomen in anger and kept speaking informally.

Yet, he never once acted violently towards me.

‘Why are you being so kind?’

I, who felt guilty towards the Grand Duke, found his kindness only uncomfortable. It would be better if he were honest like the maids I first met.

“Grand Duke, if you want to torment me, you can.”

“…?”

“I’ll let you do anything except hurting me!”

“What are you trying to say since earlier…”

“Grand Duke hates Liat, right?”

At those words, the Grand Duke’s steps, who had been slowly walking through the garden while carrying me, came to a halt. Thinking he might not have understood, I kindly added an explanation.

“Liat is my name.”

The Grand Duke had no particular response even to my explanation. Unable to bear the ensuing silence, I shook his arm, and he started walking again.

With darkened eyes gazing at the sunlit garden, the Grand Duke suddenly spoke.

“Did you know that I dislike you?”

“Yes. Such things are visible.”

His breathing when dealing with me, his gaze, his stiffly tensed body were the clues. He seemed to have tried to hide it, but his opponent was too good.

He appeared perplexed that his emotions had been exposed to me, a young child.

After walking for a while, the Grand Duke sat down under the tree that had been split in half the other day. Seeing the cleanly bisected tree again gave me goosebumps.

‘Indeed, the strongest character in the original work.’

The cross-section of the halved tree was smooth, not rough.

The Grand Duke, unaware of what I was thinking, sat me down beside him.

“Look over there.”

In the direction he pointed, there was a blue lake.

When I was running away, I was too frantic to notice the lake visible on the other side. The clear lake shimmered in various colors like broken glass shards.

As I was distracted by the scene before me, the Grand Duke spoke softly.

“As you said, I dislike you. But it’s not as simple an emotion as you think.”

“Do you want to kill me?”

“…No.”

The Grand Duke stared at me with a frown, as if looking at something incomprehensible. Soon, he covered his forehead with his palm and sighed quietly.

“What am I talking about with a child.”

Sitting quietly, I slightly raised my bottom. The Grand Duke’s silver hair, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight, caught my attention.

Just then, as he lowered his head, his hair was in the perfect position to touch.

‘He probably won’t get angry.’

Unable to resist the temptation of the sparkling hair, I reached out my hand. As I ruffled and stroked his hair, the Grand Duke’s shoulders stiffened.

In truth, I couldn’t understand what he was pondering about me.

But if he, the Grand Duke, had tried to hide his feelings for some reason, then that was…

“Thank you, Grand Duke. You were being considerate, right?”

He could have poured out resentment, saying the Imperial Princess should just die, but he didn’t. He suppressed and hid his dislike, and saved me.

Although he forcibly kept me in his room, he came out for a walk with me like this.

“But you don’t have to.”

“……”

“I don’t deserve the Grand Duke’s consideration.”

Not for me, who isn’t the real Imperial Princess.

The hair I had tucked behind my ear fluttered in all directions with the incoming wind. Listening to the whooshing sound of the wind in my ears, I smiled brightly.

The Grand Duke slightly parted his lips as if he had seen something dreadful.

He muttered in a dispirited voice.

“You make me waver.”

After that conversation, I gazed at the gentle ripples of the calm lake for a while. The Grand Duke, leaning against the tree trunk with his eyes closed, remained motionless.

Thanks to that, I could leisurely enjoy the warm sunlight and the scenery before me. And about an hour later, the sun began to set.

The red light of the setting sun spread across the water’s surface.

As I was watching the crimson hue gradually cover the lake, I heard a low voice.

“I’ll give you a reason to live. So that you can enjoy and experience what was forcibly taken from you.”

“I don’t need it.”

“You’ll understand someday. That this place is different from where you were staying.”

“The Grand Duke will regret it.”

Because everything he wants to give me isn’t mine.

Surely the Grand Duke won’t realize I’m not the Imperial Princess until he starts a rebellion? If that happens, the Grand Duke would be a real fool.

‘Whatever he does, it has nothing to do with me.’

The Grand Duke’s interest would surely disappear if I behaved for a few days. I had no intention of getting further entangled with the doomed villain from the original story.

I thought comfortably, but the next day I had to face gifts filling the entire room.

***

Servants flocked in, moving large and small gift boxes into the Grand Duke’s room. Most of the gifts were children’s dresses and dolls.

There were also jewels and children’s furniture among other things.

‘His ability to take action is incredible.’

He said he’d give me a reason to live, but did he prepare all this in just one day?

“Then, shall we try on this dress?”

“I don’t think it’ll fit.”

The lavish dress adorned with jewels only hung loosely on my skinny body. Unable to find clothes that fit, the servant opened a ledger.

“It seems the order was placed incorrectly. I’ll place a new order!”

I, who had no interest in things I couldn’t eat, just nodded vaguely to the servant.

The servants picked out only the clothes from the gift boxes and moved them outside. In the empty space left as the gift boxes receded like the tide, I found a gray ribbon.

This color resembles Juno’s eyes.

The servant who finished organizing the gifts asked me as I tied the gray ribbon around my wrist.

“Which gift do you like the most?”

“This one.”

“That ribbon isn’t a gift, it was used to tie the boxes… How about this velvet ribbon?”

“I like this one the best.”

I felt pleased at the thought of finding something I liked. As I was about to rest in the quiet room after the servant left, there was another knock.

“Excuse me, Your Highness.”

The people who entered the room this time were the maids who had first been in charge of me. They entered with their heads bowed low as if they had committed a crime.

At the front was the black-haired maid who had bathed me in the bathroom.

‘It’s the previous maids!’

Feeling glad, I ran towards the maids, pitter-patter.

“Welcome! I wanted to see you!”

Surprised by my enthusiastic welcome, the maids exchanged glances. They hesitated, standing at a distance, not daring to approach me.

The black-haired maid spoke, looking around nervously.

“We heard in the letter that you were looking for us.”

The maid’s fingers trembled slightly as she gripped her skirt tightly. It seemed she thought I had called them for revenge for what happened before.

I opened my mouth to the anxious maids.

“Do you hate Liat?”

“I was wrong! When I splashed water on Your Highness’s body that time…!”

The maid hurriedly knelt down and pleaded, rubbing her hands together. The other maids standing behind also followed suit, kneeling and bowing their heads.

‘Did the Grand Duke threaten them?’

It was natural to resent a royal family member that their master disliked. Moreover, the maids’ neglect provided me with the best environment.

I plopped down in front of the black-haired maid and smiled broadly.

“I’m Liat. What’s your name?”

“S-Sen.”

“I see. Hello, Sen.”

A misplaced button just needs to be rebuttoned.

With that intention, I placed my palm on top of Sen’s hand which was touching the floor. As I interlocked our fingers and held her hand, Sen’s eyes wavered.

“Your Highness… don’t you hate me… us?”

“I don’t hate you. Sen, you’re the first person I met outside the cage.”

Actually, I met Gerard first.

It was enough if I could convey to the maids that I had no ill feelings towards them.

“But we… we tormented Your Highness.”

“Did you? I don’t remember. Sen, you’re a good person. You even sprinkled warm water on me.”

At my words, spoken with a bright smile, Sen’s shoulders trembled slightly. Then she hugged me tightly and burst into loud tears.

The maids kneeling behind also started crying, turning the whole place into a sea of tears.

“There, there. It’s okay.”

I patted her back with my small hand until Sen stopped crying. As I had felt since she splashed water on me, they weren’t bad people after all.

With hearts this tender, how will they survive in this harsh world?

As I was comforting the crying maids, pink hair was visible behind the open door.