Chapter 17

The spark flew to Knox, who had been standing still, but Knox obediently knelt at the head of the family’s command.

“I have knelt, but what is the reason?”

“A child who used to hop around like a frog suddenly turned into a dung beetle. How did you roast and boil her?”

“I did roast and boil her, but I did not bully her that much...”

Oh my God.

“Miiister~”

Only then did I grasp the situation and throw myself into his arms with all my strength, becoming one whole frog.

“By the way, where are you going? Your clothes look suuuuper warm.”

When I hurriedly changed the subject, he stared down at me for a moment and let out a faint sigh.

“Monster subjugation.”

I had already guessed from the wolf fur and armor that looked good for enduring the cold.

Around this time, the heads of the Kreutz family went on monster subjugation missions.

He did not look free enough to have a long conversation with me.

“It will take about a week. After that, I’ll introduce you at the heir selection trial, so prepare yourself.”

“...Introduce me? I don’t have the power of ice.”

My eyes rounded at the words I could not understand.

Duke Pose had told me to focus on the heir selection trial, but I had thought it would be impossible from the start.

Because I had no power to take the trial with.

“I mean I’ll introduce you as part of the main line, not that I’ll make you the heir.”

“...Oho.”

Unable to give any real response, I only nodded.

I’m doomed. I was already planning to prepare several things as the young lady...

Swordsmanship worthy of the Kreutz main line, for instance... or the proper way to greet the attendants so I could look good to them...

But to think I would be introduced at the heir selection trial right away. There was too little time.

Whether I did or not, mister looked truly busy as he stood up while holding me.

“Knox. Come out for a moment. Before I leave for the subjugation, we’ll hold an urgent small meeting about the Marquis Lilith matter.”

Knox sighed and looked at me.

“Will you take that little girl with you as well?”

“She’s quiet. She won’t interfere.”

Ah. This is my chance.

“That’s right. I’ll stay quiet!”

I did not know much about Marquis Lilith and his son, but I knew a little. I knew they were a father and son with quite a lot of problems.

So I might be able to help. With that thought, I quickly wedged myself into the conversation.

“Who knows? She may smile while stealing our secrets.”

When Knox narrowed his eyes, Duke Calypse Kreutz let out a low, appalled sound.

“...Is that something to say to a child?”

Exactly. Is that something to say to a child?

How absurd.

No matter how much of a former spy I was, and no matter how little trust I had, I even showed you all of the Pose family’s telegrams!

Still, it feels reassuring with mister here!

I must stick to mister no matter what. Then Knox won’t be able to touch me.

Smack.

I rested my palm on his solid chest and glared at Knox while being held confidently.

“......”

Oh no. My eyes met Knox’s.

After confirming my gaze, Knox hummed and pushed up his glasses.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“...Your Grace should fix that habit as well.”

“What?”

“Taking a child into a work space. I believe I heard somewhere at some inn or other that it is emotionally bad for a young child.”

“......!”

The arms holding me flinched.

“...Mister?”

No way. You are not believing some rumor you heard at whatever inn that was, are you?

I gazed at Duke Calypse Kreutz desperately, my eyes sparkling.

“...Aisha. Finish your meal.”

Having surrendered to that rumor, he set me back down on the chair.

“...Mister?”

And then.

“...I’m sorry.”

Leaving behind that single apology, he squeezed his eyes shut and went outside.

“Misteeer!”

Knox’s victorious smile and my despairing scream beside him filled the ducal estate.

But the next day—

“Ah, so you are that child of the duke’s?”

“...Pardon?”

The moment I saw the middle-aged nobleman smiling ominously at me, I realized.

The “real” reason Knox had not acknowledged me.

***

That day, as always, Knox was watching me.

The cute sound of a child walking echoed through the high-ceilinged corridor.

Toddle, toddle.

It was the sound of me, having filled myself with the carbs, protein, and fat needed for the day, diligently moving toward the garden.

“...Is walking in little steps like a baby duck something all children that age do, or is that little girl especially like that?”

At Knox’s question, the head maid, Mai, answered sourly.

“They’re all like that at that age, more or less.”

“Right? But there is a reason for it.”

“Pardon?”

Knox pushed up his glasses.

“They say studies have proven that the reason living creatures look cute when they are young is to protect themselves. Since they still cannot hunt for food and require care, they try to win favor through cuteness.”

“...Aha?”

“So the fact that that little girl is cute—no. I never said she was cute. In any case, I am telling you to be careful.”

“I-I see...”

Here he goes again.

Madman Knox’s observation journal of “Aisha.”

After Duke Calypse Kreutz left for the monster subjugation, Knox literally watched me twenty-four hours a day.

When I woke up, when I ate, when I stared blankly while waiting for mister, when I took walks in the garden, and so on.

As if he had become my surveillance camera, he stuck to my side all day except when I was inside the bedroom.

I can’t live like this.

Even now, Knox was whispering something to Mai while glaring at me. I could only sigh.

I had to be acknowledged by Knox as soon as possible.

No, I did not even hope to be acknowledged. I at least had to make him feel there was no need to watch me.

...How am I supposed to do that?

It was then.

“Sir Knox!”

A servant who had spotted Knox came running over in a fluster.

“What is it?”

“W-Well, that is. Marquis Lilith has suddenly visited...”

Marquis Lilith?

The moment my ears perked up, Knox’s brow furrowed.

“The regular meeting is still a week away. Why is that man here? Tell him to come again later.”

“No! That’s not it...”

“It means I already came in, and you should at least serve me a cup of tea.”

Behind the troubled servant, a slender middle-aged man appeared with a smirk.

That person must be...

Marquis Lilith.

I quietly stared at the marquis.

Seeing him in person, he really does look greedy.

Flashy frills one might see at a social party. Jeweled rings on every finger joint.

Unlike Duke Calypse Kreutz, who was closer to a knight than a noble, this man looked as if he had just popped out of the center of high society.

The Lilith marquis’s family was a branch family derived from the Kreutz family.

The reason an otherwise unremarkable branch family could visit the ducal estate without permission like this was—

Because of the holder of the power of ice, I suppose.

I stared at the boy standing beside the marquis with his weight slanted onto one leg.

That must be the power holder, Tex.

If one traced the roots of a branch family, it ultimately connected to the Kreutz family.

From the moment a user of the power of ice, which had seemed to be the sole authority of the main line, was born in the Lilith marquis’s family, the marquis had acted as if he had become the duke himself.

And he had been desperate to push his own child as the next heir of the Kreutz family.

“I came by to pay my respects to His Grace while passing through. Where might His Grace be?”

At the marquis’s question, silence fell for a moment, but Knox sighed and reluctantly answered.

“...His Grace has gone on monster subjugation.”

“Ah, I see. I had nooo idea.”

“You did not know?”

“Of course I didn’t. I’m not a stalker. How would I know His Grace’s schedule? By the way, since I’ve come all this way, I would like to have a cup of tea here.”

The more I listened, the more absurd he sounded, and I spat out without realizing it.

“...Even I know the northern monster subjugation period.”

When I poked my face out between Knox’s trouser legs, everyone’s gazes turned toward me.

“If the father doesn’t know, I guess the son doesn’t know either. You’ll have to study a lot when you take the heir selection trial.”

“...What?”

“The monster subjugation period is usually around the middle of each month. Even the royal family does not send messages to Duke Calypse Kreutz during this time.”

I had not wanted to intervene.

Marquis Lilith really is too much. To say he came without knowing the monster subjugation period—how can he tell a lie that won’t work at all?

Seeing that shameless face, as if he had laid down not just iron plating but railroad tracks, I could not hold back.

Using Knox’s trousers as a shield, I stuck out only my head and muttered.

“While Duke Calypse Kreutz is away on monster subjugation, Marquis Lilith is sitting around drinking tea in the duke’s castle. Duke Calypse Kreutz would be so pleased if he heard.”

“......?”

At my words, the marquis’s face turned bright red, and the maid sisters who turned their heads away had their shoulders shaking. They seemed to be holding back laughter.

“What is that supposed to...”

The marquis, at a loss for words, looked around.

Everyone here must have heard what I had just said.

He seemed to think someone would scold me. But when no one said anything to me, he finally exploded.

“Who is that brat! Why is no one rebuking him when he dares slander me like this!”

Then Knox, who had completely hidden me behind him, lowered his head.

“This is the young lady of the main line.”

“...The young what?”