Chapter 16

 

***

 

The Duke shook his head at their opinions.

“The child is here at my request. I have entrusted her with a task.”

This task was to bring stability to Loretta’s heart. Of course, Melody had faithfully fulfilled the role the Duke expected of her, exceeding his expectations.

“A task? Don’t tell me, Your Grace, you plan to employ the child as a servant?!”

“Using a slave trader as a servant, what a laughingstock it would be among other nobles!”

They seemed to treat Melody as a mere slave trader.

After all, a child of nobility remains noble, and a commoner’s child remains a commoner; they weren’t entirely wrong in their classification.

The Duke replied with a slightly bitter expression.

“This child is neither a slave trader nor a servant. She came here in response to my request and is thus being treated as a guest under my name.”

“A gue…… Guest?!”

“Your Grace!”

“Every human being has their own place!”

“She must be sent away immediately!”

“What would the former Dukes think if they knew of this?!”

The talk of ‘former Dukes’ was one of their frequently used phrases when they were being stubborn.

It was also the most effective.

“Hmm.”

The Duke stroked his chin, thinking of his deceased father and grandfather.

They probably wouldn’t have liked the current situation or his actions either, considering him a son full of flaws.

However, he wasn’t particularly afraid of being treated as a disappointing son by them.

“They would be very angry.”

The elders replied cheerfully, ‘Right?!’

“Who decides whom to invite as a guest is the sole right of the mansion’s master.”

The Duke looked around at the elders. Each time their eyes met, they slightly turned their heads, feeling uneasy.

“So many here are infringing upon that right.”

A deep silence followed.

The Duke checked the time and then stood up. Seeing that they didn’t particularly hold him back, it seemed they had nothing more to say.

“Your Grace.”

The butler bowed his head as the Duke left the conference room.

“What about the response from the temple?”

“It has just arrived.”

“I’ll head to the office immediately.”

The High Priest must have a wicked hobby.

As soon as he heard that the Baldwin Duke’s elders had flocked to the capital, he immediately replied that he would ‘ask the gods tomorrow’ about the relationship between the Duke and Loretta.

However, he attached a condition: to send a representative of the elders along with the Duke.

“Placing the Duke and the elders side by side would certainly please him.”

“Eventually, the elders’ visit turned out to be in the Duke’s favor.”

“I guess I’ll get my due for listening to their nagging.”

“Should I inform the young ladies and Melody as well?”

Upon Higgins’ question, the Duke pondered for a moment before nodding.

The children might also need time to mentally prepare themselves.

‘Prepare themselves mentally?’

He was slightly surprised at his own thought.

After all, he had been to the temple several times before to clarify the truth of a father-daughter relationship.

Until now, the Duke had never prepared himself mentally for such occasions.

If it was the truth, he was prepared to raise her to the best of his abilities.

If not, his only concern was to determine whether the other party’s falsehood was a simple mistake or malicious deceit.

It shouldn’t be much different this time either.

If it was the truth, life wouldn’t change much from now.

But if it turned out to be a lie… If the child wasn’t his daughter…

‘What should I do?’

He had previously resolved to take care of the two children’s livelihoods.

Find a suitable house in the capital or their hometown, appoint a competent guardian, and ensure they lived comfortably.

As intelligent children, just that much help would suffice for them to grow up to be responsible adults.

‘That would be the right approach.’

Forcing them to stay here would mean enduring the sharp scrutiny of the elders and nobles, a terribly painful ordeal.

“Ah, yes. Why don’t you personally deliver the news to them, Your Grace? They would be delighted. And you could also discuss the ribbons.”

The butler suggested, but the Duke shook his head.

“No.”

He didn’t feel confident enough to have a separate conversation with the two children right now.

Something in his heart was complicated.

 

***

 

That evening, there was a banquet to welcome the elders.

Loretta and Melody also attended as guests of the Duke. While the elders stared at the two children, they didn’t engage in conversation, murmuring among themselves instead.

If alone, they might have felt a bit embarrassed, but being together, Melody and Loretta didn’t feel the least bit ashamed.

After a calm and enjoyable meal, they returned to their room.

Like usual, they washed up and changed into pajamas. Normally, this was the time for reading or doodling, waiting for sleep to come.

But tonight was different.

Melody told Loretta to grab her favorite pillow.

“Why?”

“We have somewhere to go now.”

According to Melody’s memory, the elders weren’t particularly welcoming of Loretta’s existence.

For them, she was an entity that could inflate an unfortunate rumor.

These people valued ‘family honor’ more than the ‘individual’.

Therefore, the elders planned to prevent Loretta from going to the temple by secretly taking her out of the mansion.

That very scheme was to take place tonight.

Though the Duke had reinforced security, the elders’ subordinates were still ‘insiders’ of the Ducal household, so infiltrating wasn’t too difficult.

“Where are we going?”

Loretta asked, clutching her pillow.

“Yes. To the safest place in this mansion.”

Then Loretta leaned her head against Melody’s chest and asked, “Here?”

Melody almost replied, “Yes, come into my arms!” to that adorably serious face.

…But she couldn’t joke around today. It was genuinely dangerous.

“We’re going to a safer place. Let’s go.”

Melody, like a protagonist in a spy movie, cautiously opened the door and looked around.

A passing servant asked, “What game are you playing tonight, young ladies?” To which Melody responded with a ‘Shh!’ and pressed her finger to her lips.

The servant swore to keep their secret with his life and hurriedly passed by.

The two girls tiptoed through the corridor, eventually climbing a usually empty staircase.

Ever since receiving hats as gifts, no one stopped the Duke’s guests from going up to the second floor.

Even the Duke hadn’t explicitly forbidden it.

Of course, even if he had, they would have defied him in a situation like tonight’s.

Melody stopped cautiously in front of a particular door.

After taking a deep breath, she summoned the courage to knock.

As the door opened, Melody bravely stated her request.

“Can… Can you help us?”

Once, Melody had advised Loretta, “When in trouble, seek a completely trustworthy adult.”

But it was the first time Melody herself acted on this advice.

Unaccustomed to such actions, she stuttered a bit out of nervousness.

 

***

 

Before Loretta and Melody came to the Duke’s room.

He had called someone to reinforce the security around the children’s room, feeling an odd sense of unease.

Ideally, he wanted to call the children to another room on the second floor, but he refrained, fearing it would only heighten the elders’ suspicions.

Of course, the best scenario would have been for him and the children to be together secretly.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, it was too risky to execute such a plan.

Lost in thought, the Duke was startled by an unusual knocking sound.

The knocks were strange because his people always knocked a specific number of times.

Could it be the elders?

Frowning slightly, he opened the door, ready to express his irritation.

But the moment he saw who was outside, his mind momentarily froze.

Two small children, barely reaching his waist, looked up at him with big, innocent eyes.

“……”

He was so surprised that he couldn’t utter a word.

Even the scowl he had prepared for the elders remained on his face.

Perhaps frightened by his demeanor, Melody’s chin and lips visibly trembled as she spoke.

“Can… Can you help us?”

The Duke, caught off guard, replied with a brief, “……Hm?”

He had almost single-handedly raised three boys, but never had the children come to him, clutching pillows and asking for help.

And what did she mean by asking for help?

Seeing no immediate response from the Duke, a look of earnestness crossed Melody’s face.

“What kind of help are you seeking?”

The Duke asked, to which Melody hesitated before responding.

“I want to ensure the lady’s safety.”

The Duke felt a bit odd.

The elders hadn’t behaved suspiciously in front of Melody, so why would she seek his help for ‘safety’?

Sensing his confusion, Melody added what sounded like an excuse.

“Just as a precaution. Master Ronny also warned us to be careful.”

“Ronny did?”

“Yes. So I thought about it, and there’s no one in this mansion more trustworthy than you, Your Grace.”

“Why is that?”

Trust takes time to build. The Duke had conversed with Loretta and Melody at times, but not enough to earn such trust.

“Well, as I’ve told you before.”

Yet, Melody looked at him with a face full of unwavering trust.

“You’re Lady Loretta’s father.”

Not just any father, but one who, as a protagonist of the novel, was an extraordinary father doting on his daughter.

Even in the original story, when the elders secretly whisked Loretta away, he was the first to rescue her.

This was despite not having any definitive proof that she was his daughter yet.

So, if Melody had to entrust Loretta’s safety to someone, the Duke was the only choice in her mind.

“Understood.”

Eventually, the Duke nodded. He didn’t want to shatter the sincere expectations of a child who truly believed in him.

“I will ensure her safety. On my honor.”

He took a step back and opened the door wide.

It was an invitation to come in.