“Do I not have a say in this adoption?”

Why were they discussing adopting her without even considering her opinion?

What if they decided to adopt her, but she didn’t want to go along with it?

Leciel spoke up with a somewhat incredulous expression.

Of course, it wasn’t that she disliked the idea of becoming Kael’s adopted daughter. From what she had observed so far, Kael seemed like a decent father.

In particular, becoming the daughter of Kael, a Grand Duke, would mean becoming a Grand Duchess herself.

In that sense, being Kael’s daughter wasn’t a bad idea; it might even be a very welcoming prospect for Leciel.

However, there were concerns that held her back from hastily agreeing to become his daughter.

She had escaped the monster forest by taking the hand of Kael, the villain in the novel, knowing the original storyline and trying to avoid her death. Yet, she had not uncovered anything nor resolved any issues.

In such a situation, rashly becoming his daughter could complicate her circumstances unpredictably.

Becoming his daughter would mean forming a deep relationship with him, one that she couldn’t easily escape from in the future.

Hopefully, that situation would never arise, but as you could never know what the future held, despite all her efforts to avoid it, she might not be able to prevent the original ending.

If that were to happen, being known as Kael’s daughter would become a shackle, making her already difficult life even harder.

“That’s not true. Of course, your opinion is important, kid.”

“In that case, I’ll put it on hold.”

“On hold?”

“Yes, it’s hard to decide right now.”

“Hmm, so I’m not good enough for you, then.”

Although Kael hadn’t expected Leciel to cling to him eagerly if he asked her to become his daughter, he felt a bit disappointed and let down when she responded with <on hold>.

“Rather than that, it’s just that this is a very important decision that affects one’s life. How can I decide so easily?”

Leciel said, giving a plausible excuse.

Although it was an excuse, it was also the truth.

“… that makes sense. But I can’t help feeling disappointed. I thought I wasn’t a bad father.”

Despite the short time they had spent together, he felt bitter, wondering if he hadn’t even given her that much assurance.

“It’s not that I have any complaints about you.”

At least so far, Kael had been good to Leciel.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

If possible, he wanted to be a good person to the child he liked.

But he couldn’t help feeling disappointed, so to soothe his feelings, Kael patted Leciel’s head.

‘Well, it doesn’t have to be as a daughter.’

What Kael hoped for was a relationship not as father and daughter, but as father-in-law and daughter-in-law.

“Congratulations, father.”

At Carren’s indifferent remark, Kael’s eyebrows twitched.

“Congratulations?”

“You don’t need to worry anymore. You’ve already been rejected by the person in question.”

Carren seemed intrigued by the current situation; his eyes were slightly glinting with interest.

After all, who would have thought it possible?

Who would have imagined that a child would refuse the adoption offered by a Grand Duke?

The notion was quite shocking, seeing his father slightly shaken by it.

Carren, who always found his father annoyingly impertinent, now found Leciel a bit more endearing for delivering such a blow to him.

“It’s not a rejection, just on hold.”

“Who knows? Maybe she said <on hold> to avoid hurting your feelings by outright rejecting you.”

“Do you really think this kid would do that?”

Kael looked incredulous, as if asking whether Carren really thought that way about Leciel.

If Leciel didn’t want something, she would say so directly; she wasn’t a child who would use roundabout expressions out of concern for someone else’s feelings.

Wasn’t one of Leciel’s charms her straightforwardness?

“… that’s true.”

Carren’s eyes wavered slightly.

He had just jumped at the chance to tease his father since it seemed like a good opportunity, but upon reflection, Leciel didn’t seem like the type to spare someone’s feelings by being indirect.

“You probably said that because you don’t know the kid’s personality well yet, but this kid isn’t as gentle as you think. She’s got her quirks.”

“I’m aware of that too.”

Carren responded in a slightly curt tone, as if saying, ‘Did you think I didn’t know that much?’

Leciel made a dumbfounded face at their conversation.

Why were they talking about her behind her back?

Where else could they find such a gentle child as her? Twisted, they said?

If only Kael had said that she would have thought that he was just picking a fight again and moved on, but it didn’t sit well that even Carren, whom she thought she could trust, agreed.

“Kid, are you sulking?”

“I’m not sulking! Do you think I’m a kid who would sulk over something like this?”

“You are a kid. And to anyone looking, you seem sulky.”

Especially with her soft cheeks puffed up like steamed buns filled with bean paste.

Kael seemed amused and found the sight cute, playfully poking Leciel’s cheeks.

Because she was already annoyed, Leciel reacted like an angry little beast and bit Kael’s finger.

But Kael didn’t mind.

He looked at her with a <well done> expression, as if watching a kitten gnawing on his finger.

Deflated, Leciel spat out his finger.

“See? Our kid has quite the personality.”

“That’s nothing to brag about, is it?”

Carren gave Kael a look that was half bewildered and half pitying, finding it odd that he seemed proud of something like that.

He might as well boast, ‘Our kid can breathe well too.’

“It is something to brag about. Being too gentle isn’t always good. Besides, this much character is fitting for the House of Heithrian.”

Having a personality that wouldn’t easily be trampled over matched well with the prestige of the House of Heithrian.

And such a character was also necessary to handle his son, who was like a wild colt.

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Carren acknowledged indifferently.

But Leciel couldn’t agree.

“I disagree! This level of character is actually very kind!”

“Sure, sure, very kind.”

Kael chuckled, clearly teasing, which only annoyed Leciel more.

Even though she tried to show her displeasure, Kael continued to playfully taunt her, finding her reactions adorable.

Carren shook her head at the sight of them.

He couldn’t understand his father, who enjoyed teasing a child, nor Leciel, who responded to every provocation instead of ignoring it.

However, he seemed to have gotten used to the sight in a short time, finding it somewhat amusing.

It felt like watching Tom and Jerry come to life.

It had been three hours since they had come to town for shopping.

After buying the dress, they had gone from shop to shop buying other necessary items, and before they knew it, quite a bit of time had passed.

But the shopping was finally done, and the three of them returned to the Grand Ducal mansion in their carriage.

“Welcome back.”

The butler, who had been waiting for Kael, greeted him with a bow.

Then he noticed Leciel standing next to Kael and his eyes widened.

Before they left, she still had the look of a street child, but now she was a perfect young noble lady.

The cute yellow dress adorned with lace and ribbons highlighted her natural charm, and the yellow shoes peeking out from under her dress were simply adorable.

Her previously plain hair ribbon had been replaced with a cute one with white polka dots, and her hair was now adorned with charming hairpins that added to her innocent look.

“What do you think? Cute, right?”

Kael, noticing the butler’s gaze on Leciel, asked with a smug expression.

“Yes, she was already lovely, but now she looks like a little angel from heaven.”

After a brief moment of being flustered by Kael’s doting question, the butler quickly recovered and responded with admiration.

Kael looked very pleased with this response.

“You have a good eye, butler.”

He felt like giving the butler a bonus for having good sense.

With that, Kael, looking very satisfied, headed into the mansion. Reluctantly, he returned to his study.

As much as he wanted to spend more time with the children, he had already spent more time than expected, and considering the mountain of work waiting for him, he might have to pull an all-nighter if he procrastinated any longer.

 

* * *

 

It had been four days since Leciel started staying at Grand Duke Heithrian’s estate.

During this time, nothing particularly significant happened.

The biggest change was that she was now wearing proper dresses instead of shabby clothes.

From indoor dresses to outing dresses and pajamas, the variety was so extensive that deciding what to wear each day became a task itself.

After deciding on the dress, she had to pick the right shoes and accessories, so getting dressed took quite some time.

In light of that, she wondered if the old days, when she didn’t have many clothes to choose from, weren’t better, but she managed to quell her dissatisfaction because she liked her new dresses and shoes.

“What should I do today?”

Dressed up nicely, Leciel laid on the bed, looking bored out of her mind.

Having nothing to do and staying in her room all day was boring.

On the second day, shopping and various activities had kept her busy, so she hadn’t had time to feel bored, but now everyone else was busy, leaving her alone in boredom.

She couldn’t bother Kael, who was busy working, and Carren was nowhere to be found, busy with his own affairs.

She felt like a barley sack left in the corner.

“Maybe I should explore the mansion.”

The mansion, even if it was a secondary residence, was large enough that exploring it could take a whole day.

Though she didn’t know how long she would be staying here, it would be useful to familiarize herself with the place.

At least she wouldn’t get lost.

With that thought, Leciel left her room, holding a pen and paper to map out the mansion in her own way.

She wandered around for quite some time.

Eventually, feeling her legs ache, she leaned against a wall to rest.

At that moment, she overheard the conversation of some maids passing by near the hallway where she was.

“Marie must have it tough. Taking care of a kid with no known background just because the Grand Duke brought her in.”