TL: Zimming
Duke Vallua laughed as if he was very happy and continued,
âShe lives without knowing who her parents are, youâre taking all the things she shouldâve had.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âItâs all your fault.â
He said that as if he was cursing me.
âYou blame me?â
âTheodore and Dubbled family didnât let go of hope until you were adopted. They were eager to find the fourth child and se every resources they had. But this year, after the appearance of the fakes, the search completely stopped.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âIf they hadnât stopped the search, they would have been able to find the fourth child. Isnât it all your fault?â
ââ¦â¦.â
âShe is alive. Someday she will come back and take all of your belonging. Only then will you feel it. This desperationâ¦â¦!â
The Duke of Vallua laughed arrogantly.
âThe trial is a place where all five dukes gather. Your father will also be there. What if I told him all of this?â
ââ¦â¦.â
âThe search will begin again and youâll be abandoned. This time, the real daughter will show up and get everything you have back.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âHow is it. Are you going to make me meet Theodore?â
He continued,
âBut if you help me escape, Iâll cover it all up.â
The Duke of Vallua came close to the cage and whispered.
âYour wonderful father, brothers and brilliant aunt who gives all of their attention to you will then give their evry attention to the child. Now child, you only have one chance.â
At the moment, my family and my loved ones appeared in my mind, looking at me while smiling.
With my head down, I murmured helplessly.
ââ¦â¦yes.â
âOkay, then go ahead and get meâ¦â¦!â
âYouâre still trash.â
ââ¦â¦what?â
I bring my hand into the cage and grabbed him by the collar.
His body, which had been affected by long agony, couldnât even shake a childâs hand.
âIf Iâm afraid of the fourth child coming back, can I kill you here?â
âM, murder is not like the one in virtual battle. Do you think your conscience can handle it?â
âYou donât know what Iâm capable of, do you?â
âYou, youâ¦!â
âArenât you stupid?â
The Duke of Vallua stiffened when I spoke with a smile.
Iâve heard this kind of threat in my second life.
âThe whole world will soon see that you are a fake, for you have not yet raised your divine power. The church will give up on you, and even the Empress will no longer protect you.â
Thatâs how he threatened me and achieved his wish.
âBut you thought Iâd be fooled again?â
âIf you kill me, whoâs about to be tried, youâll be chased by the Imperial Knight for the rest of your life. If you get caught, your father canât even save you!â
âIsnât it the same if I release you?â
âYou donât want me to answer your question anymore.â
I smiled sweetly.
âWhy did you make and send Mireille? To shake Dubbled? No, if you knew where the fourth child was, you wouldnât have made her, but you would have threatened with the fourth child as a hostage.â
ââ¦â¦!â
âYou wouldâve have made the fourth child your hostage, seeing that you donât even blink doing those horrible experiment.â
The Duke of Valluaâs brow narrowed. I know because I had experience living as his daughter in my second life.
âWhat I was curious about is why you chose âMireilleâ as the fourth child.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âMireille was your lover, wasnât she? So you knew she wasnât the perfect person to play the fourth child. Why did you have to send the fourth child to get caught? I was curious about that, but I already heard the answer.â
The words he threatened me were enough to tell me the purpose.
ââ¦â¦what?â
âYou wanted to make me nervous, didnât you?â
The stiffened man gulped.
âIf I stay under Dubbledâs protection, you wonât be able to get me, so you make me get nervous so you can ruin me.â
When I was a child, there was a time when a person called âcustomerâ tried to kidnap me.
He changed his method because I almost caught him after failing at that time.
I laughed at him.
âI must have something important that I donât know. Thereâs something the person desperately want from me that they manipulated you.â
âYou wicked womanâ¦.â
âThereâs only one thing I need to hear now. The one who manipulated you, who?â
The Duke of Vallua flinched and stepped back.
âDo you think Iâm going to say that?â
I smiled brightly.
I could know without looking in the mirror. I must have a very similar expression to that Duke of Vallua right now.
Because I learned from seeing him in my second life.
âWe have a lot of time. Letâs âexperimentâ how much pain a person can bear.â
When I glanced at Glashalabolas, the face of Duke Valois turned pale.
Soon there was a smell of blood in the prison, and a scream rang out.
It wasnât until the Duke of Vallua nearly vomited, that he opened his mouth,
âIgor Marche!!â
Empress Yvonneâs father and cousin of the Empress Dowager.
The name of a man of unparalleled power who transcends Dubbled.
I hardened my face, and the Duke of Vallua crawled away desperately.
âIsnât that enough? Save me. Save meâ¦!â
ââ¦â¦.â
âPleaseâ¦â
âSave me, Father. Save me!â
Seeing him like this, it made me remember a scene in my second life of me who was crying desperately while saying that.
I stared at him slowly and told the devil.
âIâll make your wish come true. Youâll get the grudge thatâs so deep and dark.â
Glashalabolas smiled in a fishy way.
I left the prison without regret. A desperate scream followed behind my back.
The Duke of Vallua was disguised as having committed suicide before the trial.
Vallua could not avoid the destruction of their family by the church because of it.
However, Hayton and Niel were able to escape the storm because of me.
***
The trial was over. The corpse of Duke Vallua was hung outside, and people even throw stones at him.
âThis wicked person. How are the children who have such a person as their father?â
When the Marquis of Irosen said that, the nobles who gathered for the trial spoke one by one.
âIâm glad the children didnât see the trial. I was bothered to call the children as witnesses. The trials are too terrible for children to see.â
Count Wenneth looked at me sitting quietly beside my father.
As the owner of the Duchess of Valluaâs mansion, I was going to attend as a witness.
I pretended to know nothing.
âDaddy, are we going back to the mansion now?â
âYou go back first.â
âWhat about dad?â
âI have something to say with the nobles.â
It will be about the Duke of Vallua.
The duchy would have been taken over by someone since it had been destroyed.
The Valluaâs influence were not as wide as the Dubbleds and the Marche, but it people will still want it because it was a duchy.
âDuke Grimoire and Duke Amity couldnât come here because of the bad weather, so the discussion will be led by Dad or Marche.â
I cheered for my dad inside.
If my dad owns Valluaâs property, I will be able to enter and exit easily.
âI need to know what else is there.â
There may be something about the fourth child somewhere.
âNo, it was the Duke of Vallua, he wouldnât believe in people easily. Iâm sure he must have a hidden card somewhere.â
I whispered to the chairman who was beside me.
âWe have to get it.â
âYes.â
I said goodbye to my dad and went out with the chairman.
âWhy did Marche aim for me?â
If itâs the church or the imperial family, it makes sense. Because I am the child of fate.
But I was rather useless for Duke Marche.
As I walked while worrying, I ran into someone.
âOuch!â
âHey.â
As I was rubbing my forehead, someone reached out to me.
âAre you okay?â
As I raised my head, an old man with a kind expression reached out to me.
âDuke Marche!â
It was painful, but soon I relaxed my expression and laughed innocently.
âIâm sorry, Duke.â
He laughed as I bowed politely. Behind him were Empress Yvonne and a man in a black hat who seemed to be his lieutenant.
Empress Yvonne introduced me.
âThis is Lady Dubbled.â
âAh, the child of that fate. Nice to meet you.â
âI had always wanted to meet you.â
âMe?â
âDuke Nos said youâre a wonderful person who was called the shield of the Empire.â
âOh, Eugene Nos?â
I grinned and nodded.
âItâs a shame that I didnât meet him today.â
âDo you know Nos?â
When I said that to him,
âBlaine.â
My father, who was looking at me from afar, approached me.
âLong time no see, Duke.â
âYes.â
âYouâre still as quiet as before. You havenât changed. When I first saw your father before, I thought he was a funny guy.â
Empress Yvonne smiled.
âThe first time we saw him is at the streets, when the ladies fight over the âThree lords of flower.'â
âThree lords of flowerâ¦.oh yes, you were the blue rose!â
Blue Rose?
I looked at my dad with a puzzled expression, and his expression was terrifying.
ââ¦â¦?â
The Duke of Marche burst into laughter.
âYour father was very popular when he was young. Thatâs what young children used to call him.â
âAhâ¦â¦.â
As I murmured, Duke Marche continued.
âPrincess Ingrid loved you so much before. Oh, sheâs now the wife of Marquis Nodelli.â
I glanced at Dad again, and Dad clenched his fist.
âStop talking about it in front of my daughter.â
âBecause itâs three lords of flower, arenât there two other people?â
Who are the other two?