Chapter 38

“The nanny, who raised me, told me that my mother gave birth to me and asked Princess Iris to take me.”

“Keep talking.”

“My mom begged her to save my life. Iris’ baby was stillborn, So she willingly switched children…”

“…….”

“She said mom did it to deceive Emperor Lydios.”

Lelia said with her head down.

There was no response from Duke Superion.

[You don’t believe it either…]

Lelia carefully raised her head and checked his response.

But as soon as she raised her face, Lelia bit her lip.

Duke Superion was crying, with an anguished face, as if the world had collapsed.

His scary lion-like eyes looked very weak.

“It’s my fault… it’s because I couldn’t protect her. I’ll take the child…”

Duke Superion cried as if he was falling apart.

Lelia was heartbroken, too. She couldn’t even gauge how she would feel about burying her child first. It would be like your heart shattered into pieces.

After a long time, Duke Superion managed to calm his tears and asked;

“So where is the nanny now?”

Lelia answered carefully.

“She left the Imperial Castle when I was a kid.”

“What? Then…”

Duke Superion furrowed his brow. Then it was a question of how the hell she had been?

“I spent time alone…”

“Did Lydios abandon you?”

“Yes…”

The Duke of Superion’s face changed into that of a deadly lion. She realized how strong his hatred for Lydios was.

“He’s already dead!”

Although he had killed Lydios and avenged Elizabeth, his wounds would not simply disappear with the previous emperor’s death.

That’s what revenge is all about.

Lelia was silent about Lydios’ sending her to the temple. If she reveals that and disobeys the magical orders, she will die.

“Poor thing…”

Lelia smiled a little at the sight of the Duke of Superion, who looked at her pitifully.

“But… I’m all right,”

“Poor child…”

The Duke of Superion hugged Lelia and stroked her head. When he first hugged his granddaughter, he shed tears as if his world had collapsed.

“…….”

Lelia wiped away his tears and smiled.

She thought her story might be suspicious, but she worried needlessly.

She was surprised that he believed her without a doubt, but even more Lelia was moved.

When she was hugged to her grandfather’s broad chest, she felt like she was hugged by her mom and dad.

She wanted to be spoiled like a child.

[He’s an old man, so it should be all right.]

She thought it wouldn’t hurt to be spoiled a little.

“Tell me more, eh? I’ll tell you more about how I’ve been doing.”

“…….”

Lelia began to speak cautiously.

She lied because she couldn’t tell him what she had done in the temple.

“I secretly went back and forth outside the castle and met good friends.”

She talked about many fun memories she had made with her friends.

That her friends called her ‘Captain’, harassed bad adults, and ate a lot of delicious food.

She altered her only happy memories a little.

She didn’t want to tell him about her unhappy past.

Like when she was so hungry that she had to eat leaves and soil.  How she was kicked by Prince Leo, or when she had to apologize to Julianna after losing her nest to the twin princes.

She couldn’t say anything so bad because she wanted to forget it.

It would break her grandfather’s heart if she were to talk about it and it would hurt him.

She wanted to keep those facts a secret forever.

While both granddaughter and grandfather consoled each other’s wounds, the carriage was approaching Superion territory.

The carriage stopped after a while.

The Duke got out of the carriage with a stern expression, but could not hide his red eyes.

[When did he cry?]

Lelia, whose eyes and nose were also red, also exited the carriage. The knights were shocked.

“She must have cried”

After riding with the Duke her eyes and nose turned red. The faces of the drivers were astonished.

Everyone saw that Lelia had been crying, and the drivers thought.

“Yes, it looks like he is not generous with children.”

But as soon as Lelia got out of the carriage, she took the Duke of Superion’s hand.

The Duke looked down at Lelia and smiled.

Lelia looked up at the big castle with a trembling heart.

The size of the castle was enormous, perhaps it was because the Superion’s were high-ranking aristocrats since the founding of the empire. Lelia’s heart felt smothered.

She entered the castle in fear.

The maids, who had been waiting in line, bowed their heads.

Inside stood a beautiful woman in a white uniform.

Her expression twisted as the Duke of Superion approached while holding the hand of a little girl.

Her face turned red as they approached.

“Dad! Who is this child? You didn’t have a baby in your twilight years, did you?”

“You seem to be having a good time. You start talking nonsense as soon as I see you.”

“Who is she, Dad?”

Lelia looked up at the brown-haired woman who had a scowl on her face. There was alertness, and some malice, in her eyes.

Lelia looked away in fear of that look.

The Duke of Superion walked away with Lelia in his arms.

Editor: no idea when that happened… but sure…

From behind the brown-haired woman asked huffily;

“Dad, who the hell is this?”

“Where are your brothers?”

“Father, you arrived earlier than scheduled. Big brother hasn’t returned yet. Brother Carius arrived a few days ago, so he’ll be right down. He drank a lot yesterday.”

She answered the Duke’s question bluntly.

Lelia, who was being held in the Duke’s arms, looked around carefully. The interior was more splendid than what she had seen from the outside.

She looked at the decorations, they seemed to be inspired by the imperial decor. Lelia mentally stuck her tongue out at it.

By the time she came to her senses, she was seated on a soft sofa. She appeared to be in a drawing room.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“Yeah…”

After Duke Superion received her reply he turned around and went somewhere.

“Father!”

The brown-haired woman groaned and followed the Duke of Superion.

She was left alone, and Lelia swallowed out of nervousness.

[I really came all the way here without being caught by the checkpoints.]

Emperor Perseus had a hard time dealing with the Duke of Superion, perhaps this is the safest place from getting tracked down by the Emperor.

[Besides, I would never have imagined that the Duke of Superion would hide me.]

As she thought about it, she seemed to feel more at ease with him.

However, the Duke of Superion’s castle was not a straightforward place.

[I can’t reveal my identity to everyone. Then the emperor will know… . But I think grandfather will talk about it.]

Lelia was wondering what she should do with herself when the fatigue of her travels began to pour in.

She soon fell asleep.

Lelia, who had dozed off, jumped up at the sound of the parlor door opening.

“… … .”