Chapter 32

***

Melody stared intently at Claude’s face and blinked a few times before quietly retorting.

“Get married?!”

Her words were brief due to the shock, but fortunately, he didn’t point that out.

“Is that something to ask so surprisedly?”

“Is that something to say so nonchalantly?”

“There’s no reason not to.”

He finally straightened up and crossed his arms, slightly furrowing his brow as if displeased.

“My intelligent sister said she wanted it, after all.”

Melody was somewhat shocked.

What in the world? Is this terrifying brother-idiot saying he’d agree to marriage with anyone Loretta wanted? Even if that someone is the daughter of a criminal?

No, that can’t be.

The person in question is Claude. The terrifying devil who secretly torments anyone who shows affection towards Loretta and gets rid of them.

So, if Melody naively exclaimed, ‘Loretta is cute! We’ll live together forever!’ it would undoubtedly trigger this devil’s full-fledged torment.

(Although she was already being tormented in full swing.)

“There’s no way I could marry any of the Ducal family’s children.”

Melody was on high alert not to fall for this leading question.

“Why not?”

“My background.”

“I don’t care about things like background.”

“It’s not a matter that can be resolved just because you don’t care, sir.”

“It only needs to be okay with the parties involved. Unless.”

He looked at Melody with a questioning expression.

“Do you dislike my sister?”

How could he ask such a question…!

“Loretta is cute! We’re going to live together forever!”

Melody blurted out her true feelings without realizing it.

‘Oh, what have I done?’

Having revealed her genuine thoughts to this brother-idiot, he was bound to glare at her with his demonic face.

Melody stared intently at Claude, completely on guard.

“Miss Melody. Why are you looking at me with such a demonic face?”

“…Me?”

It wasn’t her who should be looking demonic…

For some reason, Claude was only giving her a very benign smile.

“Well, anyway, I can’t get married. Miss Loretta has someone perfect for her.”

Melody, flustered, ended up mentioning a bit about the original story.

“The perfect partner? Who might that be?”

The person referred to as the male protagonist. Someone crucial for Loretta’s health and well-being.

“I, I don’t know.”@@novelbin@@

But since she couldn’t reveal that fact to Claude at this stage, Melody quickly fumbled her words.

However, Claude looked at her intently, expecting an answer.

“Hmm, really don’t know?”

Feeling the pressure of his gaze, Melody instinctively stepped back.

“It looked like you had someone in mind when you said that.”

“Oh, you’re mistaken.”

“Ah. A misunderstanding.”

Melody was worried he would persistently probe further, but to her relief, he neatly backed off.

“Well, that’s good then.”

He turned and began walking ahead, leading the way to Loretta as promised.

When the two arrived in front of her room, before they even knocked, the door swung open.

“Melody!”

Loretta sprang up and tightly hugged Melody’s shoulders.

Naturally, Melody  gently hugged back the sweet girl who seemed made of pure kindness.

“Melody, did you get a present?”

“A present?”

“Yes, brother said Melody has a present, so Loretta waited.”

Loretta’s lips pouted slightly, seemingly unhappy about having to wait.

Could the ‘present’ be the fact that Melody’s notebook now belongs to the Ducal family’s library?

Caught up in the sudden talk of marriage, she hadn’t given it much thought.

The notebook, now bound by preservation magic and bearing Melody’s name, resting eternally in the Ducal family’s library, was…

Quite… joyous.

The thought of someday being mentioned as ‘Melody of the Ducal Family’ in some researcher’s report was also pleasing.

It felt like the happy Melody of this time was eternally engraved in the unvanishing tower of records.

“Melody, you seem to like it.”

“What?”

“The present.”

“Well…”

Loretta stepped back and looked intently at Melody’s face, expecting a review of the present.

At the same time, Claude was looking at Melody with the same expression as Loretta.

It was a bit funny and cute how the already similar-looking siblings were both staring at her side by side.

“Yes,” Melody giggled, “I liked it very much.”

Loretta’s face lit up immediately. ‘If Melody likes it, Loretta is happy!’ she said, hugging Melody again.

In this perfect moment, Melody felt deeply moved. She wished time could stop right here…

But then she noticed Ronny squatting in a corner of Loretta’s room, cracking peanuts.

His face was dark as he glared in their direction, munching on peanuts with ferocity.

The reason for Ronny’s intense peanut-cracking soon became clear.

He loved peanuts, but each time he cracked one open, Loretta would swiftly snatch and eat them all, leaving him with not a single one from the small bag he had opened.

‘He could’ve just cracked and eaten them directly,’ Melody thought.

The brother-idiot, seeing his sister munching on peanuts adorably, seemed to have given up his favorite peanuts and become a peanut-cracking doll for her.

‘Really, what a brother-idiot,’ Melody thought. Ronny grumpily yet diligently taking care of Loretta was quite amusing, enough to make Melody chuckle.

Of course, Ronny glared at her with a face full of anger, but compared to the expression Claude made when he tormented Melody, it seemed merely innocently childish.

Melody’s amusement continued into the next day.

A large piece of tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat was served for dinner. Being in her growth spurt, Melody ate a substantial amount, hoping she’d grow as much as she ate.

Adults who are tall look impressive, she thought as she popped the remaining meat into her mouth, only to be served more.

Apparently, Melody seemed determined to grow a lot today. She ate all the newly served meat too!

***

The Duke of Baldwin had a concern.

After keeping it to himself for a long time, one late night, he quietly shared it with Butler Higgins.

“Melody needs a place.”

The Duke knew all the reasons behind what had happened to Melody.

It was due to the distorted sense of authority that had long existed in the Ducal house.

Melody was too young to fully bear that, and she had nowhere proper to lean on.

Higgins quickly grasped his thoughts.

“You mean to show, even formally, that there’s someone behind Miss Melody?”

“Yes.”

“There seemed to be quite a few potential adoptive families, I believe.”

Higgins recalled some letters that had recently arrived for the Duke. Some, foreseeing the Duke’s intentions, had expressed their wish to adopt Melody.

However, the Duke didn’t consider them as they were merely trying to gain favor with him by using Melody.

“There’s also the option for you to adopt her directly.”

Although there would be opposition, it was possible to push it through, considering the recent incidents involving Melody.

“I thought so too. But.”

“Is there a problem?”

“There was opposition.”

Higgins dared to guess who might oppose Melody’s adoption.

“Could it be His Majesty the Emperor said something?”

“No.”

“Then it must be the elders, right?”

“I haven’t even gotten that far yet.”

“Then?”

He sighed, resting his chin on his hand, his face showing utter incomprehension.

“Ronny was against it.”

“Ah…”

The butler nodded. Ronny was a young master with a very strong sense of pride.

Considering Melody’s background, it was unlikely he would agree to such a matter.

“Then perhaps you could officially sponsor Miss Melody from the Ducal house.”

“Of course, I’m considering it.”

“It’s not a matter to be hastily decided. It’d be best to take time and find a proper place.”

“I thought so too, but there’s no time. That child will need a place soon.”

“Was there another incident?”

“Yes.”

The Duke turned his head towards the dark window for a moment.

“The execution date has been set.”

Though the subject was omitted, Higgins easily understood whom the Duke referred to.

It must be Melody’s mother.

Perhaps due to her recent attempt to escape prison illicitly, the execution date seemed to be set unusually early.

“Then she must have been moved to the central prison by now.”

“Yes, and she has been granted ‘the last request of a condemned prisoner’.”

“She might ask for jewelry to wear in her death, like the last thief who loved riches and requested the same.”

“I thought so too.”

A bitter smile crossed his lips.

“She requested to spend her last days with her daughter, in prison.”

The Duke had no choice but to relay this absurd ‘last request of a condemned prisoner’ to Melody.

Sitting across from the Duke, Melody quietly listened to his story and just nodded her head.

Why is she nodding?

Worried, the Duke continued to watch Melody even after he finished speaking.

The child seemed to be deep in thought, her large eyes moving back and forth, then she gave a troubled smile.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

And again, she offered him that irritating apology. It was as if there was a mountain of Melody’s apologies behind the Duke.

“I don’t want to keep troubling you with my mother’s matters, being here…”

“Didn’t I promise to tell you when the verdict was decided?”

“Oh, right.”

Even as she replied, Melody’s expression seemed to say, ‘I’m still sorry.’

“Melody.”

With concern, the Duke cautiously offered his opinion.

“As your appointed guardian, let me add this: you don’t need to comply with this request.”

“But you just said that ‘the last request of a condemned prisoner’ is always granted.”

“If the request involves another person, it’s different. You have the right to refuse this request.”

He emphasized ‘refuse’ particularly strongly, almost as if it was his wish that she would do so.

“People facing death often suddenly want to atone. There’s no reason for you to be used by that sentiment.”

It was nothing more than a selfish desire to ease their conscience before facing the unknown afterlife.

Truly selfish until the end.

“But if you feel even a slight desire to meet her, it might be good to see her for a moment.”

“…”

“Take your time to think. You have two weeks to respond.”

To his words, Melody shook her head.

“It’s okay. I realized last time. To her, a loving daughter isn’t me.”