Chapter 8
8 – The Princess and the Teddy Bear (1)
‘Girls?’
It feels like my mind is dazed for a moment by the presence that appeared completely unexpectedly.
The child looked up at me, probably feeling my gaze.
Then, as soon as our eyes met, he immediately lowered his head.
The child’s hair was blond, but I could catch a glimpse of the gray color that is our family’s trademark in the eyes that passed by.
‘aha… ‘
I was momentarily taken aback by the child’s existence, but I was able to figure out what it was.
“Father, who is this child? He looks like a kid I never saw before entering the academy.”
I asked while pretending. After receiving my question, my father immediately flinched and put on a puzzled expression. As if they were revealing something they shouldn’t have.
“ah? ha ha ha. Yeah, I forgot to introduce you to this kid for a moment. This child is called Adele. Since you entered the academy, the family is empty, so I was taken in as a maid from the lower village a while ago to appease my loneliness.”
Where did that cool, calculating look he usually had when he was on duty had gone, and his father was visibly perplexed.
I guess this guy isn’t the kind of person who can’t lie to his children.
Who in the world would take a child who looks like 10 years old as a maid, and what kind of noble would give a maid such cute clothes and dolls and allow her to play in the office…
“okay. But Father, I have something to tell you. “Why don’t you send the child out for a while?”
“Oh yeah? i get it. Hey, Adele. Do you want to go out for a while? And if you feel hungry, go to the kitchen. I told the chef earlier, he should have baked a bunch of cookies by now.”
A child named Adele came over and was hiding behind her father’s legs, listening to our conversation.
After hearing her father’s words, Adele pondered for a moment, bowed her head slightly, and ran out the door with a dodo-do sound.
And outside the door, ‘Oh, little lady, where are you going?’ A sound like
‘What, little lady? cookie?’
Apparently, these people have no intention of hiding anything.
As Adele left and the door slammed shut, there was silence in the office for a while.
“So Father, who is that child?”
It was me who broke the silence first. It was clear that my father would have kept his mouth shut if I didn’t speak up.
“Who are you, didn’t you tell me? In the village below… ”
“father. Who would believe that? What kind of maid in the world dresses up so well and plays with dolls in the housekeeper’s office? If you can guess, please tell me honestly. Aside from the hair, the eyes definitely belong to my family.”
When I started talking straight away, my father, who kept trying to make excuses, was speechless.
And the father soon admitted the truth as if resigned.
“… okay. Having said that, I can’t get away with it any longer. That child, Adele… It’s your half brother… ”
“It seemed so. How old are you?”
“If I understand it right, that kid just turned 12 this year.”
12 years old. It looks just like its age. Oh, but if that’s the case…
“Father, wasn’t it 12 years ago when your mother was still around? Did your mother know about the existence of that child? Or maybe you live in two houses… ”
“No, no, living in two houses!! “How can you look at me and say such things!”
My father looked like he was in tears for a moment, and then strongly denied my words. Then he sighed heavily and explained the whole incident to me.
“We’ve come this far, so what can we do by hiding it further? Let me explain what happened… ”
According to my father’s explanation, about 10 years ago, on the way home from an overseas deployment, my father and his knights stayed overnight in a village.
And my father, who had drank a lot that day, fell asleep very drunk, and when he opened his eyes the next morning, the daughter of the village chief was lying next to him.
And both of them were wearing clothes, but I couldn’t remember anything, so I asked my daughter just in case. The village chief’s daughter said that nothing happened because her father was drunk and fell asleep.
Still, he returned home after telling his daughter to come find him if she had any problems, and he thought about talking to his mother, but couldn’t in the end… That was the whole story of the incident.
“… Then, about three years ago, Adele’s biological mother, whose fate I had never heard of and whose fate I had never heard of, came to visit me. “In the meantime, she was raising her child alone, but she said she got sick and couldn’t move around as easily as before, so she worried repeatedly and eventually came here.”
“No, if you were going to come to me like that, why did you hide the fact that you had the child and raise it by yourself?”
“I was curious about that too, so I asked why, but he didn’t give me a clear answer. Maybe he was afraid of being embroiled in the affairs of a noble family. In any case, I was a body with a wife, and there was your existence as the successor. At that time, my family was just starting to grow in the southern region, so the name wouldn’t be well known to the common people, and they wouldn’t trust me too much after passing by overnight… ”
When Adele’s birth mother came to visit, her father set up a shelter in the outer castle and took care of the mother and daughter. Then, her birth mother eventually passed away due to illness, and it seemed that her father, who felt sorry for Adele, who was left alone, eventually brought her here.
In this world, there are countless nobles who would not blink an eye even if they made several illegitimate children.
After my father finished speaking, he looked at me and asked carefully.
“so… What do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“That child. I want to hear what you think of him.”
“Does my opinion matter? The head of the family is the father. Of course, it’s something you can do according to your father’s will.”
“I think your heart is also important. Anyway, from your point of view, the younger brother who suddenly came in… Aren’t you a child?”
My father seemed terrified that I might not accept Adele. Considering my original personality, I think it’s worth it. You must be worried that I might suddenly harass your brother.
“I’m telling you this just in case you don’t know, but you are sure of paternity, right?”
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“Yes, I have already asked the priest for a mana knot and confirmed it. “Adele is my daughter without a doubt.”
The Mana Knot was a church magic that tied the mana of a child and parent and examined its wavelength to determine paternity.
And although the cost was very expensive, it was also famous for its accuracy without any deviation, making it a very popular test in aristocratic society where cuckooing frequently occurred.
If the church had confirmed it, there would be no more doubts, so it was my only decision that my father was waiting for now.
‘Ehh… ‘
I sighed deeply and rang the bell on the desk to call the attendant.
After a while, a maid came in and bowed her head.
“Did you call?”
“Go and get a child named Adele. Maybe in the kitchen.”
When the maid heard that, she lifted her head slightly, looked at my father and me, and then slowly stepped back and left the office. Then, after a while, I came back with Adele.
Perhaps she had heard that I had called, but for some reason, even Adele’s eyes seemed to show fear.
“You just go out. and… Did you say Adele? Come closer this way.”
I sent the maid out the door and called Adele’s name.
When the maid left and she was left alone, Adele looked even more frightened.
However, as the owner of the cow, he couldn’t refuse what I said, so he came closer, his legs shaking, but his eyes were full of tears.
I don’t feel very good. How bad the rumors were, how unfavorable the appearance was, that even a child like this was told to come near… Actually, right now, my heart is the exact opposite.
As Adele approached, I spoke to her in the kindest voice I could.
“Do you know who I am?”
“So…isn’t it the Lord Soga…? ?”
Adele shook her head for a moment, then answered me with a trembling voice.
“No, no. If you’re a servant in my family, you should call me that, but aren’t we brother and sister? So, it is right to call you brother, not cow-lord.”
“Oh…my brother… ?”
When Adele followed my words and sang ‘Brother’, I felt very satisfied.
I smiled and nodded to Adele.
“Right. In the future, you can call it like that. I’m sorry I haven’t taken care of you in the meantime. I’ll be extra careful to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future, so don’t worry too much.”
After hearing my words, Adele seemed to relax. Seeing that, I approached her and lightly stroked Adele’s head.
My hand flinched slightly when it touched her hair, but when I gently brushed it through her hair, Adele soon calmed down and accepted my touch.
How can there be such a cute creature in the world? This is nonsense…
“Get out. It looks like I interrupted your fun snack time. Go and finish eating, but don’t overeat because we’ll have dinner together later.”
Adele listened to me and bowed her head at me and my father. Then, as before, I left the office with footsteps making do-do-do sounds.
I looked back to see my father after Adele had left the room.
My father was looking at me with an expression full of emotion, and it felt as if tears were about to fall from his eyes.
I don’t really want to see the tears of a man, especially a middle-aged man…
“Is this enough?”
I sighed and told my father.
“Edwin… ! Hey… ”
“What is wrong with the child? And how else can you get rid of a child with such an odd story? Bringing him into the family seems like the right thing to do.”
Of course, the existence of a child named Adele did not appear at all in the original work, and traces of it could only be found in Edwin’s memories.
It was about two years ago that I found out about the existence of a child.
As my father began to visit the outer castle more and more often, I started digging out of interest and eventually figured out Adele’s identity, at least roughly.
But at the time, I didn’t really care.
Adele’s blood was half lowly, so she didn’t necessarily want to deal with him, and since she was Reed’s steadfast successor anyway, she didn’t feel any sense of crisis.
It was rather good that the father’s interest in him, who had been overly concerned about himself, had faded because of the child’s existence.
Thought so, I completely forgot Adele after a while, but the situation changed as the memories of my previous life came back.
“Edwin… thank you… really… ”
My father held my hands together and repeatedly thanked me.
Actually, thank you is what I should say to my father.
I always wanted to have a cute little sister. However, I never imagined that coming here would make that dream come true.
After all, is this life a new opportunity for me?
This is Kiromi Adele.