“Tie, what brings you here?”

The Marquis asked in a soothing tone, his voice entirely different from when he spoke to me.

Clattier, who came into the hall, put both of her hands on her waist and raised her eyebrows.

“Daddy, you shouldn’t be stepping on a child like that yet.”

The man laughed, clearing my shoulders from the heavy burden of his feet.

“You’re too kind to them. You care about all these kids.”

“Tush!”

Clattier rubbed her lips. A shy flush rose on her face.

“It’s my birthday soon.”

“Yes, that’s why we’re cleaning the hall.”

“We don’t have to party in this big hall.”

While saying so, Clattier’s eyes betrayed her words. Her eyes glistened with joy as if she was expecting a big birthday party.

“It’s my daughter’s birthday. I can’t do it half-heartedly, can I?”

“Daddy, you’re too kind.”

Her light-pink shoes slowed to a halt in front of me.

“Are you all right?”

A sweet voice sprinkled down on me like the soft petals of a blossom.

I nodded, raising my upper body.

“Then cheer up.”

Clattier hugged the Marquis’s arm, smiling. The latter stroked her hair with love.

The friendly father and daughter began to move notes towards the door.

“Hey, Dad—my shoes got wet in the dirty rainwater.”

“I’ll buy you new ones, so don’t worry.”

“Wow, Dad’s the best!”

I stayed alone and looked at their retreating figures.

The rainwater was wetting my whole body.

Boom. The doors closed.

I stared at the tightly blocked door and lowered my head.

“. . . Let’s clean up.’

You don’t know what else you’ll get if you don’t finish it.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The hall was struck by thunder.

I rolled up my body as much as I could, but it didn’t work.

My hungry stomach still clamored for food.

I was punished by my uncle for not cleaning up the hall.

Even though done with a thin whip, my calves suffered greatly from the thirty lashes. Pink flesh stood out on my calves as if marred by a blade.

He told me in public, who was already sick and unable to stand properly.

“There will be no dinner for you until after a week from today.”

That meant eating only one meal a day.

Usually, I had only two meals, breakfast, and dinner.

The most proper meal I’ve received so far was soup with hard bread and dry water.

Clattie came in when the Marquis left.

“Oh, you poor thing.”

Clattier kicked her tongue as if she were sorry for my bruises and torn flesh.

“Don’t be too upset. My dad’s a fair-minded man. It’s not fair to others to give you free meals because you’re my cousin.”

You and I are different even if we are cousins.

Her eyes were saying so.

“Next time, do your best. You have to finish your work well. Dad said so. He said those who don’t work should not eat either.”

Clattie smiled brightly and left the room to see if she was proud of herself.

The thought of that time made me angry.

‘So far I’ve been eating. . . ‘

Growlrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I wanted to say I didn’t need food, but I was so hungry.

‘It hurts.’

My empty stomach hurt, the pain clashing with my searing calves.

My breaths are shortening.

My exhales are hot.

My mind is blank.

‘This is certainly distressing’

I was wearing my cold wet clothes until they dried up, and I was about to catch a fever.

I hid in an old blanket. The chill of the winter night froze my body.

In the daze of a fever and the cold, the Marquis’ voice rang out.

“You should thank me.”

“Your father irresponsibly leaves you here and doesn’t even pay child support.”

“So you’re going to have to pay for your meals, right? Do you know how much you eat? How much money it costs to feed you?!” He cried out.

“In the end, you still didn’t pay for your meal, again! You’re lazy! For something as useless as you, you shouldn’t get to eat and you shouldn’t get to sleep, either. Lord be thankful for my mercy.”

My ears shut out the voice of the Marquis, who continued.

Now I could not feel hunger, nor the pain of my calves.

I gasped with my chest tight.

“It hurts so much. . .”

My heart seemed torn. I don’t want to, but I keep trying.

My heart was broken.

When I stood in front of the master, my whole body trembled and I couldn’t speak properly.

In my child eyes, he seemed too tall.

“Your biological father abandoned you, and I’m taking care of you and raising you, right?”

“Oh, I’ll have to see if he’s really your biological father. You can’t even use magic.”

I clasped the blanket tightly.

‘Did I really get abandoned?’

I couldn’t grasp it at first, but now I did.

No matter how evil your opponent is, a contract is a contract.

But the result is this.

‘I was a fool to believe in the Devil’s contract.’

I don’t know how many times you’ve been disappointed.

I don’t expect to keep promises that won’t be kept.

So you don’t have to be disappointed.

She contemplated her decisions with a whimper.

I had a runny, flushed nose.

Tears trickle down my cheeks.

This is nothing much. Why is there water coming out of my eyes?

‘I’m sure it’s because I’m still young!’

Breathe.

‘Damn that Devil.’

You said it was a gold spoon. A life of competence and privilege.

You said you’d give me my dad and brother.

“. . . Family, having thought it was alive.”

“Ah-chu!”

The sneeze shook through my entire body.

I snorted and clutched the blanket tightly. There’s little to no warmth, but it’s better than nothing.

‘There’s no cold medicine here, and this young body is too weak.’

I’ve almost died once or twice.

Today is the same.

. . .It might be easier. . . to just die.

‘No, no, no! Don’t be weak!’

I can’t die like this even if it’s unfair.

I’ll survive half a life in this zero-star world.

***

“Tie, happy birthday!”

“Oh, my God, you’re still so young, but you’re dazzlingly beautiful.”

“All the men of the Empire will fall for our Tier.”

Clattie, who is surrounded by her family and smiling brightly, looked as cute and lovely as an angel.

It was sad.

She was wearing a light pink dress today, which was so luxurious and colorful that she could not think of as a child’s.

A dainty, ankle-high, voluminous dress was adorned with several layers of lace, embroidered with tiny diamonds.

No matter how rich they are, they don’t look so luxurious in children’s clothes that they can’t wear after a year.

But to show how much the Marquis loves Clattie, by the time of her birthday, this expensive dress arrived at the mansion.

It’s a beautiful outfit with a different dimension than the usual clothes I wear, so I always expected what kind of dress would be for Clattie.

‘The Marquis didn’t tell me what kind of dress it was.’

No matter how many times Clattier dozed off, it was no use asking for a hint.

If the momentary surprise could have made her happier the moment she received it, he would have kept it a secret.

‘You’re really loved. . .’

I turned my eyes and looked at the beautifully decorated party hall.

Of course, the hall was cleaned and decorated with glitter.

Even the Marquis couldn’t have thought I could clean it all up in the first place.

‘He was just trying to mock me by assigning all that work.’

I looked at my toes and clung tightly to the corner of the walls.

A shabby shoe, worn on one small foot did not fit here.

Even the serving servants and maids were wearing better quality shoes and clothes than me.

‘It’s shabby.’

Even though she was still in the corner, she could feel a sneering look.

It was a small, family birthday party, but I couldn’t join it.

Well, who would see me now and think of me as the family of the Marquis family?

In fact, I didn’t attend the birthday party as Princess Paeraton’s cousin.

“Oh my God!”

Clattier’s startled voice rang high.

While cutting the cake, the whipped cream fell on top of the sphere.

The new shoes I bought were going to get damaged, and my face turned sour.

“What are you looking at so far?”

Then the voice of the Marquis gave me a sharp slap on the back.

“Without wiping!”

Yeah, it wasn’t as a cousin that I was here.

‘Instead, I was present as Clattier’s servant.’

If you wait any longer, the Marquis will punish you again.

I quickly approached Clattie’s front and talked to the maid standing beside me.

“Well, something to wipe . . . .”

She turned away with an embarrassed look before I could finish talking.

It was obvious why.

‘It’s the order of the Marquis.’

I went to Clattie’s front and kneeled without asking any more questions.

When I pulled up my sleeve and scrubbed it, the feeling of the oily creaminess made me feel disgusted.

But there was something worse than that.

Countless gazes attach upon my prone back.

When I raised my head, I immediately met the Marquis and his eyes.

His eyes were intoxicated with contempt, joy, and triumph.

“Is that all you cleaned up? It has to shine!”

The Marquis flocked towards me.

The small hand grasped at my sleeve gave me a burst of strength.

“She’s not listening again! Was starving for a week not enough? Or was the lacking of hawks?!”

I bit my lips tight.

‘Get up and tell that abuser. . .!’

I wanted to shout at his face.

But this little body was so shaky that it wouldn’t move.

Scared. Scared. I’m scared.

Regardless of my will, my body peeped and moved.

My posture was lowered and my lips were as close to the ground as Clattie’s shoes.

Clattie shook her foot hastily. The wind really touched my lips on these shoes.

‘It’s all right. This isn’t a big deal.’

I am. . . a precious person.

‘Really?’

A voice filled with doubt was heard from the bottom of my heart.

It was when I tried to ignore it and blow my breath.

“Is my memory wrong?”

Lee, who has a low but clear voice, divided the chairman’s mind.

“My daughter wasn’t blonde.”

When I raised my head, a tall man with a cape fixed on one shoulder stood crooked.

He was looking at Clattie with a frown.

The light pink dress Clattie is wearing, matched the embarrassed flush on her face.

“The—, Duke of Paeraton?!”

The Marquis cried out in shock.

I flinched, my heart leaped high before sinking.

The Duke of Paeraton?

That guy?

My gaze shook at the sight of that man.

The Duke of Pateraton.

He is my father, Prince Paeraton.

***

Even standing in a carefree way, you could tell he was a great looking man. Wide shoulders and long limbs, and a tight waist. With a grim face that seems unlikely to bleed a single drop of blood, even upon stabbing.

A massive burst of energy came from within my whole body.

You can’t hide your handsomeness.

‘Wow. . . You look handsome enough to be the male lead in a Romance Fantasy. . .!’

His hair was the shade of darkness that is deeper than the abyss.

His eyes are redder than sparkling rubies and pure pigeon blood.

If you were to describe him in a novel, you’d see a sentence like that.

He was more like the main character than all the self-reliant men I had ever imagined.

“Well, weren’t you supposed to be on the western front?”

The Western Front?

My eyebrows crumple under the Marquis’ words.

They loosen after a while.

‘So the Duke was at war?’

I didn’t know.

“It’s over.”

“Yes?”

“It’s over, the war.”

The Marquis shook his head as if it could not be.

“It’s over, I’m sure of it. . .”

“—and even the little ones take care of themselves, and mind their own business. Do I look so free and unbusy that you want me to give you a rundown on everything that has happened this year?”

The Duke’s eyes caressed me like a sharp day.

It was still a lewd and languid attitude, but that alone changed the air.

The Marquis and his wife took a hard breath and hardened their bodies.

“Ha, ha, ha, no way.”

The Marquis approached the Duke with a forced smile on his face.

“By the way, what brings you here without any contact?”

“It’s obvious what I’ve come for.”

The Duke moved the notes in defiance of the latter.

Perhaps because his legs were so long, he arrived in front of Clattier in a few steps even though he was moving leisurely.

The red pupils screamed at Clattie.

Clattie shook her head, unable to bear his cold, sharp-eyed stare.

Her trembling body and blue face seemed that about to bite back the foam in her mouth.

The Duke’s gaze narrowed. His bloodshot eyes moved slowly.

‘Ah.’

Their eyes met.

The peacock’s eyes maneuvered.

“You snobbish rat.”

“She’s working in my house—“

“You can’t possibly mean that this ugly girl is my daughter.”

The Duke’s voice was low enough to be dangerous.

No matter what he explained by his side, the Marquis remained stiff and couldn’t continue his words.

The Marquis family and all the employees around him couldn’t even breathe.

I couldn’t spit out any words easily.

The room filled with stifling silence.

It was so thick and deep that even a needle wouldn’t fit in.

I curled my head, neck tucking towards my chest.

A scrawny rat, that’s the way it is, even I saw myself as shabby and ugly.

‘Oh, my God. You don’t like that I’m your daughter.’

You’ll want to deny it, but. . .

“Well, could you—could you still burn me?”

I gathered all my courage and courage and looked up the Duke.

I can’t live here anymore. I was almost sure I’d die at this rate.

The red pupil in his face warps.

“What?”

“Oh, it’s because I didn’t wash up. . .”

I moistened my mouth, trying to look as neat as possible.

“It won’t bother you. I can wash well even if I stand alone.”

It was like a thump in my ear.

“I’m good at cleaning rice, too! I can make a living. Because I’m eating a little bit of rice. . .”

The Duke was silent.

“I’ll also wipe your shoes every day! I can wipe it off like crazy!”

My courage is fading away.

I tried not to, but my head kept going down and I could only see his jawline, not his eyes.

“And, again, again—?“

His chin went stiff.

My head is facing the floor completely.

Clattier’s shoes were seen, with the cream’s grease left.

I don’t like it here.

A warm, cozy, and relaxing place, I’ve always wanted to live in a place like that.

Even now, even in my previous life, I’ve always—

“—I want to go home . . .”

***