Chapter 5: 5

As long as I was out of the original work, it was unclear how much my future development and ability would increase.

‘…Anyways, it’s marriage. The only answer was to marry Duke Bastion’s son.’

What if I still bloomed?

Then the people around me wouldn’t keep silent.

Like in the original, not only the Imperial family but other forces might covet my abilities.

At that time, in order to not be sold to either side, she had to be under the protection of a powerful household that couldn’t be treated recklessly, not under a businessman like William.

‘But sponsorship or adoption is insufficient. I couldn’t turn down an Imperial marriage when I was just an adopted child.’

Yes, no matter how many times I thought about it, a daughter-in-law position was the best.

In what capacity could someone swipe a girl who was already married to the son of an important family? And the bride of the future demon Duke of Bastion!

As such, I had enough justification to push ahead with this marriage.

Moreover, it’s not like I could live alone.

If I further revealed the truth, we could somehow help the future descendents of house Bastion survive.

The problem was that there was still no concept of mana poisoning if overdone, whether it be holy power or magical power…

I sighed heavily.

I tried to take the easy way out, but I was already tired.

However, it could be guessed from the common sense of young Aisha.

Aside from magic, if I said I was going to die because of my holy power, I would be treated as a heretic.

‘I’d be hunted by the witch hunters, then I’d be crushed by a stone or burned at the stake, it would be the end of my life.’

So, at least if I wanted to make miso koji with azuki beans, I would just have to woo the Duke of Bastion and his son until I could build their trust up enough to believe me. That was it…

‘That’s about it.’

My eyes flashed with confidence.

“Be prepared, Bastion.”

Huhuhu.

My first night at the demon Duke’s mansion passed with an evil smile.

***

Knock knock!

A simple knock.

With a bang!

Confidently visit.

Argh!

Keep the conversation light.

“Good morning, father-in-law candidate.”

Let’s say hi energetically!

The Duke of Bastion opened his eyes in the morning sun, and looked at me with furrowed brows.

‘Oh, even the way you wake up is a picture to behold.’

It was a different kind of charm than the sword-like perfection of his appearance. I couldn’t believe that he’d managed such a difficult thing, which was normally a disheveled affair.

He was my potential father-in-law, after all, he then murmured in a cracked voice as he swept his hair back.

“What is this…”

“Come on, wake up! It’s already past nine o’clock!”

I shouted and clapped my hands together.

The Duke of Bastion unexpectedly liked to sleep in late in the mornings.

I had just gotten the tip that it’s hard to wake him up, so it’s better to get him up all at once and on his feet as quickly as possible.

‘I feel like a nurse who’s waking up a patient who was under anesthetics.’

Before he started to spew nonsense about becoming a pirate king, I rushed and pulled on his outstretched arm on the bed.

“Oh, it’s heavy…! You don’t even budge!”

However, I was told that if I gave up here, five minutes would become ten minutes, and ten minutes would become an hour.

I clenched my teeth and pulled as hard as I could, and his upper body slowly came up.

I smiled at him, and asked if he was awake yet.

“…What’s with your clothes?”

“Oh, the maid sisters are fixing my remaining clothing.”

[Note from Baset: Just wanted to let you know that when Aisha is referring to the maids as sister’s it’s in a cute way, but not that the maids themselves are sisters.]

In front of the majestic-looking Duke, I spun around to let him see.

A form-fitting white apron, and a black maid’s uniform fluttered around me.

Whoo. How did I survive without any of my own possessions?

‘First is congeniality. Second is good-naturedness.’

With that, even if the monthly rent was a little behind, and could even be forgiven. I could even receive different kinds of kimchi.

I was the one who melted the hearts of the ‘Aunties of Korea’ like a snowball in the spring sunshine, and was praised as a child with a truly good character.

In other words, it was a piece of cake to captivate the people of the mansion in the morning.

‘And the next target, of course, is you, Duke!’

I smiled as I lifted the hem of my dress with both of my hands.

It was a killer smile that I had practiced since dawn, while looking in the small mirror in my small room.

“What do you think?”

Young children were all cute, but objectively speaking, Aisha had a very beautiful appearance.

Although it was an unpleasant description, it could be said that I was the most important product of Priest William, who only had his eyes on gold.

I have white skin, well-defined facial features, silvery-white hair and amber colored eyes that shone faintly.

There were no flaws, other than being too small and skinny.

‘Wait. This incredibly curly hair honestly looked like dog fur.’

Moreover, my hair was so thin and pale that a strong breeze made it a mess. When I woke up, it looked like it was hit by a bomb.

It was difficult to get untangled and brushed. I tried my best to comb through it, but I couldn’t ever get it organized.

But it wasn’t necessarily bad.

‘Because it exudes a cute and bubbly charm!’

I could hear the squeals about my cuteness as I was petted by the maid sisters until I thought my stomach would burst.

Thanks to this, my self-esteem was about to break through the ceiling and reach the sky!

I looked up at the Duke with sparkling eyes.

Unable to escape her ridiculousness and his sleepiness, he opened his mouth with a frown.

Say it. What do you think? Aren’t I cute? You want to pet me, right?

Like…

“Like a puppy.”

“A puppy!”

I should bite you.

He laughed, as if it was funny to see me stamping my feet while huffing.

In a flash, the smile disappeared and a cold wind blew, making me feel as if my heart would freeze.

He stared down at me with an infinitely condescending look.

“By the way, who helped you do all this nonsense?”

Gulp.

I’ve lost my mind.

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That’s not because I don’t know, but because I already knew.

Even as I tried to sneak around here, what I just did was like pulling on the nose hair of a lion, which was a bad idea.

Well, I would have to face this head-on.

I replied without avoiding the eyes of the annoyed Duke Bastion.

“Oh, please don’t scold Grandpa Hugo. I’m the one who insisted.”

“Grandpa Hugo…?”

“I’ll tell you something else while we’re on the subject. Betty and Joan said that they would rather take over cleaning the toilet than waking up the Duke, but how hard would it be to say that? I heard that you would spray them with dark energy every morning. So, the maids’ hands would tremble and they broke 5 teacups… I heard that they were very expensive teacups, each one was brought from abroad. Grandpa Hugo said that he was also upset when the teacups were broken. So, I think that Father-in-law is partially at fault for the current situation!”

After I said whatever came to my mind to him, Duke Bastion mumbled something about my incomprehensible rambling.

“When did you have the time to have such useless conversations… What time did you get up?”

What time? I just woke up at the time I was taught to.

I answered with a quick thumbs up.

“About 4 o’clock.”

“… 4 o’clock?”

“Yes, the maid sisters were also getting ready for work at that time.”

“The adults didn’t teach you that sleeping a lot would help you grow?”

“I was taught that if I was lazy, I would be beaten.”

He paused for a moment, then turned away without saying anything.

I wasn’t lying, but I was trying to induce a little sympathy, did he see right through me? That’s the master of the Monster Dam. He wasn’t naÏve.

Even though I was disappointed, he sighed as if I couldn’t hear him, and got out of bed.

It seemed that he was trying to put my wake-up call incident to rest.

‘That’s a relief. I was worried that Grandpa Hugo, and the maids would get in trouble.’

Hugo, the head butler who understood ten things when only one thing was said, gladly gave me permission, but he was also worried about me on the inside.

However, when I think about Duke Bastion’s notoriety, I should never let my guard down around him, no matter how weak he was to me.

The anecdotes that passed through my head right away were spectacular.

I heard a young noblewoman tried to exploit the Duke, and almost died of a heart attack. He also broke both of the legs of a Count who was constantly showing up in front of him.

‘It might’ve been exaggerated, but there was no smoke without fire.’

As soon as I said I would go in to wake the Duke, I could tell from the reactions of the sister maids who were trying to tear me away.

He was definitely the ‘Demon Duke’ who caused others to quake in fright.

Even though right now, in front of my eyes, he was showing his boring side as he staggered around half-asleep.

‘…low blood pressure?’

Even demons can’t control their blood pressure.

I grabbed his forearm with both hands, and clicked my tongue.

As I tried to walk in step with him, my vision suddenly became higher.

“Huh?”

I wondered why I was suddenly flying.

I hung onto the Duke’s arm, and faintly looked down at the dark floor.

“Wha, What are you doing…”

“Didn’t you hang onto me because you wanted me to pick you up?”

“I was just trying to help.”

The Duke said “I see”, and put me down again.

He moved me as if I was as light as a grain of dust on his forearm.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I let go of the Duke’s arm and awkwardly stepped back, while he looked at me like he was asking why I was letting go.

“Did you say you were helping?”

“You don’t seem to need it at all.”

“I need it.”

Why?

It was strange, but I reflexively grabbed his arm after he waved it around as if to tell me to grab him quickly. I even smiled at him as a service.

Hmm, was it an illusion to feel satisfied by his indifferent face.

Duke Bastion walked slowly like a turtle with me, and I wondered if he was still feeling dizzy.

Thanks to this, it wasn’t hard to keep up with the length of his stride, which seemed to be more than double of mine.

As I stepped out of the bedroom and into the front room with him, I admired it silently.

I’d passed by it earlier, but it was still a jaw-dropping sight even when I looked at it again.

The Duke of Bastion’s room could not be called just any room.

I felt as if I had been transported directly to the most luxurious residence I had ever seen.

The huge front room, which I’d entered from the hallway, had a number of doors in addition to the door to the bedroom.

I wondered what all those doors were for, but the Duke had left me sitting on the couch in the front room, and disappeared inside one of the doors.

I sat quietly, humming to myself, and after a while he reappeared. His hair and face were still damp from the water, as if he had washed them while he was in there.

‘That’s the bathroom.’

I’d remember it well, but he quickly walked into another door and came out again.

This time, his clothes had changed.

‘Aha, that’s the closet. Second door from the right. Okay.’

As I nodded, the Duke, who was now in a light shirt, asked me.

“Breakfast?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should’ve asked in advance. Would you like to eat in your room, or in the dining room? I heard that you usually like to eat in the dining room. I’ll bring you there!”

I jumped off the sofa and answered skillfully.

Finally, I could use what I had learned.

After a few hours of following the servants and memorizing the geography of the house, I was confident about leading him to the dining room.

The Duke stood in place, crossed his arms and said.

“No.”

“What? Oh, would you like to eat in your room? Then I’ll tell them to go and get it ready right away…”

“No.”

He shook his head, then jutted his chin at me as if he were saying, ‘You.’

Oh, me? Did I eat?

I replied, nodding my head.

“The maids gave me a snack…”

“Snacks are not meals.”

That said, I wasn’t hungry. That was because Aisha’s body had adapted to eating less.

Aisha had been raised in the temple since before she could remember.

I didn’t know if I was taken to the temple as soon as I was born, as Duke Bastion had said, but what I did know for sure was that I’d lived for a long time undergoing the ‘beggars diet’.

Therefore, the size of my stomach wasn’t big enough to distinguish between a snack and a meal.

“You haven’t eaten yet.”

“Yeah…”

The Duke passed in front of me as I squirmed.

What? Where was he going?

I ran after him in a panic, afraid that I would miss him.

The Duke walked down the hallway, and down the stairs to the left side of the hall. That’s the direction of the dining room that I’ve been trying so hard to remember.

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