Chapter 27: 27

Leonia, who was soon captured, was devastated.

 

“…… Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

Pelliot’s eyes as he looked at Leonia were filled with determination and pitiful affection.

 

“Leo.”

 

“…… Why, Dad?”

 

“You need to run around like a normal kid.”

 

The needlessly careful words were so uncomfortable. Pelliot wasn’t the kind of person who treated others so cautiously. Of course, Leonia knows that there has been an exception for quite some time. Still, she hated this kind of consideration.

 

Especially now that she read this invitation.

 

“You are still young. There is no need to force yourself to pretend to be an adult.”

 

“What b***s…….”

 

Leonia, startled by the word that was just about to come out, hurriedly raised her filial piety. Still, she couldn’t say ‘b******t’ in the face of her worried father.

 

“…… Well, Dad.”

 

First of all, she decided she was going to convince Pelliot that she was doing well.

 

“I prefer to be alone while reading a book rather than a toy. And as Dad knows, I’m very mature.”

 

“But that wasn’t what you wanted.”

 

“Why is this Mister doing this, all of a sudden?”

 

In the end, Leonia couldn’t stand it and called Pelliot ‘Mister’ after a long time. It would be nice if it was just an illusion, but his wretched eyebrows and tightly closed lips felt pitiful for some reason. She wished he wasn’t that sympathetic towards her.

 

But all the bad predictions came true.

 

“Leo.”

 

A large hand gently stroked the child’s head.

 

‘…… What’s with the atmosphere?’

 

The round eyes couldn’t hold back. She never dreamed that the atmosphere in which sympathy and sadness coexist would be so unfamiliar.

 

“Now you can make good friends now and play like children your age…….”

 

“I have friends! You saw at the orphanage!”

 

Leonia mentioned the orphanage she had recently visited. The orphanage members were comrades, family, and precious friends who endured the difficult moments together.

 

The orphanage family, who she met again after a few months, saw Leonia and wept tears of joy. Thanks to Leonia, they were saved from the hellish orphanage, and that they had been transferred to the Voreotti Orphanage, where they received warm protection. Now they were not hungry, the clothes they received were warm, and they were able to study.

 

“It’s not a friend.”

 

However, Pelliott’s thoughts and memories of that day were very different from Leonia’s.

 

“Protector and guardian.”

 

Even Pelliott did not deny that the orphanage children welcomed Leonia. The children were so close that they hugged each other and cried for a long time.

 

But it was only for that moment that they seemed to be her friend.

 

‘How are you? You’re not hungry for food, right?’

 

‘Let’s see, oh my, you’re so tall!’

 

‘Did you cry? Don’t cry, come on. Sister will clean it for you.’

 

‘Hey, you punk! How many times have I told you not to bully all the little ones!’

 

‘Sister, have you memorized all the letters now? Awesome!’

 

Leonia was so accustomed to taking care of her former orphanage family one by one. It started with a child younger than her, and the older siblings, who were much older, also looked like a very young baby in front of Leonia. And the children took that touch all too well.

 

In the former orphanage, no one looked after or cared for the children. So, the responsible and smart Leonia took the place of the grown-ups and took care of the children. Such a dream-like childhood was nothing but a luxury in a barren orphanage.

 

The child’s guardian. It wasn’t even funny. Pelliot regretted it for the first time. If he had a little more interest and sympathy for his cousin, who had eloped. If the search had been a little longer at that time, the child wouldn’t have had such a difficult life.

 

‘There were several wounds on the girl’s back. Like a whip or a leather belt….’

 

Pelliot was reminded of what Melles reported after examining Leonia’s bare body. A child who was much younger than her peers still did not express her difficult moments.

 

Swallowing up the rising anger, Pelliott slowly swept around Leonia’s eyes. The child was startled to see the faint trembling of her father’s hand, caressing her cheek.

 

“Leo.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You are my one and only family.”

 

“Dad…….”

 

Leonia’s eyes heated up at the unexpected confession.

 

“I didn’t expect you to be such a big existence.”

 

“…… Are you picking a fight?”

 

Tsk, Leonia grumbled straight away.

 

“So I want you to do whatever you want.”

 

But Dad won’t let me…….

 

Leonia swallowed the words she couldn’t bear to utter down her throat. He surprised her with toys that could restore childlike innocence. He also confiscated the child’s book ‘Life is All in Vain. He gave her ‘Fairy Tale of Dreams and Fantasy’ to read instead.

 

Leonia really wanted to refrain from being treated as a child, no matter how young she looked.

 

“Your childlike innocence is precious.”

 

But when Pelliot did this far, she couldn’t say she didn’t like it any more. She was frankly touched. It was a lot. The hot tears in her eyes made her nose feel cold for nothing. Just as she considers him to be her real father and follows him, Pelliot also cherishes Leonia and cares for her sincerely.

 

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‘I knew Dad liked me, but…….’

 

What she knew and what she saw and felt were definitely different.

 

“Uhhhhhh!”

 

Embarrassed, Leonia covered her face with her hands.

 

“I’ll go!”

 

Leonia clenched her teeth and said.

 

“I’m not going to die if I go!”

 

“It’s an invitation, not a duel.”

 

Pelliot said, stroking his daughter’s hair with a curious look.

 

* * *

 

Winter in the north is longer and darker than anywhere else.

 

Viscount Kerata returned from looking at the large reindeer farm outside the estate. Since it was so spacious, half a day went by just looking around to see if there was any place to repair it. Fortunately, he checked everything before the sun went down, and there was nothing wrong.

 

“You have returned?”

 

“Father! You’re back!”

 

“Are you back?”

 

When the Viscount arrived at the mansion, he was greeted by his family and ended the day happily.

 

And when everyone is asleep.

 

“…… honey.”

 

First the Viscountess, lying on the bed, looked at her husband with a worried expression.

 

“As you said, I sent an invitation to the Duke, but will he really come?”

 

“Are you worried about that?”

 

The Viscount, lying next to her, patted his wife’s shoulder and smiled softly. The Viscountess said yes frankly and let out a sigh. She never imagined that the day would come when she would send an invitation to the Duke’s residence. And she still can’t believe this reality.

 

“I am not looking down on our family.”

 

The Kerata family, along with the Voreotti family, were a long-established family that existed before the Empire. So, even though their title is only a Viscount, the nobles in the north did not treat Kerata lightly.

 

“But it’s the Duke.”

 

The Northern Master and Black Beast.

 

“I’d be glad if he used the invitation as a fireplace burner. At least it won’t be a waste of paper.”

 

Viscount Kerata burst into laughter at his wife’s fussy worries. The Viscountess then narrowed her eyes. Because for his wife, it was very serious.

 

“Hmmhmm, you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

Viscount Kerata looked into his wife’s eyes.

 

“Because the Duke personally asked me to do it.”

 

“I don’t even believe that.”

 

“Wife, please trust your husband.”

 

His big fingers were tickling his wife’s side. The Viscountess twisted her body as she smirked. After saying she believes him now, the Viscount fell slightly behind her.

 

“I hope you prepared the tea party well.”

 

“That’s…….”

  

 

If the real Duke Voreoti father-and-daughter came, she could not show any flaws anywhere. The Black Beast of the North was that much awe-inspiring.

 

“By the way, you said you have seen Lady Voreotti in person.”

 

“She was a very cute little girl.”

 

Viscount Kerata, who remembered Leonia, smiled warmly. Her wild tone and bright black eyes were not easily forgotten. Besides, didn’t she say ‘baby’ to Flomus, who was a lot taller than her?

 

“I don’t know if I can use this expression, but she was like an old child.”

 

“Oh my?”

 

“She looked at our Flo and said, ‘Oh, you’re still a baby’.”

 

“Oh my God!”

 

The Viscountess burst into laughter. Viscount Kerata, following his wife, also smiled. On one hand, he felt sorry for Leonia.

 

Although Flomus was taller than her peers, Leonia was too small for her age. Viscount Kerata actually thought she was five years old when he first saw Leonia. She looked like a child much younger than her age. It wasn’t that she believed in her status and looked down on the other person, it just meant that she had grown up too early and that she didn’t seem like a friend of the same age.

 

‘Perhaps life in the orphanage was difficult.’

 

It’s not the Voreotti estate, but he had been told that orphanages in other estates weren’t even operating properly.

 

‘The Duke wants to care for such a Lady.’

 

He wants to do only good things to his daughter who he found late. Viscount Kerata, with two children, fully understood the feelings. Duke Voreotti, who contacted him to send an invitation to the tea party with children, was only a parent with a child at the time.

 

“After all, rumors were just rumors.”

 

The Viscountess recalled the nobles who spread useless rumors.

 

“The Duke will want to let the Lady meet her friend at this tea party.”

 

“So, just in case, I carefully selected the guests.”

 

Viscountess Kerata excluded all the nobility who had recently been called to Duke Voreotti’s mansion from the list of invitations. This was because they committed major and minor sins during the Duke’s stay in the capital and spread malicious rumors about Leonia. Some of them were friends with the Viscount Kerata family. They of course wondered why they had been excluded from the invitation, but they bit their lips when she told them Duke Voreoti father-and-daughter was coming.

 

“Did you have our Flo in mind?”

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