Chapter 4: 4

At first, he thought she was definitely just a commoner. Her attitude and habit of talking back weren't things children of noble families would do.

But after spending the whole day with her, he had noticed some odd things. 

 

The child had excellent table manners and ate without making a mess. 

And though she did talk back, she had never crossed the line. It was possible that she was a noble family's daughter and received proper education there. 

'…But she's my daughter now.'

Even if the child's parents turned out to be nobles, Paul had no intentions of returning Leonia to them.

Rather, he was angry they had left their own child to suffer as she did. 

On top of that, Paul liked Leonia more than he himself had expected. Time spent with that child was never boring. 

She did not fear him either. 

She reminded him of a baby beast, and that was perfect if she was to become the lady of the Voreoti family. 

He could finally understand Canis a bit for bragging so much.

"Old man."

"What."

"I'm hungry."

Paul let out a laugh.

Even though she had been throwing up and struggling just a while ago, she was completely fine again.

"Just wait a little more."

He reassured her, saying that they were almost at the mansion.

Although she was starving after throwing up everything she had eaten, Leonia simply nodded.

"Old man."

"What now?"

Despite being hungry, the child was still full of energy.

Her eyes actually sparkled then after hearing they had almost arrived. Leonia smiled. 

Paul could hear an inappropriate laugh from his chest.

For the first time in his life, Paul was sexually harassed, and the culprit was his daughter. 

He felt perplexed.

* * *

"Woah."

Leonia looked at the Dukedom's scenery with her nose smushed onto the carriage window.

Despite its violent nicknames, like 'Beast Den' and 'Land of The Coldest Winter', the land was peaceful. 

And despite being isolated in the north, the land was also extremely well developed.

You can see streets filled with food stands, as well as large marketplaces once in a while. There were also some street lights. 

Leonia could picture the bright lights that would shine once night falls.

"This is cool! I've never seen it before!"

"It's still quite small compared to the capital."

"I wouldn't know, since I've never been there."

"……."

That's why this is the best place for me. 

Pushing her face off the window, Leonia smiled. Paul thought it was a useless smile.

But of course, it didn't make him feel bad.

The carriage soon arrived at the mansion.

Leonia hopped off the carriage first when the door opened. Then Paul, who followed after her, picked her up again. 

"I'm not sick anymore."

"I know."

Even so, Paul didn't let Leonia go.

It was because he saw her legs wobbled when she jumped off the carriage energetically. 

When they entered the mansion, all the servants who had been waiting welcomed their master's return.

But soon they were shocked by the unfamiliar girl in Paul’s arms.

"The mansion's huge!"

The child, who had the same black hair as their master, was admiring the mansion.

"But a murder case always happens in places like this."

A ominous mood was formed by the child's serious expression. Paul tilted his head.

"How did you know?"

"Really? Someone really died here?"

"There's a cellar in the basement."

Leonia shook her head as she gasped in awe.

"Woah, torture!"

"Wanna see?"

No. There's probably bugs down there.

The servants, still shocked, simply listened to the strange conversation. 

Right then, someone approached Paul and Leonia.

It was the butler, Kara, who had been taking care of the mansion while Paul was in the capital.

"Welcome back."

The butler had to suppress his curiosity and welcome his master.

"You did well taking care of the mansion while I was away."

After praising the butler, Paul ordered for famous couturiers and craftsmen to be called into the mansion.

The butler could not understand Paul's order that came out of nowhere, despite years of serving him. 

"…Excuse me,"

For the first time, Kara was unable to comprehend his master's order.

And it was also the first time he had to ask the reason behind his master's order.

"but why would you like to call them in?"

"There's nowhere in this mansion where a child can stay."

"Child…"

Kara's gaze turned to the girl in his master's arms.

The child, who had black hair and black eyes like his master, looked at him with sparkling eyes and waved her hand.

"Hello."

Then she bowed her head.

"I'm Leonia."

"No."

Paul corrected her mistake.

"Isn't the name that I gave you longer than that? Did you forget already?"

"…Can I say that one?"

"Well, are you going to only introduce half of your name from now on?"

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Paul told her to hurry and say her full name.

Leonia nodded her head several times.

Paul saw that the child's ears were turning red.

For the first time, she seemed like a child her age.

"I am Leonia Voreoti."

Then, a large hand came down onto Leonia's head. Paul was patting her.

Leonia covered her face with her hands and shook her head in embarrassment.

"……."

Kara fixed his glasses.

"…I'll tell the kitchen staff to prepare another serving of meal."

Kara returned to his task after he'd managed to hide his flustered face.

Once he told a nearby maid to prepare a meal for the child, he followed Paul.

* * *

"I'm serious!"

"The master returned with a child!"

"She had black hair!'

"He had her in his arms the whole time."

The young maids, the chefs, the gardeners, and even the coachmen.

All the servants within the Voreoti Dukedom had been talking about the same topic for several days then.

The child their master brought in.

"Did the master have a lover?"

"Probably. How could he not with that look?"

"Watch your mouth. Are you testing out a new suicide method?"

"But his aura makes everyone fear him."

"But the little miss wasn't scared."

One of the servants had met the little miss from the rumors. It was a maid that the butler, Kara, had temporarily assigned to her.

The maid with tightly tied brown hair described the little miss in a pitying tone.

"She is way too thin."

She couldn't forget the marks of abuse on her thin body and her dirty hair.

Even so, the child energetically greeted everyone she met.

Even the butler had become attached to her and told the maid to take good care of the child.

The servants didn't say anything more.

They had heard that she was from an orphanage, and they could assume what kind of life she had led up till then.

Some even cursed the orphanage, saying that it was a terrible place.

"But her eyes were round and cute."

The maid quickly added.

"All kids are cute though."

"Then she must be the master's…"

Most of the servants assumed that the child Paul brought was his 'secret child'.

But no one really knew who the child's mother was. 

So naturally, they began gossipping about who the child's mother could be.

"Maybe it's that one lady who used to send him love letters all the time? You know, that lady from Count Hienia's family…"

"There's also the Caper family."

"I heard that Count Linette's daughter was also interested."

"Hey, that lady is only six years old!"

While all kinds of rumors were going around, Paul called three people to his office.

Kara, the butler, Mono, the Gladigo Army's vice commander, and Meles, who was to become the leader of the personal guards.

Paul revealed his reasons behind the child's adoption.

"…You adopted a child because of that?"

The three of them gaped in shock after hearing the reason.

Not only was the reason impulsive, but it was also irresponsible and careless. Kara in particular was angered by how irresponsible it was.

But Paul simply leaned against the window and looked outside.

"A child isn't a pet."

Kara criticized Paul, saying that what he did was no different from picking up a dog or a cat from the street.

"You think I can't tell the difference?"

Feeling irritated, Paul glared at him. He felt angry that Leonia was being compared to some dog or cat.

But Kara continued to blame Paul. There was no way his impulsive behavior would be a good influence on the child.

It was the Vice Commander, Mono, who loosened up the mood.

"Are you two really not related?"

Mono rubbed his chin.

"But that black color…"

Anyone with black features was extremely rare in the Empire. Only those with Voreoti blood could have any black features. 

Because of this, it was a given that people would assume Leonia to be Paul's love child.

Paul also had no intentions of ignoring this fact.

"First, fatten her up a bit."

But the child's thin body came before something like that.

Kara sighed, as if he was giving up.

"Master, what are you planning on doing?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm going to raise her."

Paul's gaze returned outside. 

"That's a given."

Kara couldn't say something cruel like telling Paul to return the child to the orphanage.

The child didn't do anything wrong. Paul was the one responsible for everything.

However, despite his impulsive decision, Paul was truly trying his best to treat the child well. 

There were several shop owners and merchants visiting the mansion these days. It was all to decorate and fill up Leonia's room.

There was a soft bed in accordance with Leonia’s preferences, and the playroom right next to it had a shelf full of books and a huge collection of cute stuffed animals.

The closet room across from it was to be filled with expensive clothing and accessories.

'It's better than being uninterested in her.'

Kara decided to think that way.

"Rumors about the little miss should already be going around the entire Dukedom by now."

 

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HIDDEN LABORATORY: Sorry for not updating! I was going to make update days Fridays in my time (so yesterday) but then I fell asleep so I guess it's Saturdays now oops-

Also big thanks to Suzuran who proofread this chapter for me, because my English is literally failing me at this point

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