Chapter 10: 10

Then all of a sudden, his hand was caught by the girl he was staring at.

“…!”

He looked alternately at his hand and the girl in shock. Then he realized – there was a strange sensation crawling inside his stomach! This is uncomfortable. To have my hand held by a girl I don’t even know! Holding my hand so suddenly is really rude and terrible!

He violently pulled his hand away. But maybe it was too strong or he was confused, Ronnie stumbled backwards stupidly, falling butt first.

“Ugh.”

He grunted and frowned involuntarily as it was really too painful. D**n, what is this? It’s because of that weird girl. A cream-colored hem of a robe fluttered in front of him when he was about to get up from the floor.

“…!”

He flinched and leaned back a little, still sitting down. He raised his head with as serious a face as possible while hiding his embarrassment.

Was she surprised? Or was she worried? Even so, the girl’s big eyes grew bigger as she looked at him and mouthed ‘Are you okay?’ extending her hand to him. She was probably trying to help him to get up. Heh, you think I’m going to get help from a girl like you?

He has seen many scammers entering and leaving their mansion, always bringing a girl to his father and saying ‘This is your lost daughter,’ and they were all lies. This time, however, it seems like the con artist is a girl herself.

‘I will never be fooled. I haven’t been deceived until now…’

He will never be deceived no matter how pretty the con artist is…. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the girl in front of him was particularly pretty. It just shows how strong his heart is.

“Th-this….”

Ronnie stood up without the help of Melody. He looked at the skinny girl with alert eyes, and cried out with determination.

“Scammer! Go back home! Are you trying to freeload at our house?!”

He shouted triumphantly, then quickly turned around and ran out the door. Meanwhile, Melody, who could not understand his fierce heart, smiled bitterly as she looked at the boy’s back.

‘You don’t like me that much…’

Melody was also prepared to some extent when she came to this house. The Duke and the young masters will love Loretta deeply so it is clear that Loretta will follow those she trusts, and Melody will eventually just become a thorn in her side.

However, she thought that she would only be hated by them after a period of time had passed….

“Melody?”

Melody quickly turned around when she heard the small voice from behind. A lovely Loretta in a pretty dress was rubbing her eyes and stretching. C-cute! Melody had to suppress her urge to squeal from the adorable sight as it would surprise Loretta.

“Young lady, did you sleep well?” [1]

“Melody speaks weerd, I’m scared.”

“I have no choice, because you’re a young lady.”

“Loretta’s name is not young lady.”

It’s not that Loretta doesn’t know the word ‘young lady’, but it seems like she doesn’t like it when Melody called her that. If it was Melody in this situation, it would feel strange if Loretta talked to her differently one day too.

“We have no choice. Then, I will only talk to you like this when it’s only the two of us, okay? It’s a secret?” [2]

“Hmm!”

(T/N: The first one, Melody talked with honorific while the second one was casual. )

Loretta nodded happily.

“Loretta likes it when she makes secwets with Melody.”

“I also like it.”

The two girls leaned their foreheads towards each other, smiling and talking to each other. Another day in the new house began and they were still together today – as always.

 

* * *

 

The Duke would talk with the kids whenever he met them even though he was a busy person. Of course, it was a simple greeting and talking about the weather or their mood. However, this kind of conversation went in a rather strange direction whenever he ran into Loretta.

“Duke is Loretta’s lump. A big lump!”

Seeing that she raised her arms high and shouted joyfully, Loretta seems to like the life she was having in the Duke’s with Melody.

“Yeah, Loretta will become Gonzak-sama’s favorite treasure later.”

Should I respond? Not knowing what to say, the Duke replied, ‘Thank you’. Loretta grinned and disappeared across the hallway satisfied with his answer. The other servants also treated the two children very well. As long as the Duke calls the girls ‘guests’, they treated them appropriately.

Particularly ‘Grandma’ who always yells, but she always takes care of them kindly if you look closely. Living in such a stable environment, Melody realized one thing and that is the identity of ‘Grandma’ was the ‘butler Higgins’ wife’, which didn’t appear much in the original novel.

“I heard that you call my wife ‘Grandma’ Miss Melody.”

When the butler Higgins pointed out the problem with the title, Melody quickly bowed down and apologized. Melody thought that was presumptuous of her as well. No one could call Mrs. Higgins with such a comfortable and familiar title, only Loretta and Melody called her that way.

“That’s alright. It seems like my wife likes it very much, too.”

“Yes? She likes it?”

When Melody asked in surprise, the butler smiled benevolently and nodded.

“Yes, she bragged to me a few times that she heard someone call her grandma.”

Higgins was jealous of his wife. Because they hardly ever hear such a thing, because let alone a granddaughter they have no children.

“I’d be glad if she likes it.”

Still, Melody felt like she was using words that didn’t suit the subject so her heart was a bit complicated.

“Ms. Melody is a guest invited by the master of this mansion.”

Did you know that feeling? Higgins spoke as if consoling her.

“No one will say anything or think badly about Miss Melody.”

“I, I’m not that great of a person. That, I….”

Because she’s a commoner and a daughter of a sinner, it was a stigma that everyone hates.

“Miss Melody.”

“ Yes?”

“It would be better for you to go out in the garden and bask in the sun. I will bring you some snacks.”

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Even if he didn’t say it, Melody already planned to explore the garden with Loretta so she nodded her head.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, uhm. Then….”

Butler Higgins rarely hesitated. As if he had something important to say, Melody stared at him and waited.

“Miss Melody calls my wife Grandma in such a friendly way….”

Calls? He stopped his words ambiguously.

“Butler?”

As Melody called out to him, he avoided her gaze and smiled shyly.

“No. It wouldn’t be good to ask too much of Miss Melody.”

“If there is anything you want me to do, I can do it anytime!”

He still only had a warm smile despite Melody’s words.

However, not all servants were as absolutely loyal to the Grand Duke’s words as the Higgins couple were. Some of them had a lot of questions regarding Loretta and Melody, and they especially wanted to know if Loretta was really the Duke’s lost daughter.

This was the case with the people taking care of Loretta and Melody closely. Wouldn’t they be serving a scammers’ daughter if Loretta wasn’t the Duke’s daughter? They were all waiting for the Duke to bring Loretta to the temple to check if she really was his daughter, but the Duke was always dragged away by the Emperor everyday without any time to do so, and he would suffer from a heavy workload from morning to night.

As a result, the two girls naturally took a long time to dine and dash (?) in the mansion.

(T/N: Dine and dash means a person simply wants to eat without any intention of paying the bill/running away after eating without paying )

“I’m not going into town for a while.”

While Loretta and Melody were spending time in the garden, their maids Alta and Patty sat on a small bench and were having a secret conversation.

“You’re not going into town? Didn’t you say not long ago that you live for the pleasure of boasting the badge of an employee of the Duke of Valdwin?”

All of their clothes had badges the size of a fingernail with Valdwin’s crest. It was also a proud piece of evidence that one belonged to this place.

“Yes, I did. I did.”

Alta took a deep breath.

“Do you know what an old colleague I met at the store said to me?”

“What did she say?”

“I’m not sure. She said, ‘What will you do at Valdwin if you are attending to a girl you don’t even know the real identity of?’ Oh heavens, that’s outrageous!”

It wasn’t just the fact that those words she had heard made him upset, what made her go crazy was because she couldn’t respond at all on the spot. It was true, however.

“So, you really didn’t say anything?”

“What do I say?! In that situation?!”

“Well… the lady is pretty similar to the Madame’s portrait.”

“How can you say that! You’ve probably heard about how many of those kids have come so far.”

“Yeah, yes, though.”

“Ah, really! I wish the Duke would do something quickly!”

Unfortunately, their owner vacated the mansion in the early morning today and was still absent.

“He didn’t have that much interest in the young lady and they seemed to greet each other whenever they ran into each other, but he has never called her out to eat together, right?”

“Yeah, there’s no way even the Duke would focus on a girl who might be a fake daughter.”

“But our maids are being humiliated. Please make a decision quickly.”

When she made a sound of running feet and excitement, Loretta, who was far away, ran towards the two maids. The lovely child smiled slightly and cutely clasped her hands together lightly.

“Loretta wants some water to dwink.”

“Oh, you are thirsty. Miss?”

“Hmm, I will give it to Melody.”

“I’ll bring it to you right away. Can you wait a minute?”

“Hmm. I’ll wait.”

Soon the maid came out with cool water on a silver tray.

The two maids followed Loretta as they walked across the garden. They could see Melody from afar… when the maid Alta suddenly talked to Loretta.

“Miss Loretta.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you curious about the lady?”

“About what?”

“If you are the Duke’s daughter or not?”

Patty, who was standing by, gasped, her face seemed to say ‘Are you crazy?!’. But Alta said, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’

“Don’t you want to know if she is the Duke’s daughter?”

“Loretta knows.”

“You know?”

“Loretta is the Duke’s daughter.”

“Who said that? Did the priest in white tell you something?”

“Ugh, no. Melody did.”

The maids didn’t look very convinced, so Loretta decided to tell them something they didn’t know. In a small voice, she whispered.

“Melody is really smart.”

So, Melody’s words must be the correct answer.

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