Chapter 19: 19

“Melody! You don’t need to listen to this madman’s words. There are senile ghosts wandering around this mansion sometimes.”

Her wrinkled fingertips soon wiped Melody’s face. She didn’t forget to comfort the surprised little girl while wiping her tears. Does she not know that her warmth was actually what made Melody cry?

“Aigoo, this kid. Please stop crying. Everything you ate early this morning will come out of your tears!”

Of course, the Elder wouldn’t simply retreat like this. He approached Mrs. Higgins and began pointing fingers at her, “You crazy old woman, this kid here already took my money in return for finding the Duke’s daughter. It was meant to be that way from the beginning!”

“Did you give her a lot?!”

“Of course I did.”

“That’s good. Get lost now that you have nothing to do here, you b*st*rd.”

“This shouting old woman is really insane!”

Furious, the Elder slapped Mrs. Higgins on her shoulder.

“Aww!” The old woman screamed loudly and fell to the floor. It made a thud as she fell, so Melody thought that she was probably seriously injured.

“Grandma!” Having come back to her senses, Melody quickly tried to support her, but she was caught by the Elder again.

He forced Melody into the carriage.

“Come with me! I am taking you to your mother right now!”

The carriage left even before its door was closed, so Melody hurriedly looked out of the window. Servants and maids standing around quickly supported Mrs. Higgins, looking anxiously at the carriage where Melody was. Although they didn’t go after Melody, looking back at her was already enough. They work for the Duke’s family. There was no way that they could dare protest against the Elder.

Melody took a deep breath and lowered her head to the floor.

“You will do much better this way. Living in the capital as a criminal is suicide.”

“I have not sinned.”

“Your mother is a slave trader, and so are you. That means you are a sinner.”

Melody remembered what the Duke had said.

「Were you the one who suggested to your mother to do slave trading?」

It was thanks to those words that she forgot about it for a moment, but people’s thoughts were in fact closer to what the Elder was saying. A sinner’s daughter is also a sinner – it was unreasonable but it was the reality.

Melody bowed her head again without saying anything. The elder, now relaxed, muttered again, “The Duke is one crazy person too. I don’t know just where he picked up random things to put inside the mansion. Disrespectful, tch.”

It would be a difficult situation if it was revealed to the public that a sinner was a guest inside the Duke’s family. People who liked to add things to the information would say that they didn’t know the Duke was advocating slavery, or that he must’ve thought of humans as objects just by judging with his brusque personality.

“Uh…” Melody, who had been sitting quietly, calmed down little by little and was able to think more rationally. Was it thanks to that, that a question came to her mind? “By any chance, did you come all the way here because you found out from Loretta that I was a sinner?”

“Of course not.”

They were very surprised when the Duke himself looked into his daughter candidate’s house, but when the Duke was finally finished investigating about the child he came with, the Elders were very shocked; they thought things were turned upside down.

Was it because he has no other choice that he brought in a slave trader into the house? Moreover, the Elders became even more concerned when they hear that the Duke was very generous to Melody. Then if Loretta was the Duke’s real daughter, then it would mean that he would be ‘sponsoring’ a criminal. That was difficult.

It was a very great honor to be sponsored by the Duke, and it is a position that every nobles pay attention to. In that case, the news that the Duke is sponsoring a slave trader would quickly spread throughout the high society, and the Duke would have to suffer.

“Don’t you think that someone like you would damage the Duke’s reputation?”

“…….I see,” Melody muttered in a muffled voice.

She just realized – the original has been changed again. From the beginning, it was Melody the Elders were targeting and not Loretta. Of course, it was a pleasure to be the target rather than Loretta, but it wasn’t all that exciting.

In the world inside the 『Duke’s Four Children』, Loretta suffers a little but safely becomes an adult and leads a happy life as she also succeeds in love. It was only natural since she was the female lead. As for the ending, Melody doesn’t want to change that at all cost, but if Melody kept changing things while she was next to her like this….

Melody clenched her fists next to her chest. She was going crazy with anxiety. What on earth was I trying to do? There was always happiness in the end if Loretta followed the original. I cannot believe you changed Loretta’s future in a strange way with false good intentions saying this like ‘I will help her’. You’re crazy!

「I guess your sole intention was to stick with the Duke’s family to be able to live a full and comfortable life! You’re more vulgar than a slave trader!」

There was nothing wrong with what the Elder said. In fact, her life had been so full and comfortable inside the Duke’s house. What does it matter even if she knows the future? They will eventually be able to overcome everything with their own wisdom and strength even without her help.

‘I was just… conceited.’

I loved how I was specially treated as a guest, so I thought that I could be a great person. But the truth is, I was just a mere daughter of a slave trader who has no luck.

“….”

What can I do now? Will we go back to our house again after I meet my mother and take her out of prison?

“It won’t take long. Your mother is also in the capital.”

The Elder relaxed somewhat. Perhaps, Melody decided to let down her guards by following him calmly.

“Mother… is in the capital?”

“Things as vulgar as slave traders aren’t even welcome in the prison. She is now in a solitary cell in the capital.”

It seems that mother suffered quite a lot inside the local prison. It would be nice if her personality didn’t get worse.

Melody turned her head for a moment and took in the sight of the capital city into her eyes. A colorful and beautiful street – all of this seemed to be a mirage.

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‘Well…….’

Come to think of it, the capital was actually a mirage.

 

* * *

 

With an arrogant expression on his face, the priest declared that Loretta was the Duke’s daughter. He thought that the Duke and Loretta would have embraced each other with excitement, but there was no sign of that. The Duke just nodded and said, ‘Indeed, she is.’ Sitting next to the Duke, Loretta muttered a little dull and said, ‘Who dassent now dat. Melody always say dat.’

In front of the father and daughter who seemed to have serious resemblance in attitude, the priest hurriedly finished the meeting.

“Duk, Loretta wans to see Melody.”

Because Loretta had said so, the Duke and Butler Higgins hurried to prepare to return. Perhaps by now, the Duke’s messenger would’ve delivered the news to the mansion, and preparations would be in full swing to celebrate it. Then the Duke realized that he hadn’t asked the two children what they like. Isn’t it too bad for today’s two main characters to call it a party without the food they like?

The carriage soon stopped in front of the mansion. Higgins, who had been sitting on the driver’s seat, got down first and opened the door. However, the atmosphere in the mansion was a little… strange. The Duke felt an ominous air.

 

* * *

 

“He said that she very excitedly followed suit after receiving the money.”

Another of the elders came to the Duke to report what had happened – that Melody had asked for money and left the Duke’s.

“That child,” the Duke looked at the Elder’s face and asked, “asked for money?”

“Yes, a lot of that too. She was amazing. She must’ve been like that from the very beginning.”

That’s nonsense. The child who held the ribbon not knowing what to do with it, boldly asked him for money. It was obviously done by the Elders. They must’ve hated the fact that he would be sponsoring Melody. He immediately stood up from his seat. I shouldn’t be wasting my time here like this.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“I will go and confirm it.”

“What do you mean by confirming?”

“I’ll have to listen with my own ears to see if she really said that.”

“D-do you mean that you cannot believe what I said just now?!”

He didn’t respond to the questions they asked him. Of course they should know that he didn’t believe them. The Duke asked the butler to prepare the fastest horse for him.

“You can’t go n-now! You will be in trouble!” The Elder grabbed the Duke’s arm and stopped him.

“You are the one who will be in trouble.”

“No, what I mean is that child will be in trouble, Duke.”

He took a deep breath as if he couldn’t help it.

“You don’t intend to take the mother away from that child, do you?”

“What are you – ?”

The Duke immediately asked him but finally understood the situation. If Melody had a lot of money, one of the things she could do was to get her mother out of the prison. He wasn’t sure about how much the Elder gave her, but it should be enough to even secretly erase her mother’s criminal record.

“It is clearly illegal. It is unacceptable and…”

“I know. That’s illegal. But isn’t she the benefactor who found the Duke’s daughter? Can’t you just close your eyes this once?”

He had a strange feeling. It seems that the Duke had become a villain from the Elder’s words – a vicious aristocrat who deprives children of their parents.

“Don’t you think the child is too young for you to forcibly cut-off their parent-child relationship?”

Yes, he was the villain who wanted to separate them apparently. The Duke was so worried about the child that he delayed his schedule and stayed in her village for one more day.

“Even though she tried to sell off the Duke’s daughter, I hope that the Duke can forgive her – when you see that child.”

You want me to forgive the slave trader when I see Melody?

“Besides, this is an uncomfortable place for an average child to live.”

He couldn’t really refute the word ‘uncomfortable’. It was even more so when he was reminded of Melody’s appearance while she was getting used to him. She used to feel intimidated at him and study his face. She doesn’t really need to do that. Perhaps this huge mansion was weighing down on that child.

“If it was the Duke, that child could quietly settle down in the right village. Or if the child wants it, she can also settle down here in the Duchy.”

“But more than anyone else, that child towards Loretta….”

“Don’t worry. My granddaughter is just about the same age as her. Any number of playmates can replace them.”

No, that’s impossible. Perhaps the children will not be able to replace each other.

“Don’t tell me, Duke….” The Elder frowned and looked at the Duke’s face.

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