Chapter 32: 32

Melody took a glance at Claude’s face and blinked, then asked him quietly, “Married?!”

She was embarrassed and spoke without using honorifics, but fortunately, he didn’t point it out.

“Were you so surprised to the point of asking?”

“Is that something you can talk about so boldly?”

“There is no reason not to.” He now straightened his posture and crossed his arms, with a slight dissatisfied frown wrinkling his brows, “Because that is something my smart little sister wants.”

Melody was a bit shocked.

What on earth is wrong with this creepy foolish-for-his-little-sister older brother? Does that mean he will give his permission to let Loretta marry whoever she wants? Even if that person is a sinner’s daughter? No, that’s impossible. My opponent is Claude – a terrifying demon who secretly bullies and gets rid of people who have a crush on Loretta.

So, if Melody gets too aggressive here and shouted ‘Loretta is cute! We will live together forever!’, this devil’s full-fledged bullying would begin (although she was already being bullied in earnest).

“It’s impossible for me to marry any of the Duke’s sons.”

Melody was on full alert so as not to fall into his trap.

“Why?”

“My origin is a bit.”

“But I don’t care about your origins.”

“It doesn’t matter even if the Young Master doesn’t care about it.”

“It just needs to be good for both parties. Right?” he asked Melody, who still had a wary expression, “Or, is my little sister not good enough?”

What do you mean n-not good enough?! How could you ask such a question…!

“Lorretta is cute! We will live together forever!”

Melody was so furious that without realizing it, she had answered honestly.

‘H-how?’

Since Melody had told this foolish-for-his-little-sister guy her sincere feelings, she was sure that he would stare at her with his devilish face again.

Melody stared at Claude with a very wary gaze.

“Miss Melody, why are you staring at me with such a devilish face?”

” …Pardon?”

Me? But staring at people like a devil is your job, not mine….

For some reason, Claude only gave Melody a very kind smile.

“A-anyway, I can’t do that marriage. Miss Loretta already has the perfect partner.” Melody was so taken aback that she inadvertently talked little about the original story.

“A perfect partner? Who is that?”

That perfect partner is called the male lead – a person who is absolutely necessary for Loretta’s continued health and well-being.

“I-I don’t know.”

But she couldn’t tell Claude about that, so Melody quickly faltered. However, Claude only looked down at her while waiting for an answer. “You really don’t know?”

Melody slowly backed away because she felt burdened by his questioning gaze.

“Your expression made it look like you were talking about someone specific.”

“Th-that’s a misunderstanding.”

“Ah, a misunderstanding.”

She was worried that he would persistently ask her due to her poorly crafted excuses, but he surprisingly cleanly backed down.

“Then that’s a relief.”

He turned around and started walking away. As promised, they were now going to go to Loretta. After passing through the long hallways and going up the stairs, the door to Loretta’s room opened, even before they knocked, after they had arrived in front of it.

“Melody!”

Loretta jumped up and hugged Melody’s torso tightly. Of course, Melody returned the gentle hug to the pretty girl, and it was full of her obvious affection.

“Did yu resib da gif?”

“A gift?”

“Hmm, broder told me he has a gif for Melody so I had to weyt.”

Loretta was very dissatisfied with that, so her lips were slightly pouting.

If she was talking about a gift, was she talking about the notebook Melody put on the Duke’s bookshelf? She didn’t think much about it after he had suddenly talked about marriage. The fact that the notebook was even enchanted with a preservation magic, while bearing Melody’s name, and that it was put inside of the Duke’s bookshelf to stay forever – made her quite… happy.

It was also nice that maybe one day, a researcher’s report might include ‘The Duchy’s lady Melody’ – proved that the happy days of Melody in the Duke’s house really existed, and it seemed like they would be forever engraved in the tower of records that will not disappear.

“Melody sims to layk it.”

“Yes?”

“Da gif.”

“That….”

Loretta got down from her arms and stared at her face – with a look of anticipation for her gift review. Claude was also looking at her with the same expression as Loretta’s and at the same time. Even if it wasn’t for the same reason, it was a little funny, to see the siblings who resembled each other so much, looking at her like this. It was also very cute.

“Pfft, that’s right. I like it very much.”

Loretta’s expression soon brightened. Then the child said, ‘If Melody layks it, den Loretta is happy!’ and hugged Melody again. Melody was deeply moved at this perfect moment. If only time could be stopped at this moment if possible….

She thought that it would be so nice, but she quickly noticed Ronnie hiding in a corner of Loretta’s room eating peanuts. He was staring in their direction with a serious expression while fiercely eating peanuts.

The reason why Ronnie was eating peanuts with such a face was quickly revealed. He liked peanuts very much, but since Loretta quickly ate them all after he opened one package, he couldn’t even eat a single one.

‘He can just peel it and eat it.’

The younger sister was so cute while she was eating the peanuts of the foolish-for-his-younger-sister younger older brother, so he had given up a package of his favorite peanuts but immediately became a peanut craving hoarder.

‘That’s because you’re really a fool for your younger sister.’

It was quite interesting to see Ronnie diligently taking care of Loretta all the while being angry – to the point that it made Melody laugh. Of course, Ronnie stared at her with an angry face, but the look on his face seemed more innocent compared to Claude’s expression when he was tormenting Melody.

Melody’s joyful satisfaction continued into the very next day. A large piece of meat was served at the meal. Tender and great meat that melts inside the mouth! Melody ate all the meat like a ravenous child because she is still growing up. Melody thought that it would be better if she grew taller while she was eating.

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Tall adults look great. She put the last bit of meat in her mouth with that in mind, then another piece of meat appeared on her plate again. It seemed that Melody was really determined to grow taller today. So she ate all the meat that came!

 

* * *

 

Duke Valdwin had one problem. He was worrying about that problem for a long time by himself, and he quietly confided in Higgins one late night.

“Melody needs a place.”

The Duke knew what the root of everything that had happened to Melody was, and that problem was the twisted sense of authority and tradition that had long been entrenched in the Duke’s family. Melody was too young to fully handle and understand such a thing and she had no strong place to lean on.

Higgins soon understood his heart.

“You mean, we need to formally show who is behind Miss Melody?”

“That’s right.”

“Surprisingly, there seem to be quite a few candidates for her adoption.”

Higgins recalled the influx of letters from the Duke’s vassals that had recently arrived. The few that were aware of the Duke’s innermost thoughts had sent letters in advance and expressed their intention by saying ‘We want to adopt Miss Melody’.

But the Duke didn’t take them into consideration, because he knew it was nothing more than a means for them to use Melody to suck up to the Duke.

“It would be better for the Duke to adopt her yourself.”

There would be a great backlash, but it would be somehow possible to push forward using the events that had happened to Melody as a reason.

“I thought so, too, but….”

“Are there any problems?”

“There will be opposition.”

Higgins tried to imagine who would dare to oppose Melody’s adoption.

“Did His Majesty the Emperor say something by any chance?’

“No.”

“It was certainly the Elders then, right?”

“I haven’t even consulted them yet.”

“Then?”

He clenched his jaw for a moment and sighed, with a face that Higgins didn’t understand given the current situation at all., “Ronnie will be against it.”

“Ah….”

The butler nodded. Ronnie was a more prideful Young Master than anyone else. There was no way he would approve of this considering Melody’s origins.

“Then you might have to choose to officially sponsor Miss Melody in the Duchy instead.”

“Of course, I am considering it.”

“This is not a matter to be decided on with haste, so it would be better to take some time and find the right solution.”

“I thought so too, but this situation is not easy to solve. She’s going to need a solid position soon.”

“Did something else happen?”

“That’s right,” he looked out of the dark window for a moment, “The execution date has been decided.”

Higgins could easily identify who he was talking about even when he omitted the subject of his sentence – Melody’s mother. Was it because of the incident last time when she attempted to illegally get out of the prison? It looked like the execution date was determined unusually quickly.

“Then they must have moved her to the central prison by now.”

“Yeah, and I received the mission to make that ‘death row prisoner’s last request’ come true.”

“What happened? Did she request to die while wearing a lot of jewelry? I heard about a thief who loved riches that chose to die that way.”

“I also heard about that.”

A bitter smile hung on his lips.

“She requested to stay with her daughter until she dies, and inside of the prison at that.”

The Duke had no choice but to convey the ‘death row prisoner’s last request’ to Melody. The aforementioned child sat across from the Duke and quietly nodded her head as she listened to his words.

Why are you just nodding your head? The Duke looked worriedly at Melody even after he had finished talking. As if she was lost in her deep thoughts she remained silent for a short time, but soon the child turned her head towards him and smiled awkwardly with her large eyes.

“I’m sorry, Duke.”

Today, she told him those words again as well. Melody’s apologies were now piled up behind the Duke’s back to the point that it was forming a mountain.

“I don’t want you to keep having to worry about my mother, but because I am here….”

“Didn’t you promise me that you would tell me about it once her punishment was decided?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Even after saying that, Melody’s expression seemed to be telling him ‘I’m sorry’.

“Melody,” the Duke cautiously offered his advice with a voice filled with concern. “I want to give you my opinion as your permitted and authorized guardian. You do not have to comply with this request.”

“But you said a while ago that a ‘death row prisoner’s last request’ must be granted.”

“It would be a different story if the request did not involve other people. You have the right to reject this request.”

He especially emphasized the word ‘reject’, as if it was his wish for her to do so.

“It is said that people who are about to die suddenly want to apologize. Even so, there is no reason for you to be taken advantage of because of that feeling.”

He was so adamant about rejecting her because it was probably just her desire to make her own heart feel comfortable in the face of her unknown afterlife. She will truly be a selfish person until the end.

“But still, if you have any desire to meet with her, it would be good to see her face for a short time.”

“….”

“You can think about it slowly. You have two weeks to decide.”

Melody shook her head at his words, “It’s alright. I already realized last time that I wasn’t the child she really loves.”

(T/N: Having mixed feelings about this chapter: half happy and half sad because of the end of this chapter. No matter what, she was still her mother so even if her mother didn’t love her, there was still the sense of her being Melody’s mother. But let’s see about the next chapter)

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