The Youngest Daughter of the Villainous Duke

Kwang! Soon the door opened wide.

 

The light quickly lit up in the room, and someone lifted up my body, which was lying on the bed and crying.

 

I was freaked out and burst into tears even louder.

 

But someone who lifted me up in their arms hurriedly patted me and pressed my back so that I could lean on their shoulder.

 

“Search the room right now!”

 

It was Henriette’s voice.

 

When I looked up a little bit after crying, six guards, who looked like knights, came into my room, took out swords and were looking inside.

 

Henriette who didn’t know how to comfort someone, didn’t even tell me to stop crying, but patted my back until I calmed down.

 

His heart rate is thumping, thumping, thumping. I could feel that he run to me so fast.

 

As I dug further into Henriette’s arms with relief, he stroked my hair.

 

“Lotty! What’s going on!”

 

At that time, Camillean, dressed in pajamas, ran into the room, followed by Avelle with a big sword in his hand and a stiff face.

 

They seemed very surprised to see me crying. Behind him, even Carlyx held out his head with a questionable look.

 

“Lotty, what’s going on? Why are you crying?”

 

“Who is it? Who dares to make our youngest cry? Get out of here!”

 

“B, bed, under, underneath…”

 

I don’t know how everyone knew, but I managed to bring it up.

 

Guards who understood me leaned under the bed with caution.

 

“Oh, there’s nothing!”

 

“Look carefully again.”

 

“Lotty, what’s under the bed?”

 

I could feel Avelle’s rough fingertips sweeping my face, which had barely stopped crying.

 

Camillean also grabbed my hand. I sniffed and said.

 

“M, monster…”

 

“R, r, red…there was a monster. It’s true. B, bed, underneath, then it r, rattled.”

 

In a way to show that the monster under the bed did this, I clenched my hands and gave a wild tap on top of the bed.

 

There’s something strange about the expression of the knights who heard my story.

 

Henriette was also speechless with a surprised look on his face for a moment, but Avelle looked at me in a bewildered face and suddenly knelt down.

 

“……I’m sorry. I read a fairy tale to Rossette before she went to sleep, and it was a story about a monster coming out from under the bed. Maybe that’s why Rossette had a nightmare.”

 

I looked at him with a puzzled look and tried to say no.

 

But before that, Henriette’s voice dropped coldly.

 

“You’ve done something stupid.”

 

Henriette seems quite upset. 

 

He hardened his face as if he would destroy the castle.

 

“I will punish you, Avelle.”

 

No, but that’s not the case. You’re even going to punish him?

 

I hurriedly grabbed Henriette’s collar and pulled it.

 

“N, no! I don’t want you to scold him! No!”

 

Henriette’s eyebrows flinched.

 

Feeling the eye gathering, I said with a slightly more nervous look.

 

“I’m here with my dad, A, and Millie, and Carrie, Calte, Carl….. the smallest brother, so I’m not scared anymore. So don’t scold him.”

 

I heard the guards around me sighing at me.

 

Camillean looked very impressed. Avelle’s eyes are wide open as if he were very surprised.

 

Carlyx who suddenly became the “smallest brother,” looked at me with a frown.

 

“Who are these bean calling now?”

 

I could hear him growling with discontent, but I didn’t look at him.

 

I’m letting you in because you’re already here, but why are you dissatisfied? And ‘Carlyx’ is a difficult name for me to pronounce.

 

Then Henriette’s voice softened up a little.

 

“……you may have seen the monster because of the fairy tale Avelle read to you. And he don’t need to be punished?”

 

“Yeah, it’s not the big brother’s fault that the monster came out. Monster, there was a real real thing! I really saw it!”

 

The most unfair thing was that I looked like a liar.

 

I really saw it. Of course, no one seemed to believe it.

 

In addition, the atmosphere between Henriette and Avelle showed no signs of thawing.

 

Especially even when Henriette listened to me, he still seemed determined to punish Avelle.

 

You can’t do this. What if the father-son relationship, which is in self-quarantine, gets further away from here?

 

I’ve decided to use a method that I can use thanks to Henriette’s weakness these days.

 

“If you punish him, I won’t kiss you from now on.”

 

“…”

 

Henriette looked like he had been hit on the head. 

 

He seemed to be quite shocked.

 

I almost laughed, but I kept my lips closed and put up with it. I pretended to think about it and turned my head.

 

With Avelle, Camillean and Carlyx all looking surprised, Henriette looked back at Avelle and spoke out.

 

“I’ll let it slide this time. Next time, be more careful when choosing a book.”

 

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

I was relieved only then. 

 

When I smiled at Henriette, he seemed equally relieved.

 

Next to him, I heard Camillean asking quietly with his serious-looking face.

 

“Lotty, what about your brother? You’re not gonna kiss your little brother?”

 

“···· I’ll do it next time.”

 

Camillean’s face brightened up again. 

 

Phew, it’s hard to be the youngest. I let out a deep sigh.

 

“What the hell happened to everyone?…”

 

Carlyx murmured as if he had seen something impossible.

 

Soon he looked at me as if I were a lustful goblin who possessed my family, and he left the room without saying a word.

 

Anyway, what the hell did I see under the bed?

 

The guards rearranged the room at Henriette’s command, and while I was feeling relieved, Avelle approached me and held my hand tightly.

 

As I looked at him, Avelle whispered in a small voice.

 

“I’m sorry, Lotty. I’ll read you a less scary fairy tale next time. And… Thank you.”

 

He smiled sweetly at the end of his speech.

 

I snorted and smiled broadly, nodding my head several times.

 

***

 

Eventually, the monster incident under the bed was forgotten.

 

I was afraid of monsters again, so I decided to go to Henriette’s room and sleep.

 

Avelle and Camillean each seemed to want me to come to their room and sleep, but I’m sorry and I refused.

 

“Sleeping with my dad is the least scary thing.”

 

There’s nothing scarier in this castle than Henriette. 

 

Of course, it’s not as scary as before.

 

Avelle was sorry to hear it, and Camillean pouted his lips and said good night.

 

Only Henriette looked extremely satisfied. I gave Henriette another kiss on the cheek before I went to sleep.

 

The next day, I told Ennys about last night’s incident.

 

Her reaction was exactly as I expected.

 

“Well… The story of fairy tales must have been very stimulating to children in their childhood. Princess, why don’t we do this today? I’m not afraid of monsters!

 

“I’m not afraid of monsters!”

 

“I am stronger than a monster!”

 

“I am stronger than a monster!”

 

As expected, you don’t believe me. I had no choice but to follow Ennys’ healing time.

 

After the consultation session, I went out to the garden by myself under the pretext of taking a walk.

 

After thinking about the monster under the bed all day, I thought of something.

 

So I came outside to organize my thoughts and find the most likely suspect in yesterday’s case.

 

There are not only one or two strange things in our castle, but there is one more thing that can easily do strange things than Henriette.

 

“Kian. Kiiaan! Where are you?”

 

I stood by the entrance of the glass greenhouse and started looking for him.

 

Even if the culprit wasn’t him, I thought I could find at least a hint.

 

Somehow he seemed to know a lot about what’s happening in our castle.

 

But until I arrived halfway through the glass greenhouse, I couldn’t see a single snout of Kian.

 

You’ve always appeared out of the blue, but why aren’t you coming?

 

I raised my voice a little bit more.

 

“Kian! If you don’t come out, I’ll go to the lake alone!”

 

“That’s not good.”

 

“Ah!”

 

I was so surprised by the voice coming from behind my back that I almost lost my balance and fell down.

 

A boy with a mysterious face suddenly appeared and immediately reached out to hold me.

 

The red-glittering black eyes filled with laughter.

 

“What brings you to me first this time?”

 

“······I, I have a question.”

 

I stood properly balanced when he let go.

 

As the wind blew, the smell of summer with the scent of fresh grass spread in front of my face. The long hair that had fallen in front of my face shook wildly.

 

The beautiful ceiling of the glass greenhouse touches the sun and spreads the shadowy green glow like a ripple.

 

“What was under my bed last night, kian?”

 

At that moment, everything was wonderful.

 

The fragrant sunlight melted under the shadow, and the air was breathtaking.

 

In the landscape suddenly trapped in silence, only Kian seemed to have a distinct outline.

 

Like they cut a black paper and forced it to stick together.

 

In this way, he was very noticeable.

 

“Oh, my God.”

 

Kian smiled open with an elegant face.

 

“Did you finally find out?”

 

As he took a step closer to me, the grass and leaves around him shook like a wave.

 

The air seemed to be distorted. I instinctively felt the crisis at the moment.

 

It’s as if I’m standing in front of a big animal.

 

That much, I felt like he was pressing my whole body down.

 

“I’m glad you recognized me.”

 

“……why, why did you do that?”

 

“I was a little upset yesterday. Didn’t you say I’m an “imaginary friend”?

 

Kian spoke in a playful tone, but I felt goosebumps in my spine.

 

When and how did you hear that?

 

I was definitely talking to myself.

 

“Isn’t it too much to treat someone who exists as nothing but a non-real being?”

 

Before I knew it, Kian was standing right in front of me.

 

“Like this, I’m in front of you.”

 

Kian raised his hand and wrapped my cheeks quite carefully. My cheeks cramped briefly where his hand touched.

 

As I felt last time, his hands were too cold.

 

“…I’m sorry I made you cry, though. I didn’t mean to do that… Are you surprised? Because of me?”

 

Kian’s expression softened. He wasn’t smiling, but he looked much more friendly than he had just now.

 

The sense of weighting all over the body has also disappeared.

 

“I was just going to surprise you a little bit.”

 

“Well, go away…”

 

“I’m telling you, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I wanted to soothe you right away, but I couldn’t because I thought you’d be more surprised if I went straight outside.”

 

Henriette already wiped my eyes with his thumb last night, until the tears had dried up.

 

I was disgusted of Kian that it felt like he’s some other creature pretending to be human.

 

For some reason, I felt that way.

 

“····· Still, I was relieved that your whole family cared about Rossette.”

 

“Why, why is Kian… so relieved?”

 

“Isn’t Rossette a friend of mine?”

 

Is it my mistake to feel like there’s something wrong with the conversation?

 

He bent down a little so that he could meet my eye level. Then he smiled with a face that seemed really sorry.

 

Kian is acting like he’s looking at me eye to eye. 

 

But I felt like he was still a big, wailing beast.

 

I can’t help it. I thought I didn’t want to prolong the conversation any longer than this, so I let it out calmly.

 

“Then, I’ll forgive you.”

 

Kian’s expression brightened at the words.

 

He nodded roughly to the question, 

 

“Really?”

 

“However, you have to be honest from now on. What the hell are you Kian?”

 

“…”

 

“My dad, my maids and my brothers all said they didn’t know Kian. Be honest. Who are you?”

 

I can tell for sure that Kian is not a fairy. 

 

When he heard my question, he shut his mouth and smiled with his eyes narrowed down.

 

Should I answer or not? It’s a face that seems to be hesitating.

 

And yet, the touch of stroking and fiddling my cheeks, just as my brothers did when they comforted me last night, made me feel horrified, so I slapped his hand away.

 

“I’m not going to be friends with someone I don’t even know.”

 

Only after hearing that, Kian opened his mouth as if he was trying to say something.

 

But.

 

“Hey, whose permission did you ask for you to be able to go to father’s greenhouse?”

 

A sharp voice came from behind my back.

 

Curly short pinkish hair and crumpled light green eyes. It was Carlyx.

 

I looked back at him with a slightly welcoming face.

 

However, Carlyx, who had reached where we were, did not even look at me, but talked to Kian.

 

“Did father allow you to come in here?”

 

“Who cares where I go and what I do?”

 

Kian replied nonchalantly. Oh, but do you two know each other?

 

I was surprised, and Carlyx said in a very nervous tone.

 

“I want you to know your situation and your place, Crown Prince.”

  

I thought I had misheard for a moment, so I looked at Carlyx with my eyes as wide as I could.

 

“C, Crown Prince? Who?”

 

“Bean, who else is it in front of you?”

 

Carlyx snapped at me while answering.

 

Either way, I looked blankly at Kian.

 

He also gave me a sneaky smile with his eyes folded thinly and whispered to me in a sly manner.

 

“Now that you know, we’ll continue to be friends, right?”