After gently pulling Lephonia close, the Duke placed his hands under her armpits and lifted her up like a child.
‘Aargh.’
Though she had been hoisted onto shoulders before, it was her first time flying through the air like this. Surprised, Lephonia instinctively grabbed tightly onto the Duke’s wrist.
“…Oh.”
The startled Duke raised Lephonia even higher into the sky.
The small child, who barely looked five years old, floated lightly upward.
“Is it fun?”
With eyes full of suspicion, Lephonia looked up at the Duke with a flustered expression.
“Pu—put me down!”
What kind of play was this, at her age? Besides, too many people were watching.
Feeling the heat rise to her face, Lephonia tightly shut her eyes.
At the same time, she heard the sound of wind rushing past. Lephonia quickly opened her eyes.
“Finally, you do seem like a five-year-old now.”
The Duke gazed at Lephonia with a satisfied expression.
A butler approached from behind the Duke.
Their eyes met. Seeing Lephonia’s face, the butler looked so shocked he seemed to lose his footing.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
The butler, who had gone pale, glanced around nervously and asked,
“Your Grace, this little guest is—”
“Lephonia.”
The Duke called her name, his face radiant in the sunlight as he looked at her.
Lephonia pressed her lips together, uncertain whether he was addressing her or simply informing the butler of her name.
The Duke, who likely hadn’t expected a response, calmly continued,
“Lephonia Craytan.”
“……!!”
With that single statement, the butler and the silently watching servants were left stunned.
Even Lephonia, still flustered from being lifted into the air, was taken aback.
All eyes widened in astonishment.
“She is my daughter from now on.”
The voice rang loudly in the quiet manor.
‘Does this mean I’m becoming a duke’s lady now?’
His daughter? Lephonia had only wished not to be taken away or sold. At most, she had hoped to survive quietly, maybe find work, and blend in.
But daughter?
Her eyes darted to the servants. That was the place she had expected to stand, in the background, with a broom, not a title.
The butler, visibly flustered, cleared his throat and spoke to the Duke in a cautious tone.
“Your Grace, I believe you may be making a rash decision out of emotion—”
“I gave it careful thought on the way here.”
“Still, such matters usually require… consent…”
“You mean checking if she’s in the orphanage registry? Is there anyone in this empire more qualified than I to vouch for her identity? And as for parenting skills? I doubt you’ll find someone more suitable.”
“Even so, she’s not something to be… claimed like property. Perhaps just a bit more thought—”
The butler’s words were valid. Even in trade, transactions weren’t conducted so bluntly.
As if in agreement with the butler, Lephonia gave a slight nod. The Duke’s face tightened, his gaze locking onto the butler with a piercing intensity.
“Taking time to think makes it a cautious decision. Rushing makes it rash. But the moment I saw her, I had a feeling. If I send her to the orphanage without giving this proper thought, I know I’ll regret it.”
The butler let out a long sigh.
“But we should also ask the little lady’s opinion.”
“Then, Lephonia, I’ll give you the choice.”
Startled, Lephonia’s hair brushed against the Duke’s cheek. Though their eye colors were different, their hair color was similar enough to make them appear truly related.
“As you may have heard earlier, you were originally supposed to go to the orphanage. If no guardian claims you after confirming with the temple or your parents, you’ll end up staying there.”
Lephonia silently nodded.
“And you’ll have to smile sweetly and do your best to look presentable whenever potential sponsors or adoptive families come to visit.”
“……”
“But I have no intention of sending you to a place like that. I don’t need any of it. I’m going to adopt you myself.”
Why? You’re adopting a child you don’t even know—after just a moment’s thought, like you’re picking out something off a shelf?
“But if you really hate being here, I’ll send you straight to the orphanage.”
What about the youngest daughter who went missing?
The words hovered at the edge of her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them.
It had been twenty years since the Duke of Craytan’s daughter was attacked and vanished. If she were still alive, she’d be twenty now.
If he truly wanted to adopt someone, wouldn’t it make more sense to choose a girl around the same age as his lost child?
Yet here he was, declaring he’d adopt Lephonia, a girl he’d just found on the street. Without knowing who she was or where she had come from.
‘Oh. Is this one of those adoption plays?’
A twisted little game nobles liked to indulge in.
When bored or in need of someone to run family errands, they’d pick up any child and call it charity.
And once the novelty faded, or the child became inconvenient, they’d disown them without a second thought.
It wasn’t a serious matter to nobles, just another whim.
If all else failed, they could always dress the child up and sell them off in the marriage market to a “good” family.
She had seen many children get adopted from the orphanage, only to be disowned or sold off for marriage.
Now she understood.
‘So he’s thinking of using me as a substitute for the lost lady.’
Adopting a child of the same gender as the one lost or dead and treating them well to ease the guilt.
It was a common practice in noble society.
They would raise the child until adulthood, then disown them or send them far away, out of sight.
‘A common story.’
Otherwise, there’s no reason to suddenly adopt a child just seen on the street.
‘If I become the Lady of the Duchy of Craytan.’
It would be easier to move around that vast mansion and to search for the heirloom.
Lephonia swallowed dryly. She had been thinking in silence for quite some time, but the Duke did not rush her.
‘So he’s thinking of playing house by adopting me. I’ll crush that arrogant thought.’
If they’re going to use her as a substitute, she might as well use them in return.
“Okay.”
Lephonia smiled, suppressing her confusing emotions. It wasn’t hard, she had learned how to do it since she was young.
“I’ll be your daughter, Duke.”
She heard gasps from people around her.
“Butler.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“The chi… no, the young Lady. Prepare her adoption papers. And if anything else is needed, make sure that’s ready too.”
“Yes.”
He called her Lady. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and Lephonia quickly bowed her head, hiding her face behind her small, trembling hands.
The Duke, who had lifted her high into the sky just moments ago, now gently set her down.
At the same moment, the servants around them lowered their heads in deep, respectful bows.
“We greet the young Lady.”
Though she had once impersonated nobles and forged papers for missions, this was the first time she was truly greeted with such formality by the servants of an actual noble house.
‘This… must be the right choice.’
Lephonia blinked, her eyes wide with uncertainty. She wasn’t used to this kind of treatment, to being seen like this.
And so, on that bewildering, breathless day,
She officially became a Lady of the Duke of Craytan.
* * *
The Duke suggested they begin with a meal, but Lephonia quietly refused.
The mansion was grand. Majestic halls, spotless floors, and a soft, unfamiliar fragrance in the air. Just being in that space felt like stepping into temptation.
Because of that, she wanted to at least wash away the dirt, to make her messy self a little more bearable in such a place.
“I don’t want to eat while I smell. I need to wash up first.”
“Who said you smell?”
“No one has to say it. You can tell just by looking.”
“I don’t see it, though.”
The Duke raised his eyebrows slightly with an indifferent expression. Lephonia’s attitude didn’t seem to be a problem.
“Sleep… sleeping place. I want to look around there. I’m sleeping here from now on, right?”
Just in case the Duke changed his mind during that time, it could be canceled as easily as it was decided.
To avoid being pushed out, she needed to secure her own space in the mansion first.
“…Can’t I?”
Lephonia swallowed her nervousness and looked up at the Duke with a tense expression.
When their eyes met, the Duke withdrew his hand and gently stroked Lephonia’s head.
“Why ask with such tension? Of course, you’ll sleep here from today.”
The Duke then ordered the maids to wash Lephonia and guide her to her bedroom.
Lephonia soaked her body in the warm bath, then headed to her room afterward.
She had planned to bathe alone, but the maids insisted on helping, making such a fuss that she thought she might die from the chaos.
Her body was five years old, but her mind was not.
She tried hard to refuse, but the maids, coaxing her like a child, slipped sweet candies into her mouth. In the end, she gave up, feeling as though she had lost a battle as they bathed her.
They flinched, but the maids said nothing about the scars and bruises on Lephonia’s body.
Lephonia didn’t care at all.
After the bath, since there were no clothes prepared for a child, Lephonia had to wear the same outfit again. The maids looked at her with regret, as if they had committed a great sin.
‘Nobles change clothes every day, after all…’
Lephonia sniffed her clothes, wrinkling her nose.
Back in the orphanage or the poorhouse, it was normal to wear the same outfit for over a month. Even when she stayed at the residence provided by the Pope, she had only a few outfits to rotate. Clothes had never been something she cared about.
‘As the clothes were freshly laundered, they were clean and odorless.’
Lephonia let go of her clothes and looked around the bedroom she had been guided to. Perhaps bothered by Lephonia’s shabby clothes, the maids who had escorted her mentioned they would check if any clothes from when the young masters were little were still available.
Left alone, Lephonia finally had the chance to comfortably examine the room.
‘This room—’
A bedroom filled with the cozy scent of sunlight, thanks to the excellent lighting. Beside the large fireplace, dry firewood was stacked generously, and behind it stood a wooden rocking horse shaped like an animal, just the right size for five-year-old Lephonia to ride and play on.
The rocking horse, likely carved by a craftsman, had been smoothly polished and painted. The carpet on the floor was thick and soft, ensuring a child wouldn’t get hurt even if they tripped while running. Picture books and fairy tales filled a low bookshelf, easily within reach.
And the bed was surprisingly large, hard to believe it was meant for a five-year-old Lephonia.
A bedroom prepared especially for a child.
‘…This must have been the room prepared for their lost daughter.’
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