I Became the Villain’s Lost Daughter Chapter 99
“…Huh? My escort?”
Thane nodded shyly in response to my question.
An escort knight, does he mean the same escort knight I know?
“In the past, Miss Erita told me that if your family ever found out about me, you’d have me as your escort…”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Now that Miss Erita mentioned that you’re telling them about me, can I be your escort?”
Thane’s eyes narrowed as he continued to speak in a rambling manner.
…When did I say something like that?
After answering vaguely to his expectant gaze, I broke out in a cold sweat and quickly searched my memory.
Something vaguely flashed through my mind…
‘…Ah. When I was going north.’
A picture of Thane from two years ago, when he was smaller than today, flashed through my mind.
The old days Thane spoke of must-have been the winter of two years ago, when I was traveling north from the Grand Duchy.
The Lagrace Top had taken up residence in the capital, and naturally, Thane, who had been staying with Yurgen, had traveled back and forth between the capital and the Vadell Forest.
‘The Grand Duchy was not far from the capital, so Thane traveled back and forth often.’
But the north was too far to travel without the use of magic, and Thane grew depressed when he didn’t see me as often.
— I also want to go to the north with you, Miss Erita. Can you please let me go with you as an escort? Well, according to Lord Yurgen, since Miss Erita is a noble, it’s not strange for her to have an escort…
Thane, who was holding out a piece of paper with curly writing on it, looked at me with eager eyes.
—…As my escort?
After reading the words, I asked back, my tone tinged with confusion.
Thane’s ears flattened as if he sensed a nuance of denial in that short word.
There was a part of me that knew Thane was dependent on me, and I didn’t want to deny it.
But I couldn’t tell my family about him at the time, so I had no choice but to refuse.
—…Sorry, Thane. My father has a good sense, and if you stay with me, he might realize that Thane is a beast.
Thane looked like the world was going to fall apart at my rejection.
He looked like dead grass for days afterward, much to the concern of both me and Yurgen.
—…I don’t think you were too harsh in your refusal, Thane, knowing how fond he is of you. There are no mages at the top of the list who can easily travel from here to the North.
That’s what Yurgen even told me.
That’s how bad Thane’s condition was.
— No, I know that… But you know Yurgen, my father was a Sword master, so he has a very good instinct. If he comes in as my escort, it’s only a matter of time before he’s found out.
— Well, that’s true.
— And it would be very suspicious for me to suddenly take Thane when I’ve said I don’t need a personal attendant.
— And I refused my father’s offer of Sir Kyle as my escort.
Kyle was the head of my father’s immediate order of knights. I’ve been calling them the Dark Knights for convenience.
To this day, I still don’t know how many members of my father’s original knighthood there were who could appear out of thin air and vanish before my eyes.
— At any rate, I had no choice but to deny it now…
—…Then bribe him, or something. If you go north, I’ll be the one staying with Thane.
That’s why I took the hot chocolate as a bribe and went to find Thane.
— Hmm, Thane.
I felt like a sinner when I saw Thane’s face, smiling weakly at my call.
—…I can’t do it now, but later, when I tell my father and brother my secret, will you be my escort knight, if you still want to be, Thane?
In the end, I put aside all my prepared remarks and promised to listen to what he wanted most.
I guess I vaguely thought that when he was a little older, he might be more interested in being an escort.
Little did I know that it would be brought up again now.
Remembering what had happened all those years ago, I smiled awkwardly and opened my mouth.
“You mean the one I told you about when I was going north, right?”
Thane’s face lit up at my question and he nodded.
He seemed disappointed that I remembered the conversation.
“Um…”
Thane’s honesty gave me pause.
If he’d come right out and said it, he still wanted to be my escort…
Now that I was going to tell my father and Aaron about Thane and the beasts, I had no reason to refuse him.
The reason Thane traveled to the Vadell Forest was to deliver my request to the leader of the beasts.
The catch was Thane’s position in the community.
No matter how close I was to Thane, he was technically the next in line to succeed the beastmen.
It seemed odd for him to claim to be my escort.
“Thane, do you still want to be my escort?”
“…Yes, I do.”
Thane studied me for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“Even though you’re the heir to lead the beasts?”
“That doesn’t matter…, nothing is more important to me than protecting Miss Erita.”
…That, of course, if it doesn’t make Miss Erita dislike me.
Thane replied firmly, then added a small afterthought.
I chuckled at Thane’s words.
“Of course, I don’t dislike it.”
I thought to myself, ‘Thane said he liked me.’
💫
“Welcome, my lady.”
Tervan was the first to greet me when I returned to the manor after parting ways with Thane.
He’d been out in the garden, trying to figure out how to decorate it for the arrival of spring.
“Tervan, is Father in his office?”
“Yes, Master is in his office. A little while ago, Young Master also went to his office…”
“Good! Thank you, Tervan!”
Tervan’s quick reply to my urgent question.
With a wave of my hand, I thanked Tervan and walked briskly back to the manor.
My timing was perfect, as Aaron, who had just finished his schedule, was also in the office.
For a moment, I thought about changing clothes and talking to them after dinner, but I didn’t dare turn toward my room.
My mantra was that if I set my mind to something, it’s better to do it quickly.
‘Well, I had to tell him about the beasts anyway, so it’s all good.’
In my arms, as I headed to my office, was a letter from Thane’s father, the leader of the beasts.
The letter was brief, saying that the beastmen would join me, Erita Krovachatz, in my cause.
First, I must speak of the beastmen, and then of my intention to bring Thane under my escort.
I organized a simple sequence of words.
“…though I have a feeling my father and brother will object.”
Knowing my father and Aaron’s overprotection, it wasn’t hard to predict.
“Well, it’s my escort, so what would they say if I told them I wanted to be the one to decide?”
I thought to myself as I made my way to my father’s office.
It was a few minutes later that I realized that the overprotection of the two men in my house was worse than I expected.
“…Erita.”
My father’s incredulous face turned to me.
“What?”
“So you’re saying that this letter is from the beasts people who disappeared hundreds of years ago?”
The look on my dad’s face was one of clear surprise.
Though he didn’t speak, Aaron was looking at me with the same expression on his face.
“Well, sort of, isn’t it?”
When I nodded in response, my father let out a long sigh with an unreadable expression.
“I don’t know what the hell you’ve been doing around here…”
There was a faint hint of amusement in his tone and a large amount of pride.
In response, I smirked and snapped my fingers.
It had only been a few days ago that I’d broken the news that I was a master wizard of the highest order, owner of Lagrace, black magic.
And I could imagine the embarrassment on both my father’s and Aaron’s faces.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last time, but the news hadn’t quite sunk in yet…”
“Sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry about.”
“No. I’m just a little surprised because I wasn’t expecting it, and that’s a good thing.”
Aaron complemented his father’s short statement.
Fortunately, they’d already blown a big secret once before, so they seemed to take this one in stride.
‘Then I guess we should talk about Thane.’
I examined my father’s and Aaron’s faces.
They were both in good spirits.
“Um, and there’s one other thing I need to tell you…”
I began cautiously.
“Relax.”
My father’s voice was soothing.
I knew I was being a bit brash, but I was still embarrassed that I was about to take an escort into my mouth that I had refused when he offered to give me one.
Furthermore, the two people in front of me were the kind of people who would light up and glare at anyone with a different DNA than theirs if they came near me.
A pang of guilt washed over me as I realized that Thane, a gentle and kind-hearted man, would be subjected to the murderous stares of those two pairs.
“I think I’m going to get an escort.”
But Thane himself had said he wanted to be my escort, and I was going to go along with it no matter what.
“…You mean an escort?”
“Yes. My escort knight.”
“Hmm, well, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’ll see if I can find one of the knights of the house who’s good enough. Or do you want Kyle?”
At the mention of an escort, my father obviously assumed I would choose from the family’s knights.
When I saw the look in his eyes, I smiled knowingly and softly.
“I’ve already decided who I’m going to have.”
Note for Male Lead
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