I Became the Assassin Family's Foster Daughter (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
Deon woke up not long after returning to the mansion.
“Take some time to reflect.”
Having been thoroughly scolded by Blake, Deon was confined to a room in the annex for a week.
It didn’t bother him much—he hadn’t planned on going out anyway.
But he was worried about that kid who looked just like a puppy.
“You shouldn’t have taken a civilian into the monster forest! She’s only seven years old.”
“Shut up.”
That morning, Jed visited under the pretense of checking on him and left, having thoroughly irritated Deon.
Perhaps because Blake had personally taken him in and raised him since childhood, Jed was the only one in the Rodwick household who treated both the head of the family and Deon with ease.
It was possible only because Jed clearly understood the boundaries he shouldn’t cross.
“Eek. Looks like our young master’s in a bad mood. I’d better leave now.”
“……What about her?”
Jed smirked inwardly as he watched Deon, who pretended nonchalance but whose concern for Riche was painfully obvious.
‘The physician did say she’d wake up soon.’
Jed wasn’t entirely unconcerned about Riche either, but he certainly wasn’t losing sleep over her like Anna or Blake.
Nor was he as anxious as Deon, who asked about Riche every time Jed visited these past couple of days.
Jed shrugged in response to Deon’s question.
“She hasn’t woken up yet.”
Though it was midday, the room—its windows all curtained—was as dark as night.
Deon lay on the sofa, repeatedly tossing and catching a fountain pen.
‘It’s been two days already, and she still hasn’t woken up?’
That fearless, impudent brat.
Deon had finally realized that no matter how hard he tried to scare her, he couldn’t drive Riche out of the Rodwick household.
From the very beginning, that kid hadn’t feared him at all—not even a little. She’d only been pretending to be scared.
‘Damn it.’
Deon furrowed his brow.
He was bothered.
Bothered that Riche hadn’t woken up yet, and bothered by what had happened while he’d been unconscious.
‘I don’t remember a thing.’
He’d overexerted his abilities due to the sudden swarm of monsters.
The backlash had knocked him out, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back at the mansion.
‘What exactly happened? And why don’t I feel any pain?’
He wasn’t referring to the side effects of using his ability in the forest.
Deon placed a hand near his heart.
The constant pain was gone—the sharp, stabbing sensation like a blade cutting through him, the crushing pressure around his heart.
It had always been there, caused by the energy accumulated in his body since childhood. The Rodwick bloodline called this energy “Om.”
Deon’s body was especially prone to accumulating Om due to his high potential.
That was why Blake had told him not to use his abilities until he reached adulthood.
Yet…
‘I can’t feel any Om at all.’
He’d never felt this light before.
What on earth had happened in that forest that left him perfectly fine while that child still hadn’t awakened?
‘……I should apologize.’
Deon tossed the fountain pen into the air again.
Back in the forest, he’d been certain he was going to die.
So he hadn’t even managed to say he was sorry. He’d hoped she’d abandon him if things got desperate.
“Are you stupid or something?”
Then why hadn’t she left him behind?
If things had gotten dangerous enough to knock him unconscious, she should’ve run away and left him.
“In the forest, you wouldn’t believe how adorable you were! The young lady was holding your hand so tightly, Master!”
Deon flexed and unfurled his right hand—the one Riche had supposedly held.
A small, silver-haired girl appeared in his mind.
She’d even held his hand? What a fool.
Tap.
Just then, Deon heard something tap against the windowpane.
His fountain pen slipped from his hand and lodged itself into the curtain beside the window.
The pout that had been on Deon’s face was instantly replaced by a blank expression.
‘Seems like it didn’t actually get inside.’
The room where Deon was confined was on the first floor of the rarely visited annex.
Outside the window where the sound came from was a flowerbed, not a path where people passed by.
‘They said they’d just hired new knights. Has another reckless little rat snuck in?’
The Rodwicks had an unusual number of enemies.
Thus, it wasn’t uncommon for other nobles or royals to send spies disguised as servants or knights.
‘An example needs to be made.’
This time, it might be better to use his ability to warn off the intruders—unlike before.
Because that kid was in the mansion.
‘At the very least, they won’t dare lay a finger on her—.’
Silencing his footsteps, Jed walked to the window and yanked the curtain aside.
“Yikes!”
“……?”
Someone on the other side of the window let out a startled cry.
What kind of sloppy spy was this?
Deon leapt onto the windowsill and peered down below.
“Ouch….”
“You…!”
There sat Riche, having fallen flat on her backside in the flowerbed.
Hadn’t Jed said just this morning that she still hadn’t woken up? Had she awakened already?
Deon tried to open the window, but it was locked.
“Hey, did you fall?”
So small and clumsy—how could anyone fall in a flowerbed? She wasn’t even a month-old puppy.
Their eyes met, both flustered.
Riche’s round eyes briefly scanned Deon’s upper body before crinkling into a smile.
“Thank goodness! You’re all right!”
Her bright, cheerful voice carried through the window to Deon.
Deon scowled.
Then he retrieved the fountain pen stuck in the wall and fiddled with the window latch.
‘What’s he doing?’
Riche, still seated on the ground with her hands braced behind her, watched Deon through the window.
Soon, there was a soft click, and the lock released.
Deon opened the window and stood before Riche.
“Hey.”
“……?”
“Who told who they were all right?”
“Huh…?”
Why was he picking a fight all of a sudden?
Riche looked at Deon, bewildered.
Had she made a mistake?
She’d only said he was fine because his fever seemed gone and the dark aura had completely cleared.
‘Is he still in pain?’
Deon silently helped the worried Riche to her feet, then knelt on one knee before her and offered his back.
“?”
“Get on.”
[This is the timeline separator]“Young Master has escaped!”
Upon receiving the report from the knight guarding Deon’s room, Blake finished signing the document in front of him and left his study.
Thanks to his accident-prone son, who caused trouble nearly every day, there was never a moment of peace.
‘He ought to mature before taking the head’s seat.’
Due to their family’s short lifespans, dukes typically assumed leadership at a young age.
Blake himself had become head of the house at sixteen.
Now, at thirty-two, with Deon being nine—
By normal standards, Deon would inherit the family around sixteen.
‘That leaves about three years.’
Rodwick had a premonition that day would come sooner than others expected.
Because his own time was running out.
“It’s fine if Deon is my only child.”
“It’s not for my sake. I just wanted to leave Deon with family. Neither you nor I have much time left, after all.”
His wife, who had spoken those words, had passed away early, taking with her their second child—who had never even cried once.
Blake’s own time to join his departed family was drawing near.
Until then……
“Is Riche in her room?”
As he walked down the corridor, Blake asked Jed, who followed behind him.
Riche had awakened that morning.
If Deon had left his room, he must have gone to see her.
Just in case, Blake had assigned guards to her door.
Surely nothing serious had happened.
“The last time I saw her was when I went with you, my lord. I’ll ask Anna.”
“Never mind. We’ll know once we get to her room.”
Blake strode briskly down the stairs.
It wasn’t far from his third-floor study to Riche’s room on the second floor.
He arrived at her door in no time.
Before Blake could even knock, the door swung open abruptly.
It was Anna, about to step out. Her face turned pale as she met Blake’s eyes.
“M-My lord, you’re here?”
“Is Riche inside?”
“Yes, she’s in there.”
“Anna, what’s wrong with your face? You look like someone who hasn’t used the bathroom in days.”
Anna shot Jed a glare and turned her head back.
If you look, you’ll be just as shocked. That was the meaning behind her gesture.
Indeed, actions spoke faster than words.
“…….”
Blake, having already witnessed the scene inside the room, stood frozen like a statue.
Jed stammered incoherently, then turned ashen-faced as Anna and muttered,
“Is this a dream?”
What they saw was Deon, smiling as he read a picture book to Riche.
[This is the timeline separator]“I’ve been thinking—Miss, you might not be human.”
“……?”
Munch, munch.
Sitting at the dining table, Riche chewed on the bread Anna had torn for her and looked at Jed seated across from her.
Jed met her gaze, then suddenly clutched his chest.
“Ugh. Do you really think I’ll fall for you just because you’re looking at me so cutely?”
‘Why’s he acting like that?’
“What are you talking about? Miss is eating breakfast, and you suddenly come over to pick a fight?”
Anna scolded Jed.
Jed protested indignantly toward his younger sister.
“Anna, you saw it too yesterday! He smiled! Our Young Master, who’s only lived nine years but acts like he’s seen it all and wears that disdainful expression all the time—how incredibly cute must Miss be for him to smile like that!”
Gulp.
After swallowing the last bite of bread, Riche spoke to Jed.
“He was just teasing me.”
Yesterday, after waking up, Riche had gone to Deon’s room out of worry, and after confirming the purification had fully taken hold, she’d been overjoyed.
Then, as she tried to return to her own room, Deon had complained about how short her legs were and how long it would take her to get there, and carried her all the way back himself.
And that was where it had started.
The picture book Anna had placed on the nightstand beside the bed.
“Hey, you can’t read, right?”
“……I can.”
“Then read it. I’ll believe you if you do.”
Provoked by Deon’s challenge, Riche began reading the picture book aloud.
Of all things, it was a book filled with pictures of dogs.
Deon didn’t even blink at her fluent reading—instead, he kept saying things like, “This dog looks just like you. That dog looks just like you.”
When Riche refused to back down and retorted, “This dog looks like Deon. That dog looks like Deon,” Deon had burst out laughing in exasperation.
‘Fighting seriously with a nine-year-old…’
He’d lived at least ten years longer than Deon, after all.
He felt a slight pang of self-disgust, yet strangely, he didn’t want to lose to Deon.
“No, Young Master Deon smiled because Miss is just that adorable.”
Riche pressed her lips together and fell silent at Jed’s earnest rebuttal.
She’d nearly said she wasn’t cute.
‘No belittling remarks allowed.’
Riche reminded herself once more of the task assigned to her.
Upon waking, Blake had given Riche a few strict rules.
“No saying ‘slave,’ no calling things ‘filthy.’ And also…”
Amid countless prohibitions, Blake had lifted the overwhelmed Riche into his arms.
“And no calling me ‘Duke.’”
“Then…?”
If she couldn’t call him “Duke,” what should she call him?
“Didn’t I already tell you? Call me ‘Dad.’”
“Uh…?”
“The first time is hard, but it gets easier after that. So go ahead and try.”
“A… a…”
The word wouldn’t come out.
But Blake wasn’t about to give up easily.
After finally hearing the shy Riche say “Dad,” he left, seemingly satisfied.
“Young Master Deon won’t be able to come today. He’s been confined to his room again.”
Jed stood up, saying he ought to leave, and passed along the news about Deon before departing.
And so, a peaceful day passed.
She had lunch and dinner with Blake, strolled through the ducal estate with the maids, and in the early evening, lay in bed watching Anna read her a picture book.
“Miss, time to sleep?”
Riche’s drowsy eyes finally closed completely.
Anna quietly got up, turned off the light, and closed the door behind her.
“…….”
A short while later.
Alone, Riche opened her eyes.
Her bright, silvery eyes stared into the empty air.
[Ltiom.]There, a small but brilliant light shimmered.
[Now it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?]
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
At least that will make her discovered sooner by her new family.
Oh no! An enemy. How did she get discovered so fast?