Yesterday afternoon, Damian couldn’t concentrate on his work even on the deck.
The tutor file he had checked the day before yesterday and Lucy’s external class schedule he received today kept bothering him.
“Um, Your Grace. The preparations seem to be almost complete. We just need to set a departure date, but if you’re concerned about the family trip, shall we postpone it a little?”
Charles, who noticed that Damian wasn’t fully focused on his work, asked him first.
“…There’s an external class tomorrow, I hear.”
“Pardon?”
It was just as they were coming down from the deck.
Damian suddenly stopped walking, frowning as the sunlight pierced his skin like prison bars in the weather.
“External… class?”
Charles tilted his head as if he found it difficult to understand what he meant.
“I thought how great could it be even if the maids or knights had different intentions, but I’ve heard some concerning words lately.”
“What kind of words did you hear… Did the servants perhaps side with the nobility?”
Charles’s expression hardened.
“No. They said I was complacent. That’s been bothering me.”
“What? You, Your Grace?”
It was something even a passing dog would laugh at. To call the Duke complacent… Whoever it was, they were someone who really didn’t know how to read people.
“It’s because our daughter is clever.”
“Pardon?”
Although none of the conversation flowed naturally, Charles was shocked by the affectionate word “our daughter” that came out of the Duke’s mouth more than the previous conversation.
Moreover, to naturally boast about his daughter, saying she’s clever!
But one shouldn’t miss praising the superior’s daughter. This is what social life is about.
Charles, suddenly coming to his senses, smiled and replied.
“It seems the young lady must take after you a lot, Your Grace.”
“…No. She takes after Eriel more than me. Besides, there must be a reason why my daughter said that to me.”
“Surely… Was it Lady Lucy who told you that you were complacent, Your Grace?”
“Yes.”
Damian’s mouth corners lifted higher than usual as he answered.
Even Charles, who had been by his side for over a decade, had only seen such a genuinely smiling mouth corner twice now.
The first time was when he decided to get married, and since the second time was about the young lady, it seemed that daughters were indeed something special.
They say daughters melt their fathers’ hearts, and it seems even the Iron Duke is no exception in front of his daughter.
Charles smiled, meeting the Duke’s gaze with a pleased expression.
“I hope my second child is a daughter too.”
“That’s why I want you to disguise yourself as a mansion knight and follow along.”
“…Pardon?”
Damian, who had chewed up Charles’s words like tasty grains of rice, issued an unexpected order.
“I had told the butler to protect Eriel, but even that might have been a complacent choice. My daughter probably knows the inside of the mansion better than I do.”
“Then… is my role to prioritize the safety of the Duchess?”
“No. Eriel will have the butler beside her, so follow Lucy. Our daughter is quite militant. She’ll step forward even knowing it’s dangerous.”
While nodding, Charles briefly bent his fingers to count the young lady’s age.
He couldn’t even bend all ten fingers… No, that’s right. The young lady is 7 years old… No, that’s correct.
“I checked the tutor file, and there was something strange. When I asked the butler, he said it wasn’t Eriel, but Lucy who chose directly. Probably… my daughter already has a plan. No, not probably, she’s already executing it.”
The Duke’s thin blue eyes soon folded at a gentle angle.
“Go. I’m curious too. What our daughter is thinking.”
“Yes, understood.”
Charles bowed deeply at the waist.
Still with questions.
*
“Royal straight flush?”
Bruno laid down his cards in the smoke-filled club.
Those seated at the table threw down their cards, simultaneously surprised and scowling.
They had raised the stakes because they hadn’t expected such a hand, given Bruno’s poor expression throughout the game.
Bruno was usually someone whose face easily revealed whether he had a good or bad hand… Today, he had managed his expression perfectly even with such a hand.
“Hah… This won’t do.”
However, even after winning, Bruno’s expression remained poor.
He chewed on his nails, then told the guards behind him to collect the chips and stood up.
“I’ll be going first.”
“No, shouldn’t you ring the golden bell once for a royal straight flush?”
Someone who tried to stop him said, but Bruno, furrowing his brow, shook his head.
“Next time… I’ll buy it next time.”
With that, he left the club.
Those left behind tilted their heads at Bruno’s retreating figure, but soon remembered the reality of losing all their chips and heaved deep sighs.
Bruno, who had come outside, immediately boarded the carriage. His anxious eyes shook violently.
“I know every move my brother makes, but… still, I can’t be certain. What if that maid somehow sees my brother before the kidnapping… Damn it! I should go just in case!”
In fact, he hadn’t thought as far as kidnapping.
He had intended to drive a wedge between that annoying woman and the child, not to make such a big fuss.
But… the higher-ups suddenly changed the plan after hearing Jessica’s story.
Saying it would be a big problem if the Crown Prince and the young lady got engaged.
“Bastards. In the end, if we get caught, I’ll take all the blame. I have to make it look like the tutor did it alone no matter what.”
Bruno, who had spat out curses, looked out the window. It wasn’t far from the club to the dock.
It seemed best to go quickly and catch his brother’s attention.
If anyone other than the maid found out about the kidnapping plan and his brother knew in advance… it was clear he wouldn’t even be able to collect his bones.
“Hah… Why that tutor of all people? If it was someone who just wanted money, I wouldn’t have had to persuade the tutor with such stupid words! Ha, fuck. If that bastard says something wrong…”
Bruno, who had been tearing at his hair, came to his senses again and comforted himself.
“No. Anyway, the first meeting with a mask on was the last. He mostly communicated with that maid, so he probably doesn’t know much about my existence.”
Bruno, who had nodded slightly, swallowed hard. Thinking like that, he actually had a positive thought.
“Maybe it’s even better than those hired for money. Such guys are easy to betray us, but Daniel has faith in his actions. If we say he kidnapped the young lady to save her, saying the Duchess was leaking information to a foreign country… People will think he alone was caught up in delusions and caused trouble.”
Bruno nodded and grinned.
“Yeah, it doesn’t matter as long as the kidnapping happens. That’s where my job ends. As long as I prevent my brother from interfering in the middle… Then it doesn’t matter.”
*
“Let’s have a drink after today’s work is done.”
It was when Charles, disguised as a mansion knight, had just sat down.
The knight who was supposed to go out for the external class with him spoke to Charles.
It seemed he didn’t realize the person had changed due to the helmet.
Indeed, it was difficult to guess the other person when inside the helmet as the voice echoed.
Charles nodded roughly, and the knight started polishing his sword.
“Why… are you polishing the sword now?”
“What? Of course I should polish it. What are you talking about?”
The knight chided Charles as if he found it very strange.
…Polishing the sword just for going to a hill.
Of course, one could think he was a knight who gave his all to every mission, but even the most dedicated knight rarely polished unless there was a determination to cut something.
“Right. I should polish my sword too.”
The knight stared at Charles for a long time. To avoid suspicion, Charles also started polishing his sword.
Having just returned from the battlefield not long ago, the act of polishing the sword wasn’t unfamiliar. Charles, who had planted questions densely on the blade he held firmly, focused on the edge.
“Right. Let’s do it in one go. In one go!”
Fortunately, the knight who withdrew his gaze patted Charles’s shoulder with meaningful words.
Thus, among the servants, two maids to attend to the young lady and two knights including Charles prepared to go out.
The knight standing next to him wasn’t the only suspicious one.
As the Duke had said, the tutor was equally suspicious. The man’s face seemed to have turned pale white.
The young lady smiling beside him seemed completely unaware of the situation.
Indeed… It was an order he had carried out with doubts from the beginning, but seeing the young lady before his eyes, it was really unbelievable.
What on earth had the Duke entrusted to the 7-year-old young lady!
Charles, who had clenched his fist tightly, began to guard the surroundings.
…Protect the young lady at all costs.
“Daniel!!”
However, as soon as they reached the hill, Charles was thrown into confusion.
The knight next to him pointed his sword not at the young lady, but at the tutor! He met the man’s sword right away, but due to his surprise and delay, blood spurted from the tutor’s shoulder.
Charles, who had beheaded the knight in one move, was about to tend to the young lady when it happened.
She was clearly a 7-year-old child when they left the mansion, but the young lady’s eyes he met now could only be described as those of a different person.
“Lizzy, go to dad right now, and Bella, head to the mansion. And Sir Charles, listen carefully to what I say from now on.”
“Yes, understood, My Lady.”
“I will depart first, My Lady.”
The two maids immediately answered and disappeared, but Charles couldn’t answer and met Lucy’s eyes.
How… did you know it was me inside the helmet…?
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
