I gained a small puppy, no, a boy that I needed to raise well, and as a bonus, I gained the heart of a holy knight.

It seemed like an effective fortress could be established to defend against the threat of Axel Mirmod, and even attack if necessary.

It felt like everything was going smoothly.

It should be something to truly rejoice about, but why do I feel heavy-hearted?

I quietly spoke while glancing sideways at the boy sitting next to me in the carriage.

“I’m counting on you! Baby!”

The boy who had been staring at me intently carefully opened his mouth.

“……I’m not a baby, but…… Yes. I’ll be in your care from now on. Thank you.”

When I met his gaze that seemed to trust me completely, my heart stung for some reason.

I too disliked my family in my past life at times.

“Mmm, baby! I’ll help you.”

So that you can live happily on a flowery path in the future.

I looked at Acid with sparkling eyes. Tears welled up in Acid’s bright eyes.

Just as a warm atmosphere was forming between us two, at that very moment.

Sniff!

The maids sitting across from us sniffled as if moved.

‘It’s impossible to maintain the mood, I tell you.’

These maids with strong muscles but weak hearts!

I laughed softly as if mocking them and patted the shoulder of the boy next to me encouragingly.

The carriage ran endlessly, crossing the threshold of the Mirmod family. And finally, we arrived at the west mansion where we all live together.

“Let’s start with washing up.”

“…Alright, let’s go!”

“Mm! Let’s all wash up and eat something tasty!”

Hearing the maids’ energetic shouts, Acid and I got off the carriage together.

I entered the mansion with a bright smile.

Thinking that warm melted chocolate would be best to thaw a heart frozen by long-standing wounds.

***

When Sien brought Ted’s younger brother to the west mansion, Matthias had just finished perfectly disposing of the assassins that Sien’s maids had beaten nearly to death.

His mood was quite soured by the fact that there were those who dared to target his daughter’s life.

‘They said “that demon made us like this,” how audacious.’

Above all, they referred to his daughter as “that demon.”

To his lovable child who couldn’t even carelessly step on weeds due to her tender heart.

‘They said Delphia sent them?’

Objectively speaking, Matthias was overwhelmingly strong within the Mirmod family, but the balance of power was not completely determined by strength alone.

Delphia Mirmod, Axel Mirmod, and the Senate.

Beyond that, the imperial family and the Pope allied with the empire’s power.

He needed to dispose of them all silently, but if he made a misstep, it was obvious problems would arise.

‘I need to deal with the Pope to avenge Yuella’s death.’

She disappeared like dew on the execution ground in the incident of the heretic demon trial.

Yuella confessed to summoning a demon and asked to be killed. But he believed she must have had other intentions.

‘…The trap of the temple, that is.’

Matthias, having made a firm decision, made the bold choice to deal with Delphia first. She would certainly not be an easy opponent.

Delphia Mirmod.

A truly mad magician, one of those who held the upper hand in the succession scheme until he returned.

With a temperament of openly crushing those who opposed her, she mainly used direct speech.

Within the family, she was considered a madwoman out of her mind, but her magic and abilities were extraordinary enough that she would not be out of place as the successor.

There was a gap in Delphia’s abilities. She mainly used magic to transform her body, and that magic had significant side effects.

‘After dealing with Delphia Mirmod, there’s the next step.’

Axel used the power of darkness, so rumors that he was a necromancer were rampant. There was virtually no way to defeat a necromancer.

‘I haven’t found a perfect way to destroy Axel Mirmod yet.’

Matthias lowered his eyes.

For the past five years, he had devoured all the energy around him.

He had become stronger at a rate fundamentally different from before.

So he was somewhat optimistic about the future and had just returned to the west mansion, when…

“Dad!”

Sien was waiting in front of the mansion.

Matthias smiled brightly, not hiding his naturally relaxing expression.

“Sien, I missed you.”

Being welcomed by his daughter after finishing a hard day’s work was heartwarming in many ways.

“Dad, I made a friend! They’re here now!”

He was smiling brightly at his daughter, but then his expression hardened.

It hadn’t been long since he dealt with the assassins, and now a stranger had infiltrated the mansion.

Innocent Sien, who didn’t yet know how wicked human nature could be – what if another assassin had infiltrated to harm the child?

He scanned the surroundings with furrowed brows.

“That, no, that friend?”

Behind Sien was a child hiding their larger frame behind Sien.

He didn’t originally like children. Especially not a child looking at his daughter so fervently.

That gaze was a subtle mix of admiration, excitement, and even worship. It was the blind trust towards someone who had saved them.

“Mm! I brought them along while passing by. They’re fluffy and clean!”

Sien smiled, showing her white teeth. And while stroking the child’s fluffy hair, she said:

“I’m going to use them as my baby subordinate!”

Hearing Sien’s bright voice, Matthias nodded.

He couldn’t openly show wariness when Sien liked them so much.

“I see. Troubleso…”

…He made a mistake.

Matthias smiled, pretending to be naive, and said:

“…No, what a cute friend. I’ll give them a separate room to stay in.”

However, there was clearly a need to leave room for suspicion.

Moreover, it was enough to have that strange masked child with peculiar eyes treating Sien like their attachment doll.

“Mm! Thank you for allowing it, now let’s go play together!”

Sien swung the boy’s hand up and down.

The boy muttered softly through his teeth.

“Yes, I’ll become a useful person.”

At the word “useful,” Sien’s expression loosened for a moment before returning.

Matthias’s heart ached whenever he saw such lonely expressions that Sien sometimes showed. So he deliberately asked cheerfully.

“Let’s go inside. Was there anything else?”

It was just to change the subject.

As they entered the mansion following Matthias, Sien said energetically.

“Oh right, I also found an adult knight!”

“Hmm, Sien? Daddy is Sien’s knight.”

Matthias responded with a bright smile.

Sien often used to say, “Daddy is like a knight on a white horse!” after all.

However, this time Sien seriously shook her head.

“No, a real knight!”

…A real knight?

‘Then does that mean daddy is a fake knight?’

Feeling a bit hurt, Matthias relaxed his clenching fist and calmly asked.

“Who… is it? Daddy’s feelings are hurt.”

In fact, saying “Daddy’s feelings are hurt” to Sien was quite effective.

But today was different.

Sien just smiled coyly while fluttering her hair, without adding anything else.

Feeling somewhat anxious, Matthias kept biting his lips before asking.

“Hmm? Sien.”

“Mmm, I’ll tell you later!”

Matthias quietly thought.

Come to think of it, in the countryside she used to say she liked daddy the most, but lately there hadn’t been such words. She just went around with a frown on her soft, glossy face saying “Oh my, I’m so busy!”

Sien had gained many secrets at some point.

Matthias’s fist clenched tightly.

Looking at Sien’s round forehead, Matthias pondered.

He needed to find out exactly what Sien had been up to lately.

‘I should confirm the identity of this knight.’

He needed to properly check who this knight Sien had found was.

He thought that if they were teaching his pure and fragile daughter bad things, he wouldn’t just stand by, but…

Perhaps his thoughts had gone too deep. Before he knew it, Sien had run ahead with her round feet.

Before Matthias could catch up to Sien’s steps, her loud voice was heard from a distance.

“Let’s play hunting later!”

“What?”

At the innocent boy’s voice that clung to his daughter’s side, Sien shouted playfully.

“Goblin bashing!”

Hearing Sien’s voice, Matthias thought.

No.

There’s nothing wrong with our daughter.

This is all just a problem with this family.

However, feeling somewhat uneasy from the nape of his neck, he decided to thoroughly investigate Sien’s recent activities.

***

Daddy was lost in thought without saying a word.

I don’t know what daddy is thinking. Maybe he’s having loving thoughts like ‘I should feed and clothe that small and kind child, Acid, well’?

‘Our daddy is extremely kind and gentle after all!’

After lightly guessing daddy’s psychology, I immediately looked at Acid.

Acid carefully asked me.

“So, are we catching goblins after dinner?”

“Mm! We’re gonna catch them!”

I smiled very wickedly.

‘After dinner, I’ll catch goblins and show off to daddy! I’ll display my power!’

It’s killing two birds with one stone, as they say.

This evening, I was planning to become closer with Ted’s brother, Acid, while playing “Goblin Bashing”.

But…

After finishing dinner with daddy, who seemed to have aged about a year, perhaps because work was hard, his face all stiffened up for some reason, I tightly held Acid’s hand and came out to the outdoor garden of the mansion, but…

‘Why are there no goblins? I’m sure they were here.’

I remember a scary-looking man, presumed to be daddy’s closest aide, releasing goblins around here.

I sharply asked the maid sisters standing behind me.

“Sisters, where did all the cute goblins go?”

“Ah, that…”

“We did prepare goblins, but…”

I could see sweat trickling down the maids’ shiny foreheads.

“Master Matthias ordered their complete disposal. He said we can’t keep such sca… things in our mansion.”

The maids’ voices faltered slightly.

Hearing their words, I found myself nodding.

‘Daddy must have felt sorry for the captured goblins again.’

Certainly, a kind person like daddy would naturally feel pity even for goblins.

‘As expected, our daddy is an angel.’

But then the maid sisters winked, pointing at my feet.

“Instead, he brought down this cute cat.”

“Cat…?”

I lowered my head.

The sisters were right.

On the slightly frosty grass, a fluffy white cat with adorable fur had quietly approached in front of me!

Judging by its tail swaying gently, it seemed to be in a good mood.

‘Cats are cute, but they’re not necessary for building strength!’

Of course, the cat was so cute it hurt my heart, but still.

I crossed my arms and shook my head several times.

“Someone like me doesn’t suit cats.”

“Pardon?”

“I like goblins. Goblins, lions, tigers!”

“Ah…”

I looked at the disappointed maid sisters, then quickly turned my head to the right to look at Acid. I was about to say ‘Let’s go see lions!’

“Baby, let’s go see li-”

But I quickly covered my mouth.

Acid was staring intently at the cat, its mouth slightly open, grooming its paw pads dotted with jelly.

Whatever sounds were around, he seemed fascinated by the cat.

“Are… cats usually white?”

“Hm?”

I was about to casually answer ‘There are white cats and black cats too,’ but I paused for a moment when I saw the boy hiding his burned hand behind his back.

‘There were only dirty cats in Pelord Street, so he didn’t know.’

The atmosphere seemed to grow heavy.

I clapped my hands once to change the mood.

“Let’s talk about something fun!”

Acid seemed to have only seen dirty and unpleasant things so far.

Like how I became scarred after being shunned by my family before reincarnating, Acid’s heart must be in a prickly state right now.

‘It’s hard for me to turn away because he’s like me.’

So I wanted to teach him about many good things too. I wanted to make him happy like I am now.