‘…Who wouldn’t say he’s a villain.’

In the end, my guard was replaced with an unfamiliar knight.

Unlike how Yan greeted me on the first day, this man merely glanced at me and silently followed behind without a word.

I was quick-witted. I could instantly tell he was reluctantly doing a job he disliked.

I figured it was probably due to dissatisfaction with being assigned to guard a young girl like me.

‘Yan wasn’t like that though.’

A pointless thought suddenly crossed my mind. I shook my head vigorously.

‘No, I don’t care either way. Let’s not care what others think.’

As I was playing alone with toys in the garden, I saw the sun setting and slowly got up from my spot.

‘I don’t want to run into the Duke.’

It had been two days since my guard changed. During that time, I diligently avoided the Duke.

There were two reasons.

One was because I had unintentionally yelled at the Duke while defending Yan.

‘To think I raised my voice at the Duke!’

At first, I avoided him out of fear of the aftermath.

However, the very next day when I saw the guard being replaced, I felt anger before fear.

‘He does whatever he wants!’

Assigning a guard on his own, replacing them on his own.

‘That villain Duke, I don’t even want to see his face.’

That was the second reason I avoided the Duke.

‘I was really fine though.’

It was that Count’s fault for arbitrarily touching my head, not Yan’s.

Plus, the Duke usually paid no attention to me.

I don’t know why the Duke was so sensitive that day. I speculated that he needed an outlet for his anger.

‘Or maybe he’s on bad terms with the Count.’

He said his name was Count Ripe.

I decided to remember that name well. I’ll have to take a good look at him during the full gathering.

I deliberately took a round-about way through the garden to return to the front entrance.

With light steps, I climbed the stairs, relieved that I had safely avoided the Duke again today.

Fortunately, the Duke’s office and my room were far apart.

It meant that if I worked hard to avoid him, there would be hardly any chances to run into him inside the mansion.

However, upon returning to my room, I couldn’t help but freeze in place.

“You’re finally here.”

The Duke raised his head as if he had been waiting.

* * *

A heavy silence fell.

I slightly lifted my gaze and met his chilling eyes, making me flinch.

If looks could kill, it felt like my neck would be instantly strangled.

‘Why did he come looking for me?’

I never expected the Duke to personally come to my room and wait for me.

‘Delma will be bringing cookies soon too.’

It just so happened to be the time when Delma would bring snacks.

But with the Duke in my room, it was obvious she wouldn’t be able to bring the snacks right away.

While it was annoying not being able to eat the cookies, on the other hand, I was also scared.

‘It can’t be because I yelled at him that day, right?’

I gauged the distance from where I was sitting to the window.

If worse came to worst, I planned to jump out.

It’s a bit high, but it’s better than being harmed by the Duke.

With that thought, I glanced towards the window, when the Duke suddenly asked,

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing…”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of running away again.”

“…”

He saw right through me in an instant. Feeling caught, I silently lowered my gaze to the floor.

A heavy silence descended again. Just then, Philen entered the room with documents in hand.

I had never been so glad to see him.

“It’s Philen!”

“Young Miss, are you that happy to see me?”

When I welcomed him, Philen’s face lit up. As Philen approached me with a beaming smile, the Duke extended a hand towards him.

“The documents.”

His expression had hardened even more than before.

“Yes, I have brought them here.”

Perhaps sensing something was off, the smile disappeared from Philen’s face.

‘What are they so serious about?’

I also glanced around curiously. The tension made my toes curl.

“It’s been a month since you came here.”

The Duke silently handed me the document.

‘Diane Mesi Crustel?’

I read a single name written in handwriting.

I alternated between looking at the document and the Duke. Since he showed it to me, I figured this document must be closely related to me.

Which means…

“You must have heard from Sophia. In three days, I plan to introduce you to the retainers. After that day, you will be officially recognized as a member of the Ducal House.”

The day I would be introduced to the retainers was three days away. On that day, I would stand before the retainers and formally announce that I am the Duke’s biological daughter.

The Duke pointed to the word ‘Diane’ written on the document he held out to me.

“This is your name.”

At that moment, Philen approached the Duke and whispered as if speaking into his ear.

“My Lord. Children at this age usually can’t read.”

“I know, so step back.”

“Yes, sir.”

‘But I can read.’

It wasn’t something I learned from Rebecca.

After regaining memories of my past life, I had taught myself to read and write in order to survive on my own.

I didn’t bother informing the Duke about it. Waiting silently, the Duke clearly articulated to me.

“Diane, this will be your name from now on.”

I still disliked the Duke. I disliked him for arbitrarily changing my guard and taking out his anger on Yan despite me being fine with it.

‘…But the name is so pretty.’

It sounds like the name of a child who has been loved and raised by family all their life.

‘My original name was a stupid bird name.’

Rill, that was my original name. It had the same pronunciation as the bird known as the stupidest in the East.

With a name like that, it was only natural to be ridiculed by the alley children every day.

‘Why is your name a bird name?’

‘Isn’t it because your head is like a bird brain?’

Making fun of someone’s name is childish and petty. Also, just because my name was the same as a stupid bird didn’t mean I was actually stupid.

I knew that, but with this small body, even if I refuted them, all I would get in return was violence, contempt, and ridicule.

Still, I don’t think I hated my name that much until then.

I started to hate my name when I accidentally overheard the origin of my name from Rebecca when she was heavily drunk.

‘When I brought you, there was a bird chirping loudly outside. It was really ear-piercing.’

That bird probably wasn’t a rill.

The habitat of the rill, known for its large size and low intelligence, was in the East, and this was the far North.

With Rebecca’s limited knowledge, the only bird she knew was probably the well-known rill, so she named me after it.

Finding out that my name was a meaningless stupid bird name was quite a sad thing.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

This villain Duke, he arbitrarily took out his anger on Yan.

He arbitrarily chose a name and arbitrarily informed me.

…Well, the name isn’t bad though.

“It’s nothing.”

I reluctantly gave a short reply, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the part where my name was written.

My lips kept twitching, trying to suppress a smile.

“By the way, where have you been wandering around lately?”

Just as I was starting to feel good, the Duke suddenly asked a strange question.

It felt as if he was implying I couldn’t sit still for even a moment. I felt very wronged.

It was already awkward enough that my guard had changed to an unfamiliar person, making me self-conscious about wandering around freely.

Unlike Yan, the current guard openly showed his annoyance whenever I tried to stay outside a bit longer.

“I didn’t wander around much.”

“No way.”

“It’s true!”

“Then are you saying you didn’t leave your room at all?”

That wasn’t the case either. I shook my head. The Duke slightly furrowed his brows.

“Then why have you been so invisible?”

This time, it was my turn to furrow my brows. I couldn’t understand the point of his question.

Another awkward silence fell. The Duke spoke again.

“Don’t tell me you were deliberately avoiding me?”

…This I couldn’t deny.

“Seems like that’s the correct answer.”

The Duke stared at me intently. I slowly avoided his gaze, and he let out a soft sigh.

“About the guard that time.”

“…”

“Yan was indeed at fault. He admitted it himself. It was his job to stop the Count before he laid a hand on you.”

I didn’t understand why he was bringing this up now. He had already replaced the guard.

“If the Count had been bare-handed, it would have been fine, but if he had been holding a weapon, it could have been a dangerous situation.”

It felt like he kept missing the point. It seemed like he had something to say but was beating around the bush.

“So Duke, what do you want to say?”

Unable to stand it any longer, I asked.

The Duke didn’t answer right away. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

His gaze wandered awkwardly, seeming deep in thought.

His usually sharp voice sounded uncertain.

“…I’ll do it.”

I had no idea what he was saying.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“…I’ll change your guard back.”

For a moment, I was dumbfounded by his unexpected words. Then, without realizing it, I broke into a wide smile.

“Really?!”

“But there’s a condition.”

Of course. There’s no way he would agree to my request without any strings attached.

As I sullenly waited for his words, the Duke spoke seriously.

* * *

Having said what he needed to say, Cailius returned to his office with satisfaction.

He recalled the conversation he had with the child just a moment ago.

He had been wondering why it was so difficult to see that child’s face these past few days, but he never imagined she was actually avoiding him.

Feeling resentful about that, he offered to change her guard, which wasn’t even planned, in exchange for one condition.

‘Well, it wasn’t a bad deal.’

Upon hearing the condition, the child did show a disgruntled expression, but the deal was made nonetheless.

Of course, she had no choice but to agree to the deal. She had always disliked changing her guard in the first place.

It was an impulsive act, but the result was quite satisfactory.

After a short while, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Yan entered the room and bowed his head.

“I heard you had something to say to me.”

He had made a promise with the child and used it as a bargaining chip, so he had to say it. But now that he saw Yan’s face, the desire to say those words completely disappeared.

The thought of pretending it never happened also crossed his mind.

‘Maybe I should have sent someone else.’

When he had asked Yan to bring the child on the first day, Yan was the first to volunteer.

There was also the belief that Yan, who had three younger siblings, would be better at pacifying and bringing the child.

But he never expected the child to like this fellow to this extent.

Cailius’s expression hardened even more at that thought.

To reiterate, he had made a promise, so he was going to say it.

Trust was vital in deals, after all.

…Although he was going to say it, the words wouldn’t easily leave his mouth.

The longer the silence stretched, the colder the atmosphere became, like an icy murderous intent descending upon them.

Yan waited for the Duke’s words, tense with anticipation.

“I didn’t know Diane liked you that much.”

“No, that’s not true. The Young Miss—”

“She does like you.”

A sharp voice cut him off. Yan wisely closed his mouth.