Surviving as the Adopted Daughter of the Genius Duke (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4
‘Actually… for a long time now…’
I flipped the page while biting my nails. The protagonists, who had been making fools of themselves over a trivial misunderstanding for a full hundred pages, had finally reached the moment of confessing their feelings to each other.
‘I’ve always—’
Thud.
A chubby little hand landed firmly on the open book.
“Oh, come on!”
“Nuna, were you just saying that to me?”
“Huhh!”
It was Kirian.
“K-Kirian! Haha, when did you get here? I didn’t even notice you’d come.”
I laughed awkwardly and glanced around, but Olivia—always glued to Kirian’s side—was nowhere to be seen in the library.
“Where’s Olivia?”
Anxiety crept back up, but I tried my best to sound casual as I asked.
“Uum, she said she was going to the bathroom, so I waited, but got bored and came here. She’ll be back soon.”
But no matter how long we waited, Olivia never showed up. Whenever I pressed Kirian, he’d only repeat that she’d be back soon and refused to say anything more.
Eventually, when we told the adults, sharp words came back.
“You’re the oldest—what on earth have you been doing all this time?”
The corners of Lady Humphrey’s eyes shot upward—she was Olivia’s mother.
“It’s not Nuna’s fault… Olivia said she didn’t want to play with Nuna because Nuna’s a commoner.”
Kirian blinked innocently and fidgeted with his hands.
“Then where exactly did our Olivia go?”
“Uum… she said she was going to the bathroom…”
Kirian’s words were oddly evasive.
The atmosphere turned serious in an instant.
“We must begin a search.”
At the Duke’s single remark, the servants sprang into coordinated action. When Lady Humphrey began sobbing, the Duchess rolled up her sleeves and stood.
“Rather than just standing around crying, we should join the search ourselves.”
In the end, only Kirian and I were left in the drawing room.
“Ha, this is ridiculous. Dinner’s gonna take forever now.”
Kirian immediately climbed onto the softest sofa and picked up a biscuit the adults had left behind, munching away.
“Kirian, really, you don’t know where she went?”
I sat down carefully beside Kirian. I worried that pressing him might only irritate him, yet my conscience wouldn’t let me stay silent.
“I dunno.”
His clear, crimson eyes were so pure they dispelled every suspicion—so innocent that I felt guilty just for doubting him.
After all, unlike the unruly brat described in the novel, the Kirian I’d seen so far was surprisingly mature for his age. He never missed a single lesson or training session—things even adults would find grueling.
He never threw childish tantrums, and he never treated the servants poorly. So even though I instinctively sensed Kirian was involved in Olivia’s disappearance, it was hard to believe.
“Didn’t she go to the bathroom somewhere?”
When I pressed him, Kirian blinked and looked at me.
“But Nuna doesn’t really like Olivia, right?”
My unease grew thicker.
“No, I think there’s some misunderstanding—I do like Olivia.”
Kirian seemed to ponder quietly for a moment before finally speaking.
“Do you really know where Olivia is?”
Every worst-case scenario flashed through my mind. My palms grew sweaty, but I forced a smile onto my face.
“Yeah, I really want to find Olivia—can you help me?”
I swallowed the rest: I didn’t want to become a bystander to murder.
“Uum. Fifth-floor bathroom.”
“Fifth floor? But the only bathrooms on the fifth floor are the ones attached to the rooms.”
It was the floor with several guest rooms.
However, because the Duke and Duchess detested noise, the number of visitors to the manor had dwindled to barely a handful. Thus, a few unused guest rooms had been reassigned to high-ranking servants like the head maid and the butler.
“Mm.”
“The head maid’s room, the butler’s room, and the unused guest room.”
Everything clicked into place instantly.
“But the guest room bathroom is broken, isn’t it?”
At my remark, Kirian averted his gaze.
“I told her she could use the butler’s bathroom.”
“But a proud noble lady like her wouldn’t set foot in a bathroom used by commoners.”
“I told her clearly—she really shouldn’t go to that bathroom.”
Kirian slowly blinked his big eyes—truly the picture of an angelic child. Yet that very image sent chills down my spine. Suddenly, I thought: there’s no demon worse than a fallen angel.
There was no time to call the adults. Fearing what might happen as time passed, I hurriedly dragged my short legs up the stairs with great effort. Kirian followed reluctantly behind me, wearing a displeased expression.
“Nuna, let’s not do this—how about we go get some snacks instead? I’ll give you pretty candy.”
By the time we reached the fourth floor, Kirian started speaking like a kidnapper trying to lure a child with sweets.
“No, I really want to find Olivia.”
“Why?”
“Mm… I’m just worried.”
The original story never mentioned anything about Kirian’s cousins—but maybe that was because he’d already gotten rid of them long before the story began. Suspicion slowly crept in.
“Do you really like Olivia that much?”
“Yeah…”
Kirian fell strangely quiet at my answer. But I had no time to worry about him. Gasping for breath, I rushed straight to the guest room upon reaching the fifth floor and kicked the bathroom door open.
“Hik! Huuhh! Hwaaang!”
The moment I heard Olivia’s sorrowful sobs from the doorway, I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn’t end up as a murderer’s bystander.
“Olivia?”
When I called her name, her crying grew louder. The bathroom, already echoing, filled completely with her wails until it felt like my head was ringing.
Covering my ears, I stepped deeper inside and saw Olivia standing bent over in front of the sink.
Her luscious platinum hair seemed caught in the drain, preventing her from straightening up. Her hair was slowly being sucked in—if I’d arrived just a moment later, her head would’ve surely been jammed into the sink.
“Olivia!”
“Huhh! Save me!”
As Olivia thrashed, another handful of hair got sucked in.
“Stay still! Don’t move!”
Up close, it looked like the water-activating spell had malfunctioned, shifting to the drain and now sucking in everything nearby. I quickly pressed the button to stop the spell, but it didn’t respond.
“I’ll have to cut it with scissors…”
The moment I muttered this, Olivia started wailing even louder.
“No way! Absolutely not! Hwaaang!”
Reaching the end of my patience, I deliberately put on a terrifying voice.
“Choose one: your hair or your life.”
“No way! My hair…!”
Ignoring Olivia’s cries, I hurried into the guest room to look for something to cut her hair with. Just then, I found a letter opener in the desk drawer.
“Kyaaaak!”
A horrifying scream sliced through the air like an arrow.
“Olivia!”
I kicked the bathroom door open again and heard wails so loud they threatened to burst my eardrums.
“Hwaaang! Nooo!”
Olivia was sobbing face-down on the bathroom floor, thrashing her whole body—I couldn’t tell if she was throwing a tantrum or writhing in pain.
Beside her stood Kirian, holding a fistful of long, lush platinum hair like a fox’s tail.
“My hair!”
Kirian looked at me and slowly opened his hand. The hair tumbled to the floor in a cascade.
“The Olivia Nuna likes—I saved her.”
Then he smiled brightly.
Kirian rarely smiled, especially not for his age, so I’d occasionally wondered what such a beautiful face would look like when smiling—
But this smile was both close to my imagination and utterly alien.
Apparently, I’d made a serious mistake somewhere.
“So Kirian found our Olivia.”
When Lord Humphrey tried to pat Kirian’s head, Kirian quickly pulled back.
“Nuna found her. I just pulled out the hair.”
“Huhh! Kirian, you meanie! You cut off all my hair!”
Olivia, now with shorter hair than Kirian, kept sniffling even as she ate dinner.
Kirian really had cut off more hair than necessary. At the very least, she could’ve kept a bob.
“This child—why did she go into the bathroom Kirian told her not to use? We searched for ages!”
Lady Humphrey scolded Olivia, her eyes red and swollen from tears.
“How could you go into a commoner’s bathroom!”
Olivia chewed her meat with a sulky expression.
“A commoner’s bathroom…?”
Apparently, Lady Humphrey herself hated the idea of a commoner’s bathroom too, so she couldn’t scold Olivia any further.
Yet not a single person questioned Kirian’s role in all this.
This, too, must have been part of Kirian’s plan.
Glancing sideways, I saw Kirian cutting his steak with a knife barely held in his chubby fist—yet his table manners were flawless. His focused expression showed not a trace of guilt.
“Our Reina is truly admirable. Without Reina, we never would’ve found Olivia!”
The Duchess raised her voice and patted my head.
“Yes, we should all thank Reina.”
Even the Duke joined in, looking toward Lord and Lady Humphrey.
“…Thank you.”
Lord Humphrey spoke reluctantly.
“No need to thank me. I only did what I ought to do.”
I certainly won’t be accepting any requests to calm your daughter’s restless nightly dreams.
But Lord Humphrey frowned slightly, clearly displeased with my reply. Just as the atmosphere grew awkward, Lady Humphrey clapped her hands.
“I nearly forgot to give the children their presents!”
A servant standing nearby brought over a large box and placed it beside Kirian. Lord Humphrey laughed heartily and tried again to pat Kirian’s head—but failed once more. His embarrassed hand then tapped the box as if that’s what he’d meant to do all along.
“These are monster figurines specially ordered from the capital’s most popular toymaker. They’ve got everything—from giant ravens to dragons.”
“Thank you.”
Kirian bowed politely, and Lord Humphrey laughed again, pulling out his wallet from his pocket.
“You’ve worked hard this year—I’ll give you some pocket money.”
When a gold coin suddenly appeared, my eyes involuntarily locked onto it.
Such a fortune as pocket money—even I was tempted.
After the Duke and Duchess gave Olivia an intricate doll and even handed her pocket money, it was finally my turn.
The gold coin still shimmered in my vision, so I couldn’t help but look expectantly between Lord and Lady Humphrey.
“Where’s Reina’s present?”
The Duchess’s voice was gentle, yet carried an oddly sharp edge.
Lady Humphrey dabbed her mouth with a napkin and cleared her throat softly.
“Ahem… I didn’t think it would be needed, so I didn’t prepare anything.”
It was obvious Lord and Lady Humphrey deliberately hadn’t brought a gift because of my commoner status. But it didn’t hurt much—I’d expected this kind of discrimination the moment I stepped into a noble household.
My dream was to be a wealthy, idle commoner—not some noble lady ruling high society.
So I truly didn’t care about the gift. I was far past the age for doll play, and my only interest was the gold coin clutched in Kirian’s chubby fist.
“Ahem… can’t I get pocket money too?”
Though I felt awkward, I had no choice but to ask first. Every coin counted toward my independence fund—I couldn’t just give up here.
But in response to my question came not a gold coin, but icy silence.
“How can such a young child already be so greedy?”
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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BWAHAHAHAH if only we all had a buff in life 🫡🫡it should be tha easy 😩