Surviving as the Adopted Daughter of the Genius Duke (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
On the day we were to depart for the Founding Festival, the duke’s mansion was bustling with activity from early morning.
We stood at the entrance, waiting until the carriage was ready.
“Going every year is such a hassle—I must abolish the Founding Festival next year, or do something about it.”
The duke muttered this while watching the servants busily carry luggage.
He was just like Kirian—truly a case of “like father, like son.”
But Kirian, whom I expected to be delighted by the duke’s words, surprisingly said nothing and just stared intently at the carriage.
Just as an odd sense of déjà vu struck me, the carriage collapsed with a loud “CRACK!”
All four wheels had shattered under the weight of the luggage.
But I didn’t miss Kirian’s lips curling up slightly at the corners.
Before, seeing him scheming in such an unchildlike way—overlapping with the image of the future Kirian—had sent chills down my spine, but now it was amusing and even endearing.
He must really hate going to the Founding Festival.
“Oh dear. Looks like we can’t go to the Founding Festival.”
Kirian dusted off his hands and turned to head back inside the mansion.
“Wait.”
The duchess grabbed Kirian’s arm.
“Don’t worry, Kirian. Our servants are incredibly capable.”
Even the duke placed a hand on Kirian’s shoulder to back her up.
“Yes. You always loved the Founding Festival. You promised you’d go—you can’t disappoint us now.”
Kirian quickly shook his head back and forth.
“I—I don’t like it. I hate it.”
The duke’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Why? Everyone treats you with great respect—except the emperor—and you said you enjoyed having important conversations with people, didn’t you?”
I nearly burst out laughing.
“Hrk! Achoo! Cough cough! Oh, dust got in my nose. Ugh, it stings!”
I desperately flapped my hands, faking sneezes and coughs to suppress my laughter.
It clicked instantly—Kirian must have enjoyed being treated well at the Founding Festival thanks to his status as the young master.
Imagining that tiny child nodding solemnly and pretending to know things like, “Lord Count, you’re interested in that too? I’ve been interested in it lately as well,” nearly made me laugh again.
“I don’t like it….”
But Kirian still wore a pouty expression.
Even to me, it seemed like he was overdoing his dislike. If it wasn’t simply because he found the event boring, I couldn’t guess why he was refusing so stubbornly—and Kirian wasn’t the type to act without reason.
CRASH!
A tremendous noise shook the ground.
“Look, our servants have already started working.”
The duchess tightly held Kirian’s hand.
“They’re all going to do their best so our Kirian can definitely attend the Founding Festival.”
When I followed the duchess’s pointing finger, my jaw dropped involuntarily.
One servant lifted a felled pine tree with one hand, set it down beside the carriage, and began chopping it barehanded with quick, efficient motions.
In no time, four sturdy new wheels were attached to the carriage.
Before Kirian could pull another stunt, the duchess swiftly hoisted him up and placed him into the carriage.
Once we were all aboard, the carriage rattled as it rolled away from the duke’s mansion.
“It’ll be fun.”
The duchess tightly held the hands of Kirian and me, seated on either side of her.
“You’ll eat lots of delicious food, dance to lovely music….”
But apparently, Kirian’s aversion to the Founding Festival couldn’t be overcome by tasty food, good music, or joyful dancing.
Throughout the carriage journey, minor and major mishaps kept occurring.
Luggage strapped to the back tumbled off with a clatter, and during our overnight stay at an inn, one of the horses ran away.
Each time, the duke and duchess waved dismissively and reassured us, “Don’t worry—our servants are so capable.”
True to their word, the servant accompanying us caught up to our moving carriage with five lost bags balanced on his head, and the maid returned at dawn, supporting a horse’s belly with one hand.
And she said, “I thought riding a horse would be slower, so I ran instead.”
Each time this happened, Kirian grew even more dejected, but I had no energy left to check on him.
Racking my memory, I recalled that in the original story, all the servants at the duke’s mansion appeared ordinary on the surface but were actually highly skilled individuals.
And even these absurdly capable servants would be no match for the future Kirian, who would be strong beyond measure.
Goosebumps covered my entire body.
If Kirian ever truly set his mind on catching me, there’d be nowhere in this world I could hide.
“Nuna.”
Just as I was imagining Kirian hunting me down for immediate judgment, his voice broke into my thoughts.
“Huh?! Uh, Kirian.”
But Kirian was trembling and sniffling.
“Nuna… can’t you just not go to the Founding Festival?”
Beyond the window, the golden imperial palace sparkled into view.
It was strange—Kirian was still desperately trying to avoid the Founding Festival even now, when we were practically there.
“Why do you dislike the Founding Festival so much?”
Perhaps because the duke and duchess weren’t in the carriage at that moment, Kirian immediately confessed.
“If Nuna goes to the Founding Festival, you’ll get married!”
Kirian covered his eyes with his small palms. His chubby cheeks bulged out around his tiny hands.
“Married?”
I remembered something the duchess had said in the library.
But I was certain she’d spoken only after Kirian had leapt out the window.
“Did you hear what was said in the library?”
Kirian, still covering his face, nodded.
Once again, I wondered just how far this child’s abilities reached.
“Ugh. That’s not true.”
Kirian blinked his large eyes, his long silver eyelashes fluttering.
“It’s not true?”
“No. How old do you think I am? I’m not getting married yet. And even in the future, I won’t marry unless I want to.”
“So… you can’t get married at Nuna’s age?”
Sure enough, Kirian didn’t even understand what marriage really was—he just wanted it.
“You have to be an adult first.”
Kirian’s expression relaxed considerably as he swung his legs, which didn’t reach the floor.
“Is that so? Then Nuna still has a long, long time before becoming an adult!”
Hearing this from Kirian—who always bragged he’d been a “cool adult” since age two—only made me chuckle helplessly.
“What exactly do you think marriage is?”
“Living together in one house and giving each other presents.”
I almost burst out laughing. It sounded like something he’d picked up from watching the duke and duchess. With his parents as the only example around, maybe it was only natural.
Still, in noble society, couples like the duke and duchess were probably extremely rare. Though I didn’t fully understand this world’s customs, I was certain marriages based on love were few and far between.
But there was no need to shatter Kirian’s innocence just yet.
“Yes, that’s right. Anyway, I have no intention of doing that, so don’t worry.”
Kirian giggled, swinging his legs cheerfully.
“If Nuna never becomes an adult, that’d be great! Then we could live together forever, just like now!”
Kirian cheerfully delivered my death sentence.
But I ended up laughing too.
“Alright. I’ll try my best not to become an adult.”
A little white lie like this should be fine.
I gazed at the imperial palace, now so close that the tips of its spires were no longer visible.
Suddenly, I wondered whether the heroine Kirian would eventually marry would be attending the Founding Festival.
Upon arriving at the imperial palace, I was immediately led to the bedroom I’d use during the Founding Festival.
Inside the room, several maids greeted me in unison as if they’d been waiting.
“My lady, we’ve come to help you dress for the banquet.”
They immediately brought out a meticulously wrapped dress and began fussing as they unwrapped it.
“We’re truly eager to see what dress the ducal household prepared! Surely yours will shine the brightest tonight.”
I, too, hadn’t seen the finished dress yet and was secretly looking forward to it.
But my faint hope turned into grim certainty as the last layer of wrapping came off.
“Oh my…! Of course, my lady’s dress shines the brightest—dazzlingly so…!”
The maids clapped their hands in admiration.
“I’ve never seen such an expensive dress!”
“I’m almost afraid I’ll accidentally touch it and have my wages docked for life!”
Still, since the maids’ reactions seemed positive, I forced down my unease.
After they dressed me and braided my hair, they led me before a mirror.
There stood a smooth potato wrapped in expensive packaging, blinking back at me.
“You look absolutely adorable!”
“How can you be so doll-like!”
The maids clapped again, displaying impeccable professionalism.
Thinking even a potato might look cute if it smiled, I tried smiling—and it became slightly more bearable.
When I met the duchess outside the banquet hall, her enthusiastic reaction far outshone the maids’.
“Oh, Reina!”
Tears began welling in the duchess’s eyes.
“To see you like this while I’m still alive… I could die happy now. But I must live to see our Reina in a wedding dress!”
The duke also smiled fondly, carefully patting my head so as not to ruin my hairstyle.
“You’re always a pretty little miss, but especially lovely today.”
Kirian wore an unreadable expression—somewhere between smiling and crying.
“Nuna, you’re not supposed to be pretty here!”
Just then, a steward announced our entrance loudly.
“His Grace Duke Istira, Her Grace the Duchess, the young lady and young master!”
The noise beyond the doors fell silent all at once.
As the banquet hall doors opened, brilliant chandelier light poured out, and every gaze in the hall turned toward us.
No—more precisely, toward me. The commoner adopted daughter of House Istira.
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.]
BWAHAHAHAH if only we all had a buff in life 🫡🫡it should be tha easy 😩