Chapter 12
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Lephonia had no intention of blowing this out of proportion. She simply needed a place where she would be safe.
She had intended to make the vassals and the Duke keep each other in check and harbor mutual suspicion, ensuring that the malice the vassals held wouldn't grow any further.
If they were framed for a crime they hadn't even committed, the malice directed toward Lephonia would only intensify.
'No, this won't do.'
If it were discovered that she had staged the whole thing, she might be held responsible and kicked out.
Lephonia jumped to her feet.
'I have to go to the Duke of Kreitan’s office right now.'
Birdie and Becky had told her to wait while they asked if she could visit the office, but this was no time for that.
'He doesn't already know I'm the culprit, does he?'
Lephonia hurriedly left her bedroom. Perhaps because of the commotion, there were no knights guarding the door.
'Good. Let's go.'
Lephonia moved her still-recovering feet. That was when it happened.
"Hey."
*Thwack, whoosh!*
"Huh?"
Someone grabbed Lephonia by the shoulder. Then, she felt her body float into the air, and her vision flipped.
By the time her feet left the carpet and she regained her senses, she was already dangling from someone’s side.
"What is this?"
A light voice came from above.
Lephonia turned her head to look at the person carrying her.
She met the eyes of a man looking down at her with a somewhat annoyed expression.
He was brushing back silver hair that was messily scattered by the wind.
His eyebrows and eyes were slanted upward, giving him a fierce impression.
His blue eyes were as cold as ice, and seeing his shirt unbuttoned, he looked far from tidy.
"Hey."
On top of that, he spoke to a stranger with such reckless, self-centered language.
"Who are you?"
A man who wasn't kind to outsiders in the mansion.
'The prodigal second son of this house...'
It wasn't hard to guess the man's identity.
Pretes Kreitan.
The second son of the Kreitan family and a notorious troublemaker.
Perhaps because he was an Aura master, he looked as young as the Duke. He looked to be about the same age as the real Lephonia, who had just reached adulthood.
"Who are you to be in my house with that face, coming out of my father's bedroom?"
His tone was aggressive. Pretes asked with a threatening expression that suggested he wouldn't hesitate to use violence if things went south.
'He can't possibly not know that I was adopted.'
Lephonia kept her mouth shut and stared at Pretes’s face. If he had truly thought she was an outsider, he would have drawn his sword first.
He wasn't asking because he didn't know who she was. He was asking because he knew perfectly well.
'If he already knows everything.'
Lephonia slowly opened her lips.
"Who are you?"
"What?"
"I've never seen you before. The Duke told me to be careful of outsiders. If you're curious about who I am, you should introduce yourself first."
There was no need to just take it. Pretes didn't manage the family heirlooms, nor was he the head of the house who could kick her out.
Lephonia glared at Pretes suspiciously and struck his arm with her fist.
"Put me down."
She had spoken for too long, and her tongue felt heavy.
"Ha."
Pretes, having been suddenly struck in the arm by a five-year-old, let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.
Pretes lowered Lephonia from his side onto the carpet.
"My name? You'll be surprised if you know it."
"I won't be."
"Really? Pretes Kreitan."
Pretes introduced himself as if to say, "Let's see what you've got."
"Haven't you heard the rumors about the second son of this house? The one who acts like a delinquent and has such a foul personality that he needs to be kept on a leash?"
Pretes bent his knees to meet the eye level of the five-year-old Lephonia.
"I'm that second son."
Unlike his playful tone, his eyes staring at Lephonia were filled with suspicion, wariness, contempt, and anger.
He was hiding it with a playful tone because he couldn't bring himself to show his true emotions to a five-year-old.
Seeing him arrive without notice, it was clear he had rushed over to oppose the news of her adoption.
'Should I greet him back?'
While Lephonia was contemplating, Pretes, his face twisted, irritably brushed back his hair.
"Something feels... strange."
"Huh?"
"Ha. I wondered what kind of swindler had managed to fool my father, but it seems you've prepared quite well."
"Huh?"
"Little girl. Where did you get that face?"
Face? Lephonia touched her own face.
"This is just my face."
"Didn't you learn that you get punished for doing bad things?"
Lephonia furrowed her brows. Was he insulting her face now? She understood he opposed the adoption, but criticizing her appearance was going too far.
"Ha. You must have come here with a plan. ...Little girl."
"Lephonia."
Lephonia looked straight into Pretes’s cold eyes and said.
"Lephonia Kreitan."
Pretes’s face hardened with murderous intent. It was a face so terrifying that a five-year-old would have burst into tears and run away long ago.
But Lephonia continued in a dry tone.
"Just because I want to be adopted doesn't mean it happens, so... oh."
...Calling him "brother" didn't feel right.
Lephonia closed her lips for a moment to think, then forced her tongue to cooperate, suppressing a cough that felt like it would burst out.
"......You know that well, too."
"You?"
It was an unconventional way for a five-year-old to address someone.
"If you don't like my adoption, don't take it out on me—go find the Duke."
Pretes’s eyebrows arched crookedly.
"It's cowardly to come find a five-year-old like me and act this way. I don't know why adults are so cowardly toward me."
"Adults? Ah. The vassals were here; are you talking about them?"
"The one who can annul the adoption is the Duke, not me. If you don't like me, go to the Duke and tell him to annul it. My consent doesn't matter for an annulment anyway, so if you just convince the Duke... *cough, cough!*"
She had talked too much. Lephonia twisted her face and broke into a dry cough. Her throat stung, and tears welled up.
Wiping her face roughly with the back of her hand, Lephonia took a shaky breath and said.
"The Duke is the one who picked me up off the street and the one who brought up the adoption. So talk to the Duke. Got it?"
"Hey, wait."
"I'm busy, so I have to go. Goodbye."
Lephonia gave a crisp farewell and turned around. She had to get to the Duke's office quickly; she had wasted enough time already.
She needed to go quickly and tell him that she was fine, so they should just wrap this up without making it a bigger deal.
That was the only way she could stay safe until she left this place.
Lephonia moved her small feet as fast as she could. Then, she suddenly twisted her face and whipped around.
"Why are you following me?"
Pretes, who had been following Lephonia at a leisurely pace, tilted his head.
"There's a smoky smell in the mansion. Do you know why?"
"You can just ask someone else."
"Everyone looks busy."
"I'm busy to—*cough, cough!*"
"It would be faster to just answer me, little girl."
Even though she had told him her name, he still called her "little girl." Lephonia glared at Pretes and clutched her stinging throat.
Perhaps because she was in the form of a child, it was fortunate that Pretes didn't seem to be showing all his negative emotions like the rumors suggested.
"My bedroom caught fire."
Ah. Her tongue... Lephonia twisted her face and spoke slowly and clearly.
"That's why there's a burning smell in the mansion. The fire is out, they're investigating who did it, and that's why I have to go quickly. Understand?"
Now he had all the answers he wanted.
Lephonia turned around again and walked as fast as she could with all her might. But this time, too, Pretes followed behind her slowly and leisurely with his long legs.
Lephonia, having not walked many steps, stopped again.
"Why are you following me again?"
"There's still something I don't understand. I was going to ask more, but you walked away first."
"If you had studied with that kind of curiosity, you would have already graduated from the academy."
"Do you even know I didn't graduate from the academy?"
"The Duke told me."
"My father isn't busy bragging about his children; he's busy badmouthing them. Anyway, you said your bedroom caught fire?"
"Yeah. So what?"
"What were you doing then?"
Pretes’s eyes flashed sharply.
'What is this? Why is he asking this? Did he deduce something just from what I said?'
Lephonia replied with a sour expression.
"I was sleeping."
"In the place that caught fire?"
"Yes."
Pretes, who had been nodding, stepped in front of Lephonia. Lephonia swallowed a dry lump in her throat.
"Little girl."
"Yes."
"You said you were five."
Pretes reached out his hand. Was he going to hit her? Lephonia instinctively hunched her shoulders and closed her eyes.
"But you talk really well. I heard I was still babbling when I was five."
Pretes put his hands under Lephonia’s armpits and lifted her up. Startled by the sudden change in height, Lephonia clenched her two fists tightly.
"Little girl. Do you know you've been shaking since earlier?"
Perhaps because she hadn't been awake long after fainting, her body was trembling.
"I just woke up from fainting, that's why."
Lephonia muttered, feeling embarrassed, and Pretes walked away while carrying her dangling.
"Little girl. Whether you're a swindler who deceived my father or not is a different matter. But now that you've been granted the Kreitan name, no one can attack you."
"Huh?"
"If someone intentionally set fire to your bedroom, it's only natural that the culprit should die for the crime of attacking a Kreitan."
*Should die.*
Lephonia—no, the culprit who set the fire—paused.
"We're going to my father's office, right? I'll take you."
Pretes’s face turned cold in an instant.
It was completely different from when he had treated Lephonia lightly earlier. His chilling gaze was so terrifying that just looking at it made her body tremble.
'Wait. That's one thing, but.'
Lephonia looked down at her floating body and her two legs dangling in the air. The posture was strange. He wasn't holding her; he was just carrying her dangling with his hands under her armpits.
"What, what is this? Put me down!"
"It's also strange for me to carry a swindler like you in my arms. But I'm not heartless enough to ignore a five-year-old who's shaking after an accident."
"Ignore me! Just ignore me! Please, just ignore me."
Lephonia, dangling, covered her face with both hands, feeling humiliated.
"You're right, little girl. My father is the one who adopted you, and he's the one who should annul it. I took my anger out on you instead of him. So, instead of apologizing, I'll tell you one thing."
Pretes muttered seriously.
"If you became a daughter expecting something like a family in this house, you'd better stop."
"......"
"Because there is no family in this house."
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