Lord Baby Runs a Romance Fantasy

Chapter 4

The duke’s low voice was frightening, but I couldn’t bear to eat any more food. I was so full that it made it hard for me to breathe. What do I do...?

Just as I was contemplating what to do, someone chimed in.

“Y-Your Grace.” The maid, quietly standing in the room as if she wasn’t even there, took a step forward and kneeled down. “May I say something?”

Her face was resolute. The scene was oddly familiar for some reason. It was very much like a scene from a historical drama where a loyal subject dared to rectify a tyrant king out of patriotism.

What was she planning to say?

“Our young lady has a small stomach. She is not like her brothers. If she continues to eat, she’ll end up having a stomachache.”

Huh? It was an odd thing to say for someone who looked like she was prepared to die.

Duke Phaeraton looked down at the maid, not saying a single word. I couldn’t read his expressionless face at all. After a while, he slowly moved his perfectly-shaped lips.

“And you are…?”

“I-I am Anna, Your Grace.”

Ah, so her name was Anna.

Although I saw her face every single day, it was only then that I learned her name. I pondered numerous times whether I should ask for her name, but I gave up due to her cold and stern demeanor.

I had also given up in part because it became a habit after being ignored continuously by the people at the Tarenka residence.

Anna spoke as she trembled in fear, yet the duke simply turned his head like it was nothing.

“You are to take full charge of caring for this child from now on.”

That was all he said. Surprised, Anna raised her head to look at the duke and then bowed.

“I shall do as you say, Your Grace.”

A thought crossed my mind as I saw what was happening. If she’s going to be in charge of taking care of me, then...

“Uh, does that mean I can continue to live here?”

“Such nonsense.” All that came back was a cold reply, but I could tell that he had no intention of kicking me out.

Yeah, I mean, I’m still his daughter on paper, so kicking me out probably wouldn’t be a good look for him.

He left me to be cared for at a relative’s house. I could understand that. But to take in a child who was abused at a relative’s house only to kick them out again was an entirely different problem.

He’s also a noble, so upholding his honor had to be important to him, right? He may not be satisfied with me, but I’m sure he won’t be able to send me somewhere else either.

Mhm. That’s right. That meant I’d finally received confirmation on my personal safety.

I should’ve thought of this earlier. Was I living in fear for no reason up until now? I mean, my existence was denied almost my entire life ever since I was born here. I couldn’t help but live in fear.

“Are you really not able to eat anymore?” the duke asked again with eyes like daggers.

I quickly nodded my head, afraid that he would force me to eat more if I didn’t respond. “I understand.”

Silence filled the hall.

Erm. I tried to play off the awkwardness by moving my eyes to different corners of the room. The duke kept his eyes on me, not daring to look away.

It was less uncomfortable before because I was busy eating, but sitting here and receiving his stares made it unbearable. I gathered my hands and started fidgeting.

It looks like he’s contemplating how to get rid of this rat-like child. Someone, please help me.

“Your Grace.”

Was someone listening in on my silent prayers? Along with the sound of knocking, the duke’s aide entered the room. Thanks to him, I was finally freed from the duke’s piercing gaze.

Ugh, seriously. I thought his eyes were going to pierce through my cheeks.

“My apologies, sir. I just received word from the imperial palace due to your abrupt return today.”

The duke, who had been coldly glaring at the aide, stood from his seat with a sigh. I was wondering why he was home so early today. It seemed like he had rushed back to deal with some unexpected event.

Before leaving the dining hall, he turned to look at me.

“Don’t do anything useless and stay put.”

Hmph, did he even see the shine on the window after I cleaned it? How dare he call my valuable labor useless?

However, I didn’t dare to say my inner thoughts out loud. Instead, I nodded my head like an obedient little child. He’s the landlord, and I’m just a tenant. Of course, I wasn’t about to talk back to him.

Life was so hard. I held onto my full stomach and struggled to my feet.

There was no reason for me to try so hard in front of someone who didn’t consider me their daughter. That was a lesson I had learned painstakingly over and over again in my previous life.

As long as I could continue living here, I didn’t have to worry about anything.

Here, I was fed on time, and there was plenty of warm water for me to use. What could there be for me to worry about? It was a far better life than my time at the Tarenka residence and my previous life.

“Pardon me, my lady.” Instead of leaving right when we arrived at my room like I thought she would, Anna said something after some hesitation. “Do you see now? His Grace has no intention of kicking you out.”

“Yes, I can see that now.” I can see that kicking me out could cause a big problem to the Phaeraton family’s reputation.

“You don’t have to do any chores like mopping or sweeping the floors.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“You’re still far too young to be doing those chores, and you’re also his grace’s one and only daughter.”

Huh?

“So please relax and only think happy thoughts.”

Relax? I thought I was doing a good job hiding it, but I must’ve looked anxious even in Anna’s eyes.

I fell silent, and another maid carefully opened her mouth to speak. It was the same maid who tried to stop Anna from speaking the first time around.

“You’re always struggling with that small body of yours and have nightmares every night...”

“Please let us know if you’re hurting. Don’t just keep it to yourself. Treating the scars on your calves must’ve been so hard for you to endure, too...”

Huh? I looked at the maids in surprise. So these people weren’t annoyed by me?

I thought they were simply taking care of me because it was their job. I thought they didn’t have any interest in me outside of that.

Until now, they quietly appeared only to take care of what had to be done and disappeared. Even when I tried to talk to them, I got only terse replies, which kept me from further talking to them.

Yet...

“You were worried about me?”

“Of course we were!” Anna, who let out a tearful cry, caught herself and blushed. “Ahem, of course, we were worried, my lady.”

“I thought you hated me.”

“Why would you think that...?”

“You wouldn’t talk to me, and when I asked you something, you always looked like you didn’t want to answer me.”

“We’re terribly sorry...”

The maids had puzzled looks on their faces and asked, “Did you want to converse with us, my lady?”

“Yes, I did.”

A smile spread across the maid’s faces as I looked up and nodded at them.

“You’re very different from the other members of the Phaeraton household, my lady.”

“She’s right. You’re like a normal child,” the maid said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Anna quickly hushed her with a soft shout of her name. “Nancy!”

So her name was Nancy. Anna and Nancy. Nancy’s face turned pale as I repeated her name in my head.

“I-I’m sorry, my lady. I misspoke...”

Well, this is my second life, so technically, it was true that I wasn’t a normal child. But that wasn’t something she needed to frantically apologize for, right?

“It’s all right. I like being normal.”

It was true. I’ve always wanted to be normal. A normal child. A normal student. A normal employee. That’s how I wanted to live.

“You’re also very generous...”

Nancy looked at me with such starry eyes that I let out a laugh. Seeing someone who I thought was an emotionless person be moved so easily felt a little awkward.

But I didn’t hate it. The maids, who had seemed like inanimate objects, finally looked like they were full of life. It was the first humane presence I had felt ever since I came to this world.

I smiled without even realizing it.

* * *

After the maids left, I quietly strode across my room and made my way to the mirror.

“One and only daughter.” Those words from earlier echoed inside my mind.

“Family...”

A family. Are you allowed to call yourself a family just because you live in the same house? I wasn’t sure. I’ve never had a family before.

But...

“It’s obvious that your careless mother had you out of wedlock. That must be why Duke Phaeraton abandoned you. After all, you’re not even able to use Magi. You should be grateful to me for taking in our household’s greatest shame.”

A mother whom I had never seen. I tried to tell myself that my mother wasn’t that kind of person, but I was told otherwise my entire life up until now.

Yeah, if I really was Duke Phaeraton’s biological daughter, like Anna said, I shouldn’t have to be so anxious. No matter what happened, at least he wouldn’t try to kick me out.

But what if I wasn’t the duke’s daughter? What if I was a love child born out of my mother’s affair? Wouldn’t he try to kick me out as soon as he found out?

It wouldn’t matter how he dealt with a product of infidelity, as it wouldn’t tarnish his reputation.

I bit my lips and looked into the mirror. Not a single facial feature looked similar to Duke Phaeraton’s.

The duke’s face was sharp as a sword. My face had “innocent” written all over it. The duke’s eyes were as red and blood. My eyes were as blue as a Paraiba stone.

On top of that, my hair was...

Unlike the duke’s pitch-black hair, my hair was a soft pink, much like a flower blooming in spring. We looked nothing alike.

And I also didn’t have any Magi either. I wasn’t too sure, but there must have been a reason why the marquess was so hung up on whether I had Magi or not when he claimed that I was a mere love child.

It’s probably because Magi was passed down amongst the members of the Phaeraton household.

I only agreed to be reborn because that devil said that I would be given a special ability, but I didn’t even inherit the Magi that was passed down to all of the duke’s bloodline.

I was slowly gathering the pieces to the puzzle and concluded that I wasn’t the duke’s biological daughter.

If I really was a child born out of my mother’s affair... It might not end with the duke kicking me out of his estate. He might kill me for all that matters.

My romance fantasy radar signaled that Duke Phaeraton was a tyrant/grey eminence/villain.

Ergh, if I want to make it out of here alive, I guess I’m going to have to put in some extra effort. I have to act like a real daughter. If he develops an affection for raising me, he might not try to kill me at the very least.

I knew the code of conduct very well regarding these kinds of situations. Obviously, I did, given that I’ve read thousands of romance fantasy novels!

I smiled wickedly into the mirror.

* * *

I balled up my two potato-sized hands and took a deep breath as I looked up at the towering door. A deep breath in and a deep breath out.

It’s okay, I can do it!

I blinked in determination, but once again, pressure crept up as I looked at the huge door in front of me, and my courage slowly faded. I didn’t think the door to the duke’s office would be this intimidating.

Enough with the excuses...

To be honest, I knew. I was well aware of the reason why I had been hesitating in front of the door instead of going in. It took a lot of courage to be the first to approach someone you knew would reject you and hate you.

“What is this tiny frail rat?”

I kept being reminded of the words the duke said when he first saw me.

Ugh, I can’t believe I have to play dumb in this situation and act affectionately on top of that. The heroines of romance fantasies are a lot more courageous than I thought!

It was then that I realized how amazing the heroines were for surviving against their tyrant fathers. Haa, I’ll only count to ten and go in. For real, this time.

I put my hand on my beating chest and started counting. Just as I reached four, the heavy door opened without a sound. As I took a step back in surprise, the duke’s aide spoke.

“My lady, His Grace requests that you come in.”

How did he know I was standing in front of the door? The aide flung the door open as if to usher me in. I swallowed my saliva and entered.

The inside of the office was larger than I expected, and there were a lot more people inside. But everyone else blended into the background, and all I could see was Duke Phaeraton.

His presence was unrivaled. He was leisurely sitting on the sofa but looked more like a tired beast than a human. He was a very dangerous and cruel beast at that.

The duke stared at me coldly with his red eyes. I tried to calm my frightened little body and mustered up a smile.

“Daddy!” I ran towards him and held on to his leg. “I missed you.” I smiled as I looked up at the duke.

They say that you can’t spit on a smiling face, so let’s put on a big, wide smile. The more interactions we have, the deeper his affection will be. I can’t back down.

I was trying my very best to endure the duke’s glare.

“Ergh...”

Someone let out a faint sound as if they were on their last breath. I turned my head to see some man clutching onto his lapel with a face that looked like he was going to pass out.

Shouldn’t I be the one scared right now instead of him?

But he wasn’t the only one. Everyone’s face was frozen in place. It seemed as though their faces were going to shatter with just a touch. It was like they had seen someone touch a ticking time bomb.

Is this not how I’m supposed to act?

My arms, which were wrapped around the duke’s leg, slowly gave out.

Weren’t they usually supposed to look at me lovingly and say how adorable it was that I missed my father so much?

I wouldn’t know since I’ve never actually acted like a baby or been loved by someone. As an orphan in my past life, the thought of me acting like a baby in front of an adult was very awkward.

Rather than kicking me away... the duke held me up as if he was bothered by me sitting near his legs. My goodness, that scared me.

I don’t understand why he keeps holding me up like I’m some kind of dog.

“You missed me?” the duke slowly asked, tilting his chin. The tone of his voice sounded threatening, and his eyes were glowing red.

I calmed my trembling body as I nodded my head. I swallowed the words that I had prepared to say and instead turned silent.

“I thought you were uncomfortable with me...”

I still am this very minute.

Wait, he knew that I felt uncomfortable around him all along?! He knew and still stared at me with those scary eyes while I was eating? Did he stare at me on purpose so I would choke on my food?!

Contrary to my inner thoughts, I shook my head.

“No, I don’t feel uncomfortable. I’m simply just unfamiliar.” The duke lifted a brow. “Because I wasn’t able to meet you until now.”

The duke didn’t respond.

“That’s why I want to be with you now.” I reached my hands towards his face. “I have to be right next to you if I want to become more familiar with you!”

Indeed. I had to stick by his side in order for him to develop some kind of affection for me. That way, he wouldn’t try to kill me even if he found out that I wasn’t his real daughter. It was the only way.

“…”

The duke was silent. Perhaps his arm was starting to cramp? The hand that he was using to hold me up began shaking. Following him, I also began to wobble in the air. The hands that I had stretched towards him were—

“Oh no...!”

They were poking into the duke’s cheek.

A collective gasp was heard around the room. I almost thought it was a choir. Did those men only know how to make faces that look as if they were going to pass out?

I looked at the men standing beyond the sofa and then took a deep breath.

Let’s stay calm. There’s no way I just poked the duke’s cheek, right? Nah, whatever touched my hand was way too soft for it to have been the duke’s cheek. Surely, it had to be the duke’s clothes.

Ah, the duke must be wearing silk.

Although, my hands did feel much too warm for it to have been his clothes. But I couldn’t have. Please, say I didn’t...

I glanced below me.

The duke was looking at me with a cold, expressionless face. His face was so full of charisma that simply looking at him was enough to make my heart tremble.

But his face looked a little different than usual. That was because my small palms had been pressing against the duke’s cheeks.

Haha, he’s a married man and a father, yet his skin is really soft. It’s almost like a baby’s skin.

Sweat began to trickle down my eyes. At that very moment, words appeared in front of my eyes.

[You have met the condition.]

[Verifying your identity... Contractor of <Apthanes>. Verification complete.]

[Awakening the attribute <Rush and Cash>.]

W-what’s happening...?!