Chapter 02
Yes, this should be enough.
It had taken three full years to finally be able to say that and breathe a sigh of relief.
In other words, three years had passed.
In that time, Dioana had gone from a mischievous four-year-old to a wild seven-year-old.
“Dioana Steren!”
At my shout, dragged from the depths of my lungs, Dio darted behind the aide.
As if she already knew full well what was coming.
“Young Lady, what did you do this time?”
Jeremy, my aide, picked up Dioana and asked. And while nestled in his arms, she looked at me and replied with such nerve.
“I accidentally doodled all over Auntie’s paperwork.”
“So that’s why Lady Daphne’s been desperately looking for you?”
“Jeremy, Auntie’s angry. Look at her. See? Look at the horns.”
Dioana raised two index fingers to her temples, mimicking a devil and scrunching her face as she let out a weird “Wuaaah!” sound.
Instead of scolding her, Jeremy simply chuckled as usual and said, “As always, you’re just too adorable, my lady.”
That man has no idea how to discipline a child.
Of course, even to me, Dioana was nothing but adorable. But that didn’t mean I could let this go.
This was already the fourth time Dioana had scribbled crayon doodles all over important administrative documents.
“Dioana!”
Startled by my stern tone, Dioana looked to Jeremy for salvation—but this time, he didn’t come to her rescue.
“Dioana, come here. Now.”
“I— I hate both Jeremy and Auntie!”
The audacity. I was the one who should be angry here, yet Dioana was the one flopping to the floor and wailing like the world had ended.
I pressed my fingers to the corners of my eyes and tried to suppress my anger. They say yelling is bad for child development…
Sigh… parenting is hard.
I silently repeated to myself, Hold it in. Hold it in. You have to hold it in! And once I’d calmed down, I spoke firmly.
“Dioana, who did something wrong here? You doodled flowers all over the papers I need to read. Now they’re unreadable. That means the staff has to write them all over again. Do you understand how many people now have to redo their work from scratch just because of your little prank?”
At first, I tried coaxing her gently. But now it was time to be firm.
“Do you want to sit in the thinking chair, or hold your hands up?”
Choosing her punishment on her own, Dioana muttered…
“…Thinking chair.”
And so Dioana sat in a chair in the corner of the office, facing the wall.
I returned to my seat and resumed my work. But I kept glancing toward her out of the corner of my eye.
“Your Grace, I believe we can call it a day.”
Unable to watch any longer, the Elder Councilor gently took the documents in front of me and smiled kindly. I quickly shook my head.
“Elder, we’re not done yet.”
He subtly gestured toward Dioana. I followed his gaze.
She was sitting in a chair barely bigger than herself, silently facing the wall. It was a cute sight, but I had made up my mind to discipline her today.
In a deliberately strict voice, I said for her to hear:
“No. I won’t play with Dioana today. Because I have to rewrite and recheck all the documents she ruined. That’ll take me until nightfall. Dioana knows she did something wrong.”
But truthfully, I was barely holding back a smile. My cheeks twitched.
And it wasn’t just me. Everyone in the office—my aides, the staff, the Elder—all shared the same sentiment.
When Dioana tried to sneak a glance back, I drew in a sharp breath.
“Tsk—look at the wall properly.”
At my firm tone, she flinched and turned her head back to the wall.
Is that enough? I wondered. I was about to try making peace when—
Her small shoulders suddenly heaved. She took a big breath and then—Hwaaaaah! burst into loud sobs.
“Sniff, Dio did nothing wrong…! Auntie never plays with me. She only works with the old men!”
If she had just screamed or thrown a tantrum, I could’ve scolded her more sternly. But instead, she cried as if crushed by sorrow and injustice.
The once quiet child was now bawling, and we were all caught off guard—myself, Jeremy, and the Elder included.
“What are you crying for, huh? Dio!”
“Dio wants to play with Auntie too! I hate you, Daphne! I don’t want you to be my aunt anymore!”
Seeing her little shoulders shake so much, I bit my lip.
Jeremy and the Elder exchanged glances and gestured at me to comfort her already.
No. I had to be firm this time. She needed to reflect.
…That’s what I told myself, but as I watched the child bury her head into the corner of the wall and sob loudly, my heart ached.
In the end, it seemed like I’d have to be the first to give in again today.
I waved my hand at the two men, signaling them to leave.
“You may go, Elder. Jeremy, you too.”
Stony-faced, furrow-browed, and with a sharp glint in my eyes.
Perhaps they thought, Our young lady’s really going to get it today, because they hesitated and kept looking back even as they closed the door.
Creaaak. Thud. The heavy mahogany door shut tight.
Now it was just me and Dioana in the office.
“Dioana Steren.”
I deepened my voice with a chilly tone, calling her name like it rose from the depths of a cave. Dioana immediately stopped crying.
But she still had her face buried in the wall, clearly refusing to look back.
“Turn around.”
“S-sob, n-no! I don’t wanna!”
So stubborn—just like her father.
I suddenly remembered my sister-in-law struggling with my brother’s bullheadedness.
He was the stubborn one, yet my sister-in-law always gave in—until one day, she snapped and stormed out without looking back.
Well, eventually he had to grovel to get her back.
Anyway, I knew exactly how to deal with that kind of stubbornness.
“…Do you really hate Auntie?”
She slowly turned around, and her face was heart-wrenching.
Her eyes were red and swollen, her little nostrils flaring as snot dripped down her nose.
At that moment, I felt a deep pang of guilt. I looked like some horrible aunt.
“…Don’t be my aunt anymore?”
“N-no…”
I opened my arms wide. Dioana seemed to understand the gesture and ran into my embrace.
I held her tight and gently patted her back. She was still hiccuping between sobs, and my heart ached again.
If it were up to me, I’d play with her every day. But as the Duchess of the North, that just wasn’t possible.
I didn’t want to give up on anything—neither my duties nor raising her well—but my heart always ran ahead of reality.
I knew full well that Dioana’s tantrums and mischief stemmed from loneliness.
Everyone else indulged her because they pitied her situation, giving her almost everything she wanted.
But she had to learn eventually—she couldn’t always get her way.
…I really need to find a childcare scholar for advice soon. Dioana was growing so fast it was becoming hard to keep up.
“Dioana, Auntie will try to pay more attention to you from now on. I’m sorry I haven’t played with you much. Once this work is done, let’s spend lots of time together. We’ll go on that picnic you want, go to a ball, a tea party—everything. But in return, you have to promise not to play these kinds of pranks anymore. Okay?”
I wonder if my sincerity reached her. Dioana wiped her tears and nodded quickly, then planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Auntie, I was wrong. I won’t do it again. Daphne, you have to be my aunt forever, okay?”
“Of course. Daphne will always be your aunt.”
It was just starting to feel like a warm, happy ending when—
A loud commotion came from outside the study. I called for Jeremy, assuming he’d been waiting just outside. He looked flustered, but before he could speak, the burly Captain of the Guard burst in.
“Your Grace! I have urgent news! Forgive the intrusion! …Oh? Our young lady Dioana!”
He had rushed in breathless, but upon seeing Dioana in my arms, he immediately beamed with joy. It was Captain Lockhart, the kind who would endlessly fawn over her.
Before he could veer off into doting nonsense, I cut him off.
“What’s going on?”
“We found a spy at the southern gate of the duchy!”
“A spy?”
“Yes, a spy!”
Since the war with the neighboring country wasn’t fully over, infiltrations were a common occurrence.
“Those bast—!”
Having led several battles as Duchess, my language had gotten rather rough. At the word “spy,” a curse nearly slipped out.
I quickly covered my mouth and smiled sweetly at Dioana.
“Dioana, would you go outside with Jeremy for a bit? Auntie has to talk with the captain about something not suitable for children.”
Not wanting to scare her, I scooped her up and handed her to Jeremy.
Once she left, I wiped the smile from my face and coldly asked:
“So these bastards are showing their teeth again. What’s their affiliation?”
“We haven’t identified it yet, but…”
“Then torture him until he talks. Don’t tell me you need my permission for something that basic.”
At my sharp words, Lockhart looked slightly dejected. He was surprisingly softhearted, despite his appearance.
But I couldn’t afford to be soft. Dioana lived here.
“I apologize, Your Grace. But I really think you need to see this one in person. That is…”
I sighed, wondering if I now had to interrogate suspected spies myself.
Lockhart hesitated, then muttered under his breath:
“The thing is… he doesn’t look like someone who’d be doing menial tasks. Just seems suspicious all around. No matter how much we pressure him, he keeps saying he’s looking for his master. And the strangest thing is…”
“What?”
“…He’s way too handsome. Unreasonably handsome.”
“…What? …Fine. Let’s go see.”
