Chapter 35
Even the comment fairies were full of praise.
I, too, widened my eyes in surprise—not necessarily because it happened quickly (maybe it wasn’t all that fast)—but because I hadn’t expected to find a guardian so soon.
“You finally look like a child.”
Hestina patted my head upon seeing my honest reaction.
“I have the means, so I can easily be your guardian. There wasn’t a specific reason it had to be the Duke, right?”
“Ah, no. I just happened to follow him here, but honestly, it could have been anyone. Thank you.”
“Please don’t resent the Duke. He’s the kind of person who, once he takes responsibility, sees it through to the end. That’s why he couldn’t decide easily.”
Becoming a guardian isn’t just a one-time sponsorship—it’s a long-term commitment until the child grows up.
I understood her point, so I nodded.
└ [Could you maybe just adopt her altogether?]
└ [If it’s our wonderful lady Hestina, it could happen!]
The comment fairies were getting carried away, but adoption is on a whole different level than guardianship.
Besides, I had just mentioned that I was going to search for my biological parents.
Hestina, too, didn’t seem to consider adoption as an option right now and added:
“If there’s ever something you need and I’m away for a long time, you can contact the Count of Linwood.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“I told you, didn’t I? There are lots of things I want to do now that I’m living as Hestina. Our Linwood family has plenty of money, so I thought I’d try running some businesses.”
The Linwood household.
Because they weren’t affiliated with any particular political faction, they weren’t often mentioned in social gatherings.
I’d only ever heard bits and pieces about their involvement in business and trade.
‘Count Torto was always trying to monopolize every business and kept tabs on any rising powers.’
He had wanted to dominate every industry.
But even so, he had never tried to suppress the Linwood family.
“I was thinking about getting into trade when Damian gets a little older. That means I’ll be away often.”
Just like she said, the Linwood family was more active in international trade.
Count Torto’s domain was entirely domestic. Their business sectors didn’t overlap.
‘So that’s why I never saw Lady Hestina in my previous life.’
If she was involved in trade, she would have mostly traveled far provinces and foreign countries.
Knowing that her absence hadn’t been due to health issues brought me a lot of relief.
Hestina, as my guardian, now offered me options.
“The teachers said you understand the lessons well. If you want to study, I could send you to a school for young children. Once you’re older, you could attend the academy.”
“School…”
Since I don’t have a home, she must mean a boarding school.
With a guardian—one who knows I don’t want to be adopted by the blond man—going back to the orphanage wouldn’t be a big problem.
Even if Count Torto shows up, with his fake story about my birth parents and a guardian’s opposition, I could probably delay things for about two years.
└ [Wait, she’s going back to the orphanage??]
└ [No way—plot twist in this childcare novel!]
└ [What about Damian!! And the tutor!!]
└ [If she’s going anywhere, let it be back to Edin and the bunny-filled orphanage…]
The comment fairies were confused, but…
Facing my options made my heart a little clearer.
“Um, would it be okay if I just stayed here?”
“Why here specifically? Like I said, this isn’t exactly a place for a child—”
“But…”
When I think about the future I know, I feel like there’s a better path here.
“Wouldn’t it be better to turn this into a place where children can stay? Not just this mansion, but the whole city. A place that’s good for children to live.”
This time, it was Hestina who widened her eyes. She looked genuinely surprised.
Then her expression calmed, perhaps thinking realistically.
“It would be great if that happened. But making that a reality will take a long time. We can’t expect your childhood to wait that long.”
“Actually, I’m smarter than you think, Lady Hestina.”
└ [Also, she’s on her second life.]
└ [Also, she’s adorable.]
└ [Also, she’s a saint.]
I didn’t say it to brag, so I didn’t add anything like the comment fairies did.
“Honestly, I don’t think studying with other kids would help me that much. I left the orphanage because I wanted to choose where I belong. So—”
Thanks to Hestina becoming my guardian, the future in which I’d be adopted by Count Torto became a lot less likely.
That gave me room to breathe—and new possibilities began to fill that space.
“Couldn’t other children also grow up here? Not just going somewhere else to study, but learning to read and write right here, and then growing up to work here—and gradually, more people calling this place home…”
Once I started talking, even thoughts I hadn’t been aware of started flowing out.
I suddenly worried that maybe I was being too idealistic, so I looked up.
Hestina was watching me with intrigued eyes.
“Did someone tell you all this? Or did you come up with it yourself?”
“Well… the knights said that nobody in their hometown ever learned how to read. And the Duke said he hoped for a world where children wouldn’t need to hold a sword.”
“And you took that and imagined all this?”
Hestina tapped her finger on the table.
Thankfully, she didn’t dismiss it as a child’s fantasy. She looked to be seriously—yet realistically—considering it.
“What you’re talking about would take a very long time.”
“Yes… I know.”
It’s not something I could do alone.
I thought the conversation would end with me just being labeled “a kid with big dreams.”
But—
“That means,” Hestina said with a smile, “I might be able to help quite a bit.”
It was like she had seen the same future I imagined.
* * *
“You’ve brought an interesting child.”
“I didn’t bring her. She followed me.”
“I heard that part too.”
Inside the Duke of Valente’s office.
Across from the Duke, Hestina smiled in amusement as she replied.
From the Duke’s perspective, a child who had secretly stowed away in his carriage and now refused to leave wasn’t exactly a fun story.
“I allowed her to stay temporarily due to the circumstances, but I’ll be sending her back soon.”
“No, let her stay here.”
As soon as she arrived at the mansion, she had gone out with Damian and the girl. What on earth had happened in that short time?
The Duke looked at her, puzzled. Hestina added, as if it were no big deal:
“I decided to be her guardian.”
“…What does that have to do with her staying here?”
It was odd for Hestina, who didn’t live here, to leave her ward at the Duke’s mansion.
“She’s Damian’s subordinate No. 1, isn’t she?”
“You’re saying the same thing as Damian.”
“Hehe. What I mean is, when Damian’s grown enough to have his own subordinates, it’d be nice for her to be by his side. Like your relationship with Count Matteo.”
Of course, that future would take a long time to come.
‘If a child can picture such a clear future…’
Then Hestina could envision one too.
“Now that I think of it, the orphanage where Rose was—Count Matteo recommended it, didn’t he? How long do you plan on making him do everything?”
“I’m not making him do anything… He just likes to meddle.”
Though he said that, the Duke clearly trusted Count Matteo enough to follow his advice.
The only people who had ever been around the Duke were knights, not nobles.
Count Matteo was one of the few noble allies who took interest in such matters.
‘Having faced life-and-death battles, it makes sense that he’s cautious about who he keeps close.’
But now he wasn’t the commander of the Imperial Knights—he was a Duke. He needed more people by his side.
Sure, there were those assigned by the emperor or from the imperialist faction, but few he could truly call his people.
Hestina had thought that, as an outsider now, she shouldn’t interfere—and so had planned to leave entirely.
But—
“From now on, the Linwood family will unofficially support you, Your Grace.”
“The family itself, you mean?”
“Yes. Oh, and not just support. We’re planning to start some business here, using the Linwood family’s strengths.”
She had found something new she wanted to do.
To stay near her family, doing what she loved.
“I doubt His Majesty would object to something like this, don’t you think?”
And frankly, even if he did—what could he say now?
That was always the kind of person Hestina was. There was no reason to start tiptoeing now.
She smiled quietly, as though she had finally found the right answer.
└ [Is this the beginning of a love triangle between the Emperor and Mother over the Duke??]
What on earth are they talking about now?
