Chapter 1
“Ah… my head.”
The throbbing headache didn’t ease even after Yuri wrapped both hands around her head. Still half-buried under the blanket, she squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable position, and curled herself up.
“Ugh! Why won’t this blanket come with me? I really turn into a mess whenever I drink.”
Making yet another promise she knew she wouldn’t keep, Yuri tugged at the blanket. But it wouldn’t budge. Something heavy was pinning it down near her feet. In the end, she had no choice but to wriggle her way further under it.
“My head hurts…”
She was groaning and wrestling with the blanket inside when—
“Miss! It’s dangerous to run in the hallway!”
“It’s okay!”
A clear, ringing voice echoed loudly down the long corridor.
“Goodness! The Duke only arrived late last night, so he needs more rest.”
Hearing voices out of nowhere, Yuri squinted her eyes open and tilted her head.
“Did they start airing foreign dramas on weekend mornings now?”
The apartment she lived in had terrible soundproofing, so she assumed it was the neighbor’s TV.
At least, she did—
Until a 108-centimeter-tall, 17-kilogram female lead came flying onto the bed.
“Daddy, Daddy! Emilia’s here!”
“Aaaagh!”
Crushed without warning by 17 kilograms of weight, Yuri let out a scream. Every part of her body, exhausted from a week of labor, cried out in pain.
“Daddy?”
Hearing the scream from under the blanket, Emilia tilted her head. That was clearly not the voice she was used to hearing from her father.
Meanwhile, the Yuri trapped beneath her groaned and barely managed to breathe. A strange shadow flickered through the thin white blanket, and she swallowed hard.
“What… is that bouquet-like head?”
Nothing made sense.
As she stood there in confusion, something small and soft suddenly slipped under the blanket and began touching her body.
“Eek!”
It wasn’t just Emilia who was startled by Yuri’s scream.
Aaron, who had come home late and was sleeping deeply despite his fatigue, stirred and woke up.
“Hm… Emilia?”
Yuri’s eyes snapped open.
The low, husky voice belonged to someone she had never heard before.
Still under the blanket, Yuri’s eyes darted around anxiously. But no matter how much she looked, the only space she occupied was the inside of a king-size bed.
She strained her ears to catch the sounds outside the blanket.
“What on earth did I do?”
Sunlight streamed brightly into the pure white blanket, making it as bright as if the lights were on.
In other words, it was more than enough to clearly see the naked body of the person sharing the blanket with her.
“What… is that?”
Was this how Shim Bong-sa felt when he regained his sight?
A sculpted set of abs—something she’d only ever seen in writing—was moving right in front of her eyes.
She instinctively reached out toward the solid six-pack—
Then quickly pulled her hand back when she heard a voice.
The clear, ringing sound was far too vivid to be a dream.
“Daddy!”
Emilia wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck and rubbed her face against his rough stubble.
Still half-asleep, Aaron patted her bottom while keeping his eyes closed. His face melted under his daughter’s affection, sweeter than the morning sunlight.
But under the blanket, Yuri clutched her chest at the word Emilia used.
“Daddy?”
Repeating the word under her breath, Yuri curled in on herself.
She had no idea what was happening outside the blanket, and her anxiety only grew.
“What’s going on? Daddy? Did I seriously hook up with a guy who already has a kid?”
Her thoughts were a tangled mess—
Then suddenly—
“What is this?”
Yuri bit her lip in shock as she looked down at the seductive lace pajamas clinging to her body.
To someone like Yuri, who valued cost-effectiveness above all else, lace pajamas were basically decorative trash.
Something she would never buy with her own money.
As if sleeping with a man who had a child wasn’t bad enough, now she was about to face his daughter—in his house.
Something crawled up onto her.
Trying to make herself invisible, Yuri held her breath, but a groan slipped out anyway.
“Ugh…”
Hearing the sound, Emilia’s eyes lit up.
“There’s someone here!”
Like a pack of crocodiles ruling a swamp, Emilia carefully searched the bed and shouted.
“Emilia, what are you talking about?”
Aaron, momentarily startled by his daughter’s sudden visit, shrugged as he looked at her with affectionate eyes.
In response, Emilia reached under the blanket and felt around Yuri’s body with both hands.
Something soft and squishy fit perfectly into her small palms.
“There is someone here! Did you hide my birthday present?”
Emilia looked up at Aaron, eyes sparkling with expectation.
Seeing that hopeful look in her sky-blue eyes, Aaron quickly waved his hands.
“Emilia, a present—no, it’s not that there isn’t one. I was going to give it to you later at the party.”
Flustered, Aaron accidentally revealed the surprise gift he had prepared.
“Oh no!”
Realizing his mistake too late, he bit his lip, but Emilia had already heard everything.
“Wow! We’re having a party? I thought it’d just be me and you this year, Daddy!”
Emilia clapped her hands in delight.
Aaron was always busy—she’d heard that phrase so many times she’d grown calluses on her ears. She’d long given up on expecting a birthday party.
“Well… I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Still, seeing how happy she was, Aaron slowly nodded.
He had always planned to give her a present anyway.
As he gently patted Emilia’s head with a soft expression—
“Then this must be a gift the goddess sent me!”
Emilia clapped her hands again, eyes wide.
“What?”
She had always been imaginative, fond of fairy tales and stories about her dreams.
Recently, the butler had even mentioned that Emilia prayed every night, asking the goddess to send her a mother.
Feeling a pang of pity, Aaron sighed softly and tried to pull her into his arms—
“I’ll go find my present!”
Suddenly, Emilia dove under the blanket and disappeared from sight.
“Hahaha. Emilia, what are you doing?”
Aaron laughed at her playful behavior as she began exploring under the blanket.
Watching her stick her bottom up and struggle to crawl inside, he shook his head.
Raising Emilia alone in a huge mansion without a mother always made him feel sorry for her.
But seeing her lively energy reassured him too.
“I’m looking for my present. The wrapping looks really big, so it must be a huge gift!”
“Wrapping?”
At Emilia’s words, the blanket Aaron was covering himself with instantly transformed into a giant wrapping paper.
He smiled warmly at her boundless imagination.
“She’s just imaginative, that’s all.”
Reassured, Aaron’s gaze followed Emilia’s wiggling backside.
Meanwhile, Emilia kept inching forward like a caterpillar.
“Emilia, enough playing. Come out. I’ll give you your present at the party later.”
He was worried she’d be disappointed.
But Emilia didn’t hesitate, pushing forward like a herd of buffalo.
Her hands touched something unmistakably soft.
Yuri swallowed hard as the small creature advanced toward her.
She carefully scooted backward, but the space was limited. If she moved any farther, she’d fall off the bed.
Biting her lip, Yuri lifted her head.
And there—
Clear eyes, like the sky after a spring rain, were looking straight at her.
“Shh.”
Yuri pressed a finger to her lips, signaling silence.
But Emilia cheerfully ignored her.
“Mommy?”
“No!”
Emilia’s joyful voice was bright like midsummer sunlight.
She crawled toward Yuri without hesitation.
Staying low, her speed rivaled that of a special forces soldier.
Yuri trembled, too shocked to even breathe.
But Emilia didn’t stop.
Wriggling across the feather bed like a swamp-dwelling crocodile, she finally stopped when her nose was almost touching Yuri’s.
Then, carefully, Emilia spoke.
“You came to be Emilia’s mommy, didn’t you?”
“I told you, no.”
Yuri shook her head, her face on the verge of tears.
Sleeping with a man who had such a grown child was already dizzying enough—and now the child kept calling her “Mom.”
“What kind of life has this man been living?”
Unlike Yuri’s panic, Emilia’s eyes sparkled like gemstones.
Her sky-blue gaze stayed fixed on Yuri, her rose-pink lips opening and closing like a budding flower.
“Did you ride in on a stork?”
Emilia asked, smiling brightly. Every time she tilted her head, her pink hair fluttered like petals.
“You don’t ride a stork.”
Yuri sighed softly at Emilia’s imagination, shaking her head.
Yet her eyes couldn’t leave Emilia’s hair.
That shade of pink was impossible to achieve with dye, and it left her mind spinning.
“Then did you really come from a cabbage patch?”
“I’ve never even been to a cabbage patch.”
Midway through answering, Yuri suddenly lowered her head.
She had no idea what she was even saying anymore.
“Oh! Are you hurt?”
Yuri looked up.
A maple-leaf-like hand gently touched her forehead, and the warmth instantly put her at ease.
It was strange.
Encouraged by Emilia’s concern, Yuri lifted her head and spoke.
Thinking it over, she realized—
If she could get help from the child in front of her, she might be able to escape this place without anyone noticing.
And with that thought, a small spark of hope bloomed.
