Chapter 5
“If I’m not really that woman Rosaline’s daughter, what then? What if the real daughter exists?”
Cordelia thought of the real Saintess.
She was beautiful, as befitting the title of Saintess, and had the personality of an angel descended from heaven.
So everyone loved the Saintess.
“And that real daughter is probably nicer and prettier than me, right? I have a bad personality. Madam called me a damn brat.”
“Then that’s good. I don’t need a nice child anyway.”
“I’m not joking. She said I act like a horny pony around her.”
“Do you… even know what that means?”
“Uh, um… Doesn’t it mean I can’t sit still?”
There were many words she used without knowing the exact meaning.
When Cordelia replied vaguely, her blue eyes clouded with embarrassment, the Duke let out a small sigh.
“It’s not a good expression. From now on, I won’t let you use or hear such things again.”
“But still…”
“You don’t have to try to prove you’re a bad child like that. I already knew your personality wasn’t all that sweet from the moment you started speaking comfortably to me.”
“T-That’s because you were the one who first spoke informally to me.”
In the back alley, letting others underestimate you meant you’d be taken advantage of.
Cordelia had spent a year in a place where using honorifics was considered strange, and now her ears turned red from embarrassment.
“You may not be the Saintess, but you are definitely Rosaline’s daughter, so stop trying to scheme. I can practically hear the little gears turning in that tiny head of yours.”
“Have you been watching me since I was born or something? How can you be so sure I’m her daughter?”
“Because I’ve never been wrong.”
He had no logic whatsoever, yet spoke with such certainty that it almost sounded like truth, leaving her speechless.
When Cordelia gave him a ‘what the heck’ look, the Duke smirked and said,
“But still, if by any chance you’re not Rosaline’s daughter…”
“…”
“Then it’s my mistake for choosing the wrong person, not your fault. Don’t worry. Since I’m the one who decided to take you in, it’s my responsibility to see it through—not yours.”
He continued calmly.
“I may seem like a scary adult to you, but I’m not so hopeless as to dump the responsibility on a tiny child.”
Cordelia stared wide-eyed at Duke Valencia.
When their eyes met, a gentle smile appeared on the Duke’s face. Just that smile completely changed his previously cold impression.
Cordelia, who had been staring at his face blankly, quickly shook her head.
Swish, swish.
The Duke looked at her curiously as she shook her little head so hard her hair flew around.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find my calm and reason. I need neutral thinking right now.”
“…Do you even know what that means?”
The word choice was quite sophisticated for an eight-year-old.
Because of the contrast with the curse word she had used earlier, he asked, and this time Cordelia slowly shook her head.
She was just randomly using words she’d heard somewhere.
There was no way an uneducated eight-year-old would know the correct meaning.
She was using them because they sounded impressive.
“If I go with you, does that mean you’ll become my dad?”
“If I adopt you, then yes.”
“But are you my real dad?”
Cordelia knew he wasn’t her biological father but asked as if she didn’t know.
For a moment, Duke Valencia’s expression darkened like he’d swallowed something wrong, but with a blink, it returned to normal.
‘Did I imagine that?’
Under Cordelia’s intense stare, Duke Valencia hesitated slightly before answering.
“That… I’m not.”
“You said you’ve been searching for five years. Why did you look for me, not my real dad?”
“Your biological father is currently missing. I’m just doing what Rosaline—your birth mother, who’s no longer in this world—asked me to do.”
“What was your relationship with my mom?”
“…Friends. Very close friends.”
Again.
Calling her a ‘friend’ seemed to be difficult for Duke Valencia.
Kneel if I must. Crawl at your feet like a dog if you command it.
Tell me you love me instead of him. Even now, I’m the only one granting your last wish.
‘Well, if he says those kinds of things unconsciously, he must still love her.’
His first love was also a one-sided love.
And a love that could never come true.
For Duke Valencia, having to define their relationship as ‘friends’ must have felt like a dagger to the heart.
“So, did I pass the adoption test?”
Her tone suggested he could ask more questions if he had them.
Despite Cordelia’s nosy attitude, the Duke answered sincerely.
If she’d asked Madame Pamela’s people like this, Cordelia would already have a huge bump on her forehead.
‘The real Saintess hasn’t appeared yet. He’s holding on to me because there’s still a chance.’
He offered his room and soft bed. Warm food, dolls, new clothes. And even the attention once showered on the real Saintess.
Cordelia also knew that it was best not to get involved with the Duke’s family or the Saintess.
But she was still just a child who needed a guardian.
She had read the book and knew the future, but she was still just a slightly mature eight-year-old who only recalled the contents of the book.
And now, someone was offering not just one, but everything she had ever wanted, in the sweetest voice.
She couldn’t bring herself to coldly turn it all down.
She fidgeted with her fingers.
Then made up her mind.
“Then promise me just one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Even if you find out I’m not the real Saintess or Rosaline’s daughter, promise me you won’t kill me.”
“……What the…….”
The Duke of Valencia looked shocked after hearing Cordelia’s condition.
“If you don’t promise in your name, I won’t move an inch.”
There was a firm determination in Cordelia’s sparkling blue eyes.
But she was clutching the rag doll so tightly her hands were turning pale.
As if she were terrified, unable to run away.
The Duke of Valencia noticed right away.
That child is now…
‘She’s afraid I might kill her at any moment.’
He didn’t think he had ever shown her a threatening side directly.
He had even been careful not to let her see him dealing with the men who spoke badly of her.
But if you looked at it carefully, his bloodied appearance alone was more than enough to terrify an eight-year-old. He hadn’t considered that.
Without realizing he had already messed up from the very beginning, the Duke of Valencia reached out his hand to the small, fearful child pretending to be fine.
“Alessandro von Valencia. That is my name. I swear on the name of House Valencia that I will never harm you.”
For a noble to swear on their family name was akin to putting everything on the line.
Especially for one of the four Grand Duchies, the weight of the name was incomparable.
A promise made in that name was an unbreakable oath.
Cordelia stared at the large hand respectfully held out to her.
It was stained with someone’s blood.
“I… don’t have a name. I’ll tell you after I come up with one later.”
Saying that, she shyly reached out to take the Duke’s hand.
‘Huh? What?!’
If the Duke hadn’t pulled his hand back, she would’ve held it.
“This is quite a problem.”
“Huh?”
Wh-what is?
Seeing Cordelia flustered, not knowing what to do with her aimless hand, the Duke spoke in a flat tone.
“You need a name to officially complete the adoption process. But you don’t have one.”
“Then I can’t be adopted?”
“That’s right.”
Cordelia’s head naturally drooped.
She didn’t even realize she was speaking in a disappointed tone.
“But that doesn’t mean there’s no way at all.”
“W-what is it?”
“If you don’t have a name, we can make one now. If you’re okay with it, I’d like to give you a name to celebrate becoming my daughter…”
“I don’t want Cordelia.”
Before the Duke could finish, Cordelia quickly cut in.
She didn’t want Cordelia.
Because when the real Saint appears, she’ll be called a fake Cordelia again.
“Then we’ll leave Cordelia out of it.”
The Duke gave in easily.
‘I thought she’d insist on being Cordelia until the end.’
Not that she was pretending to be Cordelia in the first place.
Now that she would get a new name like this, Cordelia didn’t think it was such a bad thing—until suddenly, her eyes widened.
“Gasp, your hand is bleeding!”
The blood on the rag doll hadn’t been from Humphrey’s group—it must’ve been the Duke’s.
Seeing the wound on the back of his hand, Cordelia shot up from her seat.
“I don’t have any usable cloth left! What should I do?!”
Thinking she might be able to use a handkerchief, she started toward where Humphrey’s group had been—but was suddenly pulled back by a strong force.
At the same time, her vision was covered, and her body was lifted into the air.
‘Wha—huh? What’s happening?’
It was the Duke of Valencia.
He didn’t want her to see what remained of Humphrey’s group.
Unaware of his intent, Cordelia found herself suddenly embraced in the Duke’s arms.
“You smell like roses.”
‘Huh? Roses? All I smell is cigarettes and blood.’
The abandoned house was filled with stale cigarette smoke. Humphrey’s group had just been smoking, after all.
But the Duke seemed to be following the scent of some cherished memory.
“Rosaria.”
“……”
“I think Rosaria would be a good name for you.”
The Duke removed the hand that had been covering Cordelia’s eyes.
A deep red gaze—richer than any rose Cordelia had ever sold—filled her vision.
“……So pretty. Gasp.”
“Looks like you like the name.”
Rosaria.
It was a pretty name, of course.
But what Cordelia had called pretty wasn’t the name—it was the Duke’s eyes.
She couldn’t tell him that, though.
If she told him it was a misunderstanding, it might ruin everything.
Even the promise he made not to kill her.
So Cordelia simply smiled.
Madam Pamela had told her:
You can’t spit on a smiling face.
If things start to get messy, run first. If you can’t run, smile—she’d said.
“If you act clueless and keep smiling, you’ll get through most things.”
She remembered Madam’s words and smiled brightly.
“Yeah! I like i—”
But Cordelia—no, Rosaria—couldn’t finish her sentence.
Plink—plink—plink.
‘Oh no!’
Despite her desperate will, the coins she had secretly taken started falling one by one from the pouch.
Plink.
Roll—roll—.
“Uh… um…”
‘I’m doomed.’
Only the sound of gold coins—stolen from the Duke—rolling across the floor echoed in the silence.
