Chapter 6
From old times, it was said that even if you entered a dragon’s lair, you could come out alive as long as you stayed calm.
‘But this isn’t it!’
Rosaria thought it might actually be better to go into a real dragon’s lair.
She smiled sweetly while desperately praying for the appearance of a dragon that didn’t even exist.
She smiled for now.
Her facial muscles felt like they were cramping, but if she stopped smiling here, something terrible would surely happen.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha…”
If her laughter sounded choppy, it was just an illusion.
It’s just that she had pulled her lips into a smile so hard, they were trembling slightly.
‘Can smiling really solve everything like Madam said? What if I end up losing even a single coin and leave empty-handed, becoming enemies with him?!’
The thing flowing in her heart right now was definitely tears.
She could clearly see a future completely different from the hopeful plan she had when she first helped the Duke of Valencia.
If he got angry because of this…
‘I have to run.’
She had taken a good look while treating the Duke’s wound.
She would kick that spot—hard!—and grab one or two gold coins as she fled.
‘No matter how much of a monster he is, if I hit him where it hurts, he won’t be able to chase me immediately, right?!’
Honestly, she wanted to run away right now. But the Duke of Valencia was holding her too tightly for her to move.
While Rosaria hid her grand ambitions behind a smile, the Duke stared down at her intently, then turned his head.
With an expressionless face, he looked at the gold coins on the floor.
He must’ve realized it instantly.
That they were originally his, and that this small, dirty kid had stolen them.
‘Now’s my chance!’
Feeling a rush of danger, Rosaria was just about to kick the Duke in the stomach—
Drip―.
A red liquid ran down the Duke’s smooth forehead.
“Blood!”
“What?”
Startled, Rosaria forgot all about attacking and shouted.
Hearing her cry, the Duke looked up from the floor.
“You’re bleeding from your head!”
Before the Duke could react, Rosaria hurriedly reached out to wipe the blood away.
Her small hand was quickly stained red.
“It’s true.”
The Duke took Rosaria’s bloodied hand. Then, as if wiping it off, he gently touched her fingers.
“But isn’t it strange?”
“H-huh? What is?”
“I don’t remember getting hit in the head, so why am I bleeding?”
Throb.
Rosaria flinched and avoided his gaze.
She definitely felt guilty.
“Y-yeah, it’s really strange. Maybe you got hit without noticing? Like, you were hit so hard you didn’t even realize it.”
“I see. That must be it.”
The Duke accepted it without suspicion.
But for Rosaria watching this unfold, it felt like her heart was crying blood.
‘What do you mean “that must be it”? I definitely hurt him when I dragged him all the way here! If he finds out, I’m finished!’
She regretted not being more careful.
But it was too late now.
And given their vast size difference, there was no way Rosaria could have brought him here safely even if she tried.
The gold coins were already discovered, but she swore she wouldn’t let the head injury be revealed too.
Then, the Duke said:
“Thank you.”
“No, I didn’t do anyth—huh? Thank you? For what?”
Thank you? Was that something someone would say in this situation?
It would’ve made more sense if he grabbed her by the collar and yelled, “You filthy brat!”
As a flustered Rosaria blinked in confusion, the Duke pulled her closer with his blood-stained hand.
Then he raised his other, clean hand.
‘Wait—is “thank you” just a trick, and he’s actually going to smash my head to match his?!’
“Heh, thank you. For making my head like this. Now, I’ll make yours just as bloody.”
Could it be something like that?!
Rosaria’s face turned pale.
If she got hit on the head with those massive hands, she would be at death’s door.
It would hurt ten—no, a hundred times more than being hit by Humphrey!
She didn’t even have the courage to think about kicking him and running away. His huge hand was already above her head.
Rosaria shut her eyes tightly and shrank back as much as she could.
And then…
‘…Huh?’
“You helped me without caring that your hands got dirty.”
The Duke didn’t hit her.
His hand hovered over her head, not to strike, but to gently stroke her hair.
“D-Don’t do that.”
She felt weird.
Something tickled in her chest—it was a feeling she’d never experienced before.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s dirty. My hair’s dirty.”
“It’s not dirty.”
The Duke of Valencia firmly denied it.
“Even though you’re afraid, you still care about others until the end. You’ve inherited the inability to be cruel too.”
Rosaria had no idea what the Duke was talking about. She just wanted him to move his hand away.
She even thought she’d rather be punched in the head instead—it felt that uncomfortable.
When he lightly patted her on the head after dealing with Humphrey’s group, it hadn’t felt this strange.
“It’s already this late. Let’s go now.”
The Duke of Valencia gently stroked the back of Rosaria’s head and began walking.
Still holding Rosaria in his arms.
“I’m going too?”
“Obviously.”
It may have been obvious to him, but not to Rosaria.
She glanced down. A large pile of gold coins was still lying at the Duke’s feet.
“Why aren’t you scolding me?”
“Scolding you?”
“I…”
Rosaria paused as she was about to confess her crime.
After a moment of silence, the Duke spoke.
“As long as you know you did something wrong, that’s enough.”
“Really? That’s all?”
“And making sure you don’t make the same mistake again is just as important.”
As they passed by where Humphrey’s group had been, the Duke covered Rosaria’s eyes again.
Before that, Rosaria had glanced at the fallen gold coins and said,
“Aren’t you going to pick up the coins?”
“I don’t pick up things that have fallen.”
“Then I’ll take them.”
It was a waste. That wasn’t a small amount of money, and he was just going to leave it?
The Duke was clearly insane.
“A Valencia does not bow easily under any circumstance. Rosaria, now that you are one of us, remember that you never need to stoop to pick anything up again.”
‘Hmph, liar. You said you’d kneel before that woman named Rosaline.’
Rosaria pouted her lips.
Still fixated on the gold, she squirmed a bit.
Then something caught her eye through a gap between the Duke’s fingers.
‘Ice?’
Something sparkled transparently like a jewel.
That’s where Humphrey’s group had been.
Now something new was there—curiosity suddenly welled up.
But her curiosity had to be pushed down again by the Duke’s large hand covering her view.
“If you want something, don’t steal it. Just ask me. No matter what it is, I’ll give it to you.”
“……”
“Except for something like a corner of the stable.”
If the real saint returned, she would never hear such sweet words again.
Rosaria, who knew exactly where she stood, just gave a small nod.
* * *
After that, the Duke of Valencia and Rosaria traveled by carriage.
Though they had no money, their social status made it easy to get a ride.
There was only a minor incident when the coachman nearly fell over backward in shock at the sight of the Duke, who looked like he’d just returned from a battlefield, covered in blood.
The ride seemed long. Even after traveling for quite a while, there was no sign of arrival.
It was only her first time riding a carriage, so her curiosity had her looking around restlessly—but only for a short while.
Soon exhausted, Rosaria began nodding off.
“Uwaaah…”
While Rosaria’s head lolled in every direction, the Duke showed no signs of fatigue.
Whenever the carriage hit a rough road and bumped, she would hit her head here and there.
Watching this, the Duke pulled her over to sit beside him.
She didn’t even realize her seat had changed—he gently brought her closer so she could rest more comfortably.
The only sounds in the carriage were her soft breathing and the occasional bumping until the carriage came to a stop late at night.
“Your Grace, we’ve arrived.”
The coachman knocked politely and opened the door.
“Mmmh. We’ve arrived?”
Even though she’d kept sleeping through all the bumps, Rosaria’s eyes flew open the moment she heard they had arrived.
The Duke got out first and reached out as if to escort her down.
Then, as if changing his mind, he slipped his arm under her armpits and lifted her up.
“Put me down.”
“I’ll put you down once we’re inside.”
“I’m eight years old. I can walk on my own!”
“Eight? That’s older than I thought.”
Despite Rosaria’s protest, the Duke didn’t let her down as he entered the castle.
The Valencia estate was a luxurious place that Rosaria had never even seen in her entire eight years of life.
Without realizing, her mouth opened in awe.
Then, a man came striding over and stood in front of the Duke.
“Where on earth have you been? And what’s with this mess! Do you know how shocked we were when you vanished without a word?”
“I had something to find.”
“If you’d told us, we could’ve handled it. Did you really go out yourself to find something? Especially now, with the imperial family on edge…”
“It’s already done, so save your nagging. First, wash this child and feed her whatever she wants.”
“…Excuse me?”
Only then did the man notice Rosaria and let out a dumb sound.
The Duke set Rosaria down next to the man.
Seeing her face clearly, the man stiffened like a rock and let out another confused sound.
“Uhhh?”
“No, I should’ve spoken to the head maid instead.”
The Duke sighed briefly and began to turn around to call someone else.
Suddenly coming to his senses, the man spoke quickly.
“N-No! I’ll follow your orders. But, uh… who is this child?”
“Don’t point your finger. She’s my daughter.”
“HUH.”
The man, who had been pointing, immediately curled his finger and inhaled deeply.
No exhale followed.
‘Is he okay?’
Rosaria began to worry as she watched the man, who had seemingly frozen in place.
Soon, with a huge exhale, he suddenly blurted out words like rapid fire.
“You have a daughter?! Since when?! Who’s the mother?! Is she the reason you’ve refused to marry all these years? Wait, this girl… she looks like the missing second son of the Oricsa family…”
“Enough.”
The Duke cut him off the moment the word “Oricsa” came up.
His displeasure was plain.
“Are you insane?! No matter how much you hate them… you didn’t seriously kidnap someone from the Oricsa bloodline, did you?!”
“Kidnap…? You could see it that way. But in this case, the ones who left her are the ones at fault.”
“Ugh! So you did kidnap her! What are we going to do?! That damn Oricsa family will start squawking again! If I lose all my hair tomorrow, it’s on you!”
“You’re spitting.”
The Duke pulled Rosaria closer to himself, as if to shield her from the man.
“What was the first thing I told you to do?”
“…Wash her and feed her.”
Despite the chaos, the man at least remembered the orders clearly.
The Duke nodded and said calmly,
“Rose.”
“Yes?”
“Rosaria von Valencia.”
“Whaaaaat?!”
“I’ll register her in the family ledger immediately, so remember that.”
“WHAT?!”
The man’s scream echoed through the halls of Valencia Castle.
‘His eyes might pop out at this rate…’
Rosaria, stuck in the middle of it all, was the only one thinking such a thought.
