Baby Empress - Chapter 2

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“…”

“One stroke of the sword and you’ll die instantly as such an extraordinary being.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about. I had a hard time just by standing still.

“Are you going to kill me?”

The Duke’s sword roared. As if the sword has its own will.

The knight next to him said something. The knight’s name was Michael, as I learned on the first day.

“Your Grace, she is the baby of the prophecy.”

The Duke remained silent for a long time with a very unpleasant face. It was a judgment whether to kill me or not.

“Yeah, I can’t kill you.”

He withdrew his sword with a straight face, and the knights approached. I reflexively wrapped my neck with both hands.

“…”

I was breathing heavily. The surrounding area was a perfect stillness.

There was no one in the Empire who was unaware of the Duke. No, the whole continent. The Duke is called the god of war. Althought it wasn’t used to cut me, his sword was cast in front of my eyes.

I managed to compose myself.

It was the words I couldn’t understand since yesterday. A baby of the prophecy. An adoption of the Duke. This is an incomprehensible development.

I think he will kill me if I follow him.

‘Is that really my dad?’

I wanted to grab anyone and ask, but everyone was afraid of him.

I knew by instinct. That man is a tyrant.

“My … are you my family?”

I don’t know if I want an answer, or I wanted him to say no. I looked up at the Duke and asked. He answered right away.

“Yes, I am the Duke of Alcibiades, who will be your adoptive father in the family register.”

Still, the Duke’s words were too difficult for me to understand at the time.

“You will now be called Adele Alcibiades. Of course it won’t last long.”

Is he saying I’m going to be dismissed soon?

The words were all I could think of.

‘It means a temporary family.’

A child who had been adopted with envy often returned to the orphanage within a few months. They said they were dismissed. I remembered those children who were seriously hurt and couldn’t even eat properly.

‘Am I going to be like that?’

The nearby knight took my side.

“You have to be kind.”

“Yes, that’s right. The Imperial family will be angry if you profane her ears, Your Grace.”

“I don’t want to stand here like this, let’s go inside and talk for a while.”

….the Imperial family? He just said the Imperial family.

The Duke looked at me firmly and turned his head. The director understood and took the lead.

“Haha, Princess. Even though the Duke sometimes does that, he is a warm-hearted man.”

The knight tried to soothe me with a gesture of heart. In front of me there were knights with a flimsy smile. They all looked alike, although they all had different features. The only thing I can remember most clearly now was the Duke.

The Duke, no, I should call him my family.

No matter how short it may be, I have a family in this world.

‘But it was real.’

Soon we arrived at the director’s office.

“Your Grace, you can sign here.”

“Is this all? That’s a simple form.”

The Duke lifted the papers and said that. On the wall above the chair where the director sat, there was an Imperial flag hanging. He shot his attention to the ground as if he was displeased. The name of the empire, Hasfeldt, was engraved on the flag.

The Duke gracefully moved the pen. I stood far from the door and watched the Duke’s back. The Duke put down the pen as soon as he finished writing on the paper.

The director raised his head and gestured at me.

“Adele, you should write your name here, too.”

The director suddenly handed me a pen as I approached with hesitation.

The atmosphere of the knights who followed became chilly, and so was the Duke sitting opposite the director. I haven’t lived long, but I knew from my wits that the Duke’s judgment had been twisted.

“This is the Princess now. A middle-class commoner, a director of an orphanage is not the kind of person who can talk to her in that manner. Of course, the adoption papers have not been passed yet, but still!”

A knight with a sword took a step forward, growled like a beast. The director was surprised and looked at my face.

I was a little surprised and scared at the same time because I vaguely realized that my status had changed.

“My lady, you can write your name down here. Go ahead, Princess.”

Now even the director was respectful to me.

A princess, now I am a Princess. I couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times I heard it.

I didn’t want their voice to get louder because of me, so I rushed to write my name with a pen that I grabbed awkwardly. I can’t read, but I knew how to write my name.

“Adele, just two letters.”

「Adele 」

I wrote the name three times in the part pointed out by the director. The pressed ink slowly dried and melted into the paper.

‘I wrote it down.’

The Duke’s signature had dried up under the part where I wrote my name. Unlike my unpleasant handwriting, it was an elegant and perfect cursive style. I was in a strange mood.

Are you sure this man is my family?

“Are we done?”

“Yes, Duke. One will be kept by Your Grace, one will be kept by our orphanage, and the other will be submitted to the Imperial court by us.”

The director said with a grim smile.

“Pick it up.”

The Duke looked down at the paper and ordered it, then rose from his seat. I hesitated and stepped back. He brushed past me indifferently.

The top of my head didn’t even reach the Duke’s waist. The Duke quickly reached the door without even acknowledging me.

“I have something to do in the Morita estate, so I will stop by for a while. Take this one to the castle first.”

“Your Grace, what about your guard?”

“The escort of this child will be more urgent than my own. There will be many people aiming for that child. No matter how secretly it is, it is a place with many ears. Don’t let anyone hurt her. I won’t tolerate that, at least when it’s my responsibility.”

“Of course, Your Grace. I will risk my life to protect the Princess.”

….at the risk of your life?

‘I just had a sword on my neck before.’

I couldn’t figure out how things were going. Just like other orphans who have been adopted so far, I have only pretended to be wholesome in front of my decided parents.

The duke made eye contact with me before closing the door. The cold, blood-red eyes.

There was no goodwill towards me in there. A man’s eyes told no lies.

His dark black hair showed off its notoriety on the battlefield. I was left in a daze. No matter how hard I think, it seems that I became the Duke’s daughter.

….Why? Really?

“Um, the reward, hehehe, when is … kugh!”

It was the director’s voice that suddenly stopped. While frowning, the knight silently took a gold coin pouch out of his arms. The clattering of gold coins was thrilling.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, Sir Knight!”

“….let’s go, Princess.”

“Oh, it’s such a honor to have a Princess comes out of our orphanage.”

The director was delighted with the pouch in his arms.

It seemed that I was the only one here who was afraid of drastic changes. One good thing was that the knights sided with me. Although they stayed still when the Duke pointed a sword at my neck, anyway.

“It will take a little while for the Duke to finish his work.”

The knight told me.

I soon climbed onto the carriage. It wasn’t technically ‘climbed‘, but I was lifted up in the arms of a knight like a princess. Anyway, the inside of the carriage was heavenly. I was alone, so I poked the cozy cushion to my heart’s content.

The carriage was steady and calm. I lay slouched against the cushion. And soon, I fell asleep.

***

< Hello. >

“….Hi.”

It was the fire spirit that woke me up. The spirit was blazing in the air.

I blinked blankly and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. My eyes were mixed up.

I’m still in the carriage. The carriage door was not opened. The lizard-like spirit whispered to me.

< Don’t be scared. >

“…I’m fine.”

The spirits always appear in front of me suddenly. And they talk to me.

I didn’t remember when I heard the spirit for the first time. Just at some point, the spirit was my friend.

It was a spirit who guarded me even in a solitary room. Thanks to this, I was able to sleep comfortably without shivering from the cold.

It would be nice if the spirits showed such kindness to other children who were put in solitary confinement, but I don’t force them. The spirits must have their own will.

< We’ve arrived. >

The spirit soon disappeared. I slowly got up with my disheveled hair. Soon the carriage stopped, and someone knocked on the door. I stayed quiet and the door opened.

“This is the Duke Alcibiades’ residence, where the Princess will be staying. Did you fall sleep?”

“…yes.”

Behind the open door, a knight was standing on the carriage steps. The knight was dressed nicely. But what caught my attention was the wide spectacle that unfolded behind the knight.

It’s huge and enormous. And it was super gorgeous.

The dazzling marble, which anyone can see as luxurious, shone in the sunlight. I’ve never seen such a pretty building anywhere. And it was really high.

My mouth opened wide on its own.

“Wow….”

“I’ll help you get off first, Princess.”

As I did when I climbed, I was held in the arms of a knight when I went down.