How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter - CH 95

As soon as I said it, I swallowed my breath.

Alan’s pupils suddenly thinned.

It was the usual look in his eyes whenever he was angry, but it had been a long time since he had a threatening look as sharp as this.

“You want to know who it is?”

“…Yes.”

Alan closed his mouth, then he gently closed his eyes, and reopened them. He seemed to be controlling his raging anger.

His eyes soon returned to normal.

“You already know him.”

I doubted my ears.

I have lived in the Duke’s Castle for 4 years, hardly ever going out.

Those whom Alan and I both knew were very few.

“Who, who is that?”

Alan lowered his eyes. He seemed hesitant to answer.

I couldn’t let it pass like this. I mustered up the courage and asked more strongly.

“Tell me everything that happened, Dad. Please.”

At my words, Alan slowly opened his mouth, as if gaining resolve.

I was shocked by the words that followed.

***

‘Nonsense.’

The dungeon of the Magic Tower. I came directly to the culprit who tried to poison me.

Even after hearing the name of the criminal, I couldn’t believe it.

But even after seeing him with my own two eyes, I couldn’t understand this situation.

‘Why you?’

A tall boy was lying in the cold corner of the prison.

The boy’s complexion was pale like he was about to run out of breath.

Heavy shackles were attached to his dusty bare feet.

Even as he was breaking out in a cold sweat, his messy blond hair was gorgeous.

Like the meteor shower that filled the sky when he drank poison.

“Michael…”

I took one step closer to the grate.

It was to check once more if it really was Michael.

But before I could even look at him, Alan pulled me into his arms.

“There was a poisonous herb grown by Michael in the medicinal decoction.”

My mouth slightly parted; I was stunned and I looked back at Alan.

“Dad, but… Brother Michael took poison instead of me.”

Even if the poison was Michael’s poison, it was ridiculous to lock him up.

‘Michael hates me. But that doesn’t mean he wants me to die.’

His wish was always the same.

For me to live in the Bauner family as the real Lily.

The proof was that he was prepared to die and drank poison instead.

“If Brother had poisoned me, he would never have done that…!”

“…Let’s go out and talk about it.”

Alan grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs.

He didn’t want to stay in the cold dungeon any longer.

I reluctantly followed him, and turned to get one last look at Michael.

The boy, lying on the floor, unable to lift a finger, looked shabby like never before.

***

“Michael is not your brother.”

Alan and I came out of the dungeon and he brought me under the shade of a tree.

The words that came out of his mouth were already known.

“He is not my son. Michael’s father’s name is… Thomas.”

Sitting on a stump, I pondered for a moment, then got up. The cloak that Alan had spread slid down my legs.

“If it’s Thomas, then is that person…?”

I pretended to be shocked, but I really wasn’t.

Since I already knew who Michael’s father was four years ago.

Still, it was the first time I had ever heard of this from Alan.

‘It’ll be difficult if you ask me how long I’ve known.’

I reacted as naturally as possible and put my hands together as if to rush an answer from him.

Alan gradually let his words out as if he was remembering something from the past.

“That’s right. He’s the one who took you away from me.”

The low-pitched voice was as heavy and cutting as a well-sharpened ax.

As I trembled, Alan calmed his breathing as much as possible and spoke slowly.

“When I first met Michael, he made a promise with me.”

Promise? This was really the first I had heard of it.

I stopped acting surprised for a moment and listened carefully.

“A promise?”

“Yes.”

Alan stopped talking and looked into my eyes. He seemed hesitant to talk.

“Dad, I had my debutante too.”

I sat down and said firmly.

Alan used to remain silent about serious problems to protect me.

I don’t know about the usual, but now wasn’t the time.

“I am no longer a child. So please tell me everything.”

It was to refuse to have another secret in the midst of almost being poisoned.

Alan spoke softly while tapping his left index finger.

“It is an unforgivable felony to kidnap you, so I tried to destroy all of Thomas’ blood and relatives. Among them is Michael.”

The moment I thought it was a very sad story, a crueler story followed.

“…When Michael turns 21, I’m going to execute him.”

I froze on the spot.

“Exe… Brother?”

“That’s literally what I said. It means killing him and getting rid of him.”

My head was dizzy.

His attitude was even more surprising than the story he had just confided.

‘How could you be so fine?’

Alan brought the word ‘execution’ into his mouth too casually.

On top of it, that was not ‘planned’, but ‘scheduled’…

‘You mean you’re still thinking of executing Michael.’

There was not a single bone of Alan that seemed to care about Michael.

He seemed more concerned about me hearing this than about killing a boy who called him ‘Father’.

“Bro, Brother Michael is Dad’s son… right?”

“I brought him in as an adopted child in case he were to escape. If his face is known as my son, it’ll be hard to hide.”

Alan’s tone when he said that was very dry.

“I should have killed him earlier. But Michael said he was worth using, and he said he would prove himself to be useful in 10 years.”

At first glance, it was an exciting offer, but when Alan caught Michael, the boy was only 11-years-old.

Rather than being genuinely confident, Michael probably said anything to extend his life.

“It makes sense to some extent. If I get rid of him but then need him later, it will be a problem.”

No matter how much I looked at it, Michael’s use and value was simple at that time.

—Exchanging Thomas’ son, Michael, with Alan’s daughter, Lilietta.

That was the only reason he kept the little boy alive.

“I accepted the offer. I promised that I would spare him if he did what he said.”

I took a gulp, swallowed dry saliva, and asked what I was most curious about.

“The reason why you pointed out Michael as the culprit is… is that it?”

“That’s right.”

Alan nodded softly. The summer breeze gently shook his black hair.

“The only way for that child to prove his usefulness to me was to bring you back. However… now that you’re back, that’s impossible.”

No, it was not impossible. Since I’m a fake.

Michael tried to turn me into an idiot to give Alan back his youngest daughter.

This was the first time I knew that violent plan was directly related to Michael’s own life.

“So you can think of it as a self-made play to save you.”

‘No.’

I bit my lower lip. My heart almost popped out.

It was nonsense to say that it was a self-made play.

‘If I didn’t know Michael well, I would have believed…’

Of course, Michael was the bastard who tried to turn me into an idiot.

However, this was not Michael’s own play.

I could be sure of one thing about him.

‘Michael doesn’t do anything that puts Alan’s family at risk.’

I almost drank poison. Actually, I swallowed a few drops, and if I wasn’t a monster, I might have fallen ill.

There was no way Michael could walk on such a tightrope.

He was not loyal to the Bauner family simply to beg for his life. He was earnestly seeking Alan’s recognition.

“Brother Michael… could have died.”

“Michael is resistant to poison. I taught him assassination stuff in case he had to take care of the family’s needs.”

Alan stopped speaking for a second, frowning slightly.

“No matter how skilled the child is, he is not a threat to me or your brothers, so it I made that choice… but, I must have made a big mistake.”

“…….”

“Lily.”

Alan put his hands together and looked at my face.

The sunlight streaming through the leaves scattered over his face.

“…Are you scared of me?”

I couldn’t deny it right away.

Alan was restless, then whispered cautiously.

“Michael’s execution is confirmed, but I tried to wait for about 10 years. Since we made that promise.”

In my eyes, that was way more cruel.

Michael must have taken Alan’s wait in a different way.

He must have thought that if he tried, he could change the future. Even though it was not the case at all.

‘…No matter how hard Michael tries, his future of death will not change.’

That might be the case for me as well.

In Alan’s cold eyes, there was not a single shred of sympathy for Michael, instead, there was fear that I was afraid of him.

I was more afraid of his eyes than poison.

“I could change my mind if you wanted to.”

Alan gently grabbed my shoulders. His hands, wearing leather gloves, were strangely cold today.

“But the child crossed the line. Do you know what I mean?”

It was obvious.

That meant he had passed the stage where he could ask for forgiveness.

“So now… we can’t wait.”

Alan spoke vaguely, but I could understand everything he meant.

Michael would be executed.

Not 10 years from now, but now.

“…Yes.”

I nodded, pretending to understand.

Alan was visibly relieved and held me in his arms.

The scariest thing was that my plans to run away from this kindness had become unclear.