The Saintess Became the Northern Grand Duke’s Daughter - Chapter 41

Liriette was no ordinary 10-year-old. In addition to having memories of her past life, she was brought up extremely harshly in the temple.

 

So she didn’t know how to let out an ordinary child’s childish act.

 

That made her even more embarrassed.

 

‘I practiced the word ‘father’ hundreds of times, but why did the word ‘dad’ come out? I’m not even an immature child.’

 

Liriette closed her eyes tightly and said.

 

“I take back the word ‘dad’. I will call you properly again.”

 

“Why?”

 

She said with a serious look.

 

“It’s an expression that doesn’t fit the 10-year-old me. The title ‘dad’ is used only by children who are just starting to talk.”

 

But the Duke said with soft eyes.

 

“You have a prejudice in the title ‘dad. Dad is a title you use when you have deep affection for your father, regardless of your age.”

 

“…!”

 

Liriette’s eyes widened.

 

‘It’s a bit different from the definition of ‘dad’ I know, though?’

 

But she had never had a family of her own, so she wasn’t sure if she was right.

 

The Duke continued, turning to Liriette, who blinked her eyes with a confused look.

 

“Of course, like I said yesterday, I don’t care what you call me. Whether it’s the Duke, father, dad… But if I have to choose my favorite among them, it’s ‘dad’. With this in mind, I hope you decided on a title.”

 

At that moment, sunlight through the clouds illuminated the Duke.

 

Shiny silver hair. Blue eyes like sapphires. A beautiful and strong face looking at her with the most warm affection.

 

Liriette stared blankly at the Duke and nodded her head.

 

“…Yes, Dad.”

 

Ah! What am I saying now!

 

She covered her mouth with an oops expression. The Duke grinned and stroked Liriette’s round head.

 

Like she did really well.

 

***

 

“Look at this, D..”

 

The moment Liriette opened her mouth, Olivia and Simon’s ears perked up.

 

The two of them looked at Liriette with eyes like crows waiting for persimmons to fall off the tree.

 

However, Liriette betrayed their expectations.

 

“Beautiful flowers have bloomed, Duke.”

 

Ey, what is this. This time, it’s not ‘father’ too.

 

Unlike the two who were disappointed because they couldn’t see the sight they had been looking forward to for days and days, the Duke spoke softly.

 

“So beautiful.”

 

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows and whispered to the Duke.

 

“In the end, you didn’t hear Liriette calling you father, isn’t it a pity?”

 

“I’m still fine.”

 

It was sincere.

 

The Duke called by Liriette was completely different from the Duke called by others.

 

It was so sweet and lovely.

 

And…

 

“Whoa, this cake is so good, Dad!”

 

“Akh, I’m so scared of lightning, Dad.”

 

When Liriete was very happy or very surprised, she unconsciously called the Duke dad.

 

As time went on, the frequency increased more and more.

 

Dad.

 

Recalling Liriette’s voice calling him, the Duke raised the corner of his mouth.

 

***

 

Liriette gulped with a nervous expression on her face.

 

The large, black dog in front of Liriette was the dog that had been misunderstood as a monster a few days ago.

 

‘But looking at it again, it looks like a monster!’

 

It was too big to be called a dog.

 

Besides, scary eyes, growling teeth, sharp claws, none of them weren’t scary.

 

‘S-Scary.’

 

Liriette trembled in instinctive fear.

 

She lowered her eyebrows at the dog trainer holding the dog’s leash.

 

“It’s natural that the Miss is afraid. A few days ago, this guy made a big mistake to the Miss.”

 

That day, the trainer came to Liriette and knelt down to pray for his mistakes.

 

[I put the Miss in danger because I didn’t manage it properly. I will punish it, so please forgive this guy.]

 

The daughter of the Duke of Windsor-Ice, the owner of the castle, was endangered. There was nothing strange about taking the life of the dog as well as the trainer.

 

But Liriette pulled the trainer to his feet and said it was fine, smiling.

 

The trainer wept.

 

“I have been told by the maids of the castle, but the Miss is really angelic and sweet.”

 

“no. It wasn’t like that on purpose, there were circumstances.”

 

Liriette said it was okay and passed, yet not the Duke.

 

The Duke asked the trainer with glaring eyes.

 

Why did the dog attack Liriette when he didn’t even give an order? If the dog was unruly, he could never get over it.

 

Because you couldn’t have monsters harming humans in the castle.

 

The words uttered by the trainer, who was frightened by the Duke’s tremendous momentum, were shocking.

 

Liriette said with disbelief on her face.

 

“So that mons… No, that dog is a puppy.”

 

“Yes. This is a baby puppy that is only three months old. So I haven’t even started training it properly yet.”

 

Baby puppy.

 

Liriette looked at the dog, recalling the little fluffy Mello wagging its tail on a rainbow bridge.

 

The moment her gaze met, the dog’s black eyes flashed, its sharp teeth bared, and it began growling.

 

‘It’s so different from Mello. I’m so scared!’

 

But as the trainer held it by the leash with a calm face, Liriette asked, holding back her desire to run away.

 

“By any chance, the dog… no, the puppy doesn’t want to eat me, does it?”

 

“Oh my, that can’t be. No matter how young it is and how good its appetite is, it’s not without that many cases. Rather, I gave it milk and raised it, so it likes people very much. It’s doing this just because it wants to play with you.”

 

It was more shocking than when she heard that the dog was a baby puppy, only three months old.

 

“I-It wants to play?”

 

“Yes. It’s time to eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, and play for a long time.”

 

The trainer scratched his chin and continued.

 

“However, since I haven’t been able to properly control its strength yet, normal humans will be threatened by this guy.”

 

“…”

 

It really was.

 

If the puppy had bitten or punched her, Liriette wouldn’t have been of this world.

 

Even if it’s a joke.

 

So, as Liriette sweated, she couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly.

 

“I see.”

 

“Anyway, thanks to Miss Liriette stopping His Grace, both I and this guy were saved.”

 

The trainer said in a firm voice.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Then an amazing thing happened.

 

Hearing the trainer’s voice, the dog pricked up its ears and fell to the floor.

 

The trainer said while patting the dog’s head proudly.

 

“Actually, it practiced for today. Would you accept this guy’s greetings?”

 

Liriette looked at the puppy with a surprised look.

 

The dog, who was supposed to look up at her just before, was lying on its back and short. Thanks to that, Liriette was able to examine the dog’s face closely.

 

‘Looking at it like this, it definitely looks like a baby.’

 

The shiny black eyes were clean, and the huge teeth exposed by the snarl had yet to sprout.

 

Above all, the curled tail was shaking vigorously.

 

As if it meant, nice to meet you.

 

Realizing the dog’s true intentions, Liriette felt sorry.

 

She made eye contact with the dog and said.

 

“Did you come running because you wanted to play with me then? I misunderstood your feelings and screamed. I’m sorry.”

 

“…”

 

“You were also surprised that you were hit by the Duke, weren’t you?”

 

Instead of the dog, the trainer answered instead.

 

“It must have been an immense fear that it felt for the first time in its short life. It was so surprised that it ran up to me and hid behind me, trembling.”

 

“Is it okay now?”

 

“As you can see, it’s fine. Unless only His Grace the Duke shows up.”

 

If it encounters the Duke, the dog will tremble all over and struggle to escape.

 

The fear left behind by the Duke was so great.

 

How pitiful.

 

Seeing Liriette lowered her eyebrows, the trainer laughed.

 

‘Even if you call it a puppy, you usually treat it as a monster when you see its appearance…’

 

Liriette’s eyes showed no such emotion at all.

 

Only feeling sorry.

 

The trainer, who was very impressed, said.

 

“Miss Liriette. Actually, this guy doesn’t have a name yet. It’s fate that it met the Miss like this, so would you name it?”

 

“Me?”

 

Liriette widened her eyes and blushed.

 

Giving a name to a young animal was a very special thing. That she would take on such a task.

 

Her heart skipped a beat.

 

After a while, Liriette carefully opened her mouth.

 

“Its eyes and hair are black, so what about Blacky?”

 

That’s tacky!

 

If another trainer heard it, they would have screamed.

 

After all, the dog was a breed with a very good pedigree, and they used to give it a very nice name accordingly.

 

Like Reinhardt or Elizabeth, for example.

 

However, the trainee nodded his head with a satisfied face.

 

“Oh, that’s nice. It suits this guy very well.”

 

Confident in the trainer’s reaction, Liriette looked at the dog.

 

“Do you like it too, Blacky?”