The Youngest Daughter of the Villainous Duke (Web Novel) - Chapter 27

Surprised, I looked back and found Kian standing close to my back.

 

It was something I’ve been through before, so it was easy to know that he’s the one who did it.

 

He lowered himself towards me, who had a completely annoyed face.

 

“Didn’t you come into the depths of the greenhouse the first time we met? I’ll show you around, so let’s make up. I’m not really gonna mess with you anymore.”

 

He smiled, squinting his eyes. Black hair down to the neck was fluttering neatly.

 

I don’t think he’s going to mess around again based on his attitude…

 

“Are you sure you’re not going to tease me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

After hearing the answer, I stared askance at him, and then turned to the greenhouse.

 

In fact, I was still a little curious about what was deep in that greenhouse.

 

“Okay, then let’s go together. Don’t leave me there alone!”

 

“I won’t. I promise.”

 

On the road I clasped Kian’s hand and headed deep inside the glass greenhouse.

 

We arrived at the lake I saw last time, but even if I got closer, there were no white arms sticking out like last time.

 

Was it a subspecies of the Holy Spirit? Why is it so quiet now?

 

I wondered, and Kian happened to bring it up.

 

“Things here are afraid of me. So it’s okay to take a look at it with confidence.”

 

“Why are they afraid of Kian?”

 

“That’s because… well, they’re a lot less important than me.”

 

Kian looked at me smiling. Does he know that what’s in here are a subspecies of the Holy Spirit?

 

With him, I went deeper than the lake, and the deepest part of the glass greenhouse certainly had more to see than the outside.

 

A huge tree with colorful golden leaves stood, while flowers with rainbow-colored glittering petals bloomed.

 

Not only that, but also plants that shine transparently like glass, large mushrooms with a clear blue color like droplets of water, golden moss on the floor, old bronze statues and huge pillars.

 

It was a mess, but it was just a wonder. And in the meantime, creatures with dimorphisms were spotted from time to time.

 

(Dimorphism. Having two different distinct forms of individuals within the same species or two different distinct forms of parts within the same organism. For example, a lion with a mane is a male lion but a female lion or lioness doesn’t have a mane.)

 

When I saw a dog’s head crawling on the floor, I almost screamed, but as soon as Kian blocked me, it quickly disappeared.

 

“W, what, what’s that?”

 

“There are some of the holy spirit that have been born, and many of them have been reborn as monsters because they’re incomplete. The things that were completed in the process are called subspecies of the holy spirit.”

 

I heard and knew about it, but I didn’t know why it was in the greenhouse of our castle.

 

And in the distance, large snowballs with legs were running away.

 

A monster hid into the bushes. Next to it, several fingers are seen, forming a shape like a centipede.

 

It was not until all of it had disappeared from my sight that Kian retreated from my front, holding my hand and began to walk again, bringing it up.

 

“This Duchy of Wensgrey was essentially barren.”

 

“It’s barren?”

 

“Yes, abandoned winter land, where nothing lives. This place was originally like that. As far as I know.”

 

Kian seemed to know more about my family than I do.

 

According to him, the predecessor Duke of Wensgrey, like Henriette, was a man who was blessed by a mighty Guardian.

 

The royal family wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with such a Duke of Wensgrey.

 

But the Grand Duke was an ambitious man.

 

Eventually, in an attempt to drastically reduce his power and influence, the imperial family waged an all-out war with the Wensgreys and forced them into the barren northern lands.

 

It is far from the Capital City and where the invasion of the Holy Spirit was most frequent at that time.

 

So that the Wensgrey family has no choice but to rely on imperial support.

 

“But as a result, it served as an opportunity for the present Duke of Wensgrey to take control of the imperial family. Now, without a powerful fortress named Duke of Wensgrey, the empire is prone to invasion by the Holy Spirit at once.”

 

How can a fairy know so much about the royal family and our family?

 

I wondered, but for now I just listened quietly.

 

As a result, the intention of the imperial family failed.

 

Henriette, who grew up suffering the imperial persecution, turned crisis into opportunity.

 

He became a court wizard at the youngest age, and after slowly taking over the imperial family from the inside, he went further, turning the barren wastelands of the north into a kingdom.

 

Now, if the northern part was opened, the empire was in danger of being invaded by the dangerous creatures lurking out there.

 

“Because the Holy Spirit itself is dangerous, it threatens the imperial family by pre-taming a subspecies of the holy spirit, which is easy to tame but difficult to handle. The Wensgrey family can always send the subspecies into the empire and tame them.”

 

That’s what I know so far. Because it’s what I wrote, and it’s the only problem I’ve ever given to the original villain, Henriette.

 

However, as a member of the Wensgrey family, I had no choice but to side with Henriette.

 

But Kian said with a smile.

 

“Isn’t that stupid and funny?”

 

“What?”

 

“In the sense that humans who are treated as prey by the higher ups end up using them to intimidate themselves.”

 

(This passage meant that ‘Higher ranked people treat lower ranked people as prey but ended up getting devoured by that exact prey’)

 

He was spitting out in a sarcastic manner.

 

“I thought at least people would be a little more alert. Do you know about it? About nine years ago, an empire around here was destroyed by the holy spirit.”

 

It was a story I knew. The ‘Disaster of the Altva Empire’ incident.

 

It was such a terrible incident that it was also included in the Library of History.

 

The Altva Empire was a fairly large country, and the subspecies led by the king of the Holy Spirit destroyed it in just one night.

 

The Zert Empire, as well as other neighboring empires, has been setting up an army for a while, and it was a mess.

 

“I thought it would lead to a complete war-to-war life with the holy spirits, but they made a weapon that threatens the same human being. Aren’t people clever and foolish?”

 

(When the Holy Spirits took down an empire, the remaining Empires and Kingdoms used that opportunity to strengthen themselves not to defeat the Holy Spirits but to threathen the rest of the empires)

 

Kian was still laughing his head off.

 

Self-proclaimed fairy, is that a thing that non-human beings can laugh at?

 

Personally, I don’t think the imperial family deserves it, and Henriette seems to have already taken his revenge.

 

Then Kian just shut his mouth because I didn’t respond much.

 

We’ve gone a little deeper.

 

The subspecies of the Holy Spirit were no longer seen, and after looking all the way inside the greenhouse, Kian said let’s get out.

 

“Someone’s looking for you outside.”

 

“Oh, how do you know?”

 

“Fairies have good ears.”

 

I once again looked askance at the self-proclaimed fairy, smiling prettily, and just nodded.

 

Then I walked holding Kian’s hand, but something caught my ankle.

 

“Ah!”

 

Staggering with astonishment, I looked down, and a black hand stretched out from beyond the bushes held my ankle.

 

I almost screamed, and then Kian stood in front of me.

 

As he trampled on the wrist in a rough manner, a scream burst out like scratching the window with his fingernails.

 

The black hand that held my ankle quickly moved away into the bushes.

 

“This arrogant…”

 

Kian looked at it in surprise at the low groaning sound. He was staring at the bushes, where the black hands had disappeared, with a frightening expressionless face.

 

He turned his eyes to me and quickly changed his expression.

 

“Are you all right, Rossette? Are you surprised?”

 

“Okay….uh?”

 

Have I ever given Kian my name?

 

As I looked at him wide-eyed, Kian added tactfully.

 

“I heard what the servants were saying in the castle. Your new name is Rossette.”

 

“Ah·····.”

 

Does that mean Kian can come and go within the castle as much as he wants?

 

Another question was raised, but for now I decided to be reasonably convinced.

 

I don’t think he’s going to answer honestly.

 

“Can you walk? You were so surprised that your legs didn’t loosen up?”

 

“I, it’s not that bad. It’s okay.”

 

I just pulled his hand, saying let’s get out of here quickly. Then he wrapped himself around my shoulder and began to take a quick step forward.

 

I stumbled for a moment in surprise, but I wonder if I’d already taken five steps. At some point we were outside the glass greenhouse.

 

Is this magic? Now that I got used to it, it was amazing.

 

“Well, you didn’t tell me the name yourself, did you?”

 

Kian pulled his hand off me and said, backing off.

 

Looking back at him, the wind suddenly blew and my hair spilled in front of my face.

 

Kian laughed aloud at it. I’m embarrassed.

 

I was a little annoyed and floundered to remove my hair in front of my face, but there was a touch to come up first and remove my hair.

 

At sunset, Kian’s smiling face was revealed beyond his curly hair like there’s a light current mixed in the air.

 

“It wasn’t polite. So why don’t you tell me your name yourself?”

 

If he’s really a fairy, he must be a bit of a unique fairy among the fairies.

 

Anyway, there was no reason why I couldn’t tell you my pretty and proud name.

 

“I’m Rossette. Rossette Charlotte Wensgrey.”

 

After I told him, Kian’s face brightened up.

 

He looked very happy for some reason.

 

“Rossette. Rossette… That’s a pretty name. It looks good on you.”

 

“Right?”

 

I replied confidently. But then Kians said.

 

“So are we friends now?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“We gave each other names. You’re Rosette, I’m Kian. I mean, aren’t we close now?”

 

By the standards of fairies, if they told each other their names, will they get close? However, didn’t he say that the name Kian was not his real name.

 

Still, I didn’t have any close friends at this age, so I was very pleased with his suggestion.

 

I don’t know if he’s really a fairy or just a unique human man, but who cares?

 

“Woong, let’s be friends. Oh, and I’m gonna drop the honorifics. You told me, Kian wasn’t your real name. Instead, tell me your real name.”

 

I made a suggestion at this time. Kian opened his eyes round with a smile.

 

“I don’t care, but why?”

 

“It’s uncomfortable to keep calling you brother.”

 

In fact, I didn’t want to continue using honorifics against a child who seemed to have a small age difference.

 

I remember being an adult in my previous life.

 

“Kiandu, you can call me as you please.”

 

Kindly added, Kian laughed and said he felt more comfortable with it. I was the one who told him to do whatever he wanted, so he only nodded.

 

So how did this self-proclaimed fairy end up in our castle?

 

It was time to ask him out of curiosity.

 

“Have you been there, miss?”

 

Oops, I forgot Kian said someone was looking for me outside.

 

I could see Peina running, calling me from afar.

 

“Then let’s hang out again next time. Rossette.”

 

I looked back at his low whisper, and he was gone again.

 

Now that I’m getting used to this a little bit, I look back at Peina casually. She seemed to have been looking for me for quite a while.

 

“You’ve been out too far, miss. Are you feeling well?”

 

“Woong, it’s okay. By the way, what’s wrong?”

 

“Yes, you should get going.”

 

Peina checked my condition and hurried to the castle with me. She didn’t seem to have seen Kian, who was with me.

 

But what the hell is going on? I asked, and Peina just happened to say.

 

“The young masters are back. Big master and little master.”

 

***

 

Henriette had three sons.

 

It was Avelle and Camillean, the oldest of them and the second of them, who returned to the castle today.

 

Avelle Pellet Wensgrey was the most similar to him out of the three sons.

 

In other words, it resembles a cold and brutal man. In the distant future, he becomes chief of the Imperial Guards, providing a cause for the collapse of the empire with his father.

 

At an early age, he still belonged to the Royal Knights of the Imperial Court, where he had been outside the border for two years.

 

His fearsome reputation sometimes reached the duchy.

 

He have killed almost hundreds of troops of the Holy Spirits, cutting down every one of them.

 

Second son Camillean Withren Wensgrey was also a formidable figure.

 

He was a competent man, who had never missed a single moment of seniority from the moment he entered the Imperial Academy to his graduation.

 

However, with that head, he helped send not only other noble families but also all the Imperial families to the execution site.

 

“Both of them were originally scheduled to return to the castle in the fall. First, the young master finished the inspection a little earlier than scheduled, and second, the young master passed the final exam and graduated faster than others.”

 

The third son who was said to be staying at the tower will arrive at the castle tomorrow.

 

Originally, the brothers do not often visit the castle even if they have a break because they wish to get away from Henriette.

 

But as I walked along holding Peina’s hand, I thought maybe this time they were coming to the castle because of me.

 

Henriette seemed to have told his three sons that I was back earlier.

 

“They’re in here.”

 

Standing in front of the drawing room where they were waiting, I was a bit afraid.

 

I’ve been worried about this for a long time ago.

 

‘I don’t want either of you to hate me.’

 

It’s usually harder to open children’s hearts than to open adults’ hearts.

 

Even the malice of young children is bitter. The first and second children were closer to adolescents than children, but they’re not adults anyway, are they?

 

When I was writing the original novel, I wanted to hit myself very much in the past when I was working on the setting with the mindset of “The villain should be like this too!”

 

But for now, swallowing the nervousness, I shifted my gaze over the slowly opening door.

 

“Here you are.”

 

Henriette, who was waiting for me with others inside, was the first to be seen.

 

Next to him sat a tall boy and a boy who was a little shorter but slightly out of frame.

 

I entered the drawing room awkwardly with Peina. There was a moment of silence in the drawing room.

 

The taller of them first stood up and asked.

 

“That child, as my father said,….”

 

“Yes, Avelle.”

 

Avelle Pellet Wensgrey.

 

He had a very similar face to Henriette.

 

Short-cut black hair, golden eyes with wild colors, and a stronger-looking frame than the wizard Henriette.

 

He looked like Henriette even during the cold, pale expression and even his eyes were sharp.

 

I bow carefully, feeling like a lamb thrown into a lion’s den.

 

“h, hello…”

 

“……what happened to father because you suddenly changed the climate of the estate, was this why?”

 

Henriette’s eldest son, Avelle, my first brother, strode towards me.

 

I’m sure I’ve heard he’s 15 years old, but why is he so tall? In particular, overwhelmed by his bloody stare, I cringes my shoulders with a frightened face.

 

He suddenly sat with his knees folded in front of me, and suddenly began to look around at my face in the dead of the day.

 

“…it’s too small, too small, just big eyes.”

 

“…what?”

 

“When I see you talking, I don’t think it’s a doll.”

 

I could see a slight smile spreading around Avelle’s mouth.

 

“Are you really my sister?”