Chapter 33

At any rate, since we had secured the Dragon’s Tear, which was our original objective, I was on my way back via carriage with a light heart. The ducal estate would be in sight soon.

Yul was sitting beside me, and opposite me was the cute little girl—whom we decided to call Aria for short, or simply Ahre—with Carusien sitting beside her, resting his chin on his hand as he looked out the carriage window.

If I rested my chin like that in a bouncing carriage, I’d bite right through it. Yet Carusien, whether because he wasn’t a normal person or because he was lost in thought, had remained in that exact state, staring out the window for some time now.

I couldn’t help wondering if he was shocked that I’d suddenly become a mother, or if he was secretly eyeing my adorable Ahre.

To think a guy with a face like that had never dated a woman in his life! Of course, according to the original story’s plot, Carusien was destined to love only Miel, but who knew? Maybe he had a hidden Lolicon streak.

I quietly gazed at Ahre sitting across from me. Back when I first read the letter, I had thought it was utter nonsense and planned to reject it entirely, but the moment I laid eyes on Ahre after her bath, my mind completely changed.

When she was covered from head to toe in filth before her bath, I hadn’t realized it, but once cleaned up, she was quite literally a living doll straight out of a storybook. If Miel’s beauty was something that didn’t exist in this world, Ahre’s cuteness was on an entirely different plane.

Her silver hair, which had been obscured by cobwebs and dust, now shone brightly enough to practically reflect the sunlight, and the eyes that had previously drawn me in now boasted a black-hole-level gravitational pull. On top of that, with a height that only reached my waist and tiny little hands fidgeting about, even a nonexistent maternal instinct would have violently sparked into overdrive.

Deciding that taking in a child like this wasn’t a bad idea at all, I nodded to myself. Besides, since we only had to look after her until she turned 500, treating it like a brief round of playing house didn’t sound so bad either.

Ah, thinking about Ahre’s looks in detail made me want to hug her right this instant. To be honest, she still felt more like a younger sister I was looking after rather than a daughter, but since Ahre kept calling me “Mom” without missing a beat, I figured I’d get used to it over time.

“Ahre. Do you want a snack?”

“Yes! Ahre loves snacks more than anything else in the world!”

Gone was the Ahre from this morning who had claimed smoked duck meat was her favorite food in the universe, replaced by a snack-loving child. Seeing her act like this—which somehow only made her look even cuter—was proof enough that my love for Ahre was absolute.

Money was the least of my concerns. Well, it wasn’t my money, to begin with.

It wasn’t like buying a few snacks for Ahre was going to bankrupt the ducal house, so I pulled out the luxury snacks I had purchased before boarding the carriage just for her.

The moment the snacks appeared, drool began pooling at the corners of Ahre’s mouth. The sheer volume of it made me secretly worry she might accidentally flood the carriage.

Even while watching that hilarious spectacle, a laugh slipped out of me, and I asked:

“So, do you like Mom more, or snacks more?”

Without a single second of hesitation, Ahre gave her reply.

“Snacks!”

“…What?!”

I instantly hurled all the snacks I was holding straight out the carriage window. At that, Ahre made a high-speed dive toward the open window, looking ready to throw herself out after them. I frantically grabbed the back of her collar. To think she’d try to throw her body out of a moving carriage just for a snack—what an awe-inspiring level of single-minded obsession.

My heart wanted to pile a mountain of snacks in front of her and let her gorge herself, but education had to come first.

“How can snacks possibly be better than your mother?! Hold out your palm!”

“Waaahhh! Ahre likes Mom, too! But snacks are just better!”

Oh, talk about brutal honesty. Marveling at her candor, I immediately readied Ahre’s palm to strike with… well, the sword scabbard was way too dangerous, so I used a small wooden stick instead.

Whack—

Ahre’s skin was so soft, matching her looks, that punishing her practically felt addictive.

“Waaahhh, it hurts. It hurts.”

Seeing her burst into tears made my heart feel like it was being ripped apart. Still, I couldn’t resist asking one more time.

“Do you like Mom more, or snacks more?”

“Sob, sniff. Snacks.”

Seriously, even after all that, she still picked snacks? I couldn’t help sinking into a profound state of shock. Deciding that beating her further was pointless, I chose to ask her honestly.

“Ahre, can’t you just lie and say you like Mom better?”

Seeing that I stopped hitting her, Ahre instantly turned off the waterworks—as if her tears just moments ago had been nothing more than a performance—and sat demurely, pointing at Yul, who was currently taking pictures of the scene.

“Big Sis Yul told me that kids who lie are bad dragons.”

Ah, so Yul—whom I’d assigned as her primary educator the moment we took her in—had taught her that. Well, lying was bad, after all. If there was one absolute taboo in this world, it had to be telling lies. Come to think of it, I felt like I’d told a ridiculous number of lies ever since coming to this world. Does that make me a bad villainess, then?

No wait, villainesses are supposed to be bad women anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Either way, it ultimately boiled down to the fact that she liked snacks more than me.

“Gk! How can you love snacks more than your mom?! Hand out your palm!”

“Waaahhh, Ahre hates getting her palms punished. It hurts so, so much.”

At any rate, Yul, who had been quietly watching this scene, finally spoke up once she felt her own desires had been sufficiently satisfied.

“Miss Ahre.”

I had told Yul that it was fine to speak informally to Ahre, but Yul insisted that as a maid, she could never talk that way to Ahre, who had become my daughter. Ever since then, she had been looking after Ahre just as devotedly as she served me. On top of that, she even handled the education I was supposed to be doing. I truly shudder to think how I would have managed to survive in this world if not for Yul.

“Do you like snacks?”

“Yes! Ahre loves snacks so, so much!”

“However, I wonder if you are aware. The one who purchases the snacks you enjoy so dearly is none other than Lady Armienne, who stands right before you.”

“Gasp!”

Ahre let out an exclamation as if she had just stumbled upon some earth-shattering truth. Then, the look in Ahre’s eyes when she gazed at me abruptly changed. But rather than being filled with love, it was the exact expression I wore when looking at my own dad.

I knew that look better than anyone else in the world.

She views me as a walking ATM.

If I hadn’t been sending that exact same look to my father myself, I might have deluded myself into thinking it was eyes full of affection, but I wasn’t going to be fooled. That was the look of someone treating another person purely as a sugar daddy/mamma useful to their own survival.

Thinking about it like that suddenly made me feel bad for my dad. A part of me wanted to smack Ahre’s palm for looking at me like a human bank account, but since I had practically stolen the Dragon’s Tear gemstone from her, I decided to cut her some slack.

Continuing right along, Yul pressed on.

“Then, would it be correct to say you love snacks, or would it be correct to say you love the Young Lady?”

“I love Mom the most in the whole wide world!”

I really wish she’d wipe the drool from her mouth before lying. Just a moment ago, she’d been told that lying makes you a bad dragon, yet here she was shamelessly lying that she liked me best!

“I love Ahre the most, too.”

“Giggle.”

Still, it didn’t feel bad to hear, so instead of getting mad, I pulled out the last remaining snack I had hidden away instead of throwing it out and pressed it into Ahre’s arms.

Watching Ahre instantly turn her gaze away from me to devour the snack, I felt a wave of bittersweet disappointment and realized all over again that raising a child was no walk in the park. It filled me with a fresh surge of gratitude toward the parents who had raised me. Suddenly, I found myself missing my family back in our original world more than ever.

I wonder how they’re doing.

While I was standing there feeling slightly melancholy, the familiar lion crest and the ducal estate came into view in the distance. It had only been a short five-day trip, but every journey seemed to make you appreciate your home and family all the more upon return. I turned to greet Carusien, who had suffered right alongside me.

“Thank you for your hard work, Teacher.”

“Yes.”

At my words, Carusien briefly shifted his gaze toward me, gave a short reply, and turned his head right back away. He must have been in a foul mood because I dragged him along on this trip against his will. Knowing from experience that trying to talk to him when he was like this would only make things worse, I quietly prepared to stand up and exit the carriage.

Soon enough, the carriage came to a complete halt, and the coachman hurriedly hopped down to swing the door open. Offering a small gesture of appreciation, I stepped out to find Father waiting for me, flanked by knights lined up in strict formation around him.

“Welcome back, my sweet daughter.”

Hearing Father’s voice triggered the exact memories of my parents—not just from this world, but from my original world, too—that I’d been dwelling on just moments ago, and a sudden surge of emotion welled up, causing a tear to slip down my cheek. It wasn’t the kind of sorrowful crying that chokes you up, but tears that naturally welled up straight from the heart.

“Yes, Dad. I’m back.”

“W-Why, why are you crying? Seeing my daughter cry makes feel like my heart is being ripped apart, hoho. Did something happen? Well, since Sir Carusien went with you, there shouldn’t have been any major trouble, haha!”

Realizing my tears were tears of gladness rather than sorrow, Father looked both startled and deeply warm as he welcomed me, prompting me to reach into my pocket to pull out the Dragon’s Tear.

Before I could, however, Ahre must have finished all her snacks, because she scrambled out of the carriage first. Spotting all the other people standing around, Ahre froze in shock before diving straight behind Yul to clutch desperately at her waist.

Seeing Ahre, Father let out a breath of admiration.

“Oh? Haha, she’s so cute you could mistake her for a fairy. Whose child is she?”

Distracted by my frantic search for the gemstone inside my small pouch, I answered without a single thought. Damn it, how could I not find it in this tiny pocket?!

“Ah, geez, where did I put the gemstone? Oh, Ahre? Ahre’s my daughter.”

“I see. So she is my Armien…ne’s… daughter…”

“Ah, found it.”

Continuing to rummage through my pocket, I finally managed to fish out the Dragon’s Tear, and right at that moment, I noticed Carusien stepping down from the carriage and turning his back as if heading straight for the manor.

True to form, both last time and this time, while it was true I found him annoying, he had genuinely helped me out without a single complaint, so I bowed my head to offer my thanks once more.

“Thank you truly for your hard work, Teacher.”

Startled by my words, Carusien offered a stiff, awkward smile as he turned around and said.

“Well… I suppose it wasn’t entirely unpleasant for me either.”

That unexpected response made me mentally resolve to drag Carusien along on any future trips. Figuring that handing the gemstone over to Dad would wrap up this entire excursion for good, I reached out to present it, but Dad’s condition looked a little strange.

Dad alternated his gaze between Ahre, me, and Carusien, and began muttering to himself.

“Tears of joy, Armienne’s daughter, hard work, wasn’t entirely unpleasant…?”

“Dad?”

Sensing something was off, I opened my mouth to call out to him, but he had already vanished from right in front of me. Wow, watching him disappear as if he’d just used instantaneous teleportation, I reminded myself once again that he was indeed a Sword Master.

And the spot where Dad reappeared was right behind Carusien’s back. Borrowing a knight’s sword from somewhere, he held a blade in his hand, blazing with the deep blue aura-blade light I remembered from the commotion with Fren.

“You dog, you dog-faced bastard, how dare you lay a hand on my daughter without my permission!!”

Dad swung his sword at Carusien without a single moment of hesitation, and a startled Carusien barely managed to parry it.

Though he hadn’t shown it much until now, Carusien was a Sword Master in his own right, so blocking my dad’s blow didn’t seem entirely impossible for him. Even so, clearly flustered by the sudden assault, he shouted in panic.

“What is the meaning of this all of a sudden?! Your Grace, the Duke!”

From his perspective, it was completely baffling: after spending five grueling days escorting me and tagging along on a trip, instead of receiving a word of gratitude, he was apparently about to get stabbed to death.

Yet Dad, completely losing his mind to rage, didn’t seem to hear a single word Carusien was shouting.

“Die, you thief!”

“Gk! I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I won’t stand for this any longer either! Forgive my disrespect!”

“………….”

Seemingly losing his temper as well, Carusien raised his sword to meet Dad’s onslaught with full, unheld power.

Clang! Clang! Sparks flew as their blades collided repeatedly. Letting out a heavy sigh, I turned my back on them.

Reaching out a hand to Ahre, who was still clinging tightly to Yul’s skirt, I spoke.

“Our cute Ahre, let’s leave people like that alone and go eat some snacks with Mom.”

“Um, will they be okay?”

Ahre asked with a worried look, but I shook my head as if it were no big deal. Once they ran out of stamina, they’d stop on their own. Besides, worrying about how to introduce Ahre to Mother later was a much higher priority. Well, things would somehow work out, right?

“It’s fine. Leave them be. Ahre just needs to eat her snacks.”

“Yay! As expected, Ahre loves Mom the best!”

Haha, right?

Me too.