Chapter 11

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 11

Chapter Title: Please Be My Father

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Turva spilled everything before the ritual even had a chance to begin.

He said there was a holy relic he needed to get his hands on to make a deal with the Pope, but it cost an astronomical sum, so he desperately needed money no matter what.

What kind of ridiculous shell game was this?

'What holy relic could drive Turva to pull off such a reckless scam?'

I wondered what it could be, but then Nos brought a drawing of the relic that the Turva Merchant Group had been storing.

The moment I saw it, my eyes flew wide open in shock.

'Etwal!'

It was the exact same holy relic that had allowed Mina to unleash such tremendous power.

A six-pointed star, colorful gems embedded at each point, and a circle enclosing the star and gems.

It was identical to the Etwal that Mina had used to perform all those miracles with her divine power.

'But the color is different from Mina's Etwal.'

Mina's had definitely been platinum for the chain and pendant, but this one was gold. The gems at the tips of the six points were different kinds, too.

'So this isn't the Etwal that the temple is currently holding for Mina.'

Was there a matching pair of holy relics?

'But why wasn't it revealed in my previous life?'

Etwal was the symbol of the Neriad Church. If a second one existed, there'd be no reason for the church not to announce it.

'Announcing it would have made it easier for them to secure it. Even the owner would have handed it over to the temple to avoid public scrutiny.'

At that moment, the duke narrowed his eyes and murmured,

"A second Etwal."

"That explains why Turva went to such mad lengths. Etwal was the decisive factor that made the Neriad Church the empire's state religion, wasn't it?"

"And where is this Etwal now?"

"It's sleeping at the bottom of the sea. The only way to retrieve it is to salvage it. The problem is..."

Nos made a troubled face as he held out a map.

"It's not in imperial waters. It's just ten meters off, in another continent's territorial waters."

The duke snorted.

"So the church couldn't step in directly."

"Yes, if they did, war would be unavoidable."

As Pope, he couldn't very well violate the precept [Thou shalt not kill. Blades are for protection alone.] himself.

Turva needing a national budget's worth of funds made sense, too, since his trading partner was a king from another continent.

No mere sum of money would make that king violate his own territorial waters.

"What shall we do?"

"Something like Etwal? We secure it ourselves."

"Will you deal with the king?"

"Why would I?"

"Then..."

The duke tossed the documents back to Nos with a flick.

"We go to war. Simple as that."

His expression said there was no need for tedious head games.

'Whoa.'

I was floored by his astonishing solution and stuck out my tongue in awe.

"Perfect. No need to shop around for Tanmunyeon gifts. We can just send the emperor the heads of those foreign royal princelings."

Nos grinned ear to ear as he looked at me.

"This is all thanks to Little One. If Nyuite hadn't shattered, we never would have learned of the second Etwal. And you read the ancient script, letting us stop the scam before it happened."

Worthily the top adjutant of Duvered, the man called a villain. War on the horizon, and he's thrilled at how smoothly things are going.

I caught a glimpse of Nos's hidden side—the one lurking beneath his usual gentle demeanor—and felt a bit flustered.

But it wasn't bad for me.

'Etwal? That's a win for me.'

Life's fortunes turn like the tide. Nyuite broke, but it handed us a shot at an even better Etwal.

When I wrecked Nyuite, I'd half-given up on ever being adopted. What a relief.

Adopted... maybe I won't have to give up after all.

I sneaked peeks at the duke. His expression wasn't bad.

'Time to test the waters?'

Just then, Nos said, "Shall we go?" and reached to pick me up.

I yelled, "No wanna!" and toddled straight to the duke, hugging his leg tight.

"Stay wif Dowkie!"

Nos let out a wounded "Urk."

I clung to the duke like glue, refusing to let go, so Nos had no choice but to give up and leave the room.

Alone with the duke at last, I shot my arms up high.

"Up! Hug pwease!"

The duke stared at me blankly, then extended his hand.

'Good. He's not even fazed by me asking for a hug. We're getting close.'

So maybe now was the time to say that.

It had been a month since I arrived at Duvered. The Empress Dowager would start asking about the adoption soon.

'His mood's decent right now. Best chance I've got.'

A little scared, but I scraped together my courage and opened my mouth.

"Weblain be good giwl."

I won't be any trouble. I can grow up big and strong all on my own.

So, Duke—

"Be my daddy pwease."

A week later.

I focused every ounce of concentration on my fingertips and gritted my teeth.

If I gave up on something this simple, I'd never achieve exile, let alone anything else.

No more disappointing myself. No more self-recrimination.

Having died three times, this soul had to be brimming with resolve and experience.

I swiftly summoned it.

'Success! Socks on!'

Thunderous applause erupted around me, and Lea kissed my cheeks over and over, beaming with pride.

"What a good girl. You did it, Little One!"

"We only showed you a few times, and now you're doing it yourself."

"She's a genius, through and through!"

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand and let out a weary "Haa..."

It was a success on my sixth try.

'Good. I'm growing.'

Preparations complete.

I grabbed the remaining sock and tugged at Lea's sleeve.

"Go to Dowkie."

"Yes, let's show the master."

Lea smiled warmly and led me to the duke's study.

The duke, who had been reviewing documents with his aides and retainers, took off his glasses and looked at me.

I held up the tiny white lace sock like a trophy leaf.

"Weblain can put on socks now!"

He propped his chin and said, "Let's see," making me swallow hard.

The day I asked to be adopted, he hadn't said a word. But it wasn't a negative reaction like before.

For a man as ruthlessly decisive as him to stay silent meant maybe—just maybe—adoption was possible if I proved myself.

'This is like my interview room.'

Time to show I'd grown enough not to be a burden, to appeal that I was adoptable now.

I plopped down on the floor with a flop, gripping the sock in both hands. The retainers and aides watched with fond smiles.

'Widen the opening with my fingers.'

I nailed the widening part.

'Good. Next, gather toes pointy and slide into the hole.'

I kicked my leg up high and pointed my toes as sharply as possible.

'Now pull up with one strong tug.'

Here goes—!

'...Huh?'

The sock caught on my heel and wouldn't budge.

Again.

Again.

No, again!

I rolled around desperately trying to yank it up, but the sock stubbornly refused to clear my heel.

One of the retainers at the table ducked his head, shoulders shaking.

I shot an anxious glance at the duke. The corner of his mouth slowly curved up.

Pfft.

It was unmistakable—a scoff.

I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole. The confident interviewee was gone; only a defeated soldier remained.

'Pathetic, me...'

As I wilted, Lea spoke in an amused tone.

"You succeeded just a moment ago. And we only guided you twice."

A retainer let out an impressed "Oh ho."

"Truly exceptional."

"Is she?"

The duke leaned back deeply in his chair and murmured, prompting a chorus of agreement.

"She remembers difficult words, too. We really owe her big this time."

"Well..."

"It's actually incredibly hard to learn exactly as taught, step by step."

Meanwhile, I gazed mournfully at the sock dangling limply from my toes.

'Failure.'

Interview failed, too...

That meant more days of anxiously wondering when he'd ship me off.

Over a month in this castle, and I'd learned the duke was an iron fortress, just like his domain.

I'd tried everything to get close, but progress was glacial. The one gain?

"Leb."

He called me by a nickname now.

"Yeth..."

I shuffled over, sock in hand, and he looked at me.

"I can't overlook zero improvement while you're in my castle."

'Yes, I know.'

He was brutally strict even with his own sons.

The three young masters had been taken from him right after birth by the late duke and raised without him, and their education was still fully in the elders' hands—but they were his blood, weren't they?

The young masters were already studying at the capital's academy for prodigies. Even the eldest, Yohan, was at a distant imperial boarding scholarly institute.

"Practice while I'm away inspecting the territory."

"Yeth..."

"Can you do it well?"

"Yeah! Leb be Dowkie's daughter!"

For some reason, the duke's lip seemed to twitch upward.