Chapter 9

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 9

Chapter Title: The Scammer Merchant

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"...".

"...".

Silence hung over the bathroom, yet for some reason, the duke no longer felt scary to me.

Was it because this formidable man had knelt down before a child to wash her feet?

Or maybe because his touch as he washed them was so incredibly gentle?

Once my feet were clean, the duke even rinsed my hands before standing up.

We finally left the bathroom. The moment the door opened, Lea—who had been fidgeting anxiously in the hall—rushed over.

The duke handed me to her.

"Go put some ointment on her."

"Pardon?"

"Ointment."

"Ah... Yes, sir!"

Lea and the maids snapped to attention and whisked me away down the corridor at a breakneck pace. They were practically sprinting.

Once inside the room, the maids collapsed, panting for breath.

"I thought the master was going to do something to our little one..."

"Me too."

I peeked at them timidly. Lea's face twisted in pained sympathy as she looked at me.

She stroked my rain-soaked hair and whispered softly.

"It's okay, little one."

"...".

"No one's mad at you."

"...".

"It's okay. Everything's okay."

Her voice was so tender that tears finally pricked at my eyes.

A few days passed in tense uncertainty after that. But the duke truly didn't scold me.

He didn't demand I hand over the Nyuite to the Empress Dowager. He didn't send me back to the capital, either. He didn't even show a hint of displeasure.

And on top of that...

'The flower I picked... he didn't throw it away.'

I hadn't noticed in the dark when I picked it, but in the light, it clearly wasn't a carnation.

It wasn't some carefully cultivated bloom, either—just a random wildflower that had sprouted amid the garden grass by chance.

Yet there it was, stuck in a vase in Duke Duvered's office.

A single wildflower dangling in an outrageously luxurious vase. Seeing it made me feel oddly uneasy.

'What on earth is he thinking?'

If it had been anyone else, I might have thought they simply couldn't bring themselves to toss out a flower a child had struggled to pick in the dead of night. But...

This was Duke Duvered.

Theodor Duvered, who had massacred an entire foreign tribe just because they annoyed him.

And to top it off, he'd grown a little friendlier toward me since then. Friendly enough to share meals with me, even.

"Is there a beggar camped out in your stomach or something?"

Mind you, only a little friendlier.

The duke watched me tear into a chicken leg with a strange expression on his face.

But it didn't faze me.

'A beggar in my stomach? Pretty much.'

That had been my reality in my previous life, after all.

And right now, far more important than that was...

'This is so good!'

The dish—young chicken steamed with a medley of spices and then braised in a sweet sauce—was absolutely delicious.

The meat was tender and fluffy, and the sauce struck the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

The duke stared intently at me as I devoured the chicken without a care.

"...".

"...?"

What? Why's he looking at me like that?

'...Hungry for it?'

Worried he might snatch my precious chicken leg away, I slyly shielded my plate with my arm.

The duke's eyebrow twitched.

'Talk about stingy. He's hogging that massive lamb steak all to himself, and now he wants my kid food too?'

I groaned inwardly.

He really had let the whole Nyuite fiasco slide, and I was truly grateful for that.

The Nyuite was a priceless treasure. When it ended up in the emperor's hands, the pope himself had visited the palace to beg that the church be allowed to safeguard it.

As the last surviving relic of an evil god, it held immense historical value—and endless potential uses besides.

After glancing back and forth between the chicken leg and the duke for a while, I steeled myself.

I bit my lip hard and thrust the chicken leg toward him.

"Here. (For you.)"

He narrowed his eyes at me as I eyed the chicken leg with pathetic longing, even though I'd offered it myself.

"What in the world..."

A short, dry chuckle escaped through his teeth.

"I want to crack open your head and see what's really inside it."

Was he seriously going to crack my head open? The duke was exactly the type to follow through.

I flinched in terror and clutched my head tightly with both hands.

"Open an' die! (If you open it, I'll die!)"

Then came stifled laughter from the doorway. It was Nos, holding a stack of documents.

He cleared his throat as the duke turned to him.

"The list of tribute items for the emperor's birthday celebration."

"Anything to replace the Nyuite?"

"Looks like the trading caravan secured something decent. The caravan leader seemed pretty confident about it. Word is, it'll arrive at the castle by this afternoon."

A replacement for the relic known as the Nyuite?

No doubt it would cost a fortune beyond imagination.

'Still, thank goodness they found something.'

If Duke Duvered was willing to offer the Nyuite to the emperor, that meant he stood to gain something equally valuable in return.

If the deal fell through because of me, any hope of adoption would be dead in the water.

That trading caravan's item had better be the real deal.

'But did I ever hear about a trading caravan bringing in something worth as much as the Nyuite at a time like this?'

I muttered under my breath, "Tradey... (Trading caravan...)" Nos gave me a warm smile.

"Curious about what a trading caravan is?"

"Huh?"

"Trading caravans are merchant groups that travel between countries, selling goods."

It suddenly hit me that it might be a tough word for a toddler, so I put on my best wide-eyed "Wow!" face.

"Looks like you want to see the trading caravan."

"Uh-huh... Yeah, shure. (Yeah... sure, whatever.)"

Truth be told, I wasn't all that curious. Unless it was about whatever item they'd brought, anyway.

Nos spoke up just then.

"The little one can come along and look at the goods too. There are all sorts of curiosities— it'll be fun just browsing."

I wanted to, of course, but...

I stole a glance at the duke. What if he snapped that I was just going to break more stuff? But he said nothing.

'Guess offering him the chicken leg paid off.'

As we wrapped up the meal, word came that the trading caravan had entered Duke Duvered's territory.

The duke and Nos left the dining hall to discuss the emperor's birthday tribute.

To kill time until the caravan arrived, I decided to head to the library with Lea and the other maids.

"The little one hasn't seen Duvered Castle's library yet, have you?"

"Nope."

"It's packed with every book imaginable. Fairy tales too, of course."

I stepped through the door Lea opened for me, and my eyes nearly bugged out.

'Holy...'

What kind of library was this? It was insane.

The room was big enough to ride a horse through, with a ceiling that soared dizzily high.

The center was hollowed out, with spiral staircases linking layer after layer of shelves upon shelves of books.

The towering bookcases—easily over ten feet tall—didn't have a single empty space.

It was like they'd gathered every book in the world.

As I marveled at the sheer grandeur of the library, I made my way to the fairy tale section.

The maids' eyes sparkled as they chimed in.

"Go on, pick one!"

They watched with the eager excitement of doting parents wondering what book their kid would choose.

Propelled by their intense stares, I shuffled over to the shelves.

I still had to pretend I couldn't read, so I'd just grab something with a pretty cover.

As I scanned for the flashiest one, I spotted something odd and blinked.

'Why doesn't this one have a title?'

And only half the book was there—the rest had been cleanly sliced off.

I tilted my head and flipped it open.

'This isn't a fairy tale.'

And that was it.

The rest had been cut away, so I couldn't read any further.

'What the heck? So unsatisfying.'

Just then, Lea asked,

"Picked one out, little one?"

I hurriedly shoved the book back onto the shelf and yanked out a random one next to it.

"Yup. Dis one."

"I'll read it nice and fun for you later."

I took Lea's hand, and we left the library.

The maids put on an award-worthy performance with their fairy tale readings—they were naturals at storytelling—but my mind was elsewhere.

That titleless book kept nagging at me.

'Of all things, why something tied to the evil god?'

The evil god was connected to me, too.

The empire's mother goddess, the righteous Neriad, had sealed away the evil god—the root of all evil—for the sake of humanity.

But over time, the seal had weakened, and resealing the evil god required the power of Mina, the Child of Destiny.

'And the sacrifice for that ritual... was me.'

The ritual had been utter agony. At that point, I just wished they'd kill me quickly.

Remembering it darkened my face, and Lea eyed me with concern.

"Why does our little one look so sad?"

I couldn't exactly say it was a memory from my past life, so I rolled my eyes dramatically and said,

"Lion shcary. (Scared of the lion.)"

I made up an excuse about the part in the fairy tale where the lion tried to eat the elephant protagonist, then clung tightly to Lea's arm.

The maids squealed "Kyaa!" and pumped their fists.

"Aww, yesh~ Our little one's shcared of the lion~"

"Dat naughty lion went roar~ An' you went 'Eek! Shcary!'~"

The maids swarmed me, showering my cheeks with kisses from both sides.

'Ugh, these ladies are getting out of hand.'

Guess I'd overdone the cute act a bit.

I endured their adoration with teary eyes as they fawned over how precious I was.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside.

Lea cracked the door open and peered down the hall.

"Looks like the trading caravan's here."

She held out her hand to me.

"Shall we go watch?"

I took her hand, and we left the room.

When we reached the grand audience hall, the duke was seated on an ivory throne adorned with lavish carvings.

Behind his chair hung the tapestry of the Founding Emperor—the one he'd claimed by hand after conquering the frozen lands with Duke Duvered's aid.

That tapestry, inscribed with ancient script, was a symbol of the Duvered military might. Envious nobles had all copied the style, draping similar ones behind their own chairs.

Beneath the duke, a man who appeared to be the trading caravan leader was bowing deeply.

"Greetings, Duke Duvered."

I recognized the man immediately.

'Why is that con artist here?!'

Great Merchant Turbah.

The trash who later got a wanted poster for selling forged paintings to the imperial family.