Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Kallen cocked his head as he eyed my flushed cheeks. Then he tilted my chin up with his gloved hand and examined my face from left to right.

“Why do you look so haggard? Are you still sick? The doctors said that you would be fine once you regained consciousness. Did those bastards lie to me again?”

“No, that’s not it! It’s just that, uh… I’ll feel a lot better now that I know Your Grace is unharmed.” I spoke hastily for the doctors’ sake.

“All right, then. As long as you’re fine. Now, don’t you have any questions for me?”

“Hm?”

Shouldn’t he be the one asking me questions? My eyes darted back and forth nervously.

“Aren’t you curious to know who I killed? To know what happened?” Kallen asked.

I blinked at him and said, “I might not know much, but I assume Your Grace attacked him because he’s a villain. You wouldn’t harm someone without a reason, right?”

Kallen stared at me in silence. I was aware of his ironclad rule: To only punish those guilty of murder or a crime of equal gravity. But why is he reacting this way?

A suffocating silence settled over the room, as both His Grace and Sion stared at me intently.

“I can’t believe it,” Kallen muttered, smirking. “Where in the world did you come from? Do you not fear me?”

“I am wary, but… am I meant to run away screaming?” I answered cautiously.

His face suddenly lost all trace of humor. Then he lowered his voice and spoke again. “Indeed. But I must ask you this. According to Jade, you urged him to take you to the fortune-teller’s house that night. How did you know I would be there?”

I anxiously lowered my gaze.

“Go on, tell me. I’m not trying to scold you.”

My stomach churned. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to deliver my rehearsed response. “I told you I had a dream, didn’t I? Well, I couldn’t shake my worries about Your Grace. I had a terrible feeling something was going to happen… And I knew about the fortune-teller’s house because of the papers you left.”

“Papers?”

I gulped. “Yes. Um, I looked at the papers Your Grace left behind in my room.”

“Papers… Ah, yes. You mean the report on the redheaded women’s whereabouts. But…” the duke furrowed his brow.

It was true—before leaving that night, Kallen had left behind the documents that contained a vital clue. But such an oversight was unexpected. Why did the duke, who was so meticulous, leave a clue to the case in my room? Was he in a hurry, or did something stir his emotions that evening? Anyway, that isn’t important right now.

“But I thought you couldn’t read, my lady.”

Kallen nodded upon hearing Sion’s words. He gazed at me again, his eyes filled with suspicion.

“Yes, but I’m good at memorizing shapes, not to mention I was born in that back alley. I could find my way around there with my eyes closed. I’m also familiar with the fortune-teller’s house. That place, the redheaded fortune-teller, is only two blocks away from where I used to live.”

“You were already familiar with the place?”

“Yes, Your Grace. I was also familiar with the rumors surrounding it—about the tall, grim lady who lived there and told fortunes. People used to say she ate children to retain her powers.” I was about to add that they’d had no idea the lady was actually a man, but stopped myself. “I can barely read, but I know most of the street signs in the slums by heart. When I noticed those familiar letters repeated several times across all three pieces of paper, I thought to myself, ‘The one common location that redheaded women shared was the fortune-teller’s house.’”

“And?” Kallen asked, tilting his head.

I could feel the knot in my stomach tighten. “And… I thought maybe that was where you had gone, and I was worried the fortune-teller would gobble you up…”

“What?”

The corner of Kallen’s mouth turned up. “I thought you were planning to go there because I’d mentioned the fortune-teller,” I continued, “and my heart began to race. That’s why I woke up Jade and begged him to take me there.”

Kallen and Sion shared the same look of admiration and surprise.

“Your story tests the bounds of my belief—not because I don’t trust you, but because it’s nearly a miracle,” Kallen said, tilting his head. “In the end, everything was your own deduction. You even realized that I had been investigating the case.”

I neither confirmed nor denied his words. I just sat there, pressing my lips together and looking around nervously.

“Lady Lae appears to be quite the brilliant child. She has excellent intuition,” Sion said quietly.

Kallen was silent, seemingly deep in thought. “Very well, then,” he finally said. “I’m confident that with more education, you’ll grow up to be a unique intellect. But promise me we’ve seen the last of such recklessness, yes?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Phew, it seems like he believes me. What a relief.

“Let’s put this conversation to rest, shall we? And Lae…”

“Yes?”

“From now on, I’ll seek out your opinion from time to time. I look forward to hearing what you’ll have to say.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

An intelligent child? That’s a misunderstanding, but oh well. Let’s just leave it at that for now. It seemed that having read a lot of adventure and mystery novels in my past life had saved me. I had imitated the protagonists’ reasoning techniques, and fortunately, it had worked.

After putting out the most pressing fire, my gaze fell on the red flower on the bed. The day I arrived at the manor, Kallen seemed taken aback when I showed him the flowers I had in my pocket. And today, he brought me the very same flower. What exactly is this flower?

“Excuse me, Your Grace, but may I ask what’s so important about this flower? Whenever you see it, you look so incredibly bitter.”

Kallen went silent. Sion, too, didn’t make a sound.

Oops… Should I not have asked?

After a moment, Kallen met my gaze and said, “A bad person left these flowers. A very bad person.”

“How bad are they?”

“That I don’t know. I’m afraid I’ve yet to discover their identity.”

“Really?”

I looked at Kallen with wide eyes, and he briefly explained everything to me. He detailed several murder cases, how this flower had been scattered around the crime scenes like a clue, and how he didn’t know the identity of the culprit.

Wait… I gulped nervously.

Who left the flowers around me? I felt a sudden chill, my mind going in a million directions at once.

Then, when His Grace adopted me… It hadn’t been a whim. Did he adopt me because I brought these flowers? But I don’t know anything about them. Could it be that he’s been suspicious of me the entire time? Does he have a hidden agenda I’m unaware of?

“Um, I…”

What rattled me the most was the thought that he might no longer need me as an adopted daughter. And I was fond of Kallen, Jade, and Sion, too… But I really don’t know anything, and this wasn’t in the novel either…

I tried to conceal the hesitation in my eyes, but couldn’t.

“You really are quite perceptive, aren’t you?” Kallen said as he stroked my hair. “True, I was suspicious of you at first, especially given how clever you were. Each time, you would rush over and help me whenever I was in danger. But I was also trying to protect you. Being linked with this flower meant that you could have been that bastard’s next target. I wanted to keep you close and watch over you.”

“You were suspicious of me?”

“Yes, but not anymore. You saved my life, after all. Think nothing of my suspicions. There are all kinds of father-daughter relationships in this world, correct?”

“What?” I stared at the duke, my eyes wide.

“Anyway, I like how things are now,” he said, looking at me earnestly. His gaze startled me. Kallen proceeded to unfurl the long tale between us. “It is my vocation to punish the wicked. I mostly solve the crimes that the police have failed to.”

Isn’t this all cloak-and-dagger for Kallen? I never thought he would come right out and tell me about it. I sat frozen and nodded.

“You were invaluable this time, Lae. The only people who know the truth are Sion and Jade, but since you’re my daughter now, you also have the right to know.”

“I see…” There was a lump in my throat.

“How do you feel then?”

“Huh?”

What am I supposed to feel?

“You’re now a daughter of House Lewelton. And since you know my secret, there will be no escape for you.”

I wasn’t intimidated by the duke’s words. Rather, I was more afraid of being kicked out of the family.

“Your secret’s safe with me, Your Grace. I’ll take it to my grave,” I said, nodding vigorously.

Kallen grinned in response. “Good. Though I have one last question to ask you, child.”

Hm? Another question? I stared at the duke nervously, fearing that his question would throw me off my stride.

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Your Grace?’”

“I’m sorry?”

“You should address me properly. Who am I to you?”

Huh? What’s up with this vibe? Why’d he suddenly change the topic? I could feel my cheeks heat.

“Y-you’re my… f-father?”

“No, not that.”

“Dad?”

“No, that’s not what you called me before.” He was referring to when I had collapsed.

“D-Daddy?” I said awkwardly.

Wow, this is embarrassing. My face feels like it’s burning, but at the same time, I’m scared. What if I actually begin to think of him as my dad? I couldn’t get too comfortable. I was afraid that I would want to act like a child—that I would actually want to have my own family.

“Very good. Do your best to call me ‘Daddy’ from now on.” Kallen had a satisfied grin on his face. Then he asked, “Where’s Jade?”

“Oh, he said he was going to sleep in the next room,” I said.

“Master Jade stayed up all night by Lady Lae’s side again,” Sion added.

“You have a talent for capturing the Leweltons’ hearts, don’t you?” Kallen said with a smirk. Then he turned to Sion. “Go retrieve Jade.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Let’s return home, child.”

Home. The word sounded pleasantly warm. Kallen picked me up, and I curled my uninjured right arm around his neck.

Finally, we were heading home.