I Am the Heiress of the Villain Family Chapter 01

The beginning was no different from the start of all the other possession stories.

The only difference was that it wasn’t a reincarnation truck, but rather I was hit and killed by some crazy drunk man who was driving a deep-black car.

While returning home at night on a dimly lit road, I died in a car accident.

I possessed the novel that I was reading two hours ago.

If I knew this would happen, I would have begged to possess the female lead of a sweet romantic comedy or a healing childcare story before I closed my eyes.

In fact, even if I made a wish, there was no guarantee it would come true as I wished or not.

However—

‘At least I’m not a villain or a supporting role that gets horribly killed as soon as I appear.’

I was really lucky that I reincarnated as commoner ‘N’ whose name didn’t even appear in the original story. I was just an ordinary background character that would never cross paths with the main characters in my entire lifetime.

Even so, I was somehow satisfied with Catyshia Ainsley’s newly started life. For me who lived in poverty in my previous life, I was also very grateful for this new life.

Although it was an orphan’s body, it was better to not have a parent at all than to have one who can’t even fulfill their parental duties. As long as I have someone to take care of, a house where my body can lie down, and enough food to not be hungry, I’ll survive somehow.

‘Although after today has passed, maybe all three of them will disappear.’

I twisted and squeezed the clean towel with all my might. However, the slightly salty water still dripped down from the towel.

“Ugh, my arm…”

As expected, the body of a 10-year-old girl was too young to nurse someone. It’s short, and its grip was also weak. The physical strength was also terrible.

I grabbed a square folded towel and carefully climbed up to the bed.

There was a dying old man lying on the empty bed. It was the Landlord Grandfather of the three-story house that I rented upstairs.

Since this was a world where there was no high-tech medical equipment, I couldn’t know exactly how much time was left for Grandfather, but maybe he wouldn’t be able to surpass dawn today. It was the intuition of a person who had been nursing him closely for several months.

Honestly, if you’re not 70 years old yet, then it wasn’t time to die of old age in South Korea, but…

‘What should I do if Grandfather Herzen really dies?’

Just thinking about it made me cry out of sadness. I could see the dark future that would await me.

It was five years ago, when I, who was just a little over five years old, was born as Catyshia Ainsley and regained the memory of the war as well as intellectual abilities.

At that time, I was already living in Grandfather Herzen’s house.

When I barely figured out the situation, it seemed that a woman who couldn’t afford to raise a child abandoned me, a newborn child, in front of Grandfather Herzen’s house, who was rumored to have a lot of wealth.

The stubborn and good-looking Grandfather Herzen raised me up even though he complained about everything. Due to his strict and sensitive nature, it must not have been easy to raise a complete stranger’s newborn baby, and even change its diapers.

After I grew up a bit, I was given a separate room on the second floor, and the monthly rent was replaced by coming down to the first floor every day and becoming Grandfather’s conversation partner, and cleaning the house.

Although every time he nagged me to clean cleanly until my ears were bloody, and I shrieked saying that it was child exploitation, Grandfather who raised me up to this age was my savior and parent.

‘From a few months ago until he suffered from an unknown disease, he was strong enough to even go hiking with me by his side.’

But death seemed to come so suddenly.

“Baby…?”

I was cleaning the old man’s wrinkled face, diligently wiping his neck, and kneading his cold hands and feet, when a faint voice was heard.

“Grandfather!”

I raised my head right away. Grandfather, who thought I was asleep, narrowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Are you alright? How are you fee—”

“Have you done all that I have told you to…?”

To think that the first thing he said after two days of barely waking up was checking on my errands.

I bit my lips and nodded.

“I sent it to the address you wrote down. I’m sure it has arrived safely, the letter.”

He said that it was a will. He said that he would send it to his children and grandchildren who were in the capital. But, it had already been a week since I sent that letter, but there was not even a single piece of paper as reply from those bastards he called family.

I didn’t know if there was some kind of reason or not, but still, how can no one, not even a person, come when it was said that your family was in a critical condition?!

“At my last moment… you don’t know how fortunate I am to have you.”

“What are you saying! To say it’s the last! Hicc.”

I tried to hold back my tears and chatted in a bright voice. I knew that my expression of barely holding back tears would look ridiculous, but I hated sending off people to the last road with tears.

“Where’s the, uhuk, swearing grandpa, heuk, who used to wield a poker face and ask me to pay the monthly rent…? Just, what’s with that weak voice… Hic.”

As I tried so hard to hold back my tears, I finally started hiccuping.

Perhaps because I looked funny while hiccuping with a red face, or because I was pathetic, a faint smile appeared on Grandfather’s mouth.

“My Little Girl, have you thought about how you’ll live without Grandfather?”

“I am not going to think about such things. Huhuu.”

Without any effort, tears began to fall. The determination to send him off with a smiling face evaporated.

I hugged Grandfather’s arm and burst into tears.

“Where are you going when you said that you’d go to the summer festival with me next month! You said we’d ride a sled next winter, I’m sure you said that last year. Heeup, Grandfather, if you go away like this, I’ll swallow this house. Keup. I said I’m going to steal all of your inheritance…”

“Just take it away, yeah.”

“Chee, you always say that…!”

It was one of Grandfather Herzen’s habits. ‘If I die, this is your house, so clean it up cleanly’.

Of course, it was just a threat that Grandfather who had slight mysophobia, used to make me clean his house. However….

“It looks…. like you haven’t thought of how to live at all. Tsk…. Don’t worry, Caty. Because I’ve written all of the numbers down.”

“Huaaa, I said that it’s not important, that kind of thing!”

I didn’t need inheritance or such things. To me, all I needed was Grandfather.

I had been preparing every day for the past few months, but the reality was much heavier and more frightening than I imagined.

I’m totally not ready to accept the fact that there would be no Grandfather in the world now.

“Well, it’s only my share, so it’s not much… But, if it’s not you, who else would be qualified for it?”

Was it delirium? Grandfather muttered a few words that I couldn’t understand with a hoarse voice that was slowly dying out. Then, he closed his eyes as if my wailing was bothering him.

“Don’t cry too much, Baby. Won’t we see each other again soon….”

No. Because I’m going to die an entirely natural death, so it’ll take at least 90 years to meet Grandfather again.

‘That’s why stay a little longer with me.’

Because I was coughing while crying, I couldn’t say all those words properly.

The allowed time was not long. Only a few hours later, with his eyes closed comfortably, Grandfather Herzen, “Huu—” breathed out his last breath. With that one breath, I felt his soul leaving his body.

“HUAAAAA.”

The cry escaped my throat and kept coming up.

“Please go to a nice place, Grandfather…”

Please let this place be a world wherein an afterlife exists.

His personality was a little stubborn, but he was a person who was generous enough to take care of a child who didn’t have any blood connections with him for 10 years.

So please go to heaven at any cost.

‘I’ll see you again after 90 years.’

I held the hand of the old man, which was slowly getting colder, and prayed earnestly.

***

With the help of my neighbors, the funeral was held on a scale that was not disappointing.

Uh… I’m saying that I was going to hold it like that.

Before Grandfather’s coffin could even cross the threshold of the house, a group of knights and a young man who had hair sharply parted by 2:8 came by. He had very bright red hair.

“Are you Miss Catyshia Ainsley?”

I had cried so much that I nodded with a swollen face.

“Yess. That’s me. But, who are you…?”

“Nice to meet you. I am Jemian Parker, the tax accountant of the Blasco Duke Family.”

Who?

I blinked my swollen eyes that could barely open.

‘Blasco?’

Blasco was the only duke family in the Astroca Empire where I lived. It was also the family whom Niela, the heroine of the novel [Now We’re, Like Magic] which I reincarnated to, was adopted as a child.

Blasco’s role in the novel was a villain. They were the villains, the ones’ hiding secrets, and the final boss who fought against the female lead and the male lead pair.

Why did that terrifying Duke Family, who was said to be immoral, swarming with killers and have long since abandoned humanity, suddenly come out?

My question was solved in less than a minute.

“‘Decorate my coffin splendidly and place it in the cemetery of Blasco’s Family in Artem.’”

“Pardon?”

“…Following the will of His Excellency the late Duke who said so, we came to pick up the coffin.”

What am I hearing right now?

This time, I dug into my ears with my fingers. I guess there’s a lot of earwax.

To think he said His Excellency the late Duke. Who? Grandfather Herzen?

“There is a spiritual flame telling us to run with the coffin right away, so we will take him right away.”

When the man who said he was Blasco’s tax accountant nodded his head, the knights moved in perfect order and covered the coffin with a black flag embroidered with a sword and butterfly pattern.

No, that pattern… It looks familiar. It was the pattern of the Blasco Duke Family that all the Empire citizens could recognize.

‘It’s real?’

He said Grandfather was the late Duke? Of that family which was possessed by an evil spirit?

‘Grandfather, you never said anything like that in your lifetime!’

But the shock was nothing. There was no time for me to deal with my fluster, because a greater fact was waiting for me.

“The late Duke of Blasco has passed over all his inheritance to Miss Catyshia.”

“YES?!”

Even though she shouted in shock, her opponent didn’t even blink.

The red-haired young man flipped the documents in his hand and showed them to me. List after list came one after another. It was never ending.

“Except for the inheritance tax, you can take the cash, the Astroca Central Bank’s private vault, the net profit that comes from the Artem, Liden, and Gelpor territories, the ownership of the information guild that the late Duke ran during his lifetime, the art and ancient relic collection that he had, and everything else under His Excellency the late Herzen Blasco’s name.”

It… it was an inheritance list.

I was so surprised that I stuttered.

“Uhm… so how much is it roughly…?”

“Ah, I should have explained it in an easy-to-understand way. Simply put, it is about two-thirds of all property belonging to the Blasco Family. In fact, it’s basically everything except for the profits from the family business.”

“Yess?!”

“If you rank the property level by the name of an individual, not as a family, Miss Catyshia will be the next richest after the Astroca Royal Family!”

I was so startled that I became speechless.

Only then did the words that Grandfather murmured before he passed away came to my mind. Yeah, he definitely said he had written some kind of numbers.

No, I mean, Grandfather. Although I didn’t know you would smoothly leave an inheritance…. You said that it wasn’t much…!

“Excuse me, how about the other heir, other than me…?”

“There is none.”

“….”

“Since the gist of the will has decided that Miss Catyshia is the only heiress.”

It was such a firm answer that I was at loss for words.

I am 10 years old, and I think I’ve become a millionaire.

I Am the Heiress of the Villain Family Chapter 02

‘What do I mean by millionaire? But… I think I might even be a billionaire…’

While I was staring blankly with my eyes open wide, Jemian, the tax accountant of the Blasco Family, bent down in front of me to face me at eye level.

He suggested in a very friendly and kind voice,

“If Miss Ainsley agrees, I would like to ask you to visit Blasco’s Main House in Artem to see the spirit and go through the inheritance process, but is it alright?”

“Uh….”

“The Duke is also eagerly awaiting you.”

At that moment, all kinds of rumors that followed the Duke of Blasco passed by like a panorama in front of me.

He was a talented person who had been ranked No. 1 in the continent for swordsmanship for more than a decade, but he had a personality defect that couldn’t be covered by his skills and appearance.

Even if it was just a little bit, anything that got on his nerves, at the first sight of it, he would cuss. He was a very foul-mouthed person.

A brutal killer who handled all kinds of rare carnivorous animals and cannibal plants like they were his hands and feet.

 A person who threw living humans as prey when bored.

If I were to list all his nicknames one by one, there would be no end.

Moreover, the Duke of Blasco was definitely the leader of the group of villains who didn’t even treat his stepdaughter, the female lead, as a human in the original novel.

I was suddenly scared.

Do you think I’m crazy enough to follow?!!

“I refuse—”

“One million gold in cash.”

My refusal was cut off by the one million gold. It was a definitive amount rather than an ambiguous list of properties.

Jemian winked.

“If we add up the additional income from the territory, 100,000 gold is added every year.”

I was speechless. Just what did he see people as? Do you see me as a person who will sell their life for money?!!

“…And then? Is there any more?”

Snob No. 1 who risked her life for money was right here.

Even among the poor who came from the war, I was especially poor, the most miserable of beggars. I know how dirty a person could be and how sad a person could be if he or she didn’t have money.

I love money.

Money is the best.

No money, no life…

As if he read my mind, Jemian solemnly added.

“The information guild’s profit-sharing ratio is 5 to 5, and including Artem’s Main House, the mansion in the Capital’s price is probably….”

“The mansion in the Capital?”

No, I mean– A mansion in the Capital where it was said the land price was extremely expensive?

My stomach suddenly felt nauseous and my heart started beating quicker. Although my sadness hadn’t gone yet, and even though I was surprised by Grandfather’s identity and almost passed out at the scale of the inheritance, those words alone touched my heart.

‘My dream of buying a house that I couldn’t achieve even in the war….’

On the other hand, Jemian sadly lowered his eyebrows.

“Of course, if Miss Catyshia continues to refuse, we have no choice but to request a memorandum of renunciation of the inheritan—”

“I will go.”

Oh my, this Mister. Your personality is too rash!

“I can go with my body alone. I don’t have any luggage to pack anyway!”

What I’m trying to say is… Just go first in order to at least see the face of the immoral person, who had a major personality defect.

It’s definitely not because I fell for the words that said there was a house in the Capital. I said it’s definitely not because I’m not sure what to eat and how to live starting tomorrow.

It’s just because I’m curious. Just because I’m curious about exactly how large the scale of the inheritance is. Simply curious about whether there is no loan for the Capital’s mansion, and what the legal inheritance process is!

***

When I showed my intention to go to Blasco, things went smoothly.

Grandfather Herzen’s coffin was loaded into a transport carriage decorated with fancy satin and flowers. I climbed into the carriage with a simple load of clothes and some things to take out when I wanted to see Grandfather.

In the carriage heading to Blasco’s Main House, I heard a surprising fact from Jemian, the tax accountant of the Duke Family.

“Are you saying that Grandfather Herzen’s soul is still alive?”

“Strictly speaking, the expression of being alive is not correct, but it is similar in terms of whether it can see and hear. The late Duke has become the spirit of Blasco.”

So it was this kind of story.

Although its position in the history of Imperial politics had changed a little now, Blasco was originally a renowned swordsman family.

Hundreds of years ago, after the First Lord of the Family subjugated the King of Demons who drove the Continent into its Dark Age with the sword, Blasco’s Lords inherited the task of guarding the sword for generations to prevent the demon from taking charge again.

Protecting the Demon Sword meant a bilateral contract with the demon. Instead of the demon obeying the Lord, in order for the soil on which the Demon Sword laid to survive without extinction, the Lord gives up their human soul there.

It was said that Blasco’s previous lords became spirits after death, that is, holy souls, who depended on the sword.

Hearing until that far, there was something that I remembered. That was one of the main settings that appeared in the novel which I possessed, [Now We’re, Like Magic].

“The spirit has already appeared in the tower of spirits at the Main House. So, he appeared in the place where the Demon Sword was asleep. Although it will take months for him to get the right shape to move.”

“Then, if I wait a little bit, does that mean I see Grandfather again?”

“That is right.”

The tip of my nose tingled in relief.

Turns out, I’m not left alone in the world yet.

‘I thought I’d never hear that nagging again.’

I thought I had used up all the water in my eyes at the funeral, but I shed tears again. This time, it was tears of relief.

When I heard that story, shouting in an angry voice to hurry up and bring a coffin, I did think that it was truly like Grandfather.

‘Would the Duke of Blasco’s character also resemble Grandfather Herzen?’

If Grandfather Herzen was the late Duke, then isn’t he the father of the current Duke?

Grandfather would often tell me about his children.

“I had two sons, but one went early. The one who’s left….”

“Why? Did you have a fight?”

“Yeah. I said that his head was thick and since I don’t like seeing him talking back, we had a big fight and he ran away. Eyy, when I think of that stubbornness, I can feel my anger bubbling up from inside again.”

At that time, I wondered, ‘Is he not an ordinary parent? Didn’t his son run away?’, but now it was clear.

‘So he was talking about how he had succeeded the Duke’s position and retired.’

In fact, if my son was a lout, I would also be upset.

No, but. No matter how it was.

“So, Grandfather didn’t hand over his inheritance to his son, no– he didn’t hand it over to the Duke?”

“Yes. The day after the big fight, he only left the Lord position and perfectly ran away!”

Jemian answered so energetically that I unconsciously accepted it.

So it was like that. But if that happened, just what would happen to my place in Blasco?

I hazily recalled the original work again.

The original work, [Now We’re, Like Magic] was about the hardship of the female lead who was adopted by the villain family, Blasco, in the morning because she resonated with the Demon Sword.

After all sorts of hardships in Blasco, there occurred a revenge drama. Her dramatic escape while holding hands with the male lead, and her coming back to destroy Blasco… It was all year round just before this started properly.

‘How was Niela’s life like?’

Niela, who was treated as nobody but someone who leeched off Blasco, had no choice but to strive and compete with her siblings and inherit the Demon Sword.

However, Niela had no power, and eventually, unable to withstand Blasco’s harassment, she escaped the Duchy.

She then asked for help from the only force that could stand against Blasco, which was the White Temple that protected the Holy Sword.

The novel’s big plot was about Niela competing with Blasco to succeed the Demon Sword under the protection of Aikal who had the blood of a divine animal, the most fantastic species dispatched from the temple.

Of course, the romance with the male lead, Aikal, was also significant. In order to protect Niela, Aikal was encroached by the Demon Sword instead of her, and in order to save him, Niela would be reborn as the true successor of the Demon Sword…

Well, it seemed like it was such a growth romance story. Although I don’t even remember it well now.

‘Was it chapter 167? I only remember that the main characters fell into a trap and got separated right before the reunion and I cried a lot…’

After I whined in the comment section asking the writer why they had not come back, I was hit and killed by a car whose driver was drunk. It was the end of my dark first life.

I searched through my memories, and barely remembered the most frustrating part of the original work which could choke a person to death.

“Today dirty little crumbs were seen in the mansion. I’ll fire the cleaning maid.”

This was the line the Duke used to say whenever the female lead who entered as his adopted daughter came into his sight.

“There’s not a single thing of yours here. You shouldn’t even be allowed to breathe here.”

This was the abusive language the Princess used while smiling.

“What benefit would I get should I help you? You’re just someone who leeches off Blasco.”

This was the line that Blasco’s eldest son, heir, and Young Lord, said, rejecting the female lead’s desperate request for help…

I remembered that I was angrier because I was poked by the lines that seemed to subtly overlap with my situation at the time. My lips naturally pouted.

‘The problem wasn’t only his son, but even all his grandchildren had major personality defects. It was understandable that Grandfather was mad.’

I was thinking like that, when I suddenly became anxious.

This, isn’t there too much risk in possessing the inheritance and following along?

Objectively speaking, the possibility that the Duke would like me was zero.

I’m sure he would be like that since I’m a total stranger who didn’t have even a single drop of Blasco’s blood. I was nothing but a freeloader that Grandfather Herzen took care of in his old age.

Doesn’t it mean that all the property in the name of the late Duke was passed on to a child of unknown origin?

‘He also said that I’ll get one million gold in cash and 100,000 gold every year, right?’

The worth of one million gold was truly enormous. For an ordinary person to have such money they would have to work hard for more than 10 years without spending a penny.

No matter how generously I estimated it, the amount of money I would earn in a year could feed three generations of a family.

‘And if all the other properties are combined, it would be at least 2/3 of the total. Will the Main House people welcome me?’

The moment I realized the reality I neglected, chills came rushing in.

The female lead, who didn’t even have a small stake in the family, was treated poorly, and even told that she was a leech, but what was the probability that they would treat a complete stranger heiress who fell from the sky one day, gently?

Zero, it’s zero.

Even if it was me, I wouldn’t welcome that person either. It would be a relief if they didn’t take everything I had and get kicked out. In the worst case, they might bury me in the mountain behind and return the inheritance left in my name to the family again.

That was surely very convincing.

“M-Mister Jemian, when can I see Grandfather Herzen?”

“Since he has just left his body, it will take at least two months for the spirit to stabilize and three months at the longest.”

My spine immediately filled up with chills.

That means that I could definitely die mysteriously before Grandfather comes back to life!

EunEun's notes:

**Thank you, 해나 for providing me the raws

I Am the Heiress of the Villain Family, Chapter 03

Blasco, which was notorious for using their head faster than words, and using their fists much faster than their heads.

They were a family that produced countless Imperial Commanders from generation to generation, they were also in collusion with military forces. It is said that most of their trips are covered and passed on.

Since a few generations ago, they had started their business with a huge amount of money, perhaps to wash away the stigma that even their brain was made out of muscles.

Mineral mining, iron manufacturing, and alchemy. In short, it was a comprehensive weapon business.

High-quality weapons that were produced by generously using the know-how of swordsmen accumulated over the years, were sold like hotcakes to the neighboring kingdoms. After raising taxes and accumulating their wealth, it was only natural for Blasco’s right to speak in the Seven Noble Associations to increase.

It was said that their ignorant boldness of grasping not only the military, but also business and politics was enough for even the emperor to take a step back.

Just like their unusual reputation, Blasco’s Main House boasted amazing dignity.

I would believe it even if they said it was a palace, and not a mansion. The majestic pillars and stone reliefs which were embossed with the lords of various generations on the ivory outer wall gazed down at the visitors threateningly.

In the middle of the hall facing the entrance, marble carved with a demon sword, the symbol of the Blasco Family, stood there. Not to mention the brilliant interior.

However, too busy thinking about my immediate future, I had no time to look away.

‘When I meet the Duke, I’ll lie flat first.’

The best way was to put on an act if anything got overdone.

I put my brain to work on what to do after neatly giving up on the inheritance.

‘I should ask whether I can receive only one house in return for writing a memorandum of giving up the inheritance.’

I don’t even desire for something like a mansion in the Capital. The three-story house in Telpa where I lived with Grandfather was enough.

In there, the 10 years of memories me and Grandfather had been unraveling in its totality. It was said that I could lie down on my back anywhere and I would live, but I wanted to continue living there.

‘Will they not give me even that much?’

Since Grandfather Herzen was not even present, the only thing that could protect me was nothing but a piece of paper called a will.

‘It’s not like that they’re going to swoosh and take care of the young child because it was being materialistic, right?’

Just imagining it made my heart shrink. I guess this was why people shouldn’t live being greedy.

I followed Jemian’s back, deliberating on how to stay alive until my head was steaming.

The place where he guided me was in front of a large door engraved with delicate gold patterns.

“Your Excellency, I brought Miss Catyshia Ainsley.”

Oh no! It’s the Duke’s office!

Before I could even prepare myself, an answer was heard from inside.

“Come on in.”

It was a low and dry voice.

Jemian opened the door of the study.

I hesitantly took a step inside.

The scenery in the study didn’t even register in my eyes. Only one person, a tall man leaning against the window facing the sun which leaned through the west, caught my sight.

As I got closer one step at a time, the aura I felt was overwhelming. With his whole body, he was revealing that he was the master of the renowned high swordsmen.

But more than anything else…

I was dumbfounded and looked up at him.

‘They said he was a person who could catch even bears with bare hands…?’

The Duke was too different from what I imagined. I could only recall the young version of Grandfather Herzen’s wrinkled face.

The man swept his pitch-black hair neatly to reveal his forehead, and his thick eyebrows and raised eyes gave off a sensitive and wild atmosphere.

However, his blue eyes were very beautiful. They emitted a bright glow similar to that of a sapphire. Those blue eyes were representative characteristics of Blasco’s direct blood.

The Duke seemed more like an upright and cool-headed knight who knew honor rather than a gangster as the rumors said. He was a surprising old man for me, who thought of a muscular hairy bandit with a beard.

The Duke, who had been staring at me with a fixed gaze, finally opened his lips.

“So? Are you saying that that child is the owner of that ridiculous will?

Even the Duke’s voice, which he lowered, was handsome.

I couldn’t take my eyes off his beautiful face for a moment, then I suddenly remembered the educated greeting in the carriage.

“M-may the sapphire of Blasco be blessed by the demon sword. Catyshia Ainsley greets Your Excellency the Duke.”

I politely put my hands together and promptly bent my waist.

Now if he tells me to raise my head…

If he tells me… to raise my head…

‘I knew this would happen.’

I sighed while absent mindedly looking at the carpet on the floor.

I can not straighten myself until the Duke allows me. There’s no smoke without fire. Even if he’s handsome, a villain is a villain…

In front of him, with my waist folded in half, there was an exhausting silence.

Of course, I was the only one who was tired. My lips became pouty automatically.

‘How childish. No matter how much he doesn’t like me, does he really want to torment a 10-year-old like this?’

Even if he didn’t take the initiative to beat me down like this, I was already beaten down you know. My back began to stiffen.

It felt like it was only a few minutes later that a cold voice fell over the top of my head.

“How old is that this year you say?”

To think that he called a person ‘that’! No matter how I thought about it, Mister’s way of speaking was wrong.

I heard Jemian answering.

“Miss Catyshia is said to be 10 years old this year.”

“10 years old?”

While I stared at the eagle embroidered on the carpet, the Duke faked laugh as if he was at loss for words.

“That palm-sized thing is 10 years old?”

What’s up with that? I’m at the average height for 10 year olds, you know!

However, it seemed that the standard of the Duke was very different.

“Did Father raise it starving? It looks like a dried orange.”

I couldn’t come to my senses due to the unannounced insult on my body. Orange was clearly a combination of my hair color.

‘I think I’ll tell Grandfather about everything later.’

I was grinding my teeth on the inside, but the Duke clicked his tongue and ordered.

“Straighten your back.”

First, I straightened my back. I was in a crumpled position for nearly 10 minutes, and somehow I felt even more shrunken

“Thank y—”

“Come closer and show your face.”

Finding that there was no other alternative, I hesitatingly moved my feet.

I circled the desk and approached the Duke, who was standing by the window. As I got closer, I had to raise my head up to death, under the pressure of the height difference that could be three heads. It was because the only way I could show my face was by doing that.

Even though I had approached him quite close, I didn’t think about the sunk wrinkles that were filling up the Duke’s forehead.

‘Until how far do I have to go?’

If I went a little further, the front tip of his shoes will be reached. Since I was a little shorter than my peers, I was definitely tiny when I was stuck in front of a 242cm ghost.

(t/n: 8척 귀신 [pal cheok gwisin] = A ghost story from Japan; Female ghost with a height of 7.87ft. Also 척 [cheok] = unit for Korean feet (30.3cm). So, 8척 = 242.4cm)

“Ho, I was just going to see what kind of clever fox you are. But what…”

The Duke of Blasco was so free-spirited that I doubted the fact that he was a villain.

Clicking his tongue, the Duke nodded his head toward the desk in front of me.

“Jem, put the kid up here.”

Jemian strode coming near behind me.

“Excuse me, Miss Catyshia.”

Jemian’s hand came through both of my armpits, and he lifted me up.

I flew into the air and landed on the Duke’s desk. Only then did our eye level become a little more even.

The Duke looked closely at my face, which had gotten closer.

“Orange hair and green eyes. You’re definitely not a child of Blasco.”

His voice was much softer than before, when he seemed to be able to stab a person to death with just his voice earlier. However, his overwhelming physique and cold eyes remained.

“Where the hell did you suddenly fall from? You.”

It didn’t sound like he was asking me. The Duke, who carefully looked at me with deep eyes, soon lowered his gaze to the documents he was holding.

My short 10-year life was clearly organized there.

“Name is Catyshia Ainsley. I can tell it’s a girl, and you said she was 10 years old. Then next, starting with the family relationship, Jem. Orange, answer only with yes or no.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The full-scale investigation of my household affairs had begun.

Jemian began the interrogation with a solemn look.

“Erm, firstly, it is said that Miss Catyshia was abandoned in front of the late Excellency’s house in early April, Year 427 of the Imperial Calendar, 10 years ago. At that time, you were a newborn baby. Is it correct?”

“Yes.”

“It is said that the late Duke Herzen, who felt sorry for the abandoned child, collected you. The only thing left with the baby at that time was a note with a name on it and a small locket pendant. Since then up until now, you’ve grown in Mister Herzen’s hands. Right, Miss Catyshia?”

“That old man raised her? That’s not even funny.”

This time, the Duke snorted without any time for me to answer. The mood seemed to have gone bad in an instant.

Even if I didn’t know the situation, I could see that the crack between their parent and child relationship was deep.

‘But, that was the Duke’s situation. Please stop your murderous look…’

A blue spark jaggedly burst from the Duke’s body.

My whole body was throbbing, so I had to roughly rub both arms.

Fortunately, Jemian clapped his hands and saved me from the face of death.

“Now, now. Your Excellency is looking over there. Miss Catyshia, you have to look here~ Everything I said earlier is true, right?”

“Yes….”

Jemian was a friendly interrogator who knew how to act considerate to a young child, unlike a villain somewhere.

“You don’t have any family other than Mister Herzen, right? And you’ve never seen the faces of your parents or relatives.”

“Yes.”

“Has Mister Herzen ever told Miss Catyshia anything related to his inheritance during his lifetime?”

“Ye… no.”

If you clean well, I’ll give this house to you. Was that kind of threat included?

When I changed my words, the Villain Duke almost rebuked me, saying that he had to dig into what had prompted my words. Jemian, who was quick to sense, quickly added a quick-witted explanation.

“What you mean is that he just said a few playful words with passing-by words, but you had never really listened carefully about it, right, Miss Catyshia?”

“Yes!”

That’s it!

“But by any chance, are there any items or documents that could be a token left other than verbal promises?”

“No.”

It was literally just a joke. I had joked to Grandfather, saying to not only say such things that he didn’t mean like that every day, and if he really meant it, I asked to fill out a document or such. Then Grandfather clicked his tongue, saying that I’ve already been brightened up by money since young.

Jemian fired a shot of confirmation.

“So you’re saying that there’s really nothing left behind, not even a thing, right?”

“Yes.”

Don’t tell me that the thing that is called a token is the antiques thrown by Grandfather, saying I’ll get ten times more if it stayed and I sold it?

Things like a rusty key, a soundless music box, or a pocket watch that was broken.

‘Ey, no way.’

**EunEun's notes:Hiii~ I'm sooo sorry for not updating like.. almost a month TT I was supposed to update this last week, but can't since I got sick (welp, actually for the whole 3 weeks of nov). Anyways, I decided to change plans, into taking turns of doing the sponsor chapters. So.. will do regular updates^^ Sorry for the long waiting and hope you enjoy the chapter!! Thank you for reading~