I blinked my eyes several times to clear my hazy vision.

I pressed the soft bed, I managed to get up, and then I looked at the mirror on the wall, and I saw…

Thick chubby hands.

Sausage like plump arms

Fluffy cheeks.

a body that does not move at will.

No matter how i look at it, this short body belongs to a four-year-old child

I stared at myself in the mirror and thought

‘Again.I’m back again. I can’t belive i’m going to live again in this crappy life.’

My name is Leblaine

In the beginning my life wasn’t a mess.

I was the only orphan born on 29th february, to have divine power and for that reason i am called ‘the child of fate’. I am surely lucky

The child of fate would surely need an impressive backing, so the empress decided to have me adopted into a high standing noble family.

Just by sitting on the lap of the Empress Dowager and choosing one of her portraits, I became the child of my chosen family.

There were three options.

1. The Duke of Ami Thie, a warrior of justice that protects the order of the Empire.

2. The Duke of Val Lua, a well-known family that produced a thousand scholars

3. The Duke of Dubblede, who possessed great military power and goods, but was the villain among the villains.

 The family chosen in my first life was Ami Thie.

 He was quite a good father.As a prudent, just and rational person, I followed him with respect as a new father.

It was a peaceful life until she showed up, the real child of fate. In fact, i was a child of false destiny. Unlike me, who trained for three or four hours a day, but failed to develop my divine power properly, Mina was a perfect “child of fate.”

Mina was dazzling like the sun. She was loved by everyone even the duke of Ami Thie. Father and Mina were attracted to each other like fate, eventually with some help Mina become father’s second daughter.

During the drought, she called the spirit and prevented the war through her foresight

And I…

I was sacrificed for Mina in a ritual to seal the evil spirit.

I was happy when I first returned. I thought it was a new life opportunity given by God.

For the second life, I chose “The Duke of Val Lua.” But i was badly beaten by duke Val Lua everyday.

He was the real bad guy.

He used to beat me with his hands, saying it was education every day. He only washed and decorated me when I went to the palace.

So was the last day in my second life.

I got a beating and hit my head on the edge of the desk, but when I opened my eyes, i was back.

In the third life i ran away.But what can a child do?

While going through hardship i died of starvation.

So after three reincarnation, I realized something

‘Yes, this is wrong. Let’s defect.’

As soon as I thought so, the door burst open, and an old woman dressed in splendor came in.

She put me on her lap and gestured.

Soon the maid brought three potraits.

“It’s time to choose your father”.

She smiled very kindly.But I know.

The moment I turned out to be a fake, how cold these eyes get.

The empress stroke my hair and give me the potraits

“Here, child of fate. choose.”

When I saw three portraits, I broke down and i closed my eyes with my chubby fist.

 ‘Let’s calm down. I need a place to stay anyway.’

‘I can’t just die being a beggar like i did in the past. A family that can live quietly and then defect without worrying about starvation or death until exile. That’s the kind of family i choose.’ ‘Then this time–‘

 “Oh my God.” The maid and Empress,who saw the portrait I chose, opened their eyes wide.

When I arrived at the family to be adopted along with the empress’s letter, I saw a man who would be my father and swallowed a dry saliva. ‘He’s really handsome.’ A delicate chin line, a sharp cyan blue eyes.

A neat nose and defined lips. a solid figure concealed by a shirt.Tall height. broad shoulders. What was strange was that such a beautiful man’s eyes was that of a killer.

In conclusion, what I chose was the Duke of Dubblede, the villain of this world. The man’s lieutenant stood beside me and said in a very awkward tone.

“The Empress asked you to raise the child.”

The Duke of Dubblede, touched his sleek chin with his long fingers

“She become senile.”

Then he made a declaration without hesitation, and said, “Send her back.”

“But your excellency,it’s a chance to take care of your relationship with the Church. Rejecting the empress’s request at once will complicate matters afterwards.”

This is the only place to run away after growing up to a certain extent.Ami Thie, who puts the cause before the individual, and Val Lua, who values honor as life, will not even give me a chance to run away. A man who was not interested in me was perfect for a stepfather. ‘Of course it is only one way’ I patted the lieutenant’s trousers with both hands.

“ Thews’s an unnounaunced tyax awdit on decyember sebent“

(There is an unnanounced tax audit on December 7th)

“Eh?” said the lieutenant,

He didn’t seem to understand me.He looks surprised by the sudden babble. ‘it hasn’t been long since my return, so my tongue isn’t  working properly.’

I saw it clearly in my previous lives. This winter, the tax evasion master Dubblede, paid a huge fine.

The Duke has three sons, so I think he can understand. People who had dealt with children would understand it quite well.

I had hope but quickly gave up. That cold-blooded bastard couldn’t have grown his son with his own hands.’I wish I could write, but I’m not good at it, so I can’t make a difference.’The Duke hugged me in a blink of an eye. His eyes were so sharp that I could almost feel the pain in my throat.

“There’s a tax audit on December 7th?”

How did you get that? I felt strange. I pretended to be as innocent as possible, just in case he thought I was not a child.

 “Uh-huh. Shh,It’s a secret.”

“Nos.”

The Duke looked at the lieutenant.

“To what extent are the account book organized?”

“… A four-year-old child. Do you really believe it?”

“You can’t believe a four-year-old baby knows the word unannounced tax audit?”

“I’ll check right away.”

After answering so, the lieutenant ran out of the room quickly. The duke and i looked at each other. ‘It’s really scary… ‘

This appearance, wealth, power, living without a wife must have been because of this…

It must have been difficult for woman to approach him

 It wasn’t long before a maid enters. “You smell really bad.”

“May I help you take a bath?”

“Yes.”

 The woman bent over with me in her arms, and I left the room dangling from her neck.

The woman who took me to the bathroom smiled and carefully stripped me out of the uncomfortable clothes.

“Call me Lea, little miss.”

“Yes.”

“From now on, we will have fun playing in warm water. Are you looking forward to it?”

“Yes.”

“Ah,great.”

Lea patted me on the back as if I was cute and received water. Soon after the maids came in and I started a full-fledged bath.

It was very comfortable because they washed it for me as i sat in the warm water.

It was a little hard to hold back from touching the soft foam.

‘You have to behave yourself.’The naughty child is hated. I knew that the help of an employee was essential for a child who was not cared for by their parents to live.

The maids’ hand movements were very quick and skillful. So it wasn’t that hard to cut back on the washing time.

‘The Duke of Dubblede is a bad guy, but he’s not trash like the Duke of Val Lua.’

He didn’t hit me, he put an employee on me. The Duke of Dubblede, who hit the bottom in my favorability, had a very slight increase.

After the bath, Lea dressed me in a cozy clothes. The clothes that the Empress Dowager’s maid put on me were very uncomfortable because they were rough and big.

While Lea buttoned my clothes, the maids chattered

“Is the Master really going to adopt?”

“Even if it’s the Empress Dowager orders, he’s not the type to follow.”

“But she’s a child of fate.”

“About that…,” the maid glanced at the door and whispered.

“There are many opinions that this is a misinterpretation.  The amount of divine power inherent in the baby’s body is so low”

This was the reason why Duke Val Lua treated me carelessly

There are a lot of people who don’t think of me as the child of fate

“It’s not something to say in front of the baby.”

Lea gave the maids a glare, and gave me a mug.

“Come on, drink it,”

the sweet voice made me a little relieved. It’s hard to live if you’re being ignored by your employees, like in Val Lua’s time.

The sweetness spreading in the mouth, was as soft as a cotton, and the bitter scent was pushed in. Leah looked at me drinking chocolate as if I was cute, and gently wiped the chocolate around my mouth.

“Now shall we go to the master?” it was a pity i couldn’t scrape the chocolate off the bottom with a spoon, but i followed Leah in a gentle manner.

‘You have to be nice.’

‘Compared to my previous life, this is heaven, and I loved it. He doesn’t care about me, he didn’t raise his hand to me. And he give me a whole cup of chocolate. It’s the best condition to stay here before defecting!’

‘But I don’t think the Duke will easily adopt me. He’s a man rumored to be cold-blooded with no blood or tears. And it didn’t seem to me that the rumors were wrong.I can’t just let go of it. I didn’t want to die after being beaten again by the Duke of Val Lua. It is no good to be a beggar and die of starvation.

It was the Duke’s office where Lea took me

I saw a duke talking to two men who appeared to be officers. I put Lea’s hand down, I ran and hung on the Duke’s leg. Lea was startled, then the officer took me away from him. ‘But I don’t want to die miserable again.’

‘I don’t want to go back. I’ll have a small meal. I’m not going to do this again because I want to be loved.’ ‘So please–‘

Then he grabbed the collar around my neck, stroked it up, and muttered,

“Don’t distract me,”

I grabbed his neck and rubbed my face on his cheek.

 “Dyuke,Like.” (Duke, Like/ I like you)

The duke has hardened his posture.

***

Empire of Wigentra, a country with the world’s most vast expanse of land. This is the case if we divide the power perspective of Wig Gentra so far.

.

The three formed an equilateral triangle, which keep each other in check or unite them to achieve the prosperity of the empire. This triangle has undergone significant changes. The Duke of Dubblede, the only family that pushed out the 5 duke, took the last place. The Dubblede’s manor boasted great feats indeed.

A stone floor without a single scratch and hexagonal columns with delicate patterns. A luxurious chandelier showing off its presence on the ceiling. Treasures nestled in close proximity to each decorative cabinet lined up on the wall.  The nature and countless towers of East and West, the endless forest surrounding the north, etc.  But the Duke of Dubblede, the owner of such an enormous castle, was not very easy.

‘He won’t adopt me for my cuteness. Fortunately, it wasn’t a total failure. Even if he didn’t adopt me, He gave me a room to stay for a while’

If I had been kicked right away, I might have gone to Val Lua. I covered my mouth with a fist and laughed.

I really liked the room the Duke of Dubblede gave me. There was no time to be bored because there were many toys and playmates as well as warm and cozy beds. And it’s been ten days since I stayed in this castle. I was paying my rent steadily.

” What else did the ‘hat lady’ said? “

“Ori halkwon is in di old plawtew.”(Oriharkon* is in the old plateau.)

“Oriharkon!“

The vassals are blown by the news

I sat on the duke’s lap, staring at the excited Duke.

“It’s amazing. How can you be so smart?”

“That’s why she’s the child of fate.”

The vassals laughed. My conscience pricked me. ‘In fact, it’s a child of fake destiny. It wasn’t like I could remember pre-reincarnation memories at will’ .It’s hard to do” adult thinking “with an immature brain.

If i deepen an adult’s thinking with this body, I would either sleep for days or days, or I would feel extremely hungry. When I was hungry or sleepy, I became a total baby.

One vassal was about to touch my head as if I was cute, so I was amazed and hung around the duke’s neck.  ‘Ka, I’m surprised! I was surprised that someone I didn’t know was trying to touch!’

“Child, you’re very shy.”

As the old vassal laughed and said that, the vassal that tried to touch me retract his hands.

“It’s amazing that you’re able to stay close to each other.”

“Other children will be overwhelmed by your energy and cry”

“Can you tell us the story of the altar and imperial family?”

The reason why I only talk in the duke’s lap is because the abuse of the Duke of Val Lua that has made me view adult men as extremely low. ‘ ‘It’s weird if i put it that way, because duke dubblede doesn’t count.

“Come down and sit down,” said the Duke. I answered and sat on his lap again.

“You’re gentle, too.”

The vassals, who laughed, soon entered the meeting. In the meantime, I sat still on the duke’s lap. And in the middle of the story they heard in the temple or the imperial court, I answered.

After a while, the meeting ended. The vassals left one by one, and the grandfather, who had remained, approached me.

“Thank you for telling me this story.”

‘Thank you for saying that. It’s all good for me.’

I had a lot of resentment about the church. When the child of real destiny appeared they threw me as a victim for the spirits. Besides, you can’t dig up oriharkon from an old, monstrous plateau

“Here’s a present.” the grandpa offered me a candy. I slipped my hand out the Duke of Dubblede’s arms and pulled out the candy.

The grandfather left the conference room with a big smile, saying, “As expected, this child is very cute.”

There’s only two person left in the conference room, me and the Duke. He glanced at me, and took away the candies.

Shocked, I hardened and looked at the duke with empty hands and candy several times. And soon I was awfully sad.

‘Candy. My candy.You son of a bitch, you’re taking a kid’s candy!’

The Duke of Dubblede gruesomely peeled the candy wrapping at once. And…

“Mouth”

‘For me? ‘As expected he’s not that bad’

As soon as I thought so, the Duke pressed my cheek with both hands. Because of the pressure, my mouth opens like a carp, so he put candy in my mouth. ‘Bad guy.’ Still, the candy was delicious. He pressed my cheek, which was swollen by candy.

“When you get back to the capital, if someone gives you candy,tell them who your family is”

“No.”

“Why?”

‘Why should I tell people in the capital? It’s the Imperial Palace, the Church, and the other Duke is on the next door, and they’re all the people who have troubled me.’ However, I couldn’t tell you the reason every single time, so I told him in a condensed manner.

“Becwase I’m on thye dyuke side. (Because I’m on the Duke’s side.)”

So far, the Dubblede was the only family that had not left me with a sad heart. The memory of the last few days seemed to bear the torment of going back to the capital four times. The candy was so delicious. Your blanket was warm. Lea’s lullaby was good to listen to.

The Duke of Dubblede wasn’t as evil as i’ve heard. Thinking so, I saw the duke. Wasn’t that a smile?

Then, Lea came to pick me up. “Little miss, Master,” said Lea, who was glad to see me, lowered her head.

The Duke raised me up on the table.

“Don’t let them wander noisily.”

‘Yes.Such a cold-blooded man would never have laughed.‘

Back in the room, I stood in front of the sofa table and fell in love with the block game. ‘Okay, one more up and it’s on the 12th floor.One more. One more!’

The maids, who watched me play well alone, were chatting before I knew it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

When Lea nodded, the maids covered their open mouths with their hands.

“Oh, my God.”

“No way.

“Did the sun rise from the west? The master is worried about the baby.”

Who cares about me? I was surprised and twisted my hand as if I had heard the bolt out of the blue. The wind poured down the blocks.”Heuk! “As I groaned, Lea ran to me quickly.

“It’s all right, little miss. You can put it back up. Now,” said Lea, who gathered the fallen blocks and lifted them up slowly.

“Please tell me more, Lea.”

“That’s right. How did the master care?”

Yes. Yes. Tell me. Lea opened her mouth, building blocks for me.

“It’s dangerous at night, so take good care of the baby.”

‘How do you break down and combine ‘Don’t let them wander around noisily’ to make that happen? I was amazed and impressed by her positive thinking.

“Then won’t he adopt the baby?”

“I hope so, and she’ll be happy to have a brother.”

Ah, three Confucius from Dubblede. They were famous since I was young.They all showed off their good looks, martial arts skills, intellect, and cool personality. I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve heard enough of its name. There was a name called more than the three Confucius of Dubblede, ‘Mina’s brothers.’

They were as cold and indifferent to others as the duke, but they were as sweet as honeycomb to Mina.

It was a famous story that when Mina was kidnapped by another country, they rushed and crush that country. Especially the eldest son had a love triangle with the Crown Prince and Mina

“But would it be a good thing for the baby to be adopted?”

“What?”

“You know.The master is a man who has even stabbed his late predecessor, and it’s emotionally good for her to be adopted by another duke–“

“Linda!” cried Lea sharply,

Lea, who glared at the maid, sent the other employees away with a nod. Then she held my hand gently and said, “He’s not such a bad man.” “…….”

“It’s a big misunderstanding that you don’t have anyone around because of complicated circumstances!”

“…..”

“The master is not cold-blooded without humanity, as the people say. He loved and cared for his wife. If he hadn’t gone back during the birth, he would probably have a good mother for the baby”

Lea’s eyes darkened with grief. The Duchess was pregnant with her fourth child? I didn’t hear that before in my past lives.

I felt sorry for the Duke.

‘Then I understand the how the duke is cold like frost in the middle of winter. How can you live properly after losing two people you love at the same time?’

“I hope you are not afraid of him. “

“Yes.”

Lea, who held me carefully, stroked my back with a gentle touch.  “You’re sweet, too. “The whispering voice in my ear was sweet, and the wind coming over the window was cool. Thanks to that, I closed my eyes slowly, leaning my face against Lea’s shoulder.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that I put my head in the pillow and struggled. ‘I’m hungry!’

I rolled my head a lot to remember the memories before this, turns out I didn’t eat until dinner.

Lea and the maids seemed to have put me to sleep without waking me up.

I thought I’d wait till morning, but I couldn’t bear my hunger. ‘All I had in the afternoon was candy and a glass of juice.’

The only things that occupied my mind right now was hunger.

In the days of Val Lua, i remember being trapped in a lock room every few days and then ran out of hunger. In the days of being a beggar, i remember the pain of defeat when starving and dying.

‘I have to find food and eat it.’

In the end, I left my body to instinct, and I got out of bed with care. I struggled and pushed through the huge door and went out into the middle of the hallway. I endured the fear of darkness and came to the kitchen, but the door was locked. ‘Oh, my God.’

I roamed the castle again. It went on for a long time before I could find a bread in the servants’s waiting quarters. It was cut in half and crumbly as someone left them behind, but i was satisfied with finding something to eat. Holding the bread in my arms, i ran out to  the hall excitedly. ‘Return to the early room and eat-‘ ‘Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!‘

 “Heuk!”

I hurriedly hid the bread behind my back. The Duke of Dubblede was looking down at me with cold eyes. At night, i was so scared that my hands and feet were shaking. At that moment,  I remembered the something Mina said in my past life.

‘So Jean Valjean is guilty of stealing bread, uh, what was it– Jean Valjean. Yeah, I think it was that name. What did Jean Valjean say about stealing bread?-You’ve been executed!’

As Mina’s bright voice came to mind, all colours in my face are all gone.

“What were you doing in here?”

“Did the Empress Dowager sent you to spy on my family?”

The dry saliva was swallowed up by itself.

The Duke of Dubblede, was not someone I could deal with.

Unable to answer due to fear, the Duke of Dubblede murmured low. “Child of fate.”

“yes…!”

“I hate people who lie.The naive ones, especially those who pretended to be on my side”

“Their mouth have all been ripped off.”

I shuddered at the back. The duke bent slightly toward me.

“What should I do with a little mouse?”

I fell flat in a hurry. curled up in a circle and joined my hands…

“Wo,wo,wro,…wong! (Wro,wro,wro..wrong!)”

“What?”

“I Styole it…”(I stole it……)”

“Is it money?”

“Is it a holy thing?”

“………”

“Military secret?”

“……………”

The duke’s eyes, shining with a blue hue in the dark, was really scary, so I let the words out with a whimper.

“Byead… (Bread…)”