# 125
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The faces of the two people became frightening when I asked.
“As expected.”
Suddenly, a scene from an old memory came to my mind.
Jack, who had led the battle in the border region to victory, was returning amid the cheers of the people.
Jack, the Third Knight of the Empire and Master of the Sword, was the hope of the common people.
As I watched from afar, I realized that, unlike Jack, who proudly lived under the sun, I had actually become someone from a different world.
'That's right, I, who was active in the shadows, was the princess, which didn't suit me...'
“My child asks stupid questions.”
It was that moment.
A large, warm hand reached out to hold the blanket.
“You are precious, your child, just by your presence.”
When she stopped and looked at the Archduke, the Archduchess asked with sad eyes.
“Dear, aren’t you really disappointed?”
"Yes?"
“Um…because you’re such an idiot that you don’t even recognize your own daughter.”
"no !"
I was shocked and denied it out loud.
“What a disappointment... There is no way you could do something like this.”
As I spoke in a voice filled with tears without realizing it, the Archduchess's eyes also became moist.
“If I can, you don’t know how grateful I am to be alive like this, so don’t say things like that.”
". … Yes."
The Archduke and Archduchess smiled as they nodded politely.
It was a strange thing.
While I was in a state of extreme sadness and misery...
What is a family? How can a heartache that seems like it will never heal be healed so quickly with just a smile?
"Then why don't you call me now? Say mom."
"Daddy! Call me daddy too."
“Oh...”
At that time I was surprised by the sudden request and opened my mouth.
I once impulsively called the Archduchess while she was sleeping, “Mother,” but when I tried to call her again, the words didn’t come out easily.
The Archduke seemed to understand my thoughts and said while stroking my head.
“It's okay, even if you take it slow.”
Even though they said that, they both had expressions of remorse, so I could see a little sense of it.
Then the Archduchess asked as if she wanted to change the subject.
“Have you ever thought about your parents?”
"Yes?"
“So, what kind of person do you want to be, or would you like them to do something like that?”
“Ah! There.”
I quickly nodded at the question, which was much easier to answer than before.
“Drown?”
When I saw the Archduchess's face light up, I became excited again.
An excited voice came out without passing through my head.
“I thought it would be nice if you didn't get angry and hit me when I messed up!”
“I eat a lot, so you give me something to eat, and you praise me sometimes because it’s okay...”
While I was talking like an idiot, I saw the faces of the two people and felt a moment of remorse.
Clearly I've lost my mind.
No matter how distraught I am, what should I do if I say the same thoughts I used to have in the orphanage when I was really young?
When I looked at him in confusion, the Archduchess quickly softened her stern expression and smiled.
“H—Is…is there anything else besides that?”
“…It’s a children’s book.”
She admitted softly, hearing a voice that sounded somewhat serious.
In fact, I was always jealous that Diana slept every night listening to the Duke and Duchess read fairy tales to her.
The Archduke and Archduchess, who had been silent for some time, linked their fingers around my little finger and made a promise.
“Once you get better, I will read you a story book every day.”
". … Yes."
And that night.
I had a very happy dream of falling asleep holding my brother's hand and listening to the voices of my parents lovingly reading a story book.
* * *
The Archduke and his wife were unable to say anything as they quietly closed the door, even holding their breath, in case the little girl was awakened by the slightest sound.
My heart was hurting so much, but I was so happy and grateful to have found my daughter.
The couple stood in front of the door for a while, checked on Ascarte who was sleeping in the next room, and then went out into the Marquis's living room.
As if waiting for the two, there was a man sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.
“The High Priest.”
As soon as he called me that, Lie frowned.
The Archduke quickly corrected the title.
“I'm sorry, Great Sage.”
“Am I really going to be embarrassed and ask you to call me that? I'm already worried to death that the temple men are looking for me, and I feel so relieved when I'm dragged away!”
The man who grumbled looked at the Archduchess with a stern expression.
“It seems that the Archduchess is still angry.”
“...I understand that Your Highness had no choice but to do this, I know that it was a decision for me.”
All my husband and I knew about our daughter was that her hair was pink.
With this one clue, I searched the entire continent for pink-haired children, but despite this, I was unable to find any child with those specifications for several years.
So, if she found out that her baby's hair color wasn't pink, she wouldn't really be able to bear it.
“But just because you know it in your head doesn't mean you can accept it in your heart, it seems like you've caused a great deal of damage to the child.”
The Archduke, looking between Lie, who was smiling and speaking as if wondering, and the Archduchess, who was staring at him, cleared his throat and changed his mind.
“Are you really able to change your appearance?”
Although his hair was still pure white, Lie suddenly took on the appearance of a healthy, sun-kissed young man.
In the first place, I didn't know why the person who asked me to give up a room in the Duke's residence instead of following me to the Marquis' residence said that restoring the Holy Power was slow because of the demonic energy I felt from Leah, he was here.
“Duke Elad, for some reason, I felt in good spirits from the moment I first arrived, and even though I only rested for a short time, my holy power quickly filled up? That’s why I came here because I wanted to hurry and say something that needed to be said anyway.”
Lie shrugged his shoulders and immediately changed his expression and spoke sarcastically.
“Then let us move directly to this main point. It is now clear that they are the ones who kidnapped the princess. This illusion overflowing with filthy demonic energy would be impossible without the power of Satan.”
“Isn't this what you were really expecting? It wasn't a kidnapping for money.”
“Yes, so I was almost certain that the princess was dead.”
When Leia's death was casually mentioned, the Archduke and his wife looked at Liesl with wide eyes.
But he didn't care.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it obvious? They had a grudge against the Archduke and were looking for a chance for revenge, and moreover, she is the daughter of a wizard and a child with enormous mana, isn’t that a very desirable offer?”
“Stop talking like that...”
“Why didn't they kill me?”
Lie rested his chin and narrowed his eyes.
"I don't understand, if they weren't going to kill me, they could have used the child as an excuse to use me, wizard, so why bother casting a genjutsu or something and throwing it away?"
*Genjutsu (幻術) means illusionary techniques.*
“Throw it away, these words are uncomfortable to hear...”
“You must have seen the little girl before I came, didn’t you feel any traces of magical power, such as appearance magic or brainwashing?”
Although Liesl was completely distracted as he easily crossed the line, the Archduke sighed and shook his head.
“I didn't feel it. Mental magic is very difficult magic, so it leaves traces...”
The fact that even the so-called magician couldn't find any traces meant that the caster's magical power was much higher than that.
“Honestly, until now I blamed myf for losing my child because of my absence, but today I realized that, if I were here, I would have fought, ready to die.”
However, the Archduke was not confident in his ability to protect the child.
The Archduchess's complexion turned pale after hearing her husband's words.
“What if they find out we found Adriana and try to take her again?”
It was a problem the Archduke was already thinking about.
So, while internally he did everything he could to find the little girl, externally he was secretly moving underwater to avoid attracting attention.
However, if they announced to the world that they had found the princess, it would not be easy to predict how those who targeted the child would turn out.
“If we lose our baby girl again...I won’t be able to live.”
“I feel the same way.”
A cold, disproportionate look appeared on the Archduke's face as he held the Archduchess's trembling hand tightly.
“I will definitely keep it this time, and I will definitely take revenge on those who harmed my daughter.”
While the pair were deciding that they would inflict as cruel and painful killings as possible on those who had kidnapped Leia, Lie said almost lying down on the couch.
“First, bring me the baby tomorrow, I need to look at her properly and check her.”
“...You are convinced that there is a reason to keep Leia alive.”
"Yes, and she can't live with this genjutsu forever, can she? We need to do some purification, she's so strong that I don't know how many years it will take."
The Archduke, paused at these words, rose and bowed.
“Thank you as… a wise man, if you visit the Grand Duchy, I will give you the fourth best room.”
“In such cases, don't you usually give them the best room? It's sad for someone who has no wife or children, and if you're going to call her, you're going to sing it all at once, why stop?”
“It has become a habit...”
Looking at the Archduke who was smiling awkwardly, Lie shook his head, but it didn't bother him any further.
Today, and for a very long time, “High Priest!” It was a day when the clever boy who followed me fled from deep sadness.
* * *
And at that time the Duke.
“Ah!”
Duke Elad grabbed his head and shouted.
“How...how could this kind be Leia! She could be Stella’s daughter!”
. …The Duke was still in shock.