Chapter 9 - Princess and the Teddy Bear (1)

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'A little girl?'

The unexpected appearance left me momentarily stunned. She seemed to notice my continuous gaze and glanced up at me, then immediately lowered her head when our eyes met.

Her hair was blonde, and I could vaguely see the characteristic gray tint of our family in her fleeting eyes.

'Aha…'

I was momentarily taken aback by the girl's unexpected presence, but I quickly grasped her identity.

"Father, but who is this child? I've never seen her before I entered the academy," I inquired, and my father momentarily flinched, his expression becoming awkward, as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have.

"Ah? Hahaha, yes, I forgot to introduce you to this child. This girl is Adele. She's a child who joined our household as a maid not long ago to fill the void left by your absence when you went to the academy."

The cold and calculating demeanor that Father usually had when handling affairs was nowhere to be found; instead, he appeared noticeably flustered. Perhaps he was the kind of person who couldn't tell lies to their children.

What kind of nobleman would allow a child who looked no more than ten years old to be his maid, and what kind of nobleman would give her such cute clothes and dolls and allow her to play in his office...?

"I see, but father, there's something I have to tell you at length. Why don't you send the child away for a while?"

"Oh yes, I see. My dear, Adele. I'm going to send you out for a while. If you're hungry, you can visit the kitchen. I spoke to the chef earlier, and by now, there should be freshly baked cookies waiting for you."

Adele had come over and was hiding behind my father's leg, listening to our conversation.

After hearing father's words, she hesitated for a moment, then greeted us with a slight bow and ran out the door with a doo-doo-doo sound.

From outside the door, we could hear someone say, "Oh dear, where is the little lady going?"

'What? Little lady? cookie?'

Apparently, these people had no intention of hiding anything.

After Adele left and the door closed with a thud, silence filled the study.

"So, Father, who is that child?" I was the first one to break the silence. It was clear that if I didn't speak up, he would have remained silent.

"Who is she… Did I not tell you? From the village..."

"Father, who would believe that? Which maid in the world would be so well dressed and playing dolls in the master's study? I have a good idea, so please be honest with me. Even though her hair might be acceptable, her eyes unmistakably have our family's characteristic gray color."

I blurted out my question, and Father, who had been trying to come up with excuses, was silenced. He eventually seemed to accept his defeat and confessed.

"...I see. Now that you've said it, I can't lie anymore. That child, Adele, is...your half-sister..."

"I thought as much. How old is she?"

"From what I know, she will be 12 this year."

Twelve years old. She certainly looked to be around that age. But wait, if that's the case...

"Father, but 12 years ago, Mother was still here, wasn't she? Did she know about this girl's existence, or did you manage two households?"

"No, no, managing two households?! What do you think of me, saying such a thing!"

Father looked momentarily flustered, then vigorously denied my words, exhaling a deep sigh before explaining the entire situation to me.

"Here we are, so what's the point of hiding it any longer? Let me explain what happened..."

According to my father's explanation, about ten years ago, on his way home from a foreign expedition, he stayed in a village with his knights.

That night, he had indulged heavily in alcohol, fallen asleep drunk, and the next morning, he woke up to find himself lying next to the village chief's daughter.

They were both clothed, but he couldn't remember anything. When he asked the girl if anything had happened, she assured him that nothing had happened because my father had fallen asleep drunk. Still, Still, just in case, he told the daughter to come to him if she had any problems and returned home. He never told my mother about this incident.

...That was the end of the story.

"...And then, about three years ago, Adele's birth mother, who had been searching for me all these years, found me. She had been raising Adele on her own but fell seriously ill and couldn't take care of her anymore, so she decided to come and look for me."

"Why didn't she approach you earlier, and why did she raise the child alone?"

"I was curious about that too, but she didn't give me a clear answer. She might have been afraid of getting entangled in noble affairs and facing consequences. Besides, I had a wife and you, the heir, at the time. At that time, our family was just expanding its power in the southern region, and our name would not have been well known to the commoners, and they could not have trusted me, who had passed by for a night..."

So, when Adele's birth mother came to find my father, he arranged for her to stay in a residence outside the castle and cared for her. The mother eventually died of illness, and my father, feeling responsible for Adele, brought her here.

In a world where nobles often fathered numerous illegitimate children without batting an eye, it was surprising to see such kindness from a nobleman. My father finished his explanation and looked at me, cautiously asking, "So... how do you feel about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that child, Adele. I want to hear what you think of her."

"Does it matter what I think? You are the head of the family, Father, and of course you can do as you please."

"I do think your feelings are important. I wonder if you're okay with the sudden arrival of a sibling...a child."

My father looked worried that I might not accept Adele. Given my personality, I suppose it's understandable. He must be worried that I might suddenly bully my sister.

"Just in case, I'm asking, but is it a certainty?"

"Yes, I already asked the priest to do a mana knot to confirm. Adele is my daughter without a doubt."

The mana knot was a church magic that tied the mana of a child and its parents together and tested the wavelengths to determine paternity.

It was known for its high accuracy, albeit with a high cost, making it a popular choice for noble families where lineage and inheritance were vital, and where cucking was a common occurrence.

Since it was confirmed by the church, there was no doubt left, so what my father was waiting for now was only my decision.

'Ugh…'

I sighed inwardly and then pulled a bell on the desk to summon a servant. After a short while, a maid entered, bowing her head, "You called, master?"

"Go and bring the child named Adele. She's probably in the kitchen."

The maid raised her head slightly at my words, glanced at both my father and me, then retreated slowly. After a moment, she returned with Adele by her side.

As if she'd heard me call out to her, I could see a hint of fear in her eyes.

"You may leave now, and... Adele, right? Come closer," I ushered the maid out the door and called Adele's name.

When the maid left and she was left alone, Adele had a more frightened expression on her face.

However, she could not refuse my words as the head of the household, so she came closer to me, her legs shaking, and tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

I didn't feel good about this. How bad were the rumors, and how unlikable was my appearance that even a child looked like this when I told her to come closer... even though my heart was the opposite right now.

When Adele came closer, I spoke to her in the most friendly voice I could muster, "Do you know who I am?"

"Aren't you... the master of the castle..," Adele rolled her eyes for a moment, and answered my question in a trembling voice.

"No, no. If you were a servant of our house, it would be natural for you to call me that, but we are siblings, aren't we? So you should call me brother, not the master of the castle."

"Oh...brother...?"

Adele mimicked my words and said "brother," and I felt a surge of satisfaction.

I smiled sheepishly and nodded to Adele.

"That's right. You can call me that from now on. I'm sorry I haven't taken care of you so far. I'll take special care of you so that doesn't happen again, so don't worry too much."

After hearing my words, Adele seemed to relax. Seeing that, I approached her and gently stroked Adele's hair.

When my hand touched her hair, she seemed to flinch a little, but when I gently stroked her hair, Adele soon relaxed and accepted my touch.

God, what a cute creature. This can't be happening...

"You can go out. I think I interrupted your enjoyable snack time. Go back and finish eating, but don't eat too much if you're going to have dinner with us."

Adele listened to my words and bowed her head to me and our father. Then, she left the office with the same dododo-ing footsteps as before.

I looked back at my father as she left the room.

He was looking at me with an expression so full of emotion that I felt like tears were about to fall from his eyes at any moment.

I don't really want to see a man's, especially a middle-aged man's tears...

"Was that enough?" I asked, sighing.

"Edwin..., dear..."

"What could a child possibly be guilty of, and with a story like this, how could you ever put her down? I think it's only fitting that she be brought into the family."

The existence of a child named Adele was, of course, never mentioned in the original story, and only traces of it could be found in Edwin's memories.

It was about two years ago that I became aware of her existence.

As my father visited the outskirts more frequently, I became curious and eventually learned, at least roughly, about Adele's identity.

But at the time, I didn't think much of it.

I didn't want to associate with Adele because her blood was half-noble, and I didn't feel threatened because I was the heir to Reed, who was firmly in place.

It was actually a good thing that the child's existence opened up my father's attention, who had been overly concerned with himself.

It wasn't long before I had forgotten about Adele, but that changed when my memories of my previous life returned.

"Edwin...thank you...so much...really."

He took both of my hands in his and repeated the words over and over again.

In fact, the words of gratitude should be the ones I give to my father.

I always wanted to have a cute little sister. But I never imagined that coming here would make that dream come true.

Maybe this life is a new opportunity for me after all.

If you want to read the first 25 chapters for free and read up to the final chapter for a cheap price patreon.com/Makima02