I Became the Daughter of a Disgraced Duke - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16
Tick.
Xenobion stepped out of bed and onto the floor, and at a gesture of his hand, the lights came on.
A slender man with flamboyant golden hair emerged into view.
Cassian’s older brother, though they bore little resemblance—hardly fraternal at all.
While Cassian gave off the raw, untamed feeling of a beast rolling in mud, Xenobion was a pretty boy with a gentle air.
His skin was pale, and his blue eyes were beautiful as the sea.
“What a waste of money. Three hundred million spent, and all it did was fatten your purse.”
“Why don’t you just give up now? If you’d wait, within a year or two he’d drowse straight into his cups and die on his own. What’s the rush? You saw my health report.”
“You have to die before he gambles away your territories and titles. Only then do his estates and fortune become mine.”
“Damn you. Some brother you turned out to be.”
This wasn’t mere deflection or playful greed.
Xenobion was genuinely invested in Cassian’s fortune.
“I’ll sell my titles and throw away my territories long before I die, just you watch.”
“Why are you here, anyway?”
“I picked up a little brat, and I think she might be your daughter—but she can’t possibly be mine. So whose daughter is she?”
“What?”
Xenobion, still groggy from sleep, ran his hand through his tousled hair and furrowed his brow sharply.
“Her eyes were golden—didn’t they look just like that Adrian kid’s?”
Xenobion himself had the typical blue eyes of his house, but his son Adrian’s eyes were golden.
Not as starkly yellow as Cassian’s, but a brownish-gold—similar to the golden eyes of the small child abandoned in front of his house.
‘If she’s Xenobion’s daughter, she’d be the youngest in a wealthy noble family with two older brothers. She’d be so cherished.’
Lucky.
With two older brothers above her and a wealthy, noble lineage, she’d want for nothing as she grew.
Besides, Xenobion had no wife.
The chance of maternal love was gone, but so was the risk of stepmother’s contempt—it wasn’t a bad arrangement.
‘So she wouldn’t even face mistreatment for being a half-sibling.’
Xenobion, who had been frozen in shock, asked belatedly.
“…How old is she?”
“Probably three?”
“…”
“Or maybe five? Somewhere in that range, roughly.”
At Cassian’s explanation, Xenobion shook his head.
“She’s not my daughter. I didn’t meet any women back then.”
“What are you talking about? Are you impotent?”
“I was that busy.”
“She’s not my daughter.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure. I had surgery—a complete severance.”
“…”
In the silence, what Xenobion was thinking showed plainly.
‘That bastard’s really gone the distance…’ or something to that effect.
Yet beneath the pity, there was something closer to compassion.
‘I do what I want with my own body. What’s it to him?’
As Cassian’s face soured, Xenobion spoke.
“She might just be a cuckoo dropped into a war hero’s nest because of golden eyes. Send her to a facility or handle it yourself and get out.”
As Xenobion lay back on the bed, Cassian asked.
“You’re sure you never met a woman?”
“I didn’t even see my own children’s faces, let alone another woman’s. Now go.”
“What about the possibility you got drunk and made a mistake?”
Before the question even finished, a Lightning Strike flashed down from the ceiling.
Crackle!
Twisting to dodge the bolt, Cassian glared at Xenobion and held up his middle finger.
Though he was wearing an Eye Patch, somehow Xenobion saw it and hurled another Lightning Strike.
One corner of the carpet erupted in black smoke and flames.
The bastard had a foul temper.
Cassian glowered at his brother, then fled from the room.
He’d have to bring up other matters this evening.
* * *
Roll.
A boy with wispy blonde hair and yellow eyes glowered at me, his gaze sharp as daggers.
He had a pretty, doll-like face and appeared younger than my original self, yet he stood taller than I did now, which made me unconsciously hunch my shoulders.
‘But I’m the older one……!’
The thought that I should avoid him made me stumble backward.
“Don’t move. You can’t go anywhere.”
“(Why, why?)”
“Because Uncle told me to keep watch over you. So you have to stand right here and wait.”
“(There’s no such thing.)”
“Hey? You moved again. Stay still, I said.”
He opened his eyes wide at the slightest sway of my body, so I simply sat down where I stood.
The boy squatted down in front of me as well.
His yellow blonde hair was so pretty that I felt a slight urge to touch it.
“(But what’s your name? I’m Iris.)”
“Iris? I’m Adrian. I’m already seven years old. You’ve got a ways to go before you’re seven, right? You still look like a baby.”
“(I’m not a baby. I’m older than you.)”
“Hmph! You’re shorter than me.”
Adrian let out a scoff.
My pride stung.
The fact that I was short was because I take after Mother, take aft…….
‘Was Mother tall?’
It had been so long since I’d seen Mother that I couldn’t quite remember how tall she was.
Unable to help it, I glared at Adrian with wounded pride.
I wanted to give him a piece of my mind for saying I looked like a baby, but no sharp retort came to mind.
‘That “F-minus” I gave the Goddess was too harsh a thing to say.’
Should I call him dirty-nailed?
Or stupid?
I wanted to bite him if I could, but I didn’t think I’d win a fight.
‘There’s no choice. I’ll just have to be a good older sister…….’
Teacher Anne Marie had said to get along well with friends.
It was then.
“Adrian. What are you doing there?”
“Brother!”
The moment Adrian sprang to his feet, a shadow fell across my back.
I tilted my head up to look, and my eyes met a pair of warm brown ones.
“(Huh?)”
“Who’s this?”
“A child Uncle kidnapped.”
“Uncle kidnapped her?”
The boy with brown eyes plopped down beside me and stared at me intently.
Unlike Adrian with his brilliant blonde hair and yellow eyes, this boy had warm chestnut brown hair and eyes.
He was much taller than Adrian, and his kind gaze left a striking impression.
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“What?”
“Little one. What’s your name? How old are you?”
“Her name is Iris. As for her age…… how old are you? How old are you?”
“(I’m ten years old.)”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you’re ten, you’d be the same age as our older brother, but you’re still a baby.”
“Hello, Iris. I’m Barelmore. Adrian’s older brother. I have a feeling you’re our younger sister. Nice to meet you.”
Barelmore gently stroked my hair, then suddenly pinched my cheek lightly.
And then.
Squish, squish.
He began kneading both my cheeks like clay.
Barelmore murmured.
“I finally have a little sister…….”
“She’s not a sister. Uncle brought her here. That’s why he said to keep a close watch on her, remember?”
“She looks exactly like Uncle. How is that kidnapping? She must be our cousin. Or maybe our half-sister. But Iris, your cheeks are just like flour dough. They stretch so easily.”
“What, what? Half-sister? But Uncle brought her here?”
“You showed up holding a maid’s hand like that too. So she could be our half-sister with Dad.”
Adrian joined in, squishing my cheeks the way Barelmore was doing.
Unlike Barelmore, who touched my cheeks gently, Adrian stretched and twisted them as if my face were actual flour dough.
When I pushed Adrian’s hand away because it hurt, he pouted his lips in displeasure.
“Is that so? ……But!”
Swish! Swish!
Adrian, gripping my head, cried out with a wretched expression.
“I like my little brother! She’s a girl!”
“But she’s adorable. Absolutely tiny. You were this small a few years ago too.”
“(This hurts now. My cheeks ache.)”
As I turned my face away from Barelmore’s hands, which were stretching my cheeks, he withdrew them with obvious reluctance.
Just then, a man appeared from the far end of the corridor.
I scampered over to him and quietly hid behind him.
Any longer and my cheeks might peel off like dough.
Adrian came running up with thundering footsteps.
“Uncle! Is Iris our sister? Your daughter?”
“What are you talking about?”
“(He’s not our father. Our mother and father are somewhere else.)”
“See! Brother! She says she’s not uncle’s daughter! Her mother and father are somewhere else? That doesn’t make sense! I’m telling you, she was definitely kidnapped! And I want a little brother. A little sister is just…… flour!)”
Adrian clenched his fist and shouted.
Then the man asked Adrian a question.
“Adrian. Do you understand what she’s saying?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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