I Became the Daughter of a Disgraced Duke - Chapter 18

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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 18
Come to think of it, Adrian had been talking to me as naturally as could be since a moment ago.
He understood what I was saying!
Was Adrian abandoned in front of some strange man’s house because of that useless goddess too, just like us at the Sunlight Orphanage?
Adrian tilted his head, his expression bewildered.
“Huh? Why can’t you understand? You just talk, that’s all.”
“But how do you understand me if this is the first time you’re hearing this way of speaking?”
“What? The first time hearing it?”
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Both their gazes snapped toward me.
“(Do you understand what I’m saying?)”
Adrian cried out in confusion.
“Talk like you did before! A moment ago you asked my name and told me you were ten years old—why are you using weird words now?”
“(No. I spoke the same way before.)”
Uncle, this kid is strange. I definitely heard everything a moment ago, but suddenly she’s using words I’ve never heard before.
If he understood me just fine a moment ago, why is he suddenly pretending he doesn’t?
Did he take offense because I said I’m not a baby?
While I was tilting my head in confusion, I noticed the man’s expression had turned grave.
Like me, he looked as if he’d been robbed of his years—his face was deadly serious.
He looked like an eagle father who’d returned to his nest after a hunt only to find his eggs gone.
“Ten years old, you say? That’s what you heard?”
“Yeah. A moment ago this kid definitely said it. That she wasn’t a baby and that she was older.”
“Hey there, little one. How old are you?”
“(I’m ten years old. But I’ve become a child now, so I’m not sure how many years old I am anymore.)”
“Hey! You keep talking funny—are you trying to make fun of me? Come here!”
“Aaaaahhh!”
Adrian’s eyes blazed with determination as he charged at me, so I bolted down the corridor.
Adrian was tall for a seven-year-old and had fists to match; there was no way I’d win in a fight.
I ran hard down the corridor, but I’d only gone a few steps before he caught me.
“Gotcha!”
Adrian grabbed the nape of my neck and giggled mischievously.
His face looked like an angel’s, but when he laughed, he was pure troublemaker through and through.
“(Aaahhh! Let me go!)”
“You really can’t run, can you?”
“(No, I can run super fast. You’re just faster.)”
“Why do you keep talking weird? Talk so I can understand! Uncle! Can I play with her?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
Adrian grabbed my hand and dragged me along.
He was only a little taller than me, yet I had no idea where all that strength came from.
‘Since I’m the older one, I’ll play with him today as a special exception.’
It’s definitely not because I was overpowered and had no choice but to go along.
* * *
“Watch this. I kick the ball to you, and you catch it and kick it back to me.”
Adrian kicked the ball at the wall, and with a bang, something seemed to explode.
The ball hit the wall and bounced back. Adrian leaped up, caught the ball with his forehead, and rolled it along the floor with his feet.
“(Whew… okay, I’m done.)”
I lay flat on the ground.
There was a friend who’d come to the Sunlight Orphanage with a dog they were raising.
Originally a shepherd, she’d brought a herding dog, and that dog could run all day long, then rest for just ten minutes, and still have the energy to run all day again.
Adrian was exactly like that dog.
The moment we entered the playroom, he handed me a toy sword and wouldn’t stop practicing sword play until he was dripping with sweat, then insisted on teaching me the falling technique and jumped down from a toy drawer cabinet bigger than he was, tumbling head over heels.
Then suddenly he wanted to practice the somersault and grabbed my legs to hold me upside down.
Climbing trees with friends to pick fruit or catching fish in the stream was fun.
But sword play and somersaults weren’t things I wanted to do.
“Get up. Let’s play ball, come on?”
“(I’m tired.)”
“Are you dead?”
Poke! Poke!
Adrian poked at my cheeks as I lay there.
So I played dead and rolled my eyes back, and Adrian burst out laughing with delight before flopping down beside me.
“You’re really weak, aren’t you? Are all girls like that?”
“(I’m not! I’m just a little slow at running and not good at dodging balls, that’s all!)”
I made my voice crisp and clear on purpose, trying to sound stronger.
“You should call me brother. I’m much taller than you, aren’t I? Wait—why can I understand you now? Are you messing with me?”
“(I don’t know either. How can you understand what I’m saying? Did you come from the Sunlight Orphanage too?)”
“I’ve never been to a place like that. Your speech is strange, but somehow I understand what you mean. Could it be that we can only understand each other when we’re alone?”
“(What? Is that it?)”
“I don’t know. But why are you with your uncle? Where’s your mother?”
“(I don’t kn―)”
Bang!
The door flew open so violently that I jumped with a shriek and scrambled to my feet.
It was Barelmore.
His face was twisted with fury.
His cheeks were flushed red and his breathing came in rough gasps.
In his hands was a small wooden boat assembled from tiny pieces of wood—except it was snapped clean in half.
“Adrian Carsein―!”
“Uh? W-wait, b-brother! I was just going to touch it once, I swear, but I accidentally dropped it and―”
“You’re dead!”
Barelmore lunged forward in a flash and tackled Adrian to the ground.
I didn’t even have time to escape.
“Argh!”
“My! My things! Don’t you! Touch them! I told you not to!”
“Ow! Stop! Uncle! Dad! Please!”
With every word Barelmore threw another punch, and Adrian thrashed and screamed.
Then at some point Adrian rolled his body and knocked Barelmore down, and bit his cheek hard.
“Ah! You’re dead now!”
“I said I was sorry!”
“How many times is this? You’re always getting into trouble, you little brat!”
Blink. Blink.
I watched the brothers grapple and tumble, my mind spinning.
There were occasional quarrels at the orphanage, but I’d never seen anything like this—fists flying, bodies colliding.
Adrian’s nose was bleeding and Barelmore had bite marks on his cheek.
When I fought with my friends it was just words, and even with Enrique it was more bickering than this—throwing toys, biting, kicking. I was genuinely shocked.
“(Oh!)”
It belatedly occurred to me that I should stop them.
“(H-hey, um, stop fighting.)”
I tugged at Barelmore’s sleeve as he straddled Adrian and twisted his ear, but it did no good.
Adrian spat at Barelmore.
While Barelmore wiped his face, Adrian grabbed his brother’s hair and yanked.
I tried desperately to separate them, but Adrian twisted his body and shoved me away.
“(B-brothers are supposed to get along like this!)”
“If you’d shown it to me, I wouldn’t sneak around and play with it every day!”
“Everything breaks when you touch it, that’s why!”
They stood facing each other, both breathing hard, glaring daggers.
This was going to end badly, so I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed Adrian in a last desperate attempt.
At the same moment, Barelmore swung his arm and Adrian kicked out his leg, and the result was―
“Oof!”
I was the only one in the middle, and I took the blows from both sides.
My face ached where I was hit, and my backside throbbed where I was kicked.
“Huh!”
“Little one!”
“I-I…”
I was a good child, the kind who’d never fought like this with friends, the kind who’d never been spanked by mother―
Tears started streaming down my face.
Barelmore stared at me, bewildered.
Adrian’s face had gone pale.
“Are you… are you okay?”
“(I-I’m f-fine―)”
I knew I should say I was fine—I was ten years old, after all—but.
“(It h-hurts so much! I want my m-mommy! Waaaaaah!)”
It hurt too much to be fine. Really, truly too much.
* * *
“I see. So you two fought and gave your little sister a bruise on her face.”
The man dabbed medicine on my face with gentle, careful strokes.
Barelmore and Adrian knelt on the floor with their hands raised.
“No, he jumped out at me suddenly!”
“Fighting with my brother is nothing to brag about.”
“But Uncle fights with our dad all the time.”
“Well… yes, that’s true. But listen here! Just because Uncle and your father fight, does that mean you can throw punches at your brother? Does it? Have you ever seen Uncle trading blows with your father? No, you haven’t!”
When the man raised his voice and clapped his hands loudly, the tears I’d nearly stopped crying suddenly started flowing again.
“(Sniffle! Whimper! Ugh… ugh…)”
“Come now, little one. Stop it.”
“(Still hurts… whimper! Ugh…)”
“Goodness. Look at you. A little bruise won’t kill you.”
Barelmore, who’d been watching quietly, rose and approached me.
He pulled a few pieces of candy from his pocket and held them out.
“I’m sorry, Iris. Does it hurt a lot?”
Barelmore’s apology seemed genuine.
His downturned brows and eyes that couldn’t quite meet mine made that clear.
So even though it wasn’t my favorite flavor, I accepted the apology.
Then Adrian lowered his arm and hurried over, speaking quickly.
“I’m sorry! Next time I’ll be careful so you don’t get hit!”
“(……Hmph!)”
Pfft!
I turned my head away and pretended not to accept his apology.
A soft clicking sound came from somewhere.
With brilliant golden hair and angelic features, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
I forgot all about sniffling and stared at him with my mouth open until our eyes met in the empty air between us.
Without thinking, I whispered.
“……Father?”

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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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