I Became the Daughter of a Disgraced Duke - Chapter 27

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

Chapter 27
CHAPTER 03.
Going back to the moment when I suddenly had a father.
The man who’d become my father was somehow different from the man I saw every day.
Before, he’d snored through the mornings until lunchtime, but now he’d wake up early and take me out for breakfast.
And instead of the usual Egg Sandwich, he’d bought me delicious Chicken.
After the meal, he’d even buy Ointment and carefully dab it on my bruised face.
But the most surprising part came later.
“Hey, squirt. Go play on the Sofa.”
The moment we got home, he threw out the Bedding sheets that had been full of holes and replaced everything—the Quilt, the Pillows—with brand new ones.
‘He even bought me a Children’s Fork.’
Could a person change this much just by becoming a father instead of just a man?
Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes and watched him.
Then he spoke.
“You’re not bored?”
“(I am bored, mister. Won’t you play with me?)”
“Once I finish cleaning. But it’s Dad, not mister.”
He was a father now, but it still felt strange to call him that.
So I mumbled and watched his face carefully.
Whew. At least he didn’t look angry—he just seemed busy with the cleaning.
“(But mister, where is our mom? Since you’re a dad, you know where Mom lives, right?)”
The man froze mid-mop.
Even though I’d been turned into a baby, I was originally ten years old—there was plenty I already understood.
That reaction meant either he didn’t want me to meet my mother, or he genuinely didn’t know where she was.
“(…You don’t know?)”
“I’m sorry.”
“(Did you fight with Mom?)”
“No, it’s not that. It’s… well.”
The man took a long time choosing his words.
I waited anxiously for his answer.
“It just… happened that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s just how life is. If one thing goes the way you want, ninety-nine things won’t.”
“(What does that even mean…)”
My lip jutted out.
He’s my father, but he doesn’t even know that?
Disappointed, I buried my face under the Blanket with a pout.
Click.
The Mop clattered to the floor. The man came over and yanked the Blanket away.
“(Hey… that’s my Blanket!)”
“There’s nothing that’s yours here. It’s all mine. Are you mad?”
“(…No, I’m not!)”
“Oh, you’re definitely mad. That’s my kid for you.”
“(I’m not! I’m not mad!)”
I shouted in frustration, but the man just chuckled. I was about to get even angrier.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang bang!
A loud knock came from outside.
Then the door creaked open, and an unexpected visitor appeared.
“Uncle, I’m here.”
It was Adrian.
Adrian dragged a large Bag inside and flopped down on the Sofa where I was sitting.
Going by his movements alone, he looked more like seventeen than seven.
“I ran away from home.”
“Did you fight with Dad?”
“Am I a baby?”
“Then did you fight with Cassian?”
“From today on, I’m not Cassian anymore. I want to be Adrian Calypso now. Uncle, will you take me as your son?”
“Huh.”
“I’m seven now too. I’m old enough to choose whose son I want to be.”
“Barely dry behind the ears, and already causing trouble.”
The man staring at the ceiling let out a long, heavy sigh and muttered under his breath.
Such is my fate, he seemed to say.
Regardless, Adrian yanked open the bag he’d brought with a flourish.
“Wow!”
I couldn’t help but cry out when I saw what was inside.
The bag was crammed with candy and toys.
Adrian was truly a blessed child—nothing like me, who didn’t have a single doll.
“Iris. From today on, you’re my real sister, so I’m going to share my candy with you specially.”
“Your dad said Iris is your uncle’s daughter?”
“Huh? Dad said my brother looks just like my uncle, so she must be his daughter? Which means she’s my sister now. Not a cousin—my real sister.”
Adrian tossed pieces of candy into my hand one after another, as if to prove that we’d truly become siblings.
“Here, eat this. I never give this to my brother, but I’m giving it to you today because you’re my new sister.”
The man holding his head grabbed the back of Adrian’s neck and lifted him up.
Adrian dangled in the air, kicking his legs and throwing a fit.
“Hey, why!”
“You can have candy later. I need to start working now, so you and Iris go play in the Garden.”
“But there’s nothing in the Garden. Can’t we go to the Playground instead?”
“Fine. You’re the older brother, so you look after her. Understand?”
Adrian promised to protect me like a knight, and the moment the man set him down, he grabbed my hand and dragged me along.
* * *
While Iris and Adrian were running off to the Playground, Cassian was drowning in regret for the past five years.
“I must be insane. I burned through all that money.”
If he’d known his dead daughter would claw her way out of her grave and come back to life, he wouldn’t have thrown his life away like this.
He’d have saved money, kept the house.
Iris had returned to him, yet all he had to show for it was debt and a mold-infested hovel—he’d never felt more desperate, not even when the women he used to see would leave him without a backward glance.
Cassian ripped the Wallpaper from the walls, his irritation boiling over.
The Windows needed replacing, insulation work had to be done, and he had to furnish the place with furniture for the child.
The problem was simple: he had no money.
‘At least I didn’t spend all the money I got from those assassins.’
Normally he would have gambled it all away in a day or two on card games, but lately he’d been too busy caring for Iris to play, so some of it remained.
It wasn’t enough to hire workers and renovate the place into something splendid—he had to do the work himself.
‘This is why gambling is so terrifying.’
It devoured your life and squandered countless opportunities you could’ve given your child.
As Cassian ripped at the Wallpaper with blind fury while Iris played with Adrian outside, there was a sound at the door again.
‘Why does everyone have to show up today of all days?’
He was already drowning in things to do with the child around—the last thing he needed was more visitors.
Cassian’s irritation flared, and his expression darkened.
“Boss? Are you there? Boss! It’s me, Baron!”
Bang!
Cassian yanked the door open roughly.
Baron caught sight of Cassian’s grim face and flinched, his shoulders hunching.
“Eek!”
“Well, well. Look who it is. You bastard who ditches me and the kid on weekends to run off.”
“Y-yes, boss! That, that, that, that is… to, to earn money, I, I had to work, so I c-clocked out.”
“Money? And who gave you that money? You’ve got some nerve. There’s the person who gives the money, and then there’s you, who just sits around doing nothing.”
“N-no, boss. That money is…”
It’s the Loan Shark Principal, isn’t it…
He wanted to protest properly, but Cassian’s eyes glaring at him were too terrifying—the words wouldn’t come.
Instead, as the silence stretched, his shoulders shrank and his back bent.
‘I should have studied harder as a kid.’
How did he end up becoming a collection agent for a loan shark company, working under this insane Gangster?
He must have been innocent once too, back when he was young—bright-eyed, pure-hearted, guileless, and cute.
Baron felt tears welling up at his own pathetic state.
“P-please, boss. Th-that is… um. Y-you have to give me the money. O-otherwise, I’ll really get fired from the company this time. At least give me the Interest, please? Yes?”
“I don’t have money.”
“Booooss!”
“Don’t you dare raise your voice here. Want to die?”
“N-no, I’m s-sorry…”
Baron pressed his palms together respectfully.
They were a Gangster collective with Interest rates reaching eighty percent, but thanks to the government neglecting them in the chaos of War Reconstruction, they operated freely and thrived.
But this time, he’d picked the wrong mark.
None other than Cassian, the war hero himself.
A madman who could take down ten of Baron’s senior loan collectors with nothing but a fork.
So there was no room for intimidation, no leverage for interest—only desperate pleas for the principal, coupled with constant appeasement.
Last time, he’d performed housework and played the charm game to recover part of the debt, which was how he’d ended up with Iris in his care.
“Boss, look—I’m getting fired. This month’s collections have flatlined. If I lose this job, what happens to my elderly mother, my widowed sister, my nephew born without a father? Please, I’m begging you—just pay back something…….”
Sniff.
Baron’s eyes had begun to glisten with genuine tears.
Cassian, unmoved, simply picked at his ear and spoke in a bored drawl.
“There is a good way for you to get your money back.”
“Really? What is it? I’ll do anything!”
Baron’s fist clenched with hope.
Cassian continued.
“Work it off with your body.”

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