I Became the Daughter of a Disgraced Duke - Chapter 9

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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 9
Ten minutes before running away from the beautiful witch sister.
“Say hello. This is my daughter.”
Daughter? But this man isn’t my father?
“(I’m not your daughter! I’m my real daddy’s daughter!)”
I swung my dangling legs through the air, and the man burst into laughter.
“Sure, sure. I got it. Let’s get something tasty to eat later.”
“(Why would I be your daughter? I’m not!)”
“Uh-huh. Right. I’ll even buy you a drink.”
“(No! I’m not your daughter! We don’t even look alike!)”
Furious, I narrowed my eyes into sharp slits and glared at him, but he didn’t even flinch.
Unable to bear it any longer, I struck out with all the indignation I could muster.
Smack! Smack!
I hit the back of his hand.
‘This can’t be happening!’
I’d put all my strength into it, but his skin didn’t even redden—he looked like he hadn’t felt a thing.
Was this monster man actually made of something inhuman?
The shock left me speechless, and in my confusion I locked eyes with the sister.
Her gaze was so cold it froze my entire body.
“Daughter……?”
The man turned to the beautiful sister with a smug grin.
“What do you think? Doesn’t she look just like me? They say the first daughter takes after the father—guess that’s true. Hah. She’s so pretty because she inherited my features.”
His enormous hand began to roughly ruffle my face.
Ugh. The force of it made a strange noise come out of me.
“You were married?”
“Well, not exactly, but I may have exceeded the speed limit a bit.”
“What? So the octopus now has tentacles and a kid to show for it……?”
The sister’s eyes flickered with something dangerous. In that instant.
“(Kyahahahahaha!)”
“Aah!”
The man grabbed me and bolted like he’d gone mad.
I caught a glimpse of the beautiful sister over his shoulder.
“(Gasp!)”
The sister who’d looked like an angel just moments before—her hair was billowing in the air around her.
Black light gathered in her palms.
“(A, a witch?!)”
“Kasian Calypso! I’m going to kill you!”
Black light shot toward the man and me.
As it drew closer, the black glow transformed into pointed spikes.
“Damn it. I forgot she was a mage!”
If those spikes caught me, it would hurt so badly I couldn’t even scream.
Just before the Black Spikes made contact, the man twisted his body slightly, and the spikes buried themselves in the ground instead.
Crack-crash!
The pavement fractured, splintered, and shattered into pieces.
“(Waaah! I don’t wanna die! Mommy mommy mommy!)”
Terrified, I wrapped my arms tightly around the man’s neck.
“Ack! Don’t choke me! I can’t breathe!”
“(Ahhhhh! The witch is shooting spikes again! Hurry hurry hurry!)”
“Hey, hey. Little One! You’re strangling me! Gah!”
“(Run away! She’s too scary!)”
The man moved with such speed that each step howled like a wind storm.
Unable to help myself, I found my grip around his neck tightening even more.
“Stop right there! Kasian Calypso!”
The witch came whooshing through the air toward us. She didn’t have wings—how was she flying?
The way her hair scattered in the wind made her look like a bed monster.
Though the man dodged the incoming spikes skillfully, the real problem was that we’d reached the Alley—there was nowhere left to run.
“Ah. We’re done for.”
The man scratched his head. Terror made my nose start to run.
“(Hnnngh.)”
“Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s okay. This uncle’s pretty good at hiding.”
“(Waaaa! Mama! Anneungmari! I don’t wanna die! Waaaah!)”
Beyond the alley, a shadow with flowing hair came into view.
The shadow descended to the ground, and footsteps sounded—soft, deliberate.
At the same time, an angry voice pierced the air.
“How dare he be so handsome when there’s a child involved? I should stuff him and hang him on the wall of my manor. Let the insides go, and only the shell remain.”
Would I end up stuffed and mounted on a wall too?
My heart pounded. I was about to cry with gasping, choking sobs.
Kasian opened the trash bin lid from the corner, wrapped me in his arms, and squeezed us both inside.
Then he carefully closed the lid.
“Shh!”
A quiet voice came from the darkness, commanding silence.
I wanted to sniff and swallow, but I held my breath as he instructed.
The smell was foul, it was dark, it was cramped—I hated it—yet I didn’t feel dirty.
Kasian cradled my head against his chest, his body wrapped around mine, shielding me from the garbage.
Thump-thump! I heard a heartbeat pounding. Was it mine? Or his?
“Where’d he go? Where is he?”
Calypso’s voice rang out. I flinched, and Kasian slowly stroked my back.
Kasian wasn’t as warm and comforting as my mother or my teacher, but he was unexpectedly hot, and somehow, bit by bit, my fear began to ease.
It felt just like playing hide-and-seek.
Fear dissolved, replaced by tension and a strange, thrilling excitement.
‘It’s like escaping from the Candy House and losing Calypso.’
My heart raced faster and faster.
Step, step.
When the footsteps stopped in front of the trash bin, my heart felt like it would burst.
As her hand reached for the lid, I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.
Please, please don’t open it!
My prayer must have been heard.
“No way. Kasian wouldn’t hide in a trash bin. He’s a War Hero, after all.”
The footsteps receded into the distance.
Kasian and I remained hidden in the trash bin long after Calypso had gone.
Rolling my eyes in the darkness, I felt him finally kick the bin open.
“Ugh, the stench! Disgusting!”
Fresh air brushed against my cheek.
Garbage that had clung to Kasian’s hair fell to the ground with soft thuds.
‘That was actually kind of fun.’
Maybe this man is more interesting than I thought.
* * *
Why is that?
The Little One, who moments ago seemed ready to cry her eyes out, now had bright, gleaming eyes.
‘Was the shock too much?’
Kasian cradled the child’s face in his hands and turned it this way and that, checking for injuries. Nothing seemed amiss, and yet…
“(Mister! That was kinda fun!)”
“Are you all right?”
“(Yep!)”
“Hmm. Seems like you got quite a fright.”
“(That was like the best hide-and-seek ever!)”
“Well. If you’re fine, then that’s what matters.”
Besides, he’d been the one running while carrying her, the one dodging the Black Spikes—there was no reason she wouldn’t be fine.
The real problem was that they couldn’t go to the Orphanage like this.
With the stench of garbage radiating from them, showing up and shouting wouldn’t convince anyone of anything—it would only be pathetic.
Better to wash up and go tomorrow instead.
“What a life.”
Since going home as they were would feel like a waste, Kasian decided to proceed with his original schedule.
* * *
“I always knew a day like this would come.”
The Tattoo Artist looked between Kasian and the Little One, then clicked his tongue.
“She’s not my kid.”
“What’re you talking about? She looks exactly like you.”
“No, I’m telling you, she’s not.”
The Tattoo Artist studied the two of them sitting side by side.
A closer look revealed many dissimilarities, yet at first glance they were nearly identical.
“Hair, eye color—same. And the jawline, the part in the hair, the earlobes, the shape of the fingers—they’re all exactly like you two. You couldn’t explain it without blood relation.”
Even the way they sat was identical.
“So the child’s mother is Emma? Evelyn? Lauren? Odette?”
“Don’t say another word.”
Kasian’s eyes flashed with warning. Without rising, he shrugged off his shirt.
At once, his shoulders, chest, and ribs came into view—densely covered in tattoos.
They sprawled across both front and back in such profusion that it seemed a minor miracle his neck remained bare.
There was only one empty space.
Over his left chest, where the heart lay.
A scar occupied that spot—large enough that even a stranger could recognize it as a grave wound.
“We decided on that design last time.”
“Shouldn’t you skip it today? Not with the child here, surely.”
“You think I came here today to hear that?”
As Kasian’s brow darkened, his already fierce face grew more forbidding.
The Tattoo Artist, sensing that the War Hero’s reputation was no mere rumor—intimidated by a mere glare—swallowed his refusal and his consent alike, suppressing a sigh.
That was when it happened.
“Whoa!”
Little One, drinking the beverage the Tattoo Artist had given him, looked up too late and caught sight of Kasian, his mouth falling open in shock.
The moment their eyes met, Little One quietly raised a hand to cover his mouth.
Then.
Sllide.
He subtly shifted his bottom sideways, creating distance between them.
“What’s this?”

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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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