The Golden-Handed Baby Fixes Everything! - 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
At my enthusiastic answer, Eina wore a look of quiet pride.
But that didn’t last long.
“Oh, but Lady, I’m afraid novels might be a bit difficult for you to read. Shall I fetch some thinner picture books instead?”
A belated worry came creeping in.
‘Ah, can an ordinary four-year-old not read this kind of thing?’
I thought it over for a moment, then came up with a good excuse.
“Melloni has read harder books than that in Daddy’s study, you know? Things like and .”
“Goodness!”
“Is she a genius, just like Melloni’s Daddy?”
I deliberately stressed “just like.”
‘That way, I can also emphasize that I’m of the Duke’s bloodline!’
Wasn’t that a case of killing two birds with one stone?
“…Yes, my Lady. You really do take after the Duke so much. Truly… *sniff*.”
See? It worked!
‘But why is she getting teary-eyed while talking like that?’
I can’t tell. Eina must have dry eye syndrome.
* * *
From that day on, I started reading three books cover to cover.
With a four-year-old’s brain, it’s impossible to take in so much at once, so it takes quite a while to get through them.
‘So fun…!’
Fortunately, all the books were fun, and they had a real page-turning appeal.
Especially, the parts I had been hoping for were all nicely laid out.
‘The process of becoming a daughter and a father!’
Since every one of these books was about a heroine who had a hard life and then suddenly became a duke’s daughter, an imperial princess, or a princess of the demon realm, I could relate to them in so many ways.
It’s practically about me, isn’t it?
I resolved to take after the three heroines.
And so, here we are.
“…What’s with that solemn face, Marshmallow?”
“Ohm tom fayth-dense expreshun.”
“What on earth are you planning?”
At the Duke’s muttering, I puffed out my chest.
It was a confident pose that said, Just trust me.
Hudson, who had been working at the desk beside the Duke’s, glanced over at us with considerable interest.
‘Good. And there’s an audience, too.’
I’m going to show off the results of my studying.
I trotted briskly over to the Duke, who was sitting at his office desk.
Then I began to climb up his leg with great effort, huff and puff.
“What novel little act is this, I wonder.”
“Mur-fe, ugh, I’m gonna sit doo…!”
“You want to sit on my knee?”
“Yes!”
The Duke wore a puzzled expression, but still scooped me up without hesitation.
Flinch.
Because the Duke had paused, my short arms and legs dangled in the air.
“You’re terribly light today. A gust of wind might blow you away.”
“…As if.”
“Well, you never know. Still, stay in your room on windy days just in case, all right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Such a sullen reply.”
Chuckling lightly, he settled me on his knee.
Oh, a fresh view from up here.
“Satisfied now, Marshmallow?”
“Yes. Adieu, satisfaction.”
“So why did you want to sit on my knee in the first place?”
At the Duke’s question, my eyes lit up.
‘Why did I want to sit on his knee, you ask?’
If you’re asking, it’s only right that I answer!
I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then beckoned the Duke closer with a little wave.
Soon, that devastatingly handsome face came toward me, wearing a look of question.
“What is it?”
“Shh. There’s this thing, see—”
I lowered my voice to a whisper so Hudson wouldn’t hear.
“Apparently, daughters are supposed to sit on their daddy’s lap. You didn’t know that, huh?”
“Oh.”
He let out a short exclamation and nodded slowly.
“Honestly, I had no idea.”
Just as I thought, he didn’t know!
I only learned it after reading about it myself, after all.
In the novels, every single heroine was perched on her father’s knee.
Feeling smug, I kicked my feet, propped my chin on the desk, and grinned to myself.
Then I opened the book I’d brought along.
“…<Ice Empire>?”
“Yep. Melloni has to study, after all.”
“Ah. So you studied that and came to this conclusion?”
Nod.
“Mm-hm. Angela’s my role model lately!”
“So Angela is the heroine of that book?”
“Yep. A totally awesome heroine.”
Angela really was an amazing heroine.
At a young age, she becomes a ‘Contract Princess,’ a sort of hostage—
At first she’s treated as an ‘outsider,’ but before long she melts the hearts of the Ice Empire’s people.
The cold, ruthless people of the Ice Empire turned into total saps the moment they saw Angela, fawning over her shamelessly.
‘Seriously amazing, I tell you.’
She’s truly my number-one role model right now, no contest.
“So was sitting on laps something Angela taught you too? Besides sitting on laps, is there anything else?”
“There is!”
“Hmm. Like what?”
“Greeting them good morning, sharing snacks, drawing pictures for them in a sketchbook…”
“Something like being carried around wherever they go? Anything like that?”
At the Duke’s casual question, I widened my eyes and looked up at him.
“…How’d you know?”
I’d actually forgotten about that for a moment.
Guess geniuses really are different, huh?
“A more useful reference than I expected. Keep at your studies.”
“Yes. Melloni’s going to study really hard!”
“Then shall I give a reward to a child who works so hard, as encouragement?”
Reward?
At that one short word, my heart started to flutter a little.
I’d lived my whole life far from rewards, so my heart reacted to the word ‘reward’ on its own.
‘What kind of reward could it be?’
Could it be the contract?
It’s been a week since I moved into the Duke’s Residence, so I did think it was about time he wrote it up…
* * *
“Waaah!”
“You’ll dislocate your jaw like that, Marshmallow.”
“Waaah-mph.”
Jaws aren’t supposed to come off, you know.
I hastily snapped my wide-open mouth shut.
“Come to think of it, this must be your first time going out. You’ve been cooped up in Brambshua the whole time.”
“Ah, um, yep! My first time out!”
Well, that’s a lie.
There was a time when the street was my home, after all.
‘But still, it’s my first time in the Duchy!’
I dangled from the carriage window, gawking at the outside.
The scenery rattling past, changing fast, was fresh and fascinating.
So this is what the Duchy looks like…
Where I used to live was a rundown area on the outskirts of the Capital.
Narrow alleys everywhere, and the buildings were all run-down and worn.
But the Pantheibe Duchy was different.
‘The roads are sparkling! The buildings are sparkling too!’
The roads were neatly paved, and large carriages rolled along them in a steady stream.
The buildings had no rough edges and were painted in every color, like a scene torn from a picture book.
And what amazed me most was something else.
‘There are so many rich-looking people…!’
It was the clothes of the people coming and going through the territory.
Their neat, elaborate outfits showed just how comfortably the people of the territory lived.
‘If I’d begged around here, I probably wouldn’t have gone hungry.’
Tch.
As I dwelled for a moment on my days of begging, I shook my head vigorously.
No, no. I’m the Lady now, aren’t I!
Let’s not think about my beggar days.
I turned back to the window, my eyes shining brightly as I gazed outside.
‘At first I was so gloomy because they said going out was a reward.’
But now that I was actually outside the mansion, my heart fluttered and my chest was filled with giddy excitement.
Maybe this kind of reward isn’t so bad…?!
* * *
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage stopped in front of an enormous building painted entirely in pink.
“Wow, it looks like a doll’s house.”
“Do you like it? Shall I buy it for you?”
He’ll buy it for me?
Buy what?
“A doll’s house?”
“No, this.”
The Duke jerked his chin toward the building as he spoke.
I couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
‘He doesn’t mean what I think he means, right?’
A building, or a building, or something like a building.
‘…I heard buildings in a territory this nice cost a fortune.’
Gulp.
I swallowed hard and slowly shook my head.
“N-no need, nuh-uh.”
“Why not? You said you liked it.”
“Melloni likes Gongzan’s residence better. I don’t need anything else!”
“…Is that so? Then there’s nothing to be done about it.”
The Duke smiled faintly as he answered.
Seeing how pleased he looked, I felt as though I had made the right choice.
‘Ugh. Honestly, I did covet it a little.’
What matters now isn’t money but my life, after all.
‘If I show a greedy side and he kicks me out for being presumptuous, what then?’
That would be terribly, terribly bad.
If I get thrown out now, that means kidnapping and confinement, guaranteed!
I was feeling both bitterness and relief at the same time when it happened.
“Oh my, welcome, welcome~!”
The pink door swung wide open, and a woman popped out with a bounce.
She had frizzy, curly hair and wore an unusual pair of glasses.

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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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