The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 29

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

29

Comfort changes nothing. A ruffian is a ruffian still. Just because two people share the same space doesn’t mean they occupy the same station.
Pelensu was someone Reportnya had no business laying hands on.
Of course, even with all her five-year-old strength behind it, a blow from her wouldn’t break his legs or cause that kind of pain. But his feelings—that was another matter. A mere adopted five-year-old, no better than a servant, had dared to touch the body of a high noble’s son.
“Uh, er, um.”
Reportnya’s mouth fell shut. Could she even call him that? If she called him that while he was angry, wouldn’t it make things worse? Maybe she should call him “Young Master” instead?
‘Why did I do that?’
Reportnya bit her lip. It had never happened before—this kind of emotion spiraling out of control. She’d never lost her composure like this, and so she couldn’t hold back what she was supposed to hold back.
Reportnya steeled herself and approached Pelensu, who stood hunched over his shin, wincing.
Her voice trembled with careful uncertainty.
“Um, br… brother?”
“Wack!”
“Agh!”
The moment the word left her lips, Pelensu’s head snapped up. Reportnya yelped and covered her face with both small hands.
“Ha ha. Buddy, did I scare you?”
His voice was cheerful. Reportnya steadied her racing heart and spread her fingers just slightly apart.
Between the gaps, she could see Pelensu’s face, playful and grinning. Not a trace of anger.
‘He’s not angry?’
Reportnya watched his expression through her fingers. At first she thought he was forcing it, pretending to be fine—but he genuinely seemed fine.
“Buddy? Were you really that frightened?”
When Reportnya didn’t lower her hands, Pelensu’s smile faded and he stepped closer.
He took her wrist gently and lowered her small hands from her face.
His face was far brighter than she’d seen it through her fingers.
“Cotton ball, are you alright? Was my prank too much? I didn’t think it would scare you this badly.”
“That’s—that’s what I should be asking.”
“Hmm?”
“I hit you.”
Reportnya looked down anxiously at the shin she’d struck, as if she could assess the damage.
“Are you hurt?”
“You mean me?”
“Yes.”
“So you hit me here?”
Pelensu pointed to his shin. Reportnya’s face went pale all over again.
“Buddy? Buddy. Look at me. Look at me.”
Pelensu studied the anxious child and turned his gaze from his leg to her face instead.
“I’m an Aura User—well, that probably doesn’t mean much to you. Um. I’m very strong. I could do things when I was small that most people can’t do. Father does it too, and my oldest brother.”
Who explains what an Aura User is in such a clumsy way?
“So even if you hit me a hundred times, a thousand times, ten million times as hard as you can, it won’t hurt. I won’t get hurt. If anything, your hands would hurt more than me.”
Pelensu lifted the frightened Reportnya into his arms and settled her on his knee, then slowly patted her back.
“Were you afraid I’d be hurt?”
His large hand soothed her back, and the sticky dread that had clung to her entire body fell away in an instant.
“Or were you scared that I’d hate you?”
Reportnya lifted her head. Was that it? Had she been anxious about that?
When she didn’t answer, only pressing her lips together, Pelensu smiled with raised eyebrows.
“Cotton ball. You’re fine.”
……
“I’ve fought with my oldest brother before—really fought, blood and everything.”
Though she could have sworn he’d once mentioned that Havelian was called a prodigy from childhood and preferred studying, preferred the Library.
“Wasn’t it more that you were the one getting beaten, though?”
“Oh, Buddy.”
Pelensu laughed.
“But it’s the other way around. I was the one taking it one-sidedly.”
“What?”
“My oldest brother’s a genius, so he knew how to hit properly.”
Truly, the eldest seemed to be a prodigy in every respect.
“Isn’t that what siblings do? So you shouldn’t be this scared over something like this.”
Reportnya faltered.
“Siblings?”
“Hmm?”
“You and me—are we really siblings?”
Pelensu laughed, his expression suggesting he’d heard something absurd.
“Then what are we to each other?”
“We are… we’re, we’re…”
Reportnya found no other answer and closed her lips.
“We’re siblings.”
Pelensu was the one who answered.
“Reportnya. You and I are brother and sister, aren’t we?”
Pelensu spoke without hesitation, naming them as siblings, as brother and sister.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever recognized as my sister.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You’re barely listening, but I mean it.”
Pelensu’s voice turned serious.
“Reportnya. You don’t understand it yet, but in this Empire, you’re the only person in the world who can call me brother.”
“What?”
“Even if someone were younger than you, not a soul would dare call me brother. Only you can.”
……
“Because you alone are my sister.”
And that continues, forever. Do you understand?
Pelensu met her eyes and spoke with genuine gravity. Reportnya slowly nodded in response.
“So call me brother often, will you? If you don’t, there’s no one left in this world to call me that.”
Something thorny rose up in her chest.
If the real princess were alive, he would never say such things.
She knew that well enough, and yet something sharp kept rolling around inside her, uncontrolled.
After all, it was only Reportnya herself who would be hurt by this.
‘I’m deceiving the people of the Kraitan Ducal Family just as much as he is—what nonsense am I telling myself?’
Reportnya swallowed a hollow laugh. She tilted her head and rested it against Pelensu’s shoulder. Without hesitation, he smiled and stroked her hair.
Her eyes closed, content.
‘Ah. I can’t afford to get used to this.’
Growing accustomed to things she could never truly have would only make things harder for her.
‘If he knew what I’m hiding, he wouldn’t even call me sister.’
She was a hypocrite. Here she was, deceiving him just the same.
‘If he knew who I really am, he’d hate me intensely, wouldn’t he?’
No.
If it ended at mere hatred, that would be a mercy. He might very well decide to kill her.
‘Maybe it’s better to just pretend I know nothing and live on as the Kraitan princess.’
Reportnya startled and shook her head.
Focus. This is just one task—once it’s done, it ends. Don’t drown in sentiment.
‘But what if I pretend ignorance and live as the Kraitan princess, only to have everything exposed later?’
If they discovered who Reportnya truly was, she would have no choice but to abandon the life she wished to keep.
When that time came, cast out by both the Pope and the Kraitan Ducal Family…
“Princess.”
It was Buddy who pulled her back from those dark waters of thought into reality.
“The Duke is asking for you.”
“All right. I’ll be there shortly.”
Reportnya tried to lift herself from Pelensu’s lap, but he was quicker.
Pelensu hoisted her waist up and settled her against his side.
“Where is Father?”
“He’s in the Study at present, sir.”
The moment he heard Buddy’s answer, Pelensu headed toward the Duke’s Study.
“You’re coming with me?”
“Reportnya, you know Father expects me to follow you anyway. He might scold me if I let you go alone.”
It was true. For now, Pelensu served as her escort.
Reportnya dangled against his side as he carried her, already accustomed to the motion.
‘When will the Wooden Horse come back? If only it would hurry. From now on, I’m riding nothing but that.’
She’d only just realized how much she’d missed it. When it returned, she’d treasure it.
By then, they had already arrived at the Duke’s Study. Pelensu signaled the chamberlain to announce them.
“My lord. The second young master and the young lady have arrived.”
The moment the butler’s report finished, Pelensu pushed open the door and slipped inside.
“Wait, wait just a moment. I haven’t even invited you in yet.”
“What’s the need for such formality between father and son? Besides, Father knows I do as I please—he won’t be startled by this.”
The incorrigible troublemaker spoke as though boasting of his own nature.
“Father.”
Pelensu approached Duke Kraitan’s desk with Reportnya tucked under his arm.
The Duke glanced up briefly. True to Pelensu’s word, his expression showed no trace of surprise.
‘This isn’t the first time, is it?’
Reportnya recalled the moment she’d first met Pelensu. Now that she thought about it, he’d been the same then too.
When Duke Kraitan had summoned the servants to his Study to hunt down the culprit of the fire incident and threatened them into submission.
No one had dared enter, yet Pelensu alone had brazenly opened the Study door and walked right in.
‘…A man of unwavering habit.’
A fleeting sense of gratitude crossed her mind—she was glad she hadn’t met Pelensu when he was truly young.
If she’d known him from childhood, managing him would have been far more difficult.
‘But I never would have met him back then anyway—why am I even thinking this?’
Reportnya shook her head, casting the thought aside.
“Pelensu. Reportnya.”
The Duke set down the documents he’d been reading and rubbed his eyes. Exhaustion etched itself plainly across his face.
“I’ve decided on the date for your outing. I called you here to tell you quickly.”
“Really?”
An outing date? At her side, Reportnya’s eyes gleamed with interest.

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