The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 5

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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 5

When the Duke of House Craietan had announced his intention to adopt Leponya just moments earlier, every servant in the mansion had worn the same expression of shock.
No one in the household had known about this adoption beforehand.
Yet this bedroom was perfect.
It was undoubtedly a room maintained and prepared daily — kept immaculate and warm — in anticipation of the true princess’s return.
“Giving me this room means…”
Leponya ran her finger along the shelf. The bedroom was empty of an owner, yet not a speck of dust marred its surface.
“He’s clearly raising me as a substitute for that lost daughter, trying to ease his guilt.”
There was no other reason to provide such a fine room to a hastily adopted child.
Or perhaps it was a calculated strategy—bestowing such a lavish space only to later accumulate guilt in her debt.
When the time came for her revocation of adoption, he could claim that having allowed her to stay in such comfort left her with no right to complain.
‘How long can I remain here? A month? Half a year, perhaps?’
Leponya curled herself into the rocking chair before the fireplace. Standing out had never brought her fortune, so she’d developed a habit of hiding whenever she found herself in unfamiliar places.
“Hmm.”
She drew her knees close and rested her cheek against them.
She was a body that could be cast out at any moment. It would be fortunate to remain long enough to locate the Family Heirloom, but that seemed unlikely.
‘Before that happens, I need to map out the location of the heirloom throughout the mansion.’
On the way to this bedroom earlier, she’d caught only a glimpse of the estate, and with her short legs, exploring the entire mansion in a single day seemed impossible.
At least she had one advantage: her mind remained unaffected by her small body, so she retained everything the Pope had taught her.
The method of Targeting Vital Points without great exertion was essential knowledge for this five-year-old frame.
‘But for now, it’s better to act like a weaker five-year-old than one who knows the vital points of the human body.’
People didn’t guard themselves against those who seemed weaker than they were.
‘If I draw suspicion through strange behavior, the plan will crumble. I cannot let them discover who I truly am.’
House Craietan was the protector of the Empire, preserving its safety and peace.
The moment the Duke discovered her identity, he would execute the criminal Leponya without hesitation.
She had spent years as the Pope’s spy, living through constant performance, so she possessed confidence in such deception.
‘If I’m discovered searching for the heirloom…’
Leponya clenched her small fist firmly and set her lips in grim determination.
‘I’ll strike a vital point and flee.’
Survival. That was all that mattered. In this world full of malice, mere survival was her only goal.
She would do anything to achieve it.
Extinguish emotion. Turn away from horrors.
It was as Leponya’s gaze fell that a voice echoed from behind her.
“Where is the child?”
An unfamiliar voice, yet one that carried command.
“I clearly ordered that someone guide her to her bedroom.”
“Y-yes? She was definitely in the bedroom just moments ago!”
That coarse, grainy voice like rough sand belonged to the Duke of House Craietan, while the trembling, herbivore-like voice came from the maid who had placed a sweet in her mouth during Leponya’s bath.
From childhood, through repeated Memory Training, she had learned to memorize faces and voices without difficulty.
“I made certain to instruct the steward to convey this: if I detect so much as a hint of contempt, I will not overlook it. Did you not hear?”
“I-I apologize, Your Grace!”
The maid’s voice grew teary under the Duke’s cold, clipped tone.
‘I must be careful never to be discovered while staying close to him.’
He bore the description of an ice-blooded man without mercy or tears—fitting for someone known as the Empire’s protector.
“I said she was my daughter.”
What? Daughter?
“I have given her the family name, so she is now the Princess of House Craietan.”
Given her the family name… the Princess of House Craietan?
“Surely you didn’t take it upon yourself to judge the situation and fail to guide the child to her bedroom.”
Wait.
Could that be…
‘Is he talking about me?’
Leponya’s pupils wavered as she remained curled in the rocking chair, listening in secret.
“No, absolutely not, Your Grace! I bathed the princess and went searching for clothes since there were none suitable for her to wear.”
“And you left a five-year-old child alone on her first day in this place? What if she became frightened and wandered off, losing her way or injuring herself?”
“I-I didn’t think that far ahead, sir.”
“One of you should have stayed at the child’s side. I said I’d step away so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable while bathing. Did that sound like an order to take your eyes off her?”
“It’s, it’s my fault, sir.”
Leponya straightened from her crouch and scrambled to her feet.
She rose so hastily that the chair tumbled backward with a loud clatter.
Both men’s eyes snapped toward the sound. Without thinking, Leponya raised her small hands.
“I, I’m right here.”
Damn this tongue of mine.
She’d blurted it out in alarm, and her pronunciation had twisted with her nerves.
Watching the two men’s startled faces, Leponya squeezed her eyes shut in shame.
Craietan moved toward her with sudden urgency.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, no. I’m fine, but the chair broke when it fell—”
“That’s just expendable furniture. Don’t give it another thought.”
It had looked expensive and plush, but perhaps to a wealthy nobleman, such things meant nothing.
“It’s about time for a meal, so I came to suggest we dine together.”
Dine? The thought of a noble’s table made her mouth water.
But she had to resist.
Not even a day had passed since she’d emphasized in the carriage how little her food costs, and if she complained of hunger now, he’d surely think she wasn’t worth the expense.
“I’m fine.”
“Not hungry?”
“No.”
“What did you eat today?”
The longer she could stay at this mansion, the more invisible she needed to remain.
‘This much is easy.’
She recalled children who’d been adopted by nobles, sent back with a Revocation of Adoption because they’d grown annoying—always needing things, always being troublesome.
“Half an apple when I woke up.”
“……”
“You said food wouldn’t cost much. You meant it, right? I don’t need you to take care of me.”
She’d simply be quiet, as if she weren’t even there, as long as he didn’t cast her out too quickly.
“That filled you up?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve always eaten like that?”
“Yes.”
Craietan absently touched the frayed hem of her sleeve as he murmured to himself.
“Then that’s a real problem……”
His murmur carried an unsettling tone.
‘Did I misspeak somehow?’
Leponya retraced the conversation quickly. Did he dislike apples? Or was it something about eating right after waking?
“I dislike eating alone, you see.”
“…What?”
“So I wanted to eat together, but it seems that won’t work.”
Leponya’s eyes wavered.
She remembered priests like that from the Pope’s quarters. Grown men, blessed with their calling, yet unable to eat alone because they were lonely.
‘So even Craietan is like that.’
The Empire’s protector—unable to take a meal by himself.
“Are you truly not hungry?”
Should she remain the practical, economical child, or become the one who comforted a lonely duke at his side?
In the long run, the former seemed wiser anyway.
“It would be delicious, I’m sure.”
Leponya’s shoulders flinched.
“The mansion’s chef loves preparing food and makes far too much. It’s wasteful to throw it away every time. So…”
“I’ll eat with you. I will.”
At the sigh that followed his words, Leponya answered at once. Whenever he sighed like that, something unfortunate always seemed to follow—a reflex born from instinct.
“Really?”
Craietan accepted immediately, then swept Leponya into his arms without ceremony.
“Ah!”
Cradled in the massive embrace of the mountain-like Craietan, Leponya cried out in surprise.
“I can walk on my own!”
“You don’t even know where the dining hall is. You’d be lost before you took three steps.”
Craietan carried her from the bedroom into the hallway, holding her close as he walked.
My legs don’t hurt, and now that my viewpoint is higher, I can see so much more—which is nice, I suppose…….
‘But is this right? I’m twenty years old. Is it proper for me to be carried like this? Even when I was five, I used to walk all the way past the mountains to the river to do laundry.’
Leponya’s soft cheeks flushed crimson. In all her years, she had never been held in anyone’s arms like this.
“If you don’t hold on tight, you’ll fall?”
Startled, Leponya gripped the Duke’s collar firmly. He was so tall that if she fell from this height, she’d surely be injured.
A strange sense of defeat washed over her.
‘Does he want to play house—father and daughter?’
She had thought it would end after adopting her as a daughter and offering her a bedroom. Yet here was this so-called cold-blooded man, not only openly carrying the child through the mansion, but now suggesting they share meals together.
Leponya exhaled softly and, rather than pull away from the Duke, surveyed the mansion.
She meticulously noted the positions of every window that opened, the paintings hung along each corridor—gathering details in case she needed to flee. Her mind began sketching the architectural layout of the estate.
Through years of struggling to survive, observing the structure of places and mentally mapping their designs had become second nature.
“You’re not here now, but Leponya, you have two older brothers.”
“…B-brothers?”
Come to think of it, House Craietan did have two sons.
‘I’m gaining brothers?’
And not just one—two of them.
“Havelian, the eldest, is currently teaching cadets at the Military Academy, and Felens, the second son, is still at the Academy. He ought to have graduated three years ago, but……”
“The Academy?”
Leponya tilted her head in confusion. When she’d investigated House Craietan’s information, the second son, Felens, should have been well past the age of Academy graduation.
Moreover, both sons wielded Aura and surely had excellent grades—so why was he still enrolled?
“Neither of them returns to the mansion frequently, so you needn’t concern yourself much with it.”
For Leponya, this was actually convenient. The fewer eyes watching the estate, the easier it would be to locate the Family Heirloom and steal it away.
If she were truly only five years old, she would have been delighted to gain a family. But she was not.
The adoption had been decided far too easily, the moment he laid eyes on Leponya’s face.
Look—there was still no proper reason, no real explanation.
Whether it lasted one or two years before Revocation of Adoption was almost certainly inevitable.
‘It’s fine. No need to feel bitter. I never planned to stay here that long anyway.’
‘Let’s steal it and run as soon as we can!’
Day one of her adoption.
Leponya harbored grand ambitions.

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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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