The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 7

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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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Episode 7

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Early dawn. The Duke of House Kraitan, a Physician, and a Butler gathered in the Duke’s study.
“There’s nothing more to say. I need to submit the adoption documents, so let’s make this quick.”
“Your Grace, are you truly certain about this?”
“This adoption came so suddenly. When I mentioned it to you before, you said you had no intention of adopting anyone.”
“That’s true.”
“Then why?”
“Having adopted the child without prior warning, the nobility will think I’ve lost my mind.”
The Butler did not deny this.
“See that appropriate letters are sent to quell any rumors.”
“The little guest cannot possibly be the lost Noblewoman.”
At the Butler’s deliberate reminder, the Duke’s hand stilled.
Even beneath the Duke’s gaze—cold as frost—the Butler continued speaking without hesitation.
“If the Noblewoman were alive, she would be a proper lady by now. Surely not a child of merely four or five years old.”
The Physician, watching the tension between the Butler and the Duke, ventured to speak carefully.
“And yet she bears a striking resemblance to the Duchess. For a moment, I truly believed the Duchess had returned.”
The Butler harbored the same thought.
When he first saw the child step down from the carriage, he too had believed the Duchess lived again.
Until now, many imposters had stepped forward claiming to be the lost Noblewoman.
But the Duke had needed only a few words before levying immediate punishment for fraud and slander.
Some had forfeited their lives; others had lost all their possessions and been cast out.
The Duke showed no mercy to those who dared impersonate his daughter.
Which is why Leponya’s sudden adoption was extraordinary.
The Butler exhaled deeply.
“If you are troubled by the child’s resemblance to your wife, there are other methods besides adoption.”
“I know the two are different. I’m not so mad as to confuse them.”
……
“This adoption isn’t merely because she resembles Laila.”
Laila. The very utterance of that name made his heart ache as though it might stop.
It was the name of the only woman the Duke of House Kraitan—known as a man of cold blood—had ever truly loved.
“This may seem reckless, but my heart is far from reckless. I have no intention of discarding the child on a whim.”
The Duke offered no further explanation. In truth, there was nothing more he could explain.
“I felt a power in her.”
“A power?”
It was a force that even the Duke of House Kraitan, who possessed an Aura and possessed heightened senses, could perceive only with intense concentration.
Yet that power dwelt within the child’s body.
So when he first met her, he poured forth his Aura to examine her, but felt nothing.
And yet.
His Aura clearly responded and was drawn toward some inexplicable, strange power he could not put into words.
How was he to describe this feeling?
Leponya.
He knew well enough that the child was not born between himself and Laila.
But the moment he saw her, the thought arose: she is my child.
Absurdly, he felt that if he let her slip away now, he would lose something irreplaceable.
Since awakening his Aura, his heightened senses had whispered: cherish that child.
“It’s the first time since I fell in love with Laila at first sight.”
“Sir?”
“Perhaps I am simply exhausted.”
His voice, tinged with resignation, fell away into a murmur to himself.
Twenty years.
For twenty years, the Duke had been searching for his daughter—though all others had declared her dead.
The Butler drew a breath and began his report.
“I will now present the findings from our investigation of the little guest.”
Though the child’s age did not match that of the lost daughter, her uncanny resemblance to the Duchess warranted investigation.
“There are sixty people registered in the Empire’s identity records under the name Leponya. We estimate another one hundred seventy are unregistered, and among them, none are five years old as of this year.”
“None?”
“Correct. Since the young lady may have miscalculated her age, we investigated all children named Leponya between four and six years old. There is one six-year-old child by that name, but she is a boy.”
Duke Kraitan stroked his chin.
“Is there any possibility that someone in Laila’s family had a child and abandoned her?”
“It has no connection to the House of Rowald, your wife’s family.”
The butler spoke with certainty.
“As you know, House of Rowald has been without heirs for some time due to an unfortunate accident. The only surviving member of that family now is—”
“My wife’s father.”
“Yes, Count Rowald alone. Even if we assumed he had taken a mistress and fathered a child… he would likely have kept the child close and raised her himself.”
Duke Kraitan tapped his desk rhythmically.
“How is Count Rowald doing?”
“Well enough, though he still won’t so much as turn his head in your direction.”
“I am the guilty one for causing him to lose a beloved daughter and granddaughter. I should be grateful he will even see Habel and Pelens.”
“Yes. We also confirmed the house where the young lady stayed. The owner is a man who rarely visits and appears unconnected to her.”
The duke fell silent, as if considering something.
“The young lady is so scrupulously clean that she leaves no trace of having lived anywhere at all.”
Could a person live without leaving any mark behind? The notion was absurd.
“At least we can rule out any connection to our family.”
Then what was this feeling nagging at him?
The image came to mind of a five-year-old girl fearless and reckless, yet strangely composed.
“So much happened in the span of a single day yesterday. Do you know what that child asked me?”
The butler said nothing, closing his lips at the duke’s self-deprecating murmur.
“She asked if I regretted it. There was no sign of anxiety, no sense that she was merely curious as though it were someone else’s affair.”
And yet when it came to scraping the cake frosting, she watched herself carefully as if deeply aware of wrongdoing.
“The young noblewoman appears indifferent to her own affairs. …Perhaps it is a defense mechanism of some kind.”
The physician ventured cautiously.
“I noticed she did not cry even when seeing her own wounds, though the young masters certainly wept when they bled at five years old.”
The butler, hearing the physician’s words, recalled something and parted his lips.
“When the servants bathed the young noblewoman, they said her entire body was covered in scars.”
“That would be expected if she has been living alone outside. Children injure themselves constantly without thinking.”
The butler nodded, accepting the physician’s added explanation, and continued speaking.
“The concerning part is her reaction. She showed no particular response, speaking of the pain as if discussing someone else’s wound.”
“Living alone outside was hardly an environment suited for a five-year-old child to thrive.”
The physician smiled sadly.
The duke recalled Leponya at the moment he had handed her the Adoption Documents, watching as she read the characters and verified them.
“Now that I think of it, she was reading despite being only five years old.”
“She likely was not formally taught. Such skills are often acquired naturally when a child must survive alone.”
Duke Kraitan set off toward the Imperial Palace, and the butler followed, continuing his report.
“Word is that the young prince of House of Villemen will soon inherit the Ducal Title. You will need to attend the ceremony at the Imperial Palace and have your formal dress tailored again.”
House of Villemen was an outstanding master family of swordcraft in the Empire. For generations, they had produced the Strongest Knights of the realm, and they wielded military power comparable to House of Kraitan.
“Ah. That arrogant whelp.”
Currently, due to some matter, only the young heir and his grandmother, Grand Duchess Villemen, survived to carry on the family name.
The young prince heir was nine years old this year, too young to inherit the Ducal Title, so Grand Duchess Villemen had volunteered to act as regent, or so the reports said.
“Since he will formally inherit the title, all use of ‘whelp’ and ‘stripling’ is forbidden.”
“Grand Duchess Villemen would not have relinquished the seat easily.”
“Indeed. He is the youngest duke in Imperial history. After the succession ceremony at the Imperial Palace, they plan to hold a celebration banquet at his residence afterward, so see that it is properly attended to.”
“Leave the child-rearing to someone else. I’m too busy tending to another child right now.”
Duke Kraitan departed for the Imperial Palace without further delay.

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The very day after Leponya approved the Adoption Documents.
Duke Kraitan submitted the paperwork to the Imperial Court without hesitation, going so early at dawn that he pressed them to handle it quickly.
The Imperial Court approved it, and Leponya formally became a Daughter of Duke Kraitan.
News that the duke had adopted a child spread quickly, and everyone was curious about her identity.
“…Good.”
Leponya, the subject of those rumors, was stirring awake, feeling the warm sunlight.
The morning light streaming through a small window beside her bed had awakened her again today without fail.
A bed soft as lying on clouds, blankets of fine fabric said to arrive only through trade, and even a pillow that did not hurt her neck.
Leponya had been experiencing a perfect tranquility these past days—something she’d never known in all her life until now.
Of course, that didn’t mean everything had been entirely peaceful.
‘Where on earth is the Family Heirloom?’
Between matching dresses and shoes and enduring examinations from several Physicians to confirm her health, Leponya had managed to explore every corner of the mansion in her busy days.
Her weak constitution tired easily, so it had taken several days just to wander through the mansion at all.
By now Leponya had grown quite comfortable dining with the Duke and touring the estate with her assigned maid.
When noon arrived, the Duke emerged from somewhere—who knew where—and joined her for lunch, after which they explored the mansion again.
Then evening came, and he rushed out like some dinner fairy to dine with her once more.
And that wasn’t all.
“Ponya.”
“Yes?”
“…Ponya.”
“Hmm?”
“Ah, Ponya.”
“Yes!”
The number of times he called her name for no reason whatsoever had only multiplied!
Each time Leponya answered the Duke of House of Kraitan’s summons, the maids standing behind her clutched their hearts and pretended to swoon.
“My lady, your responses are absolutely adorable.”
“And the way you nod so earnestly is just perfect.”
“How does she answer so well? My lady, surely you’re a genius?”
…This place was truly strange.
“Ah, Ponya.”
That Duke of House of Kraitan kept calling her with such a satisfied expression—he was the worst of all.
“…….”
“Why aren’t you answering? Come on, give me another cute yes.”
The conversation always ended the same way—with an exasperated Leponya glaring at him.
Because she’d been abandoned in April, the orphanage director had named Leponya after a fruit that could be eaten in that month.
Hating that name, Leponya had given herself a new one.
Easy to remember, easy to pronounce.
Of course, no one had ever called her by it.
Even when she met the Pope, she was called “the eldest daughter.”
Hearing her name spoken in so many places felt strange.
Since she couldn’t explore the mansion into the late evening, she bathed and went to bed early, as befitted a five-year-old.
“Then sleep well, my lady.”
After reading two picture storybooks and singing a lullaby, the maid didn’t leave the bedroom until Leponya had fallen asleep.
Click.
Leponya, who had been pretending to sleep, opened her eyes.
“All I did was eat all day, and the whole day is already gone.”
Leponya patted her full belly a few times.
Still, by diligently walking about all day, she’d finally completed a blueprint of the main mansion’s interior layout in her mind.
It wasn’t perfect, but by calculating the approximate shapes of the outer walls and corridors, she’d even deduced the secret passages connecting each floor.
Yet no matter how carefully she searched, there was nowhere the Family Heirloom could be hidden.
‘Could it be that the heirloom isn’t hidden inside the main mansion, but somewhere else?’
The Family Heirloom of House of Kraitan was said to be managed directly by the head of the house and hidden deep within the estate.
Though it was said only the head of the house knew what it actually was.
‘A place so safe no one could steal it. Somewhere accessible enough to manage and inspect regularly.’
In other words, it had to be somewhere inside the main mansion.
“Hmm.”
Leponya recalculated whether there was any place she’d missed.
Clatter!
The terrace window rattled in the wind blowing from outside. Leponya turned her head toward the sound.
“Huh?”
A shadow appeared beyond the terrace window.
‘What is that?’
Furrowing her brows, Leponya slowly approached the terrace and opened the door.
Whoosh!
The moment she opened it, a strong wind rushed in as if it had been waiting. The silver hair moonlit against Leponya’s head streamed in the gale.
Startled, Leponya couldn’t even scream and squeezed her eyes shut. At the same moment, a young boy’s voice rang out above her head.
“You’re alive.”

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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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