Born as the Hidden Daughter of a Villainess and the Male Lead

<Episode 31>

 

Today’s work was his doing.

Obviously, that girl didn’t do anything and stayed still.

No, rather, didn’t I just watch that child making every effort to save the people in the crown prince’s palace?

“Your Excellency, aren’t you curious what princess Edith’s one remaining attribute is?”

However, the grand duke’s vassal paid no heed to him and committed without hesitation the attempt to slander his master’s biological daughter.

Ashamed couldn’t believe the current situation.

Without any solid evidence, the Grand Duke accused his beloved daughter of being the criminal?

Yes, that was a strange phenomenon.

Ashamed turned his head and looked at the occupants of the Grand Duke’s residence.

Roberick Arne Hailian was a cheap person¹No swearing 😊, so I thought others would immediately criticize the vassal’s words.

but…

“……..”

The others raised no objections.

The Grand Duchess hugged her daughter and glared the young girl, and the employees’ reaction was…

It was as if they believed that that girl did it.

Ashamed was overcome with embarrassment.

The gazes around him was becoming cold and uncontrollable, and it felt even more strange.

⋯⋯Roberick Arne Heilian’s beloved biological daughter, right?

Why was everyone reacting like that?

“Although there have been several similar incidents before, this accident happened when princess Edith was away. More than anything, princess Allea was hurt.”

The Heilian Grand Duke’s vassal did not stop.

The image of hatred and malice dancing happily around him clearly entered Ashamed’s field of vision.

“I have no doubt that princess Edith, who is the only one to inherit His Excellency the Grand Duke’s blood, would have received the Spirit King’s blessings in all three attributes. So, the hypothesis that the last remaining attribute is the Ice Spirit King Frincher is not absurd.”

Ashamed was confused.

I… I hadn’t put any curse on that child yet.

“Also, if the princess has hidden the attributes that have already manifested, we have no way of knowing. So, there is no choice but to be suspicious of this incident.”

But the people surrounding the little girl glared at her with disgust.

They despised her as if they knew it would happen from the beginning.

“Have you forgotten what kind of person princess Edith’s biological mother was? She was a woman who tried to kill the Grand Duchess and princess Allea, who was just a toddler. But even if her daughter was still young, how could she not inherit that nature? !!”

The Grand Duke belatedly came forward to defend his daughter, but the retainer paid no attention and shouted.

……..My heart ached.²I am touched that he wasn’t all bad, he had good in him.

I didn’t know what the reason was.

Ashamed quietly placed his hand on his chest.

And even in this situation, I looked at the girl who kept her lips tightly shut.

‘Why aren’t you reacting at all?’

Ashamed asked blankly.

‘Why does this reaction seem familiar?’

‘Are you just quietly accepting it?’

The girl’s body was shaking slightly as she lowered her head.

But Ashamed was wrong.

“…….”

The small hands were tightly closed.

Upon witnessing that scene, Ashamed felt his heart sink again.

Ashamed could no longer look at the child and looked away.

This wasn’t your fault.

…I did it all.

Edith Ronen Heilian.

I thought that she would definitely be a child loved by everyone.

Even though they were born from the same mother, they should have been like the other brothers living under the bright light and receiving the love of the Emperor.

I thought I would live without knowing hatred and contempt.

But no.

Ashamed’s eyes, which had been emitting a distant blue light like stars in the cold night sky, wavered endlessly.

That child, that little girl, even if I don’t curse her…

‘Someone like you should never have been born, why were you born? Did Arkane give orders to destroy the imperial family?!’

‘……You, your father said you should live like the dead beings. So, don’t keep sneaking in front of me… Go back quickly, to where you belong.’

I was already hated enough.

Just like her.

“……Let’s go back, Tregard.”

He complained of an unfamiliar pain as his heart was being stabbed.

At the same time, he started whispering some words.

I didn’t want to know.

However, Ashamed could not help but vaguely realize.

At first, it was definitely hatred.

I wanted to drag a being from a bright, happy world so different from mine into the mud I was in.

But now……

Ashamed bit his lip and turned around.

[Curse, won’t you?]

Tregard asked curiously.

Ashamed took a small breath and looked back again.

The girl was still standing there.

In the midst of hate pouring in from all directions.

“…I won’t.”

As soon as Ashamed answered, snow flake-like crystals scattered to the ceiling and quickly melted.

Tak.

One of the small snowflakes landed on the tip of Edith’s nose.

Edith opened her eyes wide and looked up at the ceiling where Ashamed had disappeared.

 

***

 

After suddenly coming back.

Ashamed woke up in his deserted room.

Then he tapped his fingertips nervously and touched his lips.

Everything was confusing.

But one thing was certain.

Ashamed didn’t want to put a curse on the girl.

Me and that kid might be similar.

…No, that child at least had a biological father who was completely on her side.

So, should I curse her like I originally wanted to…

Even as I thought about that, I couldn’t forget the feeling that struck my heart for a moment.

Ashamed pondered over the moments that had passed without fully understanding his decision.

It took time for the boy to accept the unfamiliar feeling of kinship that had bloomed in his heart, where only hatred existed.

 

***

 

The price came back horribly.

“…How about just forbidding him from summoning his spirits? Oswald.”

After his daughter was involved in an accident and was almost injured, Roberick abandoned his previous ambiguous attitude and showed clear hostility towards Ashamed, leading him to propose the idea to Oswald first.

Casting a spell directly on a spiritist to prohibit the summoning of spirits meant forcibly blocking the mana flowing into the soul, and was a dangerous attempt that could result in shock and even death.

“…I guess we just need to set a tighter seal.”

“Oswald.”

“I sincerely apologize for what happened this time, Roberick. But I can’t bear to kill that thing that inherited Elijah’s blood.”

Even at this moment, it was the pleading of a mother whose face I had never seen that prolonged my boring life.

If it were any other time, I would have been even more enraged by the Emperor’s contradictions and would have rather died, but this was the first time.

Ashamed was happy about the emperor’s decision to prolong his life.

……why?

“…..It hurts.”

After using Tregard’s power, he had not even had a proper meal, so there was a long way to recover his strength.

Ashamed thought idly as he lay helplessly on the floor.

Edith Ronen Heilian.

Daughter of Roberick Arne Heilian.

A being that was a target for his curse, but was unable to do so due to unforeseen turmoil.

“Tregard.”

[what?]

Tregard, who was staying nearby, bowed his head towards the boy he blessed.

Ashamed said as he stared at the creature that seemed to have been created by gathering all the black and ugly things that others would immediately find terrifying.

“I want to go to princess Heilian’s residence.”

[……No. Your strength isn’t fully recovered yet.]

“It is okay.”

Even if I had to die, I wanted to see her again.

 

***

 

“Nix! Put that thing down!”

[Kyahahaha! Catch me, Edith!]

[This guy, can’t he put down Edith’s book right now?! Come on!]

Ashamed sat in a corner of the Archduke’s palace and watched Edith playing with the water spirits.

I was curious. Since that day, what exactly was the name of this feeling that still hadn’t gone away?

…Why didn’t the image of that girl disappear from my mind?

Ashamed, thinking that the girl would give him the answer, went to see Edith even though his strength was at its limit.

“Ah! But you know,Nyx.”

[Huh.]

“…You don’t have to take revenge for me.”

The girl was sweeping up her light purple hair, which seemed to have a deep flower scent, with one hand.

Edith said.

“There is a strange ghost story going around about the workers who treated me a little… harshly, that keep splashing them in the face every time they go near the water. Nyxes, you guys did all that, right?”

She smiled brightly with gentle eyes and spoke to the young spirit.

The young water spirit lowered his head and answered sullenly.

[……huh. That’s right, they are bad people.]

“Thank you. But it’s okay. You don’t have to take revenge for me.”

“Why?”

Ashamed blurted out even though he knew the girl wouldn’t hear.

Edith answered right away, even though she probably couldn’t hear Ashamed’s voice.

“Hate makes people sick. The same goes for spirits. I also think that bad guys should be punished. However, those people are insignificant beings who are not worth giving up my life to take revenge on. If you take revenge on everyone like that, you won’t get anything back, right?”

A quiet voice murmured, as if immersed in deep thoughts.

“I think what’s more important than revenge is the happiness of the moment.”

Happiness.

Ashamed muttered softly.

It was a distant word that I had no idea when I first heard it.

“Ultimately, I plan to seek revenge, but I will live my life pursuing happiness in the present as much as possible. Even if the employees were a little arrogant, it doesn’t matter because I wasn’t particularly hurt. So that’s it. Enough is enough.”

The girl smiled brightly like a flower in full bloom.

“Now they can’t treat me carelessly! I’m truly a genius spiritist!”

……Ashamed looked at the girl blankly.

It was definitely a statement full of contradictions, confident and even arrogant.

Not bad.

Rather, it was spirited.

Ashamed rested his chin and looked at the girl who had started talking with the spirits again.

What you receive, you repay with several times more harshness.

Her words completely overturned the thoughts that had been eating away at his mind from the moment he began to perceive the world.

Rather than a fit of rejection, a strange feeling arose.

After that, as time passed, the doubts about the identity of the new emotions that he began to feel at some point disappeared.

Although he found out that he was continuing to head to Archduchy’s Hailian’s residence just because he wanted to see that girl.

Ashamed no longer considered the contradiction important.

 

***

TL:

Sorry for the delay everyone, I have two pieces of good news one for you and one for me:

1. My test results came out and I have got an A.😁

2. I have decided that the number of locked chapters will be restricted to five chapters at most, as I don’t feel comfortable with having too many of them.

That’s it, enjoy~