Chapter 116
‘Could it be… Lia? No, that’s impossible.’
The duke let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
He pushed away the ridiculous thought that had popped into his mind.
Lia didn’t even have the defining pink hair of the Grand Princess.
Moreover, though he hadn’t had the chance to check the child’s eye color due to the chaos of her immediate abduction after birth, if she took after her parents, her eyes would likely be pink or green.
‘Whether from her paternal or maternal side, there’s no way they’d be brown.’
Yet, despite brushing aside his doubts, the duke couldn’t shake off a lingering unease.
“Are we really… really going to find our Adriana…?”
At that moment, the marquis, who had remained silent for a long time, squeezed his eyes shut, unable to finish his sentence.
He had never suspected that his daughter and son-in-law had orchestrated such a scheme, so he had all but given up on finding his granddaughter.
Of course, he had planned to search for her through the information guild once he returned to the capital after passing on his title, grasping at straws if necessary, but that was about it.
“Father, I apologize. I couldn’t tell you in advance because I wasn’t sure how long it would take or if it would even go as planned.”
The grand duke apologized with a contrite voice.
For once, the marquis didn’t object. He simply nodded and acknowledged the effort with a slight tilt of his head.
Then, after gathering his thoughts, the duke spoke in a low, calm voice.
“Your Grace, the Grand Duke. Did you accept today’s dinner invitation just to talk about this? Is that why you suggested the children dine separately?”
When the grand duke nodded, the duke continued.
“But I don’t understand. What does this have to do with making Diana your goddaughter?”
The grand duchess let out a cold smile.
“When I announced that we would release all of Belus’ magical artifacts to the empire earlier, you looked confused. Many others must have thought the same. Especially the emperor, given his keen interest in the principality of Belus.”
“That’s…”
The duke was about to point out that the emperor was more interested in something, or rather someone, other than the duchy itself. But seeing the grand duchess scowl as if she didn’t even want to hear it, he swallowed his words.
“If the emperor finds out that I’m using magical artifacts to search for my daughter, what do you think will happen?”
Though imperial mages were less skilled than those of the duchy, they might still be able to decipher the magic circle.
If that happened, the artifacts could be misused, or something entirely unforeseen might occur.
“We just want to find our daughter quietly. And to do so without raising suspicion, we need an excuse.”
“That excuse is making Diana your goddaughter?”
“Yes. That way, the emperor and everyone else will think, ‘Ah, the Belus Grand Ducal family has finally given up on the grand duchess. Instead, they’ve decided to treat Lady Elard as their daughter, even selling their magical artifacts at a bargain to the empire as proof.'”
“The principality’s title, lands, mines, jewels… Whatever she desires will be hers. She could become the most precious child in the empire—no, on the entire continent. Even more than a princess.”
With the grand duke himself affirming it, the Duke of Elard scoffed.
“That is unnecessary.”
His voice was cold.
“I don’t like it. It feels like you’re using my daughter.”
“Dominique!”
“My dear!”
Both the grand duchess and the duchess of Elard called his name in shock, clearly not expecting his response.
The duke sighed heavily as he looked at their astonished faces.
“…Is what I’d like to say. But there’s no way I can refuse.”
“Sigh…”
Relieved sighs escaped from all around.
Though visibly displeased, the duke conceded.
“If this causes Diana any trouble, I will hold you accountable.”
“Of course. But that won’t happen. Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
The grand duke, his green eyes glistening with emotion, beamed.
His dazzling beauty, like a sacred statue in a grand temple, was so breathtaking that even the usually unimpressed Duke of Elard hesitated for a moment.
And so, he thought begrudgingly,
Perhaps the continent’s mages weren’t drawn to the Grand Duke of Belus solely for his magical prowess.
***
Sigh.
“…Hey!”
Sigh.
“Heyyyyy!”
Ah! I flinched at Allen’s sudden shout.
“Young master, you startled me. What’s wrong?”
“‘What’s wrong?’ ‘What’s wrong?’! Do you know how many times I called you? Why have you been sighing nonstop instead of eating?”
Allen frowned deeply.
Now that I thought about it, even Diana, sitting next to me, was looking at me with concern.
“Sorry.”
I apologized awkwardly, making Allen furrow his brows even more.
“That’s not the problem. I want to know why.”
But I couldn’t answer him right away.
At first, I had been disappointed that I couldn’t attend the dinner. Then, I started feeling overwhelmed about proving that I was Adriana.
‘Diana’s words and my claims alone won’t be enough to convince anyone…’
In fact, I had asked Diana to keep my resemblance to the grand duchess a secret.
I still didn’t understand why only she saw me that way, and without any solid proof, talking about it might only put her in a difficult position.
‘Last night, I examined my face and body thoroughly with mana, but I didn’t find any traces of a spell.’
Even the Grand Duke, known as the Grand Mage, hadn’t said anything upon seeing me, so I wasn’t sure, but it really didn’t seem like a curse. The fact that divine power hadn’t worked on me before was also telling.
I considered going to the temple, but remembering how the priest had been shocked when I repelled divine power at the ducal estate made me hesitate.
‘At the very least, I wish I knew what was being discussed in the dining room.’
Maybe the meeting earlier had been too brief for anyone to notice anything unusual about me.
If I had known this would happen, I should have tried releasing some mana in front of the Grand Duke. I regretted not doing so.
“You… by any chance…”
At that moment, Allen narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
There was no way he could know what I was thinking, but I still felt a pang of guilt.
“Is it because of the Grand Duke? Because you couldn’t eat with him?”
“Huh?”
How did he know?
Startled, I widened my eyes for a moment before recalling something he often said.
“I mean, the Grand Duke is really handsome, but that’s not why.”
“Hmph, who said anything about that? Either way, it is because of him. Are you admiring him like the other mages?”
Surprisingly, his response was quite reasonable, so I nodded, a little taken aback.
Considering my own interest in magic, it made sense for him to think that.
Not long ago, when Lucio and the other mages had come to the duchy—especially the head mage, Terin, who constantly praised ‘great mage Grand Duke Bellus, the greatest genius!’—they had all been devastated about having to leave the capital.
Thinking of that, I felt a little proud.
After all, the one and only grand mage that every mage admired might just be my father.
“Hey, young master.”
“Hm? What?”
“Do you know anything about the Grand Princess?”
Since we were already talking about the Grand Duke, I decided to ask directly.
“The Grand Princess? Oh, you mean Ascart’s younger sister?”
The title seemed unfamiliar to Allen, as he tilted his head.
“Yes. How she disappeared, who was behind it… Or if she had any distinguishing features, like a birthmark or an identifying item…?”
“I don’t know.”
Allen cut me off mid-sentence, looking a bit uncomfortable.
“The adults never talked about it. I just pieced together that she was kidnapped right after birth.”
“Oh…”
“No one ever said anything. I also don’t see Ascart as often as before, and when I do, he doesn’t really let anything out. Honestly, I even forget he had a sister sometimes.”
Seeing my disappointment, Allen quickly added an explanation.
I nodded slowly.
Of course. No one would have told children the full story.
“But why do you want to know?”
“Just… I was just curious.”
I forced a bitter smile and brushed off his question.
‘I guess asking Ascart or Bianca directly would be faster.’
It would mean bringing up painful memories, but this wasn’t the time to be considerate.
“Oh, right! Lia, come to the training grounds soon!”
“The training grounds? Why?”
“Today, my father asked Marietta to watch over me and Jack’s swordsmanship practice.”
“Lady Bianca?”
“Yeah!”
Allen’s eyes sparkled like the mages when they heard the Grand Duke was coming to the empire.
So he admired Bianca Marietta, the swordmaster, too.
‘Well, it makes sense. Bianca is skilled in both magic and swordsmanship. She probably handles mana more sensitively than other aura users.’
The Duke must have thought she could help Allen awaken his aura.
“Lia, you have to come. Got it?”
“I wanna go too!”
“Of course, Diana, you have to come too.”
I wasn’t sure why he wanted me to be there, but I was grateful nonetheless.
I was just about to answer Allen, who was grinning while playing with Diana’s cheeks, when I caught sight of the mirror on the table in front of me.
I froze.
‘…There it was. The proof.’
A certain object had caught my eye, something that might prove I was the Grand Princess.
