After a long time passed, Heron spoke again.
“Isn’t it funny to squeeze a ruse out of that little brain?”
“I was also impressed by your refusal to deny it when you were caught, Your Grace.”
Carlton thought it was a little odd.
“You’re not the one who repeats the same thing.”
He keeps talking about Viola.
Today, you seemed to repeat a particularly similar impression.
Maybe it’s because he was so disappointed in the youngest princess.
The Duke continued.
“But it will change a bit in the future.”
The first time was a mistake. But mistakes must not be repeated.
Now that you’ve taught me, you’ll have to change direction in the future.
Bellato has to be Bellato.
Herron’s reasoning was so.
But I kept thinking of those plump peach cheeks and cream-stained faces.
Carlton continued.
“Since we met for the first time today, I thought she would show a different side of us at the welcome dinner. A more Bellato-like appearance.”
“I guess so. If you do not, you will be beheaded.”
There seemed to be a feeling of cheek left at the tip of my finger.
I remember the earnest eyes and obsessive wishes obsessed with egg tarts.
It was like a hedgehog greedy for food.
It was a disheveled appearance, never seen among Bellato’s purebloods.
Purple hair flowing down.
Plump cheeks with a hint of peach.
Sloppy eating with cream on his cheeks and lips.
Eyes full of tenacity toward the egg tart.
A child handing over that tenacious egg tart with noticeable sadness.
Much smaller than a seven-year-old her age.
Oddly, I kept thinking about Viola.
The Duke shook his head without anyone knowing and thought several times.
No. Bellato should be Bellatos.
As if forcibly reciting a spell. As if denying all the inner thoughts.
I thought to myself.
‘But you’re my dad.
‘Please treat me dearly.’
Those words kept ringing in my ears.
Deliberately, forcibly, once again, I dared to think.
‘If you can’t be like Bellato, I’ll behead you.
***
Meanwhile, Viola has returned to her room.
I stretched out on the bed.
‘Wow.’
Today’s experience was truly special.
It seems that I have been to heaven and hell dozens of times.
‘Why did you come?’
I don’t know why Heron Bellato had to come to Azulesia.
I fell asleep for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, my eyes opened like a ghost.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Zenon’s face.
“How long did I sleep?”
“You slept for 30 minutes and 12 seconds.”
It seemed that Zenon had always been by my side.
These days, when I open my eyes, I keep seeing Zenon, and I wonder if the butlers were originally like this.
I also felt that the time he is attached to Viola now seems much longer than the time he was attached to Viola in the original work.
‘It’s just me, right?’
In the original work, contents such as ‘the butler stayed with her for 22 hours 11 minutes and 10 seconds’ were not described.
In fact, there is far more unwritten content than written content.
‘Originally, he must have been attached to Viola like this, as well.’
Viola said.
“Call tundra.”
***
‘I have to check.’
Strange things happen when I meet the tundra.
If we make eye contact for a long time or make skinship, I get dizzy.
Then, unknowingly, the real Viola takes over her body.
We need to know the baseline, so we can be prepared.
Tundra came in.
His wounds were mostly healed, and he still had restraints on his wrists and ankles.
“How are you?”
“Much better.”
“Okay.
Viola nodded.
I looked towards Tundra.
‘No matter how I look at it, I can’t get used to it.’
In my memory, he looks the same as Kang-Joon at the age of 12.
“You know why I have called you, don’t you?”
“I know. You want me to be your hound someday.”
“That’s right. Come closer.”
Then Viola moved closer to Tundra.
I couldn’t suddenly ask for a fight or hug to check.
Viola decided to check Viola’s way.
“I need a dog. A well-trained, sharp-toothed hunting dog.”
In the original story, Tundra learns about the sword from Hickson, who is staying as a guest at the Duke’s mansion.
“What are your teeth?”
“Yes?”
“What kind of weapons are you good at?”
“I am…”
Tundra hesitated.
Then Viola took Tundra’s hand.
I had to check one thing.
‘I think holding hands lightly is fine.’
I wasn’t dizzy
Holding hands was fine.
He smoothed his palms and fingers
His index and middle fingers are covered with calluses.
‘It’s okay until here.’
Viola lightly caressed Tundra’s shoulders and back.
I felt the muscles, the texture of the tundra against Viola’s fingers, twitching like a live fish.
“The shoulder and back muscles are quite developed. He was wearing a crude animal skin suit.”
“Yes.”
Tundra somehow felt like his face was on fire.
‘Strange.’
The 12-year-old Tundra had a subtle feeling that was hard to understand.
Do puppies who accept the owner’s touch feel this way?
Tundra thought so.
“The material is tough, so it can protect the skin, but it has almost no cold protection function.”
“So the south is warmer than here. I mean, I was walking over rough terrain near your cabin.”
I found out through skinship.
It seemed okay if we didn’t hug.
“And I lived in a place where security was not good enough to be attacked and helplessly kidnapped by a group of lousy bandits.”
“… yes. You and your father must have been mountain hunters.”
Viola continued without hesitation.
I knew everything from reading the novel anyway.
“You are the son of a hunter.”
Viola moved her hand and rubbed the calluses of Tundra.
‘Hmm. Is this enough?’
I put my fingers together and squeezed them together, trying things out.
Trying not to be weird.
“You must have handled the bow. That must be why the calluses are on your index and middle fingers, right?”
“You’re right. I learned the bow.”
Tundra slightly bit his lip.
‘Strange.’
This feeling was not unfamiliar.
‘Why…’
I felt like I had seen a viola somewhere.
It can’t be.
But strangely, I kept feeling strange.
‘What… this feeling.’
Then Viola’s voice came.
“I don’t need a hound that doesn’t know what its own teeth are.”
Tundra made an expression of incomprehension.
He couldn’t understand what I was saying. It was natural. This was an area that no one knew about unless you were a novel reader.
Hickson, who will become Tundra’s teacher, said this.
「“Your body vision is exceptionally good, and your reflexes are excellent at close range. You are born with explosive physical abilities through instantaneous contraction and relaxation of muscles. More than anything. Your body specializes in ‘sword skills’. You must learn the sword.”」
Viola said.
“You are a body that needs to learn a sword, not a bow.”
Okay.
Finished checking.
The fingers were fine, too.
I had to figure it out.
Because if you accidentally lose your body to the real viola, I don’t know what kind of trouble will happen.
“I’ve never handled a sword before.”
“There would have been no chance.”
It is too expensive a weapon for a black hunter to handle, and it takes systematic training and a lot of money to train a sword.
So it is difficult to properly handle a sword unless you are from the aristocratic class.
I whispered in Tundra’s ear.
“For me, learn the sword.”
clap.
I released the restraining tool on his wrist.
Clap.
Another wrist was also released.
‘I need a hound that has learned the sword.’
Clap. Clap.
She also released both of his ankles.
“I will introduce you to a great swordsmanship master.”
I made eye contact with Tundra for a moment. I counted in my mind.
‘One. Two. Three.’
About 3 seconds was fine.
I continued the experiment.
After 3 seconds, I started to feel a little dizzy.
‘It’s still okay.’
4 seconds. 5 seconds.
‘Now the limit… huh?’
Tundra averted his eyes first.
His eyes were slightly lowered, and his face flushed red.
Why is he like this again?
Why are you so shy? Your face is so red.
Maybe it’s because it’s puberty
and it’s embarrassing.
“I… master.”
What?”
“Aren’t women from aristocratic families afraid of touching men’s bodies?”
Viola burst into laughter.
“Man?”
“Yes.”
For Viola, it was difficult to see Tundra as a man.
Although her body is seven years old, her mind is twenty-one.
A twelve-year-old child could hardly be seen as a man.
‘Come to think of it…’
This kid whose face is so hot that he can’t even make eye contact properly.
This little kid who doesn’t know what to do, tapping the ground with his toes.
‘It’s cute.’
The kid asked seriously.
“Am I not a man?”
“You are a dog.”
Then I’m a male.”
Hmm. What should I say to that earnest expression?
Sometimes it was like a ferocious beast, but now it was a look of longing for something else.
‘Isn’t a child a child?’
Viola put her hand on Tundra’s head.
She rubbed his head.
Tundra did not hate this touch.
It was a comforting hand. Now, in this world, there was no one left next to him.
A corner of my heart was always empty, and I missed people’s touches and voices.
He opened his mouth
“To become a good man, I will learn the sword.”
“Okay?”
“I promise.”
Tundra wanted to learn the sword.
“If you learn the sword hard enough…”
Tundra’s eyes went to Viola’s hand, and he could see the hand that had laced her fingers.
‘Do you want to stroke me again?’
And,
‘Will you recognize me as a man?’
I hope so, I felt that way.
“Master.”
The tundra fell to its knees.
Troop Troop.
He came closer as if it were crawling on the ground.
He knelt down in front of the viola and prostrated himself.
“I promise to grind my teeth.”
So that I can be recognized as a man someday.
I kissed Viola’s foot slightly.
This was an action taken when a slave swore allegiance to his master, or when the debtor expressed extreme courtesy to the benefactor.
Tundra showed the best example he could with a godly mindset.
Viola almost kicked the tundra.
‘Ah, that’s disgusting!’
Because there was no such custom in Korea in the 21st century. I wasn’t used to it.
There was no feeling of being treated with respect, and it was just embarrassing.
I’ve been out all day today.
I haven’t even washed it yet.
What if my feet stink?’
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
Next chapter will be released tomorrow. To read chapters in advance support us on Patreon!!
