I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

It felt as if Hera was seeing through Han Arin, her true self. She felt the eyes of a vicious snake running through her body.

“It must be very difficult to hide the madness right before the explosion.”

“…huh?

“Actually, you want to run wild more.”

I?

“Don’t you want to do a more ferocious sword dance and sing a poison song?”

“…”

‘Uh, wait a minute. Me?’

Hera thought differently about Viola’s silence. A tacit agreement, she thought.

“You’re holding up well.”

“But those who are too greedy for blood aren’t Bellato, they’re just murderers.”

Bellato and the killer were different. A killer was just a criminal, but Bellato was a ruler. And a ruler must act like a ruler. In that respect, Viola passed. Because she was controlling her madness and acting like a ruler. Uncontrollable madness led to ruin, but controllable madness was a true Bellato essential virtue.

“Zenon reported this? He says she is also equipped with reason to control madness.”

“How did you know?”

“I shared that with the butlers.”

Hera nodded her head.

“Actually, maybe Zenon gave her an overly generous score. I was curious too.”

“Now that you have seen her in person, what do you think of your sister?”

“That was the correct score.”

Hera’s expression relaxed.

“I liked her too.”

Viola was a little taken aback. She felt more like a dog than she thought.

Hera reached out and caressed Viola’s cheek.

“The face is also my taste.”

At this point, the rather absurd person was Viola.

‘no. This isn’t it.’

She had to come to her senses. It feels like the initiative has passed to Hera. And Hera was clever. It must have been a test while pretending to fully acknowledge this side.

‘Hera wants an absolute person.’

Hera wanted a reliable absolute who could protect her perfectly. Anyway, the real absolute would be taken care of by her first sister and her second brother. That was up to them. Now she just had to show the same side of the absolute.

Viola tapped Hera’s hand! Then she brushed Hera’s hair.

“My pretty sister.”

Viola’s bloody eyes turned to Hera’s. Hera involuntarily swallowed her saliva. She felt a strange fear that the hand that was now running through her own hair would dig into her own neck at any moment. Of course, Viola didn’t intend to go that far. If it was just the Viola of the original work, she would have behaved like this, so she just imitated her. She didn’t know if it gave her such a sense of fear.

Viola said.

“Don’t cross the line.”

“I’m choosing my sister.”

There was a lot of life in that tone. It was the original life of Viola’s body.

Hera flinched. Although she was very uncomfortable with her body, her sense of being alive was innate.

‘What is this incredible life?’

It seemed that she could kill people just by living.

‘I can feel the mighty mana.’

She felt a huge wave of mana. However, Viola, who emits her life force, was completely unaware of her own life force and her mana.

“It’s not that my sister chooses me.”

“Pardon?”

“If you do, nod your head.”

Hera gave her a slight nod of her head and then glanced up at Viola. The appearance of Viola was the one Hera had longed for. She has strength and resourcefulness at the same time, and she was not intimidated by anyone. An attitude worthy of the Absolute. A natural talent to support such an attitude. Even at the same time, the insidiousness and schemes that can hide themselves. Viola had all of that.

Hera felt tight in her chest.

‘It’s hard to breathe.’

This was the presence of her character, Viola. Although Viola, who was the person in her heart, was unaware of it.

Meanwhile, Viola kept an eye on her secretly.

‘Is this enough?’

It was not easy to imitate the Viola of her original work. It felt like she was wearing clothes that didn’t fit. She hoped she didn’t look awkward

‘Today… me?’

She thought today’s acting was a bit awkward. Leaving her worries behind, she grinned.

“We could be good sisters.”

“I think so too.”

Hera’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘You certainly fall short of her first sister or her second brother. Not yet.”

It was still too soon. There was almost no location base. She couldn’t even get help from her mother’s family. The gap between her first sister and second brother had already widened too much. But one thing was different.

‘She’s only seven years old.’

The first and second were not like this when they were seven years old. She saw the potential for growth as high. Her potential was enormous.

‘To the point of making it hard to breathe just by living.’

If grown properly, how strong would she be? But Viola added one word.

“I hope we can be a good family to each other.”

Hera was at a loss for words in a moment. But… those words were warm.

Showing warmth, but not servile. She was neither thirsty for affection nor seemed lonely.

“What?”

“I hope we will have a good family.”

It would be great if her rich sister and she could have a friendly relationship.

“It’s warm, Viola.”

Just as Viola was alert, Hera was also alert. The clever Hera interpreted the warmth of Viola in a way unique to Hera.

‘There must be sharp thorns hidden in his warm tone.’

What was a good ‘family’ for Bellato? It was a very different concept from the commonly used ‘family’. Bellato’s ‘good family’ meant that each other should be able to use each other. A good family was one that could take advantage of each other and maximize the benefits.

Viola’s words hinted at that.

‘I like that warmth.’

Hera unknowingly smiled. Viola felt that expression was a little ominous for some reason.

After that they did not talk until next day, when Hera went looking for Viola.

“I have somewhere to go with you, is that okay?”

“Where to go?”

Hera lowered her voice and spoke to her.

“Hhuh. I want to make a secret between the two of us.”

* * *

This expression appears in the novel.

“A clever rabbit digs three burrows.”

The clever rabbit meant Hera. Hera sensed her physical limitations early on, and prepared several countermeasures accordingly.

⌠Terra Merchant, located at the crossroads of the seasons, was one of them.⌡

Hera, the 4th princess, knew from a very early age that ice, which was common in winter castles, was valued in the southern regions. And she knew that in order to transport the ice in an unmelted state, magic power was absolutely necessary. For that, the 4th princess Hera mobilized the wizards to create the Terra Merchant when she was nine years old.

Viola was lost in her thoughts, recalling the original story. The place Hera asked her to go with was the ‘Terra Merchant’. It was fine until there. But there was a little problem.

‘You and me. I want to make a secret between the two of us.’

‘Secret?’

‘It’s a secret even to the butler. I want to go there alone with you. I’ll show you my power that I’m secretly cultivating.’

‘Even the butler doesn’t know?’

‘huh. it is a secret. It’s the guild that’s being secretly raised.’

‘My father?’

‘Even my father doesn’t know.’

‘Why did you keep it a secret?’

‘Because an invisible sword is more terrifying than a visible one.’

Originally, Viola and Hera did not get along. So there was nothing like this in the original. That meant Han Arin had to solve this situation on her own, without the help of the original story. And this was the problem.

‘It can’t be a secret from the butler.’

There’s no way the butler didn’t know. And there’s no way that their father didn’t know what’s going on inside the winter castle.

He just said he didn’t know.

‘Father doesn’t know? What’s going on inside the winter castle?’

It’s a lie. It couldn’t be. Then there was only one answer.

‘He’s lying to me.’

So, this was a test for Viola herself. What a test! Was it a ruse by any chance? She couldn’t rule out the idea that it was an insidious ruse.

‘Because it’s a world where the back of the head is in danger everyday.’

Viola also decided to prepare in its own way.

* * *

Hera looked at the note she left behind.

[3:18 p.m. I’m going out through the west door. Viola, you come out the south door in 40 minutes. Let’s meet at the crossroads of the seasons. You must come alone.]

Viola left the Duke’s mansion by herself. No one stopped the seven-year-old girl from moving alone.

‘So easily, they let me go alone?’

She didn’t even have the butler with her.

‘Looks like Hera has planned it beforehand.”

It seemed that the gatekeepers had been pre-roasted and boiled. But Hera had the ability to do so.

‘Shall we go?’

She took a step ahead. It was the third largest intersection within Winter Castle. It was a busy street where people and goods moved busily, and numerous buildings rose along the main street. However, behind this busy street, complicated alleys were tangled like a spider’s web. The main road was splendid, but the road right next to it was underdeveloped. It was a seasonal intersection, one of the places where you can clearly feel the gap between the rich and the poor in Winter Castle.

‘If I look at the map…’

It seemed to be this way. She walked according to the map.

‘I went to the left.’

Soon, in front of her a shabby bar appeared.

[Moonlit night.]

It was still daytime, so it didn’t seem to be open. She walked with her back to the moonlit night, the second alley on the right. After passing there, it was explained that a small two-story building would appear. However, the building was not visible.

‘Isn’t there a building?’

It was a blockage. Where the building should have been, there was a wall instead of a building. It was a dead end street.

Kiik—

The moonlit wooden door opened. There, four people wearing masks walked out. One of them was holding a deadly weapon in his hand.

“What is the noble lady doing in this narrow and shabby alley?” said the masked man.

“I think you came alone and got lost.”

One man was carrying a large hatchet.

“Is Charles right? If you wait here, you might get one or two stupid young ladies.”

“That’s right. A big harvest in two days?”

The four men walked slowly. And she was exuding a vicious spirit. It was as if she had met his parents’ enemies.

“From head to toe. All of her is valuable.”

“Would you like it? Aren’t you a noble lady?” He muttered as if to listen.

“Yes. A noble lady without a guardian is a very expensive treasure.”

It wasn’t really a false statement. Among the slaves, the most preferred slaves were the children of fallen nobles.

“I think we need to deal with it quickly. Winter castle security is so good.”

“Let’s quickly kidnap her and head south before the guards smell it.”

Four men surrounded Viola. Then, Viola grinned.

“Masked folks.”

Han Arin was a reader of this novel. She prided herself on knowing Hera better than Hera. Viola grabbed her skirt and slightly bowed her back.

“My name is Viola Bellato. I turned seven this year.”

Han Arin decided to try to solve the novel the way Han Arin would do.

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Translator Note:

This novel is quite complicated to translate sometimes, and that include the first part of this chapter too ^^, Sorry for any confusing part

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