“I missed my father, I used pocket money as an excuse.”
Heron felt it intuitively. The ‘mask’ set in the play saw through Viola’s inner thoughts and sincerity.
‘Seriously?’
There was sincerity in Viola’s eyes. Actually, it was not an incorrect observation since Arin’s virtue of wanting to see him was real.
Heron narrowed his eyes. He wanted to see himself as her father.
‘I’m not happy at all.’
The corner of Heron’s mouth went up slightly.
“Why?”
“You look good.”
Carlton groaned inwardly. In the last 15 years, he had never heard anything like that. He almost dropped the bundle of papers he was holding in his hands.
The Duke said with a grave expression.
“How much do you need?”
“100 million.”
The average monthly salary of ordinary people was about 3 million dahlias. It as money that the common people could collect only if they didn’t spend a single penny and collect it for three years. However, this place was a duchy.
“It’s the money I can get when I turn 12.”
Successor candidates received 100 million dahlias when they turned 12. How to use it was the mind of the candidates. It was about paying for it in advance. It was a request that had only been made once in the Duke’s family. The only time that happened was Hera, and Hera reported in detail how the 100 million dahlias would be invested and called. He had never been asked for anything so reckless.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I want to make money.”
“Would you like to use leverage?”
It was a generic term for an investment strategy that draws borrowed capital (debt) and purchased assets in order to increase returns from investment in assets. Perhaps this young daughter had an instinctive understanding of the concept of leverage.
“Yes. To empower my sister Hera.”
After making Hera her side, she would be one step near Medea, her 1st princess. It was a high pass towards a happy ending.
“Why?”
“Isn’t it also a Bellato-like thing to create capable allies? Since Hera can’t be her successor anyway, I decided that it would be better for her to be on my side.”
Viola followed her line.
“Of course, I’m not asking for free.”
“What are you going to offer?”
“April is coming soon. It’s when a group of monsters and wild boars run rampant. I heard that Maple Village always suffers great damage.”
“You seem to be studying hard.”
“Yes. I think I’ll have my throat cut if I don’t.”
The Duke laughed involuntarily. He liked how bold and shameless she was. Her peach-colored cheeks caught his eye again.
“So?”
“I will solve the problem with the monster boar. Is that proof of my ability?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“My time is precious.”
“I know.”
Viola swallowed her saliva and continued her words.
“If I fail, I will offer you my head.”
Carlton sighed again, clearing his throat. Viola, the princess, seemed a little overdone. Carlton cautiously opened his mouth.
“Princess. It’s embarrassing when you say things like that carelessly.”
What if she failed? The Duke would indeed kill Viola. If he beheaded his daughter soon after adopting her, rumors would circulate about him. Winter Castle and Duke Heron’s prestige would be cracked.
“Funny.” said the Duke.
“Give and take. Do you like it?”
Viola was unstoppable. This was the custom-made conversation method Arin had figured out.
Viola held out her hand.
“Give me the money first. Because I bet more weight.”
She risked her life, so father gave her the money first. That’s what it meant. The Duke looked at the hand that Viola held out to him. Her hands were small and dainty like ferns. With that dainty palm, gave her 100 million dollars as pocket money.
“Did you say 100 million dahlias?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll give you 200 million dahlias.”
The Duke’s eyes drew an arc.
* * *
The Duke stopped signing the papers.
‘I missed my father, I used pocket money as an excuse.’
‘I will bring the concept of leverage and invest in Hera.’
Duke Heron thought that Viola’s choice was not so wrong. It was a good choice since debts you could afford became another asset.
Heron’s rationality faced that part.
‘However…’
Originally, it was true that he should focus on that part, but other things kept coming into his eyes. A hand that looked like a fern came to mind. He did not know the reason. Why did he only think of that cunning hand?
‘That hand…’
Unknowingly, he smiled.
‘It was very small.’
It felt like it would crumble if he squeezed it. Crumble like dried leaves.
‘That’s strange.’
He kept thinking of those peach-colored cheeks, and the image of him eating an egg tart. Then, all of a sudden, he felt bad.
‘Why are you backing down like this?’
He was too soft to even think of himself. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of Rael’s shameless and dignified appearance.
“Watch out for Viola.”
“All right.”
“If she deceived me.”
Heron Bellato spoke like a Bellato, like the owner of the winter castle.
“If she doesn’t achieve satisfactory results by the age of 10, let’s not discuss qualifications as successors anymore.”
If that happens, the original purpose of the adopted daughter would falter. It will be consumed as an offering to stimulate purebloods.
“… All right.”
The Duke stood up for a moment. He looked out the window.
Today was a good day. The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the warm sunlight was filtering through the windows.
Below that level Viola was seen walking on her short legs. Her steps seemed very light. She seemed to be in a good mood after receiving her allowance.
So he thought again. He couldn’t admit he had backed off.
‘You should do well.’
The Duke’s eyes harbored a terrifying murder. Otherwise, her neck wouldn’t be safe.
He made up his mind to do so. He still denied her virtue.
And three years passed. Spring had arrived in the winter castle, and Viola had turned ten.
* * *
Ten years old in Winter Castle… it had a special meaning. From the age of ten, children were not protected from the absolute laws of the winter castle. There was nothing to say even if they were attacked outside the winter castle. The most excited person was Vicen, the 5th prince.
Boom!
The door opened with a sound.
“Viola! Mission accomplished!”
By the time he was 11, Vicen had grown tall. He had spent the last 5 months working on his outside missions. He had performed great and was back.
“Did you come here as soon as you finished the mission?”
“Huh!”
‘Please don’t answer brightly.’
“Did you report to father?”
“I’m going to do it now.”
‘Do not lie.’
She saw everything clear.
“Did you mean to hand it over to the butler?”
“Oh, no, something like that.”
Vicen rubbed his nose and laughed. In the past three years, there had been big changes in Vicen as well. Compared to Vicen in the original work, he had become much more harmful. At least for Viola.
Viola rose from her seat.
“Brother.”
“What?”
“You still want to crush me and win the succession race?”
Vicen winced, and his body trembled.
“No, of course.”
“I am now ten years old, and my older brother can legitimately compete for succession with me.”
“Lol.”
“In order to do that, I want my brother to properly fulfill his role as a 5th prince.”
For Viola, Vicen had to be a reliable ally. He had to grow properly as an ally.
“I will, unless my brother behaves like the 5th Prince of Bellato.”
“… What if?”
“I will not accept my brother as a competitor.”
At that, Vicen made an expression as if he had lost all of his worlds.
“So brother. Hurry up and give it a report.”
“Okay! I’ll come and go!”
Vicen slam the door again! It closed. To the 21-year-old Arin, he still looked like an immature child.
Zenon, who was standing next to her, smiled.
“Prince Vicen seems to have wanted to see Princess Viola first.”
“Is that how Zenon sees it?”
“Yes. But what’s interesting is… A lot of life in his eyes has disappeared.”
“Does it look like that to you?”
“Yes. His curiosity towards Princess Viola seems to be the same, and there seems to be a bit of a gap between his reason and sensibility.”
Reason seems to be thinking, ‘I have to fight Viola and take her life!’. But the emotion seemed to be thinking ‘I don’t want to fight with Viola’.
“Did the princess mean it?”
“Well.”
Viola blurted out her answer. What she meant was right. She has worked hard for the past 3 years, and thanks to it, she seems to be going as well as she thought or even better than she thought.
Vicen has returned from his long-term mission. Now it’s time for a new episode to unfold.
‘May 12th.’
The winter castle was very short in spring, summer and autumn. The seasons change dramatically in a short amount of time. One month in May was counted as spring, one month in June as summer, and one month in July as fall. The next episode was ‘Spring Garden’.
A secret meeting between Viola, who grew up as a dream killer, and Heron, the 10,000-year-old Duke. Here Viola was clear on her own course. Through this episode, Viola was reborn as the true Viola Bellato, and firmly proclaimed that she would grow up as the successor. In the original story, Viola said this, confirming her identity.
「“My father is a 10,000-year-old Duke, so I can be a 1,000-year-old princess.”」
It was May 12th. In May, the Duke used to take a 30-minute walk and meditate in the sweet flower garden inside the Duke’s residence. This was also the place where he used to walk with Rael, whom he loved.
“Father.”
Viola and Bellato’s head met in a garden full of pink flowers.
“Did you come here on purpose?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
In a different way from the original Viola,
“I remember today, three years ago.”
“Three years ago today?”
3 years ago today. It was the day Viola proudly demanded 100 million dahlias from the Duke.
“That day. What did my father say to the butler, shall I guess?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
Next post will be released on June, 6.
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