I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

Viola hugged Jeremy and began to sob in his arms.

 

“…Don’t.”

 

“What?”

 

In that instant, Jeremy felt a chill run down his spine because she suddenly told him not to die. It gave him goosebumps when Viola said something like that. It felt like a blade was about to fly towards him out of nowhere.

 

“Don’t go.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“If you die like this, I will resent you for the rest of my life.”

 

Jeremy realized that Viola was talking to him as if he were someone else. Only then did he understand.

 

‘Illusion?’

 

Viola seemed to be seeing an illusion. In her vision, she seemed to be witnessing the death of someone dear to her.

 

‘Is this person important to Viola dead?’

 

Her shoulders, which felt especially thin today, were shaking. Her body, which usually seemed stronger than anyone else, felt as if it was about to break.

 

“Don’t die, please. Open your eyes.”

 

“I won’t beg you to buy pork cutlet. I won’t ever bother you again. Just… just open your eyes, please.”

 

Jeremy was able to understand why Viola had fallen into this illusion. Her affinity with the spirits was incredibly high. But looking at it another way, it seemed that she was also vulnerable to the spirits’ illusions.

 

‘If she had inherited Bellato’s blood, she wouldn’t have fallen for the tricks of the spirits.’

 

Having a high spirit affinity was a double-edged sword.

 

“It’s okay, Viola. I’m not dead.”

 

Jeremy patted Viola on the back. He believed that if it was Viola, she would surely be able to break through that illusion.

 

‘All I can do now is… pat her.’

 

He was surprised. Viola’s weak form… He couldn’t have ever imagined that Viola would experience something like this.

 

“Who do you miss so much?”

 

Who was the other person in the illusion? Why was Viola so afraid? The great Viola. Jeremy’s mind became a little complicated.

 

‘Didn’t they say she was found in the slums?’

 

It was assumed that she was probably abandoned by her parents. They said that when the Duke first found her, she had just stabbed a slave trader to death with a shard of glass.

 

‘She was not abandoned…’

 

Hearing Viola’s sobs, it seemed that she hadn’t been intentionally abandoned.

 

“Don’t die.”

 

“If you die like this, I will resent you for the rest of my life.”

 

Then, the person in the illusion was very likely to be one of her parents. Jeremy was sure of that.

 

‘Viola, she’s either seeing her mom or her dad right now.’

 

His heart ached terribly.

 

* * *

 

When Jeremy was 7-years-old, he had a crush on a girl. To meet this girl, he went out every evening to Sbon Crossroads. Unfortunately, the girl was blind and earned her livelihood by begging at Sbon Crossroads. 

 

Clink.

 

She heard the sound of coins falling into her beggar’s tin.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Five dahlias.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I’m collecting pocket money and giving it to you.”

 

Jeremy visited the girl every day. He showed a lot of condescension by saying that he would collect and give her pocket money but the girl said thank you every time, bowing her head in gratitude.

 

It went on like that for 6 months.

 

“Can you say anything other than ‘thank you’?”

 

“That is…”

 

Jeremy was dissatisfied.

 

He wanted to hear something else from the girl, but every day she said nothing but ‘thank you’. The frustrated Jeremy only then introduced himself.

 

“My name is Jeremy.”

 

At this time, Jeremy was very nervous. Even though he had just given her his name, he was excited and his heart was full of happiness.

 

“Don’t you have a mother or father?”

 

“They don’t exist.”

 

“Why?”

 

“They threw me away.”

 

It was then that for the first time, Jeremy learned that there were parents who abandoned their children. She was an abandoned child.

 

‘My heart hurts…’

 

Another 6 months passed.

 

The girl’s name was Muelan and she was the same age as Jeremy. When they had been dating for about a year, Muelan asked.

 

“Why are you so nice to me?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Because he liked her! But he couldn’t say that. Eight-year-old Jeremy didn’t fully understand why he was so nice to Muelan.

 

“Yeah, that’s because we’re friends.”

 

When he said that he was her friend, Muelan laughed brightly. It was the first smile he had seen in over a year.

 

“‘Friend’. That’s nice to hear.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Then stop fighting with me.”

 

At the age of eight, Muelan learned to shine shoes in addition to begging. But Jeremy said that she didn’t have to beg anymore. And that’s the day they had their first quarrel.

 

Jeremy said he would give her his money, so why did she say no? That night, lying on his soft bed, Jeremy bit his lip.

 

“It’s annoying.”

 

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what went wrong. The words of his nanny came to mind.

 

“It’s not annoying, it’s heartbreaking, young master.”

 

He couldn’t sleep even after an hour passed, and then two hours. The usual sound of grass bugs, which usually sounded like a lullaby, annoyed him.

 

‘I have to apologize tomorrow.’

 

He decided to go and apologize as soon as the sun came up. He still didn’t know why she was upset but Jeremy didn’t care what the reason was. What mattered to him was that Muelan was sad. So early the next morning, Jeremy went to Sbon Crossroads.

 

“Why isn’t Muelan here?”

 

Muelan, who was there every day to shine shoes, was nowhere to be seen. One day passed, then two days passed. Jeremy grew impatient. It was only after three days that Jeremy heard news of Muelan. They said that a band of robbers had raided the back streets of Sbon’s slums. The guards of the Storm Fortress were severely reprimanded for this and they hurriedly formed an investigation team. The Storm Sword Jackal was also very angry.

 

“Track down the slave traders.”

 

They were robbers but also slave traders. Only then did Jeremy come to understand that Muelan was captured by slave traders.

 

“Take me too, Father!”

 

Jeremy cried out that he would join the chase, but Sir Jackal refused to listen. The reason given to Jeremy, who was only nine years old, was that it was dangerous, but the real reason was that his father felt an excessively strong life force in Jeremy.

 

“Calm down and go into the room of your thoughts. This is for adults.”

 

Jeremy was placed in solitary confinement for three days. Only after a long time had passed, was Jeremy able to hear news of Muelan. Muelan was no longer a living person in this world.

 

“I don’t want to do anything.”

 

Jeremy did not come out of solitary confinement for seven days. Not until he had a conversation with his nanny that Jeremy was finally brought back to life.

 

“There are many Muelans in this world.”

 

“What are you talking about? There is only one Muelan.”

 

“Even in a safe place like Storm Fortress, these terrible things happen. Similar things happen countless times across this world.”

 

The 2nd Muelan, the 3rd Muelan, the 4th Muelan. There were many Muelans in this world.

 

“Young master, you have power.”

 

He inherited the blood of the Storm Sword Jackal and already showed the qualities of an excellent warrior. People even called Jeremy a ‘mini-storm’.

 

“Those who have power enjoy many things. And they have to use that power to help the weak.”

 

“Why?”

 

Because that’s the right thing to do. But she explained it abstractly.

 

“Does your chest hurt, young master?”

 

“…Uh-huh.”

 

“What if a lot of people felt the same way?”

 

“It would be sad.”

 

“To keep them from feeling that emotion. That is the duty of nobles.”

 

Jeremy felt it. The fact that he would no longer see Muelan was so frightening. So he made up his mind. He would do his best to prevent another Muelan from happening. After one year had passed, Jeremy raised his sword in front of the grave where Muelan’s ashes were buried and made a vow.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

 

From that day on, Jeremy showed no mercy to slave traders. As soon as he found a slave trader, he killed them on the spot. As his body grew, Jeremy’s nickname grew from ‘Mini-Storm’ to ‘Little Storm’.

 

* * *

 

Jeremy looked at Viola in his arms and recalled his younger days. Jeremy did not forgive the slave traders or the ‘parents who abandoned their children’. On the contrary, he struggled to help abandoned children. He thought it was a responsibility he had to fulfill because he couldn’t protect Muelan.

 

Viola’s words continued to ring in his ears.

 

“Don’t die.”

 

“If you die like this, I will resent you for the rest of my life.”

 

It occurred to him that he had only seen Viola’s bright and glamorous side. She was the lucky one to be adopted into a ducal family. He had thought so, but it didn’t seem like it.

 

‘Why didn’t I consider what happened before she was adopted?’

 

The fact that she had stabbed a slave trader to death with her seven-year-old body was highlighted, but he did not look at the things behind it. Why was she wandering the slums alone at the young age of seven? Why did she have to lift a glass shard on her own?

 

‘There must have been no one to protect her.’

 

She was just like Muelan. Neither of them had a guardian. No one to protect either of them. If Muelan had someone to protect her, she might still be alive.

 

‘It was the same with Viola.’

 

The only difference was that Muelan was captured by a slave trader while Viola killed the slave trader herself.

 

‘If only Viola had had a guardian, she wouldn’t have had to hold a piece of glass.’

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“…Don’t go.”

 

“It’s okay, Viola. I will protect you.”

 

He patted Viola on the back. He hugged her a little tighter because Viola’s body was trembling.

 

“What you see is an illusion.”

 

Viola couldn’t hear his voice. She heard the siren of an ambulance. She saw doctors running around in white lab coats. Paramedics in orange suits. People shouting urgently in unknown terms. And Kang Han-Joon, covered in blood.

 

It was cold and scary. It seemed that Kang Han-Joon would leave like this. Then at some point, she began to feel heat.

 

‘It’s warm.’

 

For some reason, she felt warmth. Someone was hugging her tightly. She felt confident that someone was protecting her. It was a warmth she had never felt since becoming Viola Bellato.

 

“Your affinity with the spirits is too high, so you were fooled by their illusions. No one died, it’s fine. I am by your side.”

 

Jeremy promised over and over again. He said that he would never leave her side. Losing her parents and being abandoned in the slums, he vowed to take care of young Viola, who had no one to protect her.

 

“You can get over it, Viola.”

 

It was so dark that Viola’s face could not be seen but he was able to meet Viola’s eyes.

 

Her light purple eyes could actually be seen through the darkness.

 

“You are not alone.”

 

She didn’t have to lift a piece of glass. She had lost her parents and lived in the slums, but not now. She was now the princess of Bellato, and now he was by her side.

 

“We are friends.”

 

The illusions in Viola’s eyes gradually began to fade. Only quiet voices were heard.

 

[Stop it, guys.]

 

[If you keep playing around, we will be destroyed.]

 

While the illusions were jokes played by the spirits, they had a fatal weakness. Their illusions would break if they collided with a sincere human child’s wish.

 

[Who is that kid?]

 

[All of our bodies will break.]

 

The spirits couldn’t play anymore. Jeremy’s sincerity and desire broke the illusions of the spirits. Before anyone knew it, Viola had regained her peace.

 

And softly, Viola fell asleep.

 

Jeremy sat still and patted Viola on the back.

 

“Good night.”

 

Now that the illusion seemed to be broken, when she woke up, she would be Viola Bellato again. She would again be the Iron-Blooded Princess Viola, not the little girl abandoned by her parents.

 

“It’s a bit sad when you think about it that way.”

 

After a short time passed, footsteps were heard in the darkness.

 

‘Who is it?’

 

Jeremy was very nervous. Still not awake from her slumber, he carefully laid Viola against the wall and stood up. He drew his sword.

 

“So.”

 

A voice was heard.

 

“What the hell is Korea?”

 

Words that Jeremy couldn’t understand continued.

 

“Are you strong?”

 

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Translator Note: