I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

Soon, Zenon brought in Vicen, who had been waiting outside.

 

“Father!”

 

Vicen, who had eagerly called out to his father, suddenly became serious when his mother, Isabella, met his eyes.

 

“Mother is here, too.”

 

“Vicen, what’s going on?”

 

Although he pretended to be serious in front of his mother, he could not hide his true nature.

 

“Yeah…”

 

Vicen’s eyes turned to Viola. This was because it was none other than Viola who called Vicen to this place. Viola quickly opened her mouth.

 

“I said I would show him a spirit.”

 

“That’s right. Viola said she would show me a spirit.”

 

Vicen was full of hopes and dreams. There were spirits in the world and finally, there was a spiritualist in Bellato. For a pureblood Bellato, a spirit was an extremely rare and miraculous thing to see.

 

“She said the spirit could gush out water.”

 

Although he was trying to restrain himself as much as possible in front of his father and his mother, Vicen looked like an excited puppy. It seemed that if he was left alone, drool would begin to come out of his mouth. A wonderful water spirit that could pour out fountains and waterfalls? The fact that her spirit was a Kel spirit and candidate for possible spirit king, made Vicen’s heart flutter.

 

“Mother never invited my brother, did she?”

 

“That’s right. I didn’t invite Vicen.”

 

“Neither did your Father.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“It cannot be denied that there are two people who are sovereign in this place.”

 

The ones who are hosting this event are not Viola, but Heron and Isabella. The hosts did not invite Vicen.

 

“Big brother Vicen is a successor candidate who has been thoroughly taught etiquette, and yet he responded to my call and rushed all the way here. To a place that my father and mother did not give an invitation.”

 

“I see.”

 

Isabella’s eyes narrowed. What Viola said made sense. It was as if Vicen had gone on a rampage too recklessly. It didn’t look like Bellato.

 

“Vicen is a very curious child. Curiosity soon becomes a desire to explore, and a child with a great desire to explore can become a great adult. I don’t want to reprimand this child.”

 

“I didn’t tell you to reprimand him.”

 

Anyway, Viola didn’t want Vicen to get scolded. She said what she really wanted to say.

 

“If someone else had called Vicen here instead of me, would Vicen have come running?”

 

Viola shifted her gaze to Vicen.

 

“You know that it’s against etiquette, right?”

 

“Well, that’s…”

 

Vicen was a little embarrassed. He was so caught up in the excitement of seeing a spirit that he didn’t even think about it. He made a mistake because he was more excited than usual.

 

Viola smiled.

 

‘He won’t be able to answer, ‘yes’.’

 

If he came to the table uninvited, knowing it was against etiquette, he would be better off saying that he just hadn’t thought about it. His curiosity was strong. His desire to explore was strong. Because of this, he couldn’t see anything else and delved deeply into the mystery.

 

‘That would be better.’

 

Instead of being embarrassed, Viola continued talking.

 

“Nonetheless, the reason you came here is because the person with the spirit is Viola Bellato, isn’t it?”

 

“…”

 

“I am the one who is most directly in competition with Brother for succession, and the fact that I signed a contract with a spirit is something that Bellato must understand. I guess he decided that he had to prioritize that over everything else.”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

It also cleverly touched Vicen’s emotions.

 

“That’s why you missed me.”

 

“That’s right. I wanted to see Viola.”

 

Vicen’s eyes began to come to life. When he thought about it, it seemed to him that everything Viola said was correct. This was an issue he had been thinking about recently.

 

‘Why am I bored without Viola? When on earth will Viola come back?’

 

Vicen came to a conclusion on his own.

 

‘I want to compete with Viola and decide who is stronger.’

 

But after listening to Viola, he felt like he understood something else now. Rather than wanting to compete with Viola to see who was stronger, he wanted to see Viola’s newly acquired powers.

 

Viola smiled as she looked towards Isabella. In this situation, she asked a question.

 

“Brother. Do you still want to kill me?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Vicen paused. He knew that it was natural for would-be successors to kill each other. In his head, he thought that was right.

 

‘I did…’

 

But at some point, he stopped wanting to kill Viola. That was what he was thinking, but with his mother’s presence, there was a lot at stake.

 

‘Mom will be disappointed if I say, ‘no,’ right?’

 

If his mom was disappointed, she would be heartbroken. That would make her so, so sad. Vicen was afraid of that.

 

“Of course…”

 

“Tell me honestly. Because I don’t like a brother who lies.”

 

Vicen faced a serious conflict. Even Vicen himself didn’t know what was an honest answer.

 

“If you want to kill me, you can say so.”

 

‘Okay. Let’s say I want to kill her.’

 

Because it was true! Vicen opened his mouth.

 

“I want to be with you, but… 

 

“I am a White Bellato.”

 

“…”

 

Viola did not take her eyes off Isabella.

 

“I like an honest brother. Tell me honestly.”

 

After a while, Vicen answered honestly.

 

“I don’t want to kill you.”

 

* * *

 

Isabella said, “Vicen should go back to his room.”

 

Vicen, not seeing the spirit, became sullen, but could not disobey his mother’s orders. He went back to his room with regretful thoughts in his mind. 

 

Time passed and the meal was finally finished. Heron smiled without realizing it. It was such a fleeting thing that no one saw the smile.

 

‘My wife took a hit. I’m not sure if this is the ‘non-hard method’ that Viola referred to.’

 

Viola eventually elicited the answer, ‘I don’t want to kill you,’ from Vicen. It had gone even further when he said, ‘I want to be together.’

 

‘Viola is a White Bellato.’

 

As a White Bellato, she made a good choice. In the end, she showed directly in front of Heron and Isabella that Viola had made Vicen her ally.

 

“I didn’t say I wanted to kill my brother and Vicen became my person.”

 

“It would be a bit absurd to say that he is ‘yours.’ Vicen is a Black Bellato, and Viola is a White Bellato. It would be better to see it as a cooperative relationship.”

 

“He came because I called him.”

 

“That alone does not establish a master-servant relationship.”

 

“All right, let’s assume Mother is right. I would call it a partnership.”

 

It didn’t matter if it was a cooperative relationship.

 

“I think the key point is that Vicen responded to my call, even going against etiquette In the end, he even said he wanted to be with me.”

 

She shifted her gaze to Heron.

 

“Are my methods wrong? Is the twelve-year-old having the wrong dream?”

 

If it were Bellato, Zenon should have been severely punished. That was originally true. But Heron felt that Viola’s methods were not entirely wrong.

 

“You’re not wrong, yet.”

 

Zenon swore loyalty to Viola and reported all of his own mistakes.

 

‘If he had not given his heart to Viola, Zenon would have run away.’

 

The continent was wide and vast. There were also western and eastern continents across the sea. If he ran away, it would not be easy to find Zenon, no matter how many Bellato resources he utilized.

 

“He confessed his mistakes and came before me to await action. That would be difficult to do if you weren’t loyal.”

 

“Then I guess I can do whatever I want with Zenon, right?”

 

“But that doesn’t change the fact that he attacked Bellato.”

 

As the head of Bellato, Heron had the duty and responsibility to correct Bellato’s disciples.

 

“Cut his pay for 3 months.”

 

Isabella looked at Heron.

 

‘That’s it?’

 

Although she didn’t show it, Isabella found it difficult to understand. If this happens, Bellato’s discipline will collapse. But Zenon shook his head.

 

“I don’t want to be your limitation or weakness, Duke.”

 

If that’s all that happens, it will become a problem in the future. It could act as a weakness for Viola. Zenon thought he deserved a greater punishment.

 

“Please give me a reasonable punishment.”

 

Heron chuckled.

 

“Punish yourself and report to me.”

 

Zenon bowed his head in gratitude and went out of Winter Castle. He looked around but there was no one around. There was no smile on Zenon’s face.

 

“This was clearly a mistake and my fault.”

 

His voice fluttered in the wind.

 

“So I will punish myself accordingly.”

 

He took out a dagger from space. He cut off the fourth finger of his left hand.

 

“In the future, when my hands find significance again, I will reattach it.”

 

Zenon smiled and returned to Winter Castle. Then, a curious thought arose.

 

“However… Will the princess be heartbroken when she sees my hand?”

 

He tilted his head.

 

“I do not know. I don’t want her to feel bad.”

 

Zenon reported back that he had cut off his own finger, and that was how the incident ended.

 

* * *

 

Heron retreated to the beast’s coffin surrounded by a 7-layer magic circle. In this space where temperature and humidity were controlled by magic, a group of young hedgehogs were playing. In front of the hedgehogs, Heron was the only human.

 

He muttered to himself. It was something he would never do in front of others.

 

“You made your closest rival, Vicen, your own. So that’s the 5th Prince in addition to 4th Princess Hera. Not only that, even the 1st Princess Medea views you favorably.”

 

Everyone was very friendly to Viola. Even he had brought Viola into the family, himself.

 

‘A Bellato saved another Bellato who was in danger.’

 

It was an unfamiliar thing. 

 

He confessed to the hedgehogs, “I don’t like these changes.”

 

A long time ago, Hickson said: “My dream is to have a happy family. To become a strong fence for my family and protect them, living with them.”

 

At that time, Heron had laughed at Hickson, “Bellato can never be like that!”

 

Bellato is Bellato. The northern shield that protects humanity… An iron-blooded operation that will never become weak or soft. It has to be that way.

 

‘It definitely has to be this way.’

 

Heron placed the youngest of the six hedgehog siblings on his hand and caressed her. He moved his hands freely. This youngest child’s name was ‘Ola,’ after Viola.

 

“Go on.”

 

He looked at Ola with a warm gaze that had never been shown in front of people. Ola didn’t prick Heron with her spines, her pelt remaining soft.

 

“Not just the brothers, Zenon and Jeremy. She even made Tundra her own person.”

 

And one more.

 

“Hickson.”

 

Actually, he didn’t like this one. That Hickson would make Viola his daughter, born of his heart.

 

“That’s kind of funny. She’s your daughter?”

 

Ola’s small body flinched.

 

Chirp!

 

She escaped from Heron’s hand. It seemed as if she felt death leaking out of Heron’s body.

 

“In terms of process, growth, and background. Moreover, on paper, she is my daughter.”

 

* * *

 

A few days later when the night was deep, rain poured down from the sky. It seemed like numerous water spirits were knocking on the window.

 

“Hehe, this great spirit has appeared.”

 

PomPom appeared even though Viola did not summon him. After listening to her story, he told her that when water energy became abundant, he would naturally be summoned.

 

“I didn’t know before, but I just heard that you guys called Bellato have a reputation in the spirit world.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah, very infamous. It’s said they’ve cut down a lot of spirits.”

 

“Really?”

 

Well, historically, Bellato cut down many spiritualists. Thus, a lot of spirits must have been cut down as well.

 

“Well, it has nothing to do with me. I am destined to become a great spirit king and I have a bold nature that does not care too much about trivial matters.”

 

The man with blue hair turned into jelly, flowed towards the window, and slithered out through the edge of the window frame.

 

“K-V is good.”

 

It was a thick voice, like an old man in a sauna.

 

Then PomPom saw someone.

 

“Hmm? Who is he?”

 

Viola walked up to the window and looked down. There she saw a familiar face. It was Tundra.

 

‘Where is Uncle Hickson?’

 

Tundra had returned alone, with no sign of Hickson. It was very late. How much time had passed since they’d left?

 

Knock, knock.

 

A knock was heard and when Viola opened the door, she saw Tundra soaked from the rain. Tundra smiled faintly when he saw her. He seemed to have missed Viola the way a dog misses its guardian.

 

“I’m home.”

 

Bang.

 

Tundra fell. PomPom, who was still in the form of jelly, approached Tundra like flowing water. 

Then PomPom suddenly took on human form and poked Tundra with his index finger.

 

“Hey. He’s bleeding a lot?”

 

Thick blood was leaking out.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note:

Next 15 chapters will be translated by Bree. Thank you for reading and… see you soon!