I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

Sir Hickson encountered an absurd scene.

 

“What is all this?”

 

As water lapped up to his ankles, a voice was heard crying sadly.

 

“Put them back. Give them to me!”

 

The voice sounded like a child throwing a tantrum. That voice penetrated the noise-canceling mana membrane that Zenon had put up around the room and was clearly heard in Hickson’s ears.

 

“Viola. Do you have a hobby for swimming?”

 

“Not really.”

 

Viola just sat on the bed with indifferent eyes and stared at the water that was up to Zenon’s ankles. A little more time passed and the water was now up to his knees.

 

Zenon said with a grin.

 

“It seems like if Pom-Pom cries anymore, the water will leak out of the room.”

 

Zenon swung his sword once. With a crunching sound, the area around the door froze. It was a waterproofing project using the Rathbone Bingham method. Pom-Pom was half-crying in frustration.

 

“I will kill him.”

 

Hickson scratched his head.

 

“So, the person he wants to kill is your father, right?”

 

“Uh-huh, maybe.”

 

“That’s why Zenon is desperately spreading a noise-canceling membrane to block out the sound?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“No matter what, you know that this news will reach Heron, right?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

Pom-Pom knew everything. He had found out that Heron was the culprit who killed(?) the pretty flowers he had watered and cherished, and he was pouring out his anger towards Heron.

 

“Hey. I didn’t know that a crazy guy would appear inside the Winter Castle, threatening to kill Heron for real. He’s just going to throw his life away.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Viola. Why are you so carefree?”

 

“Do I look carefree?”

 

“Very.”

 

She was not. It was Hickson’s misunderstanding. Viola was actually a person who was very worried. However, her attitude and actions so far were to build up her ‘Bellato image’ and had become a habit, so she just seemed to sit calmly and analyze the situation.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

Hickson frowned slightly. He didn’t know why but he was annoyed.

 

‘Heron, that damn bastard…!’

 

Heron was the one who gave flowers to Viola and if that was the case, Hickson didn’t know what else Heron might do, using this incident as an excuse. For some reason, he thought Heron would be laughing while reading this report in his study. He would probably sit and ponder how the cute and adorable Viola would react and how she would deal with it. 

 

“What do you think it would be like if Sir Hickson were my father?”

 

“If it were me?”

 

The wrinkles between Hickson’s eyebrows deepened.

 

“You would be happy.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I’d just want to have a conversation with my daughter? The reason would be clear and I would be able to see my cute daughter show off her talents. It would be a great opportunity, right?”

 

“…If you say so.”

 

Viola had asked for no particular reason. She withdrew her gaze from Hickson and his feelings were hurt.

 

“What’s wrong? It’s true!”

 

“Uh-huh. Okay. Thank you.”

 

“Hey, do you mean that?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Hickson felt sad but he couldn’t show his disappointment because he promised to be a good adult.

 

‘Oh, right!’

 

He had forgotten for a moment why he came here because of Pom-Pom, but he had come to check the condition of Viola’s arm and hand.

 

“Is your arm okay?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“How are you okay?”

 

Hickson waded through the water, grabbed Viola’s fingertips, and lifted up her hand. He looked at it intently, as if observing something rare.

 

“What? Are you really okay?”

 

“You hoped I wasn’t okay?”

 

“That’s not it…”

 

Even though Viola was not trained as a martial artist, Hickson was well aware of the fact that she was a natural martial artist. Specifically, Viola was born a genius. However, Kurumkrum’s ring was an artifact that was too heavy and excessive for the current Viola to handle.

 

“Have your movements become heavy or does your chest feel tight?”

 

“I don’t feel anything like that.”

 

“Really?”

 

Viola wasn’t pretending to be okay, she was really okay. Yet again, Hickson felt she was too mysterious and his annoyance began to rise.

 

‘That guy must be laughing again, right? He must have thought something like, ‘As expected, my daughter lifts things like this without any problem!’’

 

Heron was a friend that Hickson didn’t like for a long time and today he was especially annoying. Anyway, Pom-Pom gave the answer as to why Viola felt fine even while wearing the ring. Even though Pom-Pom was crying sadly, he opened his mouth and whimpered as if he should brag about himself.

 

“Huhhhhh! It’s my power, you idiots!”

 

The tears flowing from Pom-Pom’s eyes stopped as he began to busily boast about himself. 

 

In the meantime, Zenon brought up his mana, froze all the spirit’s water, and turned it into ice. The ice was then neatly shaved down into powder form and placed in a specially designed magic jar.

 

“I have obtained shaved ice made from clean and delicious spirit water.”

 

The smile on Zenon’s face deepened.

 

“I think I can make an even more delicious strawberry ade.”

 

Zenon, who had wasted the strength of a 3rd-class knight on collecting ice, looked quite satisfied. While Zenon looked infinitely relaxed and peaceful, Pom-Pom seemed impatient with pride.

 

“The pretty flowers I watered! They grew well because I gave them the best water in the spirit world!”

 

Listening to the story, it must have been sad for Pom-Pom. He had used the water he brought from the spirit realm and because of that, had been severely scolded by the spirit king. This spirit water was called ‘Arena’ and it was said that it could be exported to the human world only once.

 

“I got scolded so much for taking that.”

 

“That water… It was Arena?”

 

Viola felt it was nonsensical. It was ‘Arena’ that raised Heidi, who was originally only a villain, into a world-class villain. Arena was a very special water and in the novel, it was described as an elixir of eternal life. Of course, it didn’t actually give you eternal life, but it was very famous as a water that created miracles.

 

“Do you know of Arena?”

 

“Water that works miracles. It is the water of life that is known to exist only in the spirit world.”

 

Viola was dumbfounded.

 

‘Oh my god. He sprinkled Arena on the flower garden? How much does he love flowers to have sprinkled Arena, which is treated by humans as a treasure among treasures, on a flower garden?

 

No matter how much she thought about it, it was clear that the characters in ‘The Shadow of Bellato’ were not sane.

 

“That’s right. I gave the Arena to the brave guys.”

 

“What? Brave guys?”

 

“I gave them a name. I told them to grow up and be brave.”

 

As Hickson listened to the story, he came to understand that the marguerite flowers had received a spiritual blessing, given the name ‘Brave’ and thanks to the addition of Arena’s power, had properties similar to flowers in the spirit realm.

 

“Oh, I see. That’s why Viola is able to lift that ring without any problems.”

 

“That’s right. Viola’s spirit affinity is so good that she can be considered a spirit.”

 

So, it meant that she wouldn’t be greatly influenced by the spirit flowers. 

 

Pom-Pom made a serious expression and asked, “Now, when are we going to go kill Heron?”

 

“We can’t kill him.”

 

“Why?”

 

“He is much stronger than you and much stronger than me.”

 

“Then let’s quickly become stronger. We need to kill him quickly.”

 

‘What he’s saying was going to get us into big trouble. He is going to snuff out all hope for my happy, beautiful, rosy future.’

 

“Everything in the Duke’s mansion belongs to my father. It was my father who created the Marguerite flower garden. And in fact, I did not contribute in any way to creating the Marguerite flower garden.”

 

‘Oh, I don’t know! I don’t know about that! But I have to get revenge for those brave guys!!’

 

Pom-Pom tried to complain but then kept his mouth shut.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Where?”

 

“To my father.”

 

“Are you going to kill him?”

 

For a moment, Pom-Pom’s face turned pale. He had shouted that he was going to become stronger and that he was going to kill Heron but now it seems he was just bluffing. Pom-Pom felt the reverberation of the mana that remained in the Marguerite flower field, even though the flowers had already disappeared. He felt the formidable power of the Heron indirectly and was terrified that Viola was going to see him.

 

“Well, of course, I’m not scared. Still, it would be a bit much to kill, right?”

 

Viola spoke to Zenon without paying attention to Pom-Pom.

 

“Zenon, make an appointment with my father. I will go find him.”

 

“What would you like for condensed milk?”

 

He was not someone they could meet just wherever they wanted. Zenon was always carefree but this time he seemed a little worried.

 

“I’m going to demand an apology.”

 

“What?”

 

Hickson touched his forehead.

 

“Are you insane?”

 

His handsome friend seemed to care a lot about his daughter, but this was a different matter. She was going to demand an apology from Heron for cutting down the flowers in the flower garden? That’s not possible. Putting personal feelings aside, Heron was the person who could behead someone for challenging the authority of the family’s head. That was the Heron that Hickson understood.

 

“I’m sane.”

 

“Wake up! You’ll be in big trouble. No. No! I’ll go with you.”

 

If the worst happened, he could at least give Viola time to escape. Hickson had a solemn mindset of his own.

 

“I will convey the princess’s wishes… to the Duke.” 

 

* * *

 

There was a heavy atmosphere in the Duke’s study. Carlton sighed inwardly for the hundredth time.

 

‘What on earth is Princess Viola thinking?’

 

It was true that Princess Viola had shown an outstanding performance these past few days. Carlton thought this was the most dangerous time. There were many people who became intoxicated by their own growth and achievements and ended up ruining their work. He thought that Viola wasn’t that kind of person but now it seemed she was just a child after all.

 

‘No matter how well the princess is doing, how can you make an appointment to demand an apology from the Duke?’

 

In fact, Carlton had a very positive opinion of Viola. This was because he thought that even if she could not become the head of the family, she could be a great help to Bellato.

 

‘How can I protect you?’

 

There was a heavy energy in the study emanating from Heron. It was clear that if an ordinary person who could not handle mana entered this space, they would probably have difficulty breathing. The energy was so dense that if you were really unlucky, you would suffocate.

 

Knock, knock.

 

A knock was heard and Viola came into the study. Pom-Pom was standing on her right.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

The Pom-Pom who had been running around wildly, saying that he would kill Heron, was nowhere to be seen. Now he gripped the hem of Viola’s skirt as he hesitantly came in with her.

 

“Nice to see you again, father.”

 

“Okay. So you are demanding an apology from me.”

 

Heron already knew the situation. He knew that it was the spirit named Pom-Pom who watered the Marguerite flower garden and that Pom-Pom had been screaming that he was going to kill him.

 

“This is the first time a child has come to me demanding an apology. Where is Hickson?”

 

“I am not weak enough to need to borrow Sir Hickson’s power.”

 

Viola’s eyes were full of confidence. In Carlton’s opinion, it was a confidence that was too precarious.

 

‘Courage is good, but it must be distinguished from recklessness, 6th Princess.’

 

In fact, Viola was not full of confidence. She was scared to death. However, she had acted boldly for so long that no one could see that Viola was scared.

 

“I think I know my father well. Even if he doesn’t like it, he is an adult who will acknowledge it if what the other person says is right. Thus, as a White Bellato, I have come to accurately discuss right and wrong.”

 

“Tell me.”

 

The Duke’s eyes narrowed. Viola was too afraid to look into those eyes. Yes, Heron was the type of person who would ‘acknowledge if you said something right even if he didn’t like it.’ However, on the other hand, if you said something wrong, he was the type of person who would not forgive even if it would make him feel good.

 

‘Anyway, there has only been one answer ever since Pom-Pom started saying that he was going to kill father.’

 

She couldn’t just cowardly pretend not to know. If she had to get punished anyway, she had to get punished like this. Even though her heart was pounding, she moved forward and pretended to be relaxed. She walked until she stood in front of the Duke. She took the ring off her finger and held it out respectfully in her palm.

 

“I demand an apology from my father for insulting me.”

 

From Carlton’s point of view, these were completely incomprehensible words.

 

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Translator Note:

Since I will take a little rest, next post will be release in 2024 so let me wish you Merry Cristmas and Happy New Year in advance.