I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

Carlton was momentarily dazed.

 

‘Pr-princess!’

 

Carlton knew why Viola was acting like this. The Viola that Carlton saw was always fierce and lived every moment to the best of her ability.

 

‘I guess it’s to overcome her disadvantages.’

 

Viola has a natural disadvantage. She was not a pureblood Bellato and she was too young. She was in too negative a position to compete for succession.

 

‘That’s probably why she does her best every time and takes such unreasonable measures. No… I know that Princess Viola is fierce, but the direction of her fierceness is wrong. The Duke will be angry if I intervene, right?’

 

Probably so. Was it worth it? Was Princess Viola important to him? She may not be important to him but she was important to Bellato.

 

One second felt like an hour.

 

‘If I intervene, the Duke will be angry and the situation will not be resolved anyway. But I may be able to alert Princess Viola to the danger.’

 

It was true that the situation would not change even if Carlton intervened. However, Carlton’s act of intervening would send Viola her own small warning message. After making his decision, Carlton took a step forward.

 

“Princess. What kind of rude words are you speaking?”

 

“Carlton. Have you been given the right to speak?”

 

Carlton was surprised. He could feel Heron’s aura. Even though Heron had no intention of putting pressure on Carlton he was emitting an overwhelming sense of intimidation. Carlton swallowed his saliva without realizing it.

 

“No, sorry.”

 

“Get out.”

 

Carlton lowered his head. It was what he had expected anyway. Still, this action alone should be enough of a warning to Viola.

 

“Alright.”

 

Carlton exited the Duke’s office, closing the door. A wrinkle appeared on Carlton’s forehead.

 

‘I’m worried. I just hope that the young princess, who is always doing her best at every moment, won’t make the wrong choice. I hope her fierceness does not return as poison.’

 

* * *

 

Heron, Viola, and Pom-Pom were the only three left in the office. Heron spoke first.

 

“You asked me to apologize. Is that correct?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

Viola felt the same way Carlton had felt. She felt an enormous amount of pressure.

 

‘It’s not like you’re trying to put pressure on me…’

 

It was just his existence itself. This was a setting set by the author and was an indication of the inherent power of the character Heron.

 

‘I can’t breathe.’

 

She tried to control her breathing as best as she could but it felt like she was underwater. She began to feel dizzy as she ran out of breath.

 

‘…Hmm?’

 

It wasn’t long until she felt comfortable breathing again but it wasn’t because Heron relaxed.

 

‘Is it because of the ring?’

 

She thought it was thanks to the ring. The ring contained an entire field of Marguerite flowers vitalized by life-giving water, and it seemed to harmonize with Viola’s body, which had maximal spirit affinity, to neutralize her external energy.

 

‘Is this what happens?’

 

It was an artifact that did not originally appear in “The Shadow of Bellato.” However, it contained such great efficacy.

 

‘Neutralizing external energy… It will do the same for other things, right?’

 

For example, external death, poison, etc. It seemed to be a rare artifact with the power to block harmful external energy.

 

‘Amazing! This is great. I obtained an unexpected treasure. This is going to be very precious.’

 

Meanwhile, Heron read Viola’s signs.

 

‘You’re breathing easily.’

 

Ordinary children couldn’t breathe properly in front of Heron. Some even fainted. Heron did not intentionally exert pressure on his opponents but he also did not intentionally control his aura. He met his opponents naturally, without artificial conditions. 

 

“You must have been very nervous, demanding an apology from me.”

 

Heron didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, it felt good to see her breathing so comfortably. He was a little excited to see what this dastardly adopted daughter would say next.

 

“This child is a member of my family. His name is Pom-Pom.”

 

“However?”

 

“A child in my family gave the Marguerite flowers the name ‘Dignity.’”

 

“…”

 

He gave a name. He simply gave them a name. But this had far greater meaning than that statement. This was especially true for people from powerful families, including Bellato.

 

“At that moment, the Marguerite flower garden became a place that I had to protect and tend. Because it was the same as my family giving me my name.”

 

“But you couldn’t protect it.”

 

Names were not given carelessly. Especially when it came to the Bellato family.

 

“I couldn’t protect it. I didn’t know that my father would destroy the Marguerite flower garden.”

 

“Do you want to talk about disqualification as a White Bellato?”

 

Viola was proud.

 

“No, I am young. I made a mistake this time but I think it’s okay to make mistakes. I doubted everyone else but I never doubted my father. I learned that Bellato is a place where I cannot even trust my own father.”

 

Heron’s body flinched ever so slightly. No one noticed the twitch.

 

“Because… Because I thought of my father as my adult. He may not be my strong defender but I guess I firmly believed that he would at least not destroy me or what was mine.”

 

Heron looked at Viola with an expressionless face but his mind was complicated. He should be angry but he wasn’t. Bellato’s discipline needed to be established but Viola’s words constantly disturbed his ears. Heron Bellato had never felt this way before with any of his children. 

 

“My father probably knew everything. I gave Pom-Pom a name and Pom-Pom named the Marguerite flowers as he raised them.”

 

That wasn’t completely accurate. Heron knew most of what happened in the Duke’s residence but he did not know that Pom-Pom had given the flowers spiritual water. It wasn’t an important enough issue to worry about and Heron wasn’t an omnipotent god. But he couldn’t say, ‘I didn’t know.’ As the head of the family, he couldn’t say that, and for some reason, as a father, he didn’t want to say that he didn’t know.

 

“My father, who knew everything, didn’t hesitate to destroy the Marguerite flower garden.”

 

The purpose was to give Viola, who seemed to like Marguerite flowers, the entire Marguerite flower field as a gift. 

 

“Then he gave it to me as a gift. These were lives that one of my family members had given a name to. If this isn’t an insult to me, what is?”

 

Viola’s eyes were resolute and seemed to say, ‘Father knew everything.’

 

And Heron’s eyes seemed to say, ‘Of course, if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have done this.’

 

“You don’t like the ring?”

 

“…”

 

Viola pursed her lips as there was a moment of silence on her part.

 

“I got angry. This ring clearly insults me and I felt humiliated.”

 

Of course, that wasn’t what she was really thinking. Even if this artifact were put on the market right now, it would be worth hundreds of millions of dahlias. It was a collaboration between the Heavenly Duke of Death and Kurumkrum. No. Forget hundreds of millions of dahlias, it would be billions of dahlias. It was an excellent insurance policy that would provide reliable care during her retirement. Viola’s spirit, filled with capitalism, had no time to feel anything like humiliation.

 

“But I was happy.”

 

And she meant it. With all the sincerity of her capitalistic spirit. And this sincerity was conveyed intact through the Duke’s ‘Eye of Truth.’

 

“Yes, I was angry. I was humiliated by the fact that my father insulted me and that contradicted the fact that he also brought me joy.”

 

Viola bit her lip slightly.

 

“It was the first flower garden I had ever received as a gift in my entire life.”

 

Of course. Who else would receive a flower garden as a gift? It was tens of millions of flowers…

 

“And the person who gave me the flower garden as a gift was the father I had always longed for.”

 

The word “father,” which he had longed for so much, pierced Heron’s heart, not his ears. But outwardly he maintained his cool.

 

“As a White Bellato, you are disappointing.”

 

“I’m sorry about that. I will show improvement in the future.”

 

Heron was tolerant of small children. Viola knew that part well. And he was even more generous to children who honestly admitted their mistakes and promised to improve. Viola, who knew that fact, could be confident.

 

“Tell me specifically how you will show improvement.”

 

“I will not trust you, father.”

 

For a moment, Heron felt as if he had been bludgeoned on the head.

 

“I will remember that even my father doubts me and I won’t think of him as my adult. If that is the path and fate that the White Bellato must follow, I will acknowledge and accept it.”

 

For some reason, Heron felt frustration in his chest. If you were to compare what he felt in his chest to the sky, it was like there were dark clouds blotting out one entire side of the sky.

 

“But that life will be very lonely.”

 

Viola’s eyes turned to Heron.

 

“Like my father’s.”

 

* * *

 

Viola fell asleep for nearly a day. It had been a while since she slept that long. That’s how much she poured her heart and soul into the conversation with Heron. It wasn’t until twenty hours later that she finally opened her eyes.

 

‘And… I finally did it.’

 

Pom-Pom had an accident and something had to be done to fix it. And the settlement seemed to have gone well.

 

In fact, a situation occurred that no one in Bellato could believe. Not even Chief Butler Carlton could have predicted it. Heron apologized. 

 

“I didn’t intend to insult you, but it ended up that way. I apologize for that.”

 

And Viola answered, “Still, I’m sincere when I say I was happy.”

 

Her father gave her a flower garden as a gift. It was romantic. 

 

Immediately afterward, she returned to her room and slept for twenty hours. Then another few days passed.

 

‘The Forget-Me-Not Banquet will be held soon.’

 

Her social debut was just a few days away. However, rumors that were slightly different from those in the novel began to spread.

 

“Princess. Prince Jeremy says he will attend this Forget-Me-Not Banquet.”

 

“Jeremy?”

 

“Yes. But it’s strange. Prince Jeremy is known for hating social gatherings.”

 

Jeremy was a person who originally did not officially debut in the social world. The novel’s content had changed again. She wasn’t sure why but it seemed a little sinister.

 

“And now we need to talk about the host of this banquet.”

 

In “The Shadow of Bellato,” it was supposed to be hosted by Baron Curia. Baron Curia was a character of little importance in the novel, with only a brief description of him as an extravagant nobleman who adored social gatherings.

 

“It is said that it will be hosted by Marchioness Hyrils.”

 

“Marchioness Hyrils?”

 

Viola came to her senses.

 

‘Why is Marchioness Hyrils here?’

 

Marchioness Hyrils. She was the second-in-command of the Empire and it was rumored that she would soon become Empress.

 

‘Is it on behalf of Jeremy…?’

 

Something had changed a lot. Thanks to this, the hot topic of “Lady Viola Bellato,” which had heated up the social world for a very short time, disappeared in an instant. 

 

The Forget-Me-Not Banquet was just around the corner.

 

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