I Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Runaway Sub Heroine

 

Mom nodded slightly.

“Yes, there were some circumstances, so I dressed her in boys’ clothes.”

Jas stood there momentarily in shock before quickly bowing his head.

“I didn’t know that… I’m so sorry, Miss Ar. I just committed rudeness towards you…”

No, there was no need for him to be that flustered. It wasn’t like he had actually stripped off my clothes like the Grand Duke.

I tried to calm Jas down.

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“Still… Hah, I see…”

But looking closely, it seemed Jas was not just flustered. His expression was quite complicated. Like he was a little disappointed?

What was he disappointed about?

As I pondered this, I heard a faint sigh from Mom. Noticing that her complexion wasn’t good, I realized she needed to rest.

“Mom, you should lie down.”

I quickly laid Mom down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. Then, just like when she used to put me to sleep, I gently patted her on the side.

“Go to sleep quickly. Good adults need to sleep well.”

Mom laughed out loud at my cute gesture.

“What if Ar gets bored while I’m sleeping?”

“It’s okay. I won’t be bored. I’ll draw pictures next to you.” 

“Are you going to draw me again?”

“Of course!”

One interesting thing after my possession was that I gained a talent for drawing.

It seemed to be a skill of the original owner of this body. For a six-year-old, I was drawing quite well, which often surprised even me.

Because of this exceptional talent, Mom was very pleased whenever I drew something for her. So, I often drew on old wooden boards with charcoal and gave them to her.

“Come to think of it, now Ar can draw freely on paper.”

Seeing Mom’s face light up with genuine happiness made me a bit emotional.

Why is she so selfless?

She never asked for anything from the man she loved for so long, not even jewelry or clothes. All she wanted was his heart.

Since the female lead appeared in the original story, the capital had been embroiled in an unprecedented scandal. The two most powerful unmarried men in the kingdom, Grand Duke Iskas and Duke Acanthus, were competing over a countess’s daughter.

Of course, it was the Grand Duke’s scheme. He knew that his friend, Duke Acanthus, had fallen for the count’s daughter and wanted to use her.

Cynical about human relationships, he thought he could easily win the countess’s heart, so he began to flirt with her earnestly. In contrast, the serious Duke struggled between love and friendship.

Nevertheless, in the end, the female leads’s hearts leaned towards the male protagonist, the Duke. During this process, the Grand Duke and the female protagonist built a relationship similar to friendship.

Most people agreed that the Grand Duke and the heroine’s relationship was not romantic but rather a friendship.

However, there were some readers who insisted that the Grand Duke was in love with the female lead, even though it was clear that their relationship was platonic.

Regardless, while the Grand Duke was spreading his scandalous rumors, my mother spent her time alone in the Grand Duke’s residence in the capital.

The Grand Duke spent joyful times with the female lead during the day, enjoying tea gatherings, walks, and horseback riding, and in the evening, he danced with her at balls.

In contrast, the time he spent with my mother was only during the dark of night. He would come into the mansion late at night to meet my mother, and by morning, he would leave the bed immediately.

My mom felt a deep sense of despair at the Grand Duke’s behavior. Nevertheless, she never uttered a word of resentment towards him. In the dark room, she simply suppressed her emotions and kept them bottled up.

If the female lead was literally a ray of sunshine, my mother was the dark shadow hidden from that light.

Mom soon fell asleep. I began to draw beside her for the first time in a while.

I drew my mom with beautiful silver hair and clear blue eyes, shining brighter than the sun. And I drew myself next to her, holding her hand.

As I finished the drawing, sleepiness began to wash over me. Perhaps it was because all the tension had finally released.

I sluggishly crawled into bed and lay down next to my mother. Breathing in her familiar scent, I fell into a deep sleep.

That night, I had a rather strange dream.

In the dream, I was no longer a child but appeared as an adult. I was not dressed as a boy like now, but adorned in a beautiful dress and jewelry.

I was drawing under a large arched window. Sunlight poured in, and on the white paper was the face of someone.

It wasn’t my mother. The figure on the paper was a man with short hair. Since his hair wasn’t black, it wasn’t my father either.

Who on earth was I drawing?

As I pondered this, someone embraced my shoulder from behind. Then, they overlapped their hands with mine as I was drawing on the canvas. My hand, holding the brush, was completely hidden by their large hand.

Soon, the sound of laughter filled the room. The man’s playful antics almost caused the brush to touch the wrong spot.

“———.”

The man called my name in a gentle voice. Strangely, it wasn’t my name. He clearly called me something other than “Arcadia.”

Just as I was pondering this, I heard the rustling of paper from somewhere.

“Hmm….”

I lifted my heavy eyelids. As I wandered in that space where reality and dreams were indistinguishable, my blurred vision gradually cleared.

As I blinked, I saw the Grand Duke standing in front of the table. Perhaps because he was draped in a black cloak he looked like a large statue. He was staring at something he held in his hand.

“Huh?”

The moment I made a small sound, the Grand Duke put down what he was holding and signaled for me to be quiet. Looking to the side, I saw that my mother was still asleep.

When I turned back, he was already gone, having left the room.

Only the drawing I had made before falling asleep remained alone on the table.

Part 2: Can’t You Stay By My Side?

A few days passed, and my mother’s condition rapidly improved.

During that time, the Grand Duke consistently visited my mother. Even though he must have been busy with monster hunts, it was evident that he made time to come.

In the original story, after reuniting with my mother, he was busy threatening her and forcing her into submission, but this time it was different. He was treating her with care, like she was fragile glass. I wondered what had caused this change.

Perhaps it was because, unlike in the original story, my mom had just overcome a life-threatening crisis. The fear of losing her might have changed him.

Just as he realized his true feelings only when my mother died in his place in the original story.

He should have done better from the start.

I glared at the Grand Duke with narrowed eyes. If he had acted like this from the start, my mom wouldn’t have had to run away.

As if he sensed my gaze, he suddenly turned his head to look at me. I quickly averted my eyes and pretended to be uninterested.

After a moment of observing us, my mother cautiously spoke up.

“Ar, do you have anything you want to say to your father?”

“…….”

What could I possibly say to this man?

While his relationship with my mother rapidly improved, my relationship with him remained awkward. My mother had tried her best to mend the father-daughter bond, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

It was only natural. If he treated me like a discarded sack of barley, how could our relationship improve?

Moreover, while my mother seemed satisfied with her position as a mistress, I wasn’t. Why should I treat someone who isn’t even my legal father as my dad?

When I remained silent, my mother urged me again.

“Why don’t you try calling him ‘Dad’ just once?”

“…….”

My mother seemed to hope that I would melt his heart with some cute charm, but that was out of the question. That kind of thing just wasn’t in my nature. I’d rather die than do that.

“Ar….”

“Enough. If he wants to say something, he can do it himself.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, I scoffed inwardly.

Hmph, as long as you keep me as your illegitimate child, that will never happen!

“But are you going to keep dressing her in boys’ clothes?”

Even after revealing my gender, I insisted on wearing boys’ clothes. They were much more comfortable, and besides, short hair didn’t suit a dress at all.

“I’ll get her a pretty dress when her hair grows longer. A very pretty one.”

My mother smiled softly as she stroked my short hair.

She had always felt guilty about dressing me in boys’ clothes. On the day she cut my hair short, she even shed tears.

Looking at my mother’s expression now, it seemed she wanted to make up for what she hadn’t been able to do as soon as my hair got longer.

Well, it might be a hassle, but if it makes my mother happy, there’s nothing I can do about it. I might as well just go along with it.

“Your Highness.”

At that moment, Jas approached and whispered something in the Grand Duke’s ear.