I Became a Human’s Daughter

After a week…

Ariel, who’s usually eating cookies while learning letters, suddenly rolled over the floor while clutching her stomach.

“Ah!”

“What’s the matter?”

Seeing the beads of sweat on Ariel’s forehead, Ahin asked urgently.

“No, it’s…”

Her stomach has been very uncomfortable since a while ago.

‘How am I supposed to explain this?’

While Ariel was still picking what words to say…

“Aaaagh!”

Suddenly, an excruciating pain arose.

Ahin’s face turned white as Ariel rolled and screamed.

“Doctor, call the doctor!”

“Yes, yes!”

Only then did the servants, who had been standing there gaping in shock, started to move.

“Move quickly!”

Ahin pulled Ariel and hugged her in his arms.

‘Why is this child who was fine just a moment ago suddenly acting like this?’

Her distorted face looked very pained.

‘Isn’t this a serious illness?’

When he is restless,

Screech–

The door opened and the doctor entered.

“My lady, what’s happening again!”

It hasn’t been long since she entered the residence, but this is already her third treatment.

He quickly examined Ariel while panting heavily.

After examining her stomach, he made a diagnosis.

“It’s an upset stomach.”

A somewhat vague diagnosis.

“…Upset stomach?”

“Yes, judging from the pain in the upper abdomen, it seems to be indigestion. Seeing her stomach so full, I think she ate too much. What did she eat…?”

Continuing his words, he found a plate on the desk and shut his mouth for a moment.

It was a large plate loaded with cookies.

‘Was that cookies the cause?’

It was common for children to get upset stomach from frantic snacking.

‘But that doesn’t make sense.’

There were not much gaps in the plate. So that means, the amount of cookies that the young lady ate were not much.

“Is this all she ate?”

When he asked doubtfully, Jane hesitantly opened her mouth.

“…She ate seven plates of cookies with the size of that.”

“What, what?”

Seven plates.

His mouth gaped open at the absurd amount he heard, and raised his voice instantly.

“How can you give so many treats to the young lady! Are you determined to burst her stomach?”

“……”

“……”

Neither Ahin nor Jane could think of anything to say, so they bowed their heads in silence.

“For the time being, snacks are prohibited. No matter how much the young lady asks for it, you should never give it to her. Do you understand?”

After he arranged a new request, he finally left.

Thanks to this, peace came to the kitchen, but another problem arose.

“I will not!”

Ariel, unable to eat cookies, refuses to attend her class. As a result, Ariel and her servants engaged in yet another game of tag.

“Got you!”

“Now, young miss, let’s go to class.”

“No, let me go!”

Ariel fought fiercely to escape the clutches of her maids.

Ahin, who was watching her, sighed deeply.

‘What kind of reward should I hold on to that kid again this time?’

He had no experience handling small children, so he was at loss what to do next.

Just then, Ahin was approached by Jane.

“Well, young master.”

“……?”

“Actually, there is one more thing that the young miss might like.”

“What is it?”

The moment Jane leaned in to whisper in Ahin’s ear, a smile spread across his face.

Ahin turned her head to look at Ariel again.

After arguing with another servant for quite a while, she finally appeared to have settled down and become quite calm.

Nonetheless, discontent could be seen in her puffy cheeks.

“Do you hate studying so much?”

“I have no reason to learn letters!”

As her frustrations built up, Ariel finally let them out.

She only stumbled over the pen when she was told to be a half-breed last time, but why does she have to learn letters?

‘It’s nowhere to be used!’

But now that there were no cookies to captivate her attention, there was no reason to continue listening to those words.

Ariel jerked her head away.

But…

“Isn’t it frustrating to be alone in the mansion?”

She had no choice but to turn her head back at Ahin’s words.

‘Isn’t it frustrating?’

It was a very natural question. This place was so dull in comparison to the exciting activities outside.

Since she stepped outside alone and suffered a major disaster, she hadn’t taken a single step out of the mansion, so her boredom reached the extreme.

“Memorize every single letter and word in this book, and I’ll take you outside.”

Ahin’s words sounded sweet to Ariel’s ears.

“How is it?”

Ahin shook the book in front of her, and Ariel nodded frantically at him.

***

The effect of the new award was great.

Ariel devoted herself to studying day and night. She often skipped meals or cut back on sleep.

Thanks to this, Ariel memorized the entire book in just 10 days.

And today was the reward day that Ariel had been waiting for so long.

“Yes!”

Ariel woke up early in the morning and was busy getting ready to go out.

Jane asked with a chuckle, looking so happy to see her humming.

“Do you feel good, young lady?”

“Of course!”

“Still, it’s dangerous outside, so you have to be careful. Hold your brother’s hand and don’t let go, okay?”

Brother.

It was a word she saw in a book a few days ago.

Ahin explained that it refers to him as her sibling, and from that day Ariel called Ahin brother.

“Yes, I’ll hold my brother’s hand tight!”

Ariel nodded and quickly ran to Ahin’s room.

“Brother! Are you ready?”

Ahin shook his head.

‘What is she doing?’

No matter how much Ahin told her, her strange habit of speech never got fixed. Ahin sighed deeply and nodded as he fastened his cufflinks.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Then Ariel came running and grabbed Ahin’s hand.

“What, what?”

“Jane wants you to hold on tight.”

Ariel, who explained it insignificantly, urged Ahin to go quickly.

Ahin could not take his eyes off their clasped hands as he moved his steps obediently.

‘What is this.’

Warm touch.

Soft warmth.

It was unfamiliar, but it was such a strange feeling that tickles his chest.

Ahin’s ears burned red.

***

The square that she remembered from the last time is now full of strange things.

There’s a clown performing a circus in funny clothes, even a puppet show for children.

‘It’s worth studying while starving!’

Ariel widened her eyes and ran frantically down the street.

Ahin, who was following Ariel, stopped in front of a restaurant.

“It’s long past mealtime, aren’t you hungry?”

“Hungry?”

Ariel tilted her head and stroked her belly. When she saw that her always plump belly had flattened, she felt hunger.

“…Hungry!”

“Then, shall we eat something here?”

“Yes!”

Ariel nodded her head obediently, and Ahin opened the door to the restaurant.

The delicious smell immediately stimulated her sense of smell.

Gulp.

Ariel, who licked her lips again, sat down at the table as Ahin led.

“May I take your order?”

While Ahin ordered food, Ariel stared blankly out of the window.

The eyes of the people around quickly flew to Ariel.

“Oh my, that child is the rumored one…”

“His Grace the Grand Duke…right?”

In fact, Ariel was quite a celebrity in the Empire.

Rumors that the Grand Duke brought in an illegitimate child had spread far and wide. Still, most of them could not open their mouths easily for fear of angering the Grand Duke.

But there are always people who make fun with their mouths hastily anywhere.

The children of high-ranking nobles who were present at the time raised their voices.

“It’s that child, it is said that His Grace let her in the duchy.”

“She really resemble His Grace.”

“According to rumors, His Grace cares for that child quite a bit, but is he really trying to give her the position of the Grand Duchess?”

It was then,

The purple-haired girl sitting at the highest table said in a cold voice.

“What kind of nonsense. An illegitimate child as the grand duchess?”

“I’m sorry, young lady.”

“We made a mistake.”

The white-faced girls bowed their heads.

After all, she was the only daughter of a high-ranking Marquis of Forern, and was currently the highest-ranking single woman in the Empire.

However, all of a sudden, the Grand Duke brought her daughter.

This empire is a place where even an illegitimate child can become the successor as long as they have the approval of the family head.

There was no law that said that a girl whom the Grand Duke himself took in could not become the Grand Duchess.

So, from her point of view, this situation was not pleasant.

“Besides, seeing that the Duke has been hiding that girl’s existence until now, it seems that her mother’s status is so low that he can’t show it anywhere, but he just let her hang out with the little duke like that. His Grace must have gone mad.”

But this went too far.

No matter how worried she was about the possibility of losing such a position to a mere illegitimate child, she had to distinguish between what to say and what not to say.

“Whose name do you dare to tarnish?”

No, at least…

“Have you forgotten that the one who you claim to have gone mad is His Majesty’s only younger brother and the only grand duke of this empire?”

She should have been careful of her words in the presence of the son, the Little Duke.

“Even though she is an illegitimate child, she inherits the blood of the imperial family. Was it something that can be talked about by a merely marquis’ daughter?”

Ahin’s eyes shone coldly.

“You won’t have anything to say even if I dispose you for contempt of the imperial family, will you?”