Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 2

☆ Episode 2 ☆

* * *

“Tia, what brings you here?”

The Marquis asked, his voice completely different from the one he used with me.

Clartier, entering the hall, placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.

“Daddy, you shouldn’t be stepping on a child like that.”

The Marquis chuckled as he removed his foot from my shoulder.

“Our Tia is so kind. She’s worried about this little thing.”

“Tch.”

Clartier pouted, a shy blush rising on her cheeks.

“It’s almost my birthday.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m having the hall cleaned.”

“We don’t need to have a party in such a big hall.”

Even as she said that, Clartier’s eyes sparkled with joy, as if she were looking forward to a grand birthday party.

“Can’t I casually celebrate my daughter’s birthday?”

“Oh, Daddy.”

Light pink shoes stopped in front of me.

“Are you okay?”

A gentle voice descended upon me like flower petals.

I raised my upper body and nodded.

“Then, do your best.”

Clartier smiled brightly and hugged the Marquis’s arm. The Marquis stroked her head as if she were adorable.

The affectionate father and daughter began to walk towards the door.

“Heeing, Daddy—my shoes got wet with dirty soapy water.”

“This daddy will buy you new ones, so don’t worry.”

“Wow, Daddy is the best!”

I was left alone, watching them.

The soapy water was soaking my whole body.

*Thump*, the door closed.

I stared blankly at the firmly shut door before lowering my head.

‘……Let’s clean up quickly.’

I don’t know what kind of punishment I’ll receive if I don’t finish.

* * *

Growllllllll!

Thunder rumbled in my stomach.

I curled up as much as possible, but it was no use. My stomach clock was still clamoring for food.

I was punished by the Marquis for not cleaning the hall completely.

I was hit thirty times on the calves with a thin, whip-like switch [a flexible rod used for punishment].

He said to me as I groaned, unable to stand properly due to the pain:

“Starting today, there will be no dinner for a week.”

That meant surviving on one meal a day.

Normally, I only ate two meals a day: breakfast and dinner.

Even those weren’t proper meals, but hard bread and thin soup with no ingredients.

After the Marquis left, Clartier came in.

“Oh dear, how pitiful.”

Clartier clicked her tongue as if she felt sorry for my bruised calves.

“Don’t be too upset. Daddy is fair, so that’s why. It would be unfair to others if you got free meals just because you’re my cousin, right?”

‘Even if we’re cousins, you and I are different.’

Her eyes were saying that.

“Try harder next time. You have to finish your work well. Daddy said so. He who does not work shall not eat.”

Clartier smiled brightly, as if she was proud of herself for encouraging me, and left the room.

Recalling that time made me angry.

‘That stupid meal……!’

Growllllllll.

I wanted to say I didn’t need that stupid meal, but I was so, so hungry.

‘It hurts.’

My empty stomach hurt, and my calves, which were hot with fever, also hurt.

My breathing is heavy.

My exhaled breath is hot.

My head is dizzy.

‘It’s painful.’

I felt like I was catching a cold from wearing the cold, wet clothes until they dried.

I hid under the old blanket, but the cold of the winter night froze my body.

Amidst the fever and cold, the Marquis’s voice echoed.

“You should be grateful to me.”

“Your father irresponsibly left you here and isn’t even paying for your upbringing.”

“So, you have to earn your keep, right? Do you know how much you eat? How much money it costs to raise you!”

“In the end, you couldn’t even earn your keep! So lazy! Be grateful for my mercy in giving someone as useless as you food and a place to sleep.”

I covered my ears. Nevertheless, the Marquis’s voice did not stop.

Now, I couldn’t feel the hunger or the pain in my calves.

I gasped for breath, clutching my chest tightly.

“It hurts so much…….”

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.

I didn’t want to, but my heart kept breaking.

In front of the Marquis, my whole body trembled, and I couldn’t even speak properly.

To my young eyes, he was too big.

“You must not forget that your own father abandoned you, but I took you in and raised you, right?”

“Ah, well, I’d have to see if he’s really your father. You can’t even use magic.”

I gripped the blanket tightly.

‘Was I really abandoned?’

At first, I thought it couldn’t be.

No matter if the other party is a demon, a contract is a contract.

But the result is this.

‘I was a fool to trust the demon’s contract.’

I don’t know how many times I’ve been disappointed.

I don’t even expect promises to be kept anymore.

So, there’s no need to be disappointed.

Hic.

My nose tingled.

Tears streamed down.

This is nothing, it’s not a big deal, so why am I crying?

It must be because I’m still young, hmph!

Hic, hic.

‘Damn demon.’

He said I’d have a silver spoon in my mouth [born into wealth and privilege].

He said he’d give me abilities.

He said he’d give me a dad and a brother.

‘……I thought I’d get a family.’

“Achoo!”

My whole body shook with the sneeze.

I sniffled and fastened the blanket tightly. It had no warmth, but it was better than nothing.

‘There’s no cold medicine here, and my young body is too weak.’

It’s not like I’ve only almost died once or twice.

Today is one of those days.

……Maybe it would be easier to just die.

‘No, no! I can’t get weak!’

I can’t die like this, even if it’s just out of spite.

I will definitely survive in this 0-star world.

* * *

“Tia, happy birthday!”

“Oh my, she’s dazzlingly beautiful even though she’s still young.”

“When she grows up, all the men in the empire will fall head over heels for our Tia.”

Clartier, surrounded by her family and smiling brightly, was as cute and lovely as an angel, even to me.

She was wearing a light pink dress today, which was so luxurious and extravagant that you couldn’t think of it as a child’s dress.

The full skirt, which came down to her ankles, was decorated with layers of lace, and the lace was embroidered with tiny diamonds.

No matter how rich you are, you wouldn’t spend this much on a child’s dress that they can’t even wear for a year.

But that’s how much the Marquis loved Clartier, and around her birthday, such an expensive dress always arrived at the mansion.

It was so much more beautiful than the clothes she usually wore, so Clartier was always looking forward to what kind of dress it would be.

‘The Marquis never told her what kind of dress it was, though.’

No matter how many times Clartier begged, even if she just asked for a hint, it was no use.

He must have kept it a secret so that she could be even happier when she received it.

‘She’s really loved…….’

I turned my gaze to the beautifully decorated party hall.

Of course, the hall was cleaned and sparklingly decorated.

In the first place, the Marquis probably didn’t think I could clean it all.

‘He was just trying to torment me.’

I stuck close to the corner wall and looked at my toes.

The shabby shoes worn on my tiny feet didn’t fit in here.

Even the serving servants and maids were wearing better quality shoes and clothes than me.

‘Shabby.’

Even though I was quietly standing in the corner like a dead mouse, I could feel the mocking gazes.

It was a cozy birthday party with family, but I couldn’t fit in.

Well, who would think I was a member of the Marquis family looking at my current appearance?

In reality, I wasn’t attending the birthday party as Princess Paeraton and Clartier’s cousin.

“Oh my!”

Clartier’s surprised voice rang out loudly.

It seems that some whipped cream fell on her shoes while cutting the cake.

Her lovely face looked like she was about to cry, afraid that her new shoes would be ruined.

“Why are you just standing there blankly!”

At that moment, the Marquis’s roar sharply struck my back.

“Why don’t you wipe it off quickly!”

That’s right, I wasn’t here as a cousin.

‘I’m here as Clartier’s servant… her attendant.’

If I delay any longer, the Marquis will punish me again.

I quickly approached Clartier and spoke to the surrounding maids.

“Um, something to wipe with…….”

Before I could finish speaking, she turned away with a troubled face.

The reason was obvious.

‘It must be the Marquis’s order.’

I didn’t ask any further and knelt down in front of Clartier.

As I pulled up the short, tattered sleeves and rubbed, I felt the greasy cream smearing unpleasantly.

But what felt even more unpleasant was something else.

The countless gazes of the Marquis family felt on my prostrate back.

When I raised my head, I immediately met the Marquis’s eyes.

Eyes filled with contempt, elation, and a sense of victory.

“Is that all you’re going to wipe? You have to polish it!”

The Marquis urged.

Strength entered the small hand gripping the sleeve.

“You’re not listening again! Wasn’t a week of starvation enough? Or was the beating not enough?!”

I bit my lip tightly.

I wanted to jump up and shout back at that abuser.

But this tiny body trembled and wouldn’t move.

It’s scary. It’s frightening. I’m scared.

My body creaked and moved against my will.

My posture lowered further, and my lips came close to touching the shoes Clartier was wearing.

Clartier shook her foot as if urging me on. Because of that, my lips almost touched her shoes.

‘It’s okay. This is nothing.’

I am…… a precious person.

‘Really?’

A doubtful voice was heard from the bottom of my heart.

I tried to ignore it and blew on it, but then.

“Is my memory wrong?”

A low yet clear voice cut through the hall.

“I don’t think my daughter had blonde hair.”

When I raised my head, a tall man with a cloak fixed on only one shoulder was standing crookedly.

He was frowning and looking at Clartier.

To be exact, at the light pink dress Clartier was wearing.

“The, Duke Paeraton?!”

The Marquis exclaimed in shock.

*Thump*, my heart leaped up and then sank.

Duke Paeraton?

That person?

My eyes wavered as I looked at the man.

Duke Paeraton.

He is my father, the Princess of Paeraton.

* * *

He was a man with an enormous presence even when standing casually.

Broad shoulders and long limbs.

A tightly cinched waist.

A cold face that looked like you wouldn’t get a drop of blood even if you stabbed it.

An enormous aura emanating from his whole body.

And yet, his handsomeness could not be hidden.

‘Wow……. He’s like a male protagonist in a romance fantasy novel…….’

Hair as dark as the abyss and eyes redder than the blood of a pure dove.

If I were to describe him in a novel, that’s definitely the kind of sentence that would be written.

He was more like a protagonist than all the male protagonists I had imagined.

“Weren’t you on the Western Front?”

The Western Front?

I frowned at the Marquis’s words.

‘So, the Duke was at war?’

I didn’t know.

“It’s over.”

“Yes?”

“I said it’s over, the war.”

The Marquis shook his head as if that couldn’t be true.

“Over, but surely it’s still…….”

“Do I look so free that I would personally deal with even the small fry [insignificant enemies]?”

The Duke’s eyes became sharp like a honed blade.

He still had a crooked posture and a languid attitude, but that alone changed the atmosphere.

Clartier and the Marquis’s wife stiffened their bodies, breathing heavily.

“Ha, haha, that can’t be.”

The Marquis approached the Duke with a forced smile on his pale face.

“By the way, what brings you here without even contacting us?”

“Isn’t it obvious why I came?”

The Duke ignored the Marquis and moved his steps.

Perhaps because his legs were so long, he arrived in front of Clartier in just a few steps, even though he was moving leisurely.

His red eyes scanned Clartier.

Clartier couldn’t withstand his cold, sharp gaze and lowered her head.

Her trembling body and pale face looked like she would foam at the mouth soon.

The Duke’s gaze narrowed. His blood-red eyes slowly moved.

‘Ah.’

Our eyes met.

The Duke’s eyes twitched.

“What is this skinny rat?”

“That, she works in our house—”

“Surely, you’re not saying that this person with such a wretched appearance is Princess Paeraton.”

The Duke’s voice was dangerously low.

The Marquis, who was explaining something from the side, froze and couldn’t continue speaking.

Everyone around, including the Marquis family and the employees, couldn’t even breathe easily.

A suffocating silence.

It was a thick and dense stillness that not even a needle could penetrate.

I lowered my head.

A skinny rat.

That’s right.

Even to me, my appearance was shabby and unsightly.

‘He wouldn’t be happy that someone like me is his daughter.’

He would want to deny it.

But.

“Th, then, could you please take me with you?”

I mustered all the courage I had and looked up at the Duke.

I can’t live here anymore.

I’m sure I’ll die if I stay like this.

The red eyes facing me distorted slightly.

“What?”

“I, I didn’t wash…… I didn’t wash, that’s why.”

I tried my best to look neat and wet my parched mouth.

“I won’t be a bother. I can wash myself well.”

*Thump, thump*, my heart felt like it was ringing in my ears.

“I’m good at cooking and cleaning too! I can earn my keep. I don’t eat much either…….”

The Duke was silent.

“I’ll polish your shoes every day too! I can polish them until they shine!”

My courage is gradually fading.

I didn’t want to, but my head kept going down, and I could only see his jawline instead of his eyes.

“And, also, also—”

That jaw was set hard.

My head was completely facing the floor.

I could see Clartier’s shoes, which still had greasy cream on them.

I don’t like it here.

A warm, cozy, and restful place.

I wanted to live in such a place.

Now, in my past life, always—

“I want to go home…….”