I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well - Chapter 58
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Chapter 58
“I asked. Why are you angry?”
Tundra did not answer for a moment and then eventually opened his mouth.
“Because Lord Jermi disregarded procedures and laws and acted contrary to the manners of the nobility.”
“Hey, you’re lying.”
Jermi giggled and laughed as his eyes painted a half-moon.
“You’re jealous.”
Tundra made eye contact with Jermi.
Their eyes collided in mid-air.
“Did you say jealousy?”
“Yes. Jealousy.”
Tundra tried to say, ‘Don’t say nonsense with your tongue,’ but couldn’t.
‘…Jealousy.’
It seemed that what Jermi said was right. After making a rational decision, Tundra nodded. He had to admit what he had to admit.
“You seem jealous.”
“….”
The moment Viola calmed her mind.
‘Brother Hanjun wasn’t jealous of me.’
Kang Han-jun always treated Han Arin as his family. He was always warm and caring, but he never treated Arin as a woman. Even if there was jealousy, Han Arin did it, Kang Hanjun never did.
‘I feel rather comfortable.”
There was a difference between Kang Han-jun and Tundra. If it was Kang Hanjun, he wouldn’t have said it was jealousy.
“Do you know about my wish, Lord Jermi?”
“Yes. Dog. It was an interesting dream. But, is it real?”
“Yes.”
Tundra was desperate for a dream of being a dog.
So, whenever he had time, he studied hard about ‘dogs.’ He met and talked with dog owners several times, and also met with dog trainers, an emerging occupation that has recently emerged, and received counseling.
“Some dogs are temperamental and show considerable obsession and jealousy towards their owners.”
“Hooo—”
“I can control it to some extent with training, etc., but I’ve never had that kind of training. That’s why I’m jealous.”
Viola wanted to say, ‘That’s a real dog thing! You are a person. And, Jermi, why are you suddenly so convinced?!’ thought she stopped herself.
“So, you were jealous?”
“It seems so.”
He bowed his head.
“I’m sorry. Princess. I dared to be jealous.”
Jermi giggled and laughed as if it was funny.
“You talked like a real dog?”
“Because it’s my dream to be a dog.”
Even though the content of the words was absurd and funny, the attitude itself was more than serious and even reverent.
However, Jermi was also serious.
“I like people who have faith.”
“….”
“Because I think the value of belief is something that no one else can appreciate.”
He then tapped Tundra’s shoulder.
At first glance, it seemed encouraging.
“I support your dreams and beliefs.”
Viola trembled for a moment. It was because it was a phrase that appeared several times in the novel.
[ “I support your dreams and beliefs.” ]
Nevertheless, it was never meant to be literal!
That was how it was expressed in the novel.
“That was also what Jermi usually said when he felt a strong competition.”
Viola felt like crying a little. In which part of Tundra’s beliefs that he felt a strong competiton?
‘…Where the hell?’
Even Arin Han, who was a genuine reader, was an unpredictable character.
The author wrote on their blog, ‘Actually, I think he’s a character who doesn’t know where he was going. When he came to his senses, he just knew that he was running wild.’ And, even left a review saying, ‘I think that’s what the character Jermi is like.’
As a prime example, Jermi was a character who is kidnapped because of his curiosity.
Jermi walked out.
“Anyway, we’re going to explore the historical site together. See you in three days.”
Then, he looked closely at Viola and Tundra and grinned.
It was completely intentional.
“Because I’m older, I’ll speak casually to you. See you in three days, cute Viola.”
Three words landed in Tundra’s ear.
Brother.
Casual.
Cute.
Without anyone knowing, Tundra raised his lips and growled low.
Viola felt sorry for Tundra.
He was like a baby puppy that had been hit by the rain.
“Were you too embarrassed as a dog?”
He looked like he was shivering in the rain, drooping his tail and shivering.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be jealous.”
“It’s okay.”
Viola was actually feeling pretty good because she recognized that Tundra had a markedly different aspect from Kang Han-jun.
“The dog behaved like a dog. What are you sorry about?”
She gently rubbed Tundra back.
It was like a master stroking a dog’s back.
Then, Tundra immediately felt better.
If he had a tail, it would already be swaying. Until recently, he had a face that looked like he was about to shed tears, though now, he had a face that looked like he had the whole world.
‘Like a real dog.’
Eventually, Tundra regained his peace.
Meanwhile, Xenon came into Viola’s room and asked, “By the way, Tundra. How did you know that Lord Jermi was here?”
Viola tilted her head.
“Did Tundra know that?”
“Yes. I stood in front of the door for a long time. I think I realized that Sir Jermi was there.”
Viola shifted her gaze towards Tundra.
“Did you know?”
“Yes. I knew.”
“How?”
“The smell.”
For a moment, Tundra’s nose wrinkled. His noses twitched like when puppies sensed any smell.
Hearing his answer, Xenon smiled.
“You recognized the Master by the smell? Do you mean the body odor?”
“No.”
“So?”
“It has a characteristic smell of magic.”
Viola doubted her own ears.
‘A distinctive smell of magic?’
Viola was a reader who binge-read the social 〈 Shadow of Bellatu 〉 several times, and even read the author’s setting book several times. However, the word ‘characteristic smell of magic does not appear.
It was the same in the novel as well as in the setting book.
“Each person has a different smell. I felt Jermie’s smell.”
“I see. It’s a strange phenomenon.”
It was not mentioned at all in the novel.
Apparently, the male lead Tundra had a new ability that was not found in the novel.
‘Will it be okay…?’
Xenon asked again.
“Do I smell like that, too?”
“Yes. But your smell changes every day. That’s why I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
“Because it felt insensitive and cunning.”
“Ah. The evaluation is poor. Still, since we’ve been together for five years, isn’t the evaluation that much?”
Tundra nodded relentlessly.
“I was hurt.”
Xenon claimed to have been wounded with an uninjured expression on his face, and Tundra didn’t really care.
“Then, what kind of smell does the Princess have?”
“Nostalgic smell.”
Tundra’s words were unstoppable. He said ‘nostalgic smell’ without even a second’s hesitation.
“I’ve known Master’s scent for a very, very long time.”
“A very, very long time ago? How long?”
Xenon’s smile widened.
“I met Princess Viola five years ago.”
“No. I’ve been wanting to smell Princess Princess’s scent for a long time.”
As she heard his words, Viola frowned slightly. She didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.
“What nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense.”
Nonetheless, Tundra’s expression was serious.
It didn’t seem like a lie.
‘Why is he making strange noises again?’
When she stared at Tundra, she kept getting confused. With the same face and same voice as Kang Han-jun, he kept making strange noises.
“What is that, If not nonsense?”
“I’ve known the master smell since I first started feeling her. I’ve known the master’s smell for a long time. It’s the first time I smelled it, but I’m used to it and I miss it.”
Tundra was honest with his own feelings and thoughts.
‘Dogs don’t have to think deeply.”
He didn’t know what a human Tundra would be like, but Tundra thought it was okay to be honest. After all, it was Viola who told him to do that.
“It felt as if the thread of an old bond was touching.”
A faint smile appeared on Tundra’s face.
“Somehow, I think I lived to meet the master. The smell tells me that.”
That night.
Viola stayed up all night with open eyes. She kept pondering over Tundra’s words.
‘Nostalgic smell. Old reationship.’
And, one more word…
‘Somehow, I think I lived to meet the Master. The smell tells me that.’
The moment she heard those words, her heart ached for some reason.
She buried her face in the duvet.
‘Why are you saying that with that face…!’
It must have been a strange feeling.
She was well aware that Tundra did not lie. Although It wasn’t meant to be said, Tundra was just an honest person expressing his sincerity and feelings. So, it was even more confusing.
‘Tundra is just as faithful as a dog.’
He said he had studied a lot about dogs.
As he studied very hard, he must have been imitating the dog’s behavior without realizing it.
‘They said dogs don’t betray people.’
She was told that they looked only at their master for the rest of their life and lived only for them. It had been said that for a dog, the Master was everything in the world. Because of that, Viola thought that Tundra was also in the process of making himself that way.
‘Yes. Tundra is such a character.’
He was a character who always did what he set his mind to. So, if he says that a ‘dog’ is his dream, he had the setting to do his best to make that dream come true.
‘Hence, a new ability that didn’t exist in the original was created.’
Furthermore…
‘You must have missed the smell of my magic for a long time and felt it was a familiar scent.’
The character Tundra was a character that would create such a situation.
Viola had to be so convinced.
‘Ah. My head hurts.’
Suddenly, the bright morning sun penetrated through the windows. There was the sound of chirping bluebirds.
‘I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.’
At that moment, Xenon was standing in front of the bed and waiting.
“You kicked the blanket with your feet again today.”
“When did you come?”
“I arrived two hours twenty-five minutes eight seconds ago. My job includes taking care of the princess’s health, so I put the blanket back on.”
Saying so, he grinned.
“You can’t have a stomachache.”
Would this body have something like a stomachache?
Viola was about to speak.
There was no need for her to appear ignoring Xenon’s sincerity for nothing as Tundra was faithful to the role of Tundra. Xenon was only faithful to Xenon’s role, too.
“What about the promise to the Viscountess?”
“In two hours. We have agreed to have breakfast together in the Sunrise Hall.”
“Yes. Even Viscount Seal knows nothing about the contents, right?”
“Yes. He only knows it as a social gathering place for the Princess and the Viscountess.”
Last night,
Viola wrote a secret letter to Viscountess Elail.
[ I know you have a child in your womb. So I’d love to talk to you. ]
Thanks to this, breakfast was prepared.
Xenon said, a little excited, “The dress code for the Sunrise Hall is yellow.”
Xenon opened the subspace and took out a whopping thirty-eight yellow dresses. The dresses that were spread out with magic were so gorgeous that it hurt the eyes just looking at them.
‘Isn’t there anything more simple and neat?”
What was that big ribbon in the center of the stomach, what was that excessive chiffon lace, and what was that luxury embroidered with gold thread…?
It has been five years since she possessed this world, though the fashion still didn’t fit her.
“I’ll do it with this.”
It was a relatively short dress made of yellow silk. It wasn’t too clingy to the body, and it wasn’t too bland, so it didn’t seem like it would be too difficult to move.
“With this?”
Xenon looked a little sad.
“How about this?”
What he pointed to was a layered dress with a lot of gorgeous lace and sparkling ornaments.
There was great anticipation in Xenon’s eyes. It was as if the joy of someone who had first encountered playing with dolls was buried in his eyes.
“Xenon. You still don’t know my taste?”
“I know, but…”
He then gently bowed his back.
“I’m sorry. I was too greedy.”
His tone was polite and warm, but Viola felt somehow ominous. She didn’t question what kind of greed had preceded him.
‘Xenon… I think I have opened your eyes to a new world.”
After many twists and turns, it was nine am and Viola was escorted by Xenon and headed for the sunrise hall.
The door to the Sunrise Hall opened.
She could see a rectangular dining table that wasn’t that long. It was large enough to seat eight people.
The feast had already been set there.
“Princess Viola. Welcome.”
Someone got up from their seat.
A lady with voluminous brown hair.
Her name was Elail, and she was the woman who would later become the mother of the Great Wizard Bengas.
After greeting her lightly, Viola sat down.
All attendants and butlers were dismissed.
“I want to dine alone with the Viscountess.”
“Yes. I’ll leave now, Princess.”
Before the meal proceeded, Madam Elail asked.
“Princess Viola, how did you know that I had a child?”
It was a fact that no one, not even her husband, the Viscount, had been informed. It was surprising in its own way for the Viscountess.
But, more shocking words followed.
“Do you think that’s all I know?”
“Excuse me?”
“I also know that the child’s father is not Viscount Seal.”
Tuk!
The fork in Viscountess Elail’s hand fell to the ground.
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