“Pardon? Did you just say… to the Duke?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The coachman tilted his head in confusion. It seemed odd for someone of my humble appearance to be traveling to the grand mansion of the most powerful aristocrat in the empire.

 

However, after I sat and waited, the carriage began to move along the deserted road in the early morning.

 

After a considerable amount of time, the carriage finally came to a halt in front of the magnificent mansion.

 

The coachman swiftly took the payment I had scraped together and turned the carriage around without looking back.

 

I walked toward the imposing main gate, guarded by two knights stationed at the entrance.

 

The knights, clad in gleaming full plate armor, closely watched as I approached. As I got closer, they extended their spears to block me.

 

“Who goes there? Reveal your identity.”

 

I slowly pulled down the hood covering my head.

 

To the ordinary citizens of the empire, each day passed without any remarkable events. In that sense, executions were popular events, as they provided unusual entertainment that everyone, young and old, could enjoy for free.

 

It was an uncommon spectacle that took place in the square of the capital, where I had experienced it two days earlier and five years later, offered the same joy as my father did in the past.

 

With his throat slit, his face removed, my father’s visage was unmistakable to any citizen of the empire.

 

I resembled that face.

 

The knights were taken aback by my appearance.

 

“Deliver the message to the Duke. The daughter of the late Count Estelle has arrived.”

 

<center>*  *  *</center>

 

“Please, have a seat.”

 

The Duke guided me to the reception room and took a seat in a comfortable chair first.

 

He nodded toward the chair opposite him, gesturing for me to sit. I obliged without hesitation.

 

A maid quietly approached and asked softly, “Shall I bring you some tea?”

 

“No need. Miss Estelle won’t stay long.”

 

“Understood.”

 

With her head bowed, she left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

 

Not even offering me tea? Despite the tension, a hint of amusement crossed my face at the Duke’s obvious disregard.

 

Although he invited me inside, an unexpected visit early in the morning would have surely irked him.

 

His forehead deeply furrowed, the duke crossed his legs and openly sulked.

 

“The esteemed daughter of the Count surely spends her days longer than ordinary people. Seeing you visit so early in the morning, it seems you possess an exceptional sense of duty.”

 

“I didn’t have time.”

 

I calmly replied, dismissing his banter.

 

The Duke was a former knight with a sword-like appearance despite entering middle age with a touch of gray.

 

He leaned back in the armchair, crossing his arms.

 

“What is the purpose of your visit?”

 

“Please become my guardian.”

 

The duke’s eyebrows shot up. A low and smooth voice slowly flowed out.

 

“But don’t you already have Baron Barden as your guardian?”

 

“The baron is neglecting his duties as a guardian.”

 

“That’s unlikely. The baron is known for reforming the improper behavior inherent in your… lineage and providing support to the victims of the former count.”

 

The duke’s skeptical gaze dissected each word, and I bit my lip in response.

 

Even had I vowed not to, a sense of injustice surged uncontrollably.

 

“…I was the one who suggested supporting those who suffered under the former count.”

 

And Baron Barden rejected my assertion.

 

Despite the fact that the countdom’s wealth was rightfully mine, he had the audacity to claim it cost too much and spout nonsense.

 

Only after giving Helena one of my mother’s heirlooms, which she had coveted so much, could I barely proceed with the support plan.

 

“The baron’s words differ from the truth. He claimed that I vehemently opposed it at the completion ceremony of the Estelia Orphanage a year ago, but luckily, I was able to persuade him.”

 

My heart pounded with indignation.

 

The orphanage completion ceremony mentioned by the duke was one of the incidents that tarnished my reputation.

 

“…It’s not true.”

 

“Do you have evidence?”

 

“…”

 

I couldn’t utter a word in response.

 

The countdom’s walls were too high, and nothing that happened within the family could surpass them.

 

The baron had cunningly left no visible trace of abuse toward me.

 

They rarely physically struck me, except for the occasional exception. Instead, they would subject me to hours of verbal humiliation, confine me to solitary cells for days without food, barely providing water.

 

The “meal of atonement” was also a form of torment, to say the least.

 

They often tried to frame me as a thief by forcibly accusing me of stealing Helena’s jewelry or other valuable possessions from the house.

 

Since I would always be the culprit if anything went missing, occasionally a trusted servant or maid would steal something and fabricate a scenario where I was the culprit.

 

The duke took out a pocket watch from his jacket pocket, checked the time, and then put it back with an air of boredom.

 

“Well, Miss Estelle. You came barging in at the crack of dawn without any prior contact, making a ridiculous demand to become your guardian, and without any evidence, you’ve been spreading rumors about the baron.”

 

A chilling gaze fell upon me. He stood up from his seat.

 

“I have always been hesitant to fully believe the stories circulating in high society about you, but today’s display seems to provide some evidence that those baseless rumors were not unfounded. Please refrain from such impolite visits in the future.”

 

He walked past me, widening the open door and gesturing politely for me to leave.

 

“Please leave.”

 

However, I didn’t move a muscle from where I was seated.

 

“Miss Estelle.”

 

A voice urging me came from behind.

 

He didn’t believe me, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t come here expecting him to immediately believe me, especially when I had no evidence from the start.

 

In any case, there was no one in my past life who believed me.

 

I had already tried being honest with someone and seeking help, but it was a failed option.

 

So let’s discard any futile hope this time as well.

 

“…Haha. Hahaha! Ha!”

 

Bowing forward, I burst into laughter. Just thinking about what I was about to say and do made me laugh involuntarily. My shoulders shook, and my hair fluttered.

 

“…Miss Estelle!”

 

Thud. I stood up, ceasing my laughter. I was met with the visage of the duke, his face filled with displeasure. His voice flowed out like a song.

 

“Yes, it seems the rumors were not baseless.”

 

The duke’s face now resembled that of a talking horse.

 

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

 

“The blood flowing in my veins, tainted like that of a criminal father, seems to be too much for my noble stepfather to purify. Despite several years under his care, it seems I have inherited my father’s arrogance and recklessness.”

 

“What?”

 

I walked toward the duke and closed the door he was still holding. The grand entrance to the study closed smoothly without making a sound.

 

“It seems my stepfather has failed in his duty as a guardian. My blood carries the curse of a demon. At night, I hear the sound of my deceased father chuckling under the bed, like an auditory hallucination.”

 

Boldly, I looked straight into the duke’s eyes. He gazed back at me with an inscrutable expression.

 

I pulled up the corners of my mouth and laughed wholeheartedly. Like an angelic child, like an innocent girl. My melodious voice was cheerful.

 

“If things continue like this, I might just wake up in the middle of the night and set fire to some corner of the mansion.”

 

The duke growled and asked.

 

“Are you daring to threaten me, using the lives of the members of your household as leverage? La Petuse Desmiere?”

 

“That’s why I need you, Your Grace, to stop me.”

 

“Huh. Why would I?”

 

“Because you killed my father.”

 

For the first time, a flicker of emotion passed over the duke’s face. I stared straight into his pitch-black eyes.

 

“Please bring an end to what you started. Wouldn’t you want to prevent the devil’s daughter from turning into a devil herself?”

 

The exploits of my father, Count Estelle, were a well-known secret.

 

He had committed wicked deeds beyond the level of a tyrannical lord that no ordinary human would be capable of.

 

He set fertile lands ablaze and killed people for his amusement.

 

The number of orphaned children increased. Wanderers who used to roam the vicinity suddenly vanished without a trace.

 

Rumors that they were dragged to the underground dungeons of the Lord’s Castle were closer to certainty than speculation.

 

Once someone disappeared, they never returned.

 

“The Lord worships demons.”

 

“He practices wicked black magic, using humans as sacrifices.”

 

The rumors spread far and wide, without wings to carry them.

 

However, no one had the audacity to impose sanctions fearlessly on the prestigious noble who climbed several generations. Furthermore, with his genius talent for manipulating fire and his pivotal role in the imperial military, even the emperor himself dared not cross him lightly.

 

As the heinous acts escalated and unjust deaths multiplied, the Duke could no longer turn a blind eye. He was the one who exposed and denounced these crimes.

 

Only then did the nobles follow the Duke, pointing fingers at the mad Marquis, claiming he had lost his mind, was a lunatic, and cursed.

 

The Duke personally assembled a punitive force and captured the Marquis. Orchestrating everything until the Marquis’ final beheading on the executioner’s block, he was the mastermind behind it all.

 

“Please become my guardian. Watch over me instead of the incapable Baron, see how I grow, and witness the manifestation of my father’s spirit. Make sure I don’t turn into a filthy monster.”

 

Even if the whole world praises you, am I not allowed to resent you alone?

 

The Duke remained silent, listening to my plea without uttering a single word. The room was too quiet, with only my voice softly echoing in the air.

 

“And if I grow up into a demon that you can’t touch… If it’s proven that I am a monster,”

 

Aren’t you just one domino piece that you’ve toppled?

 

“Then please kill me.”

 

So take responsibility for what you’ve done.

 

“Bring an end to what the Duke started with your own hands.”

 

Dying by your hands would be better than a death adorned with rotten tomatoes and stained with bloodied ropes.