I Picked Up the Precious Daughter of the Villain - Chapter 50

“Of course.”

The lady murmured in a dreamy voice. Her large, mysterious black eyes seemed to be measuring something while staring into space.

“But young lady, the sea isn’t all good. It can be a very scary place too.”

“Because people can fall into the water and die?”

It was a somewhat chilling question for a young child to ask, but Mrs. Salamander was very composed.

“That’s not all.”

The lady’s voice took on an eerie tone.

“Things that happen on the vast ocean are beyond imagination. This happened to a nephew of a close younger sibling I knew. He said everything was fine until they set sail. They started the voyage and reached the middle of the sea. But then…”

Elodie held her breath, focusing intently on Mrs. Salamander’s words.

“Suddenly, the ship that had been moving well just minutes ago wouldn’t budge at all.”

Elodie’s eyes widened.

“Why?”

“Nobody knows. They endured like that at sea for a week. It was a distance they should have reached in three days, so they hadn’t prepared much food. The nephew said he was terrified.”

“Everyone must have been very hungry.”

Elodie’s voice took on a gloomy tone.

“I don’t like being hungry…”

I swallowed hard. Mrs. Salamander probably hadn’t realized it, but she had just touched on one of Elodie’s biggest traumas.

‘Should I stop this now?’

But Elodie was too engrossed in Mrs. Salamander’s story to interrupt.

‘Surely, she won’t end a children’s story tragically?’

I decided to wait a little longer.

“My nephew lay down in the cabin to conserve energy, just looking out the window.”

I blinked. Hadn’t she said it was a nephew of a close younger sibling…?

“When the night was deep and everyone was sound asleep, my nephew saw it. Something surging up from the water!”

“What was it? What was it?”

Elodie clasped her hands tightly as she looked at Mrs. Salamander.

“A transparent dolphin leaped up… then two, three, four, five dolphins leaped up.”

“Are fish transparent?”

“Young lady, whales aren’t fish. I’ll teach you why during our lessons. Anyway, dolphins aren’t usually transparent. But these dolphins were.”

“Why?”

“Nobody knows.”

Mrs. Salamander answered quietly.

“The younger sibling’s nephew went out on deck as if entranced. The dolphins, looking as if they were made of transparent water, were playing on both sides of the ship. And then…”

Mrs. Salamander paused for dramatic effect.

“The ship started to move.”

“Wow…”

A gasp of admiration escaped Elodie’s lips.

“They say they reached their original destination in just one day after that. How was it? Did you enjoy the story?”

Elodie exhaled through her nose.

“Tell me more! More!”

I glanced at the clock. We had already passed Elodie’s usual bedtime, and it didn’t seem good for her to stay up any longer.

“Elodie, it’s time for bed.”

“…No. I want to stay awake!”

“Listen, sweetheart. If you skip sleep now, you’ll regret it later, remember? You might feel fine at the moment, but you could end up with a terrible headache.”

I tried to reason softly with the stubborn Elodie. At her age, maintaining a proper sleep schedule was crucial.

“…Tch.”

Elodie pouted but didn’t argue with me anymore. I lifted Elodie with an “up we go.”

“Good night, Mrs. Salamander. Elodie, say good night too.”

“Good night, Mrs. Salamander.”

Elodie parroted my greeting and waved to Mrs. Salamander. Before we reached the bedroom, not far from the dining room, Elodie had fallen fast asleep in my arms. I quietly rose from the bed after laying down Elodie, who was breathing deeply.

It was 10 PM, late night for young children but just bedtime preparation for adults. I couldn’t sleep at all, perhaps tense from conducting interviews with Duke Baniche all day yesterday and today. I stared blankly out the window where a bright full moon hung.

‘Should I go for a short walk?’

Elodie was sound asleep. If anything happened, Sonya, sleeping in the next room, could come running.

I put on my coat. Although it was spring, the nights were still chilly. It would be terrible if I caught a cold and passed it on to Elodie.

‘Whew, it’s refreshing.’

I smiled gently as I felt the cool night breeze. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I enjoyed such solitude. I was always surrounded by people at work or with Elodie. As I entered the courtyard, the bright full moon greeted me.

‘…It’s beautiful.’

The Duke’s mansion at night exuded a noble and lonely atmosphere, unlike its merely splendid daytime appearance. I had been walking aimlessly for about ten minutes when I suddenly came to my senses with a start.

‘Where… is this?’

In my strangely excited mood, I had wandered to a place I had never been before. It was certainly a place hidden between buildings, but it was difficult to determine its exact purpose. It had a roof but was open in the middle, and the floor was paved with intricately patterned stonework.

‘What is this?’

It was too large to be just a utilization of some extra land. Curiosity was creeping up, but I decided to turn back at this point. However, I stopped in my tracks when I heard footsteps.

‘Who could it be?’

Perhaps a sleepless servant out for a walk? Curious, I hid behind a pillar and peeked out slightly.

‘…!’

My face suddenly flushed hot. It wasn’t just because the identity of the person who had entered with solemn steps and stood still in the center of the pattern was Theodore Baniche. In stark contrast to his usually tightly wrapped appearance, Duke Baniche was wearing nothing but simple black pants.

His broad chest and taut muscles, illuminated only by the pale moonlight, were clearly visible. And in his hand was…

‘A sword?’

I swallowed hard. I was starting to understand what this space might be. Duke Baniche unsheathed his sword, dropped the scabbard to the floor, and began to move. Or more precisely, he began to wield the sword.

I watched him, barely able to breathe. The rippling muscles with each swing of the sword, the beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, and yet his composed demeanor didn’t change a bit.

I knew in my head that I should leave before being caught, but my feet felt glued to the ground. How much time had passed? Finally, Duke Baniche stopped moving and looked up at the moon. His profile, so sculpted it seemed it might even entrance the moon, made me gasp.

I shouldn’t have done that.

At that moment, Duke Baniche turned his head, trying to find the intruder. I immediately tried to flee, but it was too late.

His dark red eyes, deeply sunken in darkness, were already staring directly at me.

“I’m… I’m sorr…”

Before I could finish my apology, the cold blade of the sword was at my throat. The killing intent that suddenly emanated from Duke Baniche, who had somehow approached close, enveloped, and pressed down on my entire body. I tried to slowly avoid the sword by pressing my body against the pillar, but it was not enough to escape the killing intent. Terror swept over me.

‘Right now, the Duke is not in his right mind.’

The black magic, which I had been careless about having never experienced it before, was vividly felt.

“Ugh… ugh…!”

I tried to call out to the Duke, but not a word came out due to the pressure that felt like it was suffocating me.

‘…Right, this is the kind of person he was. A killer who can take a life without lifting a finger!’

I squeezed my eyes shut. I might die here. Then I would never see Elodie again. Elodie would have to face the painful reality that her own father had killed me. The moment I had that thought, an unusually strong power welled up, allowing me to suppress the black magic momentarily.

“Du… Duke, Your Grace…!”

The Duke flinched for a moment at the words that burst out between coughs.

“…Miss Bertin?”

“Yes.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the gleam that had been in the Duke’s eyes just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.