He had a thin body and wore glasses, and was a face she had never seen before.

Liana’s expression hardened at his words.

‘Liana Brian. How does he know my real name?’

The name she currently used was Tessa Milliman. Milliman was her deceased mother’s surname, and Baron Brian was her father whom she had never seen.

Twenty years ago, her mother was a famous theater actor. She fell in love with Baron Brian who came to see a performance and became pregnant with Liana. But since she was a commoner and an orphan, she was soon abandoned, and her belly gradually grew, so she quit acting and gave birth to the child.

The baron, who was unmarried at the time, did not acknowledge Liana as his daughter and married a nobleman’s daughter who brought a large dowry.

When Liana transmigrated, her mother was already ill. They showed her to a doctor, but they couldn’t even determine the illness, and the disease gradually worsened until she eventually passed away.

The mother she met in the unfamiliar world wasn’t well-off, but she treated her well. So she also became very attached to her mother, and was truly sad when she passed away. She went to her mother’s grave in the temple’s public cemetery every day and wailed.

The sense of loss from losing a beloved family member and the despair of being left alone in the world tormented her. Even now, just thinking of her mother sometimes made tears well up and flow.

‘Liana, your father was a wonderful and handsome man. He had platinum hair and pale blue eyes just like you.’

Even while passing away, her mother reminisced about her tender memories with the baron and missed him.

‘What use is appearance.’

When she secretly investigated, Baron Brian was a typical bad man who would seduce any pretty woman first, then date and abandon them. There were probably more than one or two women who fell victim to him.

‘Is he someone from Baron Brian’s side? How does that person know my real name?’

She silently examined the unfamiliar man closely through the door crack. Since he knew her real name, he must be someone who knew her, but she couldn’t guess who he was at all.

“What brings you here?”

She finally opened her mouth.

“I came to escort you by order of Duke Dain Pruis.”

The man spoke with a still urgent tone.

Duke Dain Pruis?

Liana’s body stiffened with a start.

She knew about Duke Pruis from rumors. He was the only duke in the Mancus Empire and was notorious as a murderer and war demon.

The Pruis ducal family, which had been guarding the northern part of the continent for generations, had accumulated enormous wealth through several large mines and large-scale trade with the eastern continent. Since the taxes they paid to the empire were enormous, even the emperor couldn’t treat him carelessly.

Moreover, Duke Pruis, who inherited the ducal title fifteen years ago, won every battle he participated in and steadily expanded the empire’s territory. Since he completely annihilated enemies without leaving a single one alive whenever battles occurred, neighboring countries around the empire trembled with fear just hearing his name, and the emperor couldn’t carelessly touch him either.

He had not only financial power but also formidable military strength, so if he set his mind to it, he had the power to drive out the emperor and sit in that position.

“What does Duke Pruis want with me?”

Liana asked with her pale blue eyes wide open. How could the duke know and summon an obscure actor like her? She couldn’t gauge whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

“It would be better to go inside and have a conversation. Could you open the door?”

The man spoke politely with a serious expression. She had not unlocked the chain on the door until then.

“Come in.”

Liana reluctantly unlocked the chain and opened the door. The man didn’t seem like a dangerous person, and other people lived in the building too, so she planned to scream if necessary. Since she practiced voice projection every day so her voice could be heard well to the end of the performance hall, she was confident in screaming.

Aaron, who entered through the door she opened, stood tall and swept his gaze around the interior. It was such a cramped house that the entire inside could be seen at a glance.

“Please sit.”

Liana pointed to the old sofa in the center of the room and spoke.

“Yes, thank you.”

Aaron answered politely. When he sat on the sofa, Liana went to the kitchen and began boiling tea.

A moment later, Liana, who had placed the hot tea on the sofa, sat across from Aaron.

“Please drink.”

“Thank you. To introduce myself again, I am Duke Pruis’s aide.”

“Yes……”

“Lady Liana Brian, you are twenty years old and your profession is theater actor, correct?”

Aaron, who had finished his introduction, confirmed her personal information like an investigator. He seemed to have investigated her background.

“Yes, that’s correct, but?”

Liana felt uncomfortable thinking she had been investigated, but answered calmly for now.

“Your father, Baron Brian, provided you as collateral to Duke Pruis and received investment.”

Aaron, who had taken a sip of tea and put down the teacup, looked straight at her and spoke.

“I’m collateral? What does that mean?”

Liana, with wide eyes, answered with a trembling voice, doubting her own ears. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Even though the baron was her biological father, why would he arbitrarily offer his daughter to the duke? She didn’t even know if such a thing was possible.

“Would you like to see this?”

Aaron held out the envelope he had been carrying to her. Liana hurriedly opened the envelope. Inside the envelope were several documents.

The first document was an investment contract for a magic stone mine excavation business.

“Investment amount: ten billion gold. If the investment cannot be repaid, Baron Brian’s daughter becomes the property of Duke Pruis.”

Liana read the document in a small voice.

The document stated that Baron Brian provided his daughter as collateral for the investment money.

She wasn’t even a daughter acknowledged by the baron, so why were they showing her such documents?

Something felt wrong.

“Doesn’t Baron Brian have another daughter besides me?”

Liana asked with a puzzled expression. She remembered hearing from her mother that she was an illegitimate child and there was one daughter born to the legitimate wife.

“That’s true, but…… could you look at the back page of the documents?”

Aaron spoke with a nervous expression, pulling up his glasses that kept sliding down. Even though the interior was cold without the fireplace being lit, sweat was beading on his forehead.

Following his words, Liana read the next document.

“Paternity acknowledgment document. I acknowledge Liana Brian as my legitimate child.”

Liana’s hands trembled as she read the document. It was a document acknowledging her as the baron’s legitimate child now, after twenty years without a single contact. The baron’s signature was written at the bottom of the document.

There were many other documents, but Liana didn’t read any further. The thick bundle of papers fell from her hands with a thud.

“……I, I will try to talk with Baron Brian.”

After a moment, Liana spoke with a face drained of color.

The baron’s mansion was located close to here. It was a distance that could be reached in half a day by carriage. She felt she needed to go and have a detailed conversation with the baron about what all this meant.

“It’s useless. Baron Brian has already left far away with his family.”

Aaron looked at her with a pitying expression and spoke.

“……What did you say?”

Liana couldn’t believe what she had heard. Everything felt like a dream. No, she wished it were a dream.

But what was happening now was clearly reality. The man in front of her and the knights outside the window were all real.

“He told people around him that he was going on a trip, settled all his assets, and left for the eastern continent. The paternity acknowledgment document is what the baron left behind when he departed. I also received it two weeks ago.”

Liana lowered her head and held it in her hands. She understood the situation clearly. The baron had offered her, whom he had never seen, in place of the astronomical debt of ten billion gold and fled.

“Ha……”

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

When mother was alive, he wouldn’t acknowledge me as his daughter, but now he easily acknowledges me when it’s convenient.

Her mother thought Baron Brian had loved her but couldn’t marry her due to family opposition. That’s the excuse the baron had given when he abandoned her.

Fool. Not knowing what kind of man he was.

Liana’s eyes became moist thinking of her mother. Should she be glad that her mother didn’t see what a shameless person the baron was before she passed away…… Baron Brian was truly a bad person.

Aaron carefully observed the woman sitting across from him. She seemed quite shocked and couldn’t open her mouth.

Well, how many people would be in their right mind after hearing that their father sold them off in place of debt?

Aaron momentarily forgot his duty and looked at the woman with pitying eyes.

A few months ago one day, Baron Brian, who had territory in the east of the imperial capital, came to the ducal castle. It was a time when Duke Pruis had left the ducal castle to go to battle with the Kingdom of Lavinia.

‘Sir Aide, a person called Baron Kyle Brian has come to visit.’

Aaron was handling the duke’s work in his place while the duke was away at battle. The office attendant informed Aaron, who was concentrating on government affairs, of Baron Brian’s visit.

When he went to the reception room, a middle-aged man with platinum hair and pale blue eyes was sitting on the sofa.

‘The duke is not in the castle, but what brings you here?’

Aaron, sitting across from the baron, asked with a puzzled expression. It was rare for someone to visit the ducal castle without making an appointment with the duke in advance.

‘I know. There’s such a good business opportunity that I took the liberty of coming here despite the rudeness.’

‘What kind of business are you talking about?’