‘What on earth is happening! Why is Shailyn like this?!’

He had been the first family member to rush out. His heart sank upon seeing his granddaughter with her eyes closed as if she was dead.

‘D-Diane…’

He saw his deceased daughter overlapping with her.

Although Shailyn hadn’t suffered life-threatening injuries…

For some reason, it became difficult and painful to see his granddaughter after that.

Whether he saw her mother’s side or her father’s side, it felt like torture to Bartholomew.

So, unlike an adult, he temporarily ignored Shailyn.

“…I’ll be honest, Shailyn. I hated your father. I hated him so much for taking away my only daughter. That’s why I deliberately didn’t pay attention to you.”

This was something he could say with confidence.

“But I swear, I never thought of you as the child who killed Diane when you were born.”

He didn’t hate Shailyn as Gwen Sharofe had claimed.

One way or another, she was his blood.

“……!”

Shailyn was taken aback by the unexpected confession.

When she looked at Lord Diart with trembling eyes, he continued in a tender voice.

“I may have longed for you deep in my heart, but I’ve never hated or resented you in that way, not even once.”

At those words, Shailyn felt as if her breath was taken away.

Whether before or after her possession, she had grown up believing she was unloved everywhere.

But hearing Bartholomew’s sincere confession… her heart was stirred.

Her lips trembled as they moved.

“Are you… sincere? If it weren’t for me, Mom wouldn’t have died.”

“No, if it weren’t for your father, Diane wouldn’t have died. You wouldn’t have had to live so hard.”

Recalling the Count’s attitude of openly looking down on Shailyn, Bartholomew sighed in frustration.

“I warned Count Sharofe clearly. You’re my granddaughter, so he can’t take you away carelessly.”

“……”

“So don’t be anxious or worried anymore. You can stay here as long as you want.”

In a voice softer than usual, something welled up inside Shailyn.

Bartholomew reached out and clasped her hand.

“I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you, Shailyn.”

“I… I was…”

She was about to say it wasn’t too hard, but strangely, her mouth wouldn’t move.

As if she shouldn’t lie.

After a few attempts to speak, Shailyn lowered her gaze.

“…Honestly, it was hard. Even today, I worried you might listen to Mother and send me away…”

“I would never do that!”

Bartholomew exclaimed, denying it.

Seeing him like that, Shailyn felt relieved. It truly seemed he wouldn’t easily cast her aside.

“Shailyn, we’re family, but we’ve lived apart for a long time. So it’s natural to feel like strangers.”

Holding her hand, Bartholomew spoke gently.

“But it’s okay. From now on, we can slowly get closer by making an effort.”

“…Will that be possible? It feels like it will take a lot of time…”

“So what? If it takes long, we’ll just take it slow.”

Patting the back of Shailyn’s hand, Bartholomew smiled.

So Shailyn couldn’t say anything more.

‘I’m not the real Shailyn, so it won’t work anyway…’

Swallowing such thoughts,

“Thank you, Lord Diart.”

She bowed her head in gratitude to him for taking her side.

Then Bartholomew, with a displeased face, said.

“Come to think of it, that title is a bit bothersome.”

“Yes? In what way…?”

“Shouldn’t you call you me Grandfather?”

Shailyn blinked blankly.

She hesitated briefly about rejecting the suggestion…

“Yes, Grandfather.”

In the end, she accepted it.

Unable to hide his bright smile, Bartholomew patted his granddaughter’s shoulder.

“Thank you too. You must be tired, so get some rest. I’ll be going now.”

After he left, Shailyn, now alone, thought about Gwen and Janice, who were likely seething with anger by now.

They came to put her in a difficult position, but instead, they had helped remove a barrier between her and the Duke’s family.

‘Isn’t this what they call shooting yourself in the foot?’

Shailyn chuckled softly.

She wasn’t sure if she could truly become family with the ducal household.

But thanks to this, she had gained a reliable backing, making her feel at ease.

8. Donating is Too Much

Mandy was newly employed at the Duke’s residence as my exclusive maid.

I couldn’t just send back someone who had rushed from the Sharofe estate for me, so I asked Lord Diart for help.

‘Am I really becoming your maid again…?’

‘Of course, Mandy. You were my only maid at the Count’s residence.’

‘Oh, thank you…! I’m so happy! Everyone else always called me dull and frustrating, but you never did, Miss.’

Mandy always felt sorry for Shailyn, who was lonely at the Count’s residence.

At the same time, she was grateful to Shailyn for recognizing her true worth, despite being considered foolish for her kind and gentle nature.

Mandy’s loyalty was built on these two emotions.

‘That’s why I’d rather have Mandy than just anyone by my side.’

Having someone trustworthy around can only be beneficial.

“Miss, you’re awake?”

“Yes, good morning.”

Mandy greeted me with a bright face after opening the curtains.

She naturally brought washing water, helped me change, and served a simple breakfast.

There were maids at the Duke’s residence who attended to me before, but having someone who knew me well made a difference.

It was much more convenient as she moved about without needing instructions.

‘I’m glad to be reunited with Mandy.’

I finished breakfast with a satisfied smile and was sipping tea when it happened.

— Ding!

A new mission appeared.

【Mission: Am I the Donation King Today? Donate 100 magic stones to the temple!

You were a kind and generous girl who often donated to the temple despite difficult circumstances. ദ്ദി・ᴗ・)✧

Continuing to accumulate good deeds will surely bring good things in the future, right?

Donate 100 magic stones to the Central Temple in the capital!

Deadline: 2 weeks

Success Condition: Receive a donation certificate signed by the head priest

Failure Penalty: Infamous reputation in social circles (◞‸◟)】

I stared at the mission window with a blank expression.

What? 100 magic stones?

‘A hundred?!’

I immediately opened the newspaper to check the freshly updated morning price of magic stones.

1 million gold per stone.

A hundred stones would be 100 million gold.

‘Are you crazy? Do you think 100 million is the name of someone’s pet?’

My current total assets were 700,000 gold.

The 600,000 gold remaining after helping Deborah had been gradually increased through stocks.

For someone like me, 100 million gold was an unimaginably large amount.

Besides, not only was it about the money, but there was also a shortage of magic stones since the largest magic mine in the empire closed last year.

That’s why the price of magic stones had skyrocketed.

In this situation, even if I managed to gather 100 million gold, it was unlikely anyone would sell magic stones to me.

‘How can they give such a difficult mission with only 2 weeks! Do they think money grows on trees, or magic stones for that matter?!’

They sure are stingy since it’s not their mission to complete.

After venting my frustration at the system for a while, I racked my brain over what to do.

Just before despair set in due to the lack of solutions, a thought struck me.

‘Chance Usage Ticket!’

The special reward I received last time.

“I-I want to use the Chance Usage Ticket! Tell me how to solve this mission.”

When I shouted into the air, the system window appeared as if it understood perfectly.

【Oh my, you’re already using the Chance Usage Ticket? Are you sure you won’t regret it? 〜(^∇^〜）】

No, I won’t. Just tell me quickly.

【If you’re so determined, I’ll activate the ‘Chance’.

The way to acquire 100 magic stones at the cheapest price in a short time is―.】

The system window didn’t reveal the information immediately and displayed a loading screen.

What is this, ‘Revealed in 60 seconds’?

Do they think they’re the host of some audition program?

And really, after a minute, the loading ended, and new text appeared.

【Participate in the secret auction held at the Arco Mansion on 5th Avenue in three days!

Among the auction items, ‘Barron Silver Mine’ is rumored to be a mine on the verge of closure, but it actually contains a considerable amount of magic stones.

The expected maximum bid is 900,000 gold. Prepare your funds generously~! ٩(｡•ω<｡)و】

So now I have two tasks.

Find out how to attend the secret auction and prepare the auction funds.

Fortunately, I was able to solve this problem quickly.

All thanks to someone’s unexpected help.