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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Now I Can Call You My Daughter
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It had been a strangely unfamiliar and eerie day.
I was on my usual route to the merchant guild, backpack full of potions slung over my shoulders.
A few people glanced my way and started whispering. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but as it kept happening, I couldn't shake off the growing unease.
Even stranger was what came next. People who met my eyes hurried away as if they'd seen something terrifying. I asked Sierra if there was something on my clothes, but nothing seemed amiss.
A nagging discomfort settled in. That suspicious feeling lingered even after I started my business for the day.
Customers who normally tossed coins on my stall and grabbed their potions were unusually polite today, greeting me with excessive courtesy. It was so over-the-top that it felt awkward instead.
"Maybe people are finally learning some manners?"
Sierra said with a knowing smile.
"Nah..."
As if. In the end, I had no choice but to keep selling without figuring out what was going on.
Fortunately, I soon uncovered the source of that alien sense of déjà vu. And surprisingly, the one who revealed it was the noblewoman who had threatened me before.
"I'm truly sorry about what happened last time. Please forgive me."
I was speechless. Just a week ago, this woman had been intimidating me, and now she was apologizing humbly. A noble using honorifics and bowing her head, no less.
"Wh-why are you doing this?!"
I waved my hands frantically and rushed toward her. If word got out that a commoner like me had made a noble bow, it would spell trouble in all sorts of ways.
But the woman ignored my protests and kept her head lowered for a long while.
"...I want to sincerely apologize for my rudeness."
Before she could finish, all eyes around us turned our way. In my panic, I practically begged.
"I'm sorry, I mean... please, just lift your head first!"
Only then did she raise her head.
The arrogance and coldness from a week ago were gone. For a moment, I doubted if this was even the same noblewoman—it was that disorienting.
And for some reason, one of her cheeks was faintly swollen. It was clearly the mark of a slap.
"Please accept my apology, my lady."
"...My lady?"
"I want to stay on good terms with the Rahel Tani family."
Her words left me blinking in stunned silence.
Thoughts crashed over me like waves.
Why was this noblewoman bowing to me? Why was the Rahel Tani name coming from her mouth?
And above all, why did she believe I was part of the Rahel Tani family?
"I... I'm not that person."
I denied it in a trembling voice. But her gaze didn't waver even slightly.
"You don't have to hide it. Everyone in the empire already knows."
My heart sank to the depths. My frantic mind raced to make sense of the situation.
Roselia had clearly said she wouldn't announce my adoption to the world until I came of age.
My body reacted before my mind could catch up.
I turned and ran back the way Sierra and I had come. I sprinted until my breath caught in my throat, arriving back at the mansion.
I dashed down the long corridor, up the stairs, caught my breath, and headed straight for Roselia's study.
My mind was too scattered to even think of knocking. I flung the door open and burst inside.
"Bella."
Unlike my pounding heart, Roselia greeted me calmly as always.
"C-Countess... what in the world is going on?!"
My voice trembled with anxiety as it slipped out.
"I just found out myself. Word has spread through high society that you're a Rahel Tani."
"B-but you promised not to announce it until I came of age...!"
"It wasn't me."
"...Pardon?"
"As soon as I heard, I traced the rumor back to its source."
Her unexpected words choked the air from my lungs.
Roselia glanced toward one side of the room and nodded. A servant guarding the door quietly stepped out, then returned moments later with a woman whom he forced to kneel before me.
"She's the priestess who handled your adoption papers."
As Roselia finished speaking, the woman—apparently a priestess—looked up at me with trembling eyes, then clasped her hands together on her knees.
"F-forgive me, my lady...! I was drunk and got carried away—I let slip something I shouldn't have...!"
Everything clicked into place.
Adoption documents are stored and guaranteed by the temple. Mine was no exception.
To blab about such a document—especially one tied directly to the Rahel Tani family—in a drunken stupor. How wasted did she have to be to do something so absurd?
No, the real issue was that a priestess was drinking at all.
"Should I kill her for you?"
Roselia's chilling voice rang in my ears.
"Y-yes...?"
I stared at her in a daze. Roselia's red eyes fixed on the kneeling priestess without a flicker of emotion.
"She's committed a capital offense. You could ask for her death."
Roselia steepled two fingers. The moment they touched, some part of the priestess's body would burst.
"Pl-please... spare me just this once...!"
As if aware of it, the priestess slammed her forehead to the floor and clasped her hands toward me desperately.
"Don't kill her!"
In that hair-trigger moment, amid the suffocating tension, I shouted at Roselia.
"Don't kill her?"
Roselia turned her gaze to me.
"Of course not! She made a mistake, but... killing someone over this is too harsh!"
At my words, Roselia slowly lowered her hand. Only then did the priestess's stifled breaths resume, cautiously filling the room.
"Then what would you have me do?"
I looked at the priestess at Roselia's question.
Honestly, I was pretty annoyed with her on multiple levels. But I didn't want to see her body mangled before my eyes.
"...She seems truly remorseful, so can we just let it go?"
Roselia's eyes widened for a split second.
"Just let it go? You were the one harmed, Bella."
"Everyone makes mistakes. I'm fine."
A brief silence enveloped the room.
But the tension that had gripped us moments ago was clearly easing.
"...You're too kind for your own good."
Roselia slowly raised her hand and stroked my head.
Her long, delicate fingers gently ruffled my hair.
"Dismiss her."
At Roselia's command, the priestess finally broke into a relieved smile. She thanked me profusely as she fled the study.
"Bella."
Roselia cleared her throat, breaking the silence.
"...Yes?"
"It's an unexpected turn, but now that it's out, you don't need to worry too much."
"Huh?"
"You hesitated to announce it because you didn't want to bring shame to the family."
Roselia knelt before me to meet my eyes, then suddenly slipped her arms under my armpits and lifted me effortlessly.
"Eek?!"
I was dangling in midair in an instant.
"No need to worry. No matter what you do, it won't harm the Rahel Tani name."
"N-no, that's not..."
Of course, I hadn't hidden the announcement to avoid harming the family. As Roselia said, the Rahel Tani wouldn't crumble over one child.
The real reason was different. I wanted to avoid complications when I became an adult and went independent. If it was just on paper, we could revoke it later without fuss.
But once it became public gossip, it would lead to all sorts of annoyances and embarrassments.
'And yet...!'
I flailed in the air, trying to wriggle free from Roselia's grip. But her hold on my armpits didn't budge.
In the end, with my face drained of color and head bowed, I pleaded desperately.
"C-can you please put me down...? Your hands are touching my sides, and it's... uncomfortable."
Roselia's eyes dimmed slowly. She even looked a bit forlorn.
"...Camilla lets me hold her freely, but when can I ever hold my own daughter?"
"C-Camilla's a girl and just a kid!"
"I'm jealous of Camilla in moments like this."
Ignoring my desperate plea, Roselia released my armpits only to grab the scruff of my neck and hoist me up again.
"This okay?"
I was still dangling like a kitten, but the more stable position eased my mind a bit.
"...Yeah."
"Hee hee."
Roselia let out a soft chuckle.
It was a devastating beauty that could captivate anyone at first glance.
"Anyway, now the world knows you're my daughter?"
Her red eyes gazed at me steadily. Long lashes brushed her eyes, drawing a radiant smile.
"Now I can call you my daughter out in public too, right?"
Something oddly elated in Roselia's expression tickled deep in my chest.
※
The back storage shed of the Rahel Tani mansion.
A woman there was grimacing as she changed clothes.
"Ha... Acting's no easy gig."
Sierra crossed her arms with a bored expression at the woman's grumbling.
"You got paid for it, though."
"True enough."
Once changed, the woman shook her money pouch contentedly.
"Lady Black Blood was generous."
"That's hush money too, so hide it well."
"Obviously. That's our specialty."
The Black Blood Gang.
Roselia's shadowy organization. Ruthless shadows infamous even for taking lives without hesitation.
"Hey, got a question."
Sierra nodded indifferently at the gang member's words.
"What if the young miss had said to kill me right there?"
"Your head would've rolled."
A chill ran down the gang member's spine at Sierra's unhesitating reply.
She knew her master's temperament too well to deny it.
"But the young miss isn't the type to say that. Don't worry over nothing."
Sierra knew the member would get off scot-free. Not just Sierra, but Roselia too knew how kind Bella was.
'If the young miss ever wanted someone dead...'
It would mean they truly deserved it.
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