Chapter 1
"With that condition, it’s impossible for April to appear in public."
At the Duke Alexis’s remark, all eyes around the dining table turned towards April.
Rian, Barak, the head butler, and even the household staff who had been setting down the tableware—everyone’s gaze focused on her.
The only person who didn’t look at April was Duke Alexis.
Even I had been staring at her while continuing my meal.
Barak remained silent, unable to defend April in such circumstances.
I quietly observed April’s hand clenching into a fist on the table.
It was I who had brought April back to the duchy, but there was a reason Barak had urged her to stay at the villa.
In the end, she didn’t listen and stormed into the duchy, only to meet with misfortune.
“April has understood the situation…”
I swallowed the smile that threatened to spill from my lips.
“Until April recovers, Irina…”
The Duke softly called my name.
As I set down my utensils and raised my head, I noticed that both Rian and April, with eyes of the same pale blue as mine, were looking at me.
Barak’s eyes, which were burning with a sunset hue, reflected the same defiance, unable to accept the Duke's decision.
“Just as before, you should take your place in front of the people.”
“Yes, Father.”
Though calling him ‘Father’ was repugnant, there was no other way.
In order to further unsettle April and her watchdog, calling him ‘Father’ was the most effective weapon.
I smiled faintly at Duke Alexis, who was hiding his pleasure behind a façade of calmness.
Yes, the higher his spirits rise, the greater the fall will be.
Everyone in the duchy wore different expressions.
April and Barak were furious, the Duke tried to conceal his joy, and the head butler and staff seemed slightly bewildered.
Unlike when I first entered the duchy, Rian’s gaze, now filled with concern and complex emotions, was nothing but repulsive to me.
Hiding my true feelings, I plastered the same smile I had worn when I was once part of their family.
* * *
"We have arrived."
As the carriage door opened softly, the familiar sight of the fountain at the Duke’s estate, where the water never ceased to flow, came into view.
Seeing the swan statue atop the fountain, I realized that I had finally returned to the Duke's residence.
Rian alighted first, offering me his hand as if escorting a noble lady.
When I took his hand and stepped out of the carriage, I noticed the staff lined up in two rows.
Among them, a few familiar faces caught my eye.
The servants of the Duke’s household, including Cliff who had followed our carriage, were not much different from three years ago.
“Welcome back, Young Master…”
The head maid’s dark brown eyes flickered as she noticed me.
Kanna, the head maid, was one of the few who could distinguish between me and April.
Even if the other servants couldn’t tell, Kanna would have immediately realized that I wasn’t the true young lady of the Duke’s house, April.
“Young Master.”
Unlike the head maid who hesitated before addressing Rian, the butler, already informed of my arrival, greeted him with his usual stoic expression.
“Where is Father?”
“He is waiting in the study.”
It meant that both Rian and I were being awaited.
“But Young Master, who exactly…?”
The stammering head maid seemed eager to ask about me.
“I will see Father first.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go, Iri—”
Rian almost slipped up, nearly calling me by the name “Irina,” which he had been using naturally for the past week.
Following Rian into the mansion, I noticed that it had been completely transformed, resembling the villa in many ways.
The hall was filled with lavish decorations and artwork, though whose taste it represented was a mystery.
It was clear that this was not the taste of the Duke or his sons, who detested anything cumbersome.
It must be hers. After all, it was usually the lady of the house who was responsible for decorating it.
When the Duchess passed away, it naturally fell to April to decorate the house.
Ignoring the unfamiliar servants whispering about me, I ascended the familiar stairs and stood before Duke Alexis’s study.
“Father, it’s me.”
Rian gently knocked on the mahogany door, which opened smoothly without a creak, revealing the current head of the Duke's household, Alexis Hill Rize.
“On your nineteenth birthday, the formal adoption process will be completed.”
And there he was, the man who once made me dream of a sweet future, the one I had once called Father.
Unlike the figure I remembered, who was always working at his desk, the Duke was now reclining in a rocking chair, a sight as unfamiliar as Rian’s anxious expression.
In contrast to the opulent hall, the study was simple, revealing the Duke's preference for an antique atmosphere.
The room was sparse, with only two crossed swords on the wall, an unlit fireplace, and bookshelves lining the walls.
There wasn’t a trace of unnecessary ornamentation in the room.
“Irina…”
The Duke’s gaze fell upon me like a blade, piercing through me.
His silver-grey hair had grown slightly longer, and his pale blue eyes had lost none of their sharpness since I last saw him.
Though at a glance, he seemed as cold and unchanging as ever, his face appeared more gaunt than in my memory.
“It has been a long time, Duke.”
“…”
“You summoned me.”
I forced a smile, pressing down the bitterness that rose within me.
What could have possibly prompted him to drag me back from my quiet life in the countryside?
Already, the mere presence of a high-ranking noble in such a remote area had drawn much attention. The past week had been exhausting, dealing with nosy neighbors asking why I was being taken away.
“To treat you as the Lady of the House once more.”
The clarity in Rian’s face when he expected me to leap at the offer still lingered in my mind.
It was absurd.
For eight years, I had been forced to live as ‘April Hill Rize’ instead of Irina Devine.
There was no reason to believe that the Duke, who had never kept his promises, would do so now.
Yet, despite Alicia’s pleas for me not to return to the duchy, I had resolved to do so. I had been waiting for this very day.
For the day when I could finally plunge a dagger into the Duke's back.
“Have you been well?”
It was a pointless question. The years could not have been kind to me, and yet he asked.
It made me realize how shameless the Duke truly was.
How could he, who had broken every promise and caused my father’s death, so confidently summon me back?
Was this what all high-ranking nobles, famed as founders of kingdoms and great houses, were like?
A fleeting smirk threatened to appear on my face, but I suppressed it.
“I’ve managed.”
Saying that I hadn’t fared well would hurt my pride, but to claim I had thrived would be too bitter a lie.
“And you, Duke?”
I asked the same question in return, though I didn’t expect a direct answer.
His response made it clear that the past years had not been kind to him either.
His long silence made me want to ask whether the time spent with his true daughter had brought him no joy.
“…Yes.”
“For the past week, the Young Master has explained everything to me.”
“…”
“That you’ve been looking for me and that you wish to compensate me for my time.”
“Yes.”
If his first response had been slow, this one came without hesitation.
“Irina.”
Hearing my name softly called after so long felt strange.
It had been a long time since I had a name to call my own. The Duke’s voice uttering ‘Irina’ felt as if he was addressing someone else.
“Yes, Duke.”
In obedience to the command never to call him ‘Father’ again, I addressed him as ‘Duke,’ and he wore the same guilty expression I had often seen on Rian’s face.
An expression burdened with guilt.
“I have…”
The Duke’s lips trembled as if they were weighed down, and he took a shallow breath. The guilt that had surfaced on his face vanished, replaced by a mask of composure.
“A request.”
“Go ahead.”
I never expected that he would call me back just to offer me compensation.
What could be so monumental a request that it required such hesitation?
“I want you to be my daughter again.”
It felt as if someone had stopped the clock, freezing time.
The air in the study was still, devoid of any movement or sound, as if the entire room was holding its breath.
“A daughter?”
The pale blue eyes that had been fixed on me disappeared behind lowered lids.
Without looking directly at me, he spoke.
“For one year, live here as April.”
No one was surprised by his words.
“I know I’m being shameless…”
The Duke’s voice resonated slowly in the chilly silence of the study.
“But I ask this of you.”
“…If I agree to this request.”
The Duke, who had been avoiding my gaze, finally looked up.
“What will you do for me, Duke?”
This was an opportunity I could not afford to miss.
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