How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter

All the flowers were pretty when they were blooming alone, but became an arrangement that was not united nor noticeable when bunched together.

Flowers of all seasons were packed together as if they were fighting over which was the best, and the decorative baby’s breath was eating the middle flower from the outside.(PR/N: ‘eating’ meaning ‘crowding’.)

“It got a little squished because everyone kept touching it.”

Hearing Roxy’s explanation only made me more confused.

What and how did you touch this… like this?

Is it because they touched it with their paws?

“Will father give it? I will yield as a son.”

Pedro was quick to leave the bouquet to Alan.
But Alan was busy watching the flying birds.

The knights felt an unusual atmosphere, and their ears drooped.

“See, I told you the princess wouldn’t like it.”

I looked at them and carefully hugged the bouquet.

“…It’s pretty.”

At my words, the eyes of the knights seemed to pop out.

I gave the last hit because they didn’t seem to believe it.

“Thank you, really.”

It wasn’t just words, I was genuinely happy.

It was the first time I’d ever received a bouquet of flowers.

“Really? You like it?”

Dozens of tails started spinning like propellers.

“Do you see the daisy there? I put it in! That’s the point.”

“I’ll steal your flowers again next time… No, I’ll pick them up!”

I realized something I didn’t know in my nine-year-old life.

‘The dogs are cute!’

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“She’s my sister.”

Pedro put me on one shoulder and smiled broadly as if boasting about the greatest treasure in the world.

Without realizing it, I laughed along with him.

Even the knight commander Pedro and his subordinates were all like sunshine.

“She is my daughter.”

Alan didn’t pass by this time either.

***

“How dare that duchy’s worst group of barbarians dump trash on my angel?”

Hugo stared at the bouquet I had received from the knights.

He was about to take it away and throw it out of the carriage.

“It’s not trash, it’s a bouquet…”

I carefully organised the arrangement of the disheveled flowers.

I thought it would look pretty if I did this.

“Did the wolves claim so? The aesthetic is not worth a dime.”

Hugo looked out the window as if he didn’t want to see it anymore.

After all, drawing lines on a pumpkin doesn’t make it a watermelon.

“You also have to consider the recipient’s point of view.
If you give them garbage, sincerity and earnestness are just excuses.”

I was stabbed over nothing by his words. 

Once, I gave my real father a messy picture.

“I told you to make money, if you had time to do this!”

“Still… It’s good.
I like it.”

I carefully embraced the bouquet as if hiding it from Hugo’s words.

Then, Hugo loosened his eyebrows and looked a little perplexed.

“…I’m sorry.
It doesn’t mean that Lily had no eyes, or anything like that.
I thought you were having so much fun.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, unable to understand what he was saying.

I had a good time until Hugo arrived.

The knights took turns letting me ride on their backs, and during the break they turned their stomachs upside down and acted cute.

I felt like I was going to become a dog maniac at once because my phobia of dogs was getting better.

“You don’t want me to play?”

“Absolutely not.
It’s just….”

Hugo took a deep breath and let out a self-helpful sigh.

“I don’t know if your time with me will be as fun as the time with Pedro.”

‘Aha, I can see why.’

Hugo was afraid that I’d said, ‘I’m bored! I’ll go back to brother Pedro!’

Compared to the lack of confidence, his behavior was so good despite his rush when it was the appointed time, but…

‘They fought again, saying it’s too early to hand me over.’

It was not even a street fight, two precious princes fought, but the knights bet money instead of stopping them.

Of course, this time it was a draw.

“I like anything Hugo brother gives me.”

I reassured Hugo, who was looking at me with a bashful smile.

It wasn’t a lie.
It didn’t really matter what we’d do when we went to the academy.

Knock knock.

The servant knocked on the carriage door.
It seemed that we had arrived at the academy. 

The carriage door opened and the central staircase and a building resembling a temple caught my eyes.

It made my eyes shiver wherever my eyes touched it.

Hugo got off first to escort me.

As soon as his shoes touched the marble floor, all the wizards passing by the stairs looked at us at once.

It was as if they felt Hugo’s presence not with their eyes, but with their senses.

‘What if they run screaming like the knights?’

I prepared my mind so as not to be surprised.
However, the wizards showed the opposite reaction.

They stepped back and bowed their heads.

At first glance, the expression on their faces was closer to fear than respect.

“Let’s go, Lily.”

Hugo grabbed my hand, not paying attention to the reactions of his academy colleagues.

With that said, I couldn’t even take a few steps.

He stopped upright in front of the stairs and snapped his fingers.

“The marble of the academy is mixed with the magic of the world tree that communicates with all spirits.”

It was similar to what I heard at the training hall.

Shaaa.

From under Hugo and me, a light rose and spread like a white carpet on the stairs, making a path.

Then my feet moved slowly.
It was a moving staircase. 

As I stomped my feet over and over because I was curious, Hugo swept his gray hair proudly.

The people who leaned into the corner and bowed their heads stayed in the same position the whole time we climbed the stairs.

As we entered the front door, I heard a small sigh of relief from the back of my head.

‘Is that because Hugo is an archmage? However, Pedro even played like a friend with the members of the knights order…’

I was puzzled and played with my feet, but Hugo said over and over again.

“I made a play plan for 15-minutes.
If you’re bored, just let me know.
I have about 30 preliminary plans in place.”

30 kinds?! What kind of weird games are those?

The House Bauner’s parenting method seemed to have been fundamentally twisted somewhere.

The inside of the academy was majestic and strangely quiet.

Hugo, who had been walking with the same stride as if measured by a ruler, stopped in place.

“Arc, Archmage, are you here?”

We ran into a middle-aged man who came out of the alley.

His drooping dark circles immediately made a quirky impression.

As soon as he saw Hugo, he hurriedly lowered his head.
He looked kind of terrified.

Without hesitation, Hugo cut him off.

“Move.
Because of you, my plans with my angel have been deviated by three seconds.”

I think it took about 3 more seconds to snap like that.

“I, I’m sorry.”

The middle-aged man hurriedly stepped aside and stuck to the wall as if he was going to be a mural.

“Is it okay?”

“What?”

“The thing in the black magic lab.”

Did he prepare something?

“Ah! You mean a present for the princess? It’s kept quietly in the research room, and we’ve prepared everything you’ve said.”.”

“I see.
Okay, now get out.”

“Yes, yes!”

Hugo’s words drove the man away.

Hugo clicked his tongue, as if he was annoyed by his humble appearance.

He was only fifteen this year, but watching him wield power in front of an adult, I was nervous without realizing it.

‘Why are you being so mean? Are all spirits like this? But the larks were kind.’

I was not one to be swayed, but why, was there such an atmosphere. 

Perhaps because I played with the bright knights, who seemed to succeed in tail flight soon, I was suffocated here.

“This way.”

Hugo took me to the end of the hallway and opened the last door with one light gesture.

The dizzying scent of ink stimulated my nose.

Beyond the door was a huge labyrinth of books.

Old stairs and ladders were intertwined in the cylindrical space, and books were plentiful – from within reach to places out of reach.

It was as if a single step would separate reality and illusion.

“Let’s go to the lab.”

Before I could appreciate it, Hugo grabbed my hand and led me into a corner.

We walked along for a while, but it seemed that we still hadn’t reached the ‘Black Magic Lab’.

Countless doors hung on each winding passage.

If you go beyond that, you will find another maze.

It was like a collection of books from all over the world.

There were various ceiling paintings in each room with a different atmosphere, but looking at the genre written at the entrance, it seemed like they were decorated to fit each genre.

‘Romance’ bookshelves were pale pink, ‘religious’ bookshelves were perfect white, and ‘black magic’ bookshelves…

“It’s the first time I’ve ever invited someone to my lab.”

Pitch dark vacant lot.
It was the only space in the labyrinth without books.

A round door hung in the middle of the smooth floor, as if sharply carved out of black stones.

As Hugo beckoned, the lock on the lid was loosened, and the lid opened its mouth.

He poured a round light into the hole.

The darkness lifted, revealing a staircase that twisted like a snail’s house.

It was all black, so it was still difficult to tell where to tread.

“Watch your feet.”

Hugo slowly led me down to the ground.

The escort who didn’t waste a single movement was friendly.

It went down, it went down, and it kept going down.
It was said to be a black magic lab, so maybe it was because of the name, it was very deep.

Tak, I finally took the last step.

‘Have we arrived?’

The basement had a very different atmosphere from the neatly maintained labyrinth.

Every dark wall was full of sharp knives.

They looked like… tools to stab, cut, and open wounds.

‘The torture chamber?’

…No way, no way! While I was so nervous, there was the sound of the stairs closing.

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