Chapter 21
Viola answered boldly.
“Yes. Self-made room.”
She spoke in a straightforward manner, but she seemed to mispronounce the word ‘self-defense’ since it was a little difficult for a seven-year-old, with the growth status of a five years old, to pronounce.
Suddenly, Carlton’s words came to his mind.
‘I think her growth was very slow because she couldn’t eat properly.’
Suddenly, that tiny body and big eyes caught his eyes even more. For some reason, his heart ached. Duke Heron pronounced it again.
“Self-defense.”
“Yes, self made room.”
“Self-defense.”
Viola noticed what the duke was trying to do. She readied her lips and put a lot of pressure on her tongue before trying to say it again.
“Self Made Room!”
Though, she couldn’t overcome her physical limitations.
“Pronounce it correctly. Self-defense.”
“Self, made, room.”
‘Damn it! I couldn’t pronounce it right.’
Meanwhile, Xenon doubted his eyes. ‘The duke is smiling darkly?’ It was very faint but smiling, but it was caught by Xenon’s keen eyes. He didn’t understand why Duke Heron was smiling.
Duke Heron spoke again.
“Self-defense.”
“Confidently!!!”
Viola was annoyed. She was expressionless and tried to pronounce it the best she could.
She wanted to hit something. ‘Then, my neck will be gone, right?’ Regardless, her irritation soared. When she tried to say something, sometimes, her pronunciation would be slightly off, especially the word ‘self-defense.’
‘My underdeveloped body!’
The duke and Viola’s eyes met. His eyes were smiling slightly. The subtle smile left Han Arin with a strange sense of defeat, and her face turned a little red without realizing it.
‘Aish.’
Never once in her life that she would be teased by her pronunciation after twenty one years of her life. Then, an indescribable sense of shame rose from her head to toe.
“No manners and bad pronunciation. Yet you are so lively.”
In fact, he wasn’t offended. Instead, he was rather satisfied with her liveliness. Verratoux should be like that. He would have been disappointed if she didn’t breathe out her liveliness when she felt teased.
However, Viola was surprised. This body must have lost its life without realizing it. When she came to her senses, the life that leaked without realizing disappeared by itself.
“You’re good at making ends meet.”
Heron misunderstood due to common sense. She’s good at controlling her life path. He recalled the words of Xenon and Hixen. ‘A girl who’s like a Verratoux, but not at the same time.’
She cannot hide her extreme greed for cold, ripe persimmons. At the same time, she has a mind that knows how to handle her life thoroughly.
All this would be a thoroughly calculated production.
A life that popped up from time to time. Those cute eyes and her killing instinct that barely suppresses. That was what it truly is. ‘That’s how she looks, huh. I like it, Viola.’
However, it was weird.
He kept looking at that plump peach-colored fur ball.
‘It’s not about her cuteness.’
He didn’t know if she was still learning manners since another orange persimmon was on her lips. Duke Heron didn’t understand nor know what was on her mind for her to eat that way.
‘What is she thinking?’
Why was she eating so aggressively with that dainty hand? The form of her holding the fork tightly was also sloppy.
Duke Heron kept seeing such behaviors rather than Verratoux’s manners.
It was really strange.
***
The dawn broke, and early birds began to sing.
Bang! Bang! Bang! There was a loud knock, which didn’t match well with the peaceful morning. There were only a few people who could knock so roughly on the princess’s door.
The door was smashed down a moment later.
It was none other than Hixen who knocked on the door.
“Mister, is that a knock?”
“It’s not that…”
Hixen smiled awkwardly.
“I couldn’t control my strength.”
“Couldn’t control?”
In other words, Hixen had not been training in the last three years, so his manna wasn’t activated properly either. After living like that for three years, he needed to start training again. He couldn’t fully control his strength these days because of the sudden activation of mana.
“Are you really a war hero?”
He knocked on his stomach. He drank so much that he was seriously obese.
“Three years is enough time for a person to ruin their life.”
“How long until you get better?”
“A month is enough.”
Viola nodded.
“Hurry up and fix yourself.”
Hixen plodded along and sat down on the chair.
“Viola, I think I’ve got some clues because of you.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
Honestly, he just needed to dip into the water. He was a hero, who was comparable to Duke Heron in the past, he would do well on his own.
“Oh, but more importantly.”
“Huh?”
“Did you eat with Heron yesterday?”
“Yes.”
‘Wait?’ Viola flinched.
‘The idealist who dreams beautifully. It’s really good to use, right?’ He didn’t hear that, did he? She got nervous for no reason. Though judging from Hixen’s attitude, it didn’t seem so.
“No manners, bad pronunciation. I was scolded for showing off my liveliness.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He glanced at Viola as if he was enjoying it.
“Even if it doesn’t look like it, Heron is a sweet guy.”
“I know.”
“He’s… Huh? You know?” Hixen looked puzzled.
“I thought he would be the only person who would’ve scolded me. He wouldn’t even say any warm words.”
In Viola’s heart, her pride suddenly burst into tears without her realizing it. He was her favorite character. Even if I have to reveal my favorite, I will admit that.
Hixen continued to be puzzled.
“That’s Heron Verratoux.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Just by looking at him.”
That’s my favorite character anyway. He’s raising cute hedgehogs. Duke Heron was nicer than I thought, although he was still a little scary.
Hixen stuck his tongue out at the absurdity.
“What are you so confident about? Why are your eyes so confident? I don’t know why, but it’s kind of annoying.”
“Why? Can’t I be confident?”
“Why are you so serious about this?”
“Because I mean it.”
“I-Is that so?” He scratched the back of his head.
“You’re still defending your father.”
Even though she may look upset, Viola didn’t actually feel bad. Actually, it was rather pleasant. Viola spoke again.
“So, why are you talking about my father?”
“That guy, he seems to be interested in you for some reason.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“He must have adopted you because he was interested in you in the first place.”
‘She was adopted by the greatest duke on the continent and was given the attention of Heron Verratoux, the great winder lord. However, her reaction about this was rather too bland.’ Hixen thought.
‘Oh? Wow! That’s incredible!’
He expected her to say something like that instead. ‘I’ve been adopted by such a noble family! The famous monarch of the winter castle is my father!’
Shouldn’t her reaction be something like that?
Lost in his thoughts, Hixen was thinking, ‘is it weird for me to look forward to seeing a rich expression of emotion from a seven years old child?’
Viola frowned slightly and made eye contact with Hixen.
“I hate violent fathers.”
Indifference was also violence, especially in this bizarre environment. Hixen’s expression suddenly brightened.
“As expected, right?”
He seemed to be in a good mood somehow. So, Viola felt like she won against Duke Heron.
“Well, yeah. There shouldn’t be such a thing as a violent father.”
“I’ll protect you. I’ll stay with you and be a good adult.”
“Lose your belly fat first.”
“…Huh?”
“You’re gonna get caught wielding a knife.”
Hixen smiled awkwardly. He couldn’t refute that statement because it was true. He then turned the subject around.
“Where is your dog that I should tame?”
***
Viola leaned against the door. Today would be the first meeting between Tundra and Hixen. If it were the same as in the novel, the two would fight with each other. Tundra didn’t want to lose to anyone, and Hixen hated such a kid. Viola was excited to see if it would be like the novel.
Though she didn’t seem to be the only one who was excited, next to her, Xenon also watched the two with an expression that he was anticipating something fun.
“I can’t believe the trainer would be Lord Hixen. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Even if I have a belly, I’m still a good trainer.”
I heard a voice approaching. It seemed that Tundra didn’t really like Hixen.
“You’re my trainer?”
In fact, Tundra was not convinced. He expected a plausible person because Viola mentioned that he was a capable swordsman. Then suddenly, a man with a big belly appeared instead. He was well-built, but he was definitely not the kind of person Tundra had thought of.
He looked at Viola.
“I told you I want to learn and master swordsmanship.”
His voice was full of anger. There was also deep frustration mixed underneath his anger.
“I wanted to be a great saint and stand next to the princess.”
To do so, he tried to master swordsmanship. He wanted to be next to that person, who she would reach out her hand to. Tundra tried to make an effort because he wanted to be a pet dog.
“But this is…”
He felt like his new dream was being trampled on.
No matter how much he looked at Hixen, he couldn’t see him as a good swordsman. Hixen didn’t look capable in the slightest, and his body reeked of alcohol from miles away. He truly looked untrained. He may even break his body soon as it seemed that he was drunk from somewhere before even coming here.
Tundra bit his lips slightly.
“You said I am just a toy. Is this how you really see me? Am I really just a toy?”
‘Is having the dream of being a dog too extravagant for me? The past few days, I have been so excited.’ He gritted his teeth.
Hixen shook his head.
“You don’t have a good attitude toward adults.”
“Adults?”
“You need to learn to communicate with adults from scratch.” He grinned.
“I tend to teach my students very strictly.”
He stared at Tundra before continuing.
“Kid. It’s time for dogs and trainers from now on. Would you excuse me?”
“Why?”
“It’s going to be a bad time.”
Xenon glanced at Viola and laughed softly. “Madam, you look excited.”
“I like people with those looks in their eyes.” Hixen grinned.
He thought back to a few years ago. ‘Heron used to look like this in the past. Now, he likes to nag and hide both the cunningness of a serpent and bravery of a tiger, but in the old days, he was just like this kid.’
“This reminds me of my old friend.”
Viola hit the nail on the head.
“You don’t have a friend.”
“How do you know?”
“You look like you don’t have many friends.”
“That’s a heartbreaking thing to say. I had a glorious past.”
He shot back. “You kicked me in the past.”
“I’ve got a knack for hitting bones.”
Viola’s words were right. Unexpectedly, he is stabbed with her point. Hixen, who was the nail on the head, enjoyed this conversation.
“Still, I believe.”
“What?”
“You’re a pretty good adult.”
Hixen coughed very loudly at the words. Viola’s words poked sharply into his heart.
If his daughter were alive, she would have been a perfect mother. She would have become a really good adult. ‘It’s not too late.’
.
Viola, not knowing how Hixen was feeling, threw a word of remorse and told him to lose the weight on his stomach again.
“And I think it would be cool if you lose your belly fat.”
Hixen decided then that he would be a good adult to her. His motivation flared up from those thoughts.
“I’ll try to look cool.”
He turned his neck towards Tundra’s direction.
Bang!
The sound echoed through the room. With a dull wooden sword in his hand, he faced Tundra. His eyes changed entirely from the way he looked at Viola.
“We, between us guys. Let’s have a steamy body conversation.”