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Watching the little brown-haired chick tremble as she stood there alone made me feel utterly at a loss.

They really left her.

Thanks to the Wise Duchess’s suggestion and my uncle’s support, the young duke was abandoned in an instant. Well, she was officially entrusted to her cousins, but it might as well be abandonment from her perspective. Cousins she was seeing for the first time were no different from strangers, after all.

Throwing a ten-year-old who liked reading books in her room into the wild was cruel. Did the House of Salon adopt some kind of lion-style parenting? Even lions doted on their cubs, though.

“Young—“

“Hiiick!”

I tried to comfort the young duke, who must be steeped in betrayal and despair, but her response was discouraging. Her already trembling body shook even more and recoiled.

“Honestly, even I’m scared when you have that expressionless face.”

Damn it.

Erich’s whisper from beside me added to my misery.

It wasn’t as if I was deliberately scowling—this was just my default face. Wasn’t that unfair?

“Young duk—“

“Eeek...!”

But when Erich tried reaching out to her, she gave him the exact same reaction. So she was not just afraid of me, but everyone. That was a relief.

On second thought, maybe it would’ve been better if she was only scared of me. How were we supposed to look after her when both of her cousins were equally sources of fear for her? Comforting her required at least some basic interaction, but that wasn’t going to happen when the both of us were reduced to monsters.

What should we do?

Should we hide somewhere and watch over her from a distance? No, that might send her into a full-blown panic. Having scary cousins in front of her and then having even those cousins disappear were problems on different levels.

“She’s probably just overwhelmed with cousins she’s meeting for the first time.”

While Erich and I were exchanging awkward glances, Marghetta, who had been watching the scene, approached with a gentle smile.

The young duke also showed wariness towards Marghetta as she suddenly approached, but it wasn’t as severe as the trembling despair she showed us. I couldn’t blame her. From her perspective, a bright and elegant woman was far less intimidating than two gloomy-looking men.

“Nice to meet you, Lady Liliana. I’m Marghetta Valenti of the Valenti ducal family.”

Anyway, Marghetta crouched down in front of the young duke to match her eye level. Was it just my imagination that her smiling and extending her hand looked like a kindergarten teacher caring for a child?

“N-Not lady. I’m the young duke...”

“Oh my, I made a mistake. I’m sorry, young duke.”

When the young duke mumbled a response to Marghetta’s greeting, Marghetta apologized in an exaggerated tone.

Oh.

The ten-year-old young duke visibly puffed up with pride. She seemed pleased that Marghetta, a lady herself, called her a young duke.

“That’s right. young duke Liliana is the heir to the ducal family. Even a lady shouldn’t treat her carelessly.”

As the Mage Duchess provided supporting fire after noticing this change, the trembling chick suddenly transformed into a chick showing off its wings. She was still a chick, but now she was a proud chick.

“That’s true. The young duke may be young, but she’s a proper heir.”

“Except for Her Grace the Mage Duchess, she’s the highest-ranking person here.”

“That’s amazing. I wasn’t nearly as composed at the young duke’s age.”

The young duke puffed up her chest even more as Louise, Irina, and Sarah piled on with obvious praise. For anyone older, it might have felt overwhelming, but she was only ten years old.

“Of course I’m amazing! I’m the heir to the Salon ducal family!”

She boasted in a childish tone, seemingly forgetting the concept she showed when first greeting me. Indeed, ten years old... it was the perfect age to take others’ praise at face value.

“She’s cute.”

“Indeed.”

I responded without hesitation to Erich’s words. It was tricky figuring out how to approach someone who found you terrifying, but this kind of challenge was manageable.

The future of the Salon ducal family was truly bright.

***Thanks to ‘Project: Our young duke is the Best,’ the young duke’s mood improved rapidly. Come to think of it, Marghetta probably had quite a few nieces and nephews, so she must be used to handling children.

No wonder she’s so skilled.

Moreover, Louise had a good affinity as a capybara, Irina had a younger sister, and Sarah was eager to get close to Erich’s cousin. With all four of them doting on the young duke at full power, the outcome was inevitable.

On the other hand, the Mage Duchess had no reason to be familiar with children, but—

“It’s impressive how she already carries herself as the young duke, even at her age.”

She subtly emphasized the word ‘young duke’ to me several times, showing her determination to get used to it. Did she want to create a young duke in the Catoban ducal family because the Salon family’s young duke was cute?

“Indeed. I hope our child takes after my cousin.”

“Fufu, wouldn’t that be nice?”

So, I gave her the answer she wanted. After all, nobles marrying and having children was the norm—avoiding the topic would have been stranger than addressing it directly.

Thus, the young duke, who had taken a direct hit from the Wise Duchess’s madness, had her self-esteem soar with endless praise. And the Mage Duchess, who almost had to speak casually with the Wise Duchess, smiled with satisfaction at receiving confirmation about the future. Naturally, this elevated the mood of the group.

***“Oh, Advisor?”

The problem was that this elevated mood was in danger of plummeting again.

As we moved to the nearby non-human sanctuary area, tourists started to appear one by one. It was only natural for there to be many people at a tourist spot, so I didn’t pay much attention. Unfortunately, I spotted club members mixed in with the tourists.

“...You’re here, too.”

“We were planning to move leisurely since it’s the first day, but Tannian was insistent on coming here.”

Rutis replied with a casual shrug. Following his gaze, I saw Tannian smiling faintly.

“There’s a religious facility set up in the non-human sanctuary area. It’s the only place with religious facilities to guide other races to faith, so I wanted to see it quickly.”

It was such a devout and logical reason that I couldn’t bring myself to argue. If I were a priest, I’d probably want to visit, too.

“But hyung, who is that young lady?”

At Tannian’s words, the club members’ gazes all fixed on the floor—or more precisely, on the young duke holding Marghetta’s hand.

Oh no.

Unfortunately, the young duke, who was already afraid even of her cousins, was visibly terrified again by the club members’ stares.

Damn these guys. After we worked so hard to comfort her.

“Could you be Lady Liliana, the young duke of Salon?”

Just as Marghetta was hurriedly trying to comfort the whimpering young duke, Ainter’s words made the young duke’s eyes widen.

Even I was caught off guard. How did Ainter know about her when I, her cousin, barely did?

“Have you met before?”

“Ah, no. I’ve just heard that the Wise Duchess’s daughter has brown hair and golden eyes.”

He also gave me a look that said, ‘Seeing her with you, the Wise Duchess’s nephew, she must be the young duke,’ which made me understand. Of course, he was an ordinary prince before the 2nd Prince’s faction fell. It wouldn’t be surprising if he had memorized key details about the major ducal families.

“Young duke? What an honor to meet the future duchess!”

Rutis burst into laughter at Ainter’s explanation and strode towards the young duke.

A towering figure with a flushed face and an imposing frame—any child would be justified in crying at such an approach, but the fact that a royal recognized her was enough to give her the courage she didn’t have before.

“...Hic.”

Of course, there were things in this world that courage alone couldn’t overcome.

Being only ten years old, she probably didn’t know that yet. How pitiful.

“Huh?”

And Rutis, in turn, was flustered by the young duke’s sniffling. I was satisfied to see this usually shameless guy at a loss for what to do.

***Our group, which started with seven people from the lodgings, had now grown to twelve.

I didn’t particularly mind. The Salon family’s young duke was also baby’s cousin, so I was more than willing to look after her. The others were club members and thus people I was familiar with. It might’ve been uncomfortable if they’d been strangers, but this much was manageable.

To be honest, I was too drained to care who joined us after dealing with the Wise Duchess earlier.

“Young duke. I bought too many, so could you eat some with me? It’d be a waste to throw them away.”

The sight of Prince Rutis, who had made the young duke cry earlier, now trying to comfort her by offering candy was quite a spectacle.

It was surprising, actually. He looked like the type who’d laugh off a child’s tears with a comment like, ‘What a strong cry—you’ll make a fine knight someday!’ And yet, here he was, showing genuine consideration. It seemed that even a blunt man like him had a soft spot for kids.

“O-Okay. Wasting something you’ve paid for would be wrong, so I’ll accept your request, Your Highness.”

Her hesitant but polite response made me smile. I wasn’t the only one; the rest of the group watching the interaction smiled too, including Rutis himself. Even the young duke who was now nibbling on the candy had a small smile on her face.

Seeing her so happy over a simple piece of candy made me wonder. Was the Wise Duchess the type to forbid snacks to her child?

That can’t be.

Someone who drank like she did couldn’t possibly be strict about her daughter’s treats. If she was, it would be outright hypocrisy.

Then it just meant that this child found happiness in the smallest joys.

What a cute child.

I smiled again. If there were a young duke or duchess like this in the Catoban family, I felt certain I’d cherish them just the same.

***True to its name as a non-human sanctuary area, we saw various races that couldn’t be seen elsewhere. Looking to my right, I saw a dwarf, and to my left was a beastkin.

It was fascinating to see so many different species gathered in one place. However, this was a commercial district designed for tourists. Each race had its own residential area, so conflicts arising from racial differences were likely minimal.

There are many elves, too.

Scattered throughout the area were elves selling souvenirs and food.

Their pointed ears were sharper than mine, and their youthful appearances suggested they were barely in their twenties by human standards. There was no mistaking it—they were pure elves unlike me, a half-elf.

It would’ve been nice if Mother was able to come with us.

There were dozens of elves visible right now. How wonderful would it have been to see so many of our kin with Mother? How proud would she have been to show our kin that she had come out into the human world, beyond the non-human sanctuary area, and proudly become a member of a ducal family?

...Kin.

A bitter feeling washed over me. Would the elves in this sanctuary area consider us mother and daughter as their kin?

Mother said she hadn’t contacted the kin in the sanctuary area since she left about 150 years ago, and I was a half-blood born from her love with a human. Of course, she said she didn’t regret leaving the sanctuary area, and I wasn’t ashamed of the Catoban blood flowing in me, either.

However, that was a sentiment we shared as people who had adapted to the human world. Would our kin, who kept their distance from the human world, think the same as us?

I don’t know.

It was a question that had lingered in my mind for as long as I could remember, one I’d never found an answer to. Perhaps this uncertainty was why I had avoided visiting the non-human sanctuary area until now.

But now that I was here, I couldn’t keep running from it—

“Ariadne?”

I froze mid-step.

“Oh my, dragging your hair around like a broomstick. It is Ariadne, isn’t it?”

That name. A name I could never forget but no one dared to say aloud.

Turning toward the voice, I saw a cheerful elf woman. She seemed to be in the middle of her work as she spun cotton candy. The moment her eyes met mine, she spoke again.

“...Oh, aren’t you Ariadne?”

“...”

I had just encountered an elf who knew my mother.