Became the Hated Illegitimate Son of the Duke in Romance Fantasy

61 – Episode 61

I haven’t met and talked with the Duke since the first day.

After staying in the carriage for a long time, I had to recover from exhaustion, and since I arrived in the middle of the night, I had to go to sleep first.

After morning came, Xenia ran to the Duke’s room, saying that she had to see her father’s face, but I headed for my room.

And in the room I entered after a long time, there were books, a desk, and a bed that I had been using.

It didn’t look like much had changed except for the slightly pinkish curtains and the blanket with a cute animal on the bed.

Strangely, some cute looking dolls and some candy were supposed to roll around, but someone must have left them.

Or maybe it’s just a little embellished.

And I looked at the bookshelf.

Excluding a few novels, the dusty books I once studied are still there, so I fall in love with them.

Excluding the useless knowledge in my head, I felt like I was looking at myself empty. With a confused mind, I took out a cigarette from my bosom and put it in my mouth.

Then he brushed a match and lit it.

Anyway, the match is made of white phosphorus, so it smells awful.

The rising smoke is no joke either.

As I was about to open the window to ventilate, a young-looking little girl wearing a white lace dress with a slightly pinkish tint opened the door and looked at me with a startled expression on her face.

“Uh, what should I call you, sir? What are you doing in my room, by any chance, Kellogg? Do you need anything?”

I was a bit surprised when I heard the kid’s words in the room, and I hurriedly took out a small wooden stick and extinguished the fire on the pipe.

Even so, the unpleasant smell lingered in the room, and the girl frowned at her eyes.

Feeling a little sorry, I open up the conversation with the idea of putting candy in her hand.

“This is your room.”

“Well, if it’s my room, it’s my room. If you’re asking where I’m staying.

So, why did you come here? If it’s a guest room, it’s on the opposite side here, so if you’re on the wrong track, I’ll guide you.”

The girl says that she doesn’t like this place at all.

If she is a child living here in the first place, could she be another child that the duke sprinkled?

Like me.

Her face is well-groomed, and it seems that she has been running around a lot.

The thought of seeing her face soon makes me sick to my stomach.

“It’s just the room I was staying in. I didn’t know the owner had changed.”

“You said you stayed in this room? Did the guest bring the books you brought here?”

“I didn’t bring it. My teacher did.”

“I’m envious, is your name Eric Breslau?”

The girl knew my name.

Did someone at her mansion tell me my name?

Ella said that she needed to rest for a while, she was at the academy, and the only people she talked to were the owner of the house, except for Xenia.

I don’t bother answering.

And most of the cases that did not answer are accepted as positive answers.

Then the girl said with a slightly twisted smile that she was sick of it.

“What a coincidence! My last name is Breslau too.”

“What a wonderful coincidence.”

“I’ve heard the name a lot, should I call you my stepbrother?”

“Just call me Eric.”

Looking at the condition of the book, it seems that there is no separate teacher.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t even seem to be studying on her own.

If you look at books that have not been covered in dust, all of them are novels.

When she looked at it, she looked like a little bird in a cage waiting for the day to grow up.

A domesticated bird that gives up going out and is satisfied with the food it is given.

Nevertheless, those pet birds who are not able to fly freely inside the cage, but are beyond melancholy and devastated.

“Eric, you go to the academy, right?

Then can I leave this mansion after graduation?”

“Well, maybe I’ll live here for the rest of my life.”

Most of the people in this mansion wouldn’t even think that I’m looking over the duke’s seat.

I am overcome with a little hope, or a feeling of elation right now.

It’s terrifying to see the Duke and Duchess face to face again, but the trauma engraved in my head might drive me.

Even so, it might be possible to overcome it, isn’t it?

Ah, to think that the prostitute’s son, who was so jealous, went beyond taking over my daughter’s place and even took it away.

It must be quite hopeless, or regretful.

At least it won’t be pleasant.

“Well, just because you’re super smart doesn’t mean you’re not that different from me.”

“Perhaps, where were you before you came to this mansion?”

“I just lived in the village with my mother, and after her mother passed away, the Duke came to pick me up with a group of wonderful knights.

The lady who is said to be returning to the mansion this time has been around since she went to the academy, so you must have brought her as a suitable replacement.”

I can’t even say anything about that.

If I came here as a toy for Xenia, since this child doesn’t see Xenia, did I just bring her to see her?

“Didn’t she starve in that village?”

“Ah, how can anyone go hungry these days?”

Wherever it is, even if you ride a horse for two hours from this mansion, there will be people dying of starvation.

And even in the middle of starving to death, there are people who die in happiness, choosing to suck one more time, just starving to death.

Ah, then you might be right since you’re not human.

I can’t even be treated as a person, so what kind of person can I be?

“That’s right, no one is there.”

“Oh, but it’s almost dinnertime.”

As soon as the girl says that, from behind, she hears the old man’s familiar voice for the first time in a long time.

The butler, an old man who may have already resigned from his old job because of his age, was wearing a gray suit that looked lighter than before, when he wore a black suit every day.

“Boss, long time no see.

Soon, since it’s meal time, I’m here to tell His Excellency to bring him to the table.”

“Ah, old man. Long time no see.”

At that, the old man bowed his head.

And when I looked up at his face, there were a few more wrinkles on his face that I had seen in just half a year.

He makes eye contact with me, looks expressionless at first glance, but shows a wry smile.

“Yes, it’s only been about half a year, but the boy seems to have completely changed.”

“It’s changed.”

“If it used to be a walking corpse, now it’s a talking bouncer.”

“That’s an interesting metaphor.”

The old man stretches out his hand towards the girl behind me.

Then the girl took the butler’s hand with a slightly gloomy face.

Perhaps, the only person who can take care of this girl is the old man.

The old man is also old, so he must be quite lonely.

Anyway, work must be busy. Well, it’s not something I care about.

“After the Bocchan left, a new lady came into the mansion. I didn’t expect you to meet her already.”

“So, should I call her my sister? I’m seeing her for the first time today.”

“Is it really necessary to do that? It will be enough to call them by name at first and then gradually get to know them.

Like the young master and Lady Xenia.”

In the beginning, how did we meet?

I remember being cursed at first.

If I were really Eric. Or if it weren’t for Eric, he was a psychopath who believed he had lived in another sane world.

It seems obvious what the future holds.

At that thought, my expression slightly wrinkled without realizing it.

The old man looks a bit embarrassed as if he was surprised when he saw it.

“I’ve already decided to do that, old man.”

I let go of my expression and laugh lightly, and the old man laughs along with me.

Still, there is no need to harden the atmosphere.

“By the way, what is Xenia doing now?”

“Lady Xenia is already at the table.

Since it’s a family gathering for the first time in a while, His Excellency might be happy too.”

I don’t know if that person who doesn’t seem to blink an eye even if she puts a knife in front of her is happy.

“Now, young lady, go too.”

Anyway, as the old man said and started heading towards the dining room, the butler reached out to the hesitant girl and asked her to go with them.

As if, when I first came to this mansion, he took me around with him.

The old man follows me and the girl follows the old man holding her hand.

When I entered the room, two faces I didn’t want to see were placed in front of me and side by side.

And in the middle of it, Xenia was gulping down her saliva while looking at the food piled high, as if she was expecting a long-awaited feast.

“Eric, why are you here so late! It’s been a while since I’ve had a home meal!

I thought I was going to die of hunger because I couldn’t even eat proper food in the carriage.”

After listening to Xenia’s words, I felt the back of her head being pulled slightly, so I closed her eyes once and then opened them.

It’s just that, considering that she’s an immature child, there’s nothing she can’t get over, right?