Pink hair, all over the place. Vivid green eyes.
Before I could stop her, she ran over and squeezed my leg, the top of her head being all I could see.
"What the...? Is this some kind of used-up dishrag?"
Her long, pink hair was a tangled mess down to her waist, and her clothes were filthy, like she'd fallen after almost getting hit by a carriage.
The infamous Duke glared down at the top of the child's head and spat, "Who are you?"
The nearby servants froze, unsure of what to do about his cold reaction.
Ignoring them, Cale tried to coldly shake off the strange warmth he felt on his leg.
But.
...?
‘...What is this?’
Before he even knew it, his right hand had lifted itself and was shaking.
“....”
Cale, who almost never panicked, stared down at his hand—it had moved all on its own—looking completely stunned.
A moment of silence hung in the cold air of the Duke's estate.
Cale, who had been frozen blankly, let out a hollow laugh, "Ha."
‘No way.’
Was I...about to pet her head?
Me? With this hand?
Was I about to give that pink mop of hair a friendly pat?
Even Cale, with his usually sharp judgment, couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. He was speechless for a second.
'No, that can't be.'
Patting a head? There's no way he'd do something so ridiculous.
This has to be some side effect of the memory loss.
Cale quickly regained control of himself, as if he hadn't just been freaking out, and scowled, growling at everyone around him.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Just then, the kid jumped back.
"Oh, Duke! I'm so sorry! I was just so excited that I..."
“....”
Cale's icy stare landed on the little kid, who was stuttering, embarrassed.
"Lady Elisa told me on the way over! You've lost your memory? You must be so confused... But don't worry, I'm here now! Oh, and Theo's here too. So, Theo is..."
Cale's eyebrows shot up.
"Has Mom lost her mind? Telling my secret to this kid?"
Spilling the family's top secret to some stranger?
'Depending on how this goes, I might have to...take care of this kid.'
A ruthless thought, the kind only the head of the family could have, flashed through his mind, and his fist clenched.
Just then, he saw the old woman strolling up from a distance.
At least the servants in the main house were completely tight-lipped, so it didn't matter if the kid screamed her head off in front of them.
And thanks to Elisa's planning, only Cale's closest confidants were around.
But Cale was just furious that things were so out of his control.
He was about to yell at Elisa Winterwalt, who looked like she'd lost her mind, when suddenly—
—he noticed the blood trickling from the kid's scraped knee.
Cale sucked in a breath.
"Doesn't that hurt?"
How can she just grin like that, without even flinching?
His headache went from throbbing to feeling like his skull was going to crack open.
He ran a hand roughly through his hair.
It had only been a few days.
"It's for real..."
I hid my disappointment and took a step back from Dad.
'Dad really doesn't remember me.'
My tears had left marks on his perfectly ironed pants, shaped like my face, but it was okay—Dad was too tall to notice.
'Seriously. I just went and hugged him 'cause I was so excited.'
I shook my head, thinking I'd been an idiot.
Honestly, I'd been kinda hoping...but yeah, Dad really didn't remember me. Seeing it for real made my heart ache.
"Ugh, my knee's killing me."
My knee, all scraped up from rolling around in the dirt, started to sting, too. But I knew there was no one here who'd care if I complained about it.
'And that tree earlier was being so dramatic for no reason!'
[You! You're going to die soon!]
"Huh?"
[So if you wanna avoid your fate, ru-ru-run awaaay!]
The tree, being so tall, had spotted a carriage barreling towards me and warned me.
'Hmm. Still, thanks to that, I lucked out and met Elisa Winterwalt.'
Right after I whipped my head around at the tree's words, I saw a carriage far off in the distance, completely out of control. And that familiar snowflake design was on the carriage, too.
Plus, I was standing right near the carriage road leading to the Winterwalt estate.
It all added up to one thing.
"That's Elisa Winterwalt's carriage—Cale's mom!"
I figured it all out in a split second, so I didn't run. I just waited for Elisa Winterwalt's carriage to come barreling towards me. Then, timing it just right, I threw myself down in front of it.
If I'd just gone straight to the Duke's place, I never would've met her.
I guess I got lucky.
"Child! Are you okay? I'm so, so sorry! You can talk to my butler about compensation—"
"Cough, cough. Oh, my head. Ah! My precious ring—it's gone!"
"Oh my god! This ring!"
Pretty good acting, huh...
Okay, so.
'Time for the main event!'
I sat on a huge sofa, trying to ignore the heavy atmosphere. The reception room was ridiculously big and fancy.
Dad was sitting across from me. He looked kind of different.
'Just like I thought...he lost the appearance-changing magic item in the labyrinth.'
His empty earlobe was proof enough.
'Ugh, he said it was a keepsake from his mom! Said he'd never take it off!'
I totally believed him!
His mom was sitting next to him, looking all fierce. I thought he was, like, super devoted to her, but this is just messed up.
Anyway, the pink hair and green eyes, just like mine, were gone.
Now he just had cold, silvery hair and eyes as blue as a winter lake.
'His features looked sharper, too.'
If a stranger saw him, they'd just think, 'He looks a lot like Mr. Alec.' They'd never guess they were the same person.
"So...Duke, you've been raising me."
Pushing all those thoughts aside, I swallowed hard and slowly said,
"For the past five years, in some remote mountain village down south..."
My fingers wiggled nervously.
Honestly, I'm not a kid who scares easily, but I was kind of nervous.
My teeth were chattering slightly.
I mean, it wasn't that bad.
She was shaking so badly, she was making a 'Heo, heo-eo-eo' sound.
Elisa Winterwalt's teacup was shaking like crazy.
I couldn't ignore it, so I kept glancing over—more tea was spilling on her hand than going into her mouth.
But no one else in the room seemed to have the brainpower to notice.
Feeling everyone's eyes on me, I took a deep breath—'Hoo'—to reveal my trump card.
And then.
"Here... I have proof..."
I carefully pulled something out of my shirt and held it out.
It was a box with the Winterwalt ring inside.
I took the ring out and placed it on the table.
Then, the Duke's people, who already looked shocked, looked like they were about to pass out.
"Oh my god. It's true. Oh, I'm feeling dizzy."
Elisa checked the ring again and put her hand to her forehead.
And soon after.
"CAAAALEEEC!"
She finally exploded with a roar.
She threw down her teacup.
'Whoa. What a temper!'
I shrunk back like a turtle, but I still snatched the ring.
Crash!
Dad just tilted his head slightly to avoid the flying teacup.
"You son of a bitch! I've told you a million times to keep it in your pants! It was bad enough you were a hooligan with your fists, but now your dick too, eu-eok."
"L-Lady Elisa!"
Not giving a damn about the chaos around him, Dad just sat there, all dignified, sipping his tea.
He looked totally calm, like he was in his own little world.
Everyone waited for his answer.
"This tea tastes bitter."
His low voice cut through the silence.
Cale Winterwalt finally deigned to speak. Dad, who'd seemed a little rattled back at the entrance, had regained his composure.
"Have the head maid brought in. She needs to be punished for ruining my tea."
His features appeared and disappeared in the slowly rising steam from his tea.
"That damn bastard...even now, he's complaining about the tea. Does he think he kidnapped that cute little squirt and then just forgot?"
"Calm down, Lady Elisa. He's your son."
"Oh, right."
You'd never know he was in the middle of a total shitstorm—Dad was as cool and calm as ever.
'Yikes.'
But I definitely saw it.
The cold, sharp look he shot me when he glanced from the teacup...
It was like a predator figuring out where to sink his teeth in first before tearing his prey apart.
I'd never felt such a hostile look before, and my body froze up.
Clink.
He finally put down his cup and said,
"So, kid."
He curled his lip into a smile.
"Did you bring the paternity test magic tool?"
