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* * *

From the moment he was born, Noah Elpinard was the star of the family. In a family where children were rare, the birth of the Duke’s only grandson and the future heir was a cause for celebration. Everyone adored him. With his cute appearance and polite manners, Noah quickly won the hearts of the Elpinard household. 

Whenever the young lord toddled by, people couldn’t help but express their admiration. “Such a lovely child.” “Such an adorable little lord.” No matter where he went, there were adults doting on him. Even the simple act of drinking water would elicit exclamations about how cute he was. 

Growing up surrounded by such attention, Noah naturally came to believe that all the love and admiration in the world were meant for him alone. He was so confident that if he wasn’t the center of attention, he considered the situation strange and wrong. As an only child with no siblings and with his uncle remaining unmarried, there was no chance of any cousins being born either. 

Noah believed that he would forever be the special and unique child of the Elpinard family—until the day that an unremarkable child was suddenly brought into his life.

* * *

“Did you hear? The Duke has brought home a young child.”

“A child? Out of nowhere?”

“They say she’s the Saintess recognized by Cardinal Bael, the hero who defeated the Mad Dragon! The Duke plans to adopt her as his daughter!”

“What? Why would the Duke adopt a Saintess?”

“The temple can be quite a harsh place, right? The Pope was looking for a noble family to take care of the infant since it wasn’t suitable to raise a baby there.”

“That’s incredible. So, the Saintess is going to become the Duke’s youngest daughter?”

The attention that had always been showered on Noah quickly shifted to the new arrival, the child who had rolled in like an unexpected stone. The fact that she was the Saintess acknowledged by the church only made her stand out even more. 

Noah was deeply resentful that the attention he had always received was suddenly taken away from him. He was so resentful that he grew to despise Reshia, the one who had stolen that attention. He hated the idea of having to bow to a girl who wasn’t even blood-related, calling her “Aunt” just because she was adopted.

In his young mind, Noah came up with a simple plan. If the problem started when this new child appeared, wouldn’t everything go back to the way it was if he just got rid of her?

‘If she’s gone, everything will return to normal!’

* * *

“Waaah!” Noah wailed, tears streaming down his face.

I blinked at him, taking in the scene. ‘So, to sum it up, he’s like the only child who suddenly got a sibling and started acting out because of it.’

I’d never experienced this myself, having no siblings, but I’d heard it was common. When a long-time only child suddenly gains a sibling, they often feel like all the love and attention is being taken away from them.

In this story, Noah was the long-time only child, and I was the suddenly arrived sibling.

‘Ah, kids will be kids.’

Realizing that all of Noah’s bratty behavior stemmed from a lack of attention and affection, I couldn’t help but sigh instead of feeling annoyed. 

“Don’t cry,” I said, patting Noah’s back with a bit of reluctance. It was meant as a gesture that said, ‘I get it, but you didn’t do anything right, so stop crying and do better from now on.’ 

However, whether my intent didn’t come across or not, Noah’s crying only grew louder as I patted him.

“Waaaah!”

I guess sometimes when someone tries to comfort you, it just makes you feel even sadder. As my face turned pale from exhaustion, the Duke let out a deep sigh and then lifted Noah up into his arms.

“Hic!”

Noah hiccuped in surprise, clearly not expecting the usually stern Duke to pick him up like that. His loud crying stopped immediately. To be honest, I was just as surprised. The Duke didn’t seem like someone who had ever held a child before, yet he cradled Noah quite securely.

“G-Grandfather…” Noah stammered, clutching tightly onto the Duke’s clothing in shock. The Duke, still expressionless as ever, tilted his head slightly.

“Strange. Why do you think your value changes just because someone else comes along?”

“That’s… because that’s what really happened…”

“Did it really? Or was it just that people’s behavior changed, not your value?”

“!”

Noah’s eyes widened at the Duke’s pointed observation.

“When you place a ball next to another ball, does the original ball suddenly turn into a triangle?”

“…No.”

“And if you put a cylinder next to it?”

“It still doesn’t change.”

“Exactly. No matter what’s next to you, you remain who you are. So don’t let the words and actions of others sway you. That’s what it means to be an Elpinard.”

“…Yes!”

With his eyes still red from crying, Noah responded firmly. The Duke then gently set him back on the ground and crouched down to meet his eye level.

“You’ve always been my grandson, and you will be until the day I die. Don’t compete with my daughter over trivial things.”

I was the one who was shocked this time, my eyes going wide. The Duke had referred to me as “my daughter” so casually, and my heart pounded in my chest. It was the first time someone had called me “my daughter” so affectionately, and it made my heart flutter in a way I’d never experienced before.

In my previous life, I was born and abandoned in a slum without parents, and even in Reshia’s life, there wasn’t much difference. But now, hearing the words “my daughter” directed at me… 

Whether it was just my imagination or not, my face started to feel warm.

As the commotion settled down, the room grew quiet. The only sound in the Sapphire Room was Noah’s soft sniffles.

Hearing the Duke call me “my daughter” left me in a daze. I felt like my face was about to turn beet red and explode, so I quickly grabbed Eugene by the arm and pushed him forward in front of the Duke.

“He’s really smart! He knows the Aberzant-Theres theorem!” I exclaimed.

The Duke’s eyes gleamed with interest at my outburst. His intense gaze didn’t just affect me; Eugene also shrank back, trembling slightly. Seeing that made me feel a bit relieved.

‘See? It’s not just me who gets scared by the Duke’s scary look. Anyone would react the same way.’

But then another thought crossed my mind.

‘…Or maybe Eugene is just really timid too?’

As I weighed the possibilities in my mind, I started leaning towards the latter explanation.

“Do you really know that theorem?” the Duke asked calmly.

Eugene nodded, trembling but determined. “If… if I know it, will you not kill me…?”

The Duke’s eyebrow twitched at Eugene’s question. It was the same bizarre question that had baffled me earlier.

The Duke folded his arms and looked down at Eugene with a displeased expression. Whether intentional or not, the Duke’s gaze was so intimidating that Eugene’s shoulders hunched even more.

“Who said anything about killing you?”

“But… but you kidnapped me…” Eugene stammered.

“W-what?”

Kidnapped! I was utterly shocked by Eugene’s words. Could it be that the upright Duke had actually kidnapped someone? The others in the room also seemed skeptical, their expressions showing disbelief at the very idea.

However, considering how timid Eugene was, it didn’t seem likely he was making it up. I glanced back and forth between the two before cautiously asking the Duke, “Duke… did you really kidnap Eugene?”

I looked up at him with wide, curious eyes. The Duke’s lips pressed into a thin line, and he remained silent for a long moment before finally responding.

“…No.”

Eugene’s eyes widened and began to quiver, looking lost and confused like a stray kitten. Meanwhile, everyone else in the room seemed to relax, as if they had expected as much from the Duke.

As for me…

‘Oh. So he didn’t kidnap him after all.’

I let out a small, disappointed sigh and slumped my shoulders. 

‘I almost felt a sense of camaraderie, thinking the Duke was more like me than I realized.’