Free Web NovelChapter 8: To My Beloved Daughter
The city of Alanis, the capital of the Hall Province governed by the Duchy of Oster, was mostly a compact town. Its primary businesses and core infrastructure were all brilliantly clustered along a single main avenue, where everything notable was located.
There was absolutely no need for a carriage to transport them from the park adjacent to the Tax Bureau to Tamari’s Bakery. This was all thanks to the city’s ingenious layout—resembling modern urban planning on Earth—which Cain had meticulously replicated from his past life and implemented here.
Because of this design, almost any destination could be reached within a matter of minutes.
Thus, they quickly arrived in front of the bakery, a highly upscale establishment guarded by two burly sentries. Just looking at the entrance was enough to make one feel the deeply romantic and poetic atmosphere of the place.
Meanwhile, cold sweat was drenching Cain’s back. The brief five-minute walk to the bakery had been nothing short of a psychological trial for him. He had been utterly caught off guard when Matthew abruptly excused himself, claiming he had urgent business to attend to, before vanishing into thin air. Matthew had left him, Lucy, and Amelia entirely alone—making them look, for all the world, like a family taking a stroll together.
The air was slightly chilly, and neither of them initiated a conversation until they reached the venue. As for Amelia, she remained stubbornly clung to Lucy’s leg, completely disregarding their rehearsed charade.
Lucy clenched her fists tightly. She was thoroughly sick of this suffocating silence. It was true that she was currently adopting an entirely different persona, but she could barely look at him for too long without her heart fluttering like crazy.
An overwhelming, urgent impulse washed over her; she knew she had to take the initiative.
Upon entering Tamari’s Bakery, they took their seats around a table. The waiter warmly welcomed Cain, addressing him with the utmost respect due to a Duke. However, he didn’t take Lucy too seriously, as her current appearance seemed far too ordinary to be the companion of the supreme Duke.
"What would the Lord Duke prefer to have today?" the waiter asked, offering a highly welcoming, bright smile.
"Haha... you may ask the lady—" Cain abruptly choked on his words, catching himself.
Lucy suddenly realized that she hadn’t prepared a name for her new identity. Thinking at lightning speed, she hastily fabricated one on the spot.
"Maxi... my name is Maxi."
Cain nodded, signaling her name to the waiter while smirking triumphantly in his mind. See? She’s definitely not the Duke’s lover... even he doesn’t know her real name!
"Lady Maxi, what would you like to order?"
A subtle, knowing smile played on Lucy’s disguised lips.
"A Karstad caramel sandwich... and top it with fresh strawberry slices, please."
Cain was genuinely taken aback for a moment. Lucy had just ordered the exact same treat that he used to obsessively order during their academy days. Why is she doing this? he thought frantically. Is this some sort of psychological test to gauge my reaction?
Refusing to be outsmarted, he decided to play along and act mildly surprised.
"Wow... Lady Maxi’s taste is identical to mine. What about you, Amelia?"
"Whatever... Ma—Maxi chooses. I’ll have the same as her," Amelia mumbled.
The waiter nodded respectfully, turning on his heel to fulfill the order. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Once the waiter departed, Lucy could no longer restrain herself. She gazed intensely at his face, while Cain deliberately averted his eyes, staring out the bakery window away from her.
"I must apologize to Lord Oster for not revealing my identity sooner," Lucy spoke, her tone carrying a faint, hidden weight as if she were subtly addressing her true self. "I was delayed in arriving here due to a few complications. Seeing how incredibly busy you were, I feared you wouldn’t recognize me, or worse, that you would refuse to let me serve as Amelia’s personal guardian."
Deep down, she desperately wished she could just unravel this illusion, force him to look at her true face, and hear him tell her just how beautiful she was.
Throughout her life, everyone had despised her. She had never been able to make a single friend. Yet, even when her own family cast her out and shunned her, there was only one person in the entire academy who never rejected her: Cain.
She truly wondered why she loved this man so blindly , Hykes , man who had simply smiled at her when they were just children.
Cain had never looked down on her, not even once. In fact, he had helped her far more than her own flesh and blood ever did.
Yet, every single time she wanted to confess her love to him, a paralyzing fear of rejection held her back. She constantly felt imprisoned within her own heart, forced to deeply bury her hidden, obsessive love so she wouldn’t frighten him away.
Amidst her swirling thoughts, Cain’s voice suddenly interrupted her, though he was still trying his best to look away.
"It is quite alright... Lady Maxi is always welcome here."
But in the end, Cain couldn’t stop himself from looking at her face. He wasn’t looking at the mundane disguise, but rather at what lay beneath it...a visage so otherworldly that merely calling it ’beautiful’ felt like an understatement. It was utterly enchanting.
He felt as though it was a form of psychological sorcery actively messing with his thoughts and judgment.
Shaking himself out of it, Cain desperately suppressed his rising emotions. He forced himself to remember that she was the yandere villainess destined to bring about the destruction of the world.
Even though the original novel’s plotline had already concluded and she hadn’t actually destroyed the world, his hyper-vigilant mind still viewed the situation through that terrified lens. He refused to show weakness to himself by admitting the truth: that he had actually been infatuated with that magnificent woman he spent a night of passion with—the mother of his child—for a very long time.
He needed to put an end to these ominous, tempting thoughts before they caused him to let his guard down. Otherwise, she might draw her sword and execute him on the spot. Though, deep down, a small part of him highly doubted she would ever do such a thing. After all, if she were truly evil, why hadn’t she just killed him already without even bothering to verify his identity?
"In all honesty, Lord Duke Oster... have you ever wondered why Lady Lucy sent her daughter to you specifically? This is a tremendously high level of regard. It seems that although the three of you—yourself, Lady Lucy, and Amelia—haven’t interacted much, there is an unspoken understanding and profound trust between you..."
Cain nodded smoothly.
"In truth, I believe Lady Lucy did this to return a favor. She once saved my life, and I appreciate that deeply. We were... friends of a sort back in our academy days. This morning, she mentioned that she was going to seek vengeance against the person who did this to her and fled, and I fully support her in her endeavor."
Cain was inwardly sweating, trying his absolute best to deliver the most mundane and normal response possible.
On the other side of the table, Lucy was overwhelmed by a storm of conflicting emotions, completely at a loss for words.
"Well... I didn’t expect Lady Lucy to trust Lord Oster to such an extent," she murmured. "It’s rather amusing, but there is an uncanny resemblance between you and Amelia. Isn’t that funny?"
Cain smirked inwardly. He felt that he had finally deduced her hidden agenda. She’s trying to corner me, he thought. She wants to bait me into admitting that there’s something deeper between us than mere friendship.
Although he suspected he might be slightly overthinking it, since she was actively launching an offensive, he had to counter-attack.
"It is somewhat amusing... You know, I’ve always wished I had a daughter of my own. Someone sweet and considerate. But when I look at Amelia, I can’t help but feel utterly disgusted by that man who abandoned them. Women must be extremely cautious around such wicked men."
This was his ultimate strategy of manipulation: to deceive his opponent by creating the illusion that he was walking directly into their trap, when in reality, he was the one pulling the strings. Now she’ll think I’m playing along with what she wants, but I am the one in absolute control, Cain reasoned. Furthermore, she will never suspect that I am referring to myself, because I am most definitely not a wicked man.
At that exact moment, Lucy felt a surge of profound happiness, as if fortune had finally smiled upon her.
"I wished to know from Lord Cain... and I apologize if I am being overly intrusive... but if you were to wake up one day to find a daughter in your life, and a woman claiming to be the mother of your child... what would your reaction be?"
However, his actual reaction caught her completely off guard. He laughed—a sharp, ironic smile gracing his lips.
"Lady Maxi, what kind of fairy tale is that? How could anyone simply wake up to find a wife and a child out of nowhere? But in all honesty, who wouldn’t wish for a wife and a child? I just believe such a thing would never happen to me..."
Right then, the pastries arrived, and the three of them began to eat.
Breaking the silence, Cain spoke up:
"Amelia informed me of her desire for you to accompany us and remain by her side. What do you think of this? Since Lucy will be busy, I will pay your salary instead, and you will come to work under us."
His voice was cold and detached, yet he delivered the offer as if it were an absolute inevitability. He knew this move was laced with extreme danger, but for some inexplicable reason, a warm, strange sensation bloomed in his chest. A faint crimson flush crept onto his cheeks, though he managed to conceal it with flawless composure.
Soon after, the three of them officially finished their treats.
"In truth, the real reason we came here was to give you the reward I promised for helping me earlier, Amelia," Cain stated. "This bakery visit wasn’t the actual reward... I prepared this specifically for you. It’s a token of appreciation for your hard work."
With a casual flick of his wrist, a faint dimensional ripple materialized in the air. Cain retrieved the item directly from his System Inventory—an artifact officially designated as [A Special Jade Pendant]—and slid it forward without even looking at Amelia. Closing his eyes, he waited in confident silence, expecting her to be utterly stunned by the sheer, overwhelming quality of the artifact.
Yet, it barely shocked anyone. This wasn’t because the amulet lacked worth—far from it. The artifact was crafted from the rarest jade in existence, easily rivaling defensive treasures of the Imperial Grade, which were treated as sacred national heritages. No, the lack of shock was due to something else entirely: the eye-catching words and inscription carved upon its surface...
[ To my beloved daughter... ]
Those exact words were deeply carved into the jade.
Cain’s eyes snapped open. As his gaze landed on the inscription, his mind went completely blank with sheer horror. He frantically scrambled to snatch it back and hide it, but Amelia had already lunged forward, gripping the amulet tightly in her tiny hands.
Beside her, Lucy stared intensely at the carved words, her eyes locked onto the artifact as if she were permanently branding its image into her soul.
At that moment, Cain wanted nothing more than to spontaneously combust and vanish from the face of the earth.
