How to Be a Dark Hero’s Daughter

“Do you like your name?”

“Yes, it is so pretty…”

“I struggled to come up with a name that suits you very well. Glad you liked it.”

“Thank you! I’m so glad!”

Leticia. Leticia.

I rolled the name in my mouth. Now I’m Collen’s stepdaughter, Leticia.

“In addition, since you don’t know your birthday, I hope that from now on you will celebrate it today. Isn’t the day you got your new name just as important? Besides, you were about to die, but now you seem to be reborn.”

“…The doctor said the wound was not fatal.”

“But did you think about death for a moment?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded.

Zion looked at Collen from the side with a puzzled face. Today is going to be a morning I will never forget for the rest of my life.

“Happy birthday, my daughter, Leticia.”

I couldn’t bear it and rushed to hug Collen. Collen’s cheeks flushed. He blinked frequently.

“I’ll go and show off to Jade.”

“…Yes.”

I rushed to Jade’s room, leaving Collen in the hallway.

My beating heart no longer knew how to calm down. I crawled onto Jade’s bed in my pajamas.

“Jade!”

Jade rubbed his eyes and looked at me.

“Jade! I got a name.”

“Name?”

“Yes. Leticia. Our father came up with it.”

I bragged about the bear and told him what kind of card Collen wrote. Also about the birthday.

Jade laughed.

“Yes, that’s a very pretty name. Everything will be fine, Leticia. We didn’t want to say in advance that this would be your first birthday surprise. There are also some pretty good jewels in the teddy bear.”

“…Jewels?”

Jade told me in an indifferent tone that the bear’s two eyes were three carat gems.

Red is ruby ​​and blue is sapphire.

I spoke earnestly to Collen at breakfast that day, with the teddy bear on my lap.

Even if he wanted to thank me for saving me, he already bought me a whole toy store and gems…

“Hey, Duke. I want to say something. I love this bear, but I don’t need jewels. It’s too expensive. What if I grow up into such an adult who doesn’t know the limits. What if I’m too wasteful.”

However, Collen had a different opinion.

“So be it. I can afford it. Be spoiled and extravagant. This was my plan from the beginning.”

“…Yes?”

I widened my eyes at the unexpected words.

“Then others will hate and envy me.”

“That’s good too. If you become a child that others hate, you will have to live in my house all your life. Try to be as spoiled child as possible, because only Duke’s family can afford it. This is my policy in raising children. Then I can keep my daughter for myself forever.”

I blinked. How shameless of him it was…

“…Can’t I continue to be the daughter of this house even if I don’t have jewels?”

When asked cautiously, Collen became similarly quiet as before. But I could feel Jade smiling.

“Then just take this.”

Collen whispered.

“Then just accept such an expensive toy for once.”

I nodded slightly. Soon, Zion brought my surprise birthday cake.

‘A huge cake topped with lots of strawberries! White and pretty!’

I clapped.

“This is a cake that the Duke prepared by ordering the kitchen separately without my knowledge. It is the first birthday cake of the young lady.”

The door opened and the servants who usually served the meal came in and applauded.

“Happy first birthday, lady.”

“Congratulations, Leticia.”

Jade also told me. Collen congratulated me again.

“Congratulations.”

That day was the day I was reborn after receiving my name and birthday.

“Oh, so you are already ten years old.”

“Uh… yes?”

It was like that too.

“You were nine, weren’t you?”

“Perhaps…? Right before my mother passed away, she said I was 6 years old, but that was 3 years ago…”

“So, starting today, you are my daughter, Leticia, who is 10 years old. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations!”

Servants and maids clapped their hands even more.

It was my unforgettable tenth birthday.

+Chapter 20.1

A few years ago, one winter in the capital.

“A teddy bear in soldier’s clothes? Would you really like to receive something like this?”

“Because it’s important that you chose everything yourself. In fact, you have all the other things. Give the boy a normal present from time to time,” Zion said softly.

However, he could already tell that Jade didn’t really want this bear, dressed in soldier’s clothes. Duke had a problem with that. The duke’s sense for choosing his son’s gift was the worst.

Although it was probably better than Aunt Marianne’s lace shirts with ribbons?

When Collen opened the door of the toy store, the children crowded in front of the window urgently retreated into the alley.

“What’s with them?”

“Looks like these are the kids living in that back alley. I think they were looking at the toys in the window.”

“Why are they running from me?”

“Usually when these kids come in, they expect the store owner to jump out and scold them, maybe even beat them up.”

“Really? It’s sad.”

At this time, the owner of the store went out to turn off the light in the window. And Collen met eyes with a child. She was a sad-eyed child is about to cry.

The girl had pinkish hair sticking out in all directions. Even so, she was cute because she looked like a puppy and couldn’t take her eyes off the cute toy.

The carriage stopped in front of Collen. Collen sat down inside. And when Zion wanted to follow him, Duke stopped him.

“Give this gold coin to the shopkeeper. And tell him not to turn off the window lights tonight.”

“Yes?”

“Jade received his gift and will eventually throw it away. So why not give it to other children?”

Zion nodded, smiling.

“Yes, master.”

That night, the light in the show window didn’t go out all night. A girl with strawberry hair shyly approached the window in her rags.

“Wow, it’s pretty.”

The child’s happy open mouth and sparkling eyes were full of dreams.

<The Red Haired Fortune Teller> case is over.

* * *

“This man is dead.”

A body lay in the bushes of blue roses. I checked the man’s face completely frozen.

He must have been lying for a long time.

The blood that flowed from the man’s body dyed the roses red. I screamed, covering my mouth.

“Leticia, don’t look.”

Jade covered my eyes and whispered. I didn’t even know until then. What will happen to the picnic filled with anticipation?

* * *

A month has passed since I became ‘Leticia’. For a month, I stayed at the estate all the time.

These days I’ve been immersed in studying writing with my teacher. The dresses that Marianne bought filled my entire wardrobe.

Even though I was receiving treatment, my weight rose little by little.

“You’re so cute. Leticia, how beautiful you are. Do you remember how you were when you first came to this house?”

Marianne exclaimed, admiring the new clothes the maids had changed me. She said she was going to stop at the estate for a little while for me.

“Will you go on a boat for the first time?”

“Yes. This is my first time in my life.”

“You will like it.”

Marianne stroked my hair.

While I was in my hospital room, Jade again suggested that I go boating.

I was wearing a dress with three-quarter sleeves, with a pink print, and a hat with a ribbon.

“Flowers on clothes are a way to create a fresh atmosphere.”

Marianne pulled a flower out of a vase and adorned my hat. Then she asked about my body condition.

“How do you feel?”

“Very good.”

“If you feel bad, tell them to bring you back immediately.”

I nodded shyly.

Marianne took great care of me. I’ve already lost track of how many times she came to visit me. It annoyed Collen, but I loved it every time she came.

Marianne straightened the slumped hat on my head.

“You will be a very beautiful lady. Oh, I can’t wait to see what it will be like in the future. Is it going to be like raising my own daughter?”

Marianne is a saintess and she couldn’t get married. Maybe that’s why I often see her a little lonely.

I smiled brightly.

“I want to grow faster. I want to be like Lady Marianne.”

“Like me?”

“You are so kind, pretty and sweet! It’s not just your appearance that shines, it’s just that Marianne herself shines.”

It was sincere.

Mariane was one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met, and one of the most beautiful women in the world. She’s there, she’s bright and kind, and she sometimes makes my heart pound.

When I smiled, Mariane stared at me and then hugged me.

“Ah, where did this angel come from?”

Marianne rubbed my cheek. I smelled the smell of cigarettes mixed with perfume.

Then the door opened.

“But don’t try to adopt her drinking habit.”

When we were ready to leave, Jade was already at the door. Marianne laughed.