How to Be a Dark Hero’s Daughter

Inside the carriage heading towards home, Collen didn’t say a word.

‘Collen, aren’t you going to eat anything today?’

Collen seemed a little upset.

‘I wonder if he’s not happy even when I solve the case this time?’

Well, this case isn’t related to Collen, after all.

‘I’m not expecting to be praised shamelessly, but…’

Still, I found myself being cautious. I felt like I was bothering Collen.

‘I don’t want to become a burdensome adopted daughter.’

Even though Collen is treated poorly by the royal family and can’t even compare to a local bakery, getting involved in important meetings that happen only a few times a year… It’s not an easy task.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

I timidly spoke.

“What?”

“I came here for no reason. I made you interfere in an unrelated case… I’m sorry.”

Field trips, maybe it would have been better if I didn’t go. Going back to school, is it just my own desire?

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“You came here in a hurry because of me. I should’ve just waited until you took me to the fair. Even for school… It would’ve been better if I said I wasn’t going when you asked.”

“….”

“Of course, then you may not have been able to save the other children or people, but I bothered you…”

Collen tightly grasped my cheek.

Unintentionally, I made a strange sound like ‘Ugh’.

“I was angry. Angry at myself for letting you go.”

“What?”

“I just had a bad feeling, But I sent you because you wanted to go. I’m sorry I didn’t let you go to school.”

“I’m sorry?”

Is this really Collen saying?

“When they said something happened at the fair this time, the first thing I thought of was that I couldn’t believe it.”

I understood it immediately.

The mysterious person who embraced the red flower in my arms twice. He was worried that the Crimson Flower Criminal might have harmed me.

“Leticia, the most relieved I felt when Jade was born was one thing. That Jade isn’t a monster like me.”

Ah, I understand this too.

Jade doesn’t have the condition of killing people like Collen to absorb mana.

“I thought that was enough. Even when I first brought you in, I had no thoughts. I didn’t know you would become like this, such an existence.”

Collen spoke bluntly, as if saying something he had never said before.

“So it’s both a blessing and a pain. It’s the most difficult thing to protect something that feels like it might break. Especially for monsters like me.”

“…”

“You are my precious daughter. I didn’t bring you here to play with dolls. Of course, there are times when you’re as cute as a doll. So don’t apologize to me for this.”

This time, I remained silent.

“I can protect Dad too.”

“…”

“I, I may not become as strong as Dad or Jade, but I’ll become smarter. More than that. So I can be of help.”

I tightly held Collen’s hand.

Collen’s pupils shook.

“It’s a promise.”

Collen didn’t say anything for a long time. He whispered to me as he looked at me.

“Yes, let’s make a promise.”

Our eyes met. I nodded.

Now, I am someone’s daughter. Someone precious…

Memories of my past life came to mind. The faces of my crying parents as they looked at me in pain. And the memories of this life. I couldn’t remember my mother’s face very well.

Becoming someone’s precious child was a heart-thumping experience. It felt so overwhelming that my body trembled.

* * *

Surprisingly, the name she gave to the group of thieves was her real name, Lira. Her fiancé, Will, was the same.

However, Lira’s household wasn’t involved in business. To be precise, they dealt with selling information.

The owner of the largest newspaper in the Empire and the only daughter of a count. That was Lira’s true identity.

“Have you been through a lot today?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah.”

“Lira, what are you thinking again?”

“The girl I met today. The Duke’s daughter. Wasn’t she amazing?”

“She was incredible. It was said that she solved the strange incident at the palace, right? Wow, the little genius is truly different.”

“She was the secret weapon that the Duke concealed, right? Anyway, she was incredibly cute.”

<Don’t move!>

<I said don’t say anything!>

Perhaps because her vocal cords were not fully developed, even though she spoke quickly and fluently, her voice came out in a short and cute manner. Isn’t that adorable for a child around ten years old? Moreover, the way she confronted the leader of the thieves and saved people showed how brave she was.

‘I think I’m falling for her.’

Lira thought to herself.

“How old do you think she is? She seems to have passed nine.”

“At least that much? She’s a pretty girl. What are you thinking now?”

“When she grows up, she’ll become incredibly popular. This incident is newsworthy. As expected, the Duke’s family isn’t that ordinary. She’s a more interesting girl than his legitimate son. We should keep an eye on her from now on.”

“Are you going to write an article about her?”

“Of course! It was a scoop worth risking our lives for.”

“You’re quite optimistic for someone who almost died by chance at the fair where you went for coverage.”

“Don’t bring that up now. You already know me.”

A smile spread across Lira’s face. She rushed to the newspaper office and began preparing an article for the very next day.

* * *

“You’re all fools, trying to find a betrayer by killing people! Charon was just a clueless warehouse keeper by the riverbank.”

It was the last voice Kien heard before losing consciousness. It was the voice of the police. As Kien’s struggling body was restrained and a drug was forced into his mouth.

“Tie him up! This guy’s strength is like a monster.”

Even in that moment, Kien’s lingering question was, where did the eleventh subordinate go?

It was natural to suspect that there was a betrayer. The treasures kept in a secret location known only to his subordinates had been stolen, and then Kien gathered all his subordinates to find the betrayer.

His subordinates must be eleven. However, only ten of his men were present.

They were subordinates whose faces and names he didn’t know, but they had worked with Kien for a long time.

And when he discovered a note at Viscount Yukler’s workshop, he naturally thought that the eleventh subordinate would appear at the fairgrounds.