I Became the Sea Guardian’s Adopted Daughter

The person belonging to the Lebouire Barony trembled. 

However, as the owner of a huge liver1, even if his voice was trembling, he was still able to spout out bullshit.

“The Ether…Dukedom has already accepted the proposal.”

He said as he lifted up a document bearing the seals of both families. 

The Duke brushed his bangs aside with his white gloved hand. Bright blonde hair was swept aside, revealing a face full of anger. 

My eyes widened.

The sharp jawline, as if someone had painstakingly carved it with care, was enough to grab people’s attention.

It was the same, even when one was looking up from the bottom due to the height difference. 

Wow, aside from his personality, he’s unnecessarily handsome.

“I won’t ever forget this joke of a marriage which Lebouire played on Ether. As for the Lebouire Barony’s Young Lady…”

Surprisingly, the Duke was a person who could even treat a five year old child as a young lady. I came to my senses after spacing out from admiring his jawline.

“…”

Then, his gaze fell on my neck. Then, it headed to my wrist holding the bouquet. 

Although the Baron’s maids had obviously covered the bruises with makeup, there was no way anyone who possessed a good eye wouldn’t have noticed it.

The bruises that were scattered here and there from someone forcibly pulling at it.

The Duke, who was looking at the work of the Baroness, opened his mouth.

“Will you excuse me for a moment?”

The question flew over my head. I nodded involuntarily. 

Strangely enough, he was someone you were unable to take your eyes off of.

His eyes met mine as he reached out to me.

A certain scent came from him as he came closer to me. Although it was a scent I didn’t have the chance of smelling in my previous life, it was still one that I clearly knew.

It was the scent of a seafarer.

He raised my hand carefully with his somewhat sunburnt hand, perhaps because he had been out in the sun for too long. 

It was a strong-looking hand of someone who frequented the sea. Contrasting greatly with my small hands.

“…”

The closer you get, the better you’ll see. The blue bruises on my wrists, and the wounds that littered my neck and other parts of my body. 

They were all insignificant wounds when compared to the tightening pain of my heart anyways, so I had ignored them.

However, the feeling of a stranger looking over my injuries felt sudden and unexpected, so I pulled my hand away abruptly.

“…”

Silent, he turned his gaze to Baron Lebouire’s knight.

“I’m curious as to just what kind of family the Lebouire family is.”

At his words, the Barony’s knight began to showcase just how big his liver was again.

“If you send the carriage back like this, the bride will become a young lady whose engagement has been broken off, a divorcee, essentially.”

Judging from his firm voice, it didn’t seem to be a trick he had come up with himself.

It had probably been something he’d been told to say if the Duke of Ether tried to break off the marriage.

“…A divorcee?”

I could see the absurd expression on Duke Ether’s face more visibly since it was right in front of me. Minute cracks appeared in his sculpted face in an instant.

I tilted my head slightly. 

The expression on Duke Ether’s face was cold. A stiff face. 

Contrary to what I thought, is he not completely trash after all?

“…”

I could see the strong hands which had been toughened through training with a sword. Duke Ether turned his gaze back to me again. My own appearance was reflected in his eyes. 

Duke Ether opened his mouth.

“The Young Lady of the Lebouire Barony will be accepted as a member of the Ether household.”

What did you say? We’re really getting married? 

As expected, the trash still seemed to be trash. I was dumbfounded and was about to open my mouth due to the ridiculousness of it all.

“If the Young Lady accepts, as my adopted daughter.”

Not as your wife? But as an adopted daughter? Why? 

I mean, it’s a good thing, but… 

I had no choice but to pause.

There was no one who would suddenly do a good thing for other people in the first place.

That was something I had already realized in my previous life. 

Layton, who said that he wanted to kill the dragon together, simply because it was an evil dragon, had been… a former colleague of mine in my past life, that traitorous bastard, who said he would merely raise his sword to slay the evil dragon without asking for anything in return.

As soon as such a person killed the dragon, he pushed me over the lava and killed me. 

All in order to monopolize the honor one would receive as a dragon slayer.

“…”

As expected, there’s no one who’d do something good for someone else without anything in return.

Even so, wouldn’t this be better than going back to the Lebouire Barony though? 

If I refuse this offer here, I’ll be left with nowhere to go. 

If only I could’ve used magic, I would’ve just stuffed it and gone on my own way, wait, but none of this will matter until my body’s condition improves.

“…”

Had I been thinking for too long?

My surroundings were already filled with a strange silence. I separated my lips which had dried up from shutting my mouth for too long.

“I’ll do as you say.”

An adopted daughter, anything, it didn’t matter to me. Wouldn’t I be able to heal my body’s condition as long as I could get away from the Lebouire Barony?

“It doesn’t matter to me, even if I have to become a maid.”

A child’s voice came out, trembling unintentionally. 

Ah, my voice is shaking since my stamina is so weak. 

I had an impression of my heart tightening up in pain. In an instant, my vision narrowed and my body tilted forward. 

Wait, am I really going to faint after just saying a few words?

That’s why I couldn’t see what sort of expression the Duke had made at that moment.

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.wordpress.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

It’s soft. 

That had been my first thought as soon as I came back to my senses. 

The feeling of a fluffy cotton pillow wrapping around my back. A soft blanket to hug whilst you toss and turn in bed next to me.

“Ah.”

My surroundings became busier at my movements.

“The Young Miss is awake!”

“Someone let Delphiro know!”

Oh, I thought nobody was there though? 

The moment I opened my eyes, I immediately forgot what I had been thinking.

“Wow…”

The room was huge. The ceiling which was decorated with splendid gold leaves made me think of my past life. 

Of course, it wasn’t my room in my previous life. It was a spacious and splendidly decorated room, just like the rooms of the imperial family I had the opportunity to enter in my previous life. 

I stared blankly at the room and met the eyes of the maids. The maids all bowed their heads politely.

[From now on, Young Lady Nassia de Lebouire will be treated as tYoung Lady Nassia von Ether in this mansion.]

Those had been the only words proving my place in the mansion, but the servants were still polite.

Then someone suddenly poked their head out among the maids.

“Do you know where this is?”

My startled heart gave a short squeeze of pain. I answered after quite some time.

“…The Ether mansion.”

The still hazy mind interfered with my thought process. Thanks to that, a rather blank voice came out.

“I’m Azelta, a maid who will be serving Lady Nassia in the future.”

The maid who introduced herself as Azelta, bowed her head.

“Yes. I’ll be in your care then.”

Then came some surprising words.

“There’s no need for you to speak respectfully to people like us.”

“Ah.”

It was a habit I had forgotten. 

In the Mage Tower where I had been in my previous life, it had been basic respect for us to speak formally to each other.

Although my habits could have disappeared since it had already been 5 years since I’d reincarnated into this world, the servants of the Lebouire Barony had never once conversed with me.

Since they could’ve been infected.

Thanks to this, I had become an excessively formal person. 

I nodded my head slightly.

“…Yes.”

At my involuntary response, I shook my head.

“I mean, o-okay.”

After I had corrected it with a small voice later on, Azelta smiled sadly, as if it were a pity. 

She willingly knelt down in front of me on one knee. Her disciplined appearance looked more like that of a knight rather than a maid.

“I called the doctor to come earlier, so he’ll be here soon.”

Doctor? 

Those words reminded me of my childhood. 

The doctor who had diagnosed the incurable disease seemed to have no knowledge of magic. It seemed that I could take this opportunity to tell whether that doctor had been a quack, or whether this world just didn’t know anything about magic.

“You don’t have to be too nervous. Now,”

My expression must have looked slightly crushed at the thought of the doctor I had seen before. 

Azelta opened the top compartment of the drawer next to me. The drawer was too high for a small child to use.

“Ah, all the furniture in the room is going to be new.”

As I lifted my head up, at a loss, Azelta seemed to be at a loss for words. Even so, she still said in a very small voice.

“…Since we never thought that the Baron Lebouire would be that much of a crazy bastard.”

Even though she had said it in an extremely small voice, I was still able to hear her since I had focused all my attention on her.

Actually, it didn’t seem as if the Ether Dukedom knew about it either.

Based on the Duke’s reaction earlier, he must’ve thought that Baron Lebouire would definitely send his first daughter, who had just turned 20 this year.

I thought of the brat who was my older sister, who looked at me as if I was a pile of trash every time she passed by me and happened to see my face.

It’s true that I was an illegitimate daughter, born through Baron Lebouire’s one night of amusement.

However, that hadn’t happened because I wanted it to though?

The fault lay with Baron Lebouire, so I wasn’t sure why they were treating me like this.

“Now, please take this.”

Whilst I was sulking inwardly, I belatedly discovered that something huge had been thrust in front of me.

“…!”

I realised for the first time that it was possible for people to jump when startled. Azelta also hesitated upon finding this out for the first time.

“Are you alright?”

Azelta held on to me, who clutched at my heart. 

The gigantic thing she was holding was dropped onto the bed with a plop.

“I’m fine.”

However, it was inevitable for me to control my facial expression. Azelta turned back to the maids.

“Get Delphiro, quickly—.”

“Don’t.”

I narrowly let out a breath.

Whether it’s Delphiro or Piero, there was no way they’d be able to cure it right away anyways.

This was a pain that would only disappear when I was able to handle my mana and my stamina improved.

“…Young Miss?”

Azelta paused as my little hand grabbed onto her uniform. They can’t cure it anyways, so there’s no point in calling for a doctor… I couldn’t say that, so…

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

I said while trying to control my facial expression as much as possible. 

However, perhaps because it was a child’s face, it wasn’t easy managing my expression.

To the extent of just presenting a twisted smile. Azelta’s face darkened slightly upon seeing that sort of expression.

“It’s really okay.”

I turned my head, ignoring the pain in my heart. 

The gigantic thing she had shoved towards me was something wrapped in a paper wrapper. There was also a stick below it.

“But this…”

“…The master had urgently asked for it to be given to the Young Miss. Since he had heard that little kids liked sweet things.”

Having said that, Azelta looked at me. She seemed to want to make her master, Duke Ether, seem like a good person.

“…I see.”

As I moved slowly, the pain in my heart improved a little. 

As I reached out, Azelta quickly put the object in front of me. 

A somewhat huge object I didn’t know was so large it was capable of covering my face and even my shoulders.

Something sweet? Did you prepare a chocolate gift set? Then why is there a stick? 

—Riiiip.

As I tore the paper, I was bewildered upon seeing the something lavishly decorated with all kinds of pastel tones.

Judging from when I touched the half-open paper package, it seemed like a flat object.

“Hngg.”

Struggling to hold it by myself, I even had to enlist the help of Azelta to tear open the paper.

Then, I suddenly reached enlightenment.

“…Candy?”

Is this candy? Isn’t this a shield?

I stared blankly at the huge candy that was polished so cleanly, even my reflection was able to be seen clearly in it.

Then.

“Young Miss, it’s Doctor Delphiro.”

“Gasp.”

A doctor? What would happen if I held such a giant candy in front of a doctor? 

Having suffered from a doctor’s explosive nagging in my previous life, I hurriedly tried to cover the candy with the paper wrapping.

—Click.

OMG SHE’S SO PRECIOUS I MIGHT CRY PLS #nassiaprotectionsquad

However, the paper was small and the child’s body even smaller. 

The door opened, and I made eye contact with the doctor as I was almost draped over the shield of a candy.

“…”

“…”

The doctor who made eye contact with me looked a little perplexed. 

His gaze traveled from the piece of candy I couldn’t even cover half of, then came back to me again. Then, the doctor bowed his head deeply.

“…I’m the Ether family doctor, Delphiro.”

I sneakily covered the candy with my back and stood up. 

The candy, a little shorter than my height, was still less than half covered. In the end, I half gave up and fully welcomed the doctor. 

Then, I greeted him in a hesitant manner.

“Hello.”

A small voice came out. The doctor looked at me and asked hesitantly.

“May I take a quick look at you?”

For a doctor, he sure is a cautious mister.

I blinked a few times. There was no nagging, as if he had not seen the giant candy yet. 

I slowly moved the candy behind me and nodded.

“Then, excuse me.”

Delphiro approached me with a relieved face. 

Then whilst looking at me as I sneakily hid the candy with the blanket behind my back, he said.

“You’re already very brave, considering you resemble the master.”

Huh? Brave? Delphiro laughed awkwardly when I blinked.

“Could you release the shield for a moment?”

Ah, so it looks like a shield to mister too, right?

I pushed the candy back with a reluctant expression.

“I heard you collapsed today. Miss Azelta, no, Azelta said that you grabbed at your chest.”

Delphiro put the stethoscope in his ears and handed the end to Azelta. Azelta smiled apologetically.

“Excuse me for a moment, young miss.”

This was a household that asked to be excused a lot.

Azelta, who had the stethoscope in her hand to warm it up, pulled back my nightdress and brought the stethoscope to my chest.

When did you change my clothes? I looked up at Azelta in amazement.

“Delphiro is not trying to threaten you.”

No, what would a doctor get from threatening me? Azelta held my shoulder with one hand, as if to comfort me.

“Oh.”

Even though it had been warmed up, the stethoscope was colder than I thought. 

As I shivered, Azelta gently patted my back. Her hands were warm.

“Well…”

In order not to look at my body, Delphiro, who had turned his gaze away from me and only focused on the sound, gestured toward me. 

As Azelta removed the stethoscope from my body and organized my clothes, Delphiro pulled the stethoscope out of his ears.

“Although I don’t know what you’ve heard from the Barony Lebouire in terms of diagnosis, it seems to me that the young lady’s condition is weak in nature, no, your body has been a little weak since birth.”

He spoke, choosing words that were easy enough for a child to understand. I blinked my eyes and nodded my head.

“That’s right.”

“You knew? Then about your treatment…”

I had no choice but to say the apologetic words to Delphiro, who would ultimately be angered by my words.

“There was no treatment.”

“Why—”

Delphiro, who was about to ask why I didn’t get treatment, stopped. I knew that he had been looking at my wrist for a brief moment. 

A bruised wrist. Traces of abuse. 

There was no way a child who had been abused could ever have received proper treatment.

“I see. Then I’ll be the one to administer your treatment.” 

Delphiro said with a laugh. He stretched out his hand.

“Soon, you’ll be able to walk around without getting sick!”

Although he was so sure, I was still reluctant. 

No matter how much a doctor… if a doctor who listened to my heart and couldn’t feel the flow of mana, there was no way they would be able to cure my illness.

“…Just, as long as I’ll be able to play.”

I know you won’t be able to fix it anyway. 

I’ll be able to control my mana if I gain enough stamina to just walk around. With that in mind, I concluded my words. 

At that, Delphiro stopped and stiffened at my words.

“You shouldn’t give up, young miss.” 

Then he said in a very serious voice.

“Huh?”

I think you’ve misunderstood something? 

I met Delphiro’s eyes. 

At the thought that I had said something I shouldn’t have, my trembling eyes met Delphiro’s which were burning with will.

“Although I don’t know which doctor you saw or what he told you, this Delphiro will do it for sure!”

Did it perhaps look like I had given up on life after being told how much time I had left to live?

Seeing the doctor’s motivation burning so intensely, it seemed certain that that’s what had transpired. 

As I stole a glance at Azelta, as expected, Azelta was also looking at me with her eyes drooping slightly. 

Uwahhh, no! I said no! 

But actually, it’s because my heart is surrounded by mana, and as long as my body gets better, I’ll be able to take care of my mana! I couldn’t say that. 

In the end, I nodded my head with a reluctant face.

“O-Okay.”

***

“This Delphiro will definitely do it!”

Delphiro was emphasizing that without even realizing it himself. 

A child should do whatever they want.

Begging for something they want with their outstretched little hand.

That was a child’s privilege. 

However. 

The appearance of a child who had given up on everything. 

Those eyes that seemed to want to go play and showed curiosity one by one. Even though it was clearly visible, this little young miss was diligently trying to hide it. 

It felt as if something was still tugging at his heart. 

That young child who had resembled the cherry blossoms that bloomed brightly in the spring in the inland, had struck his heart and burst into it. 

He was going to lead that little hand, to see what she wanted, and do whatever she wanted!

“If the young miss ever gets sick, even in the slightest, you have to tell me right away!”

Delphiro was burning with motivation. 

Upon receiving that gaze, Azelta realised the fact that he had already been fascinated by this small and pitiful young miss.

“I understand.”

Azelta replied. Then, she looked at Nassia. 

Azelta. 

She was once known as a maid of the Ether mansion. 

However, what she had done originally had been a little different. 

She had been the first to remove any foreign substances from the Ether mansion. 

That foreign substance could have been a person or a monster from the sea of ​​fog. 

Due to this, Azelta was sensitive to even the smallest signs of presence and was good at adapting to a variety of circumstances.

She had never thought that she was lacking in abilities, and had been proud to have been taken in by a master with such exceptional abilities like Duke Ether.

However. 

Now, Azelta’s confidence in her abilities was starting to waver a little. She recalled what had occured a little while ago.

‘It doesn’t hurt anymore.’

Having said that, Nassia von Ether, the little miss of this mansion, was throwing her a task. 

A small, fluffy hand like cotton candy seemed to touch her heart. The way she had tried to control her facial expression whilst saying it was okay was never that of which should belong to a five year old child. 

As if she had fallen into an enemy camp with no one to trust around her, the child was using those small hands to build a wall around herself.

“…”

Those pink eyebrows which were slightly inclined toward her nose had been drawn in a straight line. a straight line with the pink eyebrows slightly inclined toward the nose. Lips that were set firmly shut in a straight line. 

It was a determined expression, but… 

Those small puffy cheeks had disrupted that determination. 

Since she had suffered during her time at the Barony, unlike other children, she didn’t have much of a chubby face.

However, if she could eat more of the things that were delicious, rest well, and live like other children, those cheeks of hers would become chubby and plump as well.

‘It’s really okay.’

It was so cute to see her little mouth twitching when she said that. 

Azelta almost clutched her heart at her pitiful yet cute appearance. 

Originally, she had been Azelta, who didn’t trust anyone she had seen for the first time.

It was Azelta’s duty to eliminate the foreign substances in the mansion, as well as to doubt anyone and everyone.

However, everytime Nassia shook her pink hair, her own tightly locked heart also seemed to shake.

Heavens.

Without realizing it, Azelta shrugged inwardly.

‘Are all children like this? They aren’t, right?’

Although she had seen children of that same age since her friend’s younger brother had a child born to her parents in their later years, she had never seen the sort of child who could’ve caught her attention like that.

Just a little earlier. When Nassia’s twinkling brown eyes had looked up at her.

‘Azelta?’

A distinctly sweet voice, as if were a sweet candy rolling towards her, knocked on Azelta’s ear. 

It was a huge problem.

The moment those brown eyes turned in her direction, Azelta seemed to be able to grant any request. 

She was so cute that she made people soft and mushy. 

Heavens! It was a really, really big problem. 

Azelta struggled to regulate her own heart. Her duty was to doubt. 

Even though the Head has adopted her as a daughter, you must not lower your vigilance until you can withdraw all your suspicions. 

Her eyes flashed. She then asked,

“…Would you like some more candy?” 

Anyhow, it looked like she was screwed now.