I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

“Do you like it that much?”

“I like it sooooooo much!!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Gosh, but what was that person doing? Daddy never buys me such interesting toys.”

An arrogant man like him wouldn’t spare a glance at commoner toys. No matter how many mana stones were in it, he’d consider the toys unsuitable for a noble lady to play with.

“Your daddy is…..”

But something was off. Usually, I won’t hesitate to curse him out, but one part of my heart felt uncomfortable somehow. Perhaps it was because of Luca.

‘Maybe he’s….really the duke…’

My eyes were glued to Luca. He was startled by my sudden gaze at first, but then smiled brightly. As if he was delighted to meet my gaze.

“Daddy? What about Daddy?”

As I stared at Luca in silence, Rere grabbed my hand.

“Big Bunny, so why doesn’t my daddy buy them for me?”

“I think he simply doesn’t know that these things exist. Because your daddy always wants to give the best to Rere.”

“Does that mean these things aren’t the best for me? “

“No, I don’t mean it like that. Your daddy isn’t aware of these things yet because he only buys expensive things for Rere!”

Rere nodded as if she just understood something.

“Ah! I know what you mean. It’s because my daddy is an idiot, right?”

“What? N-No…”

“It’s alright. It’s alright.”

Then, Rere waved her hand and stuck out her tongue as if she had enough of her pathetic father.

“It’s a problem because Daddy doesn’t admit that he’s an idiot.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yeah! Umm, Big Bunny. Do you remember what you used to tell me whenever I did something really bad?”

“Ask the reason why you did it, and if the reason was unjustified, I’m going to persuade you to change your ways?”

“Right! So Rere listens to Big Bunny, reflects on herself, and changes. But Daddy never does that.”

Putting her hands on her waist, she heaved a deep sigh.

“Phew. Upon closer look, my daddy is really a baby. He’s more childish than Rere. So I will call him baby from now on.”

“Uh? D-Do you think so?”

“Yeah. I’m sure he’d like his new nickname because he’s really a baby. So I will stop playing bubbles now and save it for when I play with that adult baby.”

Then, Rere held out her hands to me.

“So give it to me!”

“Uh, huh. Here! My lovely Rere is all grown up. You even think about your daddy!”

“If I’m not doing this, that whiny baby is going to get upset. Then, what’s the last gift?”

“But this gift belongs to Luca, am I right?”

“…No, Luca will give me his gift…right?”

“Yes, because everything I have belongs to you, Miss.”

And May, who had been watching Rere and Luca’s peaceful exchange, rushed to their side.

“M-Miss, then I’ll….”

“Haa…just keep it, May! Go buy a lot of meat or chocolate cake for your family on your way home today! If you bring up the money again, I won’t let you work for a whole month! Okay?!”

The angry Rere wrinkled her nose.

“Ah…B-But Sir Luca….”

“As for Luca! I’ll reward him later. So just keep it for yourself.”

“Of course. This gift belongs to you. But in exchange, I’d like you to draw for me later.”

“I can totally do that for you!”

“I’m already happy enough to receive a gift that his grace himself hasn’t received.”

With a smile brighter than ever, Rere nodded contently and turned her head at me.

“Hurry up and give it to me!”

“Okay!”

“Isn’t it bigger this time?”

Rere tilted her head as I took out the gift from the bottom of the box.

“Yeah. You may open it.”

Among all the gifts, I put the most attention to this one.

A gift for Rere, who liked to draw but couldn’t draw comfortably because she was wary of catching the duke’s attention.

Rere overflowed with emotion as soon she opened the gift.

“This is…”

“My dear Rere is very good at drawing. If Rere paints on it and dries it well, you can make it into a puzzle.”

“Then….I can hide it even if I draw something Daddy hates?!”

“That’s right.”

She didn’t jump with joy or scream. She only stared silently at the thick paper in her hand.

“Thank you….”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes! There’s something that I always want to draw!”

“And what is that?”

“Oh…It’s….umm…”

At my question, Rere walked up to me and stood on tiptoe. I leaned over to hear what she had to say.

“Mom…”

“Yes?”

“Daddy….has been hiding the portrait of my mother. He knew that I saw it and got rid of it right away….but I want to draw my mother before I forget. Sorry, Big Bunny.”

So I stroked Rere’s head gently.

“No, Rere. Don’t be sorry to me. It’s alright.”

“Okay….”

Rere hung her head down for a while then regained her smile.

“Rere is going to draw Big Bunny after I’m done! So don’t get upset with me, please?”

“Don’t worry.”

“I…I miss my mother…. please don’t hate me or throw me away… Big Bunny is still number one for Rere… Okay?”

Her voice trembled as if showing her anxiety.

“What would you feel if I said bad things to Rere and ran away secretly?”

“…I’ll be very sad. I’m already feeling so sad now….”

“I just made you feel sad. Will you hate me for that?”

“….No, because I like Big Bunny. I don’t think I’ll ever hate you. If you run away, I believe you will come back and wait patiently.”

The child looked sullen as if she had been very hurt, so I picked her up.

“I feel the same. Even if Rere does something bad to me and tells me to get lost, I will never leave your side. That’s how much I love you. We share the same feelings.”

“Yeah! I’m so glad! I thought you were being serious…. that made me a little sad.”

“No need to be sad. Such grief will never come upon us. Well then, shall we go wash now? You’re hungry, aren’t you?

“Yup! I’m hungry! Let’s go wash up.”

Only then did Rere rush to the bathroom gleefully. The nanny and I walked into the bathroom after the child.

After spending the whole afternoon in high spirits, Rere began to doze off when the warm water touched her body, and thanks to this, we could wash the child faster.

“Madam, my master invited you for a meal.”

After I dried her body with a towel and prepared to put on her dress, a servant came with news.

“The child is sleepy, so we’re going to skip the meal.”

At that time, Rere blinked her eyes drowsily as if about to fall into slumber then suddenly shook her head firmly.

“No. Rere is not going to sleep! Not sleep! Let’s eat! I’m hungry….Big Bunny…. should meet my daddy…I’m hungry!”

“Rere, you can eat later.”

“No. Let’s eat now.”

I tried to persuade the child once more, but I knew I couldn’t win when the child was this determined.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Just in time, I finished drying her hair.

“Yes, madam!”

I will go and talk to him properly today. I will tell him to stop being selfish.

‘I doubt he’ll understand.’

After a while, I arrived at the dining room holding Rere in my arms. The duke stopped eating when we entered the restaurant.

“You’re here. You’re running late.”

“It seems I thought of you as a very mediocre man.”

“What does that mean?”

“Because I was getting turned off each time I meet you. Unless you do it on purpose.”

“…..”

Only then did he look uncomfortable.

“So what is it today? Why did you invite us to a meal? I can’t wait to hear how frustrating it is.”

All his actions never failed to piss me off.

In the meantime, Rere had already seated herself next to me and began to spoon her food. Her head bobbed up and down to the point I couldn’t tell whether she ate or slept.

The Duke watched her with an unpleasant look and pointed his fork at her.

“Try to persuade her.”

“Persuade?”

“His Majesty has ordered us to move forward with the engagement between Rere and His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Why?”

“Because we are a ducal family.”

“Why is he so obsessed with being in-laws with a ducal family when there are several other ducal families in this empire? As far as I know, there is a child in another ducal family who is about the same age as Rere. I’m talking about Princess Lily Cuffs.”

He sighed deeply and put down his utensil on the table.

“I really can’t understand. The child clearly said she doesn’t want it, but he’s still trying to turn Rere into a crown princess. Unless he has a hidden purpose.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Think carefully. Do you really think he doesn’t have a hidden purpose?”

His eyes shook for a moment as he tried to deny what I said. As if he just came to a realization, he closed his mouth tightly. As if he had a hard time talking about the topic.

“You also think it’s strange, right?”