The Precious Sister of The Villainous Grand Duke

The way he talked and behaved was so stiff, I thought he would at least be in his mid-thirties.

"Uhm…"

"It's Damon."

"Yes?"

"You can call me Damon."

Did he think the reason I hesitated with my words was because I didn't know his name?

The knight with silver-blue hair introduced himself and swept the area above my head, looking around the room.

'He has an appearance that could pass for a character in a novel.'

Although it was a whole world itself where people who did not appear in the novel existed, the closer you were to the main character, the more dazzling your appearance would be.

'Dietrich may be the villain, but he's handsome because he's a significant character.'

I've never seen a boy as gorgeous as Dietrich in Lagrange.

'Maybe he's a character, too?'

I squinted my eyes and observed his appearance closely.

'Damon, hm, I've heard of this name before.'

"What are you looking at so intently?"

"Mr. Knight, you're much younger than I thought."

"Younger?"

"You're handsome. What's this? Why are you so handsome?"

"........."

I had never seen a person who possessed such a radiant appearance even though he didn't appear in the novel.

'I have definitely heard this name before.'

The years I spent as Anissa had already been twelve years. It had been so long that the contents of the book I read in my previous life had become fuzzy.

I could still remember the big events or the main characters vividly, but if it was a supporting character who was mentioned...

"What are you saying?"

Damon, who glanced at me as I was racking my head, covered his mouth and stepped back.

Even without reading his aura, I could tell that he became embarrassed because of his red ears.

"...I will order them to prepare your meal."

"Hm, well, thank you."

Even if I told him that I wasn't hungry, I saw Damon off as he left in a rush.

────── 〔✿〕──────

"Kikik."

"Kikikikik."

I was about to close my eyes on a bed without a mattress made of soft feathers let alone a proper blanket, when...

In the dark, I began to hear a young child's laughter.

'...Is it a g-ghost?'

If it was in the past, I would have fainted due to fear, but ever since I could feel auras, I developed a habit to judge everything in the world based on 'auras'.

'There's no way I wouldn't feel it if it was a malicious aura.'

When I drowsily opened my eyes, I could see white smoke dancing under the dimly lit lamp. It had a vague appearance of a child.

'...It's just a remnant of a dead aura.'

I remembered the time when Liatris' newborn baby died. It was only a small part, but a dead person's aura would return to the place where they stayed for a long time.

'Neil's aura disappeared after I patted it a few times.'

I recalled the aura of Neil swaying above the cradle along with the fresh scent of a baby -- I felt like my feet would give out if I touched such an aura again.

I didn't want to meet such a sad aura again.

"Child."

"Kkik. Kikikkik."

"Did you die in this basement?"

In the 'Rose Wars of Men', the saint, Charlotte, also offered a prayer to comfort the ghosts.

Eredia's powers were not comparable to her divine powers, but I also had the ability to sense souls.

"I don't know you. So I don't know how to comfort you."

"........"

"I'll lend you this doll. Make sure to give it back to me in the morning."

I placed the raccoon doll I was holding like a treasure in the corner where the lamp shone the brightest.

At that moment, a shadow flickered under the lamp, and a horn sprouted.

"Anissa."

"Kyaa!"

The ghosts weren't particularly scary now, but a demon's horn appearing out of nowhere was terrifying.

As I screamed while cowering in the corner, Damon suddenly opened the door and entered.

"What happened?!"

"That, that--"

I pointed my finger at the horn protruding on the wall, but it had already disappeared without a trace. Damon opened his mouth as if sighing.

"Did you see a ghost?"

I did see a ghost but I wasn't surprised because of that!

'Anissa, it's me.'

I caressed my arms as I felt goosebumps at the sound that came from the wall.

'The wall is talking.'

"Princess, everything seems to be fine, so I will see myself out."

"Ah."

Damon's face looked so tired that I couldn't bring myself to stop him. When I lightly nodded, he quickly left the room. Left alone, I stared at the 'talking horn' that protruded from the middle of the wall.

".....Who are you?"

"It's me."

"Yuric?"

"That's right."

"A horn? Did you become a horn?"

Was that what it meant -- if you waste the power of a demon, you become a demon? I freaked out and latched onto Yuric.

"Did you use too much of your abilities?"

"No, it's not like that!"

If that's not the case, then was he cursed because he didn't listen to Dietrich?

I suppressed my sinking heart and approached him.

"No. It's a kind of communication magic. Amon's horn can ram anywhere."

'It's also possible to use demons as phones?'

My eyes widened, thinking of Amon, who was exceptionally ugly among the shadow demons.

"You scared me, suddenly popping out without warning."

"Sorry."

He laughed lightly at my rebuke. Relieved of tension, I collapsed on my knees in place and slowly opened my mouth.

"...Are you hurt anywhere?"

"You always ask things like that. Anyway, why are you locked up?"

It was a question I couldn't easily answer. Because I had to tell him first that I wasn't his half-sister.

As I hesitated to speak, Amon's horn shook from side to side as if it was frustrated.

"Don't shake that, it's weird."

"It had been a long time since I returned to Lagrange and you're locked up in the basement, mother has gone insane, and the triplets just kept crying."

I was surprised by what he said and clung to the wall.

"You returned to Lagrange?"

"That's right."

"What about Dietrich?"

"That jerk is…"

If Dietrich returned with Yuric, there's no way he wouldn't look for me.

"He did return to Lagrange but…"

I bit my lips hard at Yuric's answer.

"He must be busy with work. It can't be helped."

"........"

I shook my head, afraid that the nightmare I feared the most since Dietrich left Lagrange would become a reality.

"It's fine as long as he's not hurt. I'm all right, I'm fine."

"For now, I'll try to persuade Father. Though I don't know what his intentions are for locking you up."

There's no way Yuric could persuade him. I nodded briefly without any expectations.

────── 〔✿〕──────

As I expected, it seemed that things didn't go well, so news from Yuric was cut off.

I let out a deep sigh as I stared at the window of the basement where it wasn't even possible to see outside.

'I'm bored to death.'

Derek didn't provide me with any entertainment, and making clothes for the raccoon doll with the knitting tools Marilyn secretly delivered to me was my only activity.

"Sir Damon."

"Yes."

"Please say anything."

"Anything."

"..........."

Damon, a person who didn't appear in the novel, was a very handsome knight, but his speaking skills were subpar.

'There's no such thing as a perfect person.'

God seemed to have given him a handsome appearance and in exchange took away his speaking skills.

I felt like I was going to die out of boredom as I spent ten days without any book to read or someone to talk to.

"Oh? I think someone is coming."

And so I got up from my seat, welcoming the sound of footsteps from afar. However, I couldn't help but frown at the acrid aura that immediately pierced my nose.

"Your Grace."

Damon, who was crookedly leaning against the wall, straightened his body and greeted him. Derek walked past him and stood in front of me.

Derek was not alone. I stared at Dietrich, who now stood as tall as Derek.

He didn't look at me. When Dietrich and I didn't say anything to each other, Derek gestured with his arrogant chin.

"Your face looks good."

"Hello."

"I guess this place is quite good enough for living. I heard evil spirits roam around here at night."

So that was an evil spirit.

I shrugged as I glanced at the aura of the 'child' who was now quite close.

"I haven't seen anything like evil spirits."

"It seems I underestimated you too much."

It was Derek, who locked me up in a basement that no one was allowed to enter except Damon, and yet he never once came to see me.

I didn't know what he expected from me, but he raised his hands over the iron bars saying that my condition was 'fine' compared to his expectations.

Pak.

"Kyaa!"

To exaggerate a little, his fist which was as big as my face, slammed against my cheek.

Paak.

In the midst of that, as I moved backward, I looked at Dietrich's reaction first. It was then that our eyes met when he turned to look at me.

His black eyes grew wide in surprise, but he didn't step forward.

Dietrich had never turned a blind eye to me whenever I was in crisis. When I remembered that, my heart began to throb as if my heart hurt more than when Derek hit me.

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