The Adored Daughter of the Disliked Duke's House: My Magic Power Increases Every Time I'm Praised, So I've Been Perfecting Cuteness Since Infancy! - Episode 2

Today has been hectic since this morning.

After being fed a lot by my mother and getting a new diaper, I was dressed in different clothes than usual.

I always get to wear a fluffy and glossy high-end baby dress, but then they put another luxurious pink dress on top of that.

Furthermore, a headpiece adorned with roses was placed on her head. Even though she couldn’t walk, she was made to wear cute little shoes on her feet.

It was clear right away that they were going out, but…

“Alright, we’ve arrived. Lilietta, this is the royal palace.”

I never would have imagined the destination was the palace.

“Ah?”

When I let out a small voice, my father’s and mother’s eyes narrow.

“How cute!”

“Yes, it’s really adorable, isn’t it?”

Those words make my heart feel warm.
It’s always like this.
These two always compliment me by saying “cute” whenever I do something, and each time, my heart feels warm.

(Well, it’s a baby. It’s only natural that everything it does is cute.)

I once read in a book that the features of a baby’s face are inherently designed to be perceived as cute by humans.

It is said that babies win their mother’s affection with their adorable faces.

(I’m sorry for being such a thirty-something on the inside…)

I am filled with a sense of guilt, but my parents don’t notice it.

My father picked me up, and the two of us, still wearing happy smiles, stepped out of the carriage.

However.

The moment they stepped into the palace, the atmosphere between the two of them froze.

That expression hardened coldly, to the point where even my father felt a sense of murderous intent.

Many people are watching those two from a distance.

“It’s the Duke of Rosenford…”

“Yikes, so terrifying…!”

“Don’t make eye contact! You’ll get frozen!”

“Why the palace?”

“Isn’t it the unveiling of your newborn child?”

“You didn’t have to come at such a busy time…”

“Shh, what if they hear us…!”

They seem to think they’re whispering so that the people involved can’t hear them, but it’s completely audible. Whispered voices tend to carry more than you’d expect.

Even though their parents should have heard them, the two walked towards the depths of the palace without even glancing at them, remaining calm and composed.

(They’re such good people, I wonder why they’re disliked?)

After a while, we arrived at an incredibly vast room.

The ceiling is extremely high, the floor is covered with deep red carpets, and in the center of the room, there is a long, narrow golden carpet.

The parents walked confidently across the golden carpet.

Beyond that, a pair of luxurious chairs were placed.

On the left, there is a man wearing a magnificent crown, and on the chair to the right, there is a woman holding a splendid cane.

It’s the king and queen.

As soon as the two saw their parents’ faces, they frowned.

“What did you come here for?”

At the king’s sharp words, my body involuntarily trembles. My father gently strokes my trembling body.

“In accordance with tradition, I have come to show Your Majesty the face of my daughter.”

When my father spoke with a sullen expression, the king’s frown deepened.

“I told you it wasn’t necessary.”

“Tradition is tradition.”

After saying that, my father briefly glanced at the king. It was just for a moment, though.

“This concludes our business. Let’s leave quickly, as the disliked ones.”

It was my mother who spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

To my mother, the king should be her real brother. To speak to her brother with such a cold voice…

(Unexpectedly, the rift seems deep.)

The parents turned on their heels without even waiting for the king and queen’s response. Are they really planning to leave just like this?

Through the gap in my father’s arm, I suddenly caught a glimpse of the king’s face.

That expression looked somehow sad, but it might have just been my imagination.

The incident occurred on the way back.

“Lord Rosenford! I challenge you to a duel!”

A man stood in our way.

He was a young man with copper-colored hair and fiery red eyes. Those eyes were staring straight at his father.

A sudden murmur spread through the grand corridor of the palace.

(No way! Even if I’m hated, to be picked a fight with in a place like this!)

Moreover, my father is a duke.

I don’t fully understand the class system of this country, but a duke would have been the ruler of a principality, in other words, the head of a nation, if the time was right. If this were Japan’s Meiji era, they would be on par with the Tokugawa shogunate.

To think there are people who would confront such a person in broad daylight.

However, my father neither showed surprise nor panic.

“Lilietta. Please wait a moment.”

After whispering in a low voice, my father entrusted me to my mother’s arms.

By that time, knights looking flustered had started to gather. They were probably the palace guards.

“Your Grace, we will capture the miscreant immediately.”

The knights immediately tried to intervene between the young man with red eyes and his father, but…

“Don’t interfere!”

I stiffened my body after being scolded by my father.

At this loud voice, even the onlookers who had gathered fell silent and stiffened.

Of course, me too.

However, my mother, who was holding me, stepped forward calmly and raised her hand with a relaxed gesture.

And,

“Begin!”

At her voice as a signal, a mysterious something rose from the bodies of her father and the young man with red eyes.

It is not something that can be seen.

It’s something like energy that vibrates the air.

“That’s Father’s magic, Lilietta.”

Magic.

In other words, that invisible something is the driving force behind using magic.

The magical power that surged from my father’s body swelled up to the ceiling in an instant, and in the next moment, it converged into the palm of his hand.

On his large palm, a spear-like weapon crackling with energy appears.

The young man saw it and instinctively changed the form of his magic. By following his movements with his eyes, it became clear that he was trying to create something like a shield.

However.
My father was faster than that.

The lightning that was just born in his hands.

At a speed so fast that you would miss it if you blinked…

It pierced through the young man’s shoulder.

“Ugh…!”

It was an event that happened in the blink of an eye.
The young man who had challenged the duel lay bleeding on the corridor floor, and my victorious father turned on his heel and returned to my mother and me.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go home.”
Yes

Calmly stating, she briskly left the young man.

(That is magic…)

My heart pounded loudly.

My cheeks are getting hot with excitement.

(This isn’t anime or VFX, it’s real magic!)

Beautiful, divine, yet terrifying.
And then, my heart dances.

This is the most moving and heart-stirring experience I’ve ever had in my life.

However, the onlookers’ behavior was different from mine.
Including the young man with red eyes, everyone is pale-faced and trembling with fear.

(I see. So that’s why I’m disliked…?)

Excessive power is an object of fear.
And sometimes, fear turns into disgust.

Apparently, my father is disliked because he is too strong.

“Oh my, it seems Lilietta has taken a liking to Father’s [Thunder].”

My mother, peering into my face, smiled happily.
In response to that, my father also lowers his eyes.

“I see. Someday, you’ll definitely be able to use it too.”

(Really!?)

Can I also use that beautiful magic!?

“Ugh!”

I couldn’t help but let out a loud voice.
Seeing that, the two of them deepen their smiles again.

“How cute, Lilietta.”

“Yeah, really. So cute.”

I was praised by the two of them.
Again, my heart felt warm inside.
At the same time, a gentle drowsiness comes over me.

(I hope I can use magic soon too.)

Thinking about such things, I fell asleep in warm arms.

That day, when I returned to the mansion, there was an unfamiliar person there.

“My name is Millicent Van Horn.”

She was a woman with a distinctive, plastered-on smile. She seemed to be in her thirties. She wore a plain dress and glasses.

“Welcome. …I’m counting on you.”

With a solemn announcement, Millicent slightly stiffened her expression but still managed to bow properly.

Her eyes catch my gaze for a moment.

Smirk.
For just a moment, her smile sent a shiver down my spine.

“Lilietta, it’s your nanny.”

When I looked up at my father’s voice, he had an expression I had never seen before.

“……You are also a noble lady. It’s about time you, you, you, you start becoming independent from your parents……!”

My father’s face gradually became wrinkled like a bulldog, and large tears fell from his eyes.