How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter

Alan was silent for a moment, and soon smiled, his hands in black gloves. 

His laughter grew a little louder when I tilted my head.
Perhaps I had said something wrong. 

“You mean the welcome party? Of course I’ll hold it, but not now.
Lily, this is a dinner just for you and me.”

I was surprised.
There were so many different kinds of food that it was hard to count, but this was only for two people? 

“Let’s dig in.”

Regardless of my surprise, Alan rang the champagne glass. 

A clear sound was heard in the hallway, an orchestra was playing.

Music as refreshing as the table full of lily flowers…. 

Rumble.

A shameful noise mixed in.

“I, I’m sorry.”

I covered my stomach as it made a sound like an uninvited guest. 

“I didn’t mean it….” 

I added a strange excuse and hid my burning face. 

There was nothing I could do about this. 

I haven’t eaten anything in four days, and the last thing I ate was the pig porridge left by my father.
What a terrible smell. 

Surprisingly, Alan didn’t laugh or scold me. 

I raised my eyes to see if the world had ended with the sound of my stomach.

“Lily.” 

Alan swept my cheek with the back of his hand and whispered. 

“Everything in my mansion belongs to you.” 

A low, distinct voice.
It was like trying to imprint an important truth. 

“So, what do you want to eat?” 

He opened his arms, gesturing at the table. 

Each meal looked delicious. 

Grilled turkey, pumpkin potato, oyster canapé, pear compote, and a variety of sugared fruits. 

And… a huge whipped cream cake.

It was much bigger than what I had seen in the shop window before. 

At the time, I was drooling and was kicked out after being beaten by the owner of the cake shop. 

‘I gritted my teeth and promised to eat all the whipped cream cakes by myself one day.’

Alan gestured behind the chair when I couldn’t take my eyes off the cake’s icing. 

A tall servant approached me and took out something from the top of the cake. 

There were chocolate letters between the overflowing fruit decorations. 

「Welcome home, Princess Lilietta Von Bauner.」

Alan poked the carefully written words with a fork and pushed a big piece into my mouth. 

“Come on, try it.
Ahhh.” 

This was the first time someone had fed me food. 

I was embarrassed, so I turned my eyes, covered my mouth and ate the piece awkwardly. 

As soon as the soft meringue touched the tip of my tongue, it melted like cotton candy. 

The fluffy sponge-like cake and fruits between the layers burst into a sweet taste, like fireworks in my mouth. 

Felt like I had eaten a moist cloud. 

There was nothing else to do but open my eyes wide and be surprised because I couldn’t even speak. 

Alan’s lips drew a line all the way through, perhaps he liked my reaction very much. 

“Is it good?”

Ah, of course. 

The whipped cream, the fruit on top, and the chocolate dressing were all sweet enough to melt my tongue. 

It was so delicious that I was about to cry. 

I swallowed a delicious mouthful and smiled broadly.
This time it wasn’t acting, it was a sincere smile.  

“It’s delicious.” 

Alan stared at me and picked up a chunk of cake that was too large to fit in my mouth.  

To him, it looked like it was cut into small pieces.  

“Here, eat more.
Eat a lot.
I’ll bring you more if it’s not enough.”

I was a little perplexed, but soon opened my mouth wide, and like a black hole, sucked in the cake.  

Once the brake was released, I couldn’t stop.  

“That’s right, there you go.
You’re good.”

Alan shoved the cake into my mouth like fueling a furnace.  

Apparently, in his eyes, I looked like a skeleton on the verge of starvation. 

The hunger that had tormented me for four days gradually subsided.  

I only noticed after I almost finished eating that big cake.

The fact that Alan didn’t take care of his own meal because he was feeding me. 

‘If it was the good daughter, Lily, she wouldn’t have stayed still.’

I grabbed a chunk of cake with Alan’s fork, which he had never used.
The piece was so big that it almost fell off. 

I held the fork tightly with both hands.
The shaky, shaky cake shook, but I managed to deliver it to Alan’s mouth safely. 

“You should eat, too, Dad.
Ahh.”

Alan, who was calm even when monsters appeared, stopped like a still image.

I was taken aback for a moment. 

‘What? Did I do something wrong?’ 

A long time later, Alan’s mouth slowly opened like a drawbridge. 

‘He doesn’t dislike it… does he?’

I carefully put the cake into his mouth, as if feeding a crocodile. 

Is it because he’s a black leopard? 

I could feel the roughness of his tongue pressed against the fork. 

Munch munch.

Alan chewed the lump very slowly.
I didn’t know if it was delicious for him because there was no change in his expression. 

A long time later, Alan ‘swallowed’ the cake and his Adam’s apple moved. 

After swallowing the cake, he raised the corners of his mouth and laughed. 

“Thank you.”

It was still an awkward smile, but I felt an itch in the back of my mind.
I felt like I had done a great job even though I had barely fed him a piece of cake. 

I’d never felt this way when I bought my own dad a lot of drinks. 

Then a gentle voice rang. 

“Lily, would you like to try something else? You should especially eat some meat.”

As soon as his words were finished, a couple of servants cut the meat pickled in herbs and brought it to my front. 

This time, unlike the cake, it was not easy to eat because it was greasy. 

I belatedly looked at others for fear that my table manners would not be like a princess’, but Alan, perhaps understanding my worries, immediately ordered the servants to go to the hallway. 

The servants’ hard calves were busy as they had to come in only when he knocked on the champagne glass. 

As I ate everything that came into my mouth, the loose dress became tight.
By the time I felt that I ate too much, it was already late. 

My stomach was so full that it almost burst. 

The puppy didn’t even know that it was full and kept eating.
It was embarrassing to say, but it was a perfect description for me. 

I gulped down the water and desperately pushed the food up to the tip of my throat.
Then Alan whispered softly. 

“From now on, I’ll only feed you good things.
My beloved daughter, Lily.” 

Again, that deep look as if recalling the old days. 

Did he recall Lily from 10 years ago? 

A baby who died a long time ago.
The original owner of his affection…

“Uhuuukk!”

I choked.
I hurriedly covered my mouth and held back my cough. 

“Lily!” 

Alan screamed as if I was sick to death. 

“Bring the larks in now! No, contact the temple instead.
I’ll take my daughter there and have them get the best cure ready!” 

I wrapped my hands over my head, trying to calm this fuss. 

But I just couldn’t raise my head. 

Because that whipped cream cake was not for me. 

***

A small child was sobbing in the dark. 

Her red curly hair trembled with her curled back. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

I hurried up to the child. 

Then the child stopped crying and slowly looked back at me.
Emerald eyes glistened like beads dropped into the water. 

Is that child… me? 

-What’s wrong with you? 

A pale face child let out a hoarse sound.
There was terrible hatred in the eyes bearing the same color as mine. 

No, it was not me.
A person who can make that expression is…

-Why are you stealing what is mine?

“…Wha, what are you talking about?” 

I stepped back without realizing it. 

The child followed me closely with teary eyes. 

-Everything you enjoy, it’s not yours. 

I tripped while I was turning around and fell down to my seat.

The child approached and grabbed my neck with her small hands. 

-It’s all mine, but you’re stealing it.
You’re fooling my dad.
You.
Fire ant. 

My chest was tight. 

I couldn’t get out of her tough grip even though I struggled against it. 

The child roared like a scary monster.

-I’m Lily.
The name you stole, that kid! 

“Haa!” 

I got up, wrapped in a blanket, and an unfamiliar room welcomed me. 

Cute imitation tea sets and stuffed dolls were bluish in the moonlight. 

This was Lily’s room, full of toys.

I raised my upper body which was wet with sweat and caught my breath. 

“I think her body was surprised because she ate in a hurry on an empty stomach.”

“Take a little rest and she’ll be fine.”

“Take a good rest, Princess.”

The larks diagnosed it like that, but I knew.

It was the reason why the food was placed there.

“I’m sorry.”

I murmured softly what I couldn’t even say. 

Canopy bed without any wrinkles before I lay down. 

This was not for me. 

The girl who died 10 years ago, it was Lily’s, whose name was now taken away. 

“I’m sorry.”

I blamed myself for enjoying the cake that wasn’t mine. 

Before dinner, my mind was filled with fear of death.
However, when I filled my stomach with hunger, without realizing it, I was relieved.

In the absence of my guard, weak feelings penetrated me, as if waiting. 

For example… guilt. 

“I am…”

I am not a princess.

I was born under a deep pit.
To be exact, the pit-like slum was my hometown. 

I didn’t know how my hometown came to be, but now that I realized I had reincarnated, I knew better than anyone else. 

It was a land that was abandoned a long time ago because it was impossible to be restored after it collapsed due to an invasion of monsters.

“I just… didn’t want to die.” 

The abandoned land was naturally crowded with poor people who had nowhere to go, and inland people poured garbage into the pits, regardless of who lived there. 

Then they used to laugh at the beggars rushing to find something to eat, like a flock of ants. 

That was why it was called an ant cave. 

No one remembers the original name of my hometown now. 

Just like everyone called me a fire ant.

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