Chapter 6.2

As far as I know, there was no problem. It was safe to say that a commoner orphan like me was almost outside the system.

Since I had no separate parents, there was no need to be tied down with anything. And since I don’t have a noble status in the first place, it was so easy to wash one’s identity. All I had to do was write ‘Beatrice’ in the signature line.

“It was written like ‘Beatrice’ in <Beatrice and Sinclair>, right?”

“…… Yes.”

Hearing the unexpected question, I slightly rolled my eyes and answered.

<Beatrice and Sinclair> was a famous fairy tale in this world.

The plot was roughly similar to <Romeo and Juliet>, but the difference was that Juliet was a noble and Beatrice was royalty.

No matter how popular the fairy tale was, Beatrice was a name that all children my age would have heard at least once, regardless of status. It’s literally a name that one can think of as a name for a princess.

As if I would like to change my name to ‘Princess Kim’ now.

However, to make an excuse, it was a common name among nobles’ children.

“Alright… Ha……. Bea, Beat-hahaha…… Beatri-hehehehe…….”

The boy who couldn’t help but burst into laughter finally cleared his throat.

“Khhm, who……. kkhhmm…… Who names you?”

My cheeks were hot as if they were on fire, but I steadfastly answered.

“…… me. I named myself.”

Seeing the boy rubbing his forehead as if he was trying to hold back something, I became irritated for no reason. So my voice naturally became sullen.

“Why? Can’t I do that?”

“What? … No, no haha……. Hmm, Hmm. Of, of course. If Betty wants to.”

“When you go to school, there are only people like Elizabeth and Alexandra. If I was the only Betty, I would stand out.”

“Right……. Who…… Hmm, who said what?”

You. You are laughing right now, aren’t you.

I glared at the boy whose shoulders trembled from holding back a bitter internal battle.

“If you want to change it, change it. It’s just… the name……. If you want me to call you that…… UAHAHAHA! Beahahahaha, Beatrice hehehehe!”

After trying to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out for a while, the boy literally tumbled out of his chair and rolled on the floor.

I stood in the middle of the study waiting for his laughter to end.

***

I changed my mind to put in the guide documents under my original name, ‘Betty’.

It was because I knew that a plausible name I made up to avoid being noticed would rather be more ridiculed by nobles. I may be intensively harassed for trying to pretend to be a noble with a shallow trick that does not even work.

The Duke unexpectedly put in the documents as I wished, but the teasing was not over.

“My precious Beatrice is satisfied. I’ll give you double the original price.”

“Oh no, Sir. I am grateful to you for appreciating our bakery.”

He speaks in a friendly tone, but the baker’s eyes are busy assuming my true identity. Since Duke Janus himself calls me in such a way, he seemed to guess that I would at least be a noble.

But I’m not. From the position of a person whose status system was firmly imprinted in my bones over the past 10 years, I felt brave not to act right away.

I glanced up with the cookie in my mouth, and my eyes met with the smiling Duke again.

“Why don’t you have the tea? Maybe it doesn’t suit the taste of our noble Beatrice?”

I quickly drank my tea and answered.

“It smells so good, it suits my taste buds!”

“Why don’t you eat more sweets? You don’t want it after only trying one?”

“No! It was so delicious that I wanted to save it!”

This piece of s*** is bullying me.

Whether or not he was determined to make fun of me, people were calling me ‘Miss Beatrice’ and treating me as an honored guest.

I was stuffing the cookies and parfait, not knowing if it was going in my mouth or my nose. But the duke patted my head with a detestable friendly voice.

“Yes, yes, eat a lot. You won’t be able to eat something like this when you go to school.”

Choke

I was suddenly disturbed by the sudden mention of the school that I got choked.

“Miss Beatrice is aspiring to be a guide! It is an honor to see the future of the Empire.”

The bakery owner, who did not know my feelings, flattered me.

It seems that the duke really intends to raise me as a professional guide and use me exclusively for him. I didn’t want to be the duke’s guide even if I was offered billions, but that was only my circumstances.

Nobles sometimes sponsor children of commoners as a hobby. There’s nothing like enjoying the feeling that you are a good person?

But nothing is free in this world.

If you receive sponsorship, you must pay the corresponding price.

I’ve seen countless people die from selfish greed. A life in the middle, walking the normal path that everyone else takes, is the best of all.

However, I hid my complicated feelings and shouted vigorously.

“Thank you!”

“Is there anything else you want? Shall I buy you something like a doll?”

I think the person who gets excited when receiving a doll is you, not me.

This guy has been dragging me around as if he was playing with a doll since he came to the capital. Ever since I came to the capital, I had been close to him, so I couldn’t turn a blind eye to him.

I answered wholeheartedly.

“No, that’s fine!”

“I didn’t ask because I was really curious about your thoughts. When we finish eating, we will go to the toy store, so think about what to buy.”

Then why the hell did you ask in the first place?

I was eating parfait out of spite, when a small child burst into the private room where only the Duke, me, and the owner of the bakery were seated.

A child wearing a red cape decorated with rabbit fur took off the hood to reveal beautiful blond hair.