Chapter 44

Hearing me call him father, the guards could no longer stop Igor.

Igor immediately tried to run up the stairs.

“Stop there.”

I said in a cold voice.

My words echoed in the lobby of the huge mansion.

Igor really stopped there.

Of course, it wasn’t because of my orders.

“……what?”

He stopped because he was dumbfounded.

– How dare you to order me!

His face was distorted and wrinkles formed between his brows, he no longer had the expression of a sweet father.

I spoke quickly and softly without missing the moment.

“Sophia, take my sister to my room right now.”

Sophia’s surprised expression quickly hardened into tension.

“Never leave her alone, and keep the maids waiting in the room.”

Hurry up and take her.

If Larissa shed tears in shock, it’s over.

Sophia looked at Igor and me in turns, then quickly grabbed Larissa’s hand.

“Let’s go, Miss.”

Sophia grabbed Larissa by hand and led her away.

But Larissa, whose legs were frozen, stood still.

Then Sophia hugged Larissa tightly and lifted her up with all her might.

“She….., she is my daughter! Where are you taking her?”

Igor ran up the stairs angrily.

I stood in front of him and shouted.

“Father! Your eldest daughter is here. Talk to me.”

Of course, he didn’t seem to have any intention of talking to me calmly.

Igor stretched out his hand and tried to push me away, but I grabbed his hand tightly.

“Let’s talk–”

slap!

At that moment, a flash of light flashed in front of me. My head was spinning and my legs were trembling.

I reflexively hung on the railings of the stairs and almost fell.

My cheek feels tingling. That’s when I realized what just happened.

Igor slapped me on the cheek.

‘Did you just slap me?’

It was the first time in my life that I was slapped. It felt like blood was rushing to my head. At the same time, a feeling of humiliation came over me.

Now I am the Grand Duchess. Nevertheless, Igor slapped me.

Even in front of employees.

I raised my head.

What came into my hazy vision was Igor, who suddenly escaped from my hand and ran up the stairs, and Larissa at the end of his path.

‘Larissa!’

Igor ran up the stairs two or three at a time.

But Sophia, holding Larissa in her arms, still hadn’t gone far.

‘She is gonna get caught at this rate!’

I grabbed the hem of my dress with one hand and ran frantically up the stairs.

The high-heeled outdoor boots staggered my ankles.

Someone passed me and ran across the stairs. It was the guard who tried to stop Igor a while ago.

Maybe he didn’t know what to do with the father of the Grand Duchess, but when he saw me being slapped, did he finally come to his senses?

The guard caught up with Igor in a flash.

“Stop there!”

The guard could not dare to attack and threatened him.

I could hear the guard’s heart confused about which of the Grand Duchess or the Grand Duchess’s father was higher.

Taking advantage of the guard’s confusion, Igor ignored him and rushed to Larissa.

His hand gripped the hem of Larissa’s dress.

– No! Save me. Don’t hit me. It hurts…… Help me……

The sound of a desperate heart pierced my chest like a dagger.

It was something I hadn’t heard of at all in the last few days.

“Hey! Get your hands off!”

Sophia shouted as Igor tugged on Larissa’s dress.

Sophia hugged her as tight as she could but Larissa’s sleeve was ripped off.

Igor threw the piece of cloth in his hand on the floor. Even the friendly smile had long since disappeared from his face.

“Come here, Larissa. Have you forgotten what this father of yours always taught you?”

Igor growled.

Larissa did not even open her mouth but I could hear the voice of her heart.

– If you don’t listen, you will hurt more……

It wasn’t an answer that came out after a long thought, but one that came out reflexively.

Larissa clung to Sophia with her face blue.

I glared at Igor. Had I nodded my head when Fabian offered to finish him off, he would have been dead already.

‘I saved your life, you know!’

Having barely reached the top of the stairs, I immediately ran towards Igor. It was clear where to aim.

I knew his weakness.

‘You slapped me in front of other people, so you must be prepared for this.’

I pulled Igor’s hair as hard as I could.

“Ahh!”

Igor reflexively covered his head with his hands and looked back at me.

The brown wig he was wearing until a moment ago had fallen into my hands.

Yes. Igor is bald.

“Pfft.”

The guard, who was hesitating next to him and didn’t know what to do, couldn’t help but laugh.

Igor’s sharp gaze was fixed on him.

The guard looked down at the tips of his boot, trying to fix his expression.

‘Hurry up and go!’

I quickly spoke to Sophia by moving my lips only.

She nodded and immediately turned around and started running.

To keep Igor from coming to his senses and chasing after Sophia and Larissa, I waved the brown wig in my hand in front of his nose.

“Let’s talk!”

– Ha! This crazy girl! Do you think I’m really up to something?

While swearing inside, Igor’s gaze did not leave his wig.

I feel like playing fishing with a stray cat.

I bit my lip not to laugh.

But I couldn’t hold Igor’s attention for long.

Because from his point of view, the diamond mine is trying to escape.

“I’ll talk to you later. Please wait patiently here.”

He spoke as if commanding then looked away. Just as he was about to turn around and run after Sophia, laughter rang out from the top of the stairs.

“Hahaha. What’s that?”

The eyes of the people turned upwards. A slender boy is holding his stomach and laughing.

The expression on his face was a half happy and half sneer.

“That’s so funny. Are you the father of the Grand Duchess?”

Igor took the wig from my hand with a red face. I was caught off guard for a while, so I missed it.

Igor hurriedly put his wig back on his head.

Even without a mirror, his hands, trained for decades, returned the wig perfectly to its original position.

When he saw it, Richard burst into laughter once again.

“And you…..!”

Igor, who was about to shout louder, changed his tone.

“……who are you?”

At first glance, Richard’s outfit was very luxurious. Although it was a simple indoor coat, the luster flowing down the hem of his clothes was unusual.

Igor is not one to miss such a thing.

Richard giggled and made his way down the stairs. He spoke to me, ignoring Igor.

“Is he your father? He’s not cultured at all. As expected of someone who doesn’t even have a title.”

I agree.

“I don’t think it’s a title issue. Count Laurent isn’t very cultured either, is he?”

“Well, that’s right.”

Surprisingly, Richard readily agreed.

Igor, who had been ignored by both Richard and me at the same time, shouted.

“What? There are things to say and not to say at the first meeting! And even though I’m a noble without a title, I’m still a nobleman–”

“You look like an uninvited guest, so what’s the point of knowing who I am?”

Richard leaned against the railing and cut off Igor’s words.

“You’re making a loud noise in front of all the employees.”

Come to think of it, the other maids were slowly flocking to the lobby.

Because something like this happened……

‘It is a rare sight to see.’

Igor clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

– What the hell is this brat? Damn! Even if I force Larissa out of here, I might not be able to get out of here safely.

Did you just realize that?