The Reincarnated Thirty-Something Woman’s Otherworldly Reform Life
[Side Story: The Quirky Daughter (Gerald's POV - Part 2)]
Translated by: ME
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I had intended to sit on the sofa in the back of the mezzanine and read a story, but ended up opening the recent account books. Then, I heard the rustle of clothing. The door clicked open and someone entered.
Almost no one but me comes here in this house.
Thinking it unusual, I quietly directed my attention downstairs.
***
「Ooh...」
Hearing a small voice, I peeked cautiously.
It was Magnolia, led by a maid.
The way she shook her small head from side to side, looking at the books covering the entire wall, was just like a small animal. Combined with her large, round eyes, she was adorable. Extremely so.
He unconsciously let out a small, soft breath.
At the same time, he felt anxious, worrying if his precious collection of books, continued from his father's time, might get dirty or torn. The other party was a three-year-old infant. Basically a little monkey.
Surprisingly, his daughter seemed to be slowly inspecting each bookshelf as if appraising them, looking all around the room. When she glanced up towards the mezzanine, he pulled back slightly further to avoid being noticed.
Occasionally, the young maid would explain something, or she would check things herself, her eyes lingering on a shelf that seemed to catch her interest.
When she looked towards the Royal Academy textbooks, she paused as if thinking, then, after subtly confirming the maid was looking away, opened a few, flipped through the pages, nodded slightly, and placed them on the desk.
...Could she be checking the content?... Surely not.
Dismissing the ridiculous thought that flitted through my mind, I looked back at Magnolia, who was now standing in front of a different bookshelf.
Again, she seemed to think for a moment, looked upwards, moved her eyes left and right, then took an encyclopedia from the top-right shelf.
The maid, seeing the textbooks on the desk, tried to gently dissuade her, suggesting the chosen books might be too difficult, but she replied, 『It's the same as Brother's!』 with a seemingly plastered-on smile.
I saw them off without saying a word.
...
...For some reason, I felt an unsettling, almost creepy sense of dissonance. Why?
***
It seemed my daughter was wandering not only in the library but all over the mansion—the garden, the kitchens, everywhere.
I had thought she naturally quite docile, and that Rosa, assigned to Magnolia, understood my intentions without being told, but apparently not.
If she wandered around, there was no telling who might see her and where. While not as busy as other households, there was still some coming and going of people.
Case in point: Countess Daphne had seen her.
I let out a bitter smile at the thought of myself, supposedly known for my composure, acting uncharacteristically rushed.
I would need to find the right moment to either replace the maid or give stricter instructions. Or perhaps sending her off to a monastery for education sooner rather than later was an option.
I clenched my fist tightly.
(...But why the sudden change?)
***
(Switch to 3rd person PoV)
After that, whenever he was home, he frequently went to the library.
His curiosity was one reason, but his feet just seemed to carry him there somehow.
He would sit in the mezzanine seat and observe his daughter whenever she came.
At first, she seemed to be pretending to be a 'child acting mature' for the maid's benefit, but soon the maids also recognized her as the 'studious child' and apparently adopted a stance of sitting in slightly distant chairs, watching over her occasionally so she could read freely and concentrate.
The maids seemed to think Magnolia was just picking out characters she knew, but the subjects she chose were unnaturally consistent for that.
Magnolia seemed to decide on a field to read about each day. She would systematically place several books from that category on the desk and go through them at a considerable speed.
Given that speed, the maid likely never dreamed she understood them, but from her eye movements and the occasional silent movement of her lips, it looked for all the world like she was reading intently.
Why? How can she read!?
This wasn't a matter of simply recognizing letters. These were supplementary reference books and specialized texts for deepening understanding of the advanced specialized subjects in the Academy's upper division curriculum.
...Could she possibly understand them? A three-year-old child?
He felt nothing but confusion and bewilderment.
It's strange... If so, then why? What was with her behavior until now?
Even if she was actually intelligent, he didn't think a person who hadn't even gained awareness could fake their personality to adults. First of all, why would she need to do such a thing?
***
He watched for a while longer, and when his suspicion turned to conviction, he decided to try talking to Magnolia directly in the library.
Pretending it was a chance encounter, he spoke to her. Instead of acting fearful, reserved, and trying to be affectionate like before, she looked visibly wary and watched his gaze intently.
Her round, once-adorable-but-dull ibis-colored eyes now held a cold, intellectual light.
—The book she must have been reading was completely hidden between the encyclopedias above and below.
「...Father? It's been over three months. Good day to you.」
Her words, delivered with a contrived smile and a flawless curtsy, felt prickly.
(...Was that sarcasm?)
The daughter he knew until now had sad eyes, dull from lack of love, saying she was lonely and wanted attention, without understanding that she was being neglected and disliked.
The formal, distant curtsy. Her movements, elegant as if from a textbook, telling of repeated, practiced motions.
Now, the eyes before him held a strong will, as if sizing him up.
***
「How studious, reading books?」
When he placed a hand on her head, she didn't smile as usual but gave a small twitch, her shoulders shaking slightly, conveying heightened wariness. Then, glancing casually at the books, she looked up at him.
「Yes. I'm looking at books about beans and vegetables.」
Following her answer, he looked down. It was indeed a book with many pictures, plausible for a child to look at as a substitute for a picture book.
He made an effort to maintain a friendly, gentle smile.
「They look delicious. What else are you looking at?」
Magnolia pushed out the bottom book with a heavy-sounding *heave-ho*.
「...It's a flower book.」
This one too, for the same reason, he supposed. She was good at covering her tracks.
He considered questioning her about the specialized book likely sandwiched in between, but easily surmised she probably had an excuse ready, so he closed his mouth.
He fixed a superficial smile on his face and stared at his daughter's face far below.
Just who is this child?
...She's not just a docile, obedient, and dull child.
It's like she's an adult pretending to be a child.
As they exchanged seemingly trivial conversation while she watched his reactions, he sensed wariness, scorn, probing... a harsh gaze seeping through her beautiful smile. Her demeanor suggested she was analyzing his thoughts and responses from his replies, making Gerald himself unconsciously raise his guard.
She probably sensed he was observing her too. While gently showing concern for him, she was effectively trying to dismiss him.
When he tried to ignore it and continue the conversation, she promptly bid him farewell and returned to her room.
He was left taken aback, blinking in surprise.
Was that her true nature? Did she awaken on her own because she was given too little?
————She was like a completely different person.
When he suggested having a meal together, she replied indifferently with eyes and voice utterly devoid of expectation,
「Hah...? Please do not overexert yourself.」
The contrast with the maid's face, shining with expectant smiles—probably having guessed his intentions regarding his daughter—was stark.
「…………」
His daughter had changed.
Into an utterly un-childlike, excellent, shrewd, strange daughter.
If his daughter had changed, would the future that was supposed to be also change?
'Maybe someday, her heart will—' Just as he thought that, he started and clenched his fist.
The paramount thing was ensuring her and the family's true safety.
...Even if no one understood.
The dry, expressionless face of Countess Daphne as she left that day flashed through his mind and vanished.
***
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