ORPDRL Chapter 26

Episode 26

‘I must break Father-in-law’s curse!’

After awakening her ability, Letty’s favorite new pastime was playing hide-and-seek with Grisys. Today, his chosen hiding spot was the rarely visited back garden of the Grand Duke’s mansion.

“Father-in-law, you’re hiding here today~!”

“……....”

Grisys, who was lying on a green bench camouflaged by its surroundings, furrowed his brow as Letty easily found him.

Even the highly sensitive knights struggled to locate him, yet Letty managed to do so effortlessly. He glanced at her with a questioning look, as if to ask how she had found him, but Letty didn’t offer an explanation. It wasn’t something she could easily articulate.

‘It’s just instinct, Father-in-law, so don’t ask.’

Her awakened ability simply made finding him much easier, not requiring any particular effort on her part.

“Father-in-law, you’re really sleepy again today, aren’t you?”

Climbing onto the bench beside Grisys, Letty reached out her hand to touch the mist that resembled a snake. As soon as she did, the mist dispersed, and Grisys pulled back as if avoiding her touch.

“Hey! Father-in-law! Stay still.”

Frowning as if to scold him, Letty raised both hands in a gesture of reassurance.

“I’m not trying to do anything strange. I’ll just touch it a little.”

To any observer, her words would have sounded suspicious. Grisys’s lips twisted slightly at her declaration of merely wanting to 'touch' without doing anything.

“I’m trying to help you, Father-in-law.”

Whether or not she realized how her innocent words could be misinterpreted, Letty blinked her wide, innocent eyes as she reached out toward him again.

“...Why?”

Grisys blocked her once more, his tone sharp. He seemed more alert than usual and even pushed her hand away this time.

“Why would you help me?”

Startled by his clear and deliberate enunciation, Letty’s eyes widened. Being pushed away hurt her feelings, but that wasn’t the first thing on her mind.

‘Did Father-in-law drink the Hot☆S potion I gave him? He’s speaking so clearly today!’

It was the first time Grisys had expressed his intentions so distinctly. Unaware that her actions had weakened his curse, Letty attributed his clarity to the fairy’s potion, wrinkling her nose in satisfaction.

“Helping is natural. I’m part of your family now, Father-in-law.”

Although she hadn’t married Mireil yet, Letty casually emphasized her status as part of Grisys’s family, patting him on the shoulder confidently.

“Families are supposed to help each other!”

Of course, Letty wasn’t Tierra, so she couldn’t purify or destroy Grisys’s curse.

However, she felt that if she could just remove the black mist that resembled a snake from his body, something good might happen.

She wasn’t the only one who sensed this possibility.

“I…....”

Grisys glanced at Letty’s hand as it touched him.

Her tiny hand, smaller than his palm, seemed to lighten the unbearable weight pressing on his body.

The overwhelming drowsiness and the headache pounding in his skull started to ease.

And then, against all reason, he began to feel the desire to live.

“Father-in-law, are you okay?”

“...I am someone undeserving of anyone’s help.”

Thwack—!

Grisys pushed Letty away, frightened by his own selfish desire to live and the survival instinct it ignited.

Once again rejected, Letty stared blankly at the middle of the garden, looking down at her stinging hand.

“…It hurts.”

Though the impact was nothing compared to what she had endured at Feyrin's, it hurt her heart more than her body because it came from Grisys.

‘Are all the people in this household naturally good at saying mean things?’

Just as Brunhardt had claimed he didn’t deserve Alicia’s forgiveness and buried himself in guilt, Grisys seemed no different.

Clutching her aching chest, Letty frowned.

Whenever Brunhardt or Grisys harshly criticized themselves, it felt worse than when Feyrin, Lingling, or Panpan had insulted her.

‘But I didn’t get mad at Grandpa Brunhardt… so why am I upset with Father-in-law?’

With Brunhardt, it had only made her sad. Watching the young Grisys slump his shoulders and metaphorically dig himself into a hole stirred an unfamiliar irritation deep within her.

‘It’s one thing for Grandpa since he’s old, but Father-in-law is still young! Why is he acting like this already?’

“Tch, tch!”

Mimicking her mother’s habit of scolding their idle neighbor’s son, Letty put her hands on her hips in disapproval.

‘Mom always said that if your body is healthy, you should work!’

And wasn’t Grisys the head of the family, responsible for leading not just a household but an entire lineage?

Whack!

Letty smacked Grisys hard on his back with her tiny hand.

“Ah…”

Grisys, taken aback by the unexpected blow, turned his head sharply and blurted out.

“Why are you hitting me?”

Though he had never been struck like that on the battlefield, the sensation of being smacked on the back felt oddly familiar. It reminded him of Isilla's response whenever he spouted nonsense. Unconsciously, he let out a faint laugh.

‘Do you think I’m foolish too?’

Isilla used to say that every time she hit him. A foolish man who looked fine on the outside but worried her too much to leave him alone.

‘Yes, that’s what she always said.’

But in the end, she left him anyway.

“Father-in-law, I’ll hit you every time you say something foolish from now on.”

Interrupting his thoughts, Letty tapped Grisys on the nose and declared her intention with cheerful resolve.

“…What?”

As if pleased by the newfound clarity in his gaze, Letty shrugged and added confidently:

“They say the best way to clear someone’s head is with a smack!”

Her bold words left Grisys speechless. Shaking his head in disbelief, he muttered.

“Who’s been teaching such nonsense to a child? They must be mad.”

“Mother said so,”