Chapter 4: Raising a “Daughter”

“From now on, you must stay here for eight hours every day.

After eight hours, you can go anywhere you like as long as you don’t leave the estate.”

Simon pushed open the study door and gestured for Belinda to go in.

“Huh?!”

Belinda was stunned.

“I have to stay in this study for eight hours every day?”

She walked forward in disbelief, her gaze lingering on the bookshelves.

The shelves were lined with a dazzling array of books, with careful classification labels next to each row, as if afraid she wouldn’t be able to find anything to read.

“Yes, not a minute less than eight hours.”

Simon nodded firmly.

“Then can I read these books?”

Belinda turned around, clutching her hands, looking at Simon with expectation.

“As you wish.”

This was exactly the answer Simon was waiting for.

These books were prepared for Belinda.

He wanted her to stay here for a full eight hours so she would have enough time to go through them.

Simon had a unique feeling toward Belinda.

Unlike his regret for Alexia, thinking she shouldn’t have ended so lonely and miserable, with Belinda it was a sense of surrealness—seeing a daughter from a different dimension in real life.

After all, throughout the entire game, he had experienced everything from Belinda’s perspective.

Watching her status panel grow stronger, mastering more and more skills, defeating enemy after enemy, advancing step by step…

And now, a living Belinda stood before him.

Especially since she was at a stage with no one to rely on and knowing nothing—the perfect time for nurturing.

This feeling of being able to personally touch and nurture a “daughter” was truly mysterious.

Of course, it also meant it would be far more taxing than in the game.

Because the Belinda he faced now was an independent individual, not a program that would follow his choices one hundred percent.

Even if he chose the most suitable path for her, Belinda might not obediently follow.

Likewise, Simon had no chance to start over, nor could he reload and try again if a mistake in nurturing caused issues in their relationship.

Because of this special emotion, Simon would never deceive Belinda in the slightest.

Hearing Simon’s approval, Belinda couldn’t help but skip forward in delight, taking a few steps ahead.

The next moment, realizing she’d lost composure in front of Simon, she immediately stopped, turned around, and asked awkwardly, “What kind of books do you want me to read?

Um… I mean, do you have any recommendations?”

She almost forgot—this wasn’t her home, and Simon wasn’t her elder.

To him, she was a criminal that needed to be watched.

Although Simon had saved her and her family, even now, Belinda still couldn’t fully trust him.

She felt something strange about Simon.

Before meeting him, she’d always heard tales of his loyalty to the Empress, believing him to be a merciless demon.

But upon contact, she found reality differed from the rumors.

Cold and indifferent, yes, but beneath that, she faintly sensed a trace of gentleness.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t as hard to get along with as she thought.

Simon walked steadily to a bookshelf, took a book from the top shelf, and said,

“I do have one I’d like to recommend to you.”

Belinda walked over in confusion, took the book from Simon, and at just a glance at the cover, she involuntarily sucked in a cold breath.

With a slip, the book fell from her hands to the floor.

She looked up abruptly, her expression incredulous.

“Ten Maladies of the Empress’s Edicts—you’re actually bold enough to keep such a forbidden book in your own study?!”

This book, upon publication, had spread rapidly through every street and alley of the Capital.

From nobles and ministers to commoners in back alleys, everyone knew of its existence.

Many who read it agreed with its contents, even thinking its arguments weren’t radical enough.

At the time, it sparked widespread debate.

As expected, within a few days, the book caught the Empress’s attention.

All who participated in discussions were stripped of status and exiled from the Capital.

The author disappeared after being imprisoned in the Imperial Prison.

Since then, the book became a forbidden text no one dared mention.

“Who said it’s forbidden?”

Simon said indifferently.

“The Empress never officially banned it.

It’s just a rumor spread by some timid fools themselves.”

“Besides, who can freely enter my estate, let alone my study?

If no one sees it, it’s as if it doesn’t exist.”

As for reporting him?

Except for the Empress herself, probably no one in the whole empire had the qualification to investigate him.

Belinda was speechless.

She wanted to refute him, but on second thought, it didn’t seem wrong.

After all, even she had just discovered Simon kept such a forbidden book.

She bent down to pick it up and carefully handed it back to Simon.

“But…I can’t understand this kind of book.

It’s too profound for me.”

She had never touched political books before.

Just eavesdropping on her father and the ministers’ conversations had been boring enough, let alone reading such things.

“What do you usually read, then?”

Simon casually placed the book on a nearby table.

Belinda lowered her head and hesitated before answering.

“I… don’t read books.”

“Father says reading is something only lower classes do.

Nobles like us listen to stories, watch plays, and enjoy music.”

“Every night, Father or Mother would tell me fairy tales to help me sleep, but I’m not a child anymore!”

Simon had expected this answer.

“So, you’ve never read books or had private tutors?”

“Father did hire a few teachers for me… but what they taught felt too simple.

Why keep repeating things I already know?

I kept telling them I understood, but they still insisted.”

Belinda sounded rather helpless.

Even when she told her father, he’d just smile and tell her to be patient—saying she’d gain something different from it.

But she truly felt it was useless.

“From what you’re saying, I don’t need to worry about you being illiterate.”

Simon nodded.

“The Empress has summoned me for some matters.

For today, just do as I said—stay in the study for eight hours.”

“If you set fire to my estate during that time, you’ll have to burn to death here with it.”

“…I’m not that stupid, and I don’t want to die so early, either.”

Belinda twitched her mouth, looking at Simon speechlessly.

If she really wanted to die, she wouldn’t have followed him here.

Simon turned and walked out.

Before leaving the study, he pointed at the clock beside him.

“This Magical Device displays the time.

I’ll check when I return.”