# Chapter 1
Chapter 1
"Are you Miss Bunny, born on January 7th?"
It was a sunny day and the cookies they gave out as snacks were delicious.
A man who came to the orphanage asked.
"…Yes."
With hair flowing like water and deep pink eyes.
Chubby cheeks, white skin, and a notably small body, Bunny tilted her head, looking nervous as she answered cautiously.
Then the man knelt on one knee.
"Nice to meet you.
I am Roden Heiner, the knight who will serve you from today, my lady."
A light bulb went off in Bunny's head at the man's words.
"Remember, little one.
If you stay here, a knight will come one day to make you a noble lady."
As the light bulb flickered, a memory came to Bunny, and her eyes sparkled.
Finally, the moment she had longed for had arrived.
A lady?
A knight?!
'Bunny, is this finally your big break?!'
Bunny's eyes sparkled at the man's words, but then she quickly shook her head.
'No, no.
I can't let my guard down yet.'
Luriel had said that over half the people in the world were swindlers, so you must tap the bridge several times before crossing.
Always, no matter what happens, hide your true intentions and act sly to see through others.
"Bunny is not a lady…."
She had to dab her tears with her sleeve.
According to Luriel, a woman's tears… Well, they're supposed to make men fall for her completely!
"That's not true.
According to our research, Miss Bunny is indeed of the Yudia Duchy's bloodline."
"Gasp!"
Duchy!
'That's something amazing!'
Bunny's eyes sparkled at the man's words, and she gulped.
"Bunny, now a duchess…?"
The man paused, looking slightly confused at Bunny's words, then slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Oh—!
Bunny covered her mouth with her tiny hands, her eyes wide open.
A duchy?
That was an incredible household that always appeared in the children's book "28 Stories for Little Demons," selected by Luriel.
A massive house that served as the background for the story of the big, strong devil dad meeting the charming baby protagonist!
'Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a super strong rank!'
Bunny clenched her tiny fists and her eyes sparkled.
Finally!
'Bunny is going to the duchy!!'
No, wait.
Bunny shook her head side to side, then clenched her small fists a little tighter.
'Duchess Bunny!!'
Wait, not a duchess yet?
Anyway…
'Bunny will grow up smart, sucking all the money from the humans and becoming a great big demon king!'
Bunny covered her mouth with her tiny hands, giggling like a fallen autumn leaf.
To Bunny's mischievous smile—so Bunny thought—the man's stiff expression softened for a moment, and a slight curve formed on his lips.
Of course, when Bunny looked up with her big, round eyes, his face returned to its usual stern look.
"I'm glad you're happy.
So, would you like to come with me?"
"Yes—!!"
With sparkling eyes, Bunny quickly grabbed the man's hand, which he had courteously extended.
Her small, soft hand made his lips twitch again.
"Then, before we leave, would you go and pack your belongings to bring to the duchy, Miss?"
"Okay!"
As Bunny dashed out of the room, the other children gathered outside the door jumped like startled chickens.
"Bunny!
Are you really leaving?"
"Yeah.
Bunny is going to the duchy.
Actually, Bunny is a duchess."
Huh?
Wait, a duchess?
Now that she thought about it, something seemed strange.
A duchess belongs to a duchy…
"Hmm?"
"According to our research, Miss Bunny is indeed of the Yudia Duchy's bloodline."
Huh, that's weird.
Bunny has her own mom and dad, so why is she a duchess?
Right now, she's secretly on a mission to become a cool and wicked great demon king in the future.
'Gasp.
Could it be that Bunny…?'
Bunny's eyes widened as she thought.
Just like in all the fairy tales Luriel read to her, she was surely being adopted due to some misunderstanding.
In the storybook "I Really Thought I Was the Real Thing…," a baby protagonist as small as Bunny was adopted after being mistaken as the real child of a super strong dad.
In "The Fake Baby Dreams of Running Away," a happy baby protagonist realized she isn't actually the daughter of a super-strong dad and is prepared to run away from home.
'Is Bunny being adopted by mistake, too?!'
Realizing this huge secret that no one else knew, Bunny pressed her hands against her chest, feeling her heart race.
'Should I go and tell them the truth?'
Bunny pondered seriously.
'No, Bunny will use the super strong dad.'
Luriel said you need adults until you grow up.
So when Bunny grows up, she'll prepare to run away!
'Bunny doesn't want love like other kids.'
Heh.
Bunny just wants to use them and be a good adult.
Lost in her deep thoughts, Bunny's lips were pursed into a triangle, sticking out like a duck's.
One of the kids who was watching Bunny quietly poked her lips with a finger.
"A duchy?
Where's that?"
"Uh-huh.
It's where the super strong demon dad lives!!"
“Demon dad?
What’s that?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Puhaha!
The kids burst into laughter at Bunny's words.
Bunny’s cheeks puffed up.
Even though she wasn’t lying, she felt like she was being accused of telling a lie.
“Bunny is leaving.
Bunny is now a duchess.”
Bunny snorted in dissatisfaction and turned around.
She skillfully grabbed the railing and climbed the stairs one by one, entering her room.
She took out the black bunny bag she had received as a birthday gift a while ago and carefully packed her belongings inside.
She put in her precious friend Toto, the bunny doll that chases away bad dreams, her business tool—a blunt child’s knife with a yellow handle—and even her elephant piggy bank filled with all the money she had saved, pushing it deep inside the black bunny bag.
‘All set!’
Now she was ready to become a great demon king!
Luriel had said that if she stayed here, a knight would come and take Bunny to a place full of easy marks(?), and it seemed that today was that day.
Bunny also packed her teddy bear doll, which made her braver, a cute chopping board for kids, and Luriel’s diary.
With her bunny bag stuffed full, Bunny slung it over her shoulder confidently.
When Bunny finished packing and carefully held onto the railing while going back down the stairs, the kids were waiting with teary faces.
“Bunny, are you really leaving?”
“Are you abandoning us…?”
“How will we live without you…?”
As the sobbing and even a small child clinging to her legs continued, Roden Heiner, the knight who had come out with the director, widened his eyes slightly in surprise.
‘It seems she had a good relationship with her peers.’
Roden Heiner nodded, thinking that.
“I’ll wait outside, so say your goodbyes and come out, Miss.”
After seeing the back of the bowing knight as he left, Bunny turned her head and sighed deeply.
“The potato mush you made for us… the sweet potato honey jam you made… the storerooms you bravely raided…”
“I can’t forget the way you made that incredibly hard bread soft and crispy…”
“And we can’t forget the Vita drink that got rid of our tiredness…”
Bunny shook her head and extended her index finger, pointing somewhere beyond the hallway.
“Did you learn my secret?”
With a chuckle, Bunny raised her short little index finger, the size of a Vienna sausage, and wiggled it from side to side.
“The storeroom.
Everything is there.”
As soon as Bunny finished speaking, the kids, whose eyes were wide open, immediately ran towards the storeroom.
“Goodbye, Bunny!”
“Be happy!!”
The kids ran off, not looking back, as they shouted their farewells.
‘Silly little ones!
They’ve completely fallen into Bunny’s trap.’
Now, all the children at the orphanage were as good as hers.
“Hehe.”
For the past year, Bunny, who had successfully conquered the orphanage, turned around.
As she was about to leave, the director gently grabbed Bunny's shoulder, turned her around, knelt down to meet her eye level, and spoke seriously.
“Bunny.”
“Yes?”
Is this… a farewell?
The teacher is also head over heels for Bunny.
“When you go to the duchy… don’t raid their storerooms, okay?”
“……”
Not a farewell after all.
Just the director’s nagging.
“…Ugh.
But…”
“No buts, you can’t.
If the guards say, ‘This kid is the culprit,’ they’ll take you and turn you into a slave.
Understand?”
“Yes…”
Aww, Bunny lowered her head.
The director pulled the bowed Bunny into a hug and gently patted her back.
“Be happy, Bunny.”
“Okay, director!
When I become a great demon king, I’ll make you rich.”
At Bunny’s words, delivered with a proud chest and squared shoulders, the director let out a small laugh and nodded.
‘It’s so like Bunny to want to be a demon king rather than a hero.’
Thinking it was an adorably bold statement, the director waved goodbye.
As Bunny marched outside, the knight who had been waiting with the carriage bowed his head.
“Are you ready, Miss?”
“Yes!”
Bunny spun around to show that she was fully prepared, swinging her bunny bag on her back from side to side a couple of times.
As her hips and water-like hair swayed, Roden Heiner instinctively reached out towards her small head but then stopped.
“I’ll help you into the carriage.”
Roden Heiner redirected his hand just before touching her head, carefully lifted Bunny into the carriage, and then got in with her.
‘A carriage!’
Bunny sat on the carriage seat, pressing down on her pounding heart as she rode in a carriage for the first time in her life.
‘Bunny is now a duchess, just like a storybook character!’
The Yudia Duchy.
It was a family of heroes who produced devout priests, holy knights, high priests, and saints, who led the war against the demons to victory.
In other words, it was a mortal enemy of the demons.
And Bunny (4 years old)…
Was the only daughter of the former demon king, whose future hope was to become a great demon king.
‘Bunny will become a great demon king!’
Of course, Bunny would learn all this three hours later, after arriving at the Yudia Duchy.