I Became the Abandoned Daughter of an Underworld Boss

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you down.”

“Sorry?”

“Look up. Go on!”

“Whoa!”

Asil slipped his hands under Yuriana’s armpits and lifted her high into the air.

Only then did something become visible between the fresh light green leaves.

Dark… no, that was a pitch-black castle. Right.

A castle???!!!

A shocked Yuriana shouted.

“Dad. Th-The Dark House!”

“A new Dark House has appeared.”

Asil replied calmly.

‘Dad, hold on. That’s more of a castle than a house! I thought you meant the Dark House had disappeared!’

The trees planted densely behind the annex extended far beyond, circling the castle.

The black coloring remained the same, symbolizing Dark Town, but didn’t it look even cooler that way?!

Levina approached and whispered.

“Isn’t it amazing? Miss, it was tough for me to keep this surprise a secret until today.”

“Ah… Dad. You built this in just three months? That’s incredible!”

Asil’s lips curled upward.

Asil, who rarely smiled—at least not since the days of Alice’s conquest—now bore a proud grin.

“It wasn’t built with bricks. I used an ancient magic artifact.”

“Whoa!”

Yuriana didn’t fully understand, but it definitely sounded expensive.

Asil had somehow acquired an unused castle construction scroll from the ancient Luang Empire.

It wasn’t just a simple castle that had sprung up in Dark Town.

The magic circles covering the entire Dark House were repositioned, and an even stronger barrier was deployed.

Not even an army of doppelganger ancestors, rather than just a single half, could break through!

Asil had to speak with King Aidan to build the castle, but… the king had surprisingly agreed without much fuss.

Looking at the new castle, Asil’s face was filled with pride.

There was no hesitation, no reluctance at all about removing the third floor that once imprisoned the beautiful Alice.

“Shall we go inside and take a look?”

“Yes!”

Asil patted Yuriana on the back as he spoke.

“I’m sorry I broke my promise to give you the third floor. I’ll make you an even better room.”

His only concern was.

That Yuriana, who had dreamed of having that beautiful room all to herself when she grew up, might be disappointed.

“It’s okay! This is really amazing. Hmm… so, we call that a castle, right?”

Levina, who had been itching to speak, quickly replied.

“Yes. It’s a castle where princesses live.”

“Whoa!”

It was awe-inspiring—beyond awe-inspiring, really.

As they neared the castle, Levina thought the same thing.

The miser… no, the cheapskate… no, not that either.

Seeing a boss who usually prioritized practicality poured so much money and resources into this!

‘His desire to protect Miss Yuriana hasn’t changed at all.’

Step by step.

It took a long time just to enter the castle, as it was much larger than the Dark House.

Yuriana, still in Asil’s arms, whispered.

“Dad.”

“Yes?”

“Actually, I’d be happy with any house. As long as it keeps out the rain and snow, blocks the wind, and gives me food, it’s a great house. But thank you so much for doing all this… I’m happy.”

When Asil was young, when no one protected him, he often had such daydreams.

Wouldn’t someone come and pick him up.

Someone who was kind or rich but warm-hearted, and take him in.

Someone who would take in a boy with nothing, but the name Asil attached to him.

He wanted to escape forever from worrying about what to eat tomorrow, or whether some bad guy would attack him!

That dream never came true.

But instead, here he was, holding his daughter, listening to her adorable little lips expressing happiness.

‘This is enough.’

If Asil claimed he had never cursed his fate of being born in Dark Town, it would be a lie.

But now, every time he looked at his precious daughter, he felt happy.

“I feel the same way.”

Happiness. Yes, happiness… happiness indeed.

‘So, this feeling is called happiness. I don’t want to lose it.’

It felt a little different than when he was with Alice.

Back then, there was something passionate and bittersweet boiling up inside his chest.

Now, looking back, it was all just memories.

Holding Yuriana, Asil gently asked as they entered the castle.

“What should we call this castle, Yuriana?”

“Huh? Um… I’m not sure.”

Dark Castle! But that sounded too similar to Dark House, so that wouldn’t work.

While Yuriana hesitated, No. 1, who had been quietly following behind, mumbled something rare.

“Dark Castle?”

“No. 1, isn’t your imagination a bit lacking?”

Glare!!

At No. 2’s harsh remark, No. 1 glared back with a terrifying intensity.

Asil sighed.

“Both of you, stop it.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

‘… they say there is no completely original imagination under the sky. It’s a good thing I kept quiet.’

“For now, let’s just stick with Dark House.”

No one objected to Asil’s words.

And so, their life in the new Dark House began.

The well-decorated rooms were so beautiful that she didn’t even miss the lost third floor. As Levina had said, it was as if she was living like a princess.

‘Hehe, I’d have to visit the royal palace of Nea to really compare, but I’m satisfied!’

Sometimes, memories of the crumbling annex came back.

She got fed up with the mistreatment, raided the kitchen, and ran away to the west side of Dark Town with Lulu.

After Asil personally brought her back, she always had fun playing with Levina in her room.

She used to look at the world map with her father in the pebble-covered garden.

She had no idea! She never thought she’d be waiting for the day she would meet with Karas of the empire.

She discovered Alice’s room after going up to the third floor, and they had so much fun playing even during New Year’s. They all gathered for a birthday party too.

Even though only one of the four male protagonists, Asil, came to that party, she was happy.

Of course, something scary happened after that!

Her dry nose started to tingle for no reason.

‘Karas… I might never see him again.’

Hidden in Harun’s shadow, Karas was supposed to be the rightful emperor of the Reef Empire.

He narrowly escaped being killed while in a foreign land.

Harun had taken a huge political risk by covering up the incident.

She couldn’t just tell Karas, “We built a new house! Come over for a housewarming!” That would be absurd.

Karas, who had visited as an esteemed guest of the Dark House, had every right to be angry about that attack.

‘After going through such a terrifying ordeal, Karas comforted me so sweetly. But I couldn’t even properly apologize. I just fell asleep on my own, and Karas must have been really troubled.’

She wanted to finally write that delayed letter.

Yuriana’s sky-blue eyes searched for paper, and a wave of realization hit her.

“… I have to write it in imperial language, don’t I?”

They could speak to each other, but their written languages were different!

Could she manage without a textbook?

Levina’s textbook had disappeared somewhere.

Yuriana struggled, pulling out every fairy tale book related to the empire from the low bookshelf and started studying.

Since it was hard to write the sentences she wanted, she ended up just writing down the nice words she could think of.

Hello.

I like you.

Thank you.

Goodbye. And so on…

“Wrong! This isn’t even a sentence!”

“Meow!”

Lulu, who had come to take a nap, shook his head and went back to sleep.

Should she ask Lulu…?

Yuriana groaned in frustration but decided against it after serious contemplation.

Thinking about what she wanted to say to Karas made her feel too embarrassed. No way she could ask for help!

A few days later…

Levina suddenly came by and brought up something unexpected.

“Miss, how about a spring picnic?”

“Huh? A spring picnic?”

Could she go out again?

Even though the Dark House had been attacked and rebuilt as a castle, this place was still the safest.

Levina cheerfully added.

“Yes! A spring outing would be wonderful. With this lovely weather, you can go out, play with butterflies, and watch frogs. The spring flowers are a bit early, though. Hehe.”

Perhaps it was due to Dark Town’s peculiar climate, but the colorful spring flowers wouldn’t bloom until after April, and even then, they were sparse.

Levina was determined not to go anywhere near the alley with the casinos this time.

No fighting pits, no secret auctions, no daytime drinking spots—none of those places!

“Hmm…”

“That sounds like a yes? Alright, I’ll ask the boss later.”

As Levina gauged the time to run over to Asil.

Asil had been persistently tracking the masterminds behind the shadow assassins from the Lillian Principality.

He had uncovered some information.

First, the name of the wizard copied by the doppelgänger was Urno!

A sage who had lived for 300 years. When they went to his hideout, they found he had been dead for a long time.

The doppelganger must have been confident enough not to duplicate him twice.

‘That means this doppelganger is no easy opponent.’

Doppelgangers often imprisoned the people they copied to conceal their true identities.

Although Al and Lupedos had removed half its power, its mind remained intact, making it a dangerous foe.

Where could the vanished doppelganger have gone?

‘I can’t end the chase like this… this is troublesome.’

The shadow assassins from the Lillian Principality had been bound by contract and were all killed at the Dark House.

Their guild would not make any further moves against Dark Town, Asil, or Nea Kingdom.

The client had made a bizarre request.

If the assassins failed, they would not need to return the payment. The contract would also end.

Since then, there had been no contact.

‘Smart and cunning. The evolved doppelganger certainly covered its tracks!’

Asil made a note to deal with that vile shadow guild later, step by step.

But the priority now was to find the missing doppelganger!

Surprisingly, Asil didn’t hold a grudge against Al for failing to defend the Dark House.

If given the chance, he would gladly seek Al’s help again.

Though Al was approachable, his skills far surpassed even the long-dead Urno.