He chose to adopt her because she attempted to kill him before asking him to kill her in return. He saw how dead her eyes were and her terror at the thought of staying in the temple. Also, yes, she's lived many lives until adulthood, but she never interacted with others outside of the priests and clergymen like Lavianne, who beat and tormented her for years, and we have no indication that she was even given the knowledge of lustful desires from men so to speak. The Duke was never supposed to be seen as a creep just because he chose to adopt a frightened scruffy orphan child, so I don't get how that is your first thought after how everyone at the church treated her prior to that point.
Agreed.
Excellent response!
She has a grown woman's brain in that head of hers, so when an adult noble wants to adopt a dirty, unkempt orphan, why does it never even occur to her that he might be a creeper? She worries that his kids might bully her, but not about him? It should at least cross her mind. js...