Ch#102
“Have a safe trip! Don't forget me! I'll come pick you up when you go to Ruska's house!”
Airin waved tearfully from the mansion's entrance.
Ibi waved back at Airin and shouted.
Did she hear? Airin, who had been waving nonstop from the entrance, finally burst into tears.
“Hic, Ibi…….”
“Miss, if you cry like this…….”
Seeing that, the three maids who had been waving alongside her didn't know what to do and comforted Airin.
“Airin…….”
Ibi wasn't much different. After waving for so long before finally sitting down, her eyes were red. Though she didn't shed tears, she sniffled to herself.
At the sight of Ibi like that, Arcel let out a short sigh.
“This makes me feel like a total bad guy.”
He stood up, sat beside Ibi, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped her face.
“It's dirty…….”
She shook her head as if it was fine, but Arcel didn't give up.
After finally cleaning Ibi's face neatly, he handed the handkerchief to the bashful Ibi and glanced out the window.
“If someone sees, they'll think I'm kidnapping you.”
It was the kind of thing Airin would have yelled “That's exactly it!” upon hearing.
“If you don't want to go, you don't have to force yourself. Want to just head back to Airin's house?”
It was a gentle voice full of concern. Ibi shook her head at Arcel's question.
“It's not that I don't want to go to Lord Arcel's house. It's just that Airin is so wonderful…….”
Actually, before leaving, she had asked Airin if they could go together. Airin had looked terribly troubled.
“I can't go to Arcel's house or Ruska's house. Even a short visit would cause a stir, but staying overnight…… haa.”
It was surely because of those ever-present marriage rumors she mentioned.
So Ibi hadn't pressed further.
Arcel nodded as if understanding and patted Ibi comfortingly.
“You had a fun time with Airin, huh.”
“Yes! Airin took me to so many fun places everywhere!”
Ibi, having stopped sniffling, excitedly recounted everything she had done with Airin.
From the first day visiting Madam Crevel's shop to going to a real café with adults for the first time.
Then wandering the mansion drawing pictures together, splashing in the shallow pond, strolling the capital's plaza, and more…….
As she spoke, her tear-streaked face bloomed with bright smiles again.
Arcel listened to Ibi's stories with rapt attention.
Then, as if remembering something, Ibi clenched her fist tightly.
“But I met Izriella too.”
“……That young lady?”
“Yes. She came right up to me the moment she saw me, but I didn't back down. I hadn't done anything wrong! But this kid I didn't know grabbed my hair like this……!”
“What's her name?”
Ibi, who had been chattering excitedly, startled at the cold voice and looked up.
The gentle expression he'd worn while watching Ibi vanished in an instant, replaced by Arcel's utterly icy face.
“Uh, she was called Lady Eve…… I saw her for the first time…….”
Faced with Arcel's frightening expression for the first time, Ibi hiccuped and stammered unwittingly.
At Ibi's reaction, Arcel hurriedly schooled his features back to normal.
“You're not hurt, are you?”
Seeing Arcel instantly revert to his usual face, Ibi breathed a silent sigh of relief and nodded.
'That was really scary just now.'
Arcel wasn't even an adult yet, but he'd made a face as terrifying as the Director's when she confronted the person who hit the orphanage children.
“Airin just stood by? With her personality, she wouldn't have let it go.”
She's the one who kicks Ruska's legs without hesitation.
Considering how much she dotes on Ibi normally, she probably would have huffed that even yanking out every strand of the girl's hair wouldn't satisfy her rage.
“I stopped her. I didn't want Airin running into Izriella again, and next time, I won't back down either!”
As Ibi balled her small fist, Arcel finally smiled.
But that was merely surface-level.
'Who is she?'
Lady Eve? Arcel knew well who Izriella was and how her count family strutted about with false superiority.
'No one would associate with that family nowadays.'
Izriella's scandal had spread through high society. Rumors reached not just the capital but provincial circles too, leaving even the countess unable to return to her hometown.
Yet right now, a child hanging around with Izriella.
Moreover, the name Eve nagged at him. It was strange for Izriella to address such a child as “Lady.”
On top of that, bringing her to Madam Crevel's shop as if escorting her.
'I'll have someone investigate when we get back.'
He didn't like wielding the family's influence, but this time, it felt necessary.
And above all…….
Arcel's gaze drifted to Ibi's hair, now neatly braided.
'Airin couldn't do it, but.'
Childish as it was, couldn't he settle the score on her behalf?
* * *
The carriage raced nonstop, leaving the capital behind.
The Terrins family mansion was a townhouse in the capital, but the Duke Kailun family kept a separate estate just outside it.
“Wow! The river is huge!”
Ibi kept her face glued to the window, marveling nonstop at the sights outside.
“You didn't come here with Airin?”
“Nope. We were too busy exploring inside the capital. Oh, did you know? Capital shops give you a smaller pretty thing extra if you buy something pretty! So everywhere we went, Airin got an extra item and gifted it to me.”
“…….”
At her words, Arcel tilted his head briefly before smiling in reply.
“Yeah, most capital shops do that. If we have time, want to go shopping together? I could use a nicer pen.”
Then Arcel whispered to Ibi.
“Those places give a little pen with a big one, but it's too small for me to use. If it's okay, want it, Ibi?”
“Really?”
Ibi's eyes sparkled at Arcel's words.
If Airin and Ruska were here, they would've pointed and called him a fox kit.
In the world! It wasn't just clothes and hats! Pens too!
'The capital really is amazing.'
How great if Elam City did that. Then the Director or teachers could've gotten two items at once when buying things.
“Can I really have it?”
“Sure. I'm the youngest at home, so there's no one smaller than me. If you don't take it, it'll just gather dust on my desk. Pretty pens sitting there unused would be a shame, right?”
Nod nod nod.
Ibi nodded vigorously.
While staying at Airin's house, Ibi had discovered something new for the first time.
That she liked fountain pens with gold nibs.
That she preferred blue ink over black for writing.
And that of rough or smooth writing feel, she liked smooth better, and so on.
Preferences she'd never known when she could have only one—and even that was hard-won.
“Thank you so much, Lord Arcel.”
Ibi stood in the jostling carriage and bowed deeply to Arcel.
Extra or not, it was surely something precious she couldn't even dream of buying herself.
Yet he was giving it to her just like that.
'When I make money someday, I have to gift him something just as nice!'
As Ibi resolved this, Arcel's eyes curved softly.
Propping his chin, he said.
“But Ibi, why do you only call me Lord Arcel?”
* * *
The Duchess Kailun had been thrilled since morning.
'Arcel left at dawn.'
The night before, her son—who'd been fidgety all day—had rushed off before the sky even lightened, hounding the coachman.
There was one reason.
“I'll bring Ibi.”
Every time that name left her son's lips, the duchess felt only wonder.
'Arcel's never brought anyone home besides Ruska.'
Even as her own child, he'd been taciturn from birth.
He rarely cried or showed interest in much, worrying her endlessly in his early years.
But once he started walking and talking, his intellect proved not just sound but brilliant—so unique, really.
Still, she couldn't fully relax until he befriended Ruska and they started spending time together.
'But who knew his friends would stop at just Ruska.'
Truthfully, plenty claimed to be Arcel's friends.
Arcel didn't shun or pick people overly.
But she, as his mother, knew the truth: he still only truly accepted Ruska.
She hoped time would help, but Arcel only mastered building invisible walls.
As her concerns mounted, Arcel approached her.
“Mother, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
Seeing him hesitate, she feared some major mishap.
But his words were utterly unforeseen.
“My friend will be staying at the mansion for about a week. If it's alright, could you teach her a bit of instrument? We'd like to learn together.”
Stunned by the request, she went speechless.
Friend?
A friend besides Ruska.
Staying at the mansion, no less?
And asking her to teach them together?
“Of course! What's your friend's name?”
“Ibi Alden.”
“Ibi Alden? A girl?”
“Yes. She's seven.”
Thank heavens. My son's social side isn't completely ruined.
The duchess offered sincere prayers of thanks.
And awaited Ibi's arrival as eagerly as Arcel.
Now, the long-awaited child's carriage was approaching.
It halted; Arcel alighted first, then a girl emerged.
But they were talking. Rushing forward impatiently, the duchess caught Arcel's voice.
“Then just say hi and let's go see that book right away?”
“Yes, Arcel!”
The child held her son's hand—whom no one but Ruska could approach—and called him casually.
The duchess knew instinctively.
'A treasure has come to our house.'
