-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A Hardworking Student
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Is he… saying that I only gave one to Dane and not to him…?
Well, it was Sigmund who had taught her the letters for an hour.
So, it was understandable that he'd feel a little slighted, since Dane got one and he didn’t.
Understanding, Mabel put down the cream puff she had bitten into and offered the two cream puffs to Sigmund.
There were two.
Sigmund raised one eyebrow.
“You’re giving me both?”
“Yes!”
Mabel nodded vigorously and replied.
“So please, don’t be mad…!”
At Mabel’s words, Sigmund couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Can’t even tease you.”
He said it was a joke and took just one.
Mabel blinked and looked up at him.
“It’s fine, one is enough for me. You eat that one.”
Saying so, Sigmund popped the mini cream puff, specially made for Mabel, into his mouth.
“After this, we’ll take a break, so once you’ve finished your snack, you can go out and play.”
“Can I really?”
“Yes. Because you got a perfect score.”
Even though they took breaks in between, it was difficult for a child to sit still in one place for a long time.
Besides, it was Mabel’s first time studying, so he only intended to do it without overdoing it.
Utilizing the child’s snack time, Sigmund picked up his own documents.
The playful glint in his downcast red eyes faded, replaced by seriousness.
Mabel, who had somehow moved to the sofa, munched on her cream puff, unable to take her eyes off Sigmund.
“Young Lady, please have some milk with that.”
“Okayy.”
As Mabel gulped down the savory milk, a white mustache formed around her mouth.
Just as Dane, once again struck by her cuteness, was taking a hit, Sigmund spoke.
“Why are you staring so intently?”
“Huh, uh, how did you know?”
He was clearly bowing his head the whole time!
It was like this last time too, does he seriously have eyes on the back of his head?
While a surprised Mabel stammered, Dane, having recovered, swiftly wiped her mouth with a soft handkerchief.
“How could I not know when you’re staring a hole through my head?”
“Oh, I won’t stare a hole…!”
“Oh? Then that’s a relief.”
Sigmund chuckled.
“If you’re curious, you can come closer and look.”
“But I might disturb you…”
“Not at all?”
In that case, maybe I’ll just take a quick peek…!
Unable to resist her curiosity, Mabel put down her cup, and Dane gently lifted her down from the sofa.
Pat-pat, as she toddled closer to the desk, Sigmund flipped the document he was looking at towards Mabel.
Thanks to memorizing the alphabet, she could now somewhat recognize the squiggly lines that used to look like drawings.
Of course, she didn’t know what they meant since she hadn’t learned words yet.
“This is the data for the presentation on the Horned Spirit summoning ritual that you deciphered.”
Sigmund explained for Mabel’s benefit.
“I can’t take you this time, but let’s go together next time.”
“Really?”
“For that, you’ll have to eat well and grow big and strong, won’t you? You wouldn’t want to be hidden behind the podium and not seen.”
The teasing continued as expected, but Mabel didn’t react.
No, she couldn’t react.
Next time.
Because those words made Mabel’s heart thrum with excitement.
Feeling her heart pound-pound, Mabel turned around.
“Where are you going?”
Pat-pat, Mabel ran to the front of the desk and exclaimed.
“Please, please lift me up!”
“To study? I told you you could go play.”
“I’m going to review.”
For next time!
Mabel’s face shone as she thought this.
“Oh my goodness, how admirable…!”
Overcome with emotion, Dane covered his mouth with both hands and sniffled, his eyes welling up.
Only Sigmund, who had no intention of encouraging the child, let out a dry laugh.
How could he refuse a child who was looking up with sparkling eyes, begging to be lifted up quickly?
Sigmund lifted Mabel onto the chair, and when he looked up, having been focusing with Mabel and Dane’s occasional chatter serving as white noise…
Shhh, shhh.
Mabel was sprawled on the desk, sound asleep.
“Honestly, she should just go to her room and sleep comfortably.”
“I tried to tell her that too, but she was so stubborn I couldn’t stop her.”
Dane, approaching Sigmund who had muffled his footsteps, pointed to Mabel’s hand and said.
“She was holding the pen so tightly and studying so hard that her hand turned red like that.”
“She’ll get calluses soon.”
He felt a pang of pity, and at the same time, a sense of pride.
The child was still sleeping soundly, unaware of the world, her already sparse cheek fat pressed flat.
“Will she wake up if I pick her up?”
“Probably. That’s why I couldn’t move her to the sofa either.”
What should they do?
It was then that Sigmund and Dane put their heads together, pondering.
Knock-knock.
“!!!”
“!!!”
Gah!
At the sound of the knock breaking the silence, Sigmund and Dane were thrown into a panic.
While Dane rushed to quietly open the door and check, Sigmund nervously watched over Mabel.
“Mmmph…”
The child, who had briefly stirred, fortunately fell back asleep.
Sigmund took that opportunity to successfully remove the heavy pen from her reddened hand.
The tactless intruder was none other than Lundwell.
“I have something to deliver…”
Lundwell, flustered by Dane’s silent, fiery rage, instinctively lowered his voice.
This was because the child’s soft breathing could be heard amidst the adults’ quiet commotion.
A pleased smile spread across Lundwell’s lips as he tiptoed closer.
“She fell asleep while studying, I see.”
Goodness, how admirable.
Lundwell’s gaze, fixed on the peacefully sleeping Mabel, drifted into reminiscence.
“It’s just like seeing His Grace the Grand Duke when he was a child.”
“Hm?”
“His Grace the Grand Duke also often fell asleep like this while studying when he was young. Her face now, as she sleeps, is exactly like his was then, as if cast from the same mold.”
It was truly a wondrous thing.
Unlike the other servants, Lundwell didn’t believe Mabel was Sigmund’s illegitimate child.
The two were clearly complete strangers, yet to see Sigmund’s childhood peeking through Mabel like that was astonishing.
“Anyone who saw them would believe they were father and daughter.”
“Indeed, no matter how much I tell the servants it’s not true, they don’t believe me. Because the two of them are so alike.”
Lundwell and Dane chuckled and spoke in low voices.
Sigmund looked at the child, who was sound asleep, and stroked his chin.
“Is that so? Do we look alike?”
Though Mabel certainly possessed all the distinctive features of the Esclid direct lineage.
Sigmund turned to Lundwell and Dane and asked.
“Am I that cute?”
At his brazen words, Dane and Lundwell immediately clarified.
“Ah, we weren’t saying His Grace the Grand Duke is cute.”
“Indeed, you’re not cute now.”
As if to say, don’t even dream of such a misunderstanding.
Sigmund felt a strange sensation at their immediate replies, but he couldn’t pinpoint why it felt strange.
* * *
A few mornings later.
Today, Sigmund and Dane were set to depart for the Hermetic Nation.
This was to present the ‘Horned Spirit summoning ritual’ that Mabel had discovered.
And while Sigmund organized the thesis, Mabel, who had diligently reviewed, had now reached the point of studying words.
As a result, her fingers would ache every evening, requiring Ella to gently massage them.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Yes, please travel safely! I’ll be studying hard!”
“No, Mabel.”
Sigmund shook his head, as if correcting her.
“You’ve worked hard enough, so just rest well.”
“Eh, but…”
“Rest well, sleep well, and eat well. That’s how you’ll grow big and strong.”
In just a few days, Mabel’s appearance had changed beyond recognition.
The child who was grimy and skinny when first brought here was gone.
Her skin and hair, cared for by Ella and the maids, now gleamed, and with three meals a day, plus various snacks provided by Jacques…
Thanks to this, her cheeks had plumped up appealingly.
“Your answer?”
“Yes.”
Just as Sigmund, having heard Mabel’s reply, smiled and was about to board the carriage.
“Your Grace, do I really have to go with you?”
Dane, his shoulders slumped, said glumly.
“Oh, Dane! To be separated from the Young Lady for several days!”
“……”
“To not be able to see the Young Lady’s adorable face for days! The mere thought of it already torments me!”
Dane cried out as if he truly couldn’t bear it, like a tragic figure.
At his words, Sigmund sighed and shook his head.
“Mabel, say goodbye to him too.”
“Mister Dane, you have a safe trip too!”
“Alright, you’ve received your farewell, let’s go.”
“Ugh, Young Lady—!”
As Sigmund, who had boarded the carriage first, began to close the door as if he would truly leave him behind if he didn’t get in, Dane scurried after him.
“Young Lady— This Dane will return with good news—!”
Leaving Mabel waving her tiny hand in farewell, the carriage moved away towards the drawbridge.
