Chapter 16
Episode 16
LeBlaine left the room with the maid, and Henri's eyes narrowed.
"What is that kid?"
Is she pretending to be innocent? Or is she not ordinary?
Henri grew up between his brother, a genius who mastered writing at the age of three, and his younger brother, who was somewhat dim-witted by his standards but had a more extraordinary brain than others.
His surroundings were full of sly adults.
At the academy for gifted children, there were already competitors of the same age who rattled off foreign languages.
Having lived in such a world, Henri couldn't understand naive children.
Besides.
'The child who confessed the affairs of the Order and the Imperial Family can't possibly know nothing.'
He had been warned about it incessantly for almost a month.
A rolling stone was about to come in and get stuck.
The servants of the estate had completely fallen for her charming ways.
Above all, she had taken Duke Dubled's lap as if it were her rightful place.
His teacher, the professor at the academy, and even his relatives came to the castle and warned him about the baby several times.
'It's worth keeping an eye on.'
Henri neatly folded the parchment, tucked it into the book, and turned to Isaac.
"You, if you're being stupid, there won't be any seats left..."
His younger brother punched the wall, chuckling.
"That kid thought I was so cool because I knew about iron."
Henri made a face as if he had seen an earthworm lying on the street. Isaac flinched and hardened his face.
"Not cute at all."
"Looks like they've all fallen for you already."
"No, they haven't!"
Really not cute at all.
He just thought her cheeks were chubby and wanted to touch them once.
Even when he tried to shout, his throat tickled, so he couldn't do it properly.
He wouldn't fall for it like the adults.
'I'm going to tease her.'
That afternoon, Isaac approached LeBlaine when no one was around.
The child, who was fiddling with her buttons alone, looked up.
"..."
LeBlaine, feeling awkward because Isaac had approached her first and was now silent, showed her the buttons and mumbled.
"Twelfe dere. (Twelve there.)"
"You."
"Yes."
"Don't covet a presumptuous position, if you cause trouble-"
LeBlaine blinked, and Isaac fumbled at his waist.
Henri, who happened to be passing by and spotted Isaac and LeBlaine, narrowed his brow.
'Is he trying to draw his sword?'
He thought he was stupid, stupid, but had he really become brainless? The moment he threatened with metal, defeat was inevitable for them.
Isaac took something out of his waist and declared cruelly to LeBlaine.
"I'm going to eat bread all alone in front of you-!"
"..."
"-very scarily!"
Then LeBlaine flinched! and stepped back with a frightened face.
Henri muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
"Are those guys idiots?"
I made a crying face as I watched Isaac make a scary threat.
'How-!'
The kid is so cruel.
Eating bread alone! Without sharing.
'What if I get hungry watching Isaac eat bread?'
If I become completely childish, I'll try to snatch the bread by grabbing Isaac's hair, even though I'm already greedy.
'If I grab the precious young master's hair, I'll be kicked out right away.'
"Ahn comb over. (Won't comb over.)"
"Okay. That's a good kid."
Isaac smiled triumphantly. Then he tried to pass me, so I grabbed his sleeve.
"Why, why."
He asked, flustered.
"Bwead……. (Bread…….)"
"This?"
When I nodded, Isaac rolled his eyes and cut the bread in half for me.
I quickly bit into the bread.
'Ah, it's sugar after all.'
This stimulating taste.
Isaac stared at me as I ate greedily, then glanced at the bread he was holding.
And he took a bite of the bread.
"...Not bad. I just grabbed anything."
Before we knew it, we were squatting by the wall, munching on bread.
The servants who passed by in the hallway smiled at us, and Henri, who was walking with a book, looked at Isaac with the same expression as when he looked at an earthworm on the street and left.
When I had almost finished eating the bread, Leah came to find me.
"Oh my, young miss."
Oh no, I've been caught.
She told me not to snack because she was going to give me strawberries for a snack today.
Leah's recent worry was that I liked sweets too much and would get cavities.
When Leah narrowed her eyes, I quickly made an excuse.
"Ithac gave! (Isaac gave!)"
Isaac, who saw me flustered, said.
"I gave it to her."
"I see."
Leah smiled as if she couldn't help it and wiped the bread crumbs from my mouth.
"You two got along well with the young master, so I'll let it slide today."
"Okay."
"Then, young master. I'll take the young miss. It's time for her nap."
"Okay."
Leah hugged me and turned around. I waved my hand at Isaac, who got up slowly.
Leah stroked my head as she walked towards the room.
"I heard you looked very happy at the dining hall."
"..."
"Everyone will fall for our young miss because she's so lovely. I knew the young masters would like the young miss too."
No, Leah. Henri and Isaac don't like me.
I sighed deeply.
I barely climbed Duke Dubled Mountain and got adopted, and now I had to climb Henri Mountain and Isaac Mountain again.
'Let's think positively. Henri and Isaac were people I had to get close to anyway, right?'
I have to live here for several years until my exile. It's good to gain their favor.
To do that, I have to chase after them diligently.
You'll get attached to them if you see them often.
'I'm going to gain the favor of the Dubled people and live a life of leisure until I'm exiled.'
With that resolve, I clenched my fist.
The next day.
I woke up early in the morning and went down to the dining hall, aiming for the Duke's luncheon.
Recently, the Duke and I often ate together, but breakfast was an exception.
His breakfast was incredibly early for a child like me, so if I wanted to eat with him, I would have to doze off like a sick chicken all day long.
But the reason why I woke up so early today was.
'He said he would inform his retainers at the luncheon that Henri and Isaac had returned!'
In other words, the two children would be attending the luncheon today.
Henri and Isaac were busy, so I couldn't see their faces often.
If I didn't meet them at times like this, I would have to follow them around all day long.
But that would annoy the kids, so it would be counterproductive.
'So, I have to ask them to play with me naturally after the luncheon.'
I peeked through the crack in the dining hall door.
The Duke was sitting at the head of the long table.
Henri and Isaac were sitting to his right in order, and familiar and unfamiliar retainers were seated around them.
"Isn't that the young miss?"
It was Noth who recognized me first.
Then, the eyes of the dining hall focused on me at once. The Duke also looked at me.
'The atmosphere is too stiff, what should I say before going in?'
While I was pondering, Noth smiled and said.
"It seems she came because she missed His Excellency!"
That wasn't the case, but I didn't have anything to say, so I just blinked.
When I glanced at the Duke, he looked triumphant for some reason.
"Come here."
I walked towards him.
When I approached the chair, he picked me up and sat me on his lap.
I had eaten on his lap several times, so this position was quite familiar.
I had an indifferent expression, but the retainers who were seeing this for the first time looked like they were about to have a heart attack.
"The rumors... were true."
When a retainer I was seeing for the first time muttered, Viscount Dubois, who was familiar with me, laughed heartily.
"The young miss has been sitting on His Excellency's lap since the beginning. She still eats on his lap."
"That..."
"The young miss is really gentle and kind."
"Ah..."
"She's not picky either. Isn't it amazing that such a young child eats bell peppers and carrots so well?"
Isaac flinched when the carrot story came up.
But some of the retainers who didn't notice continued to talk.
All the people who were talking were the Duke's closest retainers who had gone through the 'Imperial Palace and Order Betrayal Incident', the 'Marco Incident', and the 'Fraudster Extermination Incident' together.
'It seems like they've put a heavy filter on their eyes, not just the employees.'
They raised their chins and said confidently.
She has a good memory.
She's smart.
She even bought a carnation corsage herself.
"She greets people very well~!"
Viscount Dubois said that and laughed heartily.
The eyes of the dining hall focused on me once again.
The eyes of Viscount Dubois and the retainers who knew me well seemed to say, 'Show us', 'Let us brag', 'Hurry up!'
I made a sullen expression at the passionate gazes that made my cheeks tingle, but I opened my mouth for the sake of social life.
"...Hi."
Then Viscount Dubois and the familiar retainers laughed proudly.
I was embarrassed for some reason, even though they were the ones bragging, so I tried to turn my eyes away.
Henri and Isaac, who were my goals for today, were looking at the gushing retainers as if they were crazy.
Viscount Dubois was just a kind grandfather to me, but he was the man who oversaw the Dubled's intelligence department.
I had seen with my own eyes the spy sent by the Valua family return in a near-death state after being caught by Viscount Dubois.
The spy's tongue was festering, and several of his fingers were gone, so he couldn't be seen as a human being at all.
Even after barely surviving, he would foam at the mouth and faint whenever the word 'Dubois' was mentioned.
So, this favor was proof of my constant social life.
Starting with my story, the retainers began to talk about various things.
When boring political theories were being discussed, the dining hall door opened once again.
"I apologize. I am too late."
The person who came in was an old man with snow-white hair.
'Duke Teramore.'
The very retainer that Noth had been wary of before.
