Chapter 23
Episode 23
A few days later, the story spread that Teramore had lost his mind.
I hung around in front of the underground prison to confirm the truth.
'It's beneficial for Teramore to think I'm suspicious because of Henri, so he's pretending to be crazy.'
After loitering for a while, Viscount Dubos, the person in charge of torture in the underground prison, came out.
"Little Miss."
"Hello."
I bowed my head and glanced at the prison door.
"Is Grandpa Teramore still getting punished?"
It was a question of whether it was true that he had lost his mind.
"No, he's out of his mind, so I was going to cut off his ankles and throw him into the labor camp—oops."
Viscount Dubos smiled awkwardly and waved his hands.
"The torture is over. He won't be able to do bad things anymore."
I shouted, "Wow!" and Viscount Dubos looked at me as if I were cute.
'Because of Henri, I showed that I'm not an ordinary child, so I was wondering how to deal with it, but what a windfall.'
After parting with Viscount Dubos, I walked as if skipping.
Now that the bad guy who reminded me of Duke Valois is gone, the already beautiful castle looks even more beautiful.
'Ah, it's always good to solve stress right away.'
The employees smiled and greeted me as they saw me walking excitedly.
"Hello, Little Miss. You seem to be in a good mood today. Where are you going?"
"I'm going to eat snacks."
Leah has been giving me a lot of snacks lately.
After seeing me being pushed around by Teramore, the maids were very angry.
[That trash.]
[That son of a bitch.]
[Bastard!]
Among the maids who poured out harsh curses, Leah was silent.
Only after a maid asked, 'Why don't you say anything, Leah?' did she quietly get up.
Holding a kitchen knife.
[I'm just going to kill Teramore for a moment.]
If the maids, afraid that their boss would become a murderer, hadn't desperately stopped her, she might have really killed Teramore.
'That look was serious.'
Remembering Leah at that time, I shuddered for a moment.
After spewing out a torrent of curses, the maids hugged me and burst into tears. Then someone suddenly realized and said.
[What if the Little Miss gets traumatized?]
[What?]
[You know how that often happens. A childhood trauma can make you unable to trust people for the rest of your life.]
I thought it would be difficult to become like that just from being pushed, but the maids trembled.
And every day, they chanted words like a spell, such as 'Little Miss is precious' and 'The bad guy will be punished by heaven, Little Miss is precious,' and offered me snacks.
'It's a bit burdensome, but I like snacks.'
I hummed and went into the room.
'Today's snack is supposed to be pie with sweet pickled peaches.'
Excited, I quickly sat down in a chair, and the maids surrounded me in a circle and began to chant the usual spell.
"Little Miss is kind."
"Smart."
"A precious person."
As usual, I nodded, thinking, 'I think Mina said those words came from something called a movie.'
And then I was expecting a snack, but something was wrong.
No matter how long I waited, the snack didn't come, and the maids started combing my hair.
I shook Dahlia, the maid's sleeve, and asked, "Snack?"
"You'll have your snack this afternoon. You're going to have lunch earlier than usual because you'll be dining with the master."
Why!
I frowned.
It's depressing that snack time is delayed, and I have to dine with the Duke...!
When I saw him briefly yesterday, he had a very scary impression.
The meetings with his vassals continued every day, and he was so busy that his already fierce impression was twice as frightening.
"I'm going to get indigestion. I'm going to get indigestion."
Ahyo-hyo, I sighed and got up and rummaged through my elephant bag.
I need to pack some digestive medicine in advance.
When I arrived at the dining room, the Duke was sitting at the head of the table. Food was already out in front of him.
As I was about to sit down, Isaac arrived, about the same time as me.
"I greet the Duke."
When he bowed, the Duke acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod.
'Isaac is here. Then maybe Henri will come too?'
Just then, the door of the huge dining room opened and someone appeared.
"I greet the Duke."
Henri, who appeared as neatly and elegantly dressed as usual, bowed to the Duke.
"Hmm."
When the Duke hummed instead of greeting, Henri raised his head and approached the table.
'Is he okay now?'
Henri had been holed up in his room while the castle was swept by the storm.
His dedicated employees were also forbidden from entering the room, so we only heard news of his recovery from the servants or doctors who went to deliver meals.
'His arm... yeah, it seems to be healed.'
I was worried because it was the most severely injured area.
I sat down and glanced at the Duke and Henri.
The last time I saw the two of them together was when the Duke shouted, asking about Teramore's abuse, and Henri ran away.
'Has the relationship between father and son gotten worse?'
Just as I was worried, Henri opened his mouth.
"I would like to take a leave of absence from the Academy and be educated in the territory for the time being."
'Huh?'
He'll be under scrutiny for every move because of the Teramore incident, but he's going to stay here?
I was surprised, but the Duke moved his knife nonchalantly and said.
"The reason?"
"Because there will be various rumors in the future. I thought it would be better for me to stay in the territory and sort things out."
Only then did the Duke stare at Henri intently. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.
"Okay."
That was the end of their conversation.
Everyone was watching the two of them, but the people involved didn't seem to care.
And I felt like banging my chest.
'No matter how terrible the upbringing is, isn't this too much, Dubleds?'
It's not that I don't understand the Duke and Henri.
Both of them grew up under heads of the Valua family who were worse than trash, the Duke was almost killed by his own blood relatives several times when he was Henri's age, and Henri was abused for the past few years.
'Even so, don't those two know too little about family relationships?'
How could they know less than me, who hasn't had any blood relatives in my four lives?
I stared at the Duke with blazing eyes, and the Duke, feeling my gaze, looked at the strawberry on his fork.
"You always like sweets too much. Here, I'll give it to you."
He must have thought my fervent gaze was because of the strawberry, so he put the strawberry on my plate.
I kept worrying about Henri.
He doesn't seem to welcome my attention, but I think children need some meddling.
Especially a child like Henri, who has a hole in his heart.
'What should I do?'
After thinking about it, I quickly shook the Duke's collar and said.
"Annie likes strawberries too."
"……."
No, Duke, your son likes strawberries?
The Duke just stared at me without answering, so I told him again.
"Annie, strawberries, likes."
"……."
"Annie, strawberries!"
I shouted without realizing it because I was frustrated, and for some reason, the Duke flinched.
He glanced at Henri and slowly moved his fork.
And.
"……."
"……."
Henri's gaze, looking at the strawberry the Duke had placed on his plate, trembled slightly.
Both of them didn't change their expressions, but an awkward atmosphere flowed.
When I shook the Duke's collar again, he was silent for a moment and then said.
"……Eat it."
"……Thank……you."
I became pleased.
'Good, good.'
This won't break down the wall between the Duke and Henri, but I hope it gets a little better.
I looked at the two of them alternately with a pleased face.
The Duke looked like he was asking if it was okay now, so I smiled and said to the Duke.
"Ishak too."
I shouldn't discriminate.
"……."
"Ishak."
The Duke awkwardly moved again and put a strawberry on Isaac's plate.
After finishing the meal and leaving the dining room, I rubbed my stomach.
'I was too worried, so I didn't eat enough.'
I thought about asking Leah for more food, but shook my head.
Today's snack is pie with sweet pickled peaches, so let's wait for that.
'What should I do to pass the time until snack time?'
In my first and second lives, I desperately wanted to rest even for a day, but now, 'What should I play?' was the biggest concern in my life.
'Is this really heaven?'
I seriously pondered and moved my steps.
Then I noticed that the door at the end of the first-floor hallway was open.
'Huh?'
The Dubled's main residence was divided into the East Wing and the West Wing.
The East Wing was where administrative organizations such as the office and the main conference hall, and the First Library, which outsiders frequented, were located.
On the other hand, the West Wing was a space only for the Dubled's blood relatives.
It was where the Duke's bedroom and the sons' rooms were located.
And the door at the end of the first-floor hallway connecting the East Wing and the West Wing was always closed.
'The West Wing. What kind of place is it?'
Since I've been adopted, I'll have to move my room to the West Wing soon, but my room is still under construction, so I'm still staying in the East Wing guest room.
I've never been to the West Wing, so I'm curious.
'Since I'll have a room in the West Wing anyway, shouldn't I go take a look?'
I glanced around and crossed the hallway, opening the door to the West Wing.
"Wow……."
I couldn't help but exclaim.
Of course, the East Wing was also wonderful, but as a place where outsiders came and went, it was a heavy and imposing space.
But the West Wing had a completely different charm from the East Wing.
The warm-colored, glossy marble reflected the sunlight pouring in through the large windows, shining brilliantly.
Somehow, the trees planted on the floor at the end of each hallway smelled good.
'It's like a palace where the fairy king lives.'
While I was looking around absentmindedly, I found an arched, doorless passage. I peeked inside.
'A painting?'
It was a huge portrait that took up an entire wall.
However, it looked shabby to be a painting hanging in the Dubled's residence.
There was only a small Amethyst embedded in the center of the top of the portrait frame, and it looked very old.
The face that filled the painting was that of an old man. He was an old man with gray hair and wrinkles all over his face, but he was elegant and beautiful.
"Who is it?"
I muttered to myself.
[……Gaia.]
