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At the moment the question arose, the carriage that had just arrived at the ducal residence came to a stop.
Seymour stepped down first with a swift motion, then lifted Rowena up with one arm.
Her eyes widened in surprise at the suddenly elevated view.
‘Wow!’
It feels like riding a swing!
And a really high one at that!
Every time Seymour took long strides into the mansion, her view whirled around.
Because of Seymour’s long strides, the distance that would have required the child’s short legs to take hurried little steps was covered in just one step.
‘This feels amazing!’
She wanted to excitedly kick her legs around, but she knew if she did that, Seymour would probably kick her away.
And if he kicked her, he might just toss her aside completely.
‘I should stay still.’
What if he decides I’m too annoying and stops carrying me?
‘Still, since he’s bothering to carry me, it probably means he doesn’t dislike me.’
Hehe!
Rowena’s mood, which had almost soured for a moment, soared straight up to the sky.
‘Maybe next time I can ask him to carry me again.’
Of course, this might be the first and last time…
But one more reason to win over Seymour had just been added.
While Rowena secretly burned with determination, the mansion door opened and a young butler hurriedly ran out from inside.
“Welcome back, Your Grace. And the child beside you is…?”
“She’s the child my mother-in-law entrusted to me. She told me to keep her with me.”
He conveniently omitted the part about raising her, and simply conveyed a plausibly edited version of the facts.
Despite the curt explanation, the young butler, Hugo, quickly grasped the situation.
He was already accustomed to his indifferent master.
“I understand. Then I shall escort you inside. Young miss, this way.”
“…!”
When Hugo extended his arm as if beckoning her to come to him, Rowena’s eyes — which had been clinging tightly to Seymour — rounded like a startled rabbit’s.
‘Do I have to get down already?’
I only got to ride for such a short time… what a shame.
What if the Duke never carries me again?
‘Ugh, whatever!’
Rowena threw her arms tightly around Seymour’s neck and clung on.
“…!”
In that instant, every adult present stopped breathing.
The one most shocked by this unexpected situation was Hugo Lyle, the young butler of the Somerset ducal household.
‘What… what do I do about this?’
His master, Seymour, had an extremely bad temper.
Even calling it that was a softened way of speaking just because he was the master — he was very, very bad.
The only person who could handle Seymour, who resembled a rabid dog, was one single person.
‘The Madam.’
Rose Hayworth — Seymour’s wife, who had been like a rose blooming under the warmest sunlight.
After she left, Seymour, who had at least acted somewhat human until then, completely lost his reins and plummeted into the abyss.
Thanks to that, for nearly the past year, Hugo’s daily routine began with collecting the empty liquor bottles Seymour had drunk and ended with hearing reports of the chaos Seymour had caused.
And now — a child, to such a Seymour!
‘What in the world was Madam thinking…!’
Thinking that Seymour, who hated anything bothersome, might immediately throw the child out, Hugo squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.
He had to handle the situation first.
Hugo hurriedly reached out toward the child.
“Y-Your Grace. It seems the young miss is just startled. I’ll take care of her, so…”
“Get your filthy hands away.”
However, it wasn’t the child who was struck away.
With a sharp smack, Seymour knocked Hugo’s hand aside and opened his shadowed eyes with a chilling glare.
“How dare you think of touching the child without even wearing gloves. Are you out of your mind?”
Until the day he graduated from the prestigious butler academy and succeeded his father as the butler of the Somerset ducal family,
Hugo had never once imagined that such words would come out of his own mouth.
At least not until this very moment — before the dumbfounded sound slipped from his lips.
“Y-Yes?”
“Do I have to say it twice? She is the child entrusted by Madam. If you touch her carelessly and she catches some illness, will you take responsibility?”
“T-That’s…”
When Hugo stammered uncharacteristically, Seymour clicked his tongue in irritation.
“I’ll take the child inside myself. Tell Airi to look after her. If I leave her in the hands of an idiot like you, it wouldn’t even take a day for the dignity of Somerset to be ruined.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
As Hugo bowed deeply, Seymour withdrew his displeased gaze and began walking again.
Only then did Rowena cautiously open her eyes.
‘I don’t have to get down?’
She hadn’t quite heard everything, but she could tell she had more or less been given permission to keep clinging on.
‘Yay!’
To an adult’s body, crossing the corridor took only moments.
Perhaps it seemed that way because Seymour was much taller and larger than most people.
It felt like he had only taken a few long strides, yet Rowena suddenly found herself in a tea room with a soft sofa.
Only then did Seymour set Rowena down on the floor.
“Someone will come to look after you, so wait here quietly.”
“Can’t I follow you, Duke?”
“Hugo, go bring tea and dessert.”
“I’ll be really quiet here!”
I’m super good at being quiet.
As if determined to show the pinnacle of quietness now that she had the chance, Rowena hopped up onto the sofa.
Watching Rowena flip her attitude as easily as turning over a palm, Seymour let out an incredulous “Hah” and left the room.
Afterward, the tray Hugo pushed in contained a variety of colorful desserts and cups giving off a fragrant aroma.
This smell…!
“Hot chocolate!”
And not the cheap kind made by mixing cocoa powder with milk — this was rich, genuine hot chocolate bursting with real chocolate flavor!
How many times had the orphanage children drooled over the advertisements they saw in newspaper flyers?
‘Teacher, can I ask for hot chocolate as a birthday present?’
‘But we get cake on birthdays. Even if it’s just a little cream on top.’
‘I want cake.’
At the age when they were crazy about sweets.
Although they sometimes got desserts during sponsored visits or tea parties, it was never enough.
The children of Townsend would cut out pictures of all kinds of food from flyers, paste them on the wall, and swallow their saliva.
Rowena’s situation wasn’t much different.
Seeing Rowena scraping the cup as if she wanted to eat every last bit, Hugo smiled warmly.
“My, I hope it suits your taste.”
“It’s really, really delicious!”
Of course, the things she ate at the Hayworth mansion were delicious too, but hot chocolate was a whole new thrill.
And a whole cup all to herself!
Just the hot chocolate alone made coming to the Somerset ducal residence completely worthwhile.
After emptying the cup in an instant, Rowena licked the hot chocolate from her lips and thought.
‘The people who give me delicious things are the ones who like me.’
The Duke gave me hot chocolate, of all things.
‘Then…’
Does that mean the Duke likes me after all?
Of course, sometimes there are people who like you without even giving you food.
Like…
“Hello, young miss? My name is Airi.”
Yes! Exactly people like this!
Rowena set the cup down and looked up with bright, sparkling eyes.
A woman with her hair rolled up in a neat round bun was already standing in front of her.
The moment Airi’s eyes met Rowena’s, she broke into a wide smile — as if she were a child who couldn’t contain her joy upon seeing a fountain in the middle of summer.
“It looks like the hot chocolate was really delicious, young miss.”
“It was super super delicious. How did you know?”
“Hehe, anyone who saw you right now would know.”
When Airi offered a handkerchief and wiped Rowena’s cheek, thick chocolate came off.
“…!”
Rowena’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment instead of chocolate.
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