<17>
“If I hadn’t followed Your Grace today, I wouldn’t have seen this sight, so how could I not be grateful? No, this is not the time for that. Right now! I must return to the studio right away. I have to sketch this before the impact of seeing that scene disappears!”
Ober shouted that he had to return to the art studio immediately, and true to his words, he left in the carriage he had arrived in.
Leaving behind Seymour, who had a satisfied expression, and Rowena, who looked bewildered.
Rowena blinked blankly. The events that happened under the tree didn’t register in her mind at all.
‘……What on earth just happened?’
Was it really the first time they had seen a child climbing a tree?
In any case, Seymour’s expression became much softer. It was a very lucky thing.
I thought I was going to get in trouble for sure this time!
Rowena peeked her head out again.
“Duke, may I come down now?”
“Then are you going to sleep there overnight before coming down? Come down at once.”
“Hehe, then— Oops!”
It was the moment Rowena, excited to confirm that Seymour wasn’t angry, moved her feet.
The shoes she hadn’t taken off for fear of hurting her feet slipped, her body flipped, and she fell from the tree.
Strictly speaking, she almost fell.
Thanks to Rowena firmly grasping a branch, she avoided falling all the way.
The problem was.
“Duke……”
“…….”
That she ended up dangling completely from a high branch.
With both arms stretched out, she looked as if she were hanging on a pull-up bar.
The strength in her arms was already starting to fade.
“Could you please put me down……?”
As Rowena spoke tearfully, Seymour frowned and pressed his hand to his forehead.
“……You really do all sorts of things.”
Ultimately, Seymour caught Rowena and brought her down safely.
“Hehe.”
And he even carried her back to the mansion himself!
Of course, throughout the entire process, the scowl on his face never once relaxed…….
But what did it matter! Rowena was feeling very good right now.
Because thanks to that, she was experiencing Seymour’s point of view once again!
Thanks to his broad shoulders and solid body, the ride was quite comfortable.
Does it feel even better than last time?
Rowena hugged Seymour’s neck tightly.
“Thank you for bringing me down, Duke.”
“……It’s fine.”
“Besides that. You kept your promise today, didn’t you?”
As soon as she mentioned a promise, Seymour’s face became even more rigid.
But Rowena’s round eyes sparkled even more.
Because that promise was about ‘coming home early,’ for which Rowena had semi-forcibly made him do a pinky swear.
Seymour glanced at Rowena, and seeing that sparkle, his expression crumpled further.
Then he let out a sigh.
“I didn’t come to keep a promise. It’s because I have something to discuss with you. Don’t mistake a coincidence for something else.”
“Ayy, you could have called me to the company instead.”
When Rowena sent a piercing gaze asking if that wasn’t true, Seymour, at a loss for words, blurted out.
“……It’s inefficient.”
Rowena giggled at the poor excuse. Then she leaned her face against Seymour’s chest again.
“I’m happy you kept your promise, Duke.”
“…….”
Seymour glanced down at the child in his arms and then turned his gaze away.
They happened to arrive in front of the mansion at that moment. Seymour clicked his tongue and set Rowena down in front of the main entrance.
“That’s enough, get down. How is it that you’ve become heavier than yesterday?”
“Oh, really? I must have grown taller!”
It was meant as a scolding, but to Rowena, who had suffered quite a bit today because of her short height, it was no different from a compliment.
“I’m going to be as tall as the Duke later. No! Even taller than the Duke……?”
The end of Rowena’s excited chatter gradually faded.
It was because she suddenly saw a familiar shadow inside the mansion.
‘Dante!’
How could she not recognize him? It was the face she had been searching for all day.
The black-haired boy was looking at Rowena and Seymour from behind a pillar.
However, as soon as Dante’s eyes met Rowena’s, he disappeared just like that.
“Ah!”
No!
When Rowena let out an exclamation despite herself, Seymour looked puzzled.
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you see?”
“See what?”
Seymour didn’t seem to have seen Dante.
“Just now, over there……”
Rowena, who was about to tattle immediately that Dante was there, came to a sudden halt.
‘If I say Dante was there, he might get scolded for being rude.’
Running away without greeting an adult—this was an issue worthy of a major scolding.
Rowena shook her head and made an excuse.
“I forgot I had to eat snacks because I was climbing trees. They said they would give me oatmeal cookies and milk with honey today!”
“……I’ll have those sent to your room. Instead, you and I need to talk for a moment.”
There is something to discuss.
“I have to be a model?”
Rowena’s eyes went round. She was so surprised she almost spat out the cookie she was eating!
Of course, she couldn’t do that. Rowena finished the cookie without leaving a crumb and then briskly drank her milk.
Then she wiped her mouth heartily and asked.
“Am I allowed to do something like that?”
“It’s the opposite. It’s something you must do. Of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
“But you said the Duke would be in trouble if I didn’t.”
“Yes. So I will persuade you with conditions that you might want.”
Seymour’s explanation was simple. Be a model. In return, I will do whatever you want.
“Of course, I know the request is sudden. But this is an important matter. If you agree to be a model, I will also do anything for you.”
Seymour was maintaining a polite and businesslike attitude that was hard to believe he was using with a child.
It meant this matter was that important to him.
When Rowena couldn’t answer readily, Seymour slowly closed and opened his eyes instead of rushing her.
‘It must be sudden, so she probably doesn’t feel like it.’
She hadn’t been doing this kind of thing originally, and she probably hasn’t even adjusted to the mansion properly, yet he’s suddenly asking her to be a model.
He explained everything because the situation was urgent, but he didn’t even know how much the child understood about the business details.
‘This child is quite stubborn, so persuading her won’t be easy.’
That’s what Seymour thought.
It was a thought he would never have had if he could read Rowena’s mind.
Because.
‘I saw this in the original story.’
Rowena knew this situation well.
Of course, she didn’t understand everything from the beginning.
But when the story about children’s clothing and models came up, the young Rowena couldn’t help but think of <The Lily Disease>.
‘There was definitely a story like this in the book.’
Stories about the businesses Seymour had failed in, which appeared in passing.
The one that took up the largest part among them was this very clothing brand.
‘Problems started arising because he couldn’t find a model for the children’s clothes!’
Of course, the failure of a business is rarely the fault of a single model, but it was clear that this was the start of the domino effect.
Seymour invested a massive amount of money for this business, and the business failure left a painful wound.
It was said that because the company began to shake due to this loss, Seymour’s businesses began to head downhill in earnest.
‘And it said it would continue like that for the next three years.’
The crisis that hit Seymour, who was already barely holding on, made him an even more unstable human being.
He would become violent and sharp beyond comparison to now, to the point where he couldn’t survive a single day without alcohol.
So, thinking conversely, if this problem is solved well, it will be a relief for the time being!
‘If things go well, I might be able to get the cure more easily!’
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
