The Duke of Asheln’s study.
Having received the report, Cain gave a small, satisfied murmur.
Remarkable.
He’d secretly been keeping an eye on Jayden’s condition, so he’d known it was improving.
But the speed of his recovery was truly beyond expectations.
Barely any time had passed since Viola came to the residence, and already such progress.
All this time, Cain had done his best as an uncle, in his own way.
He knew Tamutar disease was incurable, and yet he’d struggled to find some way, any way, regardless.
But the more he tried, the fainter his hope had grown. And Viola had overturned all of it in one stroke.
It was the moment he’d finished reading the report that Viola explained carefully:
“From now on, any Tamutar disease patient can be treated based on this formulation.”
She’d recorded the formulation in such thorough detail that anyone could follow it—she’d even been thinking of future patients yet to fall ill among the people of House Asheln.
“…Several of the Asheln bloodline have died of Tamutar disease over the years. If you hadn’t developed this medicine, that number would only have kept growing.”
Cain paused for a moment, set down the report, and looked steadily at Viola.
“You are not only Jayden’s benefactor, but Asheln’s. Is there something you want? Whatever it is, I will grant it.”
He’d only said what needed to be said, and yet the woman began waving her hands in a panic, as if shocked.
“No, no! This was part of our contract from the start! I only did what I promised to do.”
Ordinarily, he’d have deferred to her wishes, but Cain shook his head firmly.
Viola didn’t seem to properly grasp how enormous a help this treatment was to the ducal house.
“Do you want a residence? Or land?”
“N-no. That’s far too much…!”
“Being unfeeling doesn’t mean I don’t know gratitude.”
Dragonbloods might be unfeeling, but they were certain about matters of debt and grace. Otherwise, they could never have reigned as rulers for this long.
Flustered, not knowing what to do, Viola denied it again. Only this time, her denial was of something unexpected.
“You’re not unfeeling to begin with.”
“What?”
“Don’t you remember? Treating me here? Lending me your coat… and looking out for me in so many other ways since then, too. How could an unfeeling person do all that?”
“…”
“You’re a kind person, Your Grace.”
Cain fell silent for a moment. Was she flattering him just to be nice?
If so, there wasn’t a trace of wavering in those bright green eyes, like fresh sprouts. As if it were nothing but plain sincerity.
“…Conrad would fall over backward if he heard that.”
“Surely not.”
He’d meant it seriously, but Viola giggled, seeming to take it as a joke.
But at Cain’s next words, her face soon turned troubled.
“Regardless, tell me what you want.”
“Ugh, do I have to?”
“Yes.”
But just then, her eyes, which had been pretending to think it over, flashed with a strange light.
…Hm?
It had been the briefest instant, but he could have sworn the corner of her mouth had just curled up slightly. As if she’d caught something.
Was it his imagination?
While Cain was puzzling over it, Viola spoke up with an innocent face, as though nothing had happened.
“If you insist… please pick out one outfit each for us before the season changes.”
One outfit each? Did she mean clothes for herself and Melody? He’d have thought nothing of buying out an entire clothing shop for her.
She added, beaming:
“For Young Master Jayden and Melody!”
“What?”
“Let’s go out, the four of us!”
At my words, Cain’s face filled with confusion.
“So… that’s what you want?”
“Yes!”
“You and I taking the children out together?”
“Yes! Exactly right! But you also have to pick out the children’s clothes yourself.”
Cain kept his expression stiff, as though he’d just heard the strangest request in the world.
Why on earth? Even unspoken, the question was plain in his eyes. Unable to hold it back any longer, he finally asked aloud.
“I don’t understand. What good does that do?”
I put on a slightly sad look and spoke wistfully.
“Oh, well, I’d like to buy the children some clothes… but I don’t have confidence in picking out flattering outfits. So I thought I’d borrow your excellent taste…”
Cain still seemed unconvinced, but perhaps sensing he’d get no other answer out of me, he nodded, if reluctantly.
No wonder he wasn’t convinced.
Of course he wasn’t—it was a complete fabrication!
The real reason I’d suggested going out was that I had a much bigger picture in mind.
Operation “I Hope You Two Get Along!”
The targets of this operation were, naturally, Cain and Jayden.
I planned to use this opportunity to gently mend the estranged relationship between the two of them.
Cain, who didn’t know how to handle children, and Jayden, who was simply terrified of his Dragonblood uncle.
They clearly didn’t dislike each other, and yet I couldn’t just watch them stay this awkward forever.
This might be a bit nosy of me, but…
Seeing Cain’s serious expression, I did feel a small pang of doubt about whether I was stirring up trouble for nothing.
For him, my suggestion might actually be quite a burden. Knowing that Jayden was afraid of him, he was someone who deliberately kept his distance.
Still, if I needed an excuse for pushing my request this far, this was, in its own way, part of Jayden’s treatment for Tamutar disease.
For a body to grow healthy, the heart had to be healthy too!
And besides, it was Cain himself who kept insisting I ask for something, even after I refused.
The only mistake I’d made was going along with what he said.
Setting aside my guilt, I put on a shameless face and pressed the point again.
“Tomorrow!”
“What?”
“Looking at the sky, tomorrow should be clear, no rain. So let’s all go out, the four of us. Please?”
Come to think of it, Jayden and Melody always launched an eye attack on me whenever they wanted something.
Shall I try it out myself?
I looked at Cain with deliberately pleading eyes.
Cain looked away, seemingly troubled.
Huh? What’s gotten into this man?
He’d only ever scoffed before. His reaction now was unusual.
I opened my eyes even wider on purpose, making them shine even more earnestly.
Cain glanced at me briefly, but seeing my gaze hadn’t changed, he turned his head away again.
“Could you… not make that face?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
I tilted my head widely, deliberately playing dumb, and he let out a sigh. Then, reluctantly, he accepted the proposal.
“Fine. We’ll go out tomorrow.”
Yay! I did it!
I should use this more often. It’s really effective.
No wonder I always wanted to give the children whatever they wanted whenever they made that face. It seemed to be a remarkably powerful technique, effective even on Cain.
With a satisfied smile, I left Cain’s study.
And so, the next day.
“Viola. Are you serious?”
“It’s a surprise gift. Ta-da. Surprised? You said you wanted to go outside.”
“No, going outside is great. It is, but…!”
Having heard the situation, Jayden looked up at me with eyes on the verge of tears and asked again, to be sure.
“You mean going out with His Grace the Duke?”
“Ye-es. That’s right. Isn’t it just wonderful? Right?”
No, wait, wait!
The boy opened and closed his mouth silently, over and over, as if he had a great deal to say, but in the end, he chose silence.
He’d been doing this for a while now—clearly reluctant to say outright, in front of me, that he was scared of the Duke.
But he couldn’t quite hide the uneasy look on his face.
Hmm. This won’t do, as it is.
I lowered myself and spoke quietly to Jayden.
“Young Master.”
“Mm?”
“His Grace the Duke—he was very worried about you, you know.”
“…Huh? His Grace was…?”
Jayden’s eyes went round, as if this were unexpected. It was the most obvious thing in the world, and yet Jayden himself looked utterly bewildered.
The boy murmured in a very small voice.
“…I thought he didn’t like me.”
Well, look at that. Children never knew unless you told them.
Of course, even I didn’t fully know what Cain thought of Jayden.
But… one thing was certain. That Cain worried about Jayden.
Enough to hire a suspicious woman of unknown background. He wanted so badly to ease his nephew’s suffering.
I gently stroked Jayden’s head.
“He might seem a bit gruff and scary. But he’s definitely a kind person. Just like you, Young Master.”
“…”
Jayden fell silent, still seeming unsure.
It would be easier to explain further, but as a third party, it was right to step back at this point. The rest was something the two of them would have to work out together today.
“Let’s have a fun time together today, all right?”
Not long after I finished my talk with Jayden, we heard someone calling us.
The carriage was finally ready.
To cut to the conclusion, it seemed I’d thought far too lightly of the distance between Cain and Jayden.
…Was this really the right thing to do?
I hadn’t expected a warm, friendly atmosphere or anything, but this was something else entirely.
Inside the rattling carriage, only a suffocating silence hung in the air.
Somebody help me. Four people, and not one of them saying a word!
