9>
Seymour’s impression could be summed up in one phrase.
‘He looks scary.’
If Rowena hadn’t known much about Seymour, she would have tried not to come within a one-meter radius of him.
His face, worn out by fatigue, was so sharp it felt like it could cut, and deep shadows cast a gloomy darkness over his hollow eye sockets.
His firmly closed lips and sharply chiseled cheeks were stubborn to the point of ferocity, and his lifeless green eyes looked like deep velvet.
To put it kindly, he possessed an inorganic elegance; to put it harshly, he looked utterly devoid of human warmth.
At least with a face like Seymour’s, one could still call it elegant — on anyone else, people would have simply said “the face of someone who stayed up all night for a week” and left it at that.
But so what? Rowena was in an extremely good mood right now.
As proof, a bright, beaming smile never left her lips.
‘This person is my cure.’
They say just looking at something you like can fill your stomach.
Just looking at him made her feel like she could live a long, healthy life.
In the end, Seymour couldn’t withstand the relentless pressure from Madam Hayworth and raised both hands in surrender.
Of course, before that, it seemed the two of them had a very long and serious private conversation in the room after Rowena had been sent out…
Rowena had heard it clearly.
Even through the tightly closed door and soundproofing, voices had leaked out.
‘When you get old, you should just die! Oh dear, when you get old, you should die! What kind of wealth and honor am I clinging to that I’m still alive and getting this kind of disrespect from my son-in-law!’
‘I said I understand! I understand! I said I’ll raise her!’
‘This punk, what makes you think you can raise your voice at me!’
Madam Hayworth truly was an amazing person.
Thanks to her, Rowena learned that even adults — even extremely dignified adults like Madam Hayworth! — shout and argue when they get angry.
Because of the process that led to this decision, Seymour maintained a sullen expression throughout.
Even now, when his eyes met Rowena’s beaming face.
“…What are you looking at?”
“The Duke!”
Correction: it wasn’t sullen — it was displeased.
And just now, it became even more displeased.
Seymour, now frowning deeply, asked next.
“What exactly makes you so happy that you keep smiling like that?”
At Seymour’s question, the smile faded from Rowena’s beaming face.
More precisely, it turned into a slightly puzzled expression.
When she tilted her head slightly to the side, her neatly tied twin tails tilted along with it.
What makes me smile so much?
Well.
“Because I like the Duke?”
“…”
Just looking at him makes me this happy.
Hehe!
When the girl smiled brightly again, the crease between Seymour’s brows deepened even more.
But this time, it wasn’t so much displeasure as the look of someone at a complete loss for words.
Of course, they say it’s hard to spit on a smiling face, but Seymour was perfectly capable of doing so.
Yet there was something about this child named Rowena that made him hesitate to say such things out loud.
‘Is it because of her smiling face?’
Her bright, innocent smile looked almost like cotton candy.
Her round cheeks looked so soft that poking them would probably feel squishy — she was lovable beyond words.
However, none of that made the slightest impression on Seymour’s dry heart.
Intuiting that he wouldn’t find an answer no matter how much he pondered, Seymour let out a small sigh and spoke.
“Let me make this clear from the start. I dislike children. I don’t know what methods you used to win over my mother-in-law, but there will never be a day when I grow close to you.”
He had brought Rowena here, but only because of Madam Hayworth’s stubborn insistence.
‘Just try raising her once. I’m not asking you to take care of an infant — how much trouble could it really be?’
‘Still…!’
‘I’m not telling you to personally attend to her every need, am I? I’ve raised children, so I know. Kids her age grow up just fine as long as you assign them a tutor.’
‘Mother-in-law, do you really think that makes sense?’
‘Yes. Have you ever raised a child? Do you know better than I do? If you’ve raised one, go ahead and tell me.’
How was he supposed to respond to that?
‘If you’ve never raised a child, shut up’ — he had no confidence in winning against that, nor any way to win.
Rather than keep arguing, it was more efficient for him to simply back down.
The only reason he agreed to raise Rowena was that.
“So don’t have any useless expectations. There’s nothing I’m going to give you.”
Nothing to give, and certainly no intention of becoming family.
Seymour’s words were sharp as daggers.
Of course — they were deliberate, venomous remarks.
Seymour glanced at the child.
‘She’s not going to cry, is she?’
He didn’t know how to comfort a crying child.
No — he didn’t even particularly want to comfort one if she did cry.
‘I absolutely hate anything annoying.’
His body, overworked for days, was exhausted, and his head throbbed as if it might split at any moment.
The child’s presence only made the weary Seymour feel even more burdened.
Right now, he had no energy to spare for anything.
So if the child cried, Seymour planned to hand her straight over to a maid.
But.
“Yes! I’m not expecting anything.”
“…What?”
The reply was completely outside Seymour’s expectations.
Far from crying or wilting, Rowena was smiling brightly.
“I didn’t come here to be favored by the Duke, so don’t worry!”
What she said next was even more astonishing.
Seymour’s face immediately crumpled, but Rowena paid it no mind and simply swung her short legs while continuing to smile.
One might think that after hearing words that shattered any expectation of a warm first greeting, she would be heartbroken, wouldn’t she?
Yet Rowena was completely at ease.
Because she had already expected this much.
‘The Duke’s personality is supposed to be extremely bad right now.’
She had wondered if the book might have exaggerated, but seeing those cold eyes, it seemed pretty accurate.
To such a Seymour, someone had suddenly thrust a child at him saying “raise her.”
It was better not to expect any kind of welcome.
Above all, there was one ironclad rule that the children of Townsend Orphanage had to memorize without fail.
Even if you grabbed bread with dirt-covered hands in front of the director and ended up locked in solitary for a whole day because of it, this had to be memorized.
‘Do not expect anything.’
The expectation that someday your parents will come to find you.
The expectation that the visitor this time might become your adoptive parents.
The expectation that the family who adopts you will truly love you like their own child.
If you expect nothing, you won’t get hurt.
And if you expect nothing, you can smile anytime.
‘I didn’t come here to be loved, so it doesn’t matter what anyone says to me.’
There was only one goal: to safely obtain the cure and survive!
Rowena smiled brightly and said,
“Duke, I’m really, really happy right now!”
“…Why?”
“Because I really wanted to meet you, and now I already have.”
Thanks to meeting Seymour, a path to survival had opened.
How could she not be happy!
“So let’s stay together for a long, long time, Duke.”
Rowena said this while beaming with genuine joy.
Duke, I don’t have anything to give you, but I can at least give you a smile.
I know from experience — smiling at someone never puts you at a loss.
I’ve got a full ten years of experience, you know? Isn’t that trustworthy enough?
‘So please look after me kindly.’
And if you could find the cure for me quickly, that would be even better!
When Rowena giggled, Seymour — who had looked slightly dazed — furrowed his brows.
“…Tch, how bothersome.”
Huh? This isn’t working?
“Act like a child if you’re a child. Don’t keep making me pay attention to you for no reason.”
“Hmph.”
“Quiet.”
His voice was stiff.
Did I make the Duke angry?
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
