<18>
As expected, I am smart.
As Rowena nodded while giggling inwardly, Seymour took on a serious expression.
“As expected, is it difficult?”
“No, I can do it! I’ll do it!”
“Good. Of course, you aren’t saying you’ll do it for nothing. What is it that you want in return?”
At those words, Rowena tilted her head to the side.
‘Actually, I don’t need anything.’
If anything, I’m the one who is grateful, but I can’t just refuse something he’s offering to give, right?
‘It’s not that I’m asking for it; the Duke is giving it to me.’
Right?
Hehe!
There were three conditions Seymour set for Rowena.
“I can grant up to three at most. I can’t let you keep making demands indefinitely.”
“Then, can the three things be anything?”
“Yes.”
When Seymour’s answer dropped immediately, Rowena giggled satisfactorily.
The moment she heard those words, she thought of what to ask for.
First!
“Please return to the mansion every day. At least before dinner.”
“……Is that a request?”
“Yes. Is that not allowed?”
“It’s not…… impossible.”
In that case, the second.
“The Duke must become a great person.”
At those words, whose meaning and intent were unclear, Seymour pressed his temples firmly.
In his heart, he wanted to say no, but the initiative clearly belonged to Rowena now.
“……I don’t know what that means, but I understand for now. And the last?”
Of course, Rowena had a final one too.
And it was!
“Please let Dante be a model with me too!”
The next day.
A carriage bearing the crest of the Duke of Somerset sped away toward a destination.
Inside, the black-haired boy, Dante Graham, sat with a neat posture despite no one telling him to, looking out the carriage window.
Even though he was at an age where he should still be acting like a spoiled child, the boy’s golden eyes reflected in the window were quite serious.
It fully represented a precociousness that did not match the boy’s young age.
Looking at the scenery beyond the carriage window, Dante thought of the mansion he had left.
‘It has been a year since I was at the Duke of Somerset’s mansion.’
And this was his first time coming without his parents.
The Duke’s mansion was not even slightly different from his memories. Its majesty, and the gentle attitude toward Dante.
However, the reason the Duke’s mansion felt completely different from the past was probably because Dante had lost his parents during that year and had become a completely different person.
‘No, it’s not because of me.’
Like a deep lake, or a symbol of permanence, irritation flickered across Dante’s otherwise motionless face.
The reason was simple.
It was because of Rowena, the child who had rolled into this Duke’s mansion.
What Dante experienced at the mansion yesterday was truly a series of shocks.
‘From the Dowager Lady Hayworth to my uncle.’
Those two, who never easily opened their hearts to others and were practically synonyms for terror, were nothing but kind only to Rowena.
During dinner, Rowena suddenly stood up from her seat while eating a sea bream dish.
Then, clutching her fork, she ran straight to Seymour and placed her fork on his plate. Only then did Dante realize that a well-deboned piece of sea bream was stuck on the end of Rowena’s fork.
“This is delicious, Duke!”
“……I don’t like fish. You eat it.”
“The Duke must eat a variety of things too. I heard you have to eat everything to become a great person.”
A great person.
As soon as those words were spoken, Seymour’s face crumpled instantly.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
Dante was puzzled. After all, Rowena hadn’t said anything wrong.
‘Is he angry because she’s being stubborn?’
However, Dante did not yet know.
That just before dinner, there had been a certain deal between Seymour and Rowena.
“You promised. To become a great person.”
“…….”
At those words, Seymour eventually ate the fish the child offered.
To the unknowing Dante, that scene was utterly shocking.
That Seymour, famous for not listening to anyone, would follow the lead of a mere child!
As Rowena returned with the empty fork and her eyes met Dante’s, she smirked triumphantly.
“……!”
Of course, Rowena had simply smiled brightly as a way to say let’s be friends, but to Dante, it looked like a provocation asking, ‘You can’t do this, can you?’
In the end, Dante ended up getting up first, as if fleeing from the dinner table.
‘Of course, I know I’m being childish.’
Even though he knew, it was hard to endure.
One year after both his parents suddenly passed away.
Only one thing occupied Dante’s mind.
‘I must not trust anyone.’
The boy had met countless people who flipped their attitudes like a palm after his parents’ death.
Even Seymour, his legal guardian, was someone Dante could not fully trust.
‘You should consider yourself lucky, young master. Your uncle has no children. If the Duke had a child, do you think even a single penny of the fortune would be left for you?’
‘Don’t get too comfortable. Unless the Duke adopts you, you are someone who can be kicked out at any time.’
The words of his nanny, who had left after pouring out such curses, were deeply embedded in the boy’s heart.
The reason he could overcome the longing for his parents and the loneliness and sadness of being left alone was that there was a fear greater than those.
‘If my uncle ever changes his mind, I will have everything taken away and be abandoned just like that.’
So, holding his breath, he desperately tried to grow up.
Even if he couldn’t win Seymour’s favor, he had to quickly do his part to inherit the title. Then, he wouldn’t have to live in this terrible fear.
But then, out of nowhere, notice arrived that Seymour had taken in some child.
And that he intended to make her his successor!
Thus, Dante rushed to the capital immediately, feeling as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff.
The anxiety remained, but the situation wasn’t entirely at its worst.
‘Because my uncle called for me.’
This morning, as Dante woke up early as usual and straightened his clothes, Hugo approached and delivered a message from Seymour.
“Young master, there is a message from His Grace. He said there is a place you must go with him today.”
At the mention of a message, Dante’s eyes widened.
It was the first time Seymour had ever suggested something to Dante.
“Together, you say?”
“Yes. He said it is a very important and urgent matter, and he will explain after you arrive.”
Remembering that moment, Dante’s pupils wavered greatly.
‘I can stop worrying about being abandoned by my uncle for now.’
If it’s an important and urgent matter he’s asking of me, it means he has no intention of sending me away yet.
Perhaps if I finish this task well, we might become closer.
So, Dante was confident he could handle even the most difficult task.
‘By the way, I wonder what kind of business it is that he calls me to a place like this.’
The carriage came to a stop, and Dante stepped out.
The place where he got off was in front of a house as crude as a box, so much so that the term mansion couldn’t be used.
It was not at all suitable for residential purposes, rather it was a place that would be perfect to call a workshop or a studio.
At the very least, the fact that several different carriages were parked in front of it eased Dante’s wariness.
Dante opened the door with a half-doubting heart.
“Excuse me. Here……”
“Very good! So lovely! Please smile one more time!”
At that moment. A booming shout pierced his ears.
And what unfolded before him was…….
“……An art studio?”
No, rather than a private studio, it would be more correct to call it a busy collective workshop.
In the center, there was a stage with lighting, props, and a white background, and there were people moving their arms busily in front of it.
Among them, the man with the most peculiar hair was constantly admiring and shouting, “Next! I love it!”
In the midst of that stage filled with nothing but praise, there was a familiar face.
“Ro-Rowena?”
“Oh? Dante is here!”
Rowena, who was holding a flower vase on the stage, saw Dante, giggled, and raised her arm high.
“Hi, Dante!”
Listening to that energetic voice, Dante realized.
Something…… was going differently from what he had thought.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
