“Pardon?”
There had been a clear reason she’d come all the way to the grand conference hall in person.
At that question, Riersha let out a small gasp and set her cookie down.
Come to think of it, she did have an unmistakable reason for making the trip.
“I came to give Harabuji a present.”
“For His Grace the Duke?”
“Yes.”
But now that the moment had arrived, she hesitated to take it out.
The Arachrene ducal castle overflowed with precious things, and what Riersha had prepared was far too humble in comparison.
There was no way something like this would satisfy him.
“There’s nothing to worry about — go ahead and give His Grace your gift.”
Rosinante, having understood exactly what was troubling her, smiled gently.
Those two men would gladly accept a pebble Riersha had picked up off the road, she was certain of it.
It was a little heartbreaking that Riersha had no way of knowing that.
“Th-then, right here…”
After a long moment of hesitation, Riersha finally produced something from her hands.
Resting in her small palm was a red flower bracelet woven from stems.
The shape was a little uneven, but it had a charm to it all the same.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Yes.”
Picturing those tiny hands carefully crafting this bracelet, Arcmund felt a smile rise naturally to his lips. He suppressed it at once, however, composing his expression into something stern, and extended his left arm.
“Put it on for me.”
“Me?”
“Who else would do it?”
Riersha clutched the bracelet in surprise, her expression flustered.
She hadn’t even imagined he would accept it — and now he wanted her to fasten it around his wrist herself?
She was carefully looping the bracelet around Arcmund’s wrist when a voice cut in.
“What about my present?”
“…”
“There isn’t one?”
Riersha’s hands went completely still.
“…Father’s is…”
A cold sweat threatened to break out.
As Riersha’s voice trailed off, Pernoa spoke with an air of disbelief.
“You prepared one for His Grace, but there’s nothing for me. How interesting.”
Pernoa began staring fixedly at the bracelet.
Riersha realized, a beat too late, what she’d forgotten.
“N-no, I have one.”
“…Where is it, then?”
She did have one.
…The problem was that only the bracelet intended for Arcmund was finished.
Crafting a bracelet with a proper, presentable shape was still beyond Riersha’s abilities.
She had thought about asking Sona for help, but her heart wouldn’t allow it.
It wouldn’t truly be something she had made herself.
“Oh-ho. So you came all this way to give a gift only to your grandfather?”
The moment Arcmund realized there was only one gift, a deeply satisfied expression spread across his face.
“Quite the little charmer, aren’t you? You know how to read the room — know who holds the real power and who deserves your favor.”
“What? Deserves my favor?”
Riersha tilted her head to one side, puzzled.
Arcmund, now that the bracelet was fully secured around his wrist, raised his hand with a look of unmistakable pride.
His own son and grandchildren had never once brought him a thing like this.
A granddaughter was something else entirely, it seemed.
Riersha, sensing that Arcmund was more pleased with her gift than she’d dared hope, felt a wave of deep relief wash over her.
‘I’m so glad. Grandfather likes it.’
She broke into a bright, wide smile.
Just then, Oberon, who had been waiting outside all this while, called to Arcmund.
“Your Grace. It is time to begin your schedule.”
“Then I must be off.”
“Yes, please take care.”
Riersha bowed her head in a careful little farewell.
Arcmund looked down at the bracelet with a quietly pleased expression — but the moment his eyes met Oberon’s, waiting just beyond the conference hall doors, he gave a sharp, dignified ahem and quickened his pace.
The two figures disappeared down the far end of the corridor, and Riersha felt her body go stiff with a new kind of tension.
She had just realized she was now alone in the grand conference hall with Pernoa.
For some reason, she’d been feeling a prickling sensation on her back for a while now.
She stole a glance behind her to find that Pernoa had already settled into a chair and was studying a single red petal that had fallen onto the table.
“Rosinante, what’s the name of this flower? Plant them all over the garden — enough that you’d trip over them walking down the path. Riersha seems to like them.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Pernoa smiled.
“Hic—!”
The moment Riersha saw that smile, a hiccup escaped her.
What should she do?
She darted her eyes around in a panic.
Then, in a flash of desperation, she seized the plate of refreshments sitting right in front of her and thrust it toward him.
“H-here!”
“…”
“These are delicious.”
Pernoa quietly looked down at the cookies Riersha had been eating.
“So. This is my present.”
“…”
“A cookie.”
Riersha was at a loss for words.
Even to her own eyes, it looked hopelessly half-hearted.
It was obvious she’d grabbed the first thing within reach out of sheer desperation — how ridiculous must it look to Pernoa?
But then something strange happened.
Pernoa picked up one of the small cakes and put it in his mouth.
After a moment, he spoke.
“It’s good.”
“R-really?”
“Yes.”
He helped himself to a few more before his hand went still.
Then he reached over and pulled Riersha’s chair toward his own.
Suddenly finding herself much closer to Pernoa, Riersha startled, her eyes going wide.
“Wh— what?!”
Pernoa looked down at the pair of red eyes staring up at him.
He studied her face slowly, then leaned one arm against the table and closed the remaining distance between them entirely.
He brushed the crumbs from the corner of her mouth and asked,
“What have you been doing with yourself since that day, Riersha?”
“Pardon?”
“Lessons with Carden in the mornings, homework with Sona in the afternoons, sleeping at night — I could never seem to find a free moment. My own daughter is busier than I am.”
‘That day’ referred to the time after their encounter at the disciplinary committee.
Riersha turned the words over in her mind, then drew in a sharp breath.
‘Father knows my daily schedule?’
She had assumed he had no interest in her, since he had never once come to see her…
Riersha looked at him with an expression of pure disbelief.
“You came to see me?”
“Sometimes.”
“…Wh-when?”
“In the early hours of the morning.”
“…”
“You were sleeping quite soundly, holding that rabbit doll. Is that what they call a comfort toy?”
Pernoa recalled the rabbit plush and let out a small, winded laugh.
Clearly well-loved from years of a child’s handling, the toy looked rather worn — out of place in the lavish surroundings of the room.
Riersha, hearing even her beloved stuffed rabbit brought into the conversation, went blank and let her mouth fall open.
Her eyes were fixed on Pernoa, wide and unblinking.
“What an amusing face.”
Pernoa gave a quiet smile and reached out to touch her twin buns.
Those buns happened to be Riersha’s favorite hairstyle in all the world.
They were the first thing that had ever earned her a flood of compliments from so many people at once.
And Sona, after Riersha had hummed and sung about wanting them day after day, had personally gone to seek out a maid who knew how to style them.
Pernoa nudged the center of one of the buns and asked,
“Who did your hair like this?”
“Tona did it.”
“Tona?”
“…Tona!”
When Riersha said “Tona” in her imprecise little way, the corner of Pernoa’s mouth curved up with amusement.
Riersha’s cheeks puffed out.
“Don’t poke them.”
“Why not?”
“They’ll get ruined!”
Riersha threw herself into a desperate defense, shielding her twin buns from his persistent fingers with both hands.
Her small palms cupped each carefully rolled coil as though guarding something precious.
The red eyes watching him with wary vigilance were, in their own way, surprisingly fierce.
Pernoa felt laughter threatening to rise up inside him — the first real amusement he’d felt in a long while — but he kept his composure.
He was somewhat genuinely worried about earning Riersha’s lasting displeasure.
“They just look so poke-able.”
“…”
“They suit you well.”
Riersha felt a tangle of emotions stir inside her.
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
He’d teased her about the hairstyle she loved most, and now, belatedly, he was telling her it suited her.
She was still staring at him with a puzzled, uncertain expression when Pernoa rose from his seat.
“Shall we head out, then?”
“Right now?”
“How much longer were you planning to stay?”
In that instant, Riersha felt a pang of something she couldn’t quite name — a small, quiet reluctance.
There was a trace of disappointment mixed in, too.
‘I suppose I’m the only one who feels that way.’
But there was nothing to be done about it.
Pernoa was an incredibly busy person.
Holding the title of Young Duke, he had to be run off his feet from morning to night.
“Yes.”
Riersha was nodding, doing her best to hide the ache in her chest, when —
“Waaaaah!”
Arms slipped beneath her and her body was lifted clean into the air.
As the world suddenly rose to a great height around her, Riersha’s face went wide with shock.
Pernoa had scooped her up with one arm as if she weighed nothing at all and continued walking toward the door.
He glanced toward Rosinante, who was still waiting near the entrance, and gave a brief tilt of his head.
Rosinante, understanding at once, smiled and bowed.
The silent message, for the record, had been: grab my documents and make yourself scarce.
