Duke Anais and Rune have become quite close these days, spending time together when Astel was asleep or away at the healing center.
It’s a one-sided affair, but Duke Anais hasn’t exactly stopped Rune from barging into his space.
Thus, today’s suspicious meeting took place in his office.
The Duke spoke first, his eyes fixed on the child before him.
“Cassian Gray.”
Rune tilted her head, confused, “Cassian?”
“Yes, your biological father, the same bastard.”
With that, the Duke looked at Rune with a serious gaze.
But Rune just kept shaking his head.
“Rune don’t know.” (Rune)
“You’ve never heard of him?”
“Mmm!” (Rune)
“A knight with brown hair and green eyes.”
Rune shook his head at the specifics.
Since arriving in the duchy, Rune had grown considerably, thanks to the potions he took every day.
His memory had improved as well, but he’d been too busy updating it to draw on his memories.
But speaking of brown hair and green eyes…
“Mister Knight?” (Rune)
The baby tilted its head.
Leaving the orphanage, feverish with excitement.
The memory of a large man claiming to be his father just flashed through his head.
“Lie…”
“…”
Rune’s shoulders sagged.
The man transformed him into a strange animal, handed it to Astel, and left.
And never came back.
“I’m… abandoned.”
I remember him stroking my hair and smiling at me. I think he cried more than he laughed.
But it was only for a few moments. Even now, it’s a blur, as if it’s going to disappear from my mind anytime soon.
“That’s what it is!” (So, That’s what it was!)
Rune stomped her foot on the table.
“I father gone.” (I don’t have a father)
His arms were folded at his sides, and his pose was fiercely determined, but the corners of his eyes were sunken and droopy.
As the Duke watched, a visionary moment flashed through his mind.
— ‘You have no family?’
— ‘No. Uh, I don’t have.’
—‘Then can I be your family?’
At the lively girl’s question, the rabbit-eyed boy asked.
—‘… What?’
—‘Why, isn’t that good, aren’t we close enough to be family?’
The boy’s head fell low, and he looked very embarrassed, his tiny form somehow overlapping with the current Rune.
—‘You’re furry and warm! I want to wrap you in my scarf.’
She smiled as she brushed his tangled fur, not knowing what she was doing…
—‘You’re small now, but you’ll grow up to be a big boy, won’t you?’
—‘Everybody says I’m an idiot… and a coward, and they say that…’
‘Astel’, who stared into the sobbing boy’s eyes, shook her head vigorously in denial.
—‘You fool, I think you’d be such a fine, magnificent…’
The boy, or rather, he was then, was very shy and not very good at controlling his emotions.
So as soon as he heard Astel’s words, he was overwhelmed with excitement and transformed into a complete animal.
Astel giggled and stroked his fur as he transformed into a much smaller and more delicate-looking animal than the raggedy-looking boy in front of her.
—‘You’ve completely turned into an animal? That’s so interesting…’
Remembering the girl’s touch, the duke placed his hand on top of Rune’s head.
Feeling unnecessarily awkward, he stroked Rune’s hair and spoke softly.
“Then call me whatever you want, just like last time.”
Astel loved this boy. He didn’t mind the problem of keeping one child alive.
As long as she raised him properly, that was all that mattered.
But the child’s eyes widened at the words.
“…Daddy?”
“Yes. That’s what you’ll call me from now on.”
The child gripped the duke’s sleeve tightly.
“Aster and. Daddy and I, three live together!” (Astel, Daddy, and I are going to live together!)
“The three of us are going to live together?”
“Yes! Heehee!”
Looking at Rune, who was giggling and happy as ever, Duke Anais lifted the child lightly.
It weighed about as much as a bag of chocolate cookies.
“Yay!”
To Rune, on the other hand, the Duke’s arm felt quite reassuring.
The child giggled and buried his face in his arms.
“Let’s go.”
“Where? We go where?” (Where? Where are we going?)
Without answering Rune’s question, he opened the door to his office and strode down the castle steps.
The maids and servants he encountered in the hallways and stairwells gave him a startled look, but he paid them little attention.
“Like it!” (Rune)
“Noisy.”
“Yay, like it!” (Rune)
The Duke frowned.
Aside from his determination to keep the child alive, he had no idea how to handle it.
He deliberately tossed it in the air and then picked it up, just to see if it would squeak with every movement.
Finally, the Duke stood in front of his destination, the Glass Garden.
The garden was filled with maids preparing a warm tea for Astel.
Duke Anais set down Rune in the sunlight, stared at it, and smiled.
“This one. I quite like it.”
“Huh?”
“Not the bastard over there, just you.”
Cassian Gray.
The scumbag knight who left Astel with his child, and has been living like a bastard for his amusement.
Starting today, he’s determined to keep Cassian away from Astel once and for all.
To do that, he’ll have to break the link between them.
“I’m better than Cassian Gray to be your father.”
“Mm!”
A child who knew nothing hummed a tune.
There’s a method to everything.
Once he had Astel’s heart, he could deal with the coward who had broken her heart.
His eyes, which resembled the depths of the ocean, sunk deeply.
“Astel, we’re in trouble!”
Just as she was finishing up her conversation with Warret and trying to calm her racing mind, the door suddenly burst open without warning.
“…What’s wrong?”
Jenny screamed as she rushed in.
“Oh, the baby might die!”
I jumped to my feet.
“Tea, stay in the tearoom, His Highness the Duke…”
Sally, who had come up behind me to take over for Jenny, who looked out of breath, spoke up.
“He’s gone out into the garden with the baby in his arms!”
“To the garden tearoom?”
“Yes! Yes! I knew it would happen one day, but not so soon!”
I said, hurrying to the door as Jenny stamped her feet.
“Come on, we’re going!”
I’d only just realized that there was a good chance the Duke wasn’t a lunatic.
He was going to kill my niece this suddenly?
I scrambled to my feet and headed for the tearoom in the glass garden.
I ran frantically, ignoring the dirt on the hem of my skirt, and my jaw dropped at the sight before me.
The sight of the Duke and Rune together was not what I expected.
The Duke was sitting in a chair by the tea table in a languid posture, and on his lap was Rune, doing the cutest little thing.
“Hold me, me!”
“I did.”
“More I want!” (More, I want more!)
It was definitely weird.
I rubbed my eyes.
The Duke had lifted Rune into the air, his face expressionless.
The beast maids who had hurriedly followed me screamed in horror.
“Isn’t His Highness the Duke going to kill the baby?”
Jenny could barely contain her inner scream.
I, on the other hand, just stood there and frowned.
Contrary to what the other maids had assumed, from a distance, it looked as if Rune was bothering the Duke…
“Pfft!”
“You’re asking me to… finish here, aren’t you?”
“Kyah!”
The Duke’s expression became even more grim.
Unaware of this, Rune laughed uncontrollably, shook his head, and pranked the Duke by raising his head and jamming his fist.
The maids were now hiccuping violently, almost out of breath.
I was growing uneasy myself.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
A cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Duke Anais and Rune have become quite close these days, spending time together when Astel was asleep or away at the healing center.
It’s a one-sided affair, but Duke Anais hasn’t exactly stopped Rune from barging into his space.
Thus, today’s suspicious meeting took place in his office.
The Duke spoke first, his eyes fixed on the child before him.
“Cassian Gray.”
Rune tilted her head, confused, “Cassian?”
“Yes, your biological father, the same bastard.”
With that, the Duke looked at Rune with a serious gaze.
But Rune just kept shaking his head.
“Rune don’t know.” (Rune)
“You’ve never heard of him?”
“Mmm!” (Rune)
“A knight with brown hair and green eyes.”
Rune shook his head at the specifics.
Since arriving in the duchy, Rune had grown considerably, thanks to the potions he took every day.
His memory had improved as well, but he’d been too busy updating it to draw on his memories.
But speaking of brown hair and green eyes…
“Mister Knight?” (Rune)
The baby tilted its head.
Leaving the orphanage, feverish with excitement.
The memory of a large man claiming to be his father just flashed through his head.
“Lie…”
“…”
Rune’s shoulders sagged.
The man transformed him into a strange animal, handed it to Astel, and left.
And never came back.
“I’m… abandoned.”
I remember him stroking my hair and smiling at me. I think he cried more than he laughed.
But it was only for a few moments. Even now, it’s a blur, as if it’s going to disappear from my mind anytime soon.
“That’s what it is!” (So, That’s what it was!)
Rune stomped her foot on the table.
“I father gone.” (I don’t have a father)
His arms were folded at his sides, and his pose was fiercely determined, but the corners of his eyes were sunken and droopy.
As the Duke watched, a visionary moment flashed through his mind.
— ‘You have no family?’
— ‘No. Uh, I don’t have.’
—‘Then can I be your family?’
At the lively girl’s question, the rabbit-eyed boy asked.
—‘… What?’
—‘Why, isn’t that good, aren’t we close enough to be family?’
The boy’s head fell low, and he looked very embarrassed, his tiny form somehow overlapping with the current Rune.
—‘You’re furry and warm! I want to wrap you in my scarf.’
She smiled as she brushed his tangled fur, not knowing what she was doing…
—‘You’re small now, but you’ll grow up to be a big boy, won’t you?’
—‘Everybody says I’m an idiot… and a coward, and they say that…’
‘Astel’, who stared into the sobbing boy’s eyes, shook her head vigorously in denial.
—‘You fool, I think you’d be such a fine, magnificent…’
The boy, or rather, he was then, was very shy and not very good at controlling his emotions.
So as soon as he heard Astel’s words, he was overwhelmed with excitement and transformed into a complete animal.
Astel giggled and stroked his fur as he transformed into a much smaller and more delicate-looking animal than the raggedy-looking boy in front of her.
—‘You’ve completely turned into an animal? That’s so interesting…’
Remembering the girl’s touch, the duke placed his hand on top of Rune’s head.
Feeling unnecessarily awkward, he stroked Rune’s hair and spoke softly.
“Then call me whatever you want, just like last time.”
Astel loved this boy. He didn’t mind the problem of keeping one child alive.
As long as she raised him properly, that was all that mattered.
But the child’s eyes widened at the words.
“…Daddy?”
“Yes. That’s what you’ll call me from now on.”
The child gripped the duke’s sleeve tightly.
“Aster and. Daddy and I, three live together!” (Astel, Daddy, and I are going to live together!)
“The three of us are going to live together?”
“Yes! Heehee!”
Looking at Rune, who was giggling and happy as ever, Duke Anais lifted the child lightly.
It weighed about as much as a bag of chocolate cookies.
“Yay!”
To Rune, on the other hand, the Duke’s arm felt quite reassuring.
The child giggled and buried his face in his arms.
“Let’s go.”
“Where? We go where?” (Where? Where are we going?)
Without answering Rune’s question, he opened the door to his office and strode down the castle steps.
The maids and servants he encountered in the hallways and stairwells gave him a startled look, but he paid them little attention.
“Like it!” (Rune)
“Noisy.”
“Yay, like it!” (Rune)
The Duke frowned.
Aside from his determination to keep the child alive, he had no idea how to handle it.
He deliberately tossed it in the air and then picked it up, just to see if it would squeak with every movement.
Finally, the Duke stood in front of his destination, the Glass Garden.
The garden was filled with maids preparing a warm tea for Astel.
Duke Anais set down Rune in the sunlight, stared at it, and smiled.
“This one. I quite like it.”
“Huh?”
“Not the bastard over there, just you.”
Cassian Gray.
The scumbag knight who left Astel with his child, and has been living like a bastard for his amusement.
Starting today, he’s determined to keep Cassian away from Astel once and for all.
To do that, he’ll have to break the link between them.
“I’m better than Cassian Gray to be your father.”
“Mm!”
A child who knew nothing hummed a tune.
There’s a method to everything.
Once he had Astel’s heart, he could deal with the coward who had broken her heart.
His eyes, which resembled the depths of the ocean, sunk deeply.
“Astel, we’re in trouble!”
Just as she was finishing up her conversation with Warret and trying to calm her racing mind, the door suddenly burst open without warning.
“…What’s wrong?”
Jenny screamed as she rushed in.
“Oh, the baby might die!”
I jumped to my feet.
“Tea, stay in the tearoom, His Highness the Duke…”
Sally, who had come up behind me to take over for Jenny, who looked out of breath, spoke up.
“He’s gone out into the garden with the baby in his arms!”
“To the garden tearoom?”
“Yes! Yes! I knew it would happen one day, but not so soon!”
I said, hurrying to the door as Jenny stamped her feet.
“Come on, we’re going!”
I’d only just realized that there was a good chance the Duke wasn’t a lunatic.
He was going to kill my niece this suddenly?
I scrambled to my feet and headed for the tearoom in the glass garden.
I ran frantically, ignoring the dirt on the hem of my skirt, and my jaw dropped at the sight before me.
The sight of the Duke and Rune together was not what I expected.
The Duke was sitting in a chair by the tea table in a languid posture, and on his lap was Rune, doing the cutest little thing.
“Hold me, me!”
“I did.”
“More I want!” (More, I want more!)
It was definitely weird.
I rubbed my eyes.
The Duke had lifted Rune into the air, his face expressionless.
The beast maids who had hurriedly followed me screamed in horror.
“Isn’t His Highness the Duke going to kill the baby?”
Jenny could barely contain her inner scream.
I, on the other hand, just stood there and frowned.
Contrary to what the other maids had assumed, from a distance, it looked as if Rune was bothering the Duke…
“Pfft!”
“You’re asking me to… finish here, aren’t you?”
“Kyah!”
The Duke’s expression became even more grim.
Unaware of this, Rune laughed uncontrollably, shook his head, and pranked the Duke by raising his head and jamming his fist.
The maids were now hiccuping violently, almost out of breath.
I was growing uneasy myself.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
A cold sweat trickled down my spine.
