“You want to put it on my clothes? You don’t need half gloves?”
Elber nodded.
“Of course, half-gloves are good too! I have a lot of them. So there’s no need to change them. I’ll just attach a brooch.”
“If we put the brooch on me, it wouldn’t be a gift for you.”
“…That’s right…”
Elber wiggled his hands for a while and then said.
“I have a younger sister who gives me presents… I want to remember that more…”
Elber’s face brightened as he barely finished speaking. Even I feel embarrassed for no reason. I quickly picked up the brooch. I need to finish it quickly!
Anyway, the brooch feels nice. Is it real rabbit fur? The eyes expressed with amber beads are also cute. Soon, a white rabbit was hanging on the chest of a light blue blouse. Is this fine, Little Master?
“Enough?”
“Mmhm.”
Elber nodded his head furiously.
“Yeah, it’s really enough.”
“Then I’ll take it off.”
“Wait.”
He squeezed my hand as if to dissuade me. His eyes are still fixed on the white rabbit hanging on my clothes.
After looking at it for a while.
“…Enough.”
I think he has finally seen it enough to be satisfied.
“I don’t need another gift. This is enough.”
“What is enough?”
“…I like rabbits.”
This is new information again. Should I believe it or not, I wonder.
“Sol. You don’t believe me, do you?”
That ghost-like wit!
“N-No…”
“Rabbit is really cute! I like its fluffy fur, and because it’s so gentle that it never not listen to others.”
“I-I get it! Who cares? You like rabbits!”
“…And.”
Elber covered his face with an empty gift box and spoke with a slightly trembling voice.
“You’re kind of cute too… so it suits you well.”
“…Eh?”
“T-That’s right!”
After that scream ended, Elber ran out of my room. The sound of footsteps came up the hallway.
Oh my… Is it really that good to have a little sister? He’s cuter like that.
…But Elber, I, am actually an adult. My stomach ached with remorse.
When I took off the expensive clothes the Duke bought me, wondering where I should put the rabbit brooch. While doing so, I put it next to the pillow.
The moment I lay down on the bed, the first thing I saw was the elegantly hanging light blue canopy, followed by the white wallpaper with a faint embossing of thorn trees.
A large closet that looks like it could fit all the children who were sharing the same room at the orphanage…
Things I’ve never seen even in my dreams.
“Isn’t this all a dream too…”
The Duke’s bed was as wide and soft as a cloud. The level is different from the narrow one-room studio bed.
But I bent over. Like a stray cat sleeping to avoid human touch. No, that’s too cute to be mentioned involving me. A caterpillar avoiding magpies would be more suitable.
Let’s remember. I’m not cute. I’m not lovely. Before being possessed, I wasn’t loved by anyone except the director.
I was lucky enough to have the appearance of a child, but the Duke was wary of me, saying, ‘I feel too adult.’ Elber will realize that I’m strange someday.
Let’s not get excited for no reason.
…Anyway, I’m used to life without family… I don’t want to wait and get abandoned again.
As I lay down, hugging the blanket tightly, my eyelids gradually became heavy.
As I was falling asleep, I somehow remembered the comfort I felt when Duke Schlager held me in his arms.
***
The next morning.
I first looked at my surroundings to see if the Duke might have sold me out while I was asleep. Fortunately, I was on the duchy’s bed. My body is still intact.
What is reflected in the pretty mirror is a girl with black hair and golden brown eyes. Is it because I ate well and slept well? I look kind of cute today.
At that time, Linda came into the room.
“Oh my, Miss, you woke up early. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I slept really well!”
“Fufu, that’s good. Then, we’ll wash our faces and have breakfast together.”
A steaming basin and a small towel were seen in Linda’s arms.
Wash our faces together?
“You can’t possibly wash me…”
“Of course I have to! I always wash the faces of the Master’s children—”
“I’m not a child!”
…I was so embarrassed that I said the ‘most childish thing in the world’. Linda’s cheekbones rose.
“Fufufu, I know, I know. You’re not a child.”
“Uh, I told you I’m really not!”
“Close your eyes. The Duke himself asked me to wash you well!”
I think it’s a lie. I also used that way of speaking when I was taking care of the children at the orphanage. But since I had no reason to refuse, I ended up giving my face.
What good is this at this age? At least I’m glad Linda didn’t say, ‘Now, sniff your nose, please’.
Soon I was guided by Linda down to the dining room. There were only three people sitting at a table as wide as the roof of a tour bus.
Benén was taken aback by my greeting.
“Ah… There is you.”
Did you think the empty seat there was an ancestral rite table?
Meanwhile, Elber suddenly swallowed what looked like green juice in front of him in one go. Why is he doing this all of a sudden?
Benén giggled.
“This guy was complaining earlier about how he didn’t like kale juice. But he’s embarrassed to whine in front of you—”
“I-I drank it so it’s enough!”
Elber’s face turned red. How cute.
I wanted to enjoy this cuteness a little more, but the cold voice of the final boss, the Duke, caught my ear.
“Did anything uncomfortable happen overnight?”
“I slept really well!”
“That’s a relief. From today onwards, you’re required to behave as Lady Schlager.”
Gulp. I swallowed.
“There will be etiquette training after the meal. If you have any questions, ask your brothers or Linda. If you really need to ask me, you can come to the office.”
He’s telling me not to come. I know. I won’t disturb you.
While I was pouting inwardly, the Duke made an unusual sound.
“Sol, as my daughter, you probably remember what I told you yesterday, right?”
“Yes? Uh—”
I remember he had to say a word or two…
Oh, is it when he talks that a daughter must blah-blah-blah?
…Ah, right. Gift! When I gave him the cufflinks yesterday, he said he couldn’t go into debt and that he would give a gift, right?
“Yes, I remember!”
“Until you’re called, take etiquette lessons in the classroom on the second floor. Viscountess Gracia will teach you. She’s also your brothers’ etiquette teacher.”
“I understand! I’ll wait while studying well, Duke!”
I answered with a bright smile.
…But.
When the words ‘Viscountess Gracia’ were mentioned, the expressions of Benén and Elber suddenly distorted, leaving a strange feeling of uneasiness in my heart.
***
…I soon found out why they made that expression.
After eating, I went up to the study room on the second floor and was greeted by a middle-aged woman with platinum-blond braided hair.
“Welcome. I’m Viscountess Gracia, please call me Madam Gracia.”
“Yes, Madam Gracia. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Hmm.”
Gracia looked me up and down.
“You look mature for your age. I heard you were in a facility?”
“Yes. I was at the northern orphanage.”
“Which family sponsors this place?”
“I don’t know about that, but priests come every month.”
“An orphanage under the temple, not a family?”
Gracia belatedly looked like she had seen dog shit. It seems that orphanages in this world have different levels depending on which they belong to.
It’s true that I came from a shitty orphanage, but I don’t want to see that kind of expression right in front of me, you know?
Gracia lifted her chin and spoke even more tauntingly.
“I heard you’re ten years old. How far have you learned?”
How far? What is she talking about, I wonder. Are there any mandatory training courses in this world?
My answer was delayed, yet her voice became even colder.
“Sol, we’re having a conversation, right? You not answering is something only five-year-olds do. Are you ignoring the other person?”
I won’t talk until you stop talking! I pretty much know what kind of crap it is. I don’t want to give a nice answer.
“That’s right, I just happened to want to ask. Usually, when you ask ‘how far’, wouldn’t you have to mention the object for the conversation to be able to go well?”
“…Pardon?”
“While I’m at it, let me tell you, five-year-olds speak surprisingly clearly. Otherwise, adults would laugh at them.”
“…Sol.”
“When you call me by name, please also tell me what I need to do. Otherwise, you’ll look incompetent, like an adult who only sets the mood to scold a child but doesn’t have anything to say.”
“Sol!”
“Yes, just like now!”
Gracia jumped up, banging on the table. How very polite of her. She shivered.
“What kind of kid…! Don’t you have any respect for your teacher?”
“Well, I haven’t received training from Madam Gracia yet, so I have no way of knowing whether the person I’m facing is a teacher or someone who came to play drums on the table.”
“…”
Gracia’s face turned bright red. Hmm, did I go too far?
But I don’t want to be ignored by someone who says ‘I’m going to harass you’ from the first time they meet me.
She kicked off the chair and went out.
“I can’t teach a child like you! You should be so grateful that you were given the chance to be born again. How you couldn’t escape your miserable womb!”
“…”
“I must tell the Duke that you have no intention of mixing in! Think about how precious the opportunity you have lost is.”
“…”
“You’ve blown your opportunity to become a better human being! You’ll never be able to find a teacher to teach you!”
Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity. That word doesn’t go away. I applaud her consistent attitude to sit on top of my head.
“Ah, yes. But why aren’t you going to His Grace the Duke?”
This time Gracia was at a loss for words. She was walking very slowly, as if she was waiting for me to catch her.
The Schlager family is incredibly powerful. Being an etiquette teacher in such a family is a position that can’t be easily given up.
“You’re not going?”
“Uh… ”
“Madame Gracia, cool down and think like an adult.”
“W-What?”
“Let’s say you’re reporting that a problem has arisen between us. Would it be easier for His Grace to give me up and adopt a new child, or to change the teacher?”
“…”
“The fact that His Grace chose Madam means that you have the ability to teach. Could you please stop fighting and just fulfill your role as a teacher?”
She gritted her teeth. But she wasn’t stupid enough to storm out of the room. She took a deep breath with her newly red face, and finally regained its original color.
“…Sol, how old are you really?”
I answered confidently.
“The cutest ten year old in the universe.”
“…”
Even if I act cute in front of you, I won’t have any remorse.
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