Chapter 107
“…”
“…”
The door was definitely shut tight, but for some reason, it felt like a cold breeze was blowing through the drawing room.
“Hello, Marquis!”
The one who broke the heavy silence was Diana, who had been clinging to my side.
Originally, I had planned to come alone, but after making cookies together with Diana, it naturally led to us coming together.
In the end, before we arrived, I had earnestly advised Diana.
〈Lady, the Marquis of Diapel may look a little scary, but he’s actually a really good person. So don’t be afraid, okay?〉
But even as I said that, I had a feeling, an inexplicable belief, that Diana wouldn’t be afraid of the Marquis.
Looking back, Diana had been scared of people like the headmistress or the chief maid before.
But wasn’t it because those people all had something in common—they weren’t good people? No, I was sure of it.
And sure enough.
There wasn’t a trace of fear in Diana’s bright eyes as she greeted him.
“But Marquis, Dana isn’t going to cry… Does she have to?”
It seemed to be her response to the Marquis’s earlier words: If you’re going to cry, get lost.
The Marquis looked baffled as he asked,
“You got shitty eyes too? You’re not scared of me?”
“Not even a little.”
At Diana’s innocent tilt of the head, the Marquis furrowed his brow.
Wrinkles deepened around his forehead and eyes, distorting the scar near his eye.
“Wow, wrinkly, wrinkly! So cool!”
Instead of being scared, Diana even clapped her hands in excitement.
I thought she wouldn’t be too afraid, but I didn’t expect this…
At that moment, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the Marquis looked Diana up and down then suddenly shuddered.
“Marquis, what’s wrong?”
Worried that he might not be feeling well, I sprang up and grabbed his arm.
The Marquis flinched, looking down at me for a moment before turning back to Diana and saying,
“The young lady you serve gives me chills.”
“…Excuse me?”
The cutest Diana in the world… is giving him chills?
As I stood there, mouth agape, the Marquis added in a rigid voice,
“She looks just like that brat Dominique when he was a kid, dressed up as a girl.”
“Gasp.”
I was too shocked to respond.
“Pfft!”
And from behind us, Ascart burst out laughing.
***
“Lady, the Marquis was just saying that you and the Duke resemble each other a lot.”
“No! I thought the Marquis was a good person, but he’s mean!”
“That’s not true. He just talks that way. Lady, don’t you trust me?”
The Marquis of Diapel watched in bewilderment as the little maid tried to console the sulking young lady of Elard.
It was strange. The child had only met him yesterday, yet she was defending him as if she truly believed he was a good person.
Meanwhile, his only grandson, Ascart, had his head down, shoulders shaking with laughter.
This was a first.
Perhaps he really was getting old because, for some reason, his nose stung a little.
Trying to shake off the unfamiliar feeling, the Marquis barked,
“This drawing room must be your personal quarters now. Stop chattering and state your business quickly before you leave.”
At that, the young lady of Elard, who had just started to relax, huffed and turned her head away, while the little maid flinched and glanced at him.
Somehow, it felt like she was scolding him, or maybe blaming him, and it made the Marquis feel a little awkward.
But only for a moment.
When the little maid lifted the cloth covering the basket on the table, the Marquis’s eyes widened.
“Marquis, these are cookies the lady and I made together.”
A rich, sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies instantly filled the air.
The Marquis flared his nostrils involuntarily, feeling dizzy for a moment.
Since childhood, he had never been able to resist sweets, but because of his tall, rough appearance, no one had ever dared to serve him desserts.
Besides, the Marquis of Diapel was always in a state of war readiness, unlike the nobles of the capital who leisurely enjoyed tea time.
He had once thought that if he ever retired and returned to the capital, he would indulge in desserts at cafés every day.
And yet, here he was, utterly unprepared for such an adorable gift.
“Marquis, I’m really sorry for bumping into your leg yesterday. Are you feeling okay?”
And then, looking into the child’s careful gaze, he felt an odd, ticklish sensation over his old scars.
The Marquis forced himself to speak in a detached tone to shake off the feeling.
“Something as small as you crashing into me isn’t going to affect my body.”
“But just in case, could you call a physician to make sure you’re okay?”
“A physician? Nonsense. I know my own body best.”
“Still… You did bump into me thud! really hard yesterday.”
The Marquis felt utterly exasperated.
Truthfully, before colliding with the child, he had sustained a minor leg injury in battle.
But for the head of House Diapel, it was nothing worth mentioning.
More importantly, I just want to eat a cookie…
The little maid, however, had yet to let go of the basket, as if she had no intention of handing them over.
“The physician needs to confirm that you’re okay…”
“I said I’m fine!”
“…”
In the end, when he couldn’t take it anymore and raised his voice, silence filled the drawing room.
The young lady of Elard and Ascart widened their eyes in surprise.
Even the ever-chatty little maid froze, her pupils shaking violently.
Looking closer, he noticed the telltale signs of a nervous child as her small hands were fidgeting anxiously.
She’s definitely about to cry…
“Haa.”
At that moment, the sigh that escaped Lia’s lips made the Marquis pause.
It was an entirely unexpected reaction, leaving him confused.
‘Wait… isn’t she supposed to be scared?’
But contrary to his assumption, Lia wasn’t afraid—she was simply at her wit’s end.
Her hands twitched with the urge to immediately cast healing magic on his leg.
But Ascart was watching, and using magic outside the Duke of Elard’s estate would attract too much attention and be dangerous.
Lia knew well that the only place where her actions were fully accepted was within the Elard ducal estate.
“Please don’t just keep saying you’re fine. I’m worried about you.”
Suppressing her frustration, Lia spoke with a dejected expression.
At that moment, the Marquis felt his heart sink.
Hearing this little maid speak so earnestly made him feel strangely unsettled.
He should have been furious, snapping at her for being so presumptuous as to worry about him. But instead of anger, he felt a ticklish sensation in his chest, as if a feather had brushed against him.
As a seasoned warrior, he instinctively knew that this was a battle he would never win.
And a moment later…
“You’re such a nuisance.”
The Marquis cleared his throat and said,
“Ascart, summon the house physician at once. Tell him to get here immediately. If only to get rid of these troublesome brats, I suppose I have no choice but to see the doctor.”
“Huh? Ah… Yes, sir.”
Nodding in confusion, Ascart went to call for the physician.
If the Marquis were truly annoyed, he would have just kicked the children out instead of bothering to summon a doctor.
Ascart couldn’t quite understand his actions.
‘It’s not like he’s being especially considerate of the Duke of Elard…’
At that moment, the Marquis’s earlier words replayed in Ascart’s mind.
Since he had never seen the young Duke of Elard as a child, his imagination had substituted in his friend Lucio, dressed in girls’ clothing.
The thought of being reminded of that every time he sees Diana was almost too much to bear.
As Ascart struggled to stifle his laughter amid his internal turmoil, the Marquis was watching Lia with a peculiar expression.
“Thank you!”
Upon hearing that the physician had been summoned, the child bowed her head in gratitude.
Then, as if she had been waiting for this moment, she beamed and offered him a cookie.
She wasn’t even the one being examined, yet she was all smiles, practically bouncing with excitement.
And the cookie—either because it was drenched in sugar or it just perfectly suited to his taste—was utterly delicious.
As the Marquis’s lips twitched upward slightly, a thought crossed his mind.
If the young lady of Elard resembled her reckless father as a child, then this child, who kept meeting his eyes with such genuine concern, reminded him of his eldest daughter when she was little.
***
“It’s truly fortunate. Had you waited any longer, the wound on your leg might have festered, and you could have lost the use of it.”
As expected.
Hearing the house physician’s pale-faced warning, I let out a relieved sigh.
“Is that true?”
The Marquis, who had been frowning at the physician’s explanation, looked down at his own leg in disbelief.
Seeing this, Ascart’s expression darkened as well.
“If we start treatment now, he’ll be fine, right?”
“Yes. But of course, the Marquis must cooperate fully with the treatment…”
The way the physician trailed off made it sound like a subtle reprimand as if scolding the Marquis for leaving a battle wound untreated and not even consulting a doctor until now.
Ascart seemed to understand the hidden meaning as well, silently fixing his gaze on the Marquis.
“Tsk, you act like it’s my fault when it’s your own incompetence that let it get this bad.”
Muttering awkwardly, the Marquis then suddenly redirected his irritation toward me.
“You! Didn’t you come here to check that I was in good health? And yet you’re grinning when they say my condition is serious?”
“But isn’t it a relief that it can still be treated? And besides, the wound wasn’t even because of me…”
“What do you mean it wasn’t? Of course it was because of you.”
“…Pardon?”
I blinked in shock.
The Marquis shamelessly declared,
“I was perfectly fine, but yesterday, when you ran into me, the wound worsened.”
“…Excuse me?”
“So, you’ll have to come and take care of me every day.”
Then, as if that weren’t enough, he added,
“Oh, and your cookies were awful. They ruined my taste buds, so from now on, the estate will provide the desserts. Just bring yourself. Understood?”
More chapters has been sponsored by Jean! Thank you so much dear!
I am sorry if I was slightly delayed, it was because of some wifi issues.
