I felt at that moment.
My brother, my sister, and me.
I’ve always been a sucker for pretty, handsome, and cute things.
The answer was so clear that I couldn’t help but wonder who it was that made me smile.
Dioana had inherited that gene, and she too had a weakness for pretty and handsome things.
“So, brother. What’s your name?”
For the record, Dioana will call anyone handsome her brother, no matter how young or old they are.
I shake my head in astonishment at the thought of her calling a man “brother” and asking his name with such a big smile on her face.
“I don’t have a name.”
–
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a slave, and slaves are supposed to be named by their masters.”
“You don’t have a master?”
“Yes. I have one, but she pretends not to know.”
The man looks at me and says, “I’m sorry. What an arrogant, shameless bastard.
“Then Dio will be your master, and I’ll give you a name! Your name from now on!”
Dioana says, her eyes shining with delight.
“Puffy! From now on, your name is Puffy!”
There was one dog that Dioana thought was particularly beautiful.
He was her protector, her friend, her brother, and he lived a long life of 23 years.
He had been a part of my childhood, and Dioana’s childhood, and I, Dioana, Jeremy, and even the Elders were saddened by his death.
He was a Gordon Setter, black, long, glossy fur with brown markings.
As he grew older, he grew into a large, strong, muscular body, but when he was a newborn, he was literally a cute, adorable ‘puppy’.
It was me who gave him that name. Being an intuitive five-year-old who didn’t think too much about naming things, I gave him the simple name of Puffy.
Puffy died last year.
When he died, it was Dioana who grieved the most and shed the most tears.
I was equally sad, but I didn’t spend the night in tears but remembering the happy times with Puffy.
He lived a long life, and it didn’t hurt too much. He’s probably playing with other dogs across the rainbow bridge right now.
Anyway, the moment the word “puppy” came out of Dioana’s mouth, I raised my eyebrows.
For God’s sake, give a human a human name.
No, there’s no reason to name him in the first place, and Dioana is his master, not his slave.
But in the end, he nods in satisfaction.
“Thank you.”
“Puffy, from now on, you’re Puffy.”
He looks like he could be a member of the Stern family.
Even children have aesthetic standards. The man was handsome enough to steal a child’s heart, I’ll admit, but I couldn’t help but notice that Dioana called him a puppy.
“What a puppy. Jeremy, take Dioana down the tower now. Why did she come all the way up here in the first place?”
“I beg your pardon, Your Excellency, but in my defence, she was the one who suggested we play hide and seek. Apparently she saw your Excellency and Lord Lockhart heading this way and wanted to follow.”
Jeremy’s eyes narrowed in protest, and I couldn’t blame him anymore.
I knew better than anyone that it wasn’t really his fault.
Dioana doesn’t want to be away from me for a second.
I don’t know if it’s a lack of affection or trauma from losing her parents so young, but she sticks to me like a cicada to an old tree.
She follows me around like a ghost when she knows I’m going somewhere, and she begs me not to leave her alone, so it was a mistake to leave her with Jeremy to watch her alone.
“Aunt Daphne, can’t Puffy stay with me?”
My eyes widened and I wanted to scream, but this was my tiny, adorable, worldly seven-year-old nephew.
“You know, Puffy, he’s not a bad guy.”
I didn’t even have the strength to argue with Dioana’s strange logic that if you’re handsome, you’re a big brother, or something like that, because you’re handsome, you’re not a bad person.
“I like puppies. You look just like an old puppy.”
“Dio, it’s not fair to compare people to dogs.”
“But, but, but, but, Auntie, that’s what you think, isn’t it? Puffy had black, long fur with brown markings, and you have black, long hair and brown skin, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and you have the same golden eyes!”
Dioana was missing a front tooth and her pronunciation was broken, but she was trying to be logical and give reasons.
I don’t know where to start to make her understand.
No, I had to get her out of this place, which was not good for her emotions.
Without further explanation, I picked her up in a quick hug and left the tower.
Predictably, Dioana burst into tears again.
“Daphne, you’re not going to kill Puffy! Jeeeeeeeeee! Puffy is my friend!”
“You’re being ridiculous, Dio, you just want to be friends with him because he’s handsome. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to trust people so easily based on their looks?”
Coming down the tower, I set Dio down and spoke with a stern face.
“Dio, if you want friends, you can make other friends, and if you don’t like strangers, you can play with your aunt. He’s a mystery, we don’t know who he is or where he’s from, and you need to protect him? he could be a threat to you.”
“No, he’s not, Puffy. He’s a good person.”
“Dio! Are you going to keep doing this?”
“Yes. I tried to put myself in her shoes for the hundredth time.
When Puffy was put to sleep last year, it was my first direct experience with death, and it was traumatic.
I’m sure she already had a fear of death from losing her parents.
But that was that and this is this. I can’t grow it forever.
“He’s the one who snuck into the Grand Duchy.”
“No. Daphne’s just mad at me for taking her friend away from her. I heard it all outside. You said you were friends when Auntie went on her trip. You said you stayed up all night-”
I quickly interrupted Dioana. Dio was staring at me with wide eyes. She looked suspicious.
What does a seven-year-old know? She probably thinks I’ve been up all night with him, having a slumber party or something.
Wearing pretty pyjamas, chatting Dorandoran with a bunch of friends, eating dessert, reading storybooks, falling asleep without brushing my teeth. That’s what she thinks I did.
The elders of House Steren didn’t tend to get too involved in my personal life. After all, I was an adult and he was an adult. It was a consensual night out.
So far, so good.
The real problem is that I’ve been caught trying to kill a man in front of a child, and the elders are already disapproving of an archduke who’s only looking for a one-night stand and not a husband, and my one-night stand with a former slave who’s saying, “Master, master,” all the time.
If that fact leaks out, it’s a real headache.
And most importantly, she would feel guilty about sneaking up behind Dioana, who had already noticed the man’s presence and returned his favour, and then killing him and pretending it never happened.
‘Oh, and by the way, I named him Puffy….’
Because of Dioana, the limbless man is starting to look more and more like his old dog.
Have I finally gone mad?
Sensing my distress, Dio gives me a quick tug on my livery and gives me an amused look.
“Aunt Daphne, I’m friends with Puffy, and I’m a sheepherder, neh, neh, neh, neh?”
At the sight of Dioana’s deadly cheerfulness, a niggle of conscience that I thought I’d kept well hidden for a while began to rear its ugly head.
“You have to promise me, Puffy, he’s a good guy, not a bad guy. You can’t kill him. If you do, you’re a bad person, Dio, and I’ll never interfere with you again, and I’ll play with Puffy.”
She’s begging, begging, begging. I began to think that if I refused, Dioana would hate me.
After a long moment of deliberation, I sighed and relented.
“Let’s have a meeting with the other adults first.”
Dio breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly, as if that alone was a relief.
“Then I’ll look after you while you’re in puppy jail.”
“Why do you say you’ll look after me, do you even know what prison is like?”
“It’s cold, it’s narrow, it’s hard, that’s why Dio will look after Puffy!”
The mindset of a child is truly incomprehensible. I’ve been bossed around by Dio all day, and I’m about to be bossed around again.
“Mrs Keller told me to hate the sinners, but not the people!”
“…Mrs Keller, you sure did educate her well.”
Heh, I grit my teeth in disbelief.
Yes. My Dioana is indeed very learned and unselfish. She’s my child, my sister and brother’s child, too.
I’m having a mental victory lap with these thoughts.
“Puffy must be hungry! I’ll ask Chef Hans to cook something, and then, Auntie, I’ll go in first!”
And so it was that Puffy’s life was prolonged for a very short time by Dioana.
