“Picky eating is a bad habit.”
“… … yes.”
“I guess I’ll have to take it apart and fix it. Follow me.”
“… … yes. yes?”
“Eat the whole bowl right in front of me. “I know I won’t be able to sleep until then.”
He grabbed Erica’s hand.
As I looked up at him with my round rabbit eyes open, I was led by Sebastian’s hand and walked slowly.
In an instant, the distance from BonPiju became longer, and Erica took a seat among the knights of the Grand Duchy who were eating.
As soon as she sat down, Sebastian snatched the bowl from her and filled it with stew himself.
“Hurry up and eat.”
The bowl that was only filled with soup was filled with a lot of ingredients.
Erica took it hesitantly and began to eat it while looking at the food.
The slow pace gradually became faster.
Contrary to Bonpiju’s statement that she hated vegetables and complained that she would not eat them, Erica downed her share of stew in front of Sebastian that night.
“excuse me… … “I ate it all.”
The demeanor of a marquis’ daughter, the noble etiquette… … .
Those things had been completely forgotten.
Erica held out the empty bowl, which she had scraped to the bottom, with her eyes shining brightly, like a child looking for praise.
And after hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“If there is anything left… … “Can you give me more?”
* * *
From that day on, Erica began eating with the knights.
To be precise, I ended up being with Sebastian.
Today, Sebastian, who was watching her stirring up the stew with a spoon, said pointedly.
“Eat a lot. “They’re so small because they don’t eat properly.”
“… … yes.”
Although the mistreatment had been going on for several days now, Erica was not hurt.
This is because I do not feel uncomfortable because I know that there was no malice in those words.
“The Rotu people are probably bigger than you.”
At that moment, wind entered Erica’s cheeks and they puffed up a little.
The rotu people are a different race that often appears in fairy tales.
Although he has a good head, his body is so small that even when he is fully grown, he is a small person whose height barely reaches the pelvis of an adult woman.
Of course, she knew that it wasn’t real and that it was just a remark made to tease Erica, but she couldn’t stop her lips from pouting forward arbitrarily.
From the first time we met, Sebastian saw himself as younger than me, not my age.
Erica protested quietly in protest.
“But I’m still ten years old… … .”
When I answered that it was natural that I was short, Sebastian asked back with a subtle smile.
“so? “Bigger than the Rotu people?”
“Well, exactly how old are you comparing the height to that of a Rotu tribe member?” … .”
Sebastian’s head turned towards her again.
My breathing suddenly became lighter and I stopped talking for a moment.
gulp.
Erica swallowed her dry saliva once.
After that, I also stared straight at Sebastian, who continued to look at me without blinking.
Every time I met those bright red eyes, my heart started beating fast.
Is that it?
I felt anxious because I felt like I was completely naked in front of Sebastian.
As a result, Erica’s voice became even more muffled than before, but she continued speaking to the end.
“I would appreciate it if you could tell me the standards.”
Fuha.
Sebastian soon began speaking louder.
“What an amazing personality.”
Releasing the hand that was holding his chin, he began stirring his share of food with the spoon again.
“You seem timid, but you accept everything I have to say.”
At that moment, Erica flinched and rolled her yellow eyes anxiously from side to side.
“S-sorry.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden apology.
“no. “I didn’t say anything.”
Sebastian uncharacteristically trailed off and scratched the bridge of his nose as if he was frustrated.
Then he suddenly turned his head and aimed his arrow at Milod.
“shit. “Can’t I say this to girls?”
He was silently finishing his share of the meal, and then he put down the utensils and looked at Sebastian with pitiful eyes and nodded.
“Speak kindly.”
“Wasn’t that really kind of you just now?”
Sebastian immediately questioned with slightly wider eyes.
It was as if he genuinely did not understand Milod’s advice.
The aide actually understood why Sebastian was reacting this way.
Compared to his usual appearance, he was quite kind and gentle.
Do you recognize the effort? … . It was very lacking. That was true. So I added it.
“Not by the Grand Duke’s standards, but by the average person’s standards.”
“Based on the general public?”
Sebastian thought for a moment with his brows together.
But it seemed like there wasn’t anything in particular being drawn.
The longer he pondered, the longer the silence became, so Erica quietly intervened.
“I’m not scared. just… … “I was wondering if you were offended.”
“I’m not particularly offended either.”
“Then I’m glad.”
The conversation between the two ended vaguely.
‘uh… … . What should my next words be?’
Erica rolled her golden eyes for a moment, but when she made eye contact with Sebastian again, she awkwardly closed her eyes and smiled.
He chuckled at the sight and stretched out his long arm to lightly ruffle the girl’s hair.
Then he soon looked away, shook his head, and started looking around.
He found Bonpiju eating alone at a distance and called out to her.
“Hey, head maid.”
“yes?”
Bonpiju answered loudly in a cracked voice, stopped eating, and stood up.
Sebastian naturally gave her an order.
“There is a shortage of drinking water. “There is a stream nearby, so go and float.”
“now… … yo. this?”
“now.”
“… … Yes, I understand.”
Bonpiju has now been completely reduced to a person doing chores.
But what can you do?
Bonpiju did not have the courage to refuse what Sebastian told him to do.
As soon as he turned around, Bonpiju, with a frown on his face, started running.
Recently, whenever it was meal time, Sebastian was making me do small errands and preventing me from eating.
‘I haven’t eaten properly for several meals already. I can’t starve again!’
Let’s quickly get some water and eat.
I felt like I would really be left out if I didn’t eat that soup.
Bonpiju gritted his teeth and spurred his heavy legs.
For the first time, my resentment toward the Marquis de Blanche began to creep out, as I wondered why my master had not sent me a single helper other than myself.
* * *
It was time to stop marching for a moment and take a break to quench the horses’ thirst.
Compared to the first forced march, it was a change in schedule that could be said to be in great contrast.
It was unclear what change had occurred in Sebastian’s state of mind, but as the distance from Erica became closer, he began to take breaks more often.
Of course, one of the main reasons could be that there was only a short distance left to reach Grand Duke.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
Sebastian’s gaze returned to Milod’s question.
“what?”
When Milod pointed to a certain place with his eyes, his red eyes naturally turned in that direction.
I noticed that my curly red hair, touched by the sun, sparkled more vividly than usual.
Erica.
The girl had a shy smile on her face.
“Are you saying that this kid is amazing?”
“what… … . “If I were to explain it without any hesitation, it would be like that, right?”
The girl was surrounded by the knights of the Archduke Acliffe.
It was one of the things I’ve been seeing often lately.
The drivers waited with their necks out, pretending not to be, and when Erica got out of the carriage, they sneakily approached her and handed her something. It was mainly to eat.
It was the same today.
“Are you really giving it to me?”
“of course.”
“… … thank you.”
Erica ate everything well.
Although others didn’t know, Erica’s obsession with food was a bit different.
This is because when I lived as a nanny’s daughter in the Marquis de Blanche, I could not eat as much as I wanted.
Since I lived a life where food was very scarce, I had a habit of savoring food as much as possible.
As a result, he ate very slowly, and like a squirrel, he would save and chew for a long time until his cheeks were puffy.
The appearance was so cute and lovely that many articles were seen clutching the left chest where the heart was located.
“The chest… … ! “It breaks my heart!”
“I’m out of breath! “I feel like I’m going to die like this!”
They are so outspoken and making such a fuss… … .
Sebastian looked at the knights with a bored expression.
It was to the point where he doubted whether these were truly the articles he had seen for a long time.
Anyway, the knights gave her things like fruit and candy that they carried around to eat whenever they ran out of sugar.
“But what’s so amazing about it? What about being good at tearing apart food?”
“Is that really true?”
As Milod frowned and got angry, Sebastian also got a little annoyed.
“then?”
Sebastian, who does not have much patience, urged Milod’s next words.
“Speak in an easy-to-understand manner.”
“Arcliff’s warhorse.”
