Episode 33
“What is that?”
“Pardon?”
“Who cut up a pair of gloves like that?”
Gloves?
Albert, puzzled by the words, turned his gaze down the hallway.
Indeed, tiny scraps of fabric were scattered along the corridor. The butler quickly picked them up.
“Ah, my lord. This isn’t a pair of gloves with the fingers cut off…”
Clearing his throat, Albert continued in a clear voice.
“They are socks.”
“……?”
“They appear to belong to Lady Lirin and Young Master Theo.”
These?
Kalec glanced down at the insignificant scraps of fabric in his large hand. Upon closer inspection, they were indeed socks.
They were so tiny that it almost made him laugh in disbelief.
Do they really run around all day with such small feet? What kind of creatures are they?
“Oh dear. They must have been quite excited about their bath. It looks like they stripped them off one by one on their way here… The maids must have missed picking some up.”
Albert, realizing they were near the grand bath, spoke further and let out a small chuckle.
“I never imagined I would see such tiny socks lying around the mansion. But… what is this pattern?”
The butler tilted his head, pointing at the pale-colored socks belonging to the little girl.
A small embroidered design was stitched near the ankle, but its shape was somewhat ambiguous.
“Hmm. Is it a caterpillar? That’s an unusual design for children’s socks.”
“It’s a sprout.”
“Pardon?”
With a deep frown, Kalec spoke in a dignified tone.
“A sprout. Light green, fresh and budding.”
Wasn’t it obvious that it was a sprout? How could he not know that?
The butler paused under his piercing gaze, then politely bowed.
“Yes. I shall perceive it with the eyes of my heart as well.”
For some reason, Kalec felt annoyed.
He wasn’t sure why, but it looked like someone had embroidered it with great care.
“In any case, they’re quite worn out. It would be best to get them new ones.”
“Tell the maids to handle it.”
Kalec casually tossed the tiny pair of socks to the butler and resumed walking.
“You won’t buy them yourself?”
“Do I look that idle?”
Kalec was well aware of the imperial custom of gifting socks and shoes when adopting a child.
Of course, he could buy them without much thought, but there was no real reason for him to personally do it.
Besides, he recalled that when he had sent someone to the clothing shop previously, they had bought extra socks and shoes. Why were they clinging to these old ones?
“Well, it seems that Lord Alec… that person bought them, so they must be special… Ahem! Forget I said anything.”
“Enough. Bring me the documents for review.”
With his usual cold expression, Kalec opened the door to his office.
During the day, he had been back and forth to the imperial palace for the meeting, neglecting matters of his domain.
Now, he had to review, verify, deliberate, and sign a mountain of documents…
“……?”
Why was there a sock catalog in his hands instead of paperwork?
“……?”
Why was he signing an order form?
“……”
Wait.
…Is this price correct?
“Well, since it’s the Royal Grand Luxury Premium line with the finest fabrics and gemstone embellishments, the price is on the higher side. We kept adding a little here and there, and this is where we ended up. What should we do? Should we just go with the premium socks you saw first?”
“Ruska, what are you doing?”
“…I’m briefing you on an urgent children’s sock purchase.”
Ruska, who had somehow approached unnoticed, answered with a look that suggested Kalec was asking a strange question.
“Hah. What am I even doing right now?”
Once again, he had been controlled—by his body’s memory.
Kalec was about to crumple the order form and toss it aside when he suddenly paused.
“……”
He sensed a familiar gaze from the direction of the door.
“……What are you doing?”
As always, Lirin had poked her head through the gap in the door.
So she had gone off to bathe with excitement.
Steam was still rising from the top of her head.
Letting out a short sigh, Kalec gestured for Ruska to leave.
Taking that as a sign that she was allowed in, Lirin flung the door open and ran inside.
“I didn’t get to say hi earlier because I was washing up! Welcome back!”
Whoever had raised her had at least taught her good manners.
As Kalec frowned at her still-damp hair, a quick-witted maid handed him a towel and swiftly disappeared.
‘That impudent little thing… Is she expecting me to dry her hair myself?’
The thought crossed his mind, but in the end—
As always, before he even realized it, he had already placed the child on his lap and was towel-drying her hair.
Shake, shake. His wrist had quite the snap to it.
As he worked, Lirin chattered on about her day, enjoying the meticulous care. It was rare for her to come to the office at night. What was the occasion?
“Huh? What’s this? Socks?”
At that moment, she noticed something on the desk and tilted her head.
Oh. Right. He should have put that away.
“No way… Are you buying me socks?”
Sparkle.
Her eyes shimmered with emotion, and Kalec clicked his tongue inwardly.
“It’s not that—”
“But it’s okay! I’ll just take the thought!”
Huh?
Caught off guard by the unexpected rejection, Kalec stared blankly.
Lirin tilted her head back, met his gaze, and grinned.
“Now that I think about it, I have a ton of brand-new socks at home in Lepi Village! Dad bought me this many!”
She spread her arms wide in an exaggerated gesture. Given how short her arms were, it made it seem like she barely had any.
“Of course, Dad doesn’t remember, though!”
She added that last remark casually before turning her attention back to his desk.
From behind, she seemed to be simply fidgeting with her hands in boredom, but in reality, her green eyes were darting across the documents on his desk.
‘Oh-ho. So the Four Dukes’ Meeting will be held at our mansion. Good! The date and attendees are… huh? The prince is coming too?’
Yes.
Lirin had hurried through her bath after realizing Kalec would be reviewing documents related to the meeting.
She had hoped to catch a glimpse of the information.
‘But… The sock order forms and catalogs are covering everything! Why is there so much useless stuff here?’
Of course, it was nice that he wanted to buy her socks.
But right now, it was completely unnecessary!
Lirin casually pushed the sock catalog and order form aside.
Meanwhile, watching from behind, Kalec was dumbfounded.
‘Ha!’
Look at that. Not a single ounce of greed in her.
‘Just how miserably was she raised?’
Did she even know how much these socks cost? And yet she was comparing them to those scraps of fabric sold in that run-down village?
Kalec pulled the sock order form back toward him.
“……?”
‘What? I can’t see.’
Lirin pushed it away again.
“…….”
‘Oh, really now.’
Kalec pulled it back once more.
“…….”
Lirin tried to push it away again but stopped when she saw the veins bulging on the back of his hand, which was resting atop the catalog.
In the end, she whipped her head around.
“Why?!”
“Pick one. Right now. That’s an order.”
“But I already have plenty at home in Lepi Village—”
“Good. You never had a choice to begin with.”
He smiled coldly.
“Order everything.”
Scratch. With a rough stroke, Kalec signed the order form and tossed it into the ‘Approved’ tray.
Lirin stared at him as if she had just witnessed something absurd.
‘Why is everyone giving me gifts these days?’
Tilting her head, she genuinely couldn’t understand.
Then, she casually picked up a blank sheet of paper from the desk and began folding it.
“Look! A paper frog! Grandpa taught me!”
Of course, it was just a cover while she stole glances at the meeting documents.
‘Hmm. So it’s happening next month. There’s still time.’
Lirin tapped the paper frog, making it hop, and giggled.
‘Alright, I got all the information I could for now. Time to go to bed!’
To wrap things up, she handed the paper frog to Kalec.
“Here! It’s my gift to you!”
“…….”
Did she think he would just take it?
“Why are you staring at it like that? If you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it— Ah!”
“You’re so noisy.”
Slide. Clack.
Kalec swiftly tucked the frog into his drawer. Then, he made an excuse.
“Folding up an important document like that—what were you thinking?”
“It was a blank sheet.”
“Look closely. Hm. It contains classified information.”
“I don’t think so… I pulled it from the pile of blank memos. Besides, the classified documents are over there, sealed with magic… And also, your eyes wavered a little, so that’s definitely a lie…”
“……”
This sharp little brat…
Kalec, at a loss for words, resorted to the easiest complaint an adult could throw at a child.
“You should go to bed. Do you even know what time it is? And with those tiny feet of yours, talking back like that.”
Lirin pouted.
“It’s 9 PM… And what do my feet have to do with anything…?”
“Well. If you sleep early, maybe those little feet of yours will grow. And also…”
His blue eyes glanced at her sideways.
“If you’re going to be riding in a carriage all day tomorrow, don’t you think you should recharge your energy?”
“……?”
Lirin blinked blankly, staring at him.
In truth, Kalec hadn’t been busy just because of the Four Dukes’ meeting.
He had also been preparing for a short trip with Lirin.
“Wait… Seriously?”
“Yeah. So go to your personal vault.”
Kalec tapped his earlobe lightly with a long finger.
“Bring that thing.”
Lirin’s large eyes sparkled even brighter.
“Because tomorrow, we’re going to Lepi Village.”
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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