So, a month passed.
Sephiel finally returned to the Grand Duke’s castle.
‘Wow. I missed this place…’
Sephiel looked out the carriage window at the grand castle of the Grand Duke’s family.
Soon, she spotted some familiar, beloved faces.
“Beyyi! Mayyi!”
Sephiel waved her hand out the window.
“Miss Baby!”
Berry and Marie, who had been lingering at the entrance, rushed over to the carriage.
“Miss Baby! We missed you so much!”
Marie expressed her emotions more intensely than usual.
The carriage stopped and Sephiel embraced them.
“I missed you too!”
“Ahh…. Our Miss Baby’s soft cheeks….”
“The warm, soft smell of Miss Baby. Is this a dream? Tell me it’s real!”
Berry and Marie whispered in a slightly dangerous tone, but Sephiel was so happy to see them, so she didn’t really care.
“Master Cherno said it’d be a hassle.”
“Noel didn’t allow us to come because his wife was taking good care of you, Miss Baby.”
“But we didn’t care about all that. We wanted to sneak off and come look after you ourselves.”
“Treason means nothing compared to how precious you are, Miss Baby.”
They spoke as if on the brink of madness, panting heavily, their eyes gleaming strangely.
“You’ve grown so much in just one month,” Berry said with longing eyes.
Sephiel giggled and jumped into Berry’s arms again.
“Miss Baby!”
Marie hugged Sephiel once more.
They were enjoying their reunion like that.
“Miss Baby!”
Moreover, they were not the only ones who were happy about Sephiel’s return.
“Ah, Miss Baby is here!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but you’re still cute!”
“It’s real—it’s really her!”
Soon, a commotion broke out, and as Sephiel entered the hallway, numerous employees came running.
“Oh my, you’re finally here. The people in the castle were about to start a riot because they wanted to see you.” Elton said as he approached.
Sephiel smiled brightly.
“Yup, I’m back.”
And with that, Sephiel felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
‘Wow… it really feels like I have a home now.’
That’s how she felt.
As a large number of employees rushed in, Berry and Marie brought Sephiel into the room, saying that Sephiel needed to change her clothes first.
“Oh my, Miss Baby. When we heard the Elder Master was taking you on a trip, I almost fainted. How could he… Are you hurt anywhere? Did you eat well?”
“Yeah, I’m okay!”
Sephiel smiled broadly.
“We missed you, Miss Baby.”
“This huge estate was so empty without you. We were all on the verge of depression.”
“What on earth happened? I was shocked when the Elder Master suddenly said he couldn’t send you back.”
“Yup, Gyandpa said he needed help with his business, so I followed him around.”
Berry and Marie fired off questions one after another like rapid-fire.
“Did you stick to your daily snack limit?”
“Did you have warm milk at 3 PM?”
“What about nap time? Did your temporary nanny take care of that?”
‘Actually, I was so busy that there was a day when I took a nap on Grandpa Cherno’s lap while he was in a meeting.’
Every time Sephiel walked around like that, people would compliment her, saying, “She’s cute”.
But she felt it was best not to mention that part, so she just stared at the two with wide eyes.
“Her cheeks were all plump before.”
“Now she looks like she lost some weight.”
“I should check the round Miss Baby’s belly too.”
“I knew this would happen. What was Lady Malphen doing? I worked so hard to fatten her up and now she’s slim again.”
Malphen was Noel’s family name.
Sephiel shook her head to stop Berry and Marie.
“No!”
“Yes?”
“I didn’t lack anytwhing. I was fine.”
“……”
Relief and regret crossed Berry and Marie’s faces.
“Everyvthing is perfect except for two things.…..”
“What were they? Don’t tell me… food?”
“……”
Sephiel suddenly worried about the image they had of her.
“Beyyi and Mayyi’s… love….”
She raised her arms above her head and made a heart shape.
“That was missing… So I felt a little lonely every day.”
And just like that, the two melted.
“Oh, Miss Baby….”
“We will take better care of you in the future.”
“We love you too.”
After receiving their cuddles and love, Sephiel’s mood brightened.
“I have a surprise gift for you, Miss Baby.”
‘A surprise gift?’
Sephiel blinked. And as soon as she stepped into her room—
“It’s a candy house!”
It was big enough for her to hide in completely. She could actually go inside and play.
Sephiel crawled into the candy house, wiggling her plump buttocks to look inside, and licked the candy house decorated with orange candies.
‘The window frames are made of candy bars, and the doorknobs are made of chocolate!’
Sephiel seemed to be losing her mind.
In her past life, Sephiel had lived her entire life in prison.
The only friends she had in prison were the books. Luckily, some of them were storybooks.
In one of those fairy tales was a candy house.
She remembered drooling at the pictures countless times.
‘I’ve never eaten sweets before, so I could only imagine them through pictures in storybooks.’
And now, she’d achieved the dream of having her very own candy house.
“I’m happy! Did I really just achwieve a dyeam?”
“Oh, you’re so cute.”
“She’s so happy… it’s adorable.”
Sephiel sniffed around and took a bite of the snack before suddenly coming to her senses.
“Why did ywou suddenly give this to me?”
“This is a gift from the Elder.”
The “Elder” referred to was Cherno.
“The Elder Master prepared it for the day the baby arrived here.”
“Wow!”
Sephiel nodded vigorously.
Cherno had sent Sephiel to the Grand Duke’s estate first.
He had some matters to take care of at the construction site and planned to visit the estate in a few days.
‘I’ll thank Grandpa when he comes.’
Sephiel looked again at the delightful candy house that never failed to bring a smile.
“Can I show it to other people?”
However, the people in the Grand Duke’s castle, with whom Sephiel was usually friendly, probably wouldn’t be very interested.
“Of course. However….”
Berry spoke as if she could read Sephiel’s mind.
“You received such a wonderful gift. It’s a shame you don’t have a friend to show it off to.”
“……”
Hearing those words, Sephiel was reminded of Erga.
“What about him?”
“You mean Young Master Erga?”
Marie and Berry’s expressions darkened.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
Berry stared at Sephiel and then bent down.
“Miss Baby. About Young Master Erga…..”
“Yes?”
“He’s been in a really bad mood lately. So if you see him, try not to talk to him. Actually, it might be better to just avoid him.”
Sephiel blinked.
“Why… is that?”
“His health has deteriorated. He had been getting better for a while, even walking around the castle sometimes.”
Berry bit her lip. Sephiel blinked again.
“He looked prwetty healthy though. Is it gyowing pains or something?”
“That’s……”
Berry was troubled. Sephiel immediately changed her target to Marie.
“Mayyi, tell me. Hmm?”
“Well…..”
Marie was always weaker to Sephiel than Berry was. Marie looked at Berry hesitantly.
Berry just kept her mouth shut.
“It’s been a long time since he’s been sick, but… because his health has been declining lately, everyone has been careful. You have to be careful not to upset him. No one knows when his illness will flare up again.”
“Okay….”
“Since Young Master won’t be coming down from the floor he’s using alone anyway, you can just stay the way you are now, Miss Baby.”
“…….”
Sephiel blinked.
‘Oh… is he really that sick?’
But… Berry forced a smile and changed the topic.
“It’s pretty common for half-dragons to have frequent illnesses during their growth stages. More importantly, Miss Baby, let’s get you changed first.”
“Yes.”
Sephiel felt uneasy, but did not ask any further questions.
* * *
“Gyandpa!”
And two days later, as promised, Cherno returned.
“Oh my, it’s only been three days. Why so excited?”
However, when Sephiel ran out and hugged him, Cherno smiled wide.
“Why so dramatic?”
“Elton said people from the Gyand Duke’s family sometimes go out and dwon’t return for years. I got scayed ywou’d leave again.”
“Hah, but I came back, didn’t I?”
Cherno quickly picked up Sephiel and went into the mansion.
“I have something to talk about. Let’s have some tea.”
“Yes.”
Sephiel wondered if it was work talk again and went into the tea room with Cherno.
“Welcome back, Elder Master.”
Elton, who had been waiting after seeing Cherno’s carriage, greeted him.
“Mm, prepare some tea.”
“Alright.”
Sephiel headed into the tea room. Sitting in her little chair, she beamed and said what she’d prepared.
“Gyandpa, thank ywou for the candy house. I love it so much.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. So, how much do you love it?”
“The best in the world!”
“You’re so dramatic. Hahaha!”
But Cherno’s smile never left his face.
“What did ywou want to talk about, gyandpa?”
Cherno took a sip of tea.
“Little Raccoon. I’ve thought carefully about what you said.”
“What did I say?”
“You told me that I might need an ‘advisor.’ And you were right. I realized I need someone who can give me consistent advice.”
When Sephiel heard those words, she had a feeling that the one thing Cherno was lacking was now filled.
Cherno’s company will be fine as long as they have a reliable human advisory board.
“Yeah, there are plenty of people who do that kind of thing.”
With the Golden Dragon Company overflowing with money, Sephiel thought, they should have no trouble selecting suitable talent.
“So I picked the right person. I wonder what you think.”
* * *
