Chapter 6
Cake, delicious cake (1)
“I heard master finally accepted her?”
“He made her become the young lady’s nanny.”
“Though the young lady seems to follow her a lot…”
“She doesn’t follow her, she calls her mother.”
After Luke allowed Aria to reside ‘temporarily’, rumors of this and that continued for a while among the Duke’s residents.
Someone said this:
“I hope she’s not actually Aria’s daughter, otherwise she wouldn’t have been raising it until now.”
In fact, if the Duke had a mistress, and the object of that mistress was Aria.
However, that public opinion did not gain any strength at all.
“Nonsense! She and madam look so much alike, so how can she be Aria’s daughter?”
Bonita really resembles her that they would have believed the former duchess had given birth alone.
The only part that resembled the Duke was the red eyes that fluttered with unusual waves, unique to the Lysianthus family. Although she even looked closer to a deep pink color.
“And in the first place, there is no way that His Excellency the Duke would have any other woman than madam.”
In addition, the Duke’s attitude over the past ten years has driven a wedge into the opposition.
“Well, after madam passed away, he was in silence for 6 years…”
“Oh, of course. Do you think it would be acceptable for His Excellency the Duke to have his heir with another woman?”
“That is correct. Since there will be no more heirs born to the Dukedom in the future, His Excellency will naturally raise the young lady as his successor.”
In fact, there were very few people from the beginning who had any doubts about this little princess. Rumors had already spread that the Duke had shed tears for the first time in six years after his wife’s death.
So in the end, there was only one problem.
“So Aria, who is she?”
What qualifications did Aria have to be the nanny of a precious little princess who had barely recovered?
Why did she show up now in the first place?
Unable to ask the right questions, the suspicions grew and strange rumors began to circulate.
“It is said that the Duke was heartbroken and that the young lady was evacuated due to threats from political opponents?”
“In fact, it is clear that she stole the child. She was gently seducing the young lady.”
“Doesn’t she know how to do black magic? That’s ominous.”
The truth was buried in the rumors.
And the main character of all these rumors is Aria.
“Aso add whole wheat sandwiches, a tea table is a must, and we don’t want our Bonita to get sunburned, so of course we have to bring a parasol and umbrella!”
“Uh, mother. Is it okay to just take this out?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!”
… She was calmly preparing for a picnic.
Bonita fidgeted as she watched Aria run around the mansion like it was her own.
‘It said no one except an authorized person is allowed to enter…’
Where on earth did you find the kitchen key? The worker retreated and brought Bonita in, haunted by the quiet time.
“Bonita, what do you want to eat?”
“Do you want to eat something?”
“Yes!”
She shouted energetically.
Her cheeks were bright red, and she looked like a child excited about her birthday.
“It’s been a lifelong wish of Mommy’s to have a picnic with her daughter!”
Didn’t you say that your lifelong wish was to give your daughter a bath, mother?
Bonita swallowed her words as they rose to the top of her throat. Aria looked too excited to say that.
And in fact, it was inevitable for Bonita that her expectations would gradually build up.
A picnic.
That’s what rich kids do on Sunday afternoons. Bonita had never been to a picnic, but she had often fantasized about such wonderful things.
“Can we go on a picnic?”
“Of course. Bonita, you can go anywhere in this kingdom. Of course, it is possible to go outside the kingdom if you spend a little time and process.”
Aria bent her knees and hugged Bonita tightly.
“How?”
“In mom’s life, there’s not much you can’t do without money. The things that didn’t work were usually because we didn’t have enough money.”
Bonita, in her arms, thought that her mother was saying something terribly right for the first time.
Even on the poor streets of West Ham, where she lived, anyone with money was welcome, no matter how expensive or nice.
It was the same with people.
Children with rich fathers would wear real lace dresses, fancy bow ties, and expensive children’s suits, and the adults who saw Bonita in her raggedy clothes and told her to go away would smile broadly at her.
Bonita told Aria what had just occurred to her. Then she suddenly frowned.
“They told you to get away? Let’s go and catch them right away, no, what the hell they say!”
Bonita looked blankly at Aria, who started talking to herself again. Even if she honestly thought it wasn’t, she couldn’t help but suspect it was.
‘Mother… Wouldn’t it be nice for you to see the doctor?’
But if the doctor cures my mother, will my mother go back to normal?
Back to her drunken, broken state as she was back then, crying and projecting Bonita onto someone else?
“Mother.”
Bonita called out to her mother with a lump in her throat. Aria, who was muttering something incomprehensible while looking at the wall, immediately turned her head at the voice
“What’s wrong, baby?”
The blue eyes held nothing but Bonita.
The overwhelming affection in her gaze, expression, and gestures made Bonita’s breath catch in her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest.
It was an unconditional love that Bonita had never received in her life. Bonita’s fingertips trembled.
‘I guess I’m a bad kid.’
She hoped that her mother would just stay like this, even if she was really crazy.
“Oh, it’s nothing…”
Bonita quickly scanned the tabletop. There was something stamped in the shape of a cylinder on top of a round ball.
“Mother, what is that?”
“Huh? That?”
Aria moved her gaze along Bonita’s fingertips. Aria’s eyes widened as she realized it was cake batter.
“Oh, that’s cake! It just needs to be baked, but Jamie must have gone out for a quick meal.”
“Cake?”
Bonita asked back. She had never seen a cake in her life.
Aria paused when she saw Bonita’s expression. Her expression darkened for a moment, but Aria regained her smile and whispered in Bonita’s ear.
“Bonita, why don’t you try making a cake with Mom?”
*****
“What?”
For a moment, Luke couldn’t believe his ears at the servant’s report.
“Miss Aria snuck into the kitchen with Bonita?”
‘Not exactly sneaked in, sir, but… barged in.’
The servant explained with an embarrassed expression.
“Originally, the key was kept in a place known only to the chef or kitchen assistant, but it seems they somehow found out and took it. Chef Jamie locked it, but he found it open before he knew it.”
“What?”
Luke was speechless and rubbed the fountain pen in his hand. He asked again.
“So what are they doing now? If anything dangerous happens to Bonita, all those involved will be severely punished.”
“Well, it’s not dangerous. Rather than being dangerous, I guess….”
“Tell me quickly.”
The servant was startled by the Duke’s irritated urging and stood at attention.
“Th-they are making a cake!”
“… Cake?”
Luke’s brows narrowed.
Making a cake?
… Why?
‘Isn’t cake a dessert left to the pastry chef? Why is my daughter making that?’
He hasn’t even been able to go near the room for almost three days out of fear that Bonita will be shy. This is what he heard from the maids closest to her.
“The young lady is very fond of Miss Aria. I think she thinks… her as her mother.”
“Fortunately, she’s adapting very well. But she is afraid to sleep alone at night, so Miss Aria continues to stay in the same room.”
“Violence? No, I haven’t seen any of that, and with all due respect, Miss Aria seems to care for her as if she were her own daughter.”
“Hah.”
Luke sighed in frustration. He had to properly question Aria, which was difficult since Bonita never left her side.
‘Is my guess really wrong?’
He thought Aria must have been abusive to Bonita, but the bond between them made me wonder if that was the case.
Of course he couldn’t let down his guard.
Young children often follow their primary caregivers as if they were imprinted on them. Children of that age yearned for affection even from people who were not worthy of being their parents.
Moreover, unless you are so stupid that you don’t have a brain, there is no way you would treat the only princess in the duke’s mansion badly, right? It remained to be seen whether the report was real or an act.
‘I thought that if I found Bonita, she would immediately follow me… No. I should approach her slowly. First, let her adjust to life at the Duke’s residence, and then-‘
“Y-Your Excellency.”
Luke’s thoughts were interrupted by the servant’s call. The attendant, who saw Luke’s red eyes, opened his mouth even as his body trembled.
“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to go see the lady now? Isn’t it already the third day?”
“… If Bonita wants to see me first, I’d better go then. Otherwise, she’ll be confused by the change of her surroundings.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for Your Excellency, her biological father, to help her adjust? She may be shy at first, but eventually, she will understand Your Excellency feelings.”
“……”
Luke was silent for a moment.
To be honest, it was true that he too was moved by the servant’s words. Elodie’s daughter and the child he’d thought dead was breathing in the same mansion, and he couldn’t meet her.
The only thing that worried him was his daughter’s rejection.
He couldn’t help but think that after his last verbal assault on Aria, he felt like Bonita had hated him.
It was a time when Luke was lost in his agony.
Knock—
There was a faint knocking sound. The Duke scolded coldly without even looking at the door.
“I told you not to disturb me at this time. I guess you’re an idiot who can’t even understand.”
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry…”
However, at the sound of a child’s voice coming from beyond the door, Luke jumped up.
