Please Save My Child

“Wow, look over there! It’s a squirrel!”

 

“Wow!”

 

A crisp squirrel was hopping through the snow. Reina looked at the blue snow cap and answered.

 

“That’s not a squirrel, it’s a squirrel.”

 

“Are you two wrong?”

 

“It’s different rather than wrong.”

 

“What is the difference between being wrong and being wrong?”

 

“Uhm…”

 

Reina worked hard to explain to Estelle the difference between different and different. Bonita was also snuggled up next to Reina and listening to her words. Meanwhile, thanks to the hard work of the drivers, a wide road had been opened up, and everyone was looking at the children with happy expressions.

 

“My lady, you are very curious.”

 

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

 

“Of course you will become the owner of this duchy. You idiot.”

 

It was said that they were a cruel and cold-hearted group of knights, but when they heard the exclamations Estelle made every time she took a step, they were completely at ease. Estelle looked back and forth between the cute shovel in her hand and the shovels the adults were holding.

 

“Mine is small…”

 

It didn’t seem like a good place to build a house. Estelle stopped looking at the squirrels and she shoveled the snow. Bonita followed Estelle closely, holding a small shovel in one hand and a bucket in the other. And Reina eagerly chased after her tiny little children.

 

The knights all held huge shovels and looked at the three with warm smiles. It looked like a mother squirrel out for a walk with her two baby squirrels.

 

“What kind of house will Bonnie make?”

 

“I’m going to build a house big enough for Mom and I to lie down and roll around in!”

 

“That’s cool! I want to make something like that!”

 

Reina rolled her eyes and looked into the eyes the two had worked so hard to build. Looking at the children’s slow pace, it seemed like she would have to devote several days to it. The knights who overheard their conversation seemed to have the same thoughts as Reina and secretly piled snow next to the snow pile that the two girls had piled up. Unlike the cold winter, it was a cozy and lovely sight.

 

“Dismiss!”

 

From afar, Peter’s voice could be heard desperately calling for Damian.

 

“Your Excellency! Your retainers are waiting in the conference room!”

 

“I never told you to wait.”

 

Damian looked completely annoyed. He did not hide his irritation, as if he had become entangled in something very annoying.

 

“I don’t know why those old people haven’t died yet. Don’t waste your short life when you might die…”

 

“Your Excellency! The lady is listening.”

 

At Peter’s words, Damian glanced in Estelle’s direction. Estelle and Bonita were working hard to collect snow and build a cute tall snow mountain.

 

‘What is that?’

 

He thought he was going to build a snow house, but as he stared at the snow mountain, or rather the snow hill, for a long time, wondering if he had changed his mind, Peter whispered to her in embarrassment.

 

“These are the people who have firmly maintained their position since the previous generation. If Your Excellency does not attend, there will be arguments among the families.”

 

“…shit.”

 

When the story of ‘Sentai’ came up, Damian’s expression crumpled. Those people have been unhelpful for a long time. There were many people who tried to interfere with everything for their own benefit.

 

“Is the fact that we all came and sat down together this time related to Reina Borton?”

 

“Yes.”

 

They said they wanted back one of the many titles, but who cares? It was a title that Damian would not return to them even if he did not give it to Reina. here was a group of people who felt sick to their stomachs when someone else got something they couldn’t have, and that’s exactly what they were like.

 

‘No, it’s not that I don’t understand.’

 

If we look at it from a really serious point of view, there will be people who will take advantage of this if the title that was awarded to Raina right away. For example, they could deliberately harm Estelle and then held her in hopes of benefiting her. It wasn’t Damian who couldn’t even tell the difference, but he didn’t want Estelle to get hurt in the middle of it. Of course, his, or rather the vassals of this duchy, did not think about that and opposed it. They probably just don’t want less beans falling on them.

 

Damian suppressed the rising headache and called out to Reina.

 

“Reina Borton.”

 

“Yes, master.”

 

Reina watched the knights playing safely within sight and approached Damian. Even though Damian tried to hide his expression, he already looked exhausted.

 

“I have some unfinished business, so I think I’ll have to leave for a while. Please take care of the kids.”

 

“All right.”

 

“Here…”

 

Damian held the shovel in his hand to Reina’s chin.

 

“You should use this shovel. It looks like you don’t have one.”

 

“…?”

 

Damian nodded his head once and left. Only then did Peter exhale and run after Damian.

 

“This shovel.”

 

Reina looked down at the brilliant shovel in her hand.

 

“…?”

 

It was a luxurious shovel, quite different from the rusty shovel that was lying around the house before.

 

‘How many months’ worth of salary is this?’

 

It was so sad to scoop up snow. Still, one shovel won’t cost several months’ payment. No matter how flashy it was, a shovel was still a shovel! Reina held that luxurious shovel and approached the children with a vain expression. Estelle looked with a puzzled expression as the shovel Damian was holding was now in Reina’s hand.

 

“Where did dad go?”

 

“Well, he said there was unfinished business.” 

 

“Work…?”

 

Estelle’s eyes wavered slightly. From that alone, she could tell where the child was anxious.

 

“Is it difficult for my dad because I’m being unreasonable?”

 

“Oh, no, miss.”

 

Reina quickly bent down and spoke to Estelle.

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Miss.”

 

“But…”

 

She noticed that Estelle was not confident. Reina quickly rolled her eyes and looked at the knights. The knights who noticed Raina’s SOS request hurriedly surrounded Estelle.

 

“Ah! You didn’t do anything wrong!”

 

“My lord forgot to do something… He was a little short of it!”

 

“Oh, that’s right! That’s right!”

 

Was it okay for them to almost call the lord they served stupid? Although she wanted to, thanks to this chaotic atmosphere, the unknown knight was able to extend the life of his profession. The adults cheered Estelle, who was downcast, and encouraged them to make a cool snow house to surprise Damien.

 

‘What is Bonnie doing now?’

 

Reina realized that she had been focusing all her attention on comforting Estelle, who was downcast, and had not been able to give her own attention to her own daughter. Reina quickly turned her head, wondering if Bonita might be upset.

 

“…?”

 

Bonita was squatting in the corner, touching her eyes.

 

“Bonnie? What are you doing?”

 

Reina wondered if Bonita was in a corner trying to hide the fact that she was sick, so she approached me cautiously. But no matter how I looked, it seemed like he was concentrating on something. It was only when Reina called out to her that Bonita turned her head.

 

“Mom, look at this! This!”

 

“Oh.”

 

On top of her Bonita’s hand-clasped mittens was a cute rabbit made of her own snow. She could tell that it was a rabbit, even though she only had two long leaves attached to a round snowball.

 

“Did you make a rabbit?”

 

“Huh!”

 

Bonita smiled broadly as she held her bunny in the snow she had made, holding it carefully in both her hands.

 

“Is not it cute!”

 

“It’s cute~.”

 

Bonita looked at her snow bunny and asked if she was cute, and she smiled. Reyna looked at her Bonita and replied that she was cute.

 

‘Oh my, my child must be a genius…’

 

The details of the rabbit’s fly ears were made by sticking two of them together, and they were perfectly oval-shaped… How could they make such a perfect and lovely snow rabbit! Reina smiled brightly at Bonita’s artwork, which was so lovely. Estelle was looking at Bonita and Reina, who were smiling from afar.

 

“Re, Reina!”

 

Estelle urgently called Reina. Estelle thought of herself as a bad child, but she thought of herself as such. As she watched the two of them getting along so well, unreasonable anxiety and jealousy welled up inside her. It was only when Reina, who had been looking at Bonita with her affectionate eyes, looked at her that Estelle felt relieved.

 

“Miss?”

 

“I want to make that too.”

 

Estelle worked hard to fight her way through the large knights. In fact, she didn’t even need to express that she was getting through it. Even if Estelle slightly flailed her arms, the knights took care of it and she fell backwards.

 

“Do you want to make this, too?”

 

Bonita and Reina asked brightly if she did not recognize the jealousy that Estelle had in her. Estelle shook her head, rubbing her cheeks that were turning red from embarrassment with both hands.

 

“…I want to make that too.”

 

“You’re not making snow houses?”

 

“…Sat, make the rabbit first! Next is home!”

 

Estelle shook her head vigorously. And this time, something seemed to have occurred to her, and she nodded her head.

 

“I’m going to make a house for the snow bunny!”

 

“Oh my goodness.”

 

“To a really big house! That’s a lot for one person… um, um… we’ll give them 10 rooms.”

 

“It must be a really big house.”

 

“Huh!”

 

Estelle then smiled brightly. Reina failed to notice the child’s sudden display of jealousy and wondered if the unit for counting rabbits was herd, not people. She thought about something like that. The knights, who had been standing like a moving wall, then raised their shovels and spoke with pride.

 

“Miss! Just give me the command! If you wish, I will build a snow mansion bigger than the Duke castle!”

 

‘I don’t think that would be possible.’

 

Reina rolled her eyes and looked at her piled up eyes. However, ‘sincerity’ was written on the knights’ faces. They were ready to build a castle out of snow, including all the cotton piled up in the village that Estelle wanted. If there had been a castle-building scene in the novel, she would have been able to make a conclusion, but Reina tried hard to remember the contents of the novel, which did not come to mind.

 

‘I don’t know…?’

 

But no matter how feverishly she thought about it, nothing came to mind.

 

‘Why do I feel like I saw this scene?’

 

Her vague sense of déjà vu fueled her anxiety.

 

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Translator Note: