IBDF 09

Chapter 9

Seymour’s impression could be summed up in a single phrase.

He looks terrifying.

If Rowena hadn’t known anything about Seymour, she would have avoided getting within a one-meter radius of him at all costs.

His face, worn down by exhaustion, looked sharp enough to cut. Deep shadows filled his sunken eye sockets, casting a gloomy darkness over them. His tightly shut lips and sharply defined cheeks made him seem not only stubborn, but almost savage. Even his dull green eyes resembled dark velvet.

Put nicely, he possessed a cold, inorganic elegance.

Put less nicely, he looked painfully devoid of humanity.

And honestly, only someone with a face like Seymour’s could even earn the description elegant. If it had been anyone else, people would have simply called it “the face of someone who hasn’t slept for a week.”

But what did that matter?

Rowena was in an extremely good mood right now. The proof was the bright smile that refused to leave her lips.

So this person is my cure.

People said that when you really liked someone, just looking at them could make you feel full.

Looking at him made her feel like she could live a long, healthy life forever.

In the end, Seymour had failed to withstand the overwhelming pressure from Grand Duchess Hayworth and completely surrendered.

Of course, before that happened, the two of them had apparently spent a very long time having a serious discussion in the room Rowena had been sent out of…

Rowena had heard it clearly—the voices leaking through the tightly shut, supposedly soundproof door.

“Old people should just die already! Ah yes, old people should just die! What glory am I living for, to survive this long only to be disrespected by my son-in-law like this?!”

“I said I understand! I said I understand! I’ll raise her!”

“How dare you raise your voice when you’ve done nothing right!”

Grand Duchess Hayworth was truly an incredible person.

Thanks to her, Rowena learned that even adults—even dignified adults like the Grand Duchess—shouted and fought when they got angry.

Perhaps because this arrangement had been decided through such a process, Seymour looked displeased the entire time.

Even now, while making eye contact with the grinning Rowena.

“…What exactly are you looking at?”

“You, Duke!”

No, she needed to correct herself. He didn’t just look displeased.

He looked thoroughly annoyed.

And after her answer, he looked even more annoyed. Seymour frowned deeply before asking,

“What is there to smile about like that?”

At Seymour’s question, the smile faded from Rowena’s face.

More precisely, she looked puzzled.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, her twin braids swayed with the motion.

What was there to smile about?

Well—

“Because I like you, Duke?”

“……”

I’m already this happy just looking at you.

Hehe!

As the little girl smiled brightly again, the crease between Seymour’s brows deepened.

But this time, it looked less annoyed and more… speechless.

People said you couldn’t spit on a smiling face.

But Seymour was the kind of man who absolutely could.

And yet, somehow, there was something about this child named Rowena that made it difficult to say cruel things to her outright.

Is it because of that smile?

Her innocent, beaming face looked as soft and fluffy as cotton candy. Her round cheeks seemed like they’d squish pleasantly if poked. “Adorable” hardly felt like enough to describe her.

But such things did not move Seymour’s dried-up heart in the slightest.

Sensing that thinking too deeply about it would get him nowhere, he let out a small sigh and spoke.

“I’ll say this in advance. I dislike children. I don’t know what trick you used to win my mother-in-law over, but I have no intention of becoming close to you.”

He had brought Rowena here, yes—but only because Grand Duchess Hayworth had forced him into it.

“Just try raising her first. It’s not like I’m asking you to care for a newborn. How much trouble could a child her age possibly be?”

“Even so…!”

“I’ve raised children before, so I know. Kids that age grow up perfectly fine if you just hire them a tutor.”

“Mother-in-law, do you honestly think that makes sense?”

“Yes. Have you ever raised a child? Do you think you know better than I do? If you have, then go ahead and explain.”

How was he supposed to argue against that?

Once it turned into “If you’ve never raised a child, then be quiet,” there was no way to win.

Rather than continue bickering, it was simply more efficient for Seymour to give in.

That was the only reason he had agreed to raise Rowena.

“So don’t expect anything unnecessary. There’s nothing I can do for you.”

There was nothing he would do for her—and even less intention of becoming her family.

Seymour’s words were as sharp as daggers. Since he spoke them deliberately as cruelty, that was only natural.

He glanced sideways at the child.

She’s not going to cry, is she?

He didn’t know how to comfort crying children.

No—he didn’t particularly want to comfort them either.

I hate being bothered.

His overworked body had been pushed to its limit for days. His head throbbed as though it might split open at any moment.

The child’s presence only exhausted him further.

Right now, Seymour had no room to spare for anyone.

So if the child cried, he intended to hand her over to a maid immediately.

But—

“Yes! I’m not expecting anything.”

“…What?”

The response was entirely unexpected.

Not only did she not cry, she didn’t even look discouraged. Rowena simply smiled brightly.

“I didn’t come here to be loved by you, Duke. So don’t worry!”

What she said next was even more absurd.

Seymour’s face instantly twisted into a frown, but Rowena merely swung her short little legs cheerfully, unconcerned.

Wouldn’t most children be heartbroken after hearing words that shattered any hopeful expectations instead of a warm greeting?

But Rowena remained astonishingly carefree.

Well, she had expected this much already.

The Duke was supposed to have a really terrible personality right now, wasn’t he?

She’d wondered if the book exaggerated things, but seeing those cold eyes in person, it seemed mostly accurate.

And suddenly shoving a child at someone like him and telling him to raise her?

There was no reason to expect a warm welcome.

More importantly, the children at Townsend Orphanage all had one rule they absolutely had to memorize.

Even if they got caught grabbing bread with dirty hands in front of the headmistress and ended up locked in solitary all day, this rule still had to be remembered.

Do not expect anything.

Do not expect your parents to someday come looking for you.

Do not expect the guests visiting the orphanage to become your adoptive parents.

Do not expect your adoptive family to love you like a real child.

If you expect nothing, you won’t get hurt.

And if you expect nothing, you can always smile.

I didn’t come here to be loved, so it doesn’t matter what he says to me.

She only had one goal:

To safely obtain the cure and survive.

Smiling brightly, Rowena said,

“Duke, I’m really, really happy right now!”

“…Why?”

“Because I really wanted to meet you, and it already came true.”

Meeting Seymour had opened a path for her to survive.

How could she not be happy?

“So let’s stay together for a long time, Duke.”

As she said it, Rowena smiled as though she truly meant it with all her heart.

Duke, I don’t have anything I can give you, but I can at least give you a smile.

And trust me, I know from experience that smiling doesn’t hurt anyone. I’ve got ten whole years of practice, you know? That should make me pretty trustworthy.

So please take good care of me.

And if possible, finding the cure quickly would be even better!

As Rowena giggled, Seymour—who had looked momentarily dazed—furrowed his brows again.

“…Tch. How troublesome.”

Huh? That didn’t work?

“Act like a child if you’re a child. Don’t make people unnecessarily conscious of you.”

“Hing…”

“Quiet.”

His voice was cold and stiff.

Did I make the Duke angry?