IBDF 11

Chapter 11

‘To make such a beginner’s mistake!’

Even Miller, who always walked around with a runny nose, wouldn’t make a mistake like this!

And in front of someone she had just met, no less!

This was terrible. She had practically splashed black paint all over the reputation of Townsend’s top student.

Rowena stammered out an excuse in a tiny voice.

“…I usually eat neatly without getting it everywhere. Really.”

“Of course. Children are all like that.”

“I’m not a child.”

At least this much was absolutely, truly true. But Airi clearly didn’t believe her at all.

Chuckling as though amused, Airi finished wiping Rowena’s cheeks clean and held out her hand.

“Then shall we go wash up properly like a grown-up? I’ll prepare the bath for you.”

“Yes!”

Rowena grabbed Airi’s hand and stood up bravely.

Airi led her straight to the bath and carefully washed her herself.

Sitting in the warm water while the maids cleaned her with fluffy bubbles and soft sponges felt wonderful.

‘If baths were always like this, I think I could take three a day.’

Though she had followed along in a brave and dignified manner, the truth was that Rowena had never really liked baths.

At the orphanage, bathing meant cramming all the children into a huge tub, hauling them out one by one, and splashing water over them while scrubbing them down.

Since they had so many children to wash, the teachers were always exhausted, and their hands were inevitably rough.

The children would huddle together shivering like drenched mice, waiting their turn to be called and scrubbed harshly clean.

That was the only kind of “bath” Rowena had ever known.

‘It’s so warm here. So gentle.’

Her hair no longer felt stiff but silky smooth, and the tub was wide enough that she could splash around in it if she wanted. The water even smelled like roses.

“You were very well behaved. Since you did such a good job bathing, here’s your reward.”

And on top of that, she even got a lollipop just for taking a bath!

By the time she finished and came out, night had fully fallen.

While the maids dried her hair, Rowena rolled the sweet-and-sour cherry candy from one cheek to the other and thought:

‘This really seems like a nice place.’

There was hot chocolate, kind older-sister-like maids, and even candy after baths.

The Somerset Ducal Estate was so enormous that she hadn’t even explored half of it yet, but Rowena already liked it here. If this were her home, she felt like she could be happy every single day.

‘Of course, I know.’

She couldn’t stay here forever.

The only reason she had come here in the first place was for the cure.

If she couldn’t obtain the medicine, then forget the ten years Grand Duchess Hayworth had mentioned—she wouldn’t even survive five.

‘To do that, I need to make the Duke happy first.’

Only then would the Duke’s business prosper, and only then could the time needed to obtain the cure be shortened.

But how was she supposed to make the Duke happy?

Just as Rowena fell into thought, she heard the maids chatting behind her.

“Did you hear Hugo-nim tell us to prepare the master’s bedroom earlier? Looks like the master’s staying at the estate tonight.”

“Then we’ll have to clean up the liquor bottles tomorrow.”

“He can’t sleep without alcohol. He says sleeping pills make it too hard to wake up.”

“Still, he’s gotten a little better lately. Last time, in the middle of the night, the master…”

The maid had been speaking absentmindedly, but after glancing at Rowena, she suddenly clamped her mouth shut.

Even so, it was enough for Rowena to understand how Seymour usually lived.

‘It sounds like the Duke has trouble sleeping.’

That must be why exhaustion always clung to his face.

Rowena turned to look out the darkened window. It was almost bedtime.

‘In that case…’

As she pondered something, a smile slowly spread across her face.

She had come up with a good idea!

* * *

Late at night, in the office of the Somerset Ducal Estate.

“I heard the household gained a new family member while I was away, Your Grace.”

A young man with slightly drooping eyes and light brown hair handed Seymour a stack of documents.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen the ducal office in three months. And the first time without liquor bottles in half a year.”

“Why is everyone so damn noisy today…?”

With a weary expression, Seymour frowned deeply as he accepted the documents.

By now, his perpetually furrowed expression looked less like bad temper and more like the result of exhaustion accumulated over a very long time.

Flip.

Turning over the papers, Seymour continued cynically.

“My mother-in-law took the child away and told me to stay at the estate tonight. Though I fail to see what connection there is between bringing in a child and me staying here.”

“Maybe she wants you to check in on the young lady so she can settle in?”

“If I don’t check on her, will the sun fail to rise tomorrow? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Seymour clicked his tongue.

He hated children. Polite children, quiet children—it didn’t matter. To Seymour, they were all equally bothersome.

No, it wasn’t limited to children.

Somerset, Hayworth, everything only gave him headaches.

Which was why remembering Freya’s insistence that he raise a child left him utterly dumbfounded.

“I truly don’t understand what my mother-in-law is thinking. I already have more than enough things to worry about, and now a child?”

Raise her because she’s sociable? What kind of nonsense was that?

Though, to be fair, the child was sociable, just as Freya had said.

No, “sociable” didn’t even begin to describe how friendly she was.

But still…

“…She’s troublesome.”

“But you brought her here in the end, didn’t you?”

Seymour’s words could have sounded cold-hearted, but the young man was long accustomed to Seymour’s manner of speaking.

His name was Axel Portman, Seymour’s secretary and adjutant.

Because he had been outside handling business when Grand Duchess Hayworth brought Rowena to meet Seymour, Axel learned of Rowena’s existence a bit later than everyone else.

And he had been quite shocked.

“I heard you gave the young lady the sunniest room in the estate? By the time I arrived, rumors had already spread through the entire mansion.”

“There are empty rooms everywhere. Airi gave it to her on her own.”

“Oh please, it’s not like I don’t know she can’t assign rooms without your permission. I also heard the search for a tutor already started.”

Instead of answering, Seymour removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

It meant he was already too annoyed to continue the conversation.

“…What exactly are you trying to say?”

“That maybe you should stay at the estate more often. Pay a little attention to the young lady. After all, didn’t you bring her here to raise her as your heir? It wouldn’t hurt to care a bit.”

Axel came from a vassal family of House Hayworth.

Ordinarily, he should have remained under Hayworth’s command, but instead he had followed Seymour all the way to the Somerset Ducal House.

Which also meant he understood better than anyone just how troublesome Seymour’s succession issue truly was.

And from Axel’s perspective, the “solution” Grand Duchess Hayworth had brought was revolutionary.

Support a child, raise her as an heir, then marry her to a nephew so the title passes on cleanly.

‘No one would be able to object to that.’

It was incredibly efficient.

Except for one problem: Seymour himself was currently in no state to take care of anyone.

“I grew up just fine without anyone caring for me.”

“Well, Your Grace could probably survive even if tossed into a wasteland, but from what I hear, the young lady isn’t like that.”

Axel recalled the gossip he had overheard from the maids.

“Did you touch the young lady’s cheeks? They’re so soft—pure baby skin!”