Chapter 13
Whenever he remembered what had happened that day, a crushing wave of depression swept over Seymour so violently that he felt he would rather split his own head open with an axe.
When he closed his eyes, he no longer wanted to open them again.
He wanted to be buried beside Rose and remain there forever.
He missed Rose, and everything else had lost its meaning. Even the faint thread of responsibility he still carried could not overcome the emptiness of that moment.
And so, instead of struggling helplessly in the flood of despair, what Seymour chose was to bury himself in exhaustion and alcohol.
Yet perhaps because the child’s voice kept interrupting his thoughts, or because he was not alone in this room—
today, he could not think of anything at all.
Thanks to that, the headache that constantly weighed down his mind had faded before he even realized it. It was proof that even this trivial sort of rest helped ease his condition.
I really do need to rest.
No wonder Hugo’s nagging had been increasing day by day.
Whatever the reason, it was a change he never would have noticed if not for Rowena.
I should thank her at least once.
First, once the child finished the book, he would put her to bed and—
Crunch.
“Hm?”
Seymour’s brow twitched. The only thing he should have been hearing was the child’s clear reading voice, yet some strange sound had mixed in.
Was it his imagination? No.
This was…
“So then the princess went, nom nom, and bit into the poisoned apple—munch munch—no, I mean, she bit into it.”
Gulp. The sound of swallowing rang loudly enough that Seymour could no longer pretend not to notice.
That was the sound of someone eating cookies.
“…You. Where did you get cookies from?”
“Hehe, actually, I got a little hungry.”
With only her eyes peeking over the top of the book, Rowena gave an awkward grin before slowly holding something out toward him.
Half of a cookie.
“I saved it earlier during tea time… Would you like some too, Duke?”
“I specifically cut the part with the chocolate chips.”
The way she whispered it so secretly, as if offering an incredible bribe, made Seymour squeeze his eyes shut.
“…You eat it.”
“Hehe! If you insist.”
Though she said that, the cookie piece vanished into Rowena’s mouth immediately.
Watching her, Seymour suddenly remembered something Freya had once said.
“Just wait until you raise a child who takes after you someday. Then you’ll understand all my suffering!”
No, Mother-in-law.
I think I understand perfectly well without needing to raise a child like myself.
There was no reasoning with her. He had no confidence he could handle someone like this.
Beside the quietly resting Seymour, the crunching sounds finally stopped, and Rowena’s reading resumed.
And so the night passed, and the next morning arrived.
Heather, a maid of the Somerset ducal estate, sighed as she opened the Duke of Somerset’s bedroom door.
There are probably liquor bottles rolling all over the floor again.
Ever since her mistress had passed away, whenever her master slept at the estate, the same scene always unfolded. This time likely would not be much different.
Thus Heather’s duty was to bring in water and towels for washing up, collect the empty bottles, and leave.
Though now that the young lady is here, I wish he would restrain his drinking a little. If this keeps up and his health suffers…
But the moment she opened the door while carrying those habitual worries, an unexpected sight greeted her.
Without realizing it, a small smile bloomed on Heather’s lips.
“Oh my.”
Instead of liquor bottles, fairy tale books were scattered across the floor.
And on the bed, two people were asleep.
Seymour, lightly frowning as if trapped in a nightmare—
and sprawled on top of him as though pinning him down, a sleeping child.
It was the historic morning of the day Rowena had successfully managed to put Seymour to sleep.
Hehe.
I put the Duke to sleep!
Right now, Rowena’s shoulders were practically rising high enough to pierce the heavens.
Especially because both Seymour and Hugo’s reactions that morning had been so dramatic.
“…What time is it? Why is the sun already up…? Don’t tell me I actually fell asleep?”
Seymour looked utterly shocked, as though heaven and earth had been overturned.
“M-Maybe I’m hallucinating…”
Hugo, meanwhile, was so moved that tears even welled in his eyes.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I last saw His Grace sleep without drinking alcohol…? This is all thanks to you, Young Lady!”
Hugo praised Rowena endlessly, looking ready to boast about it to the entire town.
If dignity had allowed it, he probably would have carried Rowena around on his shoulders.
But unlike Hugo—who looked ready to declare today an official holiday for the Somerset estate at any moment—Seymour’s situation was far less relaxed.
“I slept this late… Why did nobody wake me…? What happened to my senses…?”
Seymour rushed off to work with a deeply shaken expression, unable to process the fact that he had completely passed out asleep—and even failed to wake despite the sun being high in the sky already during breakfast time.
Meanwhile, the remaining Rowena thoroughly enjoyed breakfast.
In the bedroom, no less!
With an angelic smile, Airi brought in a tray carrying freshly baked bread and warm milk.
“You didn’t get much sleep yesterday, right? You must be tired, so it’s okay to eat in the bedroom today.”
“Wow! Really, Airi?”
“Of course.”
According to Airi, nobles other than the Duke sometimes slept late and even ate meals in bed.
As Rowena generously spread orange marmalade and butter onto her bread, Airi gently brushed her hair and spoke.
“You have no idea how shocked we were when we found the note you left behind. If it hadn’t been there, the entire estate would’ve turned upside down looking for you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. If you had disappeared, it would’ve been a huge problem.”
Before leaving the bedroom earlier, Rowena had placed a note on the pillow.
[I go to Dukey.]
She had worried she might have spelled it wrong, but apparently she had written it correctly after all.
As expected, I’m smart!
Rowena’s shoulders rose even higher with pride.
“…But Young Lady, were you very hungry?”
“Aioing?” (“No?”)
Rowena widened her eyes as if asking why she would ask such a thing.
Though her pronunciation was completely garbled, no one minded.
Right now was a very important moment.
The challenge of fitting an entire slice of bread into her mouth at once!
“You could eat more slowly, though.”
“Eh o ong hieong-eo-ong.” (“I wanted to try it.”)
This was an extremely important issue.
Back in Townsend, one slice of bread was usually an entire meal.
Which meant there was a possibility of accidentally eating an entire meal in a single bite!
Children who were overly brave—or wanted to prove the size of their mouths to show off their courage—sometimes accomplished the feat of stuffing a whole slice of bread into their mouths at once.
But Rowena knew very well how hungry those children became afterward.
When you were hungry, you cried. And she hated that.
But there’s lots of bread here!
There were already three slices of bread on the tray Airi had brought.
Which meant eating one whole slice in one bite was perfectly acceptable.
After piling on plenty of orange marmalade and butter, folding the bread in half, and stuffing it firmly into her mouth, Rowena’s already chubby cheeks puffed out even further.
And finally—
“Oh my…!”
“Young Lady, you fit an entire slice of bread in your mouth?”
“My goodness, you look like a squirrel! So adorable!”
The maids gathered around the table, fussing noisily. Amid the cheers, Rowena grinned proudly with her mouth full of bread.
“Heheh.”
I am brave.
But then…
How am I supposed to chew this?
She had only thought about getting it into her mouth, not about chewing afterward.
“Eeegh.”
As Rowena desperately worked her mouth trying to chew, a knock sounded and Hugo opened the door.
Though he had entered with quite a serious expression, the moment he opened the door his face melted into the same soft look as the maids’.
“You were eating, Young Lady. Pardon the interruption. There’s something I need to inform you of.”
“What is it, Lord Hugo?” Airi asked.
Hugo held out a letter.
“The Dowager Duchess of Hayworth will be visiting the Somerset ducal estate today.”
It was a letter bearing the seal of House Hayworth.
