Chapter 20
“Oof!”
I’m going to get hit. Reflexively, Rowena squeezed her eyes shut and raised her arms to shield her face.
Normally she wouldn’t have cared that much, but if she got hit in the face, it would leave a mark.
That would interfere with the modeling work Seymour had asked her to do.
‘More importantly, Airy would be upset.’
If taking one hit to the arm meant winning the fight, it was a bargain.
But…
No matter how long she waited, no pain came.
Rowena cautiously opened her eyes. Then she saw a familiar face.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
Dante was gripping Donna’s wrist.
His cold expression looked even sharper than usual.
The fierce aura radiating from him was enough to make even Donna flinch. Startled, she frowned and snapped angrily.
“Y-You! What are you?! Let go of me!”
“Didn’t I ask you a question? What exactly were you trying to do? Were you planning to hit her?”
At Dante’s harsh interrogation, panic flickered across Donna’s face.
Donna yanked her wrist free and raised her voice.
“So what if I was?! She picked a fight with me first. It’s just a small argument, isn’t it? If it doesn’t concern you, stay out of it!”
“Whether it’s a small argument or not, this child came here as a model. If you hit her and interfere with the shoot, you’ll be the one held responsible.”
Unlike Donna, who was shouting at the top of her lungs, Dante remained calm as he spoke. Then he glanced at Rowena.
“…And it’s not entirely none of my business.”
The barely audible mutter instantly brightened Rowena’s expression.
‘Dante!’
She’d thought he had stormed out because he hated her and wouldn’t come back.
Maybe he had still been worried about her after all?
Or maybe what he said about hating her had been a lie.
Well, who cared!
Rowena grinned brightly.
“That big sister looks like a dog paw, but Dante looks more like a cat paw.”
As soon as he heard her, Dante’s brow furrowed.
“…Stop making weird comparisons. And I’m not helping you because I like you.”
“Hmph.”
She’d meant it as a compliment.
‘Cat paws are soft and cute.’
Though the soft little pads could only be touched if you were willing to risk getting scratched by claws.
If you got too close trying to touch a cat’s paw, you were liable to end up with claw marks on your face. Dante seemed exactly like that.
As that thought crossed her mind, Rowena suddenly realized something.
‘You know what? Dante really is like a cat.’
Cats didn’t express their emotions openly.
Usually, they only showed when they disliked something. But that didn’t mean it was impossible to become close to them.
People who truly understood cats could recognize their signs of affection too.
‘Then if I get to know Dante better, maybe I can become friends with him?’
After all, I already like him.
When Rowena smiled brightly at Dante, he frowned and turned his head away.
Neither of them paid any attention to Donna standing right in front of them.
And there was no way Donna failed to notice that.
“You little brats! First you mock me, and now you’re ignoring me too?! Daddy!”
Her face red with humiliation, Donna shouted for her father. Rowena jumped in surprise and muttered,
“Ah, calling an adult into a children’s fight is unfair.”
Neither Dante nor I have a dad to call.
But Donna did. And he happened to be nearby.
“My princess, what happened?!”
“What took you so long?! Do you know what they did to me? They ignored me and threatened me! Where were you when that was happening?!”
“What? Something like that happened? Which insolent little punks dared?!”
“Them! Those two!”
Donna’s father, Count Devon, glared fiercely at Rowena and Dante.
“You children—what family do you belong to, behaving so rudely? Is this how your parents raised you? I’d very much like to meet them!”
“We don’t have parents!”
“W-What?”
At Rowena’s answer, Count Devon looked startled for a moment before letting out a scoff.
‘So that’s how it is.’
He’d demanded to see their parents because there was still a possibility the children belonged to a high-ranking noble family. But they were orphans.
That meant the best they could amount to was children sponsored by some noble house.
Talented enough to receive support, perhaps, but still disposable if they caused trouble. Not even remotely comparable to his precious Donna.
The moment he decided it was safe to look down on them, Count Devon openly sneered with contempt.
“This is exactly why children raised without parents are hopeless. Tsk tsk. Without proper upbringing, who knows what kind of things they’ll do? I don’t know which house is sponsoring you, but you shouldn’t live like this. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, you’ll pay the price for running your mouth carelessly. Just like you are now, Count Devon.”
At that moment, a chilling voice cut through the scene.
Everyone turned toward its owner. A shaken voice escaped Count Devon’s lips.
“D-Duke Somerset?”
Seymour was walking toward them, his expression far colder and sharper than usual.
Even normally, with his deep eye sockets and constant exhaustion-induced irritation, he looked intimidating. Now that he was openly angry, he looked no different from the Grim Reaper himself.
“If I heard correctly, Count Devon, it seems you insulted both the child I personally sponsor and my nephew. Am I mistaken?”
“Y-Your nephew? I merely said a few things to this little girl—”
“That child is someone I brought in as my future heir. Do you dare insult House Somerset?”
The sharp hostility pressing down on Count Devon intensified further.
‘W-What is this…?!’
One wrong word and it would be like tightening a noose around his own neck.
Rumors might be spreading that the Duke of Somerset himself had become half-ruined, but no one would dare truly make an enemy of House Somerset.
Especially since the current Somerset household was practically united with another immensely powerful house: Hayworth.
In the end, no matter how desperately he racked his brain, there was only one thing Count Devon could say.
“I-I apologize! I spoke without knowing!”
“Obviously. Though compared to knowingly doing it, throwing yourself in front of a speeding carriage might have been the easier option. Was there really any need for that?”
Seymour spoke with a face devoid of even the slightest trace of humor before calling over Aubert.
“Rowena and Dante were insulted in the dressing room. I have no desire to share the same air with these people for even a moment longer, so I’ll be taking the children and leaving.”
“Ah, b-but, Your Grace. We were supposed to paint Miss Rowena after the other work finished…”
Aubert looked devastated as he tried desperately to stop Seymour, but the one who sealed the matter was none other than Rowena herself.
“I want to leave… I’m scared. If I don’t go eat cake, I think I’ll keep remembering this and won’t be able to sleep!”
“So she says. Then we’ll return tomorrow.”
With that, Seymour lifted Rowena into his arms. Before leaving, he added:
“Ah, and I’d prefer if we didn’t have to encounter them again. The child may decide she wants to leave early next time as well.”
In other words: if they wanted to continue working with Rowena, they had better ensure Donna and Count Devon never set foot in this studio again.
It was the final blow.
Back at the estate, Rowena was immediately surrounded by maids and fed cake.
The strawberry fraisier cake Hugo served with a beaming smile was delicious enough to wipe away any fear of adult threats.
Not that she’d really been scared in the first place!
With cream smeared all around her mouth, Rowena happily devoured the cake.
Of course, Dante received the same cake as well.
“Dante, you played a major role in today’s matter. Good work.”
After Seymour said that and left, a faint smile appeared on Dante’s lips.
But it lasted only for a fleeting moment.
‘Hm?’
Busily eating cake, Rowena suddenly lifted her head.
