Chapter 12
“……?”
But even after a long while, no sound came.
Neya slowly lifted her eyelids.
Azyure, as if nothing had happened, was already sitting at the dining table, reading a book.
‘…Not scolding me?’
Neya stared at Azyure in bewilderment.
Sensing her gaze, Azyure spoke with a hint of annoyance.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing…”
Neya quickly shook her head.
“You both woke up early today.”
Just then, Shane came down the stairs. Despite the early hour, he looked exceptionally neat and tidy.
“You’re up early, Neya.”
“Hehe.”
“I’ll put a toy box downstairs too, so make sure you clean up while playing, okay?”
“Yes!”
Neya nodded and began tidying up the toys around her one by one.
Neya usually followed instructions well without throwing tantrums. Judging by this behavior, she was quite mature for her age.
Shane smiled as he watched Neya clean up on her own, then turned to Azyure with a suddenly curt tone.
“I’ll put the toy box in the corner, so it shouldn’t get in your way.”
“Do as you like.”
Azyure replied half-heartedly, showing little interest.
‘I guess we need another toy box.’
Shane added one more item to his mental shopping list.
Even though he had already bought so much for Neya, there always seemed to be something additional she needed.
Then, his gaze shifted to the calendar on the wall, and he realized that summer was drawing to a close.
“Neya.”
After a brief thought, Shane called out to her.
“The weather’s getting chilly, so we should buy some thicker clothes. Shall we go out together today?”
“Great!”
Neya immediately jumped up in delight. Whenever they went out, Shane would buy her whatever she wanted, making outings with him one of her favorite activities.
Of course, Shane enjoyed outings with Neya just as much.
“Your Highness, you heard that, right? We’ll have lunch separately—”
“I’m coming too.”
“…Huh?”
Shane froze at the sudden declaration, which had almost sounded like a notice. He wondered if he had misheard.
Azyure had always been extremely reluctant to go out. Since moving to the countryside, trips outside were rare.
Shane asked again, almost unconsciously.
“Your Highness, you’re going out?”
“What? Got a problem with that?”
“No…”
Azyure glared at Shane, then returned her attention to her book.
‘Why is she doing something she never does?’
Shane, who had observed her closely, was baffled.
‘Could it finally be time for her to… die?’
He entertained a rather rational suspicion.
After breakfast, the three of them went to the nearby town.
Since Gary wasn’t around to use teleportation magic, they were traveling by carriage.
“Where are we going?”
Azyure asked Shane, her face tightly covered with sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.
Shane took out his notebook to check the schedule.
“We’re mainly going to buy Neya’s toys and clothes, but if your Highness needs anything, we can get that too.”
He remembered how Azyure had complained about running out of books to read. In the quiet countryside, reading was about the only hobby she had, and no matter how many books were stacked up, she would finish them quickly.
Hearing this, Azyure tilted her head in displeasure.
“Why buy more toys? We already have so many.”
“Shane always buys me one new toy every time we go out!”
Neya answered for her. Since their first outing, they had been sticking to the rule of buying only one new toy at a time.
“Anyway, whether it’s toys or clothes, I pay for them myself, so don’t worry about it.”
As Shane had said, he covered all the costs for Neya. The Duke had given Neya to them, but there was no extra support for her upbringing. Shane couldn’t dip into his living expenses for it, so all costs related to Neya came from his own money.
Of course, this was possible because the Hartless Duke’s household salary was considerable. More importantly, Shane was already wealthy even without a salary. His family was among the wealthiest in the Empire.
“Why do you work even though you have so much money?”
“Do you really not know? Who do you think this is all for?”
Shane furrowed his brow and glared at Azyure in annoyance. Azyure coughed awkwardly and looked out the window.
“…?”
Only Neya blinked in confusion as she watched the two of them.
Soon, the carriage stopped in the busy part of town, and the three got off.
Their first stop was the clothing store, to buy the thicker clothes that were the main purpose of their outing.
After buying plenty of clothes for Neya, they went to a toy store to buy the promised toy. Neya chose the same chick doll as last time.
Azyure, clearly not understanding, said,
“It’s the same as the one we bought before. Why buy it again?”
Neya, raising her voice, defended herself.
“Rumi is the yellow chick, and Coco is the white one!”
“They’re basically the same.”
“They’re different!”
Watching their bickering, Shane let out a faint laugh.
“Now that Neya has everything she wants, let’s buy what your Highness needs. Shall we go to the bookstore?”
“Ah, wait. Follow me first.”
Azyure strode ahead on her own. Neya and Shane followed, curious.
She led them to a liquor store.
Shane, displeased, muttered,
“Do you want to bring a kid to a place like this?”
“I’m not drinking it here, just buying it. So what?”
Azyure filled the basket with cheap alcohol.
Neya fidgeted nervously as the bottles piled up.
“Mom, if you drink too much, you might die early!”
Speaking out of pure concern, Neya warned her.
But Azyure laughed heartily.
“Good idea. Tell me more ways to shorten my lifespan. I’ll do them all and get it over with quickly.”
“….”
Shane let out a deep sigh.
Ignoring him, Azyure examined the bottles and complained,
“I don’t know how much to buy. Gary doesn’t drink much these days either.”
“Then drink alone. You’re good at it.”
“But drinking alone doesn’t take much in. Shane, what about you?”
“You know I don’t drink.”
Shane barely touched alcohol, a solid and reliable young man, the opposite of Azyure.
Azyure clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“I don’t get what’s fun about life.”
“Your Highness doesn’t seem to enjoy life much either.”
Through her sunglasses, Azyure’s red eyes glared at Shane.
“Getting cheeky again lately?”
“I tried acting recklessly because of my family’s influence. It’s not so bad.”
“….”
Azyure’s expression grew colder, making Neya beside her flustered.
“…Alright, pay and come out. I’ll be waiting at the carriage.”
Azyure set down the basket and left the store, clearly avoiding the situation.
“Shane…”
Worried, Neya tugged on his sleeve. Making eye contact, she pouted.
“Why do you fight with Mom…?”
“We’re not fighting. This is normal for me and your Highness,” Shane hurried to explain.
Indeed, these two quarreled frequently, so this was nothing extraordinary.
Shane crouched down, looked Neya in the eyes, and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“….”
Even though he promised to be careful, Neya quickly realized the truth: it didn’t mean they wouldn’t fight anymore—it just meant they’d do it out of her sight. After seeing this a few times, Neya could already tell.
“…Shane, do you dislike Mom?”
“Yes.”
He answered honestly, without a hint of a lie. Shane couldn’t say he liked Azyure even as a white lie. He often teased her, and Azyure, though hurt, could never respond and would just let it pass.
The owner was Azyure, and Shane was supposed to assist her—but it often seemed like the roles were reversed.
“Sometimes, Mom seems to listen to you really well.”
Neya often wondered that too.
Shane smiled faintly.
“Your Highness owes me a lot. That’s probably why.”
Neya tilted her head, unable to understand what he meant by “owes me.”
