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Chapter 46
Did You Call Him Father?
After breakfast, the mansion began to stir with unusual activity.
I had just finished three sets of push-ups, squats, and other strength exercises when I heard the news: the Grand Duke had arrived from the north.
Accompanied only by his aides, he had used a travel gate to come, and he immediately took the duke and me to the guesthouse office.
He looked furious, and I couldn’t help but feel tense.
The moment he sat down at the desk, he exploded.
“I heard the children were kidnapped, and yet you didn’t send me word right away? If something so grave happens, I must be informed immediately! Then I could have taken action.”
The duke squeezed my hand, perhaps worried I might be frightened. But once I heard what he was upset about, I realized it wasn’t me he was truly worried for, and I wasn’t particularly shaken.
“We did send word that she had returned safely.”
“You should have contacted me at once, even if you had to open a gate.”
“I resolved it myself, without fuss. There was no need to stir up a commotion. I’ll handle matters here from now on, so you needn’t worry. However…”
The duke frowned, his expression puzzled.
“Is that the reason you came?”
Was it? I was just as surprised. Like the duke said, we had come back unharmed. Surely that wasn’t worth opening a gate and rushing down here.
It took a full month to travel between here and the north by ordinary means. Unless something extraordinary happened, news and supplies were exchanged on a monthly basis through messengers or aides.
So the Grand Duke would naturally have heard of my safe return in due time. Why, then, had he come?
“Ahem. The children suffered something like that, of course I had to come check for myself.”
“Since when do you concern yourself with such things?”
The duke openly sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm. His eyes held no trace of respect as he looked at his father, if anything, it felt like he was deliberately provoking him.
“You—listen to the way you speak to me…”
The Grand Duke let out a long sigh and shook his head slowly.
“In any case, the emperor’s son has a birthday soon. I was invited, so I was going to the palace anyway. I simply came a little earlier.”
“What a surprise. You even bother with the prince’s birthday?”
“Ahem.”
The Grand Duke shot his son a displeased glance, rang the bell, and rose from his seat.
The door opened, and Marquis Kones entered.
In his hands was a cake box.
“Come here.”
Before I knew it, the Grand Duke had taken my hand, led me to the sofa, and sat me down beside him.
“Marquis Kones. Put that cake down here.”
What the Marquis had brought was a delicious-looking chocolate cake.
Even though I’d eaten a hearty breakfast, just seeing it made my mouth water again.
When I showed interest in the cake, the Grand Duke smiled contentedly and pushed it toward me. Then he waved his hand dismissively at the Duke, as if telling him to leave.
“I’ve no business with you, so you may go now.”
Feeling embarrassed, I looked at the Duke. But instead of leaving, he came over and sat down right beside me.
Even though the sofa was large, with three of us sitting it felt oddly cramped.
“My daughter-in-law is here, so how could I leave? Who knows what the Grand Duke might try…”
“What did you just say?”
The Grand Duke snapped again, but the Duke wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
“Ludia, go on and eat. It doesn’t look tasty at all, but for the old man’s sake, just have a little, even if it’s awful.”
“What nonsense! Do you know how precious this is? The best chef in the North put his whole heart into making this cake this morning. Don’t lump it together with those Capital hacks.”
“I don’t know about Capital hacks, but our Ludia already had a big meal of roast turkey this morning.”
Caught between the father and son, I hesitated, not even able to pick up my fork.
“How would you know? You were probably drunk and passed out.”
“Watch your language. The child is listening.”
“Mm.”
The Grand Duke frowned, displeasure creasing his brow. It seemed he hadn’t heard the news yet, because the way he looked at his son was still full of disapproval.
I puffed up with pride and announced,
“The Duke quit drinking!”
‘Our Duke has changed! He doesn’t even touch alcohol anymore.’
“What?”
The Grand Duke looked doubtful, but the Duke calmly took a forkful of cake and held it out to my mouth.
“Say ah! For the old man’s sake, you should at least take a bite.”
“Ahhh!”
Munch, munch.
The sweet chocolate cake was delicious. I had always liked chocolate, so anything made of it was an easy win.
“Not good, right?”
It was tasty, actually. Glancing at the Grand Duke, I told the truth.
“It’s yummy.”
“Our dear child is so kind. Pretending it’s good just so the old man won’t feel hurt.”
“You’ve really lost your mind, haven’t you?”
The Grand Duke spat harsh words, his face red as a tomato, practically steaming from the head.
Even though tension crackled between the father and son, I resolutely kept eating my chocolate cake.
“What in the world happened here? Kones, fetch Warren at once.”
The Marquis immediately left. The Duke, unfazed, kept feeding me cake.
“My Ludia, I’m sorry to make you eat something so tasteless. But what can we do? We have to respect the old man’s sincerity…”
The father scolded, the son teased.
I was baffled, but I decided to just focus on eating my cake.
As soon as the door opened again, Warren entered.
“Tell me exactly what happened with that man.”
“That man?…”
Warren’s gaze followed the Grand Duke’s, and when he realized it meant the Duke, his eyes widened and his lips pressed shut.
But the Grand Duke was impatient and menacing.
“Speak quickly, before you lose your head.”
How terrifying. I suddenly felt sorry for Warren.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he wiped it with a hand and sighed. He looked far more nervous than I’d ever seen him.
“W-well…”
“Stop stammering.”
“Yes, so after our young master and lady was kidnapped, His Grace the Duke went personally to rescue them, and from the next day he quit drinking, started receiving the knights’ reports directly, spent time talking and dining with the young masters, and…”
“Are you telling me it took that long just to say the ba****d finally got his act together?”
“Ah, y-yes. That’s… right.”
With Warren’s confirmation, a rough exclamation escaped the Grand Duke. But the Duke remained utterly unbothered.
Their words were harsh and full of jabs, yet it didn’t truly seem like their relationship was fundamentally bad.
“Well, when you live long enough, you see everything.”
“Just don’t live too long, though.”
…Or maybe not.
“Honestly, the way you talk…”
Wow. These two really hold nothing back.
I figured it was time for me to step in.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Speak.”
“With you two fighting, I think the cake’s going to end up going up my nose.”
“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m carefully feeding you straight into your mouth.”
‘Good grief, Your Grace. That’s not what I meant.’
‘If grown adults act like this, what’s a five-year-old supposed to do?’
I pouted in protest, but what came toward my lips was another sweet piece of cake.
With no choice, I opened my mouth like a baby bird and let myself be fed. That was the last bite, then the Duke set the fork down.
“Seems we’re finished here. Shall we go now?”
“I never told you to stay.”
“I meant taking Ludia with me. You’re getting forgetful with age, it seems.”
“You insolent brat.”
The Grand Duke snapped once more. The Duke, however, rose from his seat at his usual unhurried pace.
“Leave the child here.”
“No. It’s time for her to rest a little.”
“I’ll take her to you later.”
“To my office? No. Please don’t come. Ludia will just play in my office for a while before coming back.”
The Duke, who had answered coldly with a stern face, quickly changed his expression and broke into a bright smile. He lifted me up as if I were a precious treasure.
The sudden change in atmosphere was so extreme that it almost made me feel dizzy. Feeling guilty for no reason, I cast an apologetic look toward the Grand Duke.
His frown softened the moment his eyes met mine.
“After all you went through, I’m glad to see you eating well and staying strong. Are you truly all right?”
“Yes, Your Gwace. I’m fine. Nothing happened, so please don’t worry. Ludia is strong.”
I raised my right hand high and clenched it into a tight fist. The Grand Duke seemed to like that; the smile on his lips deepened.
“And Fatwer beat up all the bad guys. He solved everything so amazingly that Ludia watched and learned. Ludia will also beat up all the bad guys later.”
Even now, thinking about the Duke that day when he punished the kidnappers filled me with elation.
So of course, the praises had to continue.
“W-what did you just say?”
Did I say something wrong? The Grand Duke’s face turned crimson, as if it were on fire.
“Yes? That Fatwer beat up all the bad guys.”
“No, not that…”
“That Ludia will also beat up all the bad guys.”
“No, not that, b-but… just now, did you call him Father?”
“Yes. I… did.”
Had I angered him by calling the Duke ‘Father’ even though he hadn’t yet acknowledged me as his daughter-in-law?
It seemed I shouldn’t use that word in front of the Grand Duke anymore.
With a crestfallen look, I glanced up at the Duke.
Whether the Grand Duke was angry or not, the Duke was smiling brightly at me.
But if he smiled like that while the Grand Duke looked displeased, what did that make me look like?
At this point, I felt I should make my escape. Still held in the Duke’s arms, I put my hands together at my belly and bowed my head.
“Then, I’ll be going now.”
As though he had been waiting for those words, the Duke began to walk. His strides were so long that he was already at the door after only a few steps.
I felt the burning gaze from behind, but I didn’t dare look back.
Because I knew all too well—I wasn’t really the daughter of the Count of Mares.
