BDBF 10

“Am I reeeally pretty?!”

“Yes.”

“Reeally?”

“Yes.”

“Really really?!”

“Yes!”

Joshua, the guard knight staying by my side in place of the busy Rita, answered in a louder voice than usual.

It even sounded like there was a bit of irritation mixed in there…? No way—was he annoyed because I kept asking over and over? Was that why he sounded upset?

“…Shushu. Are you mad at me right now?”

“Huh? O-Of course not!”

“I only asked because I was nervous… did you hate it that much?”

“Oh, no……. Absolutely not, Young Miss. Please believe me, alright?”

Joshua sounded practically desperate. At first, I’d asked because I thought I needed an objective opinion, but later on my reason changed.

It became fun watching him answer every single question even while clearly getting tired of it.

“It’s okay. I was teasing you.”

“……Pardon?”

“Let’s go now!”

I lightly hopped down from the chair and opened the door to leave.

“Y-Young Miss! You can’t go by yourself!”

Joshua’s hurried voice chasing after me made me laugh so hard.

Though the fun game of tag ended quickly when Joshua—whose legs were several times longer than mine—caught me and scooped me up.

The entrance to the garden was packed with people. Among them, Hale stood out immediately, radiating incomparable beauty.

“Daddyyy!”

I raised my hand high and waved at him. Hale smiled softly in my direction before returning to what he was doing.

Today was photo day, just like Hale had told me yesterday. In a way, it was a family photoshoot.

Though it was a little disappointing that the family wasn’t complete. I didn’t say anything about Mom because I didn’t want to ruin the warm atmosphere.

He’d probably tell me someday.

I licked the candy Joshua gave me and waited off to the side for things to settle down.

Because I’d woken up early and spent the whole morning getting ready, the longer the wait became, the sleepier I got. I tried hard to fight off my heavy eyelids.

But—

“Young Miss.”

“Mmm……”

I opened my eyes at the sound calling me. Ah, so my efforts had been pointless after all.

Unable to defeat the heaviest eyelids in the world, I must’ve dozed off without noticing. Before I knew it, I was asleep with Joshua’s thigh as a pillow.

“We’ll be taking the photos soon.”

“My hair……”

I worried the left side of my hair might’ve gotten messy from lying down.

“Rita will be here soon.”

The moment Joshua said that, Rita appeared. Thanks to her, the tuft of hair sticking out was quickly fixed. Fortunately, I hadn’t slept long enough for my face to puff up.

Soon, I headed toward the swing where Hale was already waiting.

The moment I saw his face, a happy smile naturally spread across mine.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“For the same reason as you.”

“Then why’d you ask if you already knew?”

“Because I thought it would sound nicer hearing it directly from you.”

Dad was way too good at handling me. With just a single sentence, he could make my heart soar and tumble all at once.

Though honestly, I was letting him do it!

“I’m just sooo happy right now that I can’t stop smiling!”

This time too, I gave him the answer he wanted, almost like saying, Here you go.

“We’re starting the shoot now!”

Click, click—

We took photos in all kinds of poses. After about twenty shots, we paused to check how they turned out.

The photos were truly… beautiful.

Not because of me, but because of Dad.

Meanwhile, I looked unbearably awkward in every picture. Even my smile looked fake. How did Dad smile so naturally? Was this what being the head of a household meant?

“Young Miss, I think the photos would turn out even better if you smiled a little more naturally.”

Even the photographer—said to be the most famous in the territory ruled by House Yvienne—seemed to think the same thing I did.

Even in my previous life, whenever portraits were painted, my expressions looked so stiff that the artist would secretly fix them. But photographs… captured reality exactly as it was.

Still, I didn’t let myself get discouraged. I told myself it was just because I was nervous. Maybe changing locations would help?

“I think we should try taking them somewhere else this time.”

As if he’d read my mind, Hale suggested moving locations. So this time, instead of the central swing, we moved to a field full of white flowers.

Thankfully, the guard knights had already made a subtle path through the middle of the flowers so Hale and I could stand there naturally.

But people don’t change easily.

Far from improving, I still looked exactly like a stiff wooden doll.

And right as I was fidgeting with frustration and irritation toward myself—

“Senika.”

“…….”

“Senika, could you look at Daddy for a second?”

I knew Dad wasn’t the kind of person to comfort me over something this small, but even so, I couldn’t bring myself to turn my head.

After a brief silence, a shadow fell over my lowered head.

But he didn’t say anything.

Was he still waiting for me to answer him?

My eyes darted side to side before I slowly lifted my head.

“……Huh?”

“Ahem, hm.”

My eyes widened at the completely unexpected sight.

Hale had called me over, yet now he couldn’t even meet my eyes.

“This is… rather embarrassing.”

With his fist covering his mouth, Hale awkwardly cleared his throat. Something was tucked behind one of his ears.

That was—

“……A flower?”

A white flower that matched the silver hair I thought suited him best.

I blinked slowly, wondering if I’d imagined it.

But the flower remained exactly where it was.

I could guess the purpose behind such a ridiculous act.

He was trying to make me laugh naturally.

For something that came from that brilliant brain of his, wasn’t this plan way too clumsy?

“What is thaaat?!”

That didn’t mean it failed, though.

Because I ended up clutching my stomach and laughing for a long time while pointing at the flower with one hand.

Hale bent down to look at me before eventually kneeling to meet my eye level.

In his other hand—the one I hadn’t noticed because I’d been staring at the flower tucked behind his ear—was another white flower.

I tilted my head, wondering if he was really about to do what I thought he was.

Soon, Hale gently tucked my left hair behind my ear and, just as I expected, placed the flower against my ear.

Then he smiled in satisfaction.

About two hours later, Dad and I were chatting on the terrace during a small afterparty.

The photographer burst through the terrace doors, panting heavily with excitement, his face flushed bright red.

“I can confidently say these are the most perfect photographs I’ve ever taken!”

I hadn’t seen many dragons yet, but with my dad—the most handsome man in the world—as the subject, there was no way the pictures could turn out bad!

So the photos weren’t good because the photographer was skilled.

They were good because the subject was perfect.

“Show meee!”

Hale took the envelope from the photographer and pulled out the photos inside. There looked to be at least ten, each larger than my palm.

Among them, I immediately grabbed the one that caught my eye first.

“Daddy, this one!”

Holding the edges of the photograph with both hands, I showed it to Hale.

The blue eyes that had been scanning the other photos shifted toward the one I held.

Soon, Hale’s pale cheeks turned red.

It seemed remembering what he’d done earlier embarrassed him all over again, because he covered his eyes with one large hand.

Couldn’t bear to look at it, huh?

But I thought this one came out the best.

The picture I chose showed Hale looking down at me with the white flower tucked behind his ear, while I gazed up at him with a carefree smile.

“I like this one the best!”

“Ahem, hm……. T-There are plenty of other photos too.”

Hale pointed toward pictures taken in flower fields of different colors.

Since they were taken after he’d made me laugh, my expressions looked much more natural.

But there was only one photo I truly loved.

“Nope, this one’s the best!”

I shook my head firmly while waving the photo in my hand.

Then I turned toward the photographer.

“Mister! Please print this one super big! I wanna hang it in my room!”

“Would one copy be enough?”

“Mmm, what about Daddy?”

I looked toward Hale, whose cheeks were still red.

He peeked at me through the gaps between his fingers, our eyes meeting.

He bit his lower lip repeatedly, clearly struggling internally.

Whether or not he should order the same photo despite the embarrassment.

If he chose yes, he’d gain my affection.

If he chose no, he’d earn my disappointment.

That was probably what he was thinking.

“Daddy?”

“……Make one more copy.”

“Hehe, Mister, two copies!”

The photographer, beaming happily at the order, hurried off saying he needed to finish it quickly. Considering how important the job was, of course he’d be thrilled.

And just like that, only the two of us remained again.

I sipped orange juice through a straw while looking through the photos I hadn’t fully checked yet.

I skipped past all the earlier ones where my expressions still looked awkward. They weren’t bad, but I liked the later photos much more.

“Senika.”

“Mm?”

“Do you like them?”

“Yeah! A lot!”

I smiled brightly at Hale.

This time, it wasn’t a forced smile. It came naturally.

“Is there anything else you want to do?”

“Something I wanna do?”

“I’ll do anything for you.”

Mmm… now that he asked, nothing immediately came to mind. I was already doing everything I could possibly want.

If possible, it’d be nice to try something I’d never experienced in my previous life.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

At my reaction, Hale’s eyes sparkled.

In fact, he looked even more excited than I was.

“Friends!”

“Friends?”

“I wanna make friends!”

Apparently he hadn’t expected that request at all, because he blinked rapidly.

Soon, after thinking deeply about something, he slowly nodded.

“You’ll have friends soon.”

“Really?”

“There happens to be an event I’ve been postponing.”

…There were events even the head of the house could postpone?

Unable to understand what he meant, I tilted my head slightly.

As always, Hale didn’t seem bothered by my confusion and simply patted my head gently.

“It’ll be a very fun event.”

“Can I make lotsa friends there?”

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

“Just not boys.”

……Huh?

Why did boys suddenly come up?