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Chapter 04 …
How to Live as the Favorite of the Constellations
I Am an Adult (4)
Count Eliphas Dayvriel had been extremely busy lately.
Since his youth, the Count had made a name for himself as a highly capable businessman, extending his reach into numerous imperial ventures.
Even though less than ten years had passed since the founding of the merchant company under his leadership, it already wielded enough influence to control much of the Empire’s commercial sphere. There was no need to elaborate further on just how astonishing that growth truly was.
“Ugh. How long has it been since I last came home? Has it already been a whole week? I really shouldn’t be away from home this long.”
“C-Count, you’ve returned…….”
As always, the head butler—who had been waiting after receiving notice—bowed his head to greet him.
But the butler’s voice sounded strange. It was rough, almost like metal scraping against metal, and the Count jumped in alarm.
“W-What on earth happened to your voice?”
“T-That is… cough, coughcoughcough!”
The Count forgot even to hand over his coat and stared at the butler.
In only a few days, the man had grown visibly gaunt and was coughing as though he had fallen ill.
The butler barely managed to stop coughing before groaning weakly.
“My apologies. Cough… ah, my throat hurts terribly.”
“Have you caught a cold? If so, don’t overexert yourself and get some rest. I’ve no desire to attend your funeral just yet.”
“It’s not that. It’s just… yesterday was my ‘turn’….”
“Turn? What turn are you talking about?”
What possible duty could force the head butler into such suffering?
“……My turn to read books to Young Master.”
“Books? To Arvian?”
“Yes. The nanny, myself, and Madam have been taking turns reading to him. My throat has suffered somewhat because of it.”
“Huh.”
“He likes books a little much…… very much. Extremely much.”
After hearing the explanation, the Count only understood the situation less.
Why would they need a rotation schedule in the first place? And how much reading could they possibly have done to damage their throats this badly?
Tap tap!
As he stood there bewildered, hurried footsteps approached.
The Count turned his head and saw his beloved wife running toward him.
He spread his arms wide.
“My dear!”
His wife—Countess Seraphina Dayvriel.
Whoosh!
The Countess threw herself into his arms. The familiar scent of her perfume drifted through her disheveled hair.
Thinking there was no fragrance in the world more comforting than this one, the Count met her gaze.
“My dear, have you been well?”
“H-Husband……!”
The Countess opened her mouth, and soon a voice flowed out that once resembled a songbird’s.
The Count froze in place.
Because her voice sounded no different from the butler’s.
“Why have you only just returned?! Please save me…… At this rate, I’m really going to collapse. I-I can’t do this anymore! It’s too exhausting!”
Tears even welled in the Countess’s eyes as she spoke in a hoarse voice.
Recovering himself, the Count asked:
“I heard you’ve been reading books to Arvian lately. Is that why your throat is like this?”
“…….”
Nod nod!
Apparently unable to speak any more than that, she only nodded vigorously. Behind her, the butler quietly added an explanation.
“Today was Madam’s turn to read.”
“No, but just how much reading have all of you done to damage your throats this badly? Even so, you should have at least taken care of yourselves!”
The Count raised his voice out of concern and frustration, but seeing the Countess’s wronged expression, he sighed and rubbed his forehead.
She always did her best for their child, but he had never imagined she was suffering this much.
Had he known, he would have wrapped up his work no matter what and hurried back to the estate sooner.
“Haa……. My dear. You should rest for a while.”
“Husband…….”
“And no more talking. You should drink tea that’s good for your throat. I’ll take care of Arvian.”
Most urgent matters had already been handled, so he likely had about a week free.
During that time, it seemed best for him to care for Arvian while everyone else recovered.
Even without the nanny, the butler, or the Countess, the estate still had plenty of servants capable of caring for the child.
Turning to the butler, the Count said:
“The same goes for you and the nanny. I’ll give you both a week’s vacation.”
“Will you truly be alright, Count? Young Master genuinely loves books.”
“It’s fine. He’s my child, so naturally I should handle it myself. If anything, I’ve neglected him too much until now. Even if it was because of work…….”
“……If that is your wish, Count, then understood.”
Seeing that the butler did not refuse a second time, he truly must have been exhausted.
The Count started toward Arvian’s room when the Countess caught his sleeve and spoke with worried eyes.
“I’ll go rest. If it becomes too difficult, tell me. Thank you for everything.”
“It’s nothing. It’s only natural.”
Why did a single word of thanks make him feel this happy and full inside?
Smiling faintly, the Count kissed her forehead.
“Please rest, my dear.”
The Count did not know.
The extent of Arvian’s obsession with books.
“Uuung.”
Left alone in an instant, Arvian stared at the ceiling while kneading the doll in his arms.
Silence lingered in the room.
Perhaps because someone had been reading aloud nonstop these past few days, the quiet now felt strangely unfamiliar.
‘It’s too quiet. Maybe I should practice crawling.’
Heave-ho.
Arvian skillfully rolled his body over.
Thanks to practicing whenever he had the chance over the past few days, turning over had become easy now.
However, he still lacked strength in his arms and legs, so crawling properly remained difficult.
Arvian wriggled his limbs after rolling over, but his body still refused to move forward as much as he wanted.
“Buuu…….”
It was right as a dissatisfied sound escaped him—
Knock knock.
The door opened with a light, familiar knock.
Turning his head, Arvian saw deep crimson hair swaying gently.
“Arvian. Is it alright if Daddy comes in for a moment?”
“Auu.”
“My, my. It seems our son has already grown a lot more.”
The Count strode over and scooped Arvian into his arms.
Apparently pleased by how much heavier he had become compared to before, the Count grinned brightly and rubbed cheeks with him.
Held in his arms, Arvian could now see the Count’s face somewhat more clearly through his blurry vision.
Arvian grabbed hold of the wine-colored hair swaying before him and carefully examined the Count’s face.
“Uaa.”
“Ow ow. If you pull that hard, Daddy will get hurt.”
Arvian’s and the Count’s gazes met directly.
Blue eyes resembling the summer sea reflected him clearly.
The Count’s eyes were overflowing with affection and interest as he looked at his son.
Even while saying it hurt, he did not pry Arvian’s hand away from his hair, nor did he scold him for being rude.
It seemed he assumed the child would let go once his curiosity faded.
“Ung.”
Only after thoroughly inspecting the Count’s face did Arvian finally release the hair.
The Count lightly fixed his hair before moving.
He sat Arvian down comfortably and then seated himself across from him.
“Now then, Arvian! Today Daddy plans to spend time playing with you.”
“Huung.”
“I heard the nanny, the butler, and your mother have been taking turns reading books to you lately. They say you truly love books.”
The Count looked around near the bed to see what books Arvian had been reading.
More than half the books from the shelf had apparently been taken out and read, piled up everywhere.
“……Were there always this many fairy tales on the shelf?”
Looking more carefully, there were not only fairy tales but also biographies and books meant for when his son grew older.
Apparently, after becoming exhausted from reading children’s stories, they had resorted to other books.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
But it wasn’t only biographies.
There were books from his own study as well.
“〈General Theory of Monster Habits〉……〈On Guardian Stars and Divine Blessings〉……?”
These were closer to research papers than ordinary books.
Surely they hadn’t brought these here and read them aloud too?
Tilting his head in confusion, the Count looked at Arvian.
While he examined the books, Arvian’s eyes sparkled brightly as he reached toward 〈On Guardian Stars and Divine Blessings〉.
Grabbing tightly onto the pages, Arvian shouted happily.
“Au! Kyau! Kyaaa!”
“……Arvian. Are you asking me to read this?”
“Kyaa!”
“Hmm. Alright. Since you chose it yourself, I’ll read it.”
Momentarily bewildered, the Count sat down first.
Then he leaned Arvian comfortably against himself and opened the densely written research paper.
Naturally, the paper contained absolutely nothing a normal child would enjoy.
Yet Arvian seemed delighted, slapping the pages with his hand while looking up at the Count.
As though asking him to read it.
“Ahem. Then shall we begin? Let’s see…… starting from the introduction.”
The Count slowly read through the research paper, structured with introduction, body, and conclusion, while subtly watching Arvian’s reactions.
Glancing down, he found Arvian’s eyes shining brightly.
‘To me, this is certainly an interesting study. But there’s no way Arvian can actually understand the contents. Perhaps he simply wants to hear someone’s voice? In that case, fairy tales should be fine too.’
Thinking that, the Count finished reading the entire paper.
Then he briefly stood up, brought back a fairy tale book, and sat down again.
“Now then, Arvian. This time it’s 〈The Sparkling Hero Star〉. I remember you enjoyed this one before.”
“Uung?”
“Once upon a time—”
“But, buuuuu!!!”
However, the Count’s attempt to read the fairy tale collapsed before he could even finish the first sentence.
Push! Push!!
Arvian looked deeply dissatisfied as he shoved the book away with all his strength using his feet.
And when it still did not move far enough to his liking, he grabbed the book with both hands, snatched it away, and even threw it aside.
“Bwaaaah! Bububu!”
“You don’t like 〈The Sparkling Hero Star〉? Then perhaps 〈The Moonlight Postman〉—”
“Ppuaaaaaaaak!!”
Squirm squirm! Flail flail!
Arvian wriggled violently, expressing his refusal with his entire body.
The Count blinked in confusion before suddenly lifting 〈General Theory of Monster Habits〉 instead.
Freeze!
Immediately, Arvian stopped struggling and broke into a bright smile.
“Kya!”
Wondering if this was real, the Count picked up 〈The Sparkling Hero Star〉 again—
“Buaaaaak!!”
Then 〈General Theory of Monster Habits〉—
“Kyaaa!”
Then 〈The Sparkling Hero Star〉 again—
“Ppaaaaaak!! Aak!!”
Depending entirely on what book the Count held, Arvian’s reactions differed drastically.
Even when he lifted 〈On Guardian Stars and Divine Blessings〉, which they had just finished reading, Arvian reacted angrily all over again.
“Haha, honestly…….”
The Count let out a hollow laugh and resumed reading research papers.
After finishing one, he absolutely had to fetch a different paper before continuing.
He ended up reading every research paper he had previously neglected because of work.
That entire day—
For a full twelve hours straight.
