MDCHC 04

Chapter :〈004〉

“Still awake?”

As far as Lorinus knew, Daniel should have been asleep by now. Both the late Lady Winchester and the housekeeper, Sionne, had told him that young children needed a lot of sleep.

Since Lorinus knew nothing about children or childcare, he had believed them. And whenever he returned home, Daniel was, indeed, always asleep.

“Ah…”

It wasn’t meant as a scolding—just a simple question—but because of Lorinus’s blunt tone, Daniel fidgeted as though he were being severely reprimanded.

Grrr~

Suddenly, a small growl broke the silence between the awkwardly standing Lorinus and the flustered Daniel.

The sound came from Daniel’s stomach. It was far too small to belong to an adult.

“…!”

Daniel’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment, confirming the source.

“Are you hungry?”

Daniel hesitated at the question, but the hunger in his belly made him nod without thinking.

“So that’s why you were going to eat that cookie?”

Lorinus glanced at the cookie in Daniel’s hand and asked again.

“No. A lady gave this to me.”

Daniel shook his head.

“But my father told me not to eat anything given by strangers…”

Not sure how to end his sentence, Daniel trailed off. The small hand clutching the handkerchief-wrapped cookie trembled slightly.

He didn’t see his father often, and there was something cold—and even frightening—about him. Daniel always missed him, yet when they were face to face like this, he never knew what to do. Lorinus was aware of that, too.

That was why he found it difficult to simply praise the boy for remembering his warning, or to kindly explain—like a gentle father—that in the past he himself had faced several assassination attempts, so Daniel also had to be careful. He found it hard to say that if Daniel was hungry, he could always eat something.

After all, Lorinus himself had never heard such gentle explanations growing up. His father had been strict with him as the heir, his mother had died early, and his stepmother had despised him.

He had never heard such words in his life, so of course he didn’t know how to say them. He had never learned how to act that way.

“You can eat it.”

In the end, what came out of his mouth was a curt, one-line permission. Fortunately, Daniel’s eyes lit up at that. His hunger made him glad just to have permission.

“Miss Neary is someone I know, after all.”

Lorinus spoke the name he had heard earlier. Even though her identity hadn’t been fully confirmed yet, he allowed Daniel to eat the cookie.

That clear, genuine voice… the kindness in giving a hungry child a cookie… those upright brown eyes that had looked straight at him—those were what made Lorinus say it.

Once permission was given, Daniel immediately popped the cookie into his small mouth. The way he crunched on it was so endearing that Lorinus forgot all about going downstairs and simply watched.

His large hand slowly moved toward Daniel’s round platinum-blond head as the boy focused on chewing. Hungry as he was, Daniel didn’t notice at all.

But just as Lorinus’s hand was about to touch the boy’s hair, it froze midair—like someone had grabbed his wrist—and could go no further.

“…”

In the end, he never touched Daniel. Instead, he clenched his empty hand into a fist.

“It might get a little noisy, but try to sleep well.”

Withdrawing his hand, Lorinus spoke the kindest words he could manage.

“That lady told me she was invited here. I told her thank you for inviting me to such a nice house.”

Daniel answered with a shy smile. Though he had denied it earlier, it made him happy to think Miss Neary had called him the rightful master of this house.

“I see.”

With that, Lorinus left the room, giving Daniel space to eat comfortably.

“Bring some light food to Daniel’s room—something he can eat without feeling too full. If he’s asleep, don’t wake him on purpose.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Lorinus’s order, Ethan bowed slightly and quickly went downstairs ahead of him.

Lorinus also headed down, but as he passed the hallway where he had seen Neary earlier, he stopped without realizing it. Her clear brown eyes looking at him came to mind again.

“Neary de Pomots…”

It was an ordinary name—one you could easily forget after hearing it once or twice.

But Lorinus had already memorized it.

* * *

“What on earth happened? Please, tell me, will you?”

My sister Sophia clung to my arm, shaking it insistently. She had already been envious when she heard I’d been invited to the Winchester family’s ball, and now she had come running early in the morning.

When she learned from Mother that I had returned in the Winchester family’s carriage, she started pestering me like this.

“Wait! What’s that bandage on your neck? You—you—you! Don’t tell me…!”

She suddenly became hysterical, startling Mother, who had been quietly drinking tea. I had hidden my neck when I came in yesterday so as not to worry her.

“Who did this to you?”

“…Lord Winchester.”

I had no choice but to tell the truth.

“So that’s why you came back in the Winchester carriage!”

“What?! Are you going to be the Countess of Winchester now? As a baroness, should I start addressing you formally?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Think about it! You went to the ball, came back in another family’s carriage, and now you’ve got… that on your neck! It’s obvious!”

“What’s obvious?”

“Oh my! How can I say such a thing out loud? Even if we’re sisters, I’m still a lady of refinement!”

Watching her fan herself daintily after suddenly putting on a prim expression, I was at a loss for words. Since when did she have refinement? She’s never had any!

“How was it? Did you like it?”

“What do you mean, ‘like it’?”

“With Lord Winchester, of course!”

“Not at all.”

“Well, the first time can be like that. Did it hurt a lot?”

“Not that much.”

I stared at her, wondering if having a sword pointed at one’s neck was such a common experience here. Were marital spats in this world that extreme? My brother-in-law always seemed like such a nice man…

“Neary!”

Mother’s sudden exclamation made me turn to her in surprise. Her complexion had gone pale.

“I let it go yesterday because you said you didn’t want to talk, but… did something really happen with Lord Winchester?”

“I didn’t say anything last night because I was tired from being nervous…”

“Of course! That sort of thing is exhausting.”

Sophia butted in again.

“And I thought it might worry you, Mother…”

“Oh, but your mother should know!”

“It was already over, and it was more like a small accident. There wasn’t much blood.”

“Oh my goodness! Did Lord Winchester say that? That it was over? That you should forget it happened?”

Before I could even finish, my sister was cutting in at every turn.

“He didn’t say it exactly like that, but I think he intends to leave it alone. He already apologized, and he even saw me safely home.”

“Oh, oh, oh! I didn’t think Lord Winchester was like that, but he’s a complete scoundrel!”

…Huh? How did we get here? Sure, he’d been a bit rude to me, but I had caused the situation myself, so I could understand it.

“Sophia, could you help me upstairs? I think I need to lie down.”

“Yes, Mother.”

With Sophia supporting her, Mother disappeared upstairs to the second floor, and the house finally became quiet again.

Is it anemia?

Remembering Mother’s pale face, I felt a twinge of concern.