MDCHC 35

chapter 35

Laughter rang out against the backdrop of the bright blue sky.

Crossing the garden toward the mansion, Lorinus suddenly froze at the sound.

At first, he thought he must have misheard. After all, laughter like that was far too unfamiliar in this household’s garden.

But when he thought again, it wasn’t entirely the first time. Somewhere in his distant, hazy memories, he seemed to recall hearing such laughter before.

Clear, bright, and lovely laughter from a little girl.

“Lord Winchester?”

Ethan’s voice called out behind him as if asking where he was going, but Lorinus ignored it, as though entranced, and let his feet carry him toward the sound. His steps stopped firmly beneath a large plane tree.

There, two pairs of clear eyes were looking straight at him, their laughter already silenced.

It was Naeri and Daniel. A cloth spread wide on the ground, tea and half-eaten bread laid out, the two of them drawing together—it was as if they were on a picnic.

And with Lorinus’ sudden arrival, that atmosphere was already broken.

“……”

A moment of silence passed. Naeri slipped in quickly, coaxing Daniel to greet him, and then exaggeratedly praised Daniel’s drawing. After that, the silence stretched even longer.

“Have you eaten lunch?”

Lorinus asked Naeri. And before she could even answer, he realized how foolish the question was.

Hadn’t he just seen the tea and bread with his own eyes?

But Naeri, ever kind, smiled and replied that they had eaten well. She even added that despite carrots being served—something Daniel disliked—he had bravely shut his eyes tight and eaten them anyway.

Lorinus listened to that report with the gravity of a general receiving word of a hard-won victory. Then he turned his head toward Daniel.

The instant their eyes met, he could see the boy flinch.

“……”

And then Daniel lowered his head as if he’d done something wrong.

At that sight, Lorinus’ mouth clamped shut.

Just as Daniel shrank before him, so too did Lorinus. For some strange reason, when he stood before this child, he found himself shrinking back.

They called him the undefeated war demon, the ruthless knight commander with no blood nor tears, respected as a Sword Master befitting his fame. People would scoff if they heard Lorinus de Winchester grew timid before such a small child. Yet it was true.

He was used to facing burly, muscle-bound men, not such a tiny, fragile being—something utterly foreign to him, like a mysterious creature. Before Daniel, he simply didn’t know what to do.

“…Are you sleeping well?”

At last, the words that left Lorinus’ mouth were that.

Daniel blinked in surprise. Even to a child, the question was far too out of place and abrupt.

In the middle of the day, suddenly asking if he was sleeping well?

“Yes, I sleep well.”

Though bewildered, Daniel answered. Lorinus nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

“Good. Then.”

With that, Lorinus turned and headed back toward the mansion, his original destination. Ethan, confused, scrambled after him.

“Why did you ask that?”

“What?”

“You asked if he’d eaten lunch at three in the afternoon, and then asked in broad daylight if he’d slept well last night. Does the boy have insomnia or something?”

At Ethan’s question, Lorinus faltered.

“Is that strange?”

“It’s not… strange exactly, but it’s a pretty random question, isn’t it?”

At that, Lorinus stopped dead in his tracks.

“I heard that’s how you express concern.”

“…What?”

“You know, asking if they’ve eaten well, if they slept well. That’s how you show you care.”

Now it was Ethan’s turn to be bewildered.

Of course, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong. Wondering if someone was doing well—that was indeed the first step of caring. But asking if someone ate lunch at three, or if a carefree child slept well in the middle of the day, was a little off.

“Well… it’s not wrong, but…”

Ethan stared at him, unsure how to explain.

His superior was a man who could deploy tactics with cold precision, carry out operations without hesitation, and push himself to the very limits until he attained the pinnacle of swordsmanship as a Sword Master. Lorinus was certainly a superior to respect, an admirable man.

But the Lorinus he had served closely was not perfect. The world said Lorinus was cold, but Ethan thought that was generous.

He wasn’t cold—he was emotionless. And because he lacked emotion, he struggled to understand the thoughts and hardships of others. His joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure seemed to exist only in his sword. Almost as if he weren’t human.

“If it’s not wrong, that’s good enough.”

See? Even now, Lorinus ignored Ethan’s flustered explanation and accepted only the part where “it wasn’t wrong,” taking it at face value before striding forward again.

‘Well… nothing new there…’

Ethan shook his head and followed after him.

“Do you know how to look at drawings?”

“…What?”

Another sudden question. Ethan couldn’t hide his surprise. What was wrong with Lorinus today?

“My wife said Daniel has talent for drawing.”

“Y-your wife?”

At that word, Ethan nearly jumped. Until recently, Lorinus had stiffly referred to his wife as “Miss Naeri.” Since when did he start casually calling her “my wife”?

“Do you think Daniel’s drawings are genius too?”

“…Huh?”

That scribbled mess from earlier? Genius?

Ethan couldn’t keep up with the conversation at all. Lorinus seemed like an entirely different person today.

“All done!”

“Let me see.”

Voices carried from beyond the corridor window.

“Wow! Amazing! Our Daniel is a true genius, a super genius, a hundred-thousand-times genius!”

Naeri’s exaggerated praise rang out. Lorinus’ steps carried him to the window.

There, beneath the plane tree, Naeri held up a sketchbook, laughing brightly. Beside her, Daniel burst into giggles.

Watching them, Lorinus, too, allowed himself the faintest smile.

‘Has Lord Winchester lost his mind?’

And Ethan, seeing his superior smile for the first time in his life, was horrified.

He must be insane.

“…Strange…”

I had already been pacing in front of Daniel’s room for an hour. According to plan, this should have been his study time. Of course, it wasn’t that I was trying to lure him away from studying just to play.

My real plan was to bring a plate of neatly cut fruit, knock and enter, sneak a look at studious little Daniel, then nudge Miss Reynold and bask in her praise about how diligently Daniel studied.

The reason I hadn’t carried out this very important plan was because Miss Reynold wasn’t here.

“How odd. She’s never this late.”

When the carriage I’d sent to fetch her home had returned empty, I assumed they’d just missed each other on the road. When she was a little late, I thought perhaps the rain had delayed her.

But this late? That could only mean something had happened. Though I hadn’t known her long, Miss Reynold was, by all accounts, diligent and dependable. She was not someone who would break a promised time.

“Isn’t the teacher here yet?”

The door cracked open and Daniel peeked out.

“Right? Maybe she overslept yesterday.”

“…Was it because Daniel did poorly in arithmetic yesterday?”

“N-no, that can’t be it.”

“Because Daniel was too stupid to know what five plus seven was? But Daniel only has ten fingers, so he couldn’t add seven to five.”

Daniel’s shoulders drooped.

“It’s okay, Daniel! If you don’t have enough fingers, you can use your toes too!”

“…Huh?”

Daniel’s eyes sparkled as he lifted his head. Wait… is that really how addition works? Fingers and toes? It’s been too long; I can’t remember.

“Uh, anyway, Daniel, why don’t you go back inside and do some review until your teacher arrives? I’ll send someone to check what happened.”

Good little Daniel nodded and went back into his room as told. And I, just as I’d said, was going to find out what had happened to Miss Reynold.

Not by sending someone else—by going myself.