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Chapter 2
Conditions for Duke Succession (2)
Ethan said firmly, “I want the oldest child here.”
“Won’t you take a look around first?”
“Why should I?”
“Um, Your Grace. Raising a child is much more difficult than you think.”
Theresa bowed her head deeply and tried to persuade Ethan.
“Of course, I have no doubt that you will provide a fine environment, but for the sake of the child’s emotional well-being, I think it would be best for you to look around at least once.”
“I’m busy.”
Ethan’s eyebrows slanted askew.
Even though he said he wouldn’t look, Bel couldn’t take her eyes off Ethan’s vividly changing expressions.
What kind of expression is that?
The emotion felt behind that scowling face was something Bel had not yet learned.
[That is a grumpy expression, baby star. It’s one of the bad faces.]
The spirit, reading Bel’s thoughts, explained from beside her.
Ah. A bad face.
Bel crumpled her eyebrows just like Ethan, then quickly relaxed her face.
“I am the oldest among the girls in this orphanage.”
“How old are you?”
“Six… sixteen.”
“I will take care of you until you reach adulthood.”
“Thank you for looking upon me favorably, but I am sorry.”
Lily declined Ethan’s offer.
“I would prefer it if a younger child received your support, Duke. If it’s alright with you, I will show you around the orphanage.”
At that, Ethan muttered discontentedly to the man standing behind him.
“…Aspe.”
“What is it?”
“No woman has ever dumped me until now.”
“Ah, is that so.”
[That is a flustered expression. It’s the face someone makes when they are surprised.]
I see.
At the spirit’s explanation, Bel nodded her head silently.
[Baby star.]
“Nn?”
Tilting her head to the side, Bel looked at the spirit.
[Why don’t you follow that human?]
“Oon?”
Bel’s head tilted even further.
Follow him? That mister?
The moment Bel looked at Ethan while tilting her head, their eyes met again.
“Whash ya lookin’ at.”
This time, Bel shot back first.
However, Ethan pretended not to hear. Ignoring Bel, he casually pointed out the window at one of the children outside.
“Then I’ll take that child.”
“Pardon?”
“Hey, you there!”
He went so far as to open the window and half-heartedly crooked his finger.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Will you be adopted by me?”
“Who are you?”
“If you come with me, I’ll let you eat delicious treats every day.”
“If you follow someone who gives you food, you’ll get into big trouble.”
The child, answering crystal clearly, fled the scene as if running for their life.
“Why is everyone saying no?”
“They didn’t say anything wrong. You shouldn’t follow a stranger.”
Bel stared at the “flustered” Ethan.
[If you follow that human, there will be a lot to learn.]
“Eeng.”
Bel wasn’t very keen on the idea.
It seemed Ethan felt the same way.
Having been rejected for the second time, instead of asking Bel if she wanted to be adopted, he decided to look around the orphanage.
“Anyone want to become a child of House Eybek?”
Ethan asked every child in sight to follow him.
However…
“No way!”
Without exception, they either rejected him…
“Eek!”
Ran away…
“Waaah-!”
Or burst into hysterical tears.
Faced with repeated rejections, Ethan’s expression—swallowed in mild shock—changed yet again.
Bel tried to follow along by letting her pupils tremble, but only her head ended up shaking left and right.
“Aspe.”
“Yes. Speak, Your Highness.”
“Why do these kids hate me? Isn’t this a chance to become a noble?”
“It’s not the opportunity they hate, isn’t it Your Highness that they dislike?”
“What?”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Bel imitated him again, slanting her eyes sideways.
Bad eyes.
Right then.
[By the way, baby star.]
“By the way, Your Highness.”
[Why is that human not offering adoption only to you?]
“Why aren’t you making an adoption offer to that child?”
The guest called Aspe and the spirit spoke almost at the exact same time.
At those words, Bel looked at Ethan, and Ethan looked at Bel as well.
“Tsk.”
His face scowled once more.
“How long would it even take to bring up a tiny little pea like that?”
“Please say something that makes sense. How is a child the size of a pea?”
“A pebble, then.”
“Even so, try talking to her. Or are you going to tour other orphanages?”
Aspe chided Ethan.
Then, with a grumpy face, Ethan sullenly asked Bel:
“What’s your name?”
“Pebbeo.”
“Pebble?”
“Noo. Star. Child Star.”
Bel corrected him, but Ethan still didn’t understand and babbled nonsense.
“Right. I am Duke Eybek. The kid recognizes me.”
“How could that possibly be?”
Ethan completely ignored Aspe’s refutation.
“So, what is your name?”
“Child! Star!”
Frustrated, Bel shouted out loud.
This mister really didn’t understand words at all.
“This child’s name is Berta. We call her Bel.”
“Bel? You should have pronounced it properly.”
He even blamed Bel after failing to understand her himself.
“Mishter.”
“…What?”
“Dummy.”
In the end, Bel threw a word at him while imitating his bad face.
At Bel’s attack, Ethan let out a dry laugh.
“What did she just say?”
“Your Highness. Let’s go with that child.”
“What? Did you not hear what she just said? Want me to clean out your ears for you?”
Ethan grabbed Aspe by the collar as if he were ready to shove a skewer straight into his earholes right then and there.
The spirit gasped in shock and quickly blocked Bel’s field of vision.
[Oh dear. What a villainous expression. Don’t copy that one.]
“Nn.”
Bel nodded her head, sticking her lips out.
“Doesn’t she have tremendous guts?!”
Meanwhile, the adults were advancing the conversation on their own terms.
“Even after seeing Your Highness, she didn’t hide, say no, cry, or run away. She followed you around the whole time.”
“Right. And she’s the size of a pebble.”
“Children grow up fast anyway.”
Aspe persuaded Ethan, saying that a wet nurse would handle all the childcare anyway and that Setia was waiting eagerly with her neck stretched out.
Ultimately persuaded, Ethan let out a deep sigh and crouched down in front of Bel.
It was a posture just like a boss of a gang of thugs stationed in a shady back alley.
“If you come with me, I’ll let you eat bread much bigger and tastier than that every day.”
He proposed while pointing with the tip of his chin at the bread Bel was nibbling on.
Bel half-closed her eyes and scanned him up and down.
…He’ll give me bread?
“Why do you keep enticing a child with food?”
“At least doing this gives us room to reconsider!”
Bel kept her gaze fixed on Ethan, who was shouting at the top of his lungs again, only moving her mouth to nibble on her bread.
Ethan’s expressions were exceptionally rich and varied.
His eyebrows twitched, and his eyes narrowed sharply like this.
When he spoke, his lips moved, and his hair shimmered brightly.
Emotions could be felt from him completely intact.
In a world covered entirely in gray storm clouds, only Ethan stood out with noble clarity.
[Baby star. You need parents.]
“…….”
Veins bulged on the forehead of Ethan, who was nagging Aspe.
Seeing the bulging marks, a small smile formed on the corners of Bel’s mouth.
His personality seemed bad, but he felt like a funny mister.
“Goodness. Where in the world is a child who would just blithely follow a stranger like that…”
Bel swooped right between the legs of the crouching Ethan and nestled into his arms.
“…There is one. There is one right here, Your Highness.”
Aspe blurted out as if stunned.
In the end, he even tried to persuade Bel out of it.
“Little girl.”
“Nn?”
“Even if a stranger offers you delicious treats, you shouldn’t follow them, right?”
“Nn.”
“So, is it okay to follow this mister, or not?”
“Mishter.”
“Right? You think you misjudged something too, don’t you?”
“Dummy.”
At Bel’s single word, Aspe froze solid on the spot like a stone statue.
In truth, what Bel meant to say was, ‘I’m not a dummy. I know at least that much.’
It was just that she wasn’t fluent at forming sentences yet, so she had merely blurted out the key word.
“Me, I’m… a dummy…!”
“You fool. Move aside.”
Ethan gave Aspe a shove.
“You’re the one who said you’d go, right?”
He then checked Bel’s intentions one more time.
Bel looked Ethan straight in the face and nodded her head.
“Nn.”
“Go buy some bread. I’ll be handling the adoption procedures.”
Ethan abruptly picked Bel up in his arms and delivered a kick to Aspe’s rear.
“Ah, don’t kick me!”
“Hurry up and go before the kid changes her mind. If she says she won’t go either, I’ll bury you right here.”
Duke Ethan Eybek decided on the child he would adopt.
That child was none other than…
‘Will it be alright?’
Berta.
‘Sigh.’
Theresa recalled the day she first met Bel.
