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Chapter 10: The World is Colorful (4)
Looking at that scene with a sullen expression, Ethan shoved a piece of cake right in front of Bell’s face using his own fork. “Say ‘Ah, Dad.’ Dad.” “……” “Oh? You’re keeping your mouth shut altogether?” He still hadn’t broken his stubbornness. “Leave her be.” Unable to watch any longer, the dragon Argares added a word. He had temporarily stepped away, saying he had somewhere to stop by, and arrived late to the welcome party. “It’s only natural that a child needs time to get used to things, too.” Adding that forcing it would only invite animosity, he clicked his tongue loudly. Aspe nodded beside him, lending weight to the dragon’s opinion. “That’s right, Ethan. Once enough time passes and Bell opens her heart, she’ll call you that.” Even Celia was shockingly on the dragon’s side. Left by himself, Ethan shoved a piece of cake into his mouth with some irritation. “Hmph.” “Try getting a bit closer to her.” Celia chuckled softly as she watched her sulking husband. Meanwhile, having acquired a fork, Bell now began to scoop and eat the cake by herself. “De-licious.” Watching Bell nod in satisfaction, the dragon looked at her with fondness. “Little one. Would you like to have some more of mine?” “There’s plenty, Lord Argares. Please eat.” “I don’t care for sweets.” Celia said politely, but the dragon gently declined her. Celia, who had already been briefed about Bell, was treating the dragon with a nonchalant attitude. Carefully observing her attitude, the dragon asked in a low voice. “Have you found out anything about the child’s parents? It looked like you had people on it.” The adults’ gazes all turned toward Bell at once. Noticing their gazes, Bell blinked with cream smeared all over her mouth. “What do you look like?” “Wipe your mouth.” Roughly wiping the corners of the child’s mouth with a napkin, Ethan replied bluntly. “Yeah.” Of course he had looked into it. Director Theresa, upon seeing Aspe back at the orphanage last night, had spilled everything about the situation on the day Bell came to the orphanage. Regarding the reason for hiding her identity, she had dismissed it with, ‘Just in case.’ Because he knew the hidden meaning behind those words, Ethan let it slide without blaming her. (She must have been worried I’d use the child’s power as a tool for political power.) From her perspective, she would have wanted to hide it as much as possible. In fact, isn’t Ethan trying to hide Bell from the Senate right now, too? “Did you find anything out?” “We’re tracking them.” They hadn’t found out anything yet. They had only confirmed the certain death of the woman presumed to be Bell’s birth mother. However, hoping that tracing her footsteps might lead them to even the child’s biological father, they had hastily organized and dispatched a tracking party. With Bell alive like this, it came with the faint hope that perhaps at least one more of the lineage of the stars might still be alive. “I see.” Nodding briefly, the dragon’s eyes turned toward Ethan. “May I ask you one thing? You don’t necessarily have to answer, though.” “If you’re going to be like that, why ask?” To the crooked reply, the dragon opened his mouth. “Why weren’t you contaminated?” “…” Ethan’s hand, which had been poking at the cake, came to a dead stop. Celia checked Ethan’s complexion as if reading the room. “…… Because I’ve received purification before, I suppose.” Ethan briefly broke the silence and replied casually. “I went blind once when I was young.” “……You sought out the lineage of the stars.” “Not me, my father.” A fleeting nostalgia brushed past Ethan’s eyes as he stared blankly at the smudged cream. As his final moments, stained in red, flashed through his mind, his insides grew hot. Ethan gripped his fork tightly to suppress his nausea. “This. Yum yum.” At that moment, Bell’s tiny hand lightly tapped the back of his hand. Her amethyst-colored eyes were blinking purely. Ethan poked the naive child’s cheek with his knuckle, scooped up the smudged cake, and swallowed it in one gulp. (For something the size of a pebble.) What does she even know? Knowing nothing, she was looking at him as if to comfort him, which he found amusing enough to bring a laugh. “Weren’t you saying you hated me earlier?” “Ugh!” While he was pinching and teasing Bell’s cheek, the child’s brow crumpled. Though she had managed to wrinkle her tiny nose bridge to the maximum, there was no way this could be threatening. A rabbit’s rear kick would probably be more threatening. (Those old fogies probably wouldn’t even bat an eye at something like this.) Ethan recalled the air of the basement, which had been nothing short of gloomy. It felt like it smelled of mold somewhere. (I need to eliminate the immediate threat first.) When he slowly closed and opened his eyes, the dark, sunken energy vanished completely. “Bell.” “Yup?” “Try copying this.” Without letting go of the squirming child’s cheek, Ethan parted his lips. Putting in maximum care so that even a child with mashed pronunciations could speak clearly—”F-ck. Off.” “F—” He taught her a curse word. “Ethan!” Celia panicked and hurriedly blocked Bell’s ears. “Y-you……!” The dragon grabbed the back of his neck, and—”You teach her such fine things!” Aspe launched a fierce criticism at his boss. However, what kind of person was Ethan? “If some weird old geezers try to act chummy with you, tell them to fuck off. ” He didn’t care in the least and just said what he wanted to say. “Understand?” “Bad word. No.” “Sometimes you need it.” “Uuuuh?” Looking perplexed, Bell tilted her head and poked at a grape on top of the cake. Ethan blocked her as she opened her mouth wide with great momentum. “Think you can just swallow that whole.” He snatched Bell’s fork, quartered the grape, and handed it back. A smile lingered on Celia’s lips at the sight of him taking care of her so naturally. “Madam.” Right on cue, her personal maid quietly approached and announced the doctor’s visit. “The doctor is waiting.” “I’m going now.” “Together…….” “You stay with Bell.” Celia pressed down on Ethan’s shoulder as he tried to get up along with her. For Ethan’s standards, Celia was still a higher priority than Bell. However, Celia hoped that priority would be inverted as soon as possible. “Bell. Eat cake with the mister for a bit. I’m going somewhere for a moment. Is that alright?” “Yup.” Bell nodded her head bravely. Ethan reluctantly reseated himself beside Bell. Watching Celia step away and her empty seat being cleared, the dragon asked, “Do you have a chronic illness?” “I don’t know the name of the disease. She’s just been frail since she was young. ” The dragon nodded as if he understood. “So that’s why you adopted a child.” “I don’t need……. I said she’s fine. ” Ethan, who had almost blurted it out by habit, hesitated and changed his words. Watching his behavior, the dragon smiled faintly. “Have you tried everything you could?” “I naturally took care of it on my own, wouldn’t I?” “Have you tried seeking out a dragon?” “Those guys are ones who casually meddle in human lives……” Ethan’s irritatingly replying mouth slowly closed. The dragon, Argares, leisurely crossed his arms. “Right. Like you said, we dragons do not casually impart knowledge to humans.” If spirits were specialized in solving special problems like curses, dragons possessed abilities a bit closer to reality. For instance, exceptional academic knowledge and the like. Naturally, medical art was one of them. “While I don’t have the knack for curing eyes that have completely gone blind like the lineage of the stars, I can at least manage to slow down the progression of an illness.” Saying so, Argares rose from his seat. “Treating the guardian of the baby star is not a private matter. Would you guide me to where the Duchess is?” Seeing him get up, Bell hurriedly shoved the remaining cake into her mouth. “Me too!” At her saying she would go too, Argares’s smile deepened. “I’ll wait, so let’s wipe the cream off your mouth first, little one.”
The doctor, moving a stethoscope back and forth across Celia’s back, let out a low sigh. “It appears inflammation has accumulated in the lungs.” “Is that so?” “Doesn’t a lot of phlegm rattle when you breathe? And you haven’t been coughing up blood, have you?” “……There is. Don’t tell him.” Smiling like a flower on the verge of withering away, Celia placed her index finger to her lips. It was only a matter of time before it reached Ethan’s ears anyway. Still, she wanted to delay that time even just a little, even a very little bit. Ethan was full of affection. It was because he took after his parents. Though his actions were rough, once he gave his heart, he was a man who would pull out his very liver and gallbladder for you. “How much time do I have left?” “……My Lady……” “Still, I’d like it to be about a year, if possible.” Adorable little Berta, who had just entered the ducal house. She wanted to watch over her by her side until the child adapted. At least until the relationship between Ethan and the child grew a little more intimate.
