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Chapter 50
└[Obedient for real…?!]
└[The devilishly charming Duke..]
└[What genre even is this now?]
As I heard my heart pounding from the sudden jolt, I finally took in the situation around me.
‘Th-thank goodness.’
It wasn’t some wild stray dog lunging at me, but the mother dog I’d met before.
The Duke of Valente had reacted so quickly that the mother dog nearly got attacked, but thanks to that speed, he’d managed to stop just in time.
└[If he had hit the dog, it would’ve been over]
└[Even if you’re the father, the puppies are off-limits..]
└[Thank goodness, Ganadi ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
The animal-loving comment fairies also sighed in relief.
‘I was more startled by the Duke than the dog.’
I realized what the Duke had shown until now was just his everyday self.
That fleeting look of a predator in his eyes.
Maybe the mother dog didn’t stop because I stepped in, but because she instinctively froze under the Duke’s murderous aura…
As the tense situation settled in an instant, people who had also stopped like us began murmuring.
“Isn’t that the Duke?”
“The child in front… isn’t she the one always with the knight?”
“What’s going on?”
“She held back the dog with one hand!”
“Is she his bodyguard?”
└[Seriously though?]
Now I looked like the person who stopped a dog from attacking the Duke!
If you didn’t know I was familiar with the dog, that’s exactly how it seemed.
But I’m just a five-year-old kid, and the Duke of Valente is the former Imperial Knight Commander!
Ridiculous, but I let the murmuring pass for now.
“What’s going on?”
When I asked, the mother dog looked up at the Duke and whimpered, as if she wanted something.
She didn’t look injured, and it didn’t seem like anyone was chasing her.
“Because of the puppies?”
I wasn’t sure if she understood me, but the mother dog gently tugged on my dress hem, as if asking me to follow.
Watching me attempt to talk to the dog, the Duke finally spoke.
“Do you know this dog?”
“She’s the one Lady Ruberi used to care for.”
“Ruberi…”
At the mention of her name, the Duke’s eyes momentarily darkened as if recalling something.
Maybe he knew about the puppy Ruberi had taken care of during her deployment.
“Could you come with us? I think she needs help.”
“Alright.”
The moment I showed signs of following, the mother dog took the lead and began running.
Well, I was going to follow, but—there’s no way I could keep up with a dog sprinting at full speed… Huh?
“Hold her.”
My feet suddenly left the ground, and my vision lifted high.
A familiar voice from nearby—when I came to, the Duke was holding me in his arms, running after the dog.
└[She’s basically a keychain accessory at this point]
└[Reason for carrying her: not cuteness (x), not because she asked (x), efficiency (o)]
└[LOL consistent behavior = trust]
This must be the knight’s way. I was getting used to it.
We quickly made our way through the crowd, heading to an alleyway at the edge of the market.
The reason the mother dog had sought me out was, as expected, her puppies.
“Shoo! Go away, filthy mutt!”
As the mother dog stepped into the alley first, an angry voice rang out.
We followed right behind and found a few men, who looked like merchants, stacking boxes in the alley.
└[WHERE ARE THE PUPPIES?????!]
“…The puppies aren’t here.”
The mother dog whined and spun around the spot where the puppies used to be.
The men seemed to recognize the Duke and immediately stopped what they were doing, bowing.
“Duke Valente? What brings you to this filthy alley…? We were just trying to tidy things up…”
“Where are the dogs?”
“Dogs? You mean… this dog here…?”
Since the Duke didn’t know the situation, I stepped in to explain.
“There were puppies here. Now they’re gone.”
Still in the Duke’s arms, I pointed directly to where they’d been. The men exchanged glances.
“W-we don’t know anything…”
Then they played dumb!
Watching their expressions, I leaned close to the Duke’s ear and whispered.
“They’re lying. The mother dog’s spinning in circles like she’s looking for the puppies.”
Being the ever-obedient Duke, he immediately turned to them.
“Find them.”
“Don’t leave out a single one.”
“Not even one.”
└[Robot Dad processes exactly what he’s told—love it]
└[It’s like Rose is operating the Duke LOL]
└[Not being held (x), she’s riding him (o)]
└[Rose, board the Eva]
Lying to a lord in person—these guys were asking for it!
Realizing excuses wouldn’t work, the men scattered in a hurry to search for the puppies.
‘These people probably aren’t regular vendors here.’
I’d been wandering this marketplace with Ruberi quite often lately.
The local shopkeepers all knew she cared for the alley dogs.
One shop owner even put up a tarp to keep them dry when it rained!
‘That’s why we let the dogs live here.’
And now these men were clearing out the habitat to stash their own goods.
They probably just moved into a nearby building and wanted to take over the alley too.
‘Well too bad, this alley belongs to the Duke!’
While I calmed the nervous mother dog, the men returned carrying a small iron cage with the puppies inside.
From the grumbling behind them, it sounded like they were planning to sell the puppies somewhere.
└[Why kidnap puppies who were living a good life ㅠㅠ]
└[If they were gonna raise them I’d feel bad, but they were SELLING them? Ugh.]
“Uh, luckily someone had taken them temporarily, so we were able to retrieve them, but… what do you plan to do with these stray mutts…?”
The men asked the Duke—but the Duke simply looked down at me.
‘…He followed my lead so far but didn’t actually think of what comes next?’
└[No command entered.]
└[Pilot, please input next instructions]
└[Turns out the real robot was right here…]
Though flustered by the sudden delegation of responsibility, my answer was clear.
“Let’s take them, Your Grace.”
If the puppies need an owner, only one person comes to mind.
I opened the cage and took out the five cramped puppies.
When I first saw them, they were tiny wriggly things, but now they’d grown quite a bit. It was hard to carry them all at once.
“I’ll carry one. Could you take the other four?”
As we held the puppies and began moving, the mother dog naturally followed.
Returning the same way, I could feel people’s stares piercing into us.
Looking up at the Duke holding the puppies, I suddenly realized—I hadn’t asked the most important question.
“They can stay at the mansion, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you think Ruberi will like it?”
We hadn’t asked for his permission either.
Wouldn’t he be flustered if we just told him to raise them all of a sudden? What if he finds it a burden?
“On the way back from the battle…”
Just as I was starting to feel uneasy, the Duke spoke of a memory.
“Ruberi built a dog’s grave.”
Ruberi had returned from her mission unable to even recover the body of the puppy she cared for.
This must have been a story she never told me.
“I don’t know if he’ll be happy, but I’m sure he’s ready to take responsibility.”
└[Ugh ㅠㅠㅠ people who love animals are good people ㅠㅠㅠ]
└[Puppies~ listen to the knight and grow up well~]
Hearing that from someone who knew Ruberi better than I did gave me confidence in my steps.
“Yes! Let’s go tell Sir Ruberi quickly.”
So we returned once again to the Duke’s estate.
When the familiar face appeared, the mother and puppies rushed to him in excitement.
“How they’re raised, I’ll leave up to you.”
“…Understood.”
Summoned without warning, Ruberi took in the situation and replied in a dazed voice.
Though he briefly glanced at the puppies bouncing around his ankles, his face soon returned to a composed expression.
“Thank you, Commander.”
Now that he knew what had happened outside, it seemed Ruberi had also come to a resolution in his heart.
As the Duke looked down at me after receiving the thanks, Ruberi’s eyes also turned to me.
“Thank you, Rose.”
“You’re welcome!”
Being afraid of responsibility probably means you’ve thought long and hard about it.
Hoping that the regret over the lost puppy would be eased, I gently petted the mother dog, who seemed to be offering her own thanks.
In the Duke’s office.
Kinn stared at us, baffled, looking between the Duke and me.
“So you’re saying… the Duke was totally at the mercy of a child’s words, kidnapped someone else’s puppies, and gave them as a gift—and now that rumor is spreading all over the marketplace?”
