I MUST HAVE MISHEARD HIM, RIGHT? His face was no different from usual, as he looked at my face while turning towards me slowly.
He had a blank expression with no strong emotion showing.
Yes, I must have heard it wrong after all.
I thought it was only the aftermath of me daydreaming a lot this morning. I was nodding all by myself, for the meantime.
“Young Master.”
After covering my shoulder with a shawl, Amber greeted Lucian politely.
“Greetings, sir.”
I looked down at Amber, hugging her. Her shoulders were trembling, so I asked.
“Are you cold, too? Should we change your uniform into a winter outfit?”
I thought the weather had suddenly gotten cold because of the sudden rain, so I asked with a worried look on my face.
Amber seemed to be in trouble, but soon smiled and replied.
“No, young master, but thank you for your concern.”
“What are you doing here?”
Then the duke appeared. Since this morning, the Duke’s expression has been slowly hardening, but it quickly turned to stone upon seeing me resting in Lucian’s arms.
He then stared at Lucian and said,
“What I allowed is not the current time.”
Huh? Permission? Time?
My ears perked up at the mention of something I didn’t know. Maybe he saw it, Lucian covered my ear.
Oh my.
“Father, I think we should show Raphael to the doctor.”
“What?”
The duke, who approached, opened his arms towards me. It is embarrassing, but in this case, I wish it was for Lucian to hold the duke’s hand.
I moved from Lucian’s arms to the Duke’s. It is not new for my body to move in the air from one embrace to the next.
“Raphael, what’s wrong with you?”
When the duke said words filled with anxiety, I rolled my eyes while looking at him.
No, I am not hurt. I should be honest, right? But if I say I’m not sick, will Lucian end up in trouble for lying?
I mumbled under my breath for a moment and then replied while looking at the Duke.
“I just feel a little chilly.”
The moment I was forced to lie, I had to pay attention and try hard to feign illness.
Lucian looked at me with a look on his face, and the duke called the butler with a thoughtful air around him.
In an instant, I was taken up to my room. I was told to put back on my pajamas and lay down on the bed.
“You shouldn’t look down on a cold. It’s dangerous to catch a cold with such a small body.”
Looking at the duke being worried with a serious look on his face, I swallowed my sigh. All I could do was nod and hold on to the blanket.
You’re not going to get back at me for falling asleep first, are you, Lucian?
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
UNINTENTIONALLY, I AS UNABLE TO GET out of my room due to a fake illness, I was only able to escape from my room at the end of the autumn rains.
I came to the garden to soothe my frustration. It is my favorite garden, the one that is full of yellow roses.
“It’s fascinating every time I see it.”
The garden is under a preservation spell during all seasons.
It is a pity that I didn’t get to see the phenomenon of the flowers blooming, but I didn’t forget that I am a guest here so asking to see them bloom is something I shouldn’t do.
I tapped my finger on the rose petals that had morning dew.
Water dripped down from the petals. I drifted through the garden in a daze from the much needed fresh air.
“Greetings, Young Master, I am Dante, the head butler of the house.”
While I was taking a walk with Amber, I was stopped by the butler’s greeting.
Oh my.
W–when did you get in here?
I answered calmly even though I was very surprised inside. He seemed to have become quite aristocratic-like. Seeing that he doesn’t even express anything he’s thinking on the outside.
“Yes, long time no see.”
I haven’t had much business that I needed to see the butler about.
It is because Amber takes care of everything, and she is able to deliver the words directly to the Duke.
This is clearly due to the favoritism towards me. Originally, it should have been his successor or spouse who the Duke should want to talk to.
“The Duke is looking for you.”
“The Duke?”
“Yes.”
“I got it.”
I went to the duke’s office with the butler and Amber.
Whenever I arrived, I looked at the magnificent door and entered between the massive doors opened by the butler.
“Duke.”
He raised his head at my call. It was sad to see him stuck behind the desk that had a high pile of papers.
I really understood at that moment.
Yes, the title of a duke is not an easy job.
Still, when I remember all my interactions with him who has always cared about me, I could feel how high his affection for me is.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t directly criticize my favorite in front of me even though it seems like he wanted to.
Is he really the kind of person who is affectionate?
While I was thinking about a lot of stuff all alone, the duke walked up right in front of me.
“My son. You haven’t had a date with dad in a long time.”
“Date?”
“Yes, I haven’t been able to spend time with you lately.”
Listening to what he said, I looked at the mountains of paper behind him. As if he had noticed what I saw, the duke smiled softly.
“My son has nothing to worry about. I’ll take care of everything.”
The weight of the head of the family.
I wanted to pat him on the shoulder with a sympathetic touch, but I didn’t think it was a good idea! This won’t do!
“I can do anything to spend time with the Duke. We don’t have to go on an outing. It’s okay if we just drink tea together too.”
That was said out of sincerity. The duke has listened well to whatever I’ve said, and he often tells me what he thinks because he trusts me a lot.
If I showed any interest, I would tell him what I think in detail, and I spoke very coherently and clearly.
So I told him, “Did you feel my sincerity, to the point where I should wait for the time to drink tea with you, Duke, without realizing it?”
He responded after a moment saying “Daddy wants to have a date with my son after a long time. Will you go out with your dad?”
Oh, even if I am middle-aged, I was nervous because he is handsome.
“Of course!”
As soon as he heard my answer, the duke lifted me up. Naturally, I put my arm around his neck, and the duke whispered.
“Well, shall we go?”
“Yes, sir.”
I answered like it’s become a habit. Strangely enough, I keep becoming a child on the inside too in front of the Duke.
I walked with the duke in the town where I had come out to explore a few times. The wind was cool and the sun was warm and it was a perfect day to go out.
I went into the market holding the duke’s hand. The market was very lively because we came just after the fall harvest.
Unlike usual, the reason why I entered the general grocery market, not just the luxury market for the aristocracy, is because I wanted to look for something specific.
The chef of the duke is excellent. From appetizers to desserts. He is a chef who knows the harmony of aristocratic taste too well.
But is he really a chef who is good enough for me?
As a Korean by nature, I couldn’t forget the spicy taste of my previous life’s food.
How much I missed it, I have never opened my eyes blissfully while eating tteokbokki, chicken feet, and spicy chicken in my dream. Waking up after those dreams makes me miss spicy food even more.
That’s why I came here, because I thought I’d look for spicy sauce.
“Duke, there’s a sauce shop over there.”
I said with excitement, pulling the duke’s hand towards it. The duke walked together with me, wearing a gracious smile.
The store was small, but I had to open my eyes wide.
It seems that they sell all kinds of sauces.
The sauces in the small bottles filled up the displays on the walls and covered the shelves.
“Hoho.”
I looked around the interior of the store with a bewildered look because I’ve never seen a shop like this before.
The owner approached us with a nervous face, probably because, even at a glance, when we entered our attire screamed “They’re nobles!”.
“Lord, are you looking for anything?”
“Do you happen to have any spicy sauces, sir?”
He is an old master.
I could not abandon the Confucian ideas of Korea and asked for the item while using honorifics.
Then the duke’s eyes quickly latched onto me. Oh, I made a mistake. Don’t look at me like that. I had no choice but to ask again after a long and awkward pause.
“I came to look for spicy sauces.”
It must have been funny watching a 12-year-old kid speak in an adult’s tone. The owner’s mustache quivered, holding back a laugh. I’m sure he was thinking something like that.
But the duke seemed to like it. I came to that conclusion because he started patting my head.
“Of course I do. Each country has a variety of secret spices, starting from famous sauces, to secret sauces made with family secret recipes. How much do you want to buy if it’s spicy?”
Oh, a full-fledged question. I like this kind of question very much.
“I want to buy everything that tastes spicy.”
Come to think of it, I had a habit that I didn’t realize until now. It was following the duke around.
When buying things, they told me that the duke bought by type, by size, by color. The duke, standing beside me, had a look of great pride and spoke to the owner.
“By type, by size, bring all the spicy sauce.”
At the request from the two of us, the corners of the owner’s lips soared to the ceiling.
“If you wait a moment, I’ll get your items ready shortly.”
The owner, who could not hide his joy when he met a deep-pocketed customer, disappeared into the back of the store and reappeared again with a wooden box.
He picked up only the red or black sauces between all the rest of the sauces on the shelves.
The color is black. Maybe it is capable of burning my tongue with just one drop.
Out of curiosity, I lifted one of the black sauce bottles that the owner had picked up.
Wait, is this a skull mark? Does that mean I’m going to die? It’s supposed to be a sauce, isn’t it?
I am not good with poisons. I don’t want to die.
“Why is there a skull mark on this?”
The owner answered my question with an animated warning.
“You should never eat it because it’s dangerous for a little girl. It’s not suitable for children to eat, as adults wouldn’t know if there wasn’t a warning.”
“Is it that spicy?”
“I don’t even want to mention it. I took a sip of it, and I thought I was going to die from a stomach ache for a week.”
The owner, who shook his head as he remembered that time, continued.
“There is a small kingdom very far from the empire, and its specialty is the black pepper. It’s smaller than your little finger, but it’s much spicier than a regular pepper.”
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