CHAPTER 44

Even though the rice cake suddenly spoke in a haughty tone as if she became a queen, she was still cute.

“It seems that the chocolate brought for Erica had liquor in it.”

Rafi, who couldn’t go outside, came inside and made a mess unlike her usual self, but Kai just watched over her. 

Rafi wasn’t in any danger, so he couldn’t tell the child not to do anything. Kai thought that it was okay for a child to be a little mischievous and throw a tantrum.

“Oh dear, do you know how much she ate?”

“She only had one.”

“That’s somewhat fortunate. Let’s ask the physician to make a hangover remedy for our sticky rice cake sister.”

Jerome’s face didn’t lose its smile as he watched Rafi, who acted like she had drunk several bottles of alcohol, receiving an injection. But since they couldn’t leave it like that, they asked Arnold for a hangover remedy.

“Even though our sister has become a rice cake from alcohol, she’s still so cute. What should we do?”

“Well, you can just watch her.”

Perhaps because of the alcohol, Rafi’s words were slurred. Nevertheless, she was cute enough to understand everything. She puffed up her cheeks and made a face that seemed dissatisfied.

“Since you ate the liquor chocolate, shall we play until you’re sober?”

“No! I won’t.”

Rafi stubbornly twisted her body. Helpless, Jerome had no choice but to let her go.

“Rafi, where are you going?”

“I’m going outside. It’s stuffy here.”

Rafi, whose drunkenness had increased, felt uncomfortable inside. She wanted to go outside because she was hot. Although they had prevented her from going out earlier, with Jerome behind her, all the employees bowed their heads.

“Our sister, if you walk like that, you might get hurt. Shall I hold your hand?”

“No!”

Jerome’s expression became pained as he saw Rafi abruptly turn her head. Unaware of his expression, Rafi continued to move her short legs. The two men followed her as they watched her bouncing steps.

“Rafi, be careful. There are stairs ahead… Oh, my!”

Before Kai could warn her, Rafi’s body lurched forward on its own. He urgently reached out his hand, but it didn’t reach Rafi.

In an instant, just as she was about to fall, Rafi’s body slid down naturally as if riding a sled on a slope. Even if her delicate bones would have broken just by touching the edge of the stairs, Rafi got up from the ground perfectly fine.

“Hehe, it was fun. Let’s do it again.”

“No matter how fun you say it is, it’s dangerous, so I don’t recommend it.”

A sophisticated magician dressed in elegant attire, employed by the Aquila Duchy, revealed his precarious appearance. Typically, a magician wore a loose robe and a hat pressed low. However, the magician from the Aquila Duchy had a different fashion sense.

“Ronin, thank you for saving her. She almost got crumpled.”

There was a rumor that in the past after Matilda knocked Rafi down, Duke Tigris summoned Count Monaco and gave him some kind of punishment. They demanded a substantial amount of compensation, which was all given to Rafi.

But if the rice cake had been bruised and hurt this time, Jerome might have become a different person. Perhaps without even knowing, Duke Tigris and Duke Panteur would have tried to chew him up.

Rafi and the magician, her savior, smiled and shrugged their shoulders.

“No need to mention it. I happened to be passing by, and my instincts kicked in when I saw the child about to fall.”

When Rafi rolled down, Ronin prevented her from tumbling down the stairs with the wind. Smirking, he flicked his bangs back, and his gaze met Rafi’s.

“Again! Again!”

“I told you it’s not allowed.”

“Hee hee, I’ll do anything you say.”

Drunk Rafi pouted her lips to express her displeasure.

“Grandpa is also a magician… Ah! Now that I think about it, you’re Lady Seraphina. Oh, oh, the granddaughter of the Duke Tigris!”

“Do you know my grandpa?”

“Of course, I know. Although I’m not affiliated with Duke Tigris, but with the Magic Tower, how can I not know about him? Hahaha.”

Ronin, who saw the granddaughter of a magician’s family for the first time, reached out his hand and held the child’s small hand.

“Oh, if you’re trying to measure something, there’s no need. Duke Tigris’ inspection has already been conducted, and it has been concluded that I can manifest wind-based magic.”

“Oh, I see. How unfortunate. If you had talent, I would have wanted to take you as my apprentice.”

It couldn’t be helped. The Magic Tower and House Tigris were not only competitors but also secretly at odds with each other. That’s why Ronin couldn’t take Rafi as his apprentice. If he did, Duke Tigris would surely come and make things difficult for him.

“Hehe, my grandpa is the strongest!”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But there’s someone even stronger!”

“Oh! Who is that?”

Curious about who the person stronger than Duke Tigris was, Ronin’s eyes sparkled as he asked.

“My big brother is the strongest! And grandpa should behave.”

“Huh? Ah… Hahaha. I see.”

Thanks to Rafi, Ronin awkwardly smiled as he looked at the child. Being born into a family of magicians didn’t guarantee that everyone would become a magician.

Although only Duke Tigris’ lineage inherited the strong bloodline of magicians, producing generation after generation of magician children, it didn’t mean that anyone with the magician title could be automatically recognized. However, if Duke Tigris, who himself was a recognized magician, acknowledged the child, the situation would be different.

Ronin couldn’t help but feel genuinely disappointed when he saw Rafi, and he let out a sigh inwardly. He felt like poking a bear and risking his own life, so he had no choice but to pay attention to Rafi.

“I’m leaving now. Bye-bye!”

With a bright smile, Rafi passed by Ronin and walked with a bounce towards the wide-open door.

Kai and Jerome quickly ran after her. They had no idea where they were, but Rafi was walking aimlessly wherever her feet took her. And as they came across a flower garden, Rafi smiled brightly.

“Your sister-in-law must love flowers because this isn’t the first time I’ve ever seen her in a garden.”

“I often go to the garden with the servant.”

As Rafi admired the flower garden, she suddenly flopped down right there. Thinking she might be tired, Jerome tried to comfort her by embracing her, but Rafi rolled around in that spot.

“Hehehe, I’m having so much fun!”

“Oh no! This is the flower garden I take care of.”

Jerome’s hobby was precisely cultivating flower gardens. He planted and nurtured blooming flowers every season. But when Rafi rolled around on his work, he let out a cry of dismay.

After staying there for a moment, savoring the moment, the flowers disappeared too soon. However, Jerome couldn’t bring himself to scold Rafi. She was still an innocent child, and on top of that, she was intoxicated.

“Our lady, you’re having so much fun. It seems children grow by rolling around and getting hurt.”

“Count Gabriel is not even married yet, how can you know that!”

Duke Panteur was a man who married early. Kai, in his thirties, was still unmarried. He didn’t feel interested in meeting women, so he unintentionally chose to remain single. While he didn’t impose his choice on others, he couldn’t just let his subordinates tell him to get married.

Kai, watching Rafi who had been rolling around so much that she couldn’t get up, gave a faint smile in response to Jerome’s question.

“Since I saw Lady Rafi, whenever I have spare time, I read books related to childcare.”

“Don’t you have to get married first if you want to raise a child?”

“Do I really need to get married? It’s enough to have a child and bring them here.”

“Are you suggesting having a child out of wedlock?”

Kai, who found meeting women troublesome, still had a desire to have a child at least once. 

“In our household, the concept of a bastard child doesn’t exist. If it carries the blood of the Gabriel lineage, it will always be recognized as a legitimate child.”

The head of the Gabriel family was not promiscuous. When he had a relationship with a woman and a child was born, he would bring the child into the family. Although he never denied having a mistress, the current head of the family had peculiar thoughts.

“Think carefully. Our sister always goes around with a bright smile, but I can see her suppressing her desire to see her mother occasionally.”

“Hmm, I see. So, it seems having a mother is important for a child. I thought it wasn’t necessary to have a mother figure.”

Kai grew up under the neglect of his unloving mother and suffered various forms of psychological abuse. That’s why he believed it would be better for a child not to have such a mother. 

However, upon hearing Jerome’s words, Kai couldn’t blindly stick to his thoughts.

“Duke Jerome, I brought a hangover remedy… Oh my.”

Arnold, upon seeing Rafi, let out an exclamation. Jerome had taken care of that flower garden with great care, raising it as he did with Colin. Seeing Rafi openly rolling around and laughing, Arnold couldn’t bring himself to scold her.

“Give it to me. If we let Rafi continue like this, she’ll probably destroy all the flowers in Aquila Duchy.”

Jerome, who received the hangover remedy from Arnold, and walked over to Rafi who was still rolling.

“Sister, eat this.”

“I don’t want to.”

“If you eat this, I’ll give this to you.”

It was Jerome’s last resort. He took out a beautiful, sparkling stone that he had kept in his pocket, just in case.

“Wow, it’s shiny.”

“Yeah, it’s not jelly, but it can make you eat jelly until your stomach bursts.”

Seeing the sapphire that Jerome took out, Kai shook his head with a smile. It was clear that it was the perfect item to stop Rafi from openly displaying her greed.

“Hehe, will you give it to me?”

“Yeah, but you have to eat this in return.”

“Why do I have to?”

“Well, it’s a medicine that will make your head and stomach feel better when you wake up later. So, eat it quickly.”

Using the sapphire as a bargaining chip, Jerome’s method worked. While Rafi was enchanted by the sapphire, Jerome secretly fed her the hangover remedy.

Gulp-

“Ugh, it’s bitter!”

Rafi, with a disgusted expression, laughed and giggled at the sapphire. Jerome, who found her appearance cute, wiped the drool from her mouth with a handkerchief.

“Sister, let’s go to the room and sleep now. Brother will put you to bed.”

“I don’t want to, I want to play.”

Even though she drooled while looking at the sapphire, Rafi suddenly ran off somewhere.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, our Rafi ate my chocolate… so it was true.”

After finishing urgent business, Erica ran towards her and embraced Rafi, who ran into her arms. Rafi, who had become more solid than before, leaned her whole body against Erica’s chest and closed her eyes.

And in her hand holding the sapphire, she held it tightly and didn’t drop it.

“Rafi is sleepy.”

“Oh, really? Our Rafi is sleepy? Shall we go to sleep together?”

“Ungh.”

Jerome’s request had been firmly rejected, but at Erica’s words, Rafi nodded and closed her eyes.

“Jerome, thank you for playing with the child.”

“It wasn’t really a hassle…”

“It’s not that you suffered, but the flower garden suffered. Oh well, Rafi has turned into a firecracker now.”

Seeing Rafi covered in flower petals, Erica didn’t scold her. Instead, she kissed Rafi’s head, which had become like a sweet and chewy firecracker and gently patted her back to put her to sleep.