The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

I often heard that I resembled the Duchess of Panteur. 

If even the birth mother, who gave birth to Duchess Panteur could say that, then it was clear that I looked exactly like her.

“Dear, this child is not our daughter. She is a child sent from heaven while our daughter was hoping for her mother to recover quickly.”

“What are you saying? This is our daughter, Seraphina.”

As Grandfather approached while holding me, her trembling fingers gently touched me. As she played with my small hands, her weak lips, which seemed ready to gasp for breath, slightly bit them.

“Our daughter… She had a birthmark on her palm.”

Unfortunately, my palm was perfectly clean. As she continued to touch my hand, she asked, 

“Are you truly Seraphina’s daughter?”

At that moment, multiple gazes focused on me. As expected, what I needed at a time like this was tact.

“Yes, Father and Mother made love and gave birth to me. I’m three years old. I want to see Grandma.”

As I spoke, sweat ran down my back, and Grandfather and Helena let out a sigh of relief, while Grandma’s tears stopped flowing.

“What is Father’s name? What about Mother’s?”

“Father’s name is Joseph, Mother’s name is Seraphina, Sister’s name is Erica, Brother-in-law’s name is Jerome, and Older Brother’s name is Eugene. And Grandpa’s name is Phellis.”

Using all the names I knew, Grandma nodded and gently stroked my hair.

“Yes, it seems you are truly Seraphina’s daughter. I am your grandmother.”

Seeing Grandma give a faint smile, I smiled broadly. Then I tightly held Grandma’s hand.

“Is Grandma in pain? If Rafi blows air there, it will feel better.”

“I see. Then will you blow air for Grandma? My chest hurts so much.”

Seeing Grandma’s eyes, which could start pouring tears at any moment, I stepped away from Grandfather’s embrace and stood by the bed. 

Carefully and tentatively, I blew air onto Grandma’s left chest, which was throbbing as if it could stop at any moment.

“Hoo, hoo, pain, pain, go away.”

When I chanted the spell, Grandma burst into tears and hugged me tightly.

“Yes, my child, our child is here.”

Holding me and patting my back, Grandma shed tears but smiled. Grandpa wiped away Grandma’s tears.

“Dear, be strong. Our daughter’s baby, Rafi, is here. Let’s postpone cutting ties with the world for later.”

“Yes, that seems necessary. How can I close my eyes before even looking at this child properly? I think I should see our child grow up, get married, and have children.”

Grandma, as if setting a new goal, held me and smiled with tears in her eyes. Grandpa wiped away Grandma’s tears.

“Now, let’s go outside with Grandma. Lady Rafi.”

“Yes, let’s go outside later, Grandma.”

“Yes, let’s do that. Ah! Let’s have a meal with our child.”

Grandma, who kissed my cheeks until they made a sound, had a bright smile, and smiles also appeared on the faces of Grandpa and Helena standing behind her.

“Now, let’s let Grandma rest, Rafi.”

“Yes, Grandma. Later.”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

I kissed Grandma’s cheek, which sounded more energetic than before, and held Helena’s hand. 

As I stepped away from the dimly lit place, I let out a relieved sigh. I had fallen into this world, and now I had become a granddaughter, a role that I had longed for. 

It didn’t feel entirely unpleasant. 

I smiled at Helena, who was the wife of the son of Duchess Panteur’s brother, in other words, the person who could be considered my cousin-in-law and asked.

“By the way, Rafi is three years old, but how mold is sister?”

“A woman’s age is a secret, but I’ll tell you carefully, Lady Rafi. I’m 36 years old. I’m the same age as your cousin. I got married a bit early.”

“Uh, I see. Where is your family?”

“God called them early and took my father and mother with him. I don’t have any other siblings.”

In conclusion, it meant that the uncle and aunt passed away. That also meant that in the Tigris duchy, there were one son and one daughter, but the children went before their parents. The lives of grandfather and grandmother were quite tragic.

Though I didn’t ask, Helena told me everything. 

That grandmother hasn’t been in good health for several years, with all the children taking care of her, that my cousin is currently working as grandfather’s assistant, and that the two sons are learning magic.

I nodded as I listened to Helena’s story.

“Shall I read a fairy tale to you, my dear?”

“Yes.”

Since Jenny had always read me a fairy tale before bed, it didn’t sound strange to hear that Helena would read to me. 

I went straight to the room I came out of earlier and sat on the sofa. Then Helena took out several fairy tale books and started reading.

“Once upon a time, there was a witch who lived in a house made of cookies. Lost children, who were hungry, ended up eating the house made of cookies.”

“Uh, the kids ate it all, the witch’s house. They didn’t even apologize. Kids these days.”

Before giving legitimacy to the children who ate someone else’s house because they were hungry, I noticed the damage to the witch whose house was eaten. Helena laughed when she heard what I said as if it was something great.

“Oh! Hearing what the young lady said, it could be interpreted that way. I’ve only heard stories about how witches are bad, so I’ve been brainwashed. Our young lady is truly the best.”

I’ll interpret it a bit. Hmm! Anyway.

As I listened to Helena reading the fairy tale, my body leaned to the side. Without realizing it, I bent my knee as I did to Jenny. I tried to get up quickly, but Helena patted my stomach and continued reading the fairy tale.

At first, my mind was clear, but my eyelids began to droop from the sound of the fairy tale and Helena’s touch. Just as I felt like I was about to fall asleep again, I heard a knock.

“What’s happening?”

“Dinner is ready.”

I immediately stood up. I didn’t know at first, but suddenly, I felt hungry when I heard that dinner was ready.

“Let’s go, let’s eat, my dear.”

“Yes.”

As I reached out my hand, Helena, who had put down the fairy tale book, held my hand. Holding Helena’s hand, we walked out into the hallway, and some people lowered their heads.

“Dinner is prepared in the annex today.”

“Got it. Rafi, let’s hurry and go to the annex. Hohoho.”

At Helena’s words, a maid took the lead and started walking. As we returned to where we had been before, I saw a meal laid out in a brighter space than before and swallowed my saliva.

“Come here. Sit here, my child, and eat with grandfather and grandmother.”

In response to my grandmother’s call, I walked over there. Unable to move properly, grandmother propped herself up with a large pillow on her back and had her meal on the bed. 

The meal on the table in the bed was different from what Grandfather and Helena were eating.

“Grandmother, grandfather. Eat a lot.”

“Oh, eat a lot. Oh, why do you speak so prettily?”

“Hehe, because grandfather told me to.”

Before the meal even started, a harmonious atmosphere was created. Then the gazes of the people waiting around also became much softer.

“Rafi, can you eat by yourself?”

“Yes, I can eat a lot.”

When grandfather picked up his spoon first, that’s when I also took a small spoon and started eating the soup.

“Drink it.”

“It tastes so good. Eat a lot.”

Grandfather wiped my mouth with a handkerchief and said. 

No matter how much I practiced, it was inevitable that soup would get on my lips. Seeing me hastily eating the soup out of hunger, Grandmother told the nearby employees.

“Our child is so thin. What are we doing? We need to quickly bring more delicious things.”

“But I’m not thin at all.”

Even now, I was perfectly plump. Since coming here, I had gained weight due to the generous feeding of Duke Panteur’s children.

“No, it’s unbelievable. What did they feed her in Duke Panteur’s place? Look at that. Our child only has bones in her hands. How could they starve our child there?”

“I ate a lot. I ate a lot.”

No matter how much I ate and gained weight, it seemed that my grandmother couldn’t hear me. Thanks to that, food started piling up in front of me, more than what was in front of Grandfather and Helena.

“Darling, what are you doing? Hurry up and feed our granddaughter.”

“Well, since she’s already eating, you should eat too.”

“Just by watching our child eat, my stomach feels full.”

I had eaten so much that my stomach was stuffed. I shook my head, thinking that if I ate more, I might get an upset stomach. But the food in front of me showed no signs of decreasing.

“It’s going to hurt if I eat more.”

“Oh? Then take some digestive medicine and finish eating.”

In response to the tremendous noise, I stood up from my seat and went down to the floor. Then I climbed onto my grandmother’s bed.

“Grandmother, my stomach is stuffed.”

I put my grandmother’s strange hand on my stomach and rubbed it. That’s when Grandmother nodded with a satisfied smile.

“But why isn’t grandmother eating?”

“Hmm? Ah, it’s because grandmother has a poor appetite.”

“Then, please eat.”

It was a role that couldn’t be avoided. So I scooped a spoonful of soup and filled it up.

“Ah, here you go.”

“Hmm? Ah…”

I put the spoonful of soup into Grandmother’s slightly open mouth. Seeing her sip the soup, I solemnly said,

“Swallow it down.”

“I swallowed it.”

“Okay, eat more.”

The soup had a bluish color, probably because of the herbs. Its appearance was such that just by looking at it, one would naturally go on a diet. 

But I paid no attention to it and fed the soup to my grandmother. Every time I did that, she swallowed the soup I gave her.

After she finished the soup, I picked up a salad with a fork and offered it to her. At first, she seemed awkward, but now she smoothly accepted what I gave her. When she finished all the salad, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and said,

“Whew, that was hard. Grandmother, it’s not good to be picky. When you’re picky, bad things happen.”

“Well, alright. From now on, I won’t be picky. Thanks to my child, I don’t even remember the last time I ate so much without leaving anything.”

Grandfather and Helena were amazed at the two empty plates. 

Later, I learned that my grandmother would often hesitate between taking a spoonful of soup or not. They said that she would put her children first and, due to emotional stress, didn’t have a good appetite.

I shrugged my shoulders at the fact that she had a proper meal for the first time in years because of me.

“Darling, please listen carefully to what our Rafi says. She says that being picky causes trouble.”

“Yes, because our Rafi is so scary, I have to eat everything.”

After finishing the meal, Grandmother patted my bottom. She put in a bit more effort than when she patted my back earlier.

“Our young lady is truly the best. I’ve just realized that both our grandson and granddaughter are indispensable beings.”

As Helena laughed brightly while drinking tea, I, while the adults were enjoying their tea, took a sip of water and involuntarily nodded off. 

After having a fulfilling lunch, I felt sleepy again.

“Grandmother, I’m sleepy. Can I sleep here?”

“Why not? Sleep here.”

I nestled into my grandmother’s embrace, who hugged me tightly. It was so warm and cozy that just before falling asleep, I unknowingly said something.

“Mom, please watch over me… Don’t let go.”