The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Daniel and Helena laughed as if they were about to die, but the two nephews had different expressions that seemed like they were going to die.

“Well, we’re older, so…”

“Well, since you’re older, you should do it with Grandpa.”

Upon hearing that they should do it quickly because there are many people older than them, Aiden and Jayden’s faces turned pale.

“Yeah, come to think of it, we haven’t seen the singing of great-grandchildren yet. You should do it quickly.”

“I’m sorry, Grandma, I can’t do those things.”

The older nephew trembled and apologized at Grandma’s words.

“Enough! What are you afraid of? Come on, do as I do!”

When I placed my hands on my waist and said that, the two nephews looked around nervously and reluctantly followed suit.

“Make a stern face like me and do it. Okay! Just like that! Now, sing along. Blue sky, blue sky, a dream…”

“Blue sky, blue sky, a dream…”

That day, Grandma and Grandpa witnessed the singing of their great-grandchildren for the first time in their seventy-year lives. 

I, who made all of this possible, began to be embraced by them from that day on. It was an achievement accomplished within a day of arriving at the Tigris ducal estate.

* * *

After dinner and playing with Grandma, it became late, and we all went to our rooms. Of course, I naturally slept next to Grandma.

For a while, Grandma gently stroked my face as she couldn’t fall asleep. 

She had a kind smile on her face. Then she fell asleep with a sullen expression, and during her sleep, I saw her touching a box and shedding tears. 

However, I fell asleep before seeing the end.

“Oh, I need to use the restroom.”

I felt a strong urge to pee while sleeping. So I quickly got up and looked around, but I couldn’t see the bathroom. I hurriedly went outside and wandered around. As I woke up in the dim dawn, I saw three buildings and ran towards them in a hurry.

When I opened the door wide, the restroom was incredibly dirty, beyond description. No matter how urgent it was, it didn’t seem possible to use the restroom right away. So I went into the adjacent building. There, the restroom literally had a hole in it.

Seeing that only a pitch-black hole was visible, I held my stomach. It felt like I would lose my balance if I tried to use it there.

“What to do?”

Feeling too rushed, I went back to the adjacent building. There was a restroom there too, but unfortunately, I couldn’t see the door. It was a structure where if someone came in while I was using it, they would see everything.

“No, it feels like it’s going to roll down.”

Feeling frustrated, I yelled out loud, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Grandma next to me.

“Baby, do you need to use the restroom?”

“Oops!”

Only then did I realize that I had dreamt, and I quickly got up and touched the bed, relieved that nothing happened. Grandma grabbed my sleeve.

“Did you cough?”

A maid I had never seen before came in.

“Our child needs to use the restroom, please help.”

“Yes, of course. Lady, please come this way.”

The maid who held me went into the restroom. It was an indescribable pleasure being there. After comfortably taking care of my business, I had the most relaxed expression on my face.

“Lady, would you like to wash up?”

“Yes.”

With a brief response, the bathtub was filled with warm water, and I quickly undressed and immersed myself in the bathtub. As the warm water touched my body, I couldn’t help but relax.

“Oh my, our Lady. You’re as soft and squishy as a soft soybean powder-coated rice cake. How lovely. You’re so cute.”

The maid who was washing me held my cheek and focused on cleaning only that area. After being thoroughly washed with warm water, I was immediately dressed in a new outfit that my father had prepared.

“Oh my, how beautiful it is. I also want to work at the Panteur Mansion. That way, I can see our young lady to my heart’s content.”

“Hmm, my maid’s name is Jenny.”

“Do you have exclusive maids too? Oh my, I envy that person so much.”

After drying my hair, she tied a red ribbon around it. I was forcibly dressed up and sat next to Grandma.

“Grandma, why is it so dark here? Let’s remove the curtains.”

Even in the morning, the black curtains were drawn, making it gloomy.

“Oh no, I forgot. Children are afraid of darkness… I’m sorry, my dear.”

As she waved her finger and spoke, everything quickly fell into place. The curtains were opened, and the warm sunlight of the morning poured in.

“Thanks to our child, I don’t remember the last time I saw sunlight.”

“Grandma, it hurts more when it’s dark. My head hurts…”

Even though I complained a little in the morning, Grandma just smiled gently and nodded her head. Seeing that, the maid smiled brightly and tied the curtains securely.

After a while, the dining table was set, and the Tigris family members entered. They all greeted each other briefly, and the meal began.

“Grandma, here’s your spoon.”

Perhaps because it was morning, Grandma didn’t easily pick up the spoon. Seeing her like that, I activated my ultimate move.

“If Grandma doesn’t eat, I won’t eat either.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. Look at this. Grandma is eating well, so our child should eat quickly too.”

I put my hands on my waist and persisted in not eating, and then Grandma started eating with the utensils in her hand.

“Haha, Lady Rafi’s presence makes the mistress eat too. Until recently, she wouldn’t eat.”

“Even if I have no appetite, I can’t help it anymore. If I don’t eat, I feel like our child will wither away.”

The adult family members didn’t leave me alone. As soon as the meal was over, snacks were brought in. 

While eating the cake, I held my cheeks in my hands and shivered. Everyone smiled except for my nephews, who had to study.

In no time, I was left alone, and I had to go see the Tigris Mansion with Maid Maria.

“This is where the portraits of the Tigris family’s patriarchs are displayed.”

“Hehe, me.”

“Yes, our young lady’s hair color and eye color are the same. It means she has the blood of the Tigris family running through her veins.”

The direct descendants of the Tigris family had silver hair and golden eyes. Technically, I’m not a direct descendant here, but I felt fortunate that I resembled them somehow.

“Here is…”

After looking at all the portraits, Maria smiled and pointed out another place. But suddenly, her expression changed oddly. It seemed like she urgently needed to go to the bathroom.

“Oh, miss, I’m in a hurry…”

“Go ahead. I’ll wait here.”

Maria hurriedly ran off. Seeing her leave, I peeked my head out into the corridor because the adjacent door was slightly open.

“Oh, what should I do with this? It’s so annoying.”

It was Jaden. It seemed like this was Jaden’s room. He looked down at something and furrowed his brow, sighing heavily. 

Unable to find a solution, he wandered around the room. Seeing him like that, I couldn’t help but smile, even though I didn’t know why.

“What, what? Why is a kid here?”

I silently observed and when Jaden’s gaze met mine, I smiled and spoke.

“Hello, what are you doing here?”

“This is my room. So, could you leave?”

“Well, well. Since you’re here, I guess I’ll stay a little longer.”

“I don’t want you here when I’m already in a bad mood. Just leave.”

Without properly pronouncing the words, he said, 

“Leave. Don’t add more to my already annoyed state.”

Jaden, who only used polite language when adults were around, frowned deeply. Seeing Jaden like that, I also furrowed my brow and pouted my lips.

“Why are you such a know-it-all at such a young age? You can’t do anything.”

“That’s not true. I’m good enough at many things. It’s just this one thing I can’t do.”

Seeing Jaden getting worked up by my words, I entered the room with a hop and a skip. Then, I chuckled while looking at what was placed in front of Jaden, making his pretty face look grumpy.

“What do you know just by looking at this? It’s an ancient language. It’s a difficult language even for adults. So, kids should eat, sleep, and play like kids. Don’t wander around here.”

Listening to Jaden’s words with one ear and letting them go with the other, I chuckled. The characters written as “ancient language” didn’t seem unfamiliar to me. 

Here’s one of the basic rules of language: Ancient languages are mostly English or Korean. And my guess turned out to be right.

The ancient language I saw was Hangul, which was created by King Sejong. Truly, King Sejong!

It could be an unexpected event that a Korean from ancient times, like me, had traveled dimensions. But I hadn’t forgotten the writing that I had seen and used for fifteen years.

“I’m from a different era.”

“Hmph! Don’t lie.”

“Really.”

“Don’t think you can talk back just because you receive compliments from adults as a little child. Now, get lost, will you? This place isn’t for kids.”

Jaden shouted angrily, thinking I was lying. However, I smiled mischievously and stared at the writing.

“Pentavita, quintuple gravitational flux, resulting in a volcanic eruption…”

When Jaden saw the writing that I labeled as ancient language, his brow furrowed. Then, he looked through the other books placed nearby, and his eyes widened. As I read about five lines fluently, Jaden’s hands holding the book trembled.

“Can you read more?”

“Oh, no. That’s enough. This much is sufficient.”

His hands trembled, and now his lips were trembling too. Seeing Jaden’s condition, I shifted my focus from the ancient language.

“This isn’t interesting anymore. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Losing interest in this place, I quickly returned to the place where Maria was waiting, as I had told her. Then, when our eyes met, she was surprised and blinked. I spoke to her.

“I’m sorry for making you think I was lost. I’m back now. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Oh, lady, I was so surprised, thinking you were lost. I thought my heart would stop.”

“I apologize. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go outside.”

I held Maria’s hand and was about to go outside when suddenly Jaden rushed out of the room.

“No, you can’t!”

“What? Young master, what do you mean?”

Surprised, Maria blinked her eyes. Then, Jaden suddenly hugged me tightly.

“Just wait a moment, little one, no, Auntie, I’ll have you first. Alright? Hmph!”

“But we planned to play outside with the young lady…”

“I’ll do that, too, and you can come when you’re called. It’s not like I’m going to eat my little aunt.

I don’t know why you’re so surprised.”

Ignoring the protests, Jaden entered the room and closed the door. Then, he immediately took me to the place where the writing in the ancient language was. Since there was no baby chair, Jaden placed me on the desk and said:

“Little one, no, Auntie! How did you read this?”

“You showed it to me. I’m from a different era.”

“I see. In that case, can you teach me this? Even if I don’t understand the meaning, can you teach me how to read and write? Please! Pretty please!”

Oh my! What is he asking from a three-year-old? He didn’t even treat me like an aunt before.

I pursed my lips, crossed my arms, and turned my head. I activated my sulking mode. From then on, Jaden bombarded me with all sorts of requests.

“Do you like cake? How about soft rice cakes? Should I get them for you? What about candies? Huh?”

“Forget it.”

“Oh, Auntie, please, if I can’t do this, I’ll get scolded by my teacher. I don’t want to get scolded, okay?”

“Yes, it’s not only me who gets scolded.”

“I’m not a bad kid. I’ll be a good kid from now on. So please, help me. Pretty please?”

Beside me, Jaden begged, his hands clasped tightly. But I didn’t easily give in, so he brought something else this time.

“How about this? You’re still a kid, so you might not understand it well. It’s called sapphire, and with this, you can buy all the candies you want later…”

Before Jaden could finish his sentence, I was already captivated by the sapphire. It seemed more dazzling than the ruby Grandfather had given me.

“Wow, it’s beautiful. Let me see it.”

“You’re not supposed to eat this. It would be a big problem if you did. This can be exchanged for money later, so…”

Am I going to be enchanted by a sapphire like this? I tried to turn my head away, but this time, Jaden pulled out something else. He handed me an emerald hairpin.

“Our Auntie looks pretty. I’ll give you this as a gift.”

“Really? Yay, thank you!”

With the sapphire and the emerald hairpin in my hands, I decided to become Jaden’s teacher that day.

“I’m a Teacher, and you’re my student. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”