The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

It was fine until I shouted with all my might.

In the solemn atmosphere, I gave various advice to my older nephew.

The belly clock rang before.

I got hungry because I ran around like crazy with my short legs this morning.

At the rumbling sound, Aiden took me straight to his room. Then he immediately wiped my face and hands with a towel and told Maria to bring my clothes.

“Aunt, are you hungry?”

“I’m fine.”

With that one word, a delicious cheesecake was placed in front of me. It was clear that Aiden had prepared it in advance. After eating cheesecake and drinking warm milk, I felt a little full.

“Aunt, what should I do in the future? I thought I could manage the Tigris household and control the employees while taking care of Lady Monaco.”

Munching on food and making sounds, Aiden sighed and lowered his head in front of me. 

Yesterday, I told him to hide for a while and observe, and the result seemed to shock him. It seemed like he was greatly shocked by getting to know Matilda, whom he thought was the woman he would marry.

“Well, just move on! There are better women than her.”

Especially the women who wanted to become the future Duchess Tigris were plentiful. Only Aiden didn’t know that.

“But I don’t have a woman I like.”

“How about a princess? What about Princess?”

“Princess? Are you talking about Princess Sylvester? Well, that’s not possible. After all, they say daughters-in-law should be brought from honorable families.”

Where did he pick up that from?

“So, you don’t like the princess?”

“It’s not that I dislike her, but I feel a little burdened. It feels like she completely sees through me with her black eyes.”

Aiden, who had been cleaning up around me every time I accidentally spilled cheesecake, talked about what he had observed from Sabina.

“It seems like she hates me. She used to hand me a handkerchief before, but when our hands touched, she suddenly pulled it back. And there was another incident…”

In short, he felt a liking when he first saw Sabina, but he didn’t approach her anymore due to her caution. 

I nodded at his words. He was the next Duke of Tigris, and why would he want to be with a woman who dislike him?

“Why do you keep saying that? It’s not like she doesn’t have eyes for..”

I signaled Aiden and brought my ear close to him, then I told him about what I knew about dating. Aiden nodded.

“But I already told the princess that I’m in a relationship with another woman.”

“Don’t care about the past! If you like the princess, you should make an effort.”

Until lunchtime, I gave Aiden a lecture and finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief as I drank my milk. 

Aiden, who said that he had met this woman and that woman while going through the motions of dating, was definitely the one who said that he only escorted them. 

I patted Aiden’s head, who claimed to be pure and innocent.

He was a natural monument. He might soon become a great magician.

“Well, from now on, you should behave properly as a man until you get married.”

* * *

Sitting in front of my grandmother, I smiled happily as I looked at what was in front of me. When I burst into laughter at the crab soup, which I liked, my grandmother also smiled broadly.

“There’s crab soup here.”

There was no beach in the north. But when I asked my grandmother if there was crab soup made from crab meat, she replied, 

“There isn’t, but it was delivered. They caught fresh crabs at the beach and brought them through the warp gate for our granddaughter to eat.”

Warp gate usage is known to be quite expensive, but to think it’s only used for transporting seafood, I couldn’t say a word. 

I simply expressed my satisfaction while enjoying the soup to the fullest. 

“It’s delicious.”

“Indeed? It’s tasty, isn’t it? If you’re with me, you can eat this kind of thing for the rest of your life.”

My grandmother, tempting me with crab soup, looked adorable. 

“Oh dear, it seems you have a cut on your hand. How did that happen?”

“I got it while picking something… it doesn’t hurt much, though.”

“It’s hurting, dear! Our child got hurt. What should we do about this?”

My grandfather, who was having a meal nearby, was called upon. When he saw my hand, his golden eyes started to burn. 

“I’ll sweep the entire garden…”

“Dear! Our Rafi loves that place. So, please don’t say such things and just take care of her wound.”

As my grandmother opened her eyes wide, my grandfather cleared his throat and started blowing mana into my hand. With an incredible level of healing magic, my hand healed cleanly. 

“Yay, it feels great! I want to learn it too.”

“Really? Do you want to learn? How about living with your grandparents? If our Rafi agrees to stay here, we’ll leave the dukedom to Daniel and teach our granddaughter magic every day.”

“But father is there.”

I couldn’t let go of my strong and loving dad.

“Aunt, don’t say that. Let’s stay together. How about studying together? I can also teach Aunt magic.”

“Yes, Aunt! Let’s play together. Whenever I have time, I’ll come to play with you.”

My nephews, who used to be indifferent to me until recently, suddenly started clinging to me.

The adults who saw this scene smiled and said it was lovely.

“That won’t do. We’re going to have a tea party soon, and I’m taking little Rafi with me, so I’ll take care of her today!”

Suddenly, Helena said to me, 

“Let’s go to the tea party.” 

I looked puzzled because I had never attended one, even when I was a princess. Then my sister said that I could attend the tea party and just quietly enjoy the snacks.

“Helena, it’s still too early for her to go to such places. Take Rafi with you when she’s a bit older.”

“No, I don’t want to. These days, I’ve been spending less time with our little Rafi because of tea party preparations. Grandma and she sleeps together at night. So, in the afternoon, I’ll attend with our little Rafi.”

As soon as I arrived here, my schedule became busy. I came here with the clear intention of learning magic, but all my planned activities went awry.

Immediately after eating, I was washed and dressed again. Without even a moment to feel a little down when they untied my hair, I started practicing my pronunciation. 

After all, I should be able to at least say my name fluently, right?

“Lady, let’s go together. Hohoho.”

Helena, who held me in her arms, confidently walked towards the place where the tea party was being prepared. The women of the household, known for their influence, stood up as one. Sabina was among them.

“I’m a little late.”

“Lady Tigris, please come quickly. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Since my grandfather hadn’t given the dukedom to Daniel yet, Helena seemed to be addressed simply as Lady Tigris.

Helena sat me in a specially prepared child’s chair and sat next to me.

“Oh my, Lady Tigris! Who is the child sitting next to you? Oh my goodness, did you secretly have a child? She resembles the Lord Tigris so much.”

The golden hair and silver irises were inherited traits that indicated the bloodline of the Tigris ducal family.

“Oh my, Lady Beatrice, does this child resemble him that much? Hohoho, this person is not our child but my aunt-in-law’s daughter.”

Everyone looked surprised at Helena’s words, but Sabina smiled and said,

“Is she by any chance the daughter of Lady Seraphina, the late daughter of the Duke of Tigris?”

“Oh my, Princess Sylvester is quick to understand. That’s right. She is Seraphina Panteur, the daughter of my aunt.”

When they spoke, everyone looked at me with wide eyes. Then, whether they said something or not, I just smiled and said, 

“Hello. My name is Seraphina Panteur. Nice to meet you.” 

I spoke as fluently as I could, and they all blinked in surprise. 

Regardless of their reactions, I started eating the cake placed in front of me. 

Yum yum!

“Oh my goodness, but I thought Lady Panteur had already passed away, how can there be a child…”

“Duke Panteur and my grandfather have confirmed it. She is my husband’s cousin. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sister and brother-in-law also said so.”

Upon hearing that even the Aquila ducal family acknowledged it, everyone swallowed their dry saliva. 

However, one person furrowed her brows and spoke.

“I heard that a child of destruction appeared in the East not long ago. Could it be that…”

It was proper etiquette to place the teacup on the saucer without making a sound. However, Helena openly made a sound and put down her teacup in response to Matilda’s words.

“It’s nonsense. Look at this. She looks exactly like our grandfather and my husband. Moreover, wouldn’t it be impossible for Duke Panteur to register someone else’s child in the family registry?”

Helena smiled widely at Matilda as if mocking her with her eyes filled with disdain. 

Although her smiling face looked more frightening, when Helena looked at me, she gave me a calm smile as if to say, “When did that happen?”

“Our little lady, the tea that adults drink may not taste good, so should I bring you some milk?”

I nodded, trying to save my words as much as possible due to my imperfect pronunciation. Soon, warm milk was served.

“A tea party with a cute child, it feels cozy and lovely. I like it even more. But somehow, it feels like I’ve seen her before…”

Sabina smiled at me. In response, I also smiled and drank the milk sip by sip.

“The faces of children all look similar, so we don’t know. Hoho! But by the way, Duchess Panteur resembles her.”

“That’s right. Lady Cellis, you have a good eye for details.”

She seemed to be the wife of Grandfather’s aide, who had held my hand and taken measurements before.

“I know you! You’re the one next to the aide! You look alike!”

I said to Lady Cellis with a grin. However, a strange atmosphere seemed to settle. 

Did I say something wrong? As I tilted my head, Lady Cellis smiled faintly and spoke.

“Indeed, she seems to be the daughter of our late Duchess Seraphina. She also mentioned before that she saw a resemblance in me and my husband.”

Was there such an occasion? Well, in any case, it’s better to take it in a positive light. 

I smiled and extended a candy from my bag.

“Here, have some. Enjoy.”

“Oh my, are you giving us presents? Thank you so much. Duchess Seraphina gave me candies before as well.”

It was clear that this household’s Seraphina had also enchanted people with candies. With a mischievous smile, I received assistance from Maria, stood up from the chair, and handed each person at the tea party a candy. 

They all accepted it with smiles, except for Matilda, who had a sour expression.

“But did Lord Aiden accept the young aunt? He has quite a strong sense of pride, so I wonder what he said.”

When I finished distributing the candies and returned, she asked. Then Helena smiled brightly and nodded her head.

“Yes, he is fond of her and is asking her to stay here rather than go to Duke Panteur’s. They said that.”

“Did Lord Aiden and Lord Jaden really say that? That’s strange. They usually don’t like children.”

Matilda smirked and looked at me while speaking. Before Helena could respond, someone suddenly appeared.

“You, showing yourself at the ladies’ tea party. Did I teach you to do that?”

It was Aiden and Jaden who appeared. Normally, men didn’t attend women’s gatherings, so it was against custom for the brothers to show up like this. 

Awkwardly, they smiled and spoke.

“We apologize for revealing ourselves in this beautiful and elegant gathering. We’ll just take one thing and you can continue this lovely tea party.”

As Aiden said those words, my body floated lightly. Jaden hugged me.

“What are you doing? How dare you carry a baby like this!”

Aiden scolded Jaden while making a stern expression, but the effect was minimal.

“Aunt, let’s play together. This place is just for talking, it’s not fun. You’ll probably fall asleep if you stay here.”

Jaden smiled brightly, regardless of whether the ladies around were surprised or not, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh dear, please don’t start a fuss here!”

Despite speaking seriously, it seemed like Helena’s words fell on deaf ears to the brothers.

“Mother, we’ll take the aunt with us. We’ll see you in the evening. Jaden, now it’s my turn to hold her. Give her to me.”

“No, I want to carry her. I can’t let go of this soft bean rice cake.”

While they argued about who would carry me, I shouted.

“Hey, you troublemakers! None of you deserve this rice cake. Trying to just take the bean powder and run off!”