The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

Aiden and Jaden, who were arguing about who will carry Rafi flinched when they saw Helena. 

Her cheerful smile was even more frightening. Helena shook her head.

“Sorry for causing so much trouble during this tea party we prepared after a long time. The kids really like their aunt, so they’ve been a bit rude.”

As Helena apologized first, everyone nodded their heads and let it go.

“We didn’t know that both of them liked children. They look really warm and cool.”

Some men disliked children. 

Sabina, who had been watching only those people, smiled mischievously as she saw Aiden and Jaden running away while holding their young aunt in their arms.

A man who liked children was Sabina’s ideal type, and she found it pleasing to see Aiden smiling while looking at Rafi. Despite knowing that he already had a girlfriend and shouldn’t get close to him, she couldn’t help but be drawn to him.

“By the way, it’s impolite to ask such questions, but when will Princess Sylvester get married? Now is the age for marriage, so is there already a marriage arrangement?”

“No, not yet…”

Sabina lowered her head as she was asked the question that made her wonder if she liked one of the northern nobles. She liked Aiden, but she couldn’t find the words to say and just mumbled vaguely.

Whenever Aiden was nearby, her heart would race and her face would turn red, but she couldn’t stay long in that state. 

He handed her a handkerchief once, but she was so surprised that she unknowingly grabbed it roughly.

There were several similar situations, and every time, Sabina behaved as if she disliked Aiden. Afterward, she would regret it and beat herself up, but she couldn’t undo what had already happened. 

So even if Aiden met another woman, she could only suffer in silence and couldn’t say anything. She just stood far away, silently watching him. 

The closer Aiden got to his ideal type, the more her heart ached.

When Sabina was suffering alone with her heartache, someone who was drinking tea, spoke cheerfully.

“Today’s tea is really delicious. What kind of tea is this?”

“The tea leaves were taken care of by Duke Panteur when the young lady came here. It’s tea produced in the Eardner region.”

“What? Eardner? My goodness! It’s so exclusive that it’s only served in the palace. I wonder how highly they regarded their daughter to send Eardner tea, asking for her to be treated well. Hahaha!”

The people who usually drank tea calmly became excited as soon as they heard Helena’s words. They were captivated by the taste of the tea that couldn’t be easily found anywhere else and exclaimed with admiration. 

Thanks to Rafi, Helena, who held her head high, said she would share the tea leaves with them, and they all smiled.

“By the way, there was a little child with red eyes wandering around in the Tigris Garden. Is it okay for outsiders to come in here without permission?”

In response to Matilda’s question, Helena shrugged her shoulders and gave a faint smile. Rafi was the only child who could freely roam the garden.

“No outsiders can come in. Unless it’s a soft rice cake angel like her, who doesn’t want to reveal her identity. But how did the Lady Monaco get in there?”

“I was allowed to go there with Aiden’s permission.”

As Aiden’s lover, Matilda warned the others not to covet the position of the Duchess of Tigris and raised her chin. Then Sabina slightly lowered her head.

“Aiden allowed it. But please be careful from now on. Our Rafi also goes there often.”

Helena, who spoke with a nuance of “Don’t come in when our young lady is there,” smiled and recommended tea to the others.

“Oh my goodness! When I eat the candies that the young lady gave me and drink tea, they go well together, just like rice cakes. Even the sweetness goes together quite nicely.”

“Our young lady wouldn’t just give you candies for no reason. Hahaha! Our young lady is so clever.”

In reality, Helena was just caught off guard, but she simply laughed. After the most successful tea party of her life ended and the guests were sent off, Helena walked with Sabina.

“Princess Sylvester, I apologize for the mistakes our children made earlier. If it was unpleasant for you, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no. Lady Tigris, I enjoyed it. My ideal type is a man who likes children… If I’m them, I might have kidnapped her too.”

“That’s right? Hoho! I never thought I would be caught off guard and have our young lady kidnapped. What are they doing over there?”

In Helena and Sabina’s eyes, as they walked through the garden, they saw Aiden, Jaden, and Rafi. They couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Aiden teaching Rafi while looking at a beginner’s spellbook.

“Now, if you concentrate your mana like this… Fire!”

As Aiden demonstrated first and reached out his hand, a fireball appeared.

“Heh, amazing! Aid, you’re a genius.”

“Ahem, let me try.”

“No, that’s basic. I’m pretty good at it too!”

When Rafi praised Aiden, Jaden confidently showed off his magic. Seeing that, Rafi shrugged his shoulders and pouted.

“Well, Jaden doesn’t know ancient languages either.”

“Well, that… It’s okay. If Aunt stays here, she can teach me. Isn’t that right?”

“Hey! Aunt doesn’t have time to teach you. Enough already. If you want, you can just go. If you’re here, Aunt will learn nothing from you.”

“I don’t want to! If you want to leave, then you leave first, brother.”

With Rafi standing in front of them, the two brothers argued like young children. 

Seeing that, Rafi placed her hand on her forehead and shook her head. 

They had said that men, even as they aged, had a lower mental age than women, like little children. Rafi sighed involuntarily at the sight of the two brothers arguing, despite being old enough to know better.

“It seems you’ve struggled to raise those boys. Well, never mind, I understand.”

With one word from the small Rafi, the two brothers quieted down as if they had never argued. 

Then they enthusiastically taught Rafi the basics of magic. Seeing that, Helena and Sabina smiled warmly.

“Your child… No, Seraphina seems so adorable. Aiden and Jaden can’t even move.”

“Among those who can’t move, Princess Sylvester might be included, so be careful. If you get caught up in our young lady’s charm, you might stick to her like sticky rice cake.”

Upon Helena’s words, Sabina also wanted to be included in that gap. Seeing the child studying and playing together, she couldn’t help but envy it. It was almost too much to bear.

“I think I’ve already stuck to her.”

Helena smiled with a tinge of envy as she looked at Sabina, who looked at her with longing eyes. 

She was the only daughter-in-law, and yet her foolish son was devoted to an unrelated woman. It was frustrating. 

But looking at her, it seemed that she didn’t completely lack feelings for her son.

“Oh! By the way, do you know this? In our house, what Seraphina says becomes law. If you want something, getting close to her is one way to do it.”

Helena gave a little tip and happily watched her foolish sons and clever cousin studying. They passed by that place. 

Then Sabina also put aside her regretful feelings and continued walking.

* * *

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Rafi came out to the garden and enjoyed the flowers when he met Aiden. 

Aiden, who had a slightly brighter smile than yesterday, hugged Rafi tightly.

“Our Aunt, do you like flowers that much?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Aiden playfully squished Rafi’s soft, squishy cheek. In response, Rafi tightly clung to Aiden’s chest without any gaps and poked him.

“Aiden, your chest is not as bouncy as father’s. Father’s chest is bouncy.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. I can’t help that. I don’t have time to train my body because I’m busy studying magic. But Jaden, on the other hand, has been training in swordsmanship.”

While the two were chatting, Matilda appeared. 

Seeing the uninvited woman, Rafi immediately pressed herself even closer to Aiden’s chest without any space in between. Matilda’s eyes flickered.

“What brings you here? I believe there’s no invitation today.”

Matilda swallowed dryly at Aiden’s straightforward tone. Usually, even without an invitation, he would welcome Matilda and greet her with a bright smile.

“Normally, even if I came like this, you wouldn’t say anything, but suddenly, you’re acting distant. Hoho.”

“Is that so? Then it must be the case. Since today, I planned to study with my aunt, we’ll take our leave.”

Matilda’s eyebrows furrowed as she saw Aiden, who affectionately caressed Rafi, who clung to his chest so dearly.

“Surely you’re not planning to raise that child?”

“Even if I wanted to, I can’t raise her, so don’t worry about that. Well then!”

“Just a moment.”

Aiden, who was carrying Rafi, was stopped by Matilda.

“What is it?”

“Well… Since we’re meeting with the assumption of marriage, we should discuss how to proceed from now on. It’s quite bothersome, but we can’t leave this matter to someone else.”

“Oh! That matter? Don’t worry, we won’t have any private meetings from now on.”

“What do you mean?”

Matilda’s eyes widened in surprise at Aiden’s firm words. 

Seeing Aiden’s changed behavior, she frowned and looked at Rafi. Somehow, it seemed like Rafi was the reason for Aiden’s change.

“I like a woman who loves children. But yesterday, Lady Monaco intentionally bumped into our aunt. That child with red eyes, it was our aunt.”

Matilda awkwardly laughed and lowered her head at Aiden’s straightforward voice.

“I just accidentally bumped into her…”

“In that case, you should quickly apologize. It was the first time someone had provoked our aunt in our house, so I was also taken aback. In that case, I hope we won’t have any meetings in the future.”

As Aiden, carrying Rafi, passed by, Matilda clenched her fists and ground her teeth. Seeing Matilda like that, Rafi shook her hand and said,

“Don’t meet anymore, and let’s never meet again.”

* * *

After Matilda left, I asked Aiden various questions in his room.

“Is she not a suitable woman for you?”

“Yeah, it seems that way. Haah… I feel like I’ve wasted too much time meeting Lady Monaco. I should have used that time to study magic.”

At first, it seemed fine, but when I peeled back a layer, he was trembling. 

Knowing his circumstances, Aiden blamed himself for not being able to see through women.

“But I don’t know what the princess will think of me. Haahh…”

I saw Aiden sigh heavily and shake his head, and I reached out and gently stroked the head of my older nephew.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. Aid, you’re good at keeping a good aunt.”

I put my hands on my hips and confidently said to Aiden as we practiced. 

After finishing everything, I wore a satisfied expression and immediately went to meet Sabina with a few tools in hand.

“Oh my, welcome. Seraphina, or should I keep calling you Rafi? That child with red eyes, she’s Rafi, right?”

“You can call me however you like.”

As soon as she saw me, Sabina greeted me warmly. Leading Sabina outside, I sat her down in a sunny spot.

“Did you have a good time playing with Aiden and Jaden?”

“Yes, but my little nephew is so mischievous. Hehehe.”

“Why? It seemed like the two of them treated you very kindly.”

“Huhu, don’t ask. It’s not easy for me to express myself, so it gets a little awkward.”

“Pfft!”

Sabina bent her waist at my words. Even the maid who was watching behind her bit her lip and shook her shoulders. 

After a while, Sabina stopped laughing and saw me using the paper I brought, playing with her, and making paper hats.

“Ta-da!”

“It’s beautiful, thankfully. But Rafi, what are you making?”

With Sabina’s help, I folded the red paper into shape. I attached leaf-shaped cutouts to the green metal stem, and it was a complete red rose.

“Oh my, it’s really beautiful.”

Even the maid behind Sabina, who had been watching, couldn’t help but exclaim. Although it was just one flower, it was quite beautiful. 

Sabina smiled brightly at the paper flower. Seeing her, I kneeled with one knee and extended the rose.

“R-Rafi? What are you doing…”

“My nephew said he’s getting married.”

“Uh, huh?”

“So I’m giving it to you. It means I am giving it to my nephew’s wife.”

Seeing Sabina not quite understanding, I took a deep breath and said,

“It means I have to quickly give it to my nephew’s wife. That’s what the soft, squishy rice cake said.”