The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

While trying to find a place to take a break, I accidentally rolled and ended up sitting on top of this little one. 

Fortunately, I wasn’t seriously hurt. However, I felt that the kitten might be injured, so I extended my hand, asking for it to be treated. Daniel, seeing the kitten I held out, smiled and immediately cast a healing spell.

A white aura surrounded it, but the kitten still seemed weak. 

Curiously, I tilted my head, and Helena fetched something in a bowl.

“It seems hungry. I’m not sure if the kitten will eat this…”

It was soup poured from a kettle, which always became warm regardless of what it contained. The soup was poured into the bowl, and without any hesitation, the kitten, with its eyes wide open, eagerly licked it up.

“It must have been hungry.”

After hungrily consuming the soup, the black kitten seemed satisfied and drifted off to sleep.

“Adorable!”

“Rafi, even if it’s cute, we can’t just raise any animal without thinking. If you want to raise a cat, your brother will bring you a pedigreed one…”

“I don’t want to. I like this kitty.”

Although Daniel cautioned me about being wary of unfamiliar animals and suggested bringing another cat, I shook my head. There were no parents around. It seemed abandoned, just like me.

Having endured each day, abandoned by its mother and mistreated by its father, I didn’t feel strange when I saw the cat for the first time.

“I want to raise it. Can I, Grandpa? Grandma… I want to raise it.”

I puffed up my cheeks, pressing my two hands against my cheeks. Seeing me like that, Grandpa and Grandma nodded.

“Sure, let Rafi raise it as she wishes. If anyone tries to harm our little one, this Grandpa will protect it.”

With the approval of the absolute authority in this household, I nestled against Grandpa and Grandma.

“Thank you, Grandpa, Grandma!”

“Ho ho, if that’s what you want, this Grandpa will do anything for you. Hehehe!”

Grandpa playfully rubbed his face against mine. Now that I had permission to raise a cat, I grinned happily. After returning home from the enjoyable outing, I bathed the cat together with Sabina. Its fur was disheveled from rolling around outside for a long time.

“Meow!”

As water touched its fur, the cat revealed its claws and tried to escape. Seeing that, I put on a serious expression and said:

“If you don’t behave, no treats for you!”

With just those words, the cat immediately calmed down.

“Oh my, it seems that the cat listens to our Lady. But what should we name it?”

Name?

I had been calling it just “cat” until now, so I tilted my head at Sabina’s words. I looked up at the sky through the window as I was washing the now obedient cat.

“Ciel… Cielo!”

“Oh my, our Lady is good at naming things. Should we call it Cielo, and its nickname can be Ciel?”

“Sure.”

Without much thought, I immediately gave it a name and used a towel to dry Ciel’s fur, which was still wet.

“It looks like Ciel is clean now.”

“Really? Ciel, you’re adorable!”

“What about me?”

As Sabina and I finished washing Ciel together, Aiden interjected. I smiled as I looked back and forth between Aiden and Ciel.

“Aiden, you’re handsome in your own way!”

“Hmph! That’s the right answer. Our Lady is really clever.”

“And I’ll make Grandpa proud.”

Sabina, who was holding me while I held Ciel, hugged me and playfully touched my hair, quickly changing my hairstyle. With my transformed appearance, resembling a truly beautiful princess, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled brightly.

“From now on, I’ll take responsibility for our aunt’s hair. How can she be so adorable?”

“Sabina, should we have a child right after we get married? Our daughter would definitely be beautiful, don’t you think?”

“Oh my, um… that, that’s… embarrassing… I want to have a child without distinguishing between a son and a daughter.”

Upon hearing the plans of the two people who were not even engaged, I exclaimed.

“Aiden! Don’t say such things! I don’t want to be a grandma!”

“Hmph! S-Sorry. Just once, please. Our aunt is beautiful. I’ll give birth to a daughter who looks like our aunt.”

I was only three years old at the time. If they made a mistake, I might end up being a grandmother by the time I turned five. 

I shook my head anxiously. 

Then Aiden proposed a deal. A daughter who looks like me. It might sound somewhat cute in a way, but on the other hand, it seemed dreadful. I’ve heard that in dramas, having a child who resembles you can be quite troublesome.

Meow, meow.

With Ciel in my arms, I walked out. Outside, Maria was waiting for me.

“I want to go to Sister.”

“Madam will be delighted to see you. Hoho!”

It was quite difficult to visit each family member one by one when there were so many of them. 

Following Maria’s guidance, I hurriedly entered Helena’s room. Instead of my elderly grandmother, Helena, who was responsible for the housekeeping, looked busy and exhausted after the outing.

“Oh my! Our little lady, did you come because you missed me? Please wait for a moment.”

Smiling, Helena hugged me and sat me on the desk. Then she looked at some documents and glanced at me. While observing Helena, who was addicted to me, I noticed her glancing at the documents with a puzzled expression, bouncing the abacus, and adjusting the numbers.

“Here sister. It’s wrong.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

As I watched Helena, who was tilting her head, I pointed at a specific spot with my finger. Helena, who was carefully observing that spot, smiled and immediately corrected the numbers.

“Oh my, why does our little lady possess such intelligence? She’s only three years old, yet she knows how to calculate. She’s a genius.”

Having become a genius through simple addition and subtraction, I became the topic of conversation during dinner. I happily bit and sucked on the bean powder, unable to stop until it was all over my face.

“I think I should go back to the homeland as soon as possible, even tomorrow. I want to inform Mama and Grandma.”

Sabina, who was gently stroking my cheeks, smiled. Although I hadn’t been here for long, it was only natural for everyone to want to hear the news from their family members. Everyone nodded as they looked at Sabina’s smiling face.

“Please do so. We will wait for the royal decree from the kingdom.”

Daniel said with a smile. Even here, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the Duke of Tigris was surpassed by the princess. It seemed like they expected good results.

“Oh dear, how can I leave our aunt behind? I’m not sure.”

“Well, when Sabina comes, our aunt will be in the Panteur Mansion.”

I couldn’t stay here forever, so everyone let out a small sigh. Seeing them, I smiled and petted Ciel.

“I’ll tell Father to come visit often.”

“Yes, that’s right. But I’m not sure if the son-in-law will allow it. Even though we don’t want to send you away, I wonder what the son-in-law will do.”

This time, my grandmother touched my cheeks and said with a playful tone. After dinner and tea time, everyone said goodnight and pressed and squeezed my cheeks, giving me goodnight kisses.

Once again, it seemed like my cheeks would melt like soft rice cakes. I gently comforted my cheeks with my small hands and continued to pet Ciel, who wouldn’t leave my arms.

“Ciel, my dear.”

* * *

Since Rafi left for the Duke of Tigris, Duke Panteur’s condition had become somewhat strange. He would stare blankly at the documents without signing them. Occasionally, he would sigh and gaze at the northern sky and eat his meals in Rafi’s room.

After Rafi went north, he ate baked glutinous rice cakes that were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with sweet syrup.

“Did we receive any news about our child?”

He grabbed the collar of the magician employed in this house, exerting enough pressure to tense his muscles, and shook him.

“We haven’t received any communication yet, perhaps because it hasn’t been a week.”

Duke Panteur, who sent the jittering magician away, glared at the clock for no reason. When he didn’t know Rafi, time simply passed by. He used to work, eat, and sleep at regular times. But ever since the little child appeared, his rhythm was completely disrupted.

“Perhaps it’s because my future daughter-in-law went to Tigris Ducal Palace, so the Duke seems restless.”

“When did I—!”

“Right now, there are many mistakes and blots on the documents.”

Upon hearing Vance’s words, Duke Panteur finally lowered his head and looked at the documents. He kept poking the ink-stained pen onto the spots where he needed to sign, causing the ink to spill. Seeing that, Duke Panteur handed the documents to Vance.

“Rewrite it for me.”

Vance, who was waiting for approval, groaned and started writing again on a new sheet of paper. It had only been three days since Rafi went to the north, yet time seemed to stand still.

“Buy things that Rafi would like in plenty. Especially dolls with gemstone eyes.”

Duke Panteur had seen Rafi trying to remove the eyes from a doll before. He didn’t know whose daughter she was, but he imagined having a greedy daughter and eagerly awaited a week to pass. 

He stuck the pen tip into his thigh and endured for a week, believing that Rafi would return soon.

“Duke, there’s a communication from Tigris Ducal Palace.”

The magician, whose neck had been grabbed earlier, rushed over with a communication device in his hand. The sparkling communication device quickly became clear, revealing the image of a little girl with silver hair and golden eyes. 

Seeing that, Duke Panteur couldn’t help but smile for a moment before quickly fixing his expression.

“Rafi! Today is the day we’ve been waiting for.“

The slightly indifferent daughter contacted him after a week of being away. However, Rafi smiled as if she didn’t know his feelings. Just seeing her smile made his slight disappointment melt away. 

He thought she would quickly tell him that she would come back.

[Can I play a little more here?]

“Huh?”

[There’s grandmother and grandfather here, and my brother and sister, and cute little nephews too.]

“What? What’s that got to do with it…?”

[It’s so much fun here.]

Upon hearing his daughter’s words, Duke Panteur sighed. Although he lived alone here, many bloodlines gathered at Tigris Ducal Palace. Duke Panteur thought it was better to have such a family than to feel unfamiliar. He clenched his fist.

“Has someone threatened you?”

[No. It’s fun here. Hehe. I’ll stay a little longer and then go, okay?]

Holding hands and fidgeting, his daughter spoke. Duke Panteur’s face turned cold. Although he had eagerly awaited his daughter’s arrival, she wanted to stay there longer. Just as he was about to tell her to come quickly since today was the promised day, someone interrupted.

[Oh! Rafi, there you are. Helena said she was going out for a snack now. We need to hurry and get ready.]

Although he had never seen this person before, the silver hair and golden eyes indicated that he was from the direct lineage of Tigris. The man who hugged his daughter greeted him with a smile.

[Nice to meet you for the first time, Uncle, I’m Daniel Tigris. Today is a day for our family to go out, so we should be going. See you next time.]

His words were polite, but his expression didn’t match. Embracing Rafi, Daniel couldn’t stop smiling.

[I’m hungry!”]

[Of course. I prepared everything you like. So let’s go quickly.]

[That’s awesome. This is my first time going. Hehe, let’s keep in touch. Bye!]

“Oh, wait a moment! Daughter! Rafi!”

He desperately called out, but Rafi’s hand waving towards the communication device disappeared frighteningly quickly. Duke Panteur’s face turned cold, and the magician felt unnecessarily guilty, bowing his head. When it looked like someone was going to die, Duke Panteur muttered while clenching his fists.

“How dare—”

“Duke, please calm down.”

Oscar, who was standing at a distance, spoke and quickly handed the communication device to the magician. Instead of the expensive communicator, the desk it rested on was smashed by Duke Panteur. 

Duke Panteur, who was still angry despite the destruction of the desk, shouted.

“How dare they! They went on the outing that I couldn’t go on before our freshly baked sticky rice cake!”