The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

“Whoa, where am I?!”

Still groggy, I managed to sit up, furrowed my brow, and looked around.

“My dear Rafi, you’re finally awake.” 

“Kai, where is this?”

“This is Lady Erica’s room.”

I shook my head at Kai’s words as I sat up in my chair and looked down. I couldn’t remember when I’d fallen asleep. I knew I’d eaten the chocolate that was supposed to be my sister’s share yesterday, and I knew it had alcohol in it, but I must have fallen asleep right after that because I couldn’t remember anything else.

“Would you like some water?” 

“Yes.”

As soon as I heard Kai’s words, I felt a terrible thirst. He poured me a glass of water and I gulped it down, barely able to stay awake before I realized there was someone else beside me.

“Wait, what’s going on? Why is he here?”

As Colin lay down next to me sleeping, I poked his soft cheek and asked. 

“Yesterday, you caused a commotion so Young Master Aquila slept with the young lady. Do you remember what happened?”

“What commotion? Did Rafi sleep well?”

“Yes, no, it wasn’t like that.”

A smiling Kai told me the details of what happened yesterday. Listening to him, I fidgeted like I was sitting on a thorny cushion.

“I got drunk…….”

“Yes, as a result of the alcohol, you turned the personally cared-for flower garden into a wasteland. It was quite adorable. Rafi was rolling around laughing, and His Majesty Aquila’s expression was quite entertaining.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes, well, after seeing Rafi, who turned into a pancake, he couldn’t say anything.”

In addition to rice cake filled with sweet bean paste, now I’ve become a pancake. It felt like every possible snack made from sticky rice was popping out. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see rice crackers.

“Hee hee, I’m in trouble. If I get scolded by His Highness, I don’t know what to do.”

I sighed inwardly. I hadn’t realized I’d gotten so drunk on liqueur chocolate that I’d been caught unprepared, and I hung my head.

“He wouldn’t have been too upset, after all, they were all fighting to hold rice cake.”

“Huh?”

“Lady Erica tried to carry Lady Rafi away in her arms, and Duke Aquila insisted on carrying her himself, so there was a bit of a scuffle.”

Lady Erica won, of course, Kai said with a smirk, then slipped his hand between my armpits and lifted me. Soaking a towel in the wash water the maids had left behind, Kai gently wiped my face.

“What happened yesterday is a secret from the Duke. Do you understand? Because as soon as he finds out, Duke Aquila’s life will cease to exist in this world.”

“Yes.”

Of course, Father would scold me if he found out I’d been running around drunk at my sister’s house. Promising to keep my mouth shut, I left a sleeping Colin and headed outside.

As soon as I got outside, I saw my brother-in-law coming here, so I walked up to him and clasped my hands together.

“I’m sorry for the disaster.”

As soon as I saw my brother-in-law, I immediately apologized and my body began to float up to the top of the stairs.

“What did my sister-in-law do wrong?” 

“I ruined the flowerbed”

Unable to make eye contact with my brother-in-law, I apologized, still bowing my head. 

“Then what shall we do?”

“Oomph, Rafi will sprinkle the flowerbed with seeds.”

“That’s right. Then, how about we go and plant new seeds in the flowerbed today? Of course, after having a delicious meal first.”

“Can you forgive me, big brother?”

“Forgiveness? What’s there to forgive? It’s something that could happen to a young child. However, remember! The first time might be because you didn’t know any better, but from the second time onwards, you might be intentionally pushing the boundaries.”

I don’t know how I’m going to get through to this chewy rice cake, I’ll just have to put up with it.

It was only when I heard my brother’s voice muttering in a low voice that I looked up and saw him. I expected him to be angry, but his expression was very cheerful. I put my hands around his neck, which was covered with a smile, and gave him a squeaky kiss on the cheek.

“Here’s a kiss!”

“Uhhhh…… my sister-in-law, what else are you going to break today, we have quite a few valuable things in our house.”

To me, it looked like my brother-in-law was broken. Upon seeing him like that, Arnold tilted his head and gave a sly smile. 

“Can we do it one more time? The reconciliation kiss was a bit lacking….” 

“Should I do it for you? I should apologize on behalf of our young lady for letting her roam freely in the flower garden.” 

“Suddenly, it’s not necessary anymore.”

Kai stepped in and spoke, causing my brother-in-law to sober up and nod his head nervously. In the meantime, Colin, who had woken up from his nap, came running over. With his right arm around me and his left arm around Colin, my brother-in-law proudly showed off his strength, wearing a very relaxed expression.

“Aunt, kiss!”

“Huh?”

“Yesterday, Aunt gave me a cute kiss… Hehe.”

It seemed like I had been drinking too much and doing too many embarrassing things.

“Ugh, she’s not doing it seriously anymore.” 

“Tsk! Just go and drink some random person’s leftover coffee.”

“Hmm, I will never let you see her again.” 

“Hmph, that’s so unfair.”

Colin pouted his lips as my brother-in-law gave him a peck on the cheek, showing a bit of discontent. He then slightly turned his head away.

“Father’s kisses are not great… I like the ones Aunt gives the most.”

“This kid, he’s not even a teenager, and he’s already hating on his father. What a shock.” 

“But I can’t help but prefer the ones Aunt gives.”

“That’s true. Hahaha, our son takes after me, he’s quite picky about kisses.”

Is that what the conversation is about with your four-year-old son? When I looked at my brother-in-law and Colin with teary eyes, my sister suddenly intervened.

“Our Rafi, kiss!”

It seems like I must have been giving kisses to everyone I saw. As I offered my cheek for a morning kiss, my sister’s expression softened.

“This kid, you ate my chocolate yesterday and played around. If something like that happens again…”

“Will you scold me?”

“No, I’ll praise you. Ah, why do you have to be so adorable?”

It seems like I have done many things that I shouldn’t have done with the family until I fell asleep yesterday.

“However, should we keep it a secret from Father? If he finds out, our little Rafi might never be able to see her sister again.”

I nodded, having been detained for the second time.

“Awww, it’s so nice to feel like a daughter instead of a sister. Come on, Rafi, let’s live together for a long time.”

She kissed me on the cheek, and now she was rubbing my face, and my brother looked at Colin with a look in his eyes that sometimes says it’s time. 

“Colin, what do you think it would be like to have a sister like your aunt?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever have a sister like Aunt.”

Colin cut him off. Even if my brother-in-law and sister could shag all night, the odds of them having a child who looked like me were close to zero. My sister was not the resurrection of my father’s beloved wife.

“So my Colin is smart, just like me. Now, let’s go eat. And Count Gabriel, you may as well come with us, for you must have had a hard time following Rafi around.”

My sister, who had also packed the family aide, carried me downstairs to the dining room, where the food was already set out. Wrapped in a napkin, I slowly savored my food. My shoulders slumped as I made eye contact with Colin, who was picking at his veggies as I watched. Yesterday he chewed and swallowed his veggies, but today he wasn’t chewing, he was almost swallowing.

I felt like he was going to get sick, but Colin had a strong stomach and didn’t seem to mind. After finishing my meal and drinking my milk, I started a very busy day at Duke Aquila’s house.

I went to my brother’s flower garden and was left speechless and bruised by the work I had done yesterday. After a while, the hired help came and swept up all the ruined flowers.

Resisting the urge to grab and pound yesterday’s work, I sowed the seeds my brother-in-law had given me.

“Sister-in-law, scatter those seeds over here. And these black seeds, you can scatter them over there.”

After I sowed the seeds, my brother-in-law covered them with soil. It was indeed my flower garden that I was tending to without any help from hired hands.

“Phew, it’s tiring.”

Even though I had only scattered the seeds, sweat started trickling down my forehead. I paused for a moment to wipe the sweat away when Colin approached. Without a word, he used his handkerchief to wipe my forehead, and a maid standing behind him brought down a glass of juice for me.

“Hmm?”

“Aunt, try this juice.”

“Oh, you made this? Thanks.” 

“Hehehe.”

With both hands, I held the juice glass and gulped it down, drinking the refreshing orange juice as if it would revive me.

“Colin, don’t you want a sibling?”

As my brother-in-law spoke while holding the pickaxe and working on the ground, Colin shrugged his shoulders. 

“No, I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Father takes care of mother, so there’s no need.”

“Well, this is why there’s no point in having a boy, I want a girl.”

“If Aunt doesn’t have a younger brother, then there’s no use.”

Once again, Colin firmly stated as he wiped the sweat flowing down his forehead. 

“Aunt, having a spoiled man is not great.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“A humble man can do better in handling family matters.” 

“Hmph!”

I was drinking orange juice when I heard Colin’s words and spit them out. This didn’t stop me from being impressed with Colin’s charming demeanor. I handed the empty glass to the maid and smirked at Colin.

“Ugh, you’re cute.”

“Hehe, am I cute? Then, let’s get married.” 

“You think I’ll marry someone who’s not cool?”

“Well, later on, I’ll be a cool guy. So, Aunt, get ready.” 

“Sure, sure. If you impress me, then we’ll see.”

I patted Colin on the head, who I knew would be a great guy in the future. Then he scurried off to study.

“Oh, if I’d known, I’d have asked my sister-in-law. I didn’t know there was such an easy way to do it.”

Brother-in-law said, shaking his head in frustration as he began to even out the ground again. Since I couldn’t finish the work in one day, I thanked him for his help and went to work in the flower garden every morning.

I don’t know how many days passed.

I was sowing seeds as usual when Kai approached me with a very serious look on his face.

“Lady, did you ever contact the Duke?”

“No, hee, I’m in trouble!”

I realized that I had broken my promise to contact my father, who had been immersed in the ordinary life of this place, and I rushed to my brother-in-law, feeling the need to contact him now.

“Brother, please help me call my father.”

“Hmm? Contact Father? Oh, now that I think about it, you haven’t contacted Duke Panteur, right? Alright, I’ll go quickly and tell him that you’ll stay a few more days. Let’s inform him.” 

With a determined expression, my brother-in-law held my hand and was about to take a step forward when Arnold rushed over at an intense speed. Out of breath, Arnold, who was panting excessively for his age, couldn’t speak properly.

“What’s going on?”

“W-well… that’s…”

As he caught his breath, Kai suddenly knelt with a somber air, and upon seeing that, I knew what was coming. 

“After all the fuss, you dare to send Rafi away and make her work? In such shabby clothes…”

“Ugh, but Duke, it’s in front of the young lady.”

Oscar, who followed from behind, intervened in my father’s words. It was only then that our eyes met, and my father managed to soften his expression, then turned to my brother-in-law and spoke again. 

“You, piece of…”