The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I gulped and snorted for a moment, and then Jenny patted me on the back and said.

“You won’t get used to it at first, but after a few days, you’ll be fine. Come on, ah, do it. Aaaah.”

At Jenny’s words, my mouth opened with an uncontrollable ahhhh. I popped the clear jelly into my mouth, the minty flavor slithering around, and I clutched the hem of Jenny’s skirt at the unfamiliar sensation.

“Ooohhh.”

Unable to speak because I was biting a spirit of water, I shook my head and looked at Jenny.

“It feels weird, but hang in there. It’s going to feel cool.”

She was right. My mouth felt fresh like I’d brushed and rinsed my teeth. But I never quite got used to the slimy feeling in my mouth. I wondered if this was what it would feel like to put a live octopus in my mouth.

I wanted to spit it out, but Jenny clamped her hand over my mouth.

“Three minutes, and in the meantime, hold on to it. I don’t mind if you swallow it, but the water spirit might do some human exploration inside our little Seraphina and come out as a cute little asshole.”

“Ugh.”

Jenny grinned at my frown of arrogance and held her hand out in front of me.

“Now spit it out.”

“Tsk.”

I spit out what I’d been holding in my mouth, leaving only the flavor of mint in my mouth. I frowned, feeling like I’d just brushed my teeth.

“What’s that now?”

I asked, pointing to the spirit water that had been swirling around in my mouth, and Jenny shook her head from side to side.

“It’ll last a lifetime until the nature of this world breaks down. Don’t worry about the food scraps, he can cleanse himself.”

Good to know. I was worried that the spirit waters would rot in the food scraps, and apparently, the Continent didn’t have any great countries that used spirit waters to brush their teeth. Because there were no spirits on the Continent.

I wondered how spirits could exist in the absence of a spiritual master, so I pressed down hard on the wandering creature in my mouth. It slipped in and out like jelly.

“Do you believe in water spirits?”

“Yes.”

“This is a piece of a water spirit, and it was cut off by one of the spiritual masters they hired, but by their very nature, water spirits don’t die or get hurt when you cut them off because new water replenishes them quickly.”

I sat still and listened as Jenny explained the spirits. She explained that one of the most useful spirits in this world is the water and fire spirits and that spirits are rare and can be quite expensive.

Why don’t I become a water spirit, so I can make a lot of money when I leave this house?

“But they say it’s quite difficult to become a spirit master because it’s hard to have an affinity for spirits.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they said one guy spent 20 years in the mountains to clear his mind and body, but he never became a spiritual master, and they even declared him dead at home.”

I was frustrated, trying to make the transition from magician to spirit. I felt like a high school student who had spent years studying for a government job and was only getting older.

I nodded, understanding what Jenny was saying. After sitting me down on the bed, Jenny suddenly opened a children’s book from nowhere.

“Sweetheart, let me read to you.”

She’s going to read to me and I’m going to grow up. She thinks I’m going to give in to that, huh? 

I squinted at the storybook Jenny was reading and frowned. The text was the same. It was the script of the Benedict Empire.

So either this world and that world were connected and then separated, or they were the same world and fell to a continent yet to be discovered.

While I was thinking about all these things, Jenny began to read the storybook. The sound of the reading was soothing, and suddenly I dozed off.

I blinked my eyes to keep from falling asleep.

“The three little pigs who didn’t listen were roasted whole by a magician for a village feast.”

Now, that sounds cruel.

I smiled awkwardly at the mention of the Three Little Pigs, then rolled my eyes.

“Magician? Are there magicians here?”

“Ah! Magicians? Of course, there are magicians, they’re just rare because it’s pretty hard to become one. For your information, the only places that produce magicians are the Magic Tower and House Tigris.”

Okay, so this place doesn’t produce magicians, but it’s rare, and I immediately drooled. And by rare, I mean expensive.

“I also want to try and become a magician.”

“Do you want to become a magician? Well, children often say they want to become knights or magicians.”

Whenever I asked children about their future aspirations, they would often mention being knights or magicians. It seemed like a typical response. 

As for me, I couldn’t say that my profession was a magician, so I just nodded my head and pondered deeply. At first, I wanted to return to my older brother quickly, but I didn’t even know where this country was located.

Moreover, my body had become younger. It was fortunate that I wasn’t dead, but I couldn’t even walk alone without feeling unnatural. So, I let out a sigh, saying, ‘Ahhhhhh.’

“Where is this place, by the way?”

“Oh! That’s right. Our young lady, Seraphina, is an angel who fell from the sky. Naturally, you don’t know. This is the Savannah Empire on the Spenta Continent.”

Spenta Continent? Savannah Empire? Indeed, those were places I had never heard of before. As soon as I heard those places, I bowed my head deeply.

“Are there no other continents here?”

“There are no other continents.”

If she had said there was another continent, I would have thought it was our continent, and any hope I had from the beginning was instantly dashed.

If that’s the case, I must have fallen into another world, but can I go back? And if I do go back, and my brother and the empress aren’t there, what will happen to me?

My ex-fiancé stabbed me in the chest, and no law says he can’t do the same to my brother. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but what if I just go there and say I was the Empress of the Benedict Empire?

Suddenly, my head started throbbing. Overwhelmed by the sudden desire to return to my older brother, I became confused in an instant. Worries about what to do next filled my mind, and suddenly, my vision blurred.

“Miss, where does it hurt?”

“My head hurts.”

“Your head hurts? Oh no, I’ll fetch the doctor right away.”

“I want to go back, I want to go back… I’m scared.”

I bit my lip as Jenny wiped away my tears and left the bedside.

“What should I do, what should I do… I’m at a loss.”

I hadn’t considered that my brother might be dead, but it made me uneasy. My heart burned and I sobbed. My brother shouldn’t be dead, and what about the pregnant empress?

I was in the wrong place, unable to do anything about it, and I cried like a baby. Crying all at once raised my fever. Feeling that I had nowhere to turn, I was filled with grief.

“My dear, you are in so much pain, what shall we do about it?”

Jenny was wiping my tears with her handkerchief when Elio came in to examine me.

“She was crying a little while ago, saying her head hurts.”

“Her body is weak and she seems to be suffering from a lot of illnesses. Or maybe it’s the change in living conditions. Miss, does your head hurt a lot, and where else does it hurt?”

I shook my head at Elio’s questions. I should have stopped crying, but the tears wouldn’t stop coming, as if my brother had died in front of my eyes. What was I supposed to do?

Suddenly, I couldn’t see. I didn’t know if I should stay here and mope, or if I should somehow make it to the world where my brother was.

“She’s still a little emotionally unstable, so we’ll have to wait and see. Here’s a fever-reducing painkiller, so please have her take one spoonful at a time.”

“Okay, okay.”

Jenny took the red pill and promptly gave it to me, but I cried and threw up. I threw up all the cake I had eaten earlier, and Jenny looked at me.

“What happened?”

Duke Panteur, who had appeared unannounced, saw me crying and frowned.

“Suddenly, my lady said she had a headache, and she cried. I gave her some medicine, but she threw it up.”

After explaining the situation, Jenny was at a loss for words, and Elio quickly examined me again.

“What’s wrong with her that she threw up everything she ate?”

Duke Panteur’s voice sounded sullen as he looked at my clothes, soaked with vomited cake and potions. Elio quickly bowed his head and explained.

“I think she’s just stressed about the change in her environment. Even if we were to treat her well, she wouldn’t feel at home here.”

Duke Panteur tilted his head slightly at Elio’s comment that it sounded like I was throwing up because I was mentally unstable, not physically.

“I’m sure the house wasn’t comfortable either, so what can we do to make her comfortable?”

Duke Panteur asked Elio as Jenny stripped my soiled clothes and wiped me down. Elio paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, then nodded and looked at Duke Panteur.

“Give her a hug.”

“What?”

“Hug her. When you’re emotionally disturbed, you want the warmth and security of a parent.”

“I’m not her parent.”

“Then pretend you are and hug her. Look at that. Her eyes are red with fever, eager to be held by you.”

When did I?

I looked at Elio, while still crying, and I shook my head.

“I’ve never soothed a child before.”

“It’s okay. You can do well, I believe in you. Just like how a grandfather thinks of his granddaughter while being here…”

“Maybe you should do some night shifts, like Oscar, to watch her.”

“Oh, no. Just hold her like you’d hold your daughter.”

Elio, who’d overruled, scooped me up in a quick hug as soon as Jenny had gotten me dressed. Then he carried me, sobbing and shaking, to Duke Panteur. There was a pause, and I heard him swallow dryly.

Holding me was so scary.

“Ugh.”

The tears that poured out of my eyes wouldn’t stop, and Duke Panteur stiffened and blinked at me.

“Be gentle, my Lord. Children are very fond of such light touching.”

This is not a light touch, this is a full embrace, and there is not an inch of space between us. Pausing for a moment, he puts his big hand on my back and soothes me.

“Big brother, hicc…….”

I buried my face in his shoulder and wiped the tears, snot, and drool off his shirt. Still holding me in a stiff posture, Duke Panteur sighed languidly and said.

“I don’t know why you’re like this, but it’s okay. At least there’s no one here to beat you up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Thank you.”

I held out my small hand, and Duke Panteur paused, then raised his right hand. Intertwining my fingers with his large ones, I sighed languidly as I leaned my face against his shoulder, oddly relieved.

“I’m weak, so give me a hug.”