The Softest And Cutest Of The Dukes - Chapter 70

CHAPTER 70

After foraging in the morning, it was time for a meal. 

Normally, the spot between Grandfather and Grandmother was my place. However, today, it became my designated seat on my father’s lap.

It was my grandfather who was causing all the trouble. Yesterday, out of jealousy, he made Father drink alcohol on purpose. Today, he threw me up in the air to train me in magic.

Of course, at first, I was shocked and felt like my heart was about to jump out of my mouth. But before I hit the ground, Grandfather controlled the mana and I fluttered freely in the sky.

Of course, Father, just waking up, had no idea what happened. After picking me up from my slow fall, Father walked right back into the room, leaving Grandma and Grandpa.

It was clear he was upset without even looking. Father’s expression was so stiff that it seemed he would go back to the Panteur Duchy right away.

“Honey, don’t you have anything to say to your son-in-law?”

Grandmother said, neatly clasping her hands and looking at Grandfather with slightly widened eyes. Seeing the gaze, fully exposing Grandpa, he cleared his throat and spoke cautiously to Father.

“Ahem, l-look at this.”

“I’m not looking.”

“No, son-in-law, why are you like this? I didn’t do it on purpose, and I did it for Rafi to awaken her magic.”

“I’d rather she didn’t learn magic that way.”

Father, firm in his words, didn’t even look at Grandfather. 

The dining room was frozen in silence.

“If Aunt leaves like this, what will we do? I have to study ancient languages.”

“I don’t know, Sabina wanted to communicate with Aunt yesterday. Hoo… magic is something we can teach slowly, but Grandfather was too fast.”

Seeing Jaden and Aiden muttering on the side, it seemed like my schedule was all set without me realizing it.

“Son-in-law, sometimes to raise a lion cub, you have to drop them from a cliff to make them strong.”

“Rafi is not a lion cub.” 

“Well, figuratively speaking.”

“Even so, how could you throw a child into the air like that? Do you know how surprised I was at that moment? I begged and begged Seraphina. I begged her not to take Rafi early and to take me instead…”

Father’s slowly fading words as he lowered his head were soon inaudible. 

At that time, I enjoyed flying in the sky, but my father was surprised that he didn’t know the situation, so he begged my mother, which made everyone ponder.

How desperate must he have been to grasp his life at risk, fearing that my mother would take me early?

Upon father’s words, Grandfather let out a sigh, seemingly feeling guilty for a moment. Since Seraphina, whom father begged, was Grandfather’s child, there was probably nothing he could do.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I won’t do that again in the future… Hoo, I’m sorry. I’m too sorry for Seraphina too.”

Grandfather sincerely apologized to Father, looking at him. But even then, father didn’t easily soften. 

Worried that I might never set foot here again, I pressed Father’s wrinkled brow firmly with my sleeve.

“Father, I’m not hurt. It’s because of the mana. It’s fun to fly in the sky because of the mana. I had a lot of fun.”

“…”

“Should I ask Grandpa to let Father fly in the sky too?”

“Rafi… Father doesn’t care if I don’t reach for the sky. It’s just that I worry at the moment that might get hurt or surprised, and that bothers me.”

Back in the Benedict Empire, casting a freezing spell was like eating cold soup. At first, it was a bit surprising, but then I played happily with the belief that I wouldn’t fall.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s okay no matter what our daughter does. Whenever you say that, my heart aches.”

“But I didn’t do anything. Really! Hehe, father! Hmm? Father.”

Puckering my lips with my cuteness skills, I pressed my face against my father’s face. In my previous life, not knowing what cuteness was, I lived, but here I laughed and lightened my father’s mood to survive.

“Father, Rafi is okay. Hmm? Father.”

I grabbed Father’s clothes and puffed my cheeks as much as I could. Seeing that, Father’s pupils began to soften slowly.

“I want to catch that puffed soft rice cake.”

“You can’t just catch a warm and puffed soft rice cake. So, honey, give up.”

I giggled and giggled, clinging to Father’s neck and kissing him on the lips. Only then did the smile return to his face.

“Rafi, you weren’t scared?”

“No, it was really fun! Let’s do it again next time.”

As if I hadn’t been scared at all, I asked Grandpa for an encore. He nodded, his stern face softening.

“Well, since it’s my granddaughter’s request, I can do that much. If you let me touch the soft rice cake once, Grandpa can give you a lifetime of flying with strength.”

“Really? Yay, that’s awesome.”

Deliberately exaggerating my reactions, I wore an eager expression filled with anticipation.

“Do you really like flying in the sky that much?”

“Yeah, it’s great. But I like to be with father even more.”

“Alright. Let’s eat quickly then. You must be hungry from flying in the sky, Rafi.”

“Yeah.”

Answering loudly, I tapped the table with the fork in my hand.

“Come on, let’s not waste any time and bring our Rafi some food. I think the soft rice cake might’ve shrunk by a centimeter today.”

Grandma’s words were followed by the immediate preparation of breakfast. 

Seeing the hearty meal, my mouth watered. Father wiped my drool away nonchalantly with a napkin and started feeding me little by little.

“I’m thinking of going back today. I have some matters to attend to regarding the territory.”

“Why don’t you stay for one more day, though?”

Grandma tried to stop me, saying that I shouldn’t follow Father, but Father shook his head from side to side.

“I want to stay longer, but my advisors aren’t particularly outstanding in their abilities.”

Father, who spoke without hesitation, a statement that could raise the blood pressure of Vance and Max if they heard, got up right after the meal. 

Just as I was preparing to leave for real, Grandpa quickly intervened.

“If it’s because of what happened earlier, I’ll apologize again. Please stay a little longer to resolve the matter. We should settle things properly before leaving; it wouldn’t be right to leave like this.”

Despite Grandpa’s plea with a sympathetic look, Father firmly refused.

“I was already swayed by Rafi’s cuteness. Father, I’ll leave Rafi here and come back for her in three days. Recently, Eugene has been suffering from magical motion sickness every weekend to see Rafi.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll be sure to keep the date this time, and you should hurry back. Rafi, come to your grandfather.”

After leaving my father’s embrace, I found solace in Grandpa’s arms.

“Father, bye-bye!”

“Alright. Let’s sleep for two nights and see each other again.”

“Yes.”

Escorted by everyone, as soon as Father left, my schedule became extremely busy.

“Aunt, what does this mean?”

“Haah, you still don’t know about this? You need to learn.”

“Even if Aunt grows old at her age, she’ll only grow taller.”

“Kid, watch what you say! Don’t mess with me.”

“Yes, yes. Since we’ll do that, please quickly teach me this. I have an ancient language test tomorrow.”

At Jaden’s urging, I read the words and explained the meanings. He quickly jotted them down and nodded.

“Huwaam!”

After Jayden and the ancient language class ended, I let out a big yawn. Tears welled up, and as I wiped them away with my sleeve, my body floated back and forth.

“Now it’s our turn. Rafi, shall we go for a walk in the garden?”

“Yeah.”

Cuddled in Daniel’s arms, I left Jaden’s room with Helena and headed towards the garden.

“Coming out like this reminds me of the past. When our Aiden was young, we used to take walks in the garden…”

“…Not really.”

“Oh, really? Then was it when Jaden was young?”

“No. We never went out as a family for a walk, not even once. Hoho, back then, dear, you were incredibly busy.”

As Helena spoke with a smile, there seemed to be a hint of regret in her words. 

Daniel, holding me, twitched slightly and forced an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry. Back then, I was truly busy and couldn’t think of anything else.”

“I know about your circumstances, dear, so I’ve been enduring it. But now, I guess it’s time to receive the compensation. After all, this soft rice cake rolled away and came in. Hoho, it’s so delightfully sticky.”

Healing as she gently touched my cheeks, Helena wore a happy smile. Seeing her like that, I lent her my cheeks willingly.

Well, what can I do? Even though they’re technically my cousin, I should do at least this much. As I obediently let her touch my cheeks, Daniel’s foot touched the gazebo.

Sitting on a gazebo that was built in the middle of the garden and admiring the view, I suddenly remembered a painter who drew a face that looked like they were about to cry.

“Brother!”

“Hm? Why are you calling?”

At my call, Daniel responded with a big smile.

“I want to draw a picture!”

“A picture? Sure. It’s nice to draw pictures. I’ll get it ready soon.”

Daniel’s gaze landed on the servant who was following us. Consequently, in front of me, there were some basic tools for drawing, at least somewhat. For a child like me who couldn’t use paints yet, there were crayons and a few sheets of paper.

“I’m going to draw a picture now, so please don’t disturb me.”

I warned Daniel and Helena before drawing with crayons on the paper. They smiled and nodded.

“Then shall we step aside for a moment so the young lady can draw her picture?”

“Of course. Rafi, we’ll check on you in a bit.”

“Yeah.”

After Daniel and Helena left, I was left alone, but there were others around the gazebo. They were composed of mages and knights, standing guard at an appropriate distance. 

Taking a quick look at them, I unhesitatingly began to draw on the paper.

The picture I drew with my small hands was rough. I wasn’t satisfied with it, but some people claimed it looked like a painting even though it didn’t appeal to me. 

After drawing for a while, I stopped and pouted.

“Our Rafi was drawing a picture. Hahaha, I don’t know whose blood she has, but she seems to draw well.”

See this? Grandpa had the sense to praise my drawing without even properly looking at it.

“I wanna see the picture!”

I quickly bent my arm, but with short and stubby arms, I couldn’t cover it well.

“Do you dislike it if Grandpa sees the drawing? How disappointing. I don’t know how long this old man will live, but I want to see and hear everything related to our Rafi.”

Seeing Grandpa suddenly speak in a moist voice, I reluctantly moved the arm that was covering the drawing.

“But our granddaughter, why are you covering it like that? Don’t you like it? Are you embarrassed for Grandpa to see the drawing?”

As if observing my reactions, Grandpa asked. Phew-

Letting out a deep sigh, I still spoke with my mouth half-covered.

“Grandpa, the crayons are… they’re the color of poo.”

“What, what? The color of… poo?”

In an instant, Grandpa lost in contemplation, widened his eyes and looked at me with a perplexed expression.

“Grandpa, the crayons are the color of poo because there’s no silver color. Silver poo.”

Is having eighteen colors a bit excessive in this household?

“I need a silver crayon.”