Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 17

☆ 17 ☆

* * *

Duke Paeraton stirred the butternut squash soup and blew on it.

It was a truly mismatched sight, yet even that looked elegant and refined, which was quite remarkable.

Carefully scooping up the butternut squash soup, Duke Paeraton held the spoon out to me.

‘No, how could I eat in this situation?’

Even if Anna gave it to me, I’d barely manage, let alone if Duke Paeraton himself…

Sniff, sniff, but what did he put in it that makes it smell so savory?

Wow, it smells delicious!

Um, it tastes good!

‘Gasp……!’

Feeling the savory butternut squash soup gently coat my tongue, my eyes widened.

‘I said I couldn’t eat it……!’

Gulp.

It’s going down.

It’s even delicious.

The baby’s instincts betrayed my reason.

‘Is it because I’ve been starving for so long?’

Once I tasted it, I couldn’t resist anymore.

I opened my mouth like a little bird and ate the soup the Duke fed me.

After finishing the bowl cleanly, I was given a cookie.

“Cookie!”

The chocolate chunks that crunched with every bite were truly exquisite.

‘Delicious!’

Duke Paeraton stared intently at me.

As I received that gaze, the reason that had left home slowly returned, and sweat trickled down my back.

He quietly asked.

“Did you enjoy the taste?”

……Huh?

“Answer me.”

Wh, what is it? Scary.

As I looked at him with trembling pupils, the Duke picked me up.

Lifting me to eye level, he stared intently at my pale face.

‘Wh, what is it?’

Fortunately, that burdensome eye contact soon ended.

Hugging me to his chest, he mumbled something.

I thought I heard something like, “I was told to respect the child, what’s the problem?”

No, who uses honorifics like that with a baby?

It was a chillingly respectful way of speaking that could freeze even a smiling baby.

Cold, so cold.

“Were you very surprised today?”

He patted my bottom as he asked.

Thankfully, it seemed he had decided to stop using those chilling honorifics.

“A little…….”

As I answered cautiously, the patting became more pronounced.

“This is your home.”

Does that mean…… I won’t be kicked out?

Glancing up, I met the Duke’s eyes.

“No one here will harm you.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just fidgeted with my hands.

“Marquis Tarenka, nor his daughter, will ever set foot in this mansion again.”

Huh?

I looked at the Duke in surprise. He was still looking at me.

‘Did he think I was surprised because of Clatie?’

I thought he was talking about what happened with the Duke earlier.

If so, the reason he came to my room earlier…….

‘Was it to comfort me from the start?’

“You can cry.”

Saying that, the Duke rubbed my cheek. It was a bit awkward, but a gentle touch.

‘Sh, should I cry?’

As I cautiously watched him, he lifted me up and soothed me.

“Oopsy, daisy.”

……Excuse me?

I looked at him with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

The beautiful face, so perfect it seemed to be adorned with the word ‘perfect,’ whispered again with a serious expression.

“Oopsy, daisy.”

“…….”

It was the kind of cooing that would make even tears disappear.

‘No, I didn’t even think about crying because of Clatie in the first place.’

Although I heard the words ‘flat cider’ from that devilish guy, it was cider to me.

Didn’t I say everything I had been holding in?

It was something I couldn’t even dream of when I was at the Tarenka Marquis’s residence.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest.

‘I might celebrate, but why would I cry.’

But…….

“No one can treat you carelessly.”

Hearing those words, my nose felt strangely tingly.

‘I have to hold it in.’

A crying baby is annoying.

Due to the penalty, I had completely become a baby earlier and said things I shouldn’t have.

‘I have to do well while I still have some reason left. I don’t know when I’ll become a complete baby again.’

“I was wrong too.”

I gently grabbed the Duke’s sleeve.

“Saying I hated Daddy, I didn’t really.”

The Duke looked down at me intently. I still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I don’t want another kid’s dad.”

But I was sincere.

“I wish you were my dad.”

“……Really?”

“Yes, really!”

He silently looked at me.

A large hand gently caressed my cheek.

“……Is there anything you want to say to me?”

At that question, something welled up from the depths of my heart.

If he were my real dad.

If he would tell me that no one could treat me carelessly.

‘Why didn’t you come to find me all this time?’

So that people would get used to treating me badly.

To the point where I was ignored, and I even doubted whether I was a precious person.

‘Why did you abandon me in such a place?’

Resentment that I hadn’t even properly recognized arose.

‘Get a grip.’

I scolded myself.

This is also due to the penalty.

‘Babies are honest about their feelings.’

If I get caught up in my emotions and truly resent him, he’ll get tired of me.

Now that the effects of the penalty are weak, I have to keep my wits about me.

‘I have to be a good child to have a chance to survive.’

Forcibly suppressing the emotions that kept welling up, I shouted with a bright face.

“Nothing!”

“……Really?”

“Yes!”

He carefully examined my face. It was a gaze that carefully measured me, like someone examining a riddle.

“Even though I left you in such a place for so many years?”

“…….”

I forcibly pulled up the corners of my mouth that were about to droop.

‘Surely, surely there must have been a reason.’

Even if there wasn’t a reason, think that way and act like it’s nothing!

It was that moment.

“There must have been a reason.”

I was so surprised by the words that came out of the Duke’s mouth that I quickly raised my head.

“There must have been a reason. It’s enough that I’ve come to find you now.”

Could he have read my mind?

“Don’t think like that.”

“…….”

“No matter what the reason, even if I was dying on my sickbed, leaving you in such a place was wrong.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again.

‘I have to say it’s not.’

I have to say I understand everything, it’s not Daddy’s fault.

‘That’s the right answer.’

But.

But……!

“Sniffle.”

A sob leaked out.

I bit my lip tightly to stop it, but it was no use.

“Waaaaah!”

Like a dam collapsing, the tears I had been holding back burst out all at once.

“Why did you abandon me!”

And words of resentment too.

“How, hic, scared I was!”

I was really scared.

“Everyone hated me, hit me, and didn’t give me food!”

But what was even scarier was—.

“How much I wanted a dad! How much I wanted to see Daddy!”

That even in this life, I wouldn’t have a family.

“Why were you so late……. Sniff, hic!”

A large hand tightly wrapped around my back. Feeling that touch, for some reason, more tears came out.

“You’re my dad! You’re my dad, why did you leave me!”

Even though I raised my fist and pounded on him, the arms holding me didn’t loosen.

“How long I waited!”

Feeling relieved at that fact, I couldn’t stop crying.

“I’m sorry.”

Warm warmth brushed against my eyes and nose.

The red eyes looked down at me with a different light than usual.

“It was my fault.”

He whispered sorry until I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

“Umm…….”

I was in a very deep sleep, but consciousness was slowly returning.

A cozy and warm embrace was surrounding me.

I didn’t want to wake up from this dream, so I stirred, and then I grabbed something warm and soft like bread.

And it was a very, very big bread.

It was soft and elastic, perfect for playing with.

The baby’s instincts moved my fingers, patting and kneading.

‘It’s warm. It feels good.’

But what is this?

My mind was gradually returning, regardless of my will.

When the sleepiness had almost disappeared, I realized something was wrong.

‘What is this really?’

Because I couldn’t open my eyes properly, I forced my eyelids open.

‘Gasp…….’

Suddenly, a man’s chest appeared before my eyes, and my eyes, which hadn’t been opening, widened on their own.

‘Su, surely?’

When I looked up, Duke Paeraton was looking down at me.

I quickly moved my hand away.

“Are you awake?”

“Ah, good morning…….”

I answered in a barely audible voice.

‘Why is he sleeping with me?’

He wasn’t even wearing anything on top.

Inadvertently, I had been kneading someone else’s bare chest like dough.

‘Put something on…… Ah!’

At that moment, the events of last night flashed through my mind.

At the same time, I realized why he was sleeping with me without a shirt on.

The chest of his shirt was a mess with my tears and snot.

“Don’t go……. If you abandon me, I’ll hate Daddy.”

Because of my childishness, he couldn’t even go to change.

Because I would cry if he moved even a little away from me.

“Crybaby.”

“Chee.”

“You’ve got puffy eyes.”

He gently rubbed my eyes.

His exposed upper body had scars.

“Did it hurt?”

“How could it hurt when you were patting me with those tiny fists?”

He must be talking about when I was hitting his chest last night.

My cheeks flushed red with the embarrassing memory.

I shook my head.

“Not that. This scar.”

When I pointed to the scar on his side, he covered my eyes.

“It’s nothing.”

“Why are you covering them?”

“Because it’s ugly.”

I pushed away his hand that was covering my eyes.

“Did you get hurt in the war?”

“Of course not.”

Duke Paeraton answered crookedly.

I wriggled and snuggled close to his side.

The Duke just watched what I was doing without saying anything in particular.

“Hoo一.”

When I blew on the scar, he narrowed his brow.

“……What are you doing?”

“You do this on places that hurt.”

“It’s an old wound. It can’t hurt now.”

“I couldn’t do it back then.”

“…….”

He was silent.

But he didn’t stop me from blowing, hoo, on it.

“You weren’t hurt in the war?”

“I wasn’t hurt.”

I stretched out my arm and rubbed his forehead.

“Shoo, shoo, all the pain go away!”

“I said I wasn’t hurt.”

“It hurts. I have to shoo it away.”

He raised one eyebrow as if he couldn’t understand.

“Hurting people can’t not hurt.”

People’s fear, people’s wariness, people’s hatred can’t not hurt.

Those gazes.

I know very well that some gazes become scars.

“……I see.”

He nodded slowly as if he understood.

“I should have done that for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes, when you came back to this house. You were suffering.”

Because of the abuse I suffered at the Tarenka Marquis’s residence, I had been sick in bed for several days after returning to the Duke’s mansion.

I don’t remember seeing Duke Paeraton back then…….

“Did you come to see me?”

“Every night.”

“……I thought you weren’t coming.”

“Because I returned early from the front lines, the Emperor was noisy, so I had to go to the Imperial Palace every day. I only returned home when you were asleep.”

If the Emperor was saying something, didn’t that mean he had forced his early return?

“I was never sick once on the front lines.”

“…….”

“Because I was only thinking about returning quickly.”

“Why?”

Why would he force himself like that, not even knowing he was sick, and try to return quickly?

“To bring you back.”

The red eyes contained my reflection.

I opened my mouth and then closed it again.

I was filled with something to say, but I didn’t know where to start.

“……I didn’t even know Daddy had gone to war. I thought you had abandoned me at my uncle’s house.”

“I’m sorry.”

He stroked my cheek. It was a rough hand, but strangely reassuring.

“It’s okay. Now I know that Daddy had no choice but to leave me there because he was going to war.”

I lowered my gaze.

“Still, it would have been more comfortable at home even without Daddy.”

I ended up adding one more word because I felt childish.

As I fidgeted with my fingers, Duke Paeraton stroked my head.

“You are…… a special child.”

It was an unusually careful tone, as if he was choosing his words.

“A special child?”

“Yes, because you weren’t born with [mana].”

My heart sank with a thud.

What if he suspects that I’m not his real daughter because of that?

But the Duke’s next words were different from what I expected.

“Without [mana], you are no different from an ordinary baby. You wouldn’t be able to withstand the [magical energy] that your brothers emit and would die.”

My eyes widened at the unexpected information.

“It would have been different if I was there, but I had to go to war.”

The face he made as he looked at me looked painful.

“At that time, Marquis Tarenka offered to take care of you, his niece. He said it was perfect because he had a girl of the same age. He said that family would be important to an ordinary child.”

“…….”

“I sent you to Tarenka to protect and care for you. I even received reports that you were doing well.”

I didn’t know at all.

“I’m sorry.”

He apologized to me.

It was strange.

Listening to the story, he had no reason to apologize to me.

The one who did wrong was Marquis Tarenka, who abused me by taking advantage of the situation.

But what was even stranger was that his apology made my heart ache.

Like caressing a snowflake that had bloomed on a frozen window, the lump melted away.

“But know this.”

The Duke cupped my cheeks in his hands.

“I didn’t abandon you.”

He said more seriously than ever, making eye contact with me.

“I never abandoned you.”

I see.

You never abandoned me.

Not even once.

“Then…… are you my dad?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I don’t have [mana], are you my dad?”

“No matter what happens.”

It was a firm word without a hint of wavering.

A word so solid it felt like it was embedded in my heart.

My face contorted for a moment. Something uncontrollably surged up from within.

“Sniffle, waaaaah! Daddy一!”

“Yes, Daddy’s here.”

Duke Paeraton, my dad, hugged me.

Hanging on his neck, I cried like a real baby.

I said this and that about wanting certain conditions from the devil, but in fact, I didn’t want any of that.

What I, who grew up as an orphan and lived alone my whole life, really wanted.

A family to love and become attached to.

That was the one thing I wanted.