Without realizing it, I was looking at him blankly, and Ethan gave me a puzzled look.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing."
I quickly lowered my head and pretended to look at the book again.
...what was that just now?
For a moment, I thought it was someone else, not Ethan.
His expression was completely different from him.
For some reason, my heart was pounding. Without knowing why, I tried hard to calm this strange feeling.
Only then...
“...Duchess?”
Hearing this soft, cotton candy-like sound, I shivered and turned to look beside me.
Elodie was standing there, looking at me awkwardly, holding up the photo book she had been reading earlier.
“Oh, Elodie”
As always, stress made my body stiff.
Well, Elodie was here! How could I forget her, even for a moment, while I was immersed in a book?
Ethan's gaze moved to Elodie.
"Who is this?"
“Oh, well, this is it...”
While I was feeling embarrassed, Elodie bowed her head to Ethan.
“Hello, I'm Elodie. The Duchess always comes to volunteer at the orphanage.”
Her introduction was clear and precise.
In contrast, Ethan's response was only two words.
“Okay, I get it”
...understood? That's it?
I looked at Ethan in amazement. I couldn't believe that was all he could say in front of a living doll, an angel without wings.
"What do you mean by 'I see'? When someone greets you, you have to say hello back and introduce yourself. Don't you know even the simplest etiquette that a child knows?"
After yelling at Ethan like that, I turned to Elodie.
“I'm sorry, Elodie. You see, he may be a bit rude, but he's not a bad person at heart. Please understand.”
“Rude...” Ethan muttered with a frown.
Elodie waved her hands as if surprised.
“Oh, no, Duchess. I am grateful that someone of such a high position has recognized someone like me.”
Oh my God, are these words really coming from a 10-year-old? She's so smart! Very nice! Her words are mature, but her voice is still a child, which makes her even cuter!
For a brief moment, I was filled with admiration and awe.
'Wait, this is not the time for that'
I straightened my expression and raised my eyebrows.
“What do you mean by that? This is not true. Regardless of social status, there are etiquettes that people must have among themselves.”
After saying that, I turned to Ethan.
"Right, Ethan? I'm right, right?"
“What? Oh, um… yeah, I guess so,” Ethan muttered reluctantly.
“This is Ethan. He's my husband.”
“Ah, so you are the Duke of Dumont. It is an honor to meet you.”
Elodie put her little hands together politely and bowed again.
'Nice!'
I clenched my fists, internally cheering.
"What do you think, Ethan? Isn't Elodie smart? Isn't she smart? She's articulate, and she's only ten years old. Can you believe that?" I leaned closer to Ethan's ear and whispered.
“……”
Ethan frowned slightly, and stared at me.
Elodie, who had been watching us warily, spoke again, “Oh, Duchess.”
“Yes, what's going on?”
“Actually… Mother Superior sent me here on a mission, but she said I would know what it was when I arrived. Did you ask for me…?”
After asking cautiously, Elodie quickly added, “Oh, I’m sorry if you don’t.”
'Nice!'
I was overcome with happiness again and covered my mouth with my hand and coughed lightly.
“Oh, yeah, that's right. Actually, Ethan wanted to give you and your friends at the orphanage some books.”
“...what?”
Ethan looked at me as if he couldn't believe what I was saying.
I stabbed him hard in the side with my elbow.
"Huh? Really?" Elodie asked, her eyes wide with astonishment, then she waved her hands quickly, looking confused, “Oh, no, thank you, but... I can’t accept.”
“It's okay. He really wanted to do it.”
“But...”
"It's okay. Elodie, have you ever given anyone a gift? Oh, that's right. You gave me that bouquet of sunflowers once."
Hearing my words, Elodie blinked blankly.
“Oh… right. Do you remember that?”
“Sure. It made me very happy.”
“Really?” Elodie asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Of course. Imagine if I had refused then, and said: ‘This upsets me, I can’t accept it.’ How would you have felt? Wouldn’t you have said: ‘Since she didn’t take the bouquet, I guess I can keep it?’” Would that have made you happy?”
“Oh...”
Elodie seemed to realize something.
I smiled warmly.
“True. The gift is not only to make the recipient happy, but the gifted person also feels happy as he imagines the feeling of the recipient. This is what makes gifts wonderful.”
“I understand”
Elodie nodded repeatedly. It was so charming that I wished I could put it in my pocket and take it home.
“Okay then. Go ahead and choose any books you want. The Duke will buy them for you.”
“Oh… yes, thank you very much, Duke.”
Elodie bowed to Ethan.
“……”
Ethan had a complicated expression, and his eyebrows were furrowed.
“What kind of book do you like? Oh, what about this book? I saw you reading it earlier.”
I pointed to the photo book that Elodie still held in her hands.
“Oh, this?”
Elodie adjusted her grip on the book, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Actually, I thought the little kids at the orphanage might like it. You read it so well last time, Duchess… I thought I could read it to them when you weren’t there.”
Nice! Nice!
I bit the inside of my cheek hard to keep my expression under control.
Understood. So that's great. Go ahead and choose some other books as well.
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
Elodie bowed again to me and Ethan, then ran toward the shelves.
“Oh, she's so cute...I feel dizzy...”
She leaned over Ethan, patting his chest gently.
“……”
Ethan looked at me with an indescribable expression.
***
"Isn't she the most beautiful of all? Those plump cheeks, those bright eyes, her soft, wavy hair... She's so young, and yet she walks and runs so brilliantly, and she speaks so eloquently, too. Frankly, it's unbelievable. If the word 'miracle' exists, it must be hers."
Even in the carriage on our way back to the Duchy, I couldn't stop praising Elodie.
“……”
Ethan looked at me with an expression that went beyond boredom to something resembling amazement.
"Are you really listening? Why aren't you saying something? Didn't you think she was adorable too? No way, right?"
“……”
Ethan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, “Is it because of her?”
"Huh? Because of what?"
“The reason you suddenly said you wanted a baby.”
“Oh…well, yeah”
“…A girl with honey blonde hair who loves books?”
“Right. Did you remember exactly?”
Honestly, I was surprised.
“……”
Ethan fell silent again, looking very upset.
Given the timing, I couldn't help but be wary.
What's wrong? Is it possible that Elodie really didn't like him?
This is not true. If someone had normal eyesight, a sound mind, and normal sensitivity, hating Elodie would be physically impossible, especially for Ethan.
After all, he was destined to love Elodie more than anyone else in the world and share the deepest bond with her.
“…Why did you lie like that?” Ethan suddenly asked, “About the books. You said they were my gift, not yours.”
“Oh, that… I wanted Elodie to make a good impression on you, it was a rare chance meeting. She seemed a little afraid of you because you were so cold to her.”
Since I failed to recreate the first meeting between Ethan and Elodie as it happened in the original story, I wanted to at least do that much.
“Why do you care?”
“Why? Isn’t that obvious? You’d better get along.”
“She's just a child, I don't have anything to do with her.”
“……”
When I heard that, my heart sank for a moment.