GBHDF 11

Chapter – 11

‘How could I make such a beginner’s mistake?!’

Even Miller, who was always running around with a runny nose, would never make a mistake like this!

And she had done it right in front of someone she had never met before!

Oh, no.

She had thoroughly tarnished the reputation of being Townsend’s top student.

Rowina made an excuse in a tiny, embarrassed voice.

“……I normally eat without making a mess. Really.”

“Of course. All children are like that when they’re young.”

“I’m not a child.”

That, at least, was absolutely, positively true.

But Airy didn’t look like she believed her at all.

Airy chuckled as if she found it amusing, finished wiping Rowina’s cheek, and held out her hand.

“Then shall we go wash up like a good, grown-up young lady? I’ll have a bath prepared for you.”

“Yes!”

Rowina cheerfully got to her feet while holding Airy’s hand.

Airy took her straight to the bathtub and carefully washed her from head to toe.

Whenever Rowina sat in the warm water, the maids would gently clean her body with fluffy soap bubbles and soft sponges.

‘I think I could take a bath like this three times a day.’

Although she had obediently and bravely followed along, the truth was that Rowina had never really liked bathing.

At the orphanage, a bath meant cramming a whole bunch of children into a large tub, pulling them out one by one, and splashing water over them as they were washed.

With so many children to clean, it was only natural that the teachers would get exhausted, and their hands were usually rather rough when washing the children.

To Rowina, a ‘bath’ had always meant children huddling together and shivering like drowned mice before being scrubbed roughly one after another according to their names being called.

‘It’s so warm here. And so gentle.’

Her hair wasn’t stiff and coarse, but smooth and silky, and the water in the spacious bathtub even smelled of roses—spacious enough that she could splash around to her heart’s content.

“You were very well-behaved. Since you took your bath so nicely, here’s a reward.”

On top of that, she even got a lollipop just for taking a bath!

By the time she finished bathing and came out, night had already settled in completely.

While the maids dried her hair, Rowina rolled a sour cherry candy from one cheek to the other and thought,

‘This really seems like a wonderful place.’

There was hot chocolate, the maid sisters were kind, and she even got candy after taking a bath.

The Somerset Ducal Residence was so enormous that she hadn’t even explored half of it yet, but Rowina already liked this place.

If this were her home, she felt like she would be happy every single day.

‘Of course, I know.’

She knew she couldn’t live here forever.

The only reason Rowina had come here in the first place was because of the medicine.

If she couldn’t obtain the medicine, she wouldn’t even make it to the ten years Lady Hayworth had mentioned. She would die within five years.

‘Then first, I have to make the Duke happy.’

Only then would the Duke’s businesses flourish, and only then could she obtain the medicine sooner.

But how could she make the Duke happy?

Just as Rowina was pondering this, she heard the maids talking among themselves behind her.

“Did you hear Hugo telling them to tidy up His Grace’s bedroom earlier? I guess His Grace is staying at the estate tonight.”

“Then we’ll have to clear away the liquor bottles tomorrow.”

“He can’t sleep at all without alcohol. He doesn’t like sleeping pills because they make it difficult for him to wake up.”

“He’s still a little better these days. Last time, His Grace in the middle of the night……”

The maid had been about to continue absentmindedly, but suddenly seemed to realize her mistake. She glanced toward Rowina and firmly shut her mouth.

But even that little bit was enough for Rowina to understand how Seymour usually lived.

‘The Duke must not sleep very well.’

That must be why he always had exhaustion practically plastered all over his face.

Rowina turned her gaze toward the darkening window. It was almost time to go to bed.

‘In that case……’

As Rowina pondered something, a mischievous little smile spread across her face.

She had a good idea!

Late that night, in the study of the Somerset Ducal Residence.

“I heard the family has gained a new member while I was away, Your Grace.”

A young man with light brown hair and slightly drooping eyes handed a stack of documents to Seymour.

“I think this is my first time coming to the ducal study in three months. And I think it’s been six months since I’ve seen a study without liquor bottles.”

“Why is everyone so noisy today……?”

Seymour accepted the documents with a tired expression, furrowing his brow.

His sharp expression had become so habitual that it almost looked like his default face. But rather than being in a bad mood, the reason for it was the fatigue that had accumulated over a long period of time.

Flip.

As he turned through the documents, Seymour continued speaking sarcastically.

“My mother-in-law brought a child home, so she told me to stay at the estate tonight. I have no idea what bringing a child here has to do with me staying at the estate, though.”

“Perhaps she wants you to keep an eye on her so that the young lady can adjust to her new surroundings?”

“Will the sun fail to rise tomorrow if I don’t keep an eye on her? She should at least say something that makes sense.”

Seymour clicked his tongue.

He hated children.

Polite children, quiet children—it didn’t matter. Everything about them was bothersome to Seymour.

No, actually, it wasn’t limited to children.

Somerset, Hayworth, everything in his life seemed to do nothing but give him headaches.

So whenever he thought back to the things Freya had said while pushing the child onto him and telling him to raise her, he could only find the whole thing ridiculous.

“I really don’t understand what my mother-in-law is thinking. I already have more than enough things to worry about, and now a child?”

She’s a well-mannered child, so just try raising her for now?

What kind of nonsense was that?

Of course, the child was as friendly as Freya had said.

No, ‘friendly’ wasn’t enough to describe her.

She was so affectionate and sociable that the word barely covered it.

But……

“……She’s troublesome.”

“But you did bring her here in the end, didn’t you?”

Seymour’s words could certainly be called cold-hearted, but the young man was accustomed to Seymour’s way of speaking.

His name was Axel Portman, Seymour’s secretary and adjutant.

When Lady Hayworth had brought Rowina to Seymour, Axel had been away handling some business, so he had learned about Rowina’s existence a little later than everyone else.

And he had been quite surprised.

“I heard you gave the young lady the room with the best sunlight in the entire estate? I was shocked when I came back and found that the whole household was already buzzing about it.”

“There are plenty of empty rooms in the estate. Airy gave it to her on her own.”

“Oh, come on. You know perfectly well that she couldn’t have given it to her without Your Grace’s permission. And I heard you’ve already started looking for a tutor, too.”

Instead of answering, Seymour took off his glasses and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.

It was a clear sign that he couldn’t be bothered to continue the conversation.

“……What exactly are you trying to say?”

“That you should stay at the estate a little more often from now on. You should pay some attention to the young lady, too. After all, you brought her here to raise her as your heir, didn’t you? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to take an interest in her.”

Axel came from a vassal family of the House of Hayworth.

Normally, his family would have remained under Hayworth’s authority, but Axel had followed Seymour to the Somerset Ducal House.

Which meant that he knew better than anyone just how troublesome Seymour’s succession problem was.

From Axel’s perspective, the ‘solution’ Lady Hayworth had brought with her was remarkably ingenious.

Sponsor a child and raise her as the heir, then have her marry your nephew and pass the title on to them.

‘With this, surely no one will be able to complain.’

It was extremely efficient.

There was just one problem.

Seymour was currently in no condition to care about anyone at all.

“I grew up just fine without anyone paying attention to me.”

“Well, Your Grace could probably survive even if you were thrown into a wasteland, but from what I’ve heard, the young lady is definitely not like you.”

Axel remembered the maids’ chatter.

‘Have you touched the young lady’s cheeks? Her skin is like a baby’s—so unbelievably soft!’

‘I accidentally touched her while drying her hair, and she laughed because it tickled. She’s practically an angel…….’

‘What? I haven’t gotten to touch her! I wanted to help with her bath, too!’

Axel hadn’t actually met the ‘young lady’ himself, so he couldn’t completely understand the maids’ enthusiasm.

And he understood even less why they were practically arguing among themselves over who got to help bathe her.