GBHDF 09

Chapter – 09

Seymour’s appearance could be summed up in one word.

‘He looks scary.’

If Rowena hadn’t known Seymour well, she probably wouldn’t have dared come within a meter of him.

His face, worn down by exhaustion, was so sharp that it seemed almost capable of cutting someone. Deep-set eye sockets were filled with dark shadows, casting a gloomy shade over his features.

His tightly pressed lips and neatly sculpted cheeks made him look stubborn—almost ferocious. His green eyes, devoid of any warmth, even seemed like dark velvet.

To put it kindly, he possessed an inorganically elegant beauty.

To put it bluntly, he looked like he had absolutely no humanity in him.

The only reason one could even call him elegant was because Seymour had a face handsome enough to pull it off. If it had been anyone else, one could simply have described him as ‘a face that hasn’t slept for a week.’

But really, what did any of that matter?

Rowena was in an exceptionally good mood right now.

The proof was the bright, cheerful smile that refused to leave her lips.

‘So this person is my cure.’

They say that when you like something enough, simply looking at it can fill your stomach.

Well, just looking at Seymour made Rowena feel as though she could live a long and healthy life.

In the end, Seymour had been completely unable to withstand Madam Hayworth’s relentless pressure.

He had surrendered—hands and feet raised.

Of course, before that happened, it seemed the two of them had spent quite a long time having a serious conversation after sending Rowena out of the room…

Rowena had heard it all clearly.

The voices that had leaked through the soundproofing of the firmly closed room.

‘When you get old, you should just die! Oh, when you get old, you should just die! What wealth and glory could I possibly have been enjoying that I’ve stayed alive this long, only to be treated with such disrespect by my own son-in-law!’

‘I said I understand! I understand! I’ll raise her, all right?!’

‘How dare you raise your voice when you’re the one in the wrong!’

Madam Hayworth was truly an incredible woman.

Thanks to her, Rowena learned that adults—even extremely dignified adults like Madam Hayworth—could shout and argue when they got angry.

Since this child-rearing arrangement had been decided through such a process, Seymour naturally wore a displeased expression the entire time.

Even now, as his eyes met Rowena’s bright, smiling face.

“…What are you looking at?”

“The Duke!”

I should correct myself.

It wasn’t merely a displeased expression.

It was a thoroughly irritated expression.

And it had just become even more irritated.

Seymour frowned deeply before asking,

“What on earth are you so happy about that you keep smiling like that?”

At Seymour’s question, the smile disappeared from Rowena’s face.

To be precise, she simply looked puzzled.

She tilted her head slightly to one side, and the two braids hanging down from her head tilted along with it.

What was she smiling so happily about?

Well…

“Because I like the Duke?”

“……”

I feel this good just looking at you.

Heehee!

When the girl smiled brightly again, the wrinkles between Seymour’s brows deepened even further.

But this time, they weren’t the wrinkles of displeasure.

They belonged to someone who had simply been rendered speechless.

People say you can’t bring yourself to spit on a smiling face.

But Seymour was the kind of person who could probably do so without hesitation.

And yet, there was something about this child named Rowena that made it strangely difficult for him to actually say such things out loud.

‘Is it because of her smile?’

Her innocent, beaming face looked almost like cotton candy.

Her round cheeks looked so soft that they seemed as though they would be wonderfully squishy if you poked them.

Calling her adorable almost didn’t seem sufficient.

But none of that made even the slightest impression on Seymour’s dried-up heart.

Realizing that thinking about it any longer wouldn’t help him find an answer, Seymour let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.

“I’ll tell you in advance. I don’t like children. I don’t know what you did to win my mother-in-law’s favor, but I have no intention of becoming close to you.”

Although Seymour had brought Rowena here, it was solely because of Madam Hayworth’s insistence.

‘Just try raising her for once. It’s not like I’m asking you to take care of a newborn. How much trouble could a child that age possibly be?’

‘Even so…!’

‘It’s not as though I’m telling you to personally take care of every little thing for her. I’ve raised children before, so I know. A child that age will grow up perfectly well as long as you hire a tutor.’

‘Mother-in-law, do you seriously think that makes sense?’

‘Yes. Have you ever raised a child? Do you know more about it than I do? If you have, then go ahead and tell me.’

How was he supposed to argue against that?

She had essentially cornered him with ‘If you’ve never raised a child, then shut up.’

There was no way he could win, nor did he have any means of winning.

Rather than continuing the pointless argument, it was more efficient for him to simply back down.

That was the only reason Seymour had agreed to raise Rowena.

“So don’t have any unnecessary expectations. There’s nothing I’m going to do for you.”

He had nothing to offer her.

And he certainly had no intention of becoming her family.

Seymour’s words were as sharp as blades.

Naturally, since he had deliberately chosen to spit out such harsh remarks.

He glanced toward the child.

‘She isn’t going to cry, is she?’

He didn’t know how to comfort a crying child.

No—he didn’t particularly want to comfort her even if she did cry.

‘I hate it when they become a nuisance.’

His body had been pushed to its limits for several days, leaving him exhausted, while his head throbbed as though it might split open at any moment.

The child’s presence would only make Seymour even more tired.

Right now, Seymour simply had no room to care about anything else.

So if the child started crying, he intended to hand her over to a maid immediately.

But then—

“Yes! I’m not expecting anything from you.”

“…What?”

The answer was completely unexpected.

Rather than crying—or even looking discouraged—Rowena was smiling brightly.

“I didn’t come here to be loved by the Duke. So don’t worry!”

Her next words were even more absurd.

Seymour’s expression immediately crumpled into a frown, but Rowena didn’t care in the slightest. She merely swung her short little legs back and forth while smiling.

If you thought about it, she had just been told something that could have shattered any child’s expectations in place of a warm first greeting.

Wouldn’t it have been natural for her to feel hurt?

But Rowena was perfectly at ease.

After all, she had expected this much.

‘The book said the Duke had a really terrible personality.’

She had wondered whether the book might have exaggerated things a little.

But seeing those cold eyes now, she thought it was probably fairly accurate.

After all, they had suddenly shoved a child in front of Seymour and told him to raise her.

There was no reason for her to expect a warm welcome.

More importantly, there was one rule that every child at Townsend Orphanage had to memorize.

Even if you grabbed a piece of bread with dirt-covered hands right in front of the headmistress and got locked in solitary confinement for the entire day because of it, this was one rule you absolutely had to remember.

‘Never have expectations.’

The expectation that someday your parents would come looking for you.

The expectation that perhaps the guest who had arrived this time might become your adoptive parents.

The expectation that the family you were adopted into would truly love you as their own child.

If you didn’t expect anything, you couldn’t get hurt.

And if you didn’t expect anything, you could keep smiling no matter what happened.

‘I didn’t come here to be loved, so it doesn’t matter what he says to me.’

There was only one goal.

To safely obtain the cure and survive!

Rowena smiled brightly and said,

“Duke, I’m actually really, really happy right now!”

“…Why?”

“I really wanted to meet you, and I’ve already gotten my wish.”

Thanks to meeting Seymour, she had found a way to survive.

How could she possibly not be happy?

“So let’s stay together for a long, long time, Duke.”

As she said that, Rowena smiled as brightly as if she truly were overjoyed.

Duke, I don’t have anything to give you, but I can at least give you a smile.

I know from experience that there’s nothing to lose by smiling at someone.

I’ve been doing it for ten years, after all. That makes me pretty trustworthy, right?

‘So please take good care of me.’

It would be even better if you could find the cure quickly!

As Rowena giggled, the dazed-looking Seymour’s brow furrowed.

“…Tsk. What a nuisance.”

Huh? That didn’t work?

“Act your age. Don’t make me worry about you for no reason.”

“Hmph.”

“You’re noisy.”

His voice was stiff and cold.

Did I make the Duke angry?