Chapter 51
“What’s wrong? Was it too hot?”
The Duke cut the fried chicken into smaller pieces and handed them to Ariel.
“It’ll cool down quickly this way.”
Ariel cautiously put the fried chicken into her mouth again.
Seeing her slow down significantly from before, the Duke squinted and watched her.
With her mouth slightly opened and her eyes narrowing ever so slightly, it was clear that something was wrong.
The Duke’s face stiffened, and he shouted.
“Owell! Bring the doctor! Quickly!”
“Mm…”
The doctor, with a serious expression, examined Ariel’s mouth.
As soon as the examination was over, the Duke rushed over and asked.
“How serious is it? Can it be treated? She’s still young, right? Is it possible something went wrong when she went out to hunt the monsters? She said there weren’t any serious injuries, but maybe some magic showed itself late, or something like that…”
The doctor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, nervously.
“Y-You don’t need to worry. It’s just her permanent teeth coming in.”
“Permanent teeth?”
“Your lady is 8 years old now. It’s about time for her baby teeth to fall out and the permanent teeth to come in. The wobbly tooth is just a bit of an awkward feeling. It’s really nothing. We can just pull it out today.”
The doctor tied a string to Ariel’s loose tooth.
“Just pull it out like this. Duke, you can do it yourself.”
Ariel, with both hands clasped, looked at the Duke with a fearful face.
‘Permanent teeth?’
She knew that this was a part of growing up, and she also understood that it was necessary.
But her mind and body were not on the same page.
Growing up under the Evil Dragon’s rule, enduring torture, she knew all too well how painful it could be to lose a tooth.
‘I’ve been living too comfortably under the Duke lately.’
Would it have been better if she didn’t know?
Because she knew how painful this would be, Ariel unconsciously clenched her mouth shut.
The Duke, holding the string, spoke gently.
“Don’t keep your mouth shut. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“Ugh…”
Ariel’s red eyes were filled with fear.
Seeing her expression, Duke Clasta felt like he was doing something terribly cruel.
He sighed deeply and asked.
“Can’t we just wait until it falls out naturally?”
“If we wait, it might come out wrong.”
The Duke sighed again, his face darkening.
“Ugh… then should I do it?”
As the doctor took the string, Ariel’s face turned even paler.
Still, she preferred the Duke over the unfamiliar doctor.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
The Duke looked at Ariel with a serious expression.
‘How can I make this less scary for her?’
He had often thought about how to inflict pain during a duel, to engage in a real fight, but he had never thought about how to make this less painful.
“Is there a way to make it less painful?”
The doctor thought for a moment and replied.
“Usually, we tie the string to a door and slam it shut. The sound distracts them, and they don’t even notice the tooth being pulled out.”
“Really?”
A loud noise, huh.
That might work. If she gets distracted by the noise, she won’t notice the pain.
“Lady, look over there.”
The Duke pointed toward the window.
Ariel turned her head, but there was nothing but the clear sky.
At that moment—
Boom!
A bright yellow lightning struck the middle of the castle from the clear sky.
The Duke took advantage of the loud noise and pulled the string tied to Ariel’s tooth.
“Ugh…”
“Give her some cotton.”
The Duke received some cotton from the doctor and placed it into Ariel’s mouth.
Ariel rolled her eyes toward the window.
“What’s going on?”
“It looks like the master did it!”
The scene of the training ground was chaotic.
Due to a massive magical spear piercing through the ground, the floor had shattered into pieces.
‘How much will that cost?’
Owell, who was holding his head, appeared to be in pain.
He was probably worried about the budget.
Meanwhile, the Duke, who had caused the chaos, smiled and looked at Ariel.
“Didn’t it hurt at all because you were so surprised?”
‘It was less painful than I thought…’
It was a bit ridiculous.
Just to make pulling my tooth less painful, how much did he spend?
As Ariel slowly nodded, the Duke hugged her and patted her back.
“Good girl, good girl. Were you scared? Your heart’s racing, huh? Owell, go buy her some candy.”
“So, I was listening to the class today, and the knights…”
Ariel felt something strange about the Duke’s gaze on her.
For some reason, his face seemed unusually filled with amusement.
Every time she spoke, his gaze would rest on her mouth.
‘He’s teasing me about my missing tooth again.’
Because of the baby teeth falling out, one of her front teeth was missing, and every time she spoke, the gap was noticeable.
At first, her speech was a bit off because of it, and the Duke laughed so much that she couldn’t count how many times he had laughed.
Today, he was leaning forward, resting his chin on his hand, watching her.
“Yes, dear. So the knights?”
Ariel, trying to enunciate clearly to avoid slurring her speech, asked again.
“They were staring at my missing tooth again, weren’t they?”
“No, I didn’t look at it.”
The Duke replied nonchalantly.
“…”
“I swear. Our dear daughter doesn’t trust her father at all.”
“…”
“Actually, I glanced at it for a second.”
“…”
She knew well that she wasn’t the most pleasant to look at.
Now that her tooth was missing, she must have looked even more foolish.
It made her feel a bit gloomy, but if the Duke was happy, that was what mattered.
‘He’s not insulting me, just laughing at me for my missing tooth.’
It would be better to just let it slide, rather than cause friction with the Duke.
Ariel quietly ate the apple the Duke had peeled for her.
Crunch, crunch.
‘Hmm.’
The Duke was staring at her intently.
Ariel had opened up to him, but she was still a girl of few words.
‘She looks like she has something on her mind.’
The Duke noticed the slight change in her expression.
It was hard to understand her thoughts since Ariel was always so stoic, with a blank expression most of the time.
‘This is tough.’
Others always said it was hard to figure him out, but Duke Clasta thought of himself as a pretty straightforward person.
He liked what he liked, and he didn’t like what he didn’t like.
Born into a noble family, and with his exceptional abilities, he had never had to worry about what others thought.
Who would dare try to stand above him?
But here he was, trying to read the emotions of an 8-year-old.
It was both amusing and, oddly enough, not unpleasant.
“Your expression looks a little off. Are you angry?”
Ariel’s eyes flickered slightly.
Then she shook her head.
“No.”
That was the answer he expected.
It was the perfect, obedient response.
If it were Owell or the other knights, he wouldn’t care what they thought.
Whether they had complaints or not, he would do as he pleased.
Of course, they were the ones who had to match his mood, not the other way around.
But for some reason, he didn’t like the idea of Ariel feeling that way.
“You look like you’re angry.”
“No, I’m not.”
“It seems like something’s bothering you?”
The Duke asked in a kinder voice than usual.
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know, you know.”
He hadn’t realized he could speak so gently before.
It made his neck itch, and he felt awkward.
It was hard, but if he spoke in his usual stiff tone, he knew Ariel would probably just shut down and read the situation.
So, in his awkwardness, he gently brushed aside the hair that had fallen on Ariel’s cheek and whispered in her ear.
“What’s bothering you, my dear?”
“…”
“Should I have carved the apple into a rabbit instead of a dragon?”
Ariel shook her head.
“Then did you mind me making fun of your missing tooth?”
Ariel started twirling the fork in her hand.
“I’m not mad, it’s just…”
“It’s just that you didn’t like it, huh?”
He said, teasing her in a playful tone.
“If it were anyone else, I would’ve killed them. But you’re my daughter. A child should be able to tell her father when she doesn’t like something, right? And the reason I kept looking at you is…”
