Chapter 53
“Why are you scolding the baby?! That little brat shamelessly lured the baby out on a date!”
Messi, who had brazenly gone on a date with Nina, only smiled leisurely in response.
Rabian could feel his insides boiling like a raging volcano, though he desperately held back from erupting.
“Why do you lot keep butting in…?”
“Because Boss always scolds the baby only!”
“When did I?”
“Just now!”
“I wasn’t scolding, I was worried!”
“Since when do you ever worry about the baby?! You only dote on her when you feel like it—most of the time you don’t even care!”
“Hey, if I didn’t care, would I even be here?!”
Nina—and even Messi—stared at the two with their mouths half-open.
Kis refused to back down, snapping back word for word, and before long Rabian also raised his voice.
The atmosphere grew stranger and stranger.
With their two bosses quarreling like undignified children in front of everyone, the flustered subordinates didn’t dare step in—just exchanged uneasy glances.
“You do find her a bother! That’s why you suddenly want to rush off to the Imperial Capital again, isn’t it? To go enjoy yourself all alone!”
“You brat, why are you bringing that up here?! And what business is it of yours if I go whenever and wherever I want?!”
“Boss, why are you always so selfish?! Everything started because of you, but somehow it always ends up going your way! Fine, whatever! Keep living like that! From now on, I’m going to do as I please too!”
With that, Kis suddenly grabbed Nina’s dazed hand and strode off.
Dragged away so abruptly, Nina looked back in a panic—but Rabian only frowned silently.
Kis led her straight into the lift, and soon the two disappeared completely.
A silence fell.
While everyone stared blankly at the closed doors, Messi sighed and turned to Rabian.
“So… what now?”
“Where do you think they’ll go…?”
“Not back to her family’s, that’s for sure.”
Kis had taken Nina out with no plan whatsoever.
Now, he just sat down on the steps outside the hotel lobby, staring blankly—because he hadn’t thought of where to go.
The sunlight gleamed white across the steps, making Nina squint.
Kis held his hand above her forehead and muttered in a deflated voice:
“I’m sorry…”
“Hm? I’m fine.”
In truth, she wasn’t fine at all, but Nina forced herself to sound calm.
“But… mister, when is Rabian going to the capital?”
“In just a few days. He said before he was only going to peek at the atmosphere during the banquet…”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Probably whenever he gets tired of partying. Damn it, I thought it was strange how that party-animal’s been quiet lately…!”
Nina lowered her gaze, fidgeting with the hem of her white nightdress.
There had to be some reason Rabian suddenly made such plans.
Even so, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
So I was the only one who didn’t know after all.
She thought they had gotten closer, but maybe that was just her own delusion.
The Rabian Nina knew was, surprisingly, a kind person.
So maybe the incident at the playground, or when he helped her bathe, hadn’t meant anything to him at all.
Or—as he had once said—maybe he was only trying to manipulate her feelings.
Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter. This is all my karma anyway.
Nothing would change.
Whatever Rabian did, Nina intended to accept it all quietly.
Still, thinking like that made her chest ache, and without realizing it, she pressed down over her heart with both hands.
“W–what’s wrong? Baby, are you hurt somewhere?”
“No, I’m just… hungry.”
She blurted out an excuse, and Kis’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Now that you mention it, it is breakfast time. Want to go eat something?”
“Uh…”
Nina hesitated.
Even if she was a child, it felt strange to wander around outside in just pajamas and slippers—unless it was inside the hotel.
As she hesitated, Kis studied her for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
“Then how about we buy you some clothes first?”
“Huh? We can?”
“Of course! We’ve got plenty of budget.”
Originally, she was supposed to go shopping with Rabian today. But given the situation, that clearly wasn’t happening. And walking around dressed like this wasn’t right either.
Just as Nina nodded—
“Well, well… what a coincidence this is!”
A lively, familiar voice rang out.
The moment Kis saw who it was, his face twisted.
Not because he disliked the man, but simply because the sight was painful to his eyes.
“Well met, little lady! To think we’d run into each other here—it must be fate!”
Spouting nonsense about fate to a child, the Captain of the Guards, Dité, was dressed today in a flamboyant zebra-print coat, a purple silk shirt embroidered with gold, and gleaming golden boots.
Even someone with a taste for fashion would find his outfit unbearably gaudy.
“You just happened to be passing by this hotel?”
Kis’s sharp sarcasm made Dité flinch, but he quickly recovered his bravado and barked:
“Shut it, you dim-witted Rabian lackey! Why are you with Nina?!”
“What’s it to you, you damn cop?!”
“Why you little—want me to slap cuffs on you?!”
“Watch your mouth in front of the baby!”
Kis was hardly one to talk, but Dité obediently held his tongue—for the moment—and beamed at Nina instead.
Still staring at the flapping hem of his outrageous coat, Nina belatedly greeted him.
“Hello, Captain. Are you working today too?”
“Hahaha! No, not today. Were you worried I might be overworking myself?”
“Not exactly…”
“Uncle, lower your voice. This is embarrassing.”
Only then did Nina and Kis notice the unfamiliar girl standing beside Dité.
In contrast to Dité’s gaudy getup, the girl wore a refined dress and a ribboned hat. She was cute, with amethyst-like purple eyes identical to Dité’s—but her red hair faintly resembled Rabian’s.
“E–embarrassing… Ah! Right, Nina, this girl here is my brother’s daughter. He married young. She came to stay with us for her health. Her age is—”
Dragging out the word “niece” unnecessarily, Dité scratched his head and turned to the girl.
“How old are you again?”
“And you still call yourself my uncle?”
“Hey, people forget things when they’re busy! Don’t be so uptight!”
“Ugh, forget it.”
Sighing, the girl stepped forward and introduced herself with a graceful air.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte Noyer, seven years old. My foolish uncle here is always indebted to you.”
“You’re a hundred times better than your uncle.”
While Kis clicked his tongue, Nina gazed at Charlotte in fascination.
Now she remembered—Dité and Rabian were cousins.
Which meant Charlotte, as Dité’s niece, was Rabian’s cousin’s child—and technically Nina’s relative too.
Though a distant one, it was still the first time Nina had met a relative her own age.
Charlotte, too, glanced sideways at Nina, her violet eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“Uncle, is that the girl you told me about…?”
“Yes, isn’t she adorable?”
“Yeah, she really is. Even cuter than the Second Princess. Of course, the cutest child in the Empire is me.”
Charlotte raised her nose playfully.
It was an endearing gesture.
At the mention of Estella, Nina flinched inside, but forced a calm smile.
Well, Charlotte must have attended a palace banquet or two. Even if she doesn’t know me, she’d definitely know Estella.
There was almost no chance anyone could recognize Nina—she bore no resemblance at all to her family.
She was well aware that in the name of “overprotection,” not even a single portrait of her had been made public. Rumors abounded instead—that she was so ugly she had to be hidden away, or that she was feebleminded, or even deformed.
