Chapter 47
Even though I had been grumbling to myself, Dante spoke to me in a soft, natural tone.
“It seems you’ve been doing well while I was gone.”
I couldn’t say that I’d been doing well, nor that I had missed him. So all I managed to squeeze out was—
“Uh, it’s just been… the same as always.”
Why was I giving such a dull, obvious answer? I wanted to smack myself in the head. But Dante continued speaking in that same gentle voice.
“You haven’t gone out anywhere?”
“That’s… um…”
“I should change the question then. Was there anywhere you wanted to go? Anything you needed?”
His careful question—checking to see if I’d been inconvenienced while he was away—made my heart thump wildly again.
‘Somewhere I want to go? If anywhere…’
I fidgeted with my fingers and then my eyes widened.
“Ah! Yarn!”
“Yarn?”
“I want to go look at yarn. Since you weren’t here, I’ve just been knitting, so I’ve used up quite a lot.”
Vivian had learned knitting quickly, and together we had gone through more yarn than expected.
‘Now there are some colors missing between the skeins.’
After all, colors like yellow and red get used up faster than others.
Dante tilted his head at my answer.
“You didn’t ask someone else to buy it for you?”
“There are so many kinds of yarn, I want to see and choose for myself. And I want to see if there are any new ones.”
“I see.”
The more we talked about it, the more I wanted to go out. It had been a while since I’d gone beyond the mansion walls.
‘I should bring Lady Pepe too. She’d definitely enjoy it.’
Ever since Vivian arrived, Pepe hadn’t come out of her room much. She said she didn’t like looking at me because I reminded her of someone she hated.
‘She’s seemed depressed lately. It’d be good for her to get some fresh air.’
As I was thinking that, Dante put down the knitting he had been working on and said—
“Then let’s go out together.”
Then he stood up in one fluid motion. Because he was much taller than me, my gaze instantly tilted upward. I blinked, startled.
“Together? But didn’t you just return to the mansion? You should rest.”
“I’m not tired. I’ve had plenty of rest. In a place damp and dark.”
“…?”
Had he been trapped in a cave or something?
Who could possibly lock up Dante Christopher in a cave? But a damp and dark place—what else could it be?
‘Wait, wasn’t he supposed to have gone to the Imperial Palace?’
While I was tilting my head in confusion, Dante rolled up his sleeves.
“Let’s head out right away.”
“Do you even know where to buy yarn?”
“I thought we’d visit Rowan.”
“Ah!”
Of course—there was the Veil Trading Company!
It was supposedly a secret, but in truth, the Christopher Ducal family owned the massive Veil merchant guild. That explained why the mansion was always stocked with every kind of item even though there were no deliverymen.
But whether Dante was unimaginably rich or not wasn’t my concern. I was just excited about going out, clapping my hands with a bright smile.
“Great! I’ll finally get to see Mr. Rowan again!”
“……”
Unexpectedly, Dante’s expression stiffened at my words. I glanced up, wary.
“What’s wrong?”
In a somewhat sulky tone, he muttered—
“You seem happier to see Rowan than me.”
“Huh?”
I blinked in disbelief. Dante actually looked hurt.
Startled, I shook my head.
“N-no! That’s not it!”
“When you first saw me again, you looked as if you’d seen a ghost.”
“That’s not true! I was just so surprised I froze up!”
To be precise, it was more like my heart had dropped. I’d been so lonely and sad, and then suddenly, there he was—the very face I’d been longing to see—smiling at me.
It had felt like the man who’d been sitting quietly by my side all that time had stepped right into my heart.
‘Wh-what is this feeling…?’
Remembering it made my heart pound again. My face flushed bright red, and I started nervously tugging at my sleeves.
‘Why am I feeling like this…’
My chest felt tight, like I was being examined, and I was so tense even swallowing felt hard. Yet somehow, my heart felt light and floaty, like a bubble drifting upward. It was confusing—but not unpleasant.
‘I…’
As confusion swirled, I bit my lip. Then, suddenly, a large hand dropped gently onto my head and ruffled my hair.
No one had ever patted my head before—not even when I was a child—so I looked up at him with startled, round eyes. Dante smiled faintly.
“I was teasing you.”
There was a trace of bitterness behind his faint smile. His rough, familiar hand slowly slipped through my hair, then lifted away. The last strand of hair slid off his fingers and fell.
And in that moment, without thinking, my lips moved on their own.
“…I…”
“Hm?”
Dante turned to look at me curiously. I clasped my hands together and straightened my back, speaking a little louder this time—my honest truth.
“I missed you. Very much.”
This time, Dante’s face turned red—just as bright as mine had been earlier, as if the fire on my cheeks had jumped onto his.
* * *
After cooling our burning faces, we decided to head out right away. When we informed the butler, he replied stiffly,
“Please, take your time. Even if you don’t return for a week, that’s quite all right.”
“What do you mean by that?”
His face was expressionless, but for some reason, he sounded almost… cheerful? Maybe it was my imagination. He even tried making an awkward joke, which didn’t suit him at all.
“Should I bring back some castella cake on the way? You like that, don’t you?”
“Ah…”
The butler froze, seemingly caught off guard, unable to answer for once. Dante tilted his head.
“Is that true, Amando?”
The butler cleared his throat shyly.
“Well… I suppose as I grow older, I find I like sweet, soft things.”
“Strange to hear you say you’re old.”
“I am old. The young master who was once a baby has grown up so splendidly.”
Watching the two with warm expressions, I couldn’t resist joining in on such an interesting topic.
“You knew the Duke when he was a baby?”
“Of course. I remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday.”
“Wow.”
I couldn’t imagine this tall, sturdy man as a baby. I blinked in wonder. Then Dante quickly turned away.
“Enough nonsense. Let’s go.”
“It’s not nonsense. I’m curious! You must’ve had such tiny hands back then, right?”
“I was big as a bear, even as a child.”
“What? That’s a lie.”
Who’s ever heard of a baby that big?
‘He must’ve been so small and cute. Why aren’t there any portraits of him in this house?’
Curious, I opened my mouth to ask about portraits—but before I could, I heard a tiny grumble from inside my pocket.
“That’s what we call bravado, Yvonne. Utterly ridiculous.”
‘Lady Pepe!’
Wait—didn’t she say she was going to stay quiet?
I quickly clutched the pocket where Pepe was hiding. Dante frowned slightly.
“…I heard something just now.”
“Ah! N-no, it must’ve been the wind!”
It clearly wasn’t the wind—we hadn’t even stepped outside yet!
My excuse was nonsense, but I just forced an awkward laugh. Dante leaned in closer, murmuring,
“No… it came from around here somewhere.”
“……!”
He’s going to find her!
Panicking, I grabbed Dante’s hand without thinking. Both of us froze—he in surprise, me with a hiccup.
“H-hic! I-I just… hic… didn’t want to lose hold of your hand, that’s all!”
It was an absurd excuse, but Dante didn’t call me out on it. Instead, he held my hand more firmly.
“…It’d be a problem if you got lost.”
Without meeting my eyes, he started walking ahead, pulling me gently along. It felt almost like a big brother taking his little sister on errands—but my heart was pounding far too fast for that.
Thump-thump.
Why was it beating so wildly?
‘It feels… broken.’
Maybe I should see a doctor.
While I was lost in thought, a muffled voice muttered again from my pocket.
“Good grief, what a spectacle. Truly pathetic.”
‘Lady Pepe!’
I couldn’t understand why Pepe was always so prickly toward Dante, or why Dante had such sharp hearing—but I couldn’t focus on that anyway.
All my attention was on the warm hand holding mine.
