Chapter 31
Honestly, even if my feet hurt, it feels like it would be better to walk. What is this—am I luggage or something? But maybe that looked fun, because Lari’s eyes sparkled and she pouted her lips.
“I wanna go like that too!”
“…What?”
The knight, who had been silent the entire time, stared wide‑eyed at the Grand Duke walking ahead, clearly startled.
As if he’d been waiting for this moment, the Grand Duke casually stepped back and tried to reach out a hand to Lari. But—
“No. I wanna go with big sis!”
“That’s—”
“I’m gonna do exactly what big sis does.”
“Then I’ll carry you, Lari.”
“No! Exactly. The. Same. As big sis!”
No matter how small and thin we were, we were well past five years old, so the knight couldn’t hide his troubled expression.
“Exactly the same…?”
“Yeah. Right next to big sis!”
At that, the Grand Duke alternated his gaze between the knight and Lari, let out a small sigh, and nodded. The knight who had been holding me until just a moment ago set me down on the ground.
Then the Grand Duke picked me up, just like the knight had been doing.
“Is this fine?”
“Yeah! Then carry me too!”
Lari bounced around like a rabbit, hugging her doll tightly while stretching out her free hand. The Grand Duke’s face, which had been stiff the whole time, softened ever so slightly for just a moment.
‘So adorable it’s almost insane.’
There was no way I could miss that subtle change in his expression. Of course, he erased it right away, but one thing was clear—the Grand Duke’s feelings toward children weren’t all that light.
Though it did seem to be mostly toward Lari.
‘Well, even I think Lari is adorable.’
A sense of relief and a strange pride washed over me. Still, the Grand Duke’s face gradually stiffened as he carried two children over five years old, one on each side.
It also looked like he was starting to sweat.
Beside us, Rohen, who was walking along and glancing at us, stuck his lips out slightly, looking envious.
“Rohen, isn’t this hard for you too?”
“Huh?”
For just a brief moment, a smile spread across Rohen’s face at those words. But the Grand Duke lightly ignored it and simply kept walking quickly. He really did seem tired, like there was no way he could carry anyone else.
Almost like running.
Thanks to that, before we knew it, we arrived in front of a large building. As soon as he reached it, he hurriedly set us down.
“Let’s go in now.”
Without even checking Rohen’s expression, the Grand Duke went on ahead.
Lari, seemingly unaware of Rohen’s situation as well, hooked her arm around mine and started dragging me along.
“Big sis, hurry! The room is really huge!”
“Uh… y‑yeah!”
And just like that, I was more or less forced to move. Rohen, meanwhile, hadn’t moved an inch from where he was earlier. Thankfully, perhaps sensing that, the Grand Duke finally turned his head and looked back.
“Why aren’t you coming?”
“…Go.”
It would’ve been nice if he paid just a little more attention, but the Grand Duke didn’t concern himself with things like that. Selective attention, or whatever it was. In the end, maybe having given up on his own, Rohen followed us with a face even stiffer than before.
It would be better if he could just ask freely for this or that like Lari, but Rohen seemed to have grown up too much for that.
Because he was the older brother, Rohen—who had always protected Lari—had become a grown‑up child who couldn’t honestly show his own feelings.
So I ran back to Rohen, who was lagging far behind us, and tightly took his hand.
“Let’s hurry.”
“What’s with the hand?”
“We were always together like this—the three of us.”
I smiled and held his hand firmly. At first, whether out of embarrassment or discomfort, Rohen tried to pull away, but before long he matched our pace. His expression was much more relaxed than before.
A child who cheers up over something this small. So childlike.
‘Why doesn’t anyone notice? Just looking a little more closely would be enough.’
In truth, he was a fragile child inside. Because of that, I squeezed his hand even tighter. While we were like that, the Grand Duke went up to the second floor and stopped in front of a large door in the center.
“This is it.”
Quite a few servants were lined up in front of the door. The moment we appeared, they opened it as if they’d been waiting, letting us see inside the room right away.
Following him inside while suppressing my surprise, I stepped into the room. But the amazement was hard to hide.
To be honest, objectively speaking, it was as big as all the orphanage rooms put together.
A gasp almost slipped out of my mouth, but I barely held it in. How could a room be this large? Even the wallpaper, the carpet spread across the floor, and the beautiful chandelier adorning the ceiling all looked incredibly expensive.
On top of that, there were several rooms within the room itself—one large living room with many attached doors. The moment I stepped fully inside, I couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.
“Wow.”
It was the kind of place where you couldn’t not be amazed. It wasn’t just me—Rohen couldn’t hide his shock either.
“Big sis! This is my room! Dad said that when big brother comes, we’ll live together here!”
“R‑really?”
“Yeah! Big brother, you like it too, right?”
Bouncing in place, Lari grabbed my hand and busily dragged me around. This was the bedroom, this was the closet, this was the playroom, this was an empty room—and on and on. The room was so big that there were more rooms inside it.
Big enough that you could really get lost in here. Astonishing and overwhelming. After wandering around for quite some time, Lari finally came back out to the living room.
“It’s really nice, right?”
“Y‑yeah… it is.”
“Big brother, you like it too!”
“It’s… nice.”
Even as he said that, Rohen’s cheeks flushed slightly. It was obvious he was happy, yet he pretended otherwise—and that was just too cute. I let out a small laugh without realizing it.
“Why are you laughing!”
“No, it’s just… because I’m happy.”
“…Happy?”
“Yeah. Really happy.”
As if he’d been the one praised, Rohen puffed his shoulders up for no reason.
“Then that’s fine.”
“Do you like the room? I originally intended to prepare two rooms, but Lari insisted you always be together.”
“Well. It’s… kind of nice.”
“Then that settles it.”
The Grand Duke wore a rather satisfied expression, then moved his gaze past the children to me.
“Orphan girl. You will also stay here for the time being.”
“I can stay here too?”
It was completely different from what I’d expected—I thought he’d distrust me and refuse to let me sleep in the same room as the children. So I asked again, but he hurriedly waved his hand.
“Ah. Of course, this is not where you’ll stay. Over there.”
Just as I was about to feel a little touched, the Grand Duke pointed toward a door attached to the room, as if rejecting my sentiment outright. Of course. Figures.
“Ah. Right.”
“You weren’t thinking of staying here, were you? No matter how much the children like you, you are still just a child yourself.”
Yes, yes. I know.
“That’s why I was surprised. I thought you were being this considerate.”
“Considerate?”
“Well. Letting me stay here at all is more than enough. Thank you.”
I bowed my head slightly. I’d worried he might separate the rooms, but that was needless concern. Still, letting me use even a small attached room felt considerate enough.
So I offered my thanks, but the Grand Duke’s reaction was somewhat strange.
I was sure he’d leave right away, but instead, he turned back and met my eyes.
“So, orphan girl.”
“Yes?”
“…What is your name?”
He suddenly asked for my name? That was even more unexpected than telling me to stay here. I blinked at him. I’d thought he’d go his whole life calling me “orphan girl” and never use my name.
“Ah. I see. So that’s how it is.”
“…What?”
Talking to himself and reaching conclusions on his own.
“You don’t have a name. Right. I understand. A child without parents might not have a name.”
“That’s not true.”
“Hm? It isn’t? You do have a name? You don’t need to make one up on the spot.”
Dear God. If you would grant me a transparent hammer, I swear I would use it to strike the head of that arrogant man who hurts people with every word he speaks.
“No. Even orphans have names. It’s Aisha.”
“Aisha, then. Understood, orphan girl.”
If you’re going to keep calling me orphan girl, why bother asking my name at all? No matter how I try, I just can’t see him in a good light.
“…Yes.”
So I nodded reluctantly. Perhaps satisfied with the answer, his expression brightened.
“And this—this is my consideration.”
“…Ah. Yes.”
So asking my name counts as consideration. It even feels like he’s drawing a clear line, saying you and I are on different levels.
