chapter 42
Giggle.
The sound of a child laughing rang out. While listening to Fedwin’s report, Heivan glanced toward the direction of the laughter. They had paused to take a short break, and it seemed Flitta and Roze were playing house under a thicket.
“The young lady has really brightened up compared to before.”
At that moment, Fedwin turned his head in the same direction as Heivan’s gaze and spoke in a pleased tone. Heivan looked from the child and Roze back to his knight, but didn’t bother to respond.
Silence could be taken as agreement.
Fedwin, undeterred by his lord’s lack of response, continued talking.
“All it took was assigning her a personal maid to attend to her. Isn’t it truly remarkable how much she’s changed, Your Highness? It seems that maid must have had quite a connection with the young lady. After all, she was the one who saved the young lady’s life in the beginning…”
Fedwin rambled on rather chattily, then suddenly exclaimed as if something had just occurred to him.
“And they look quite alike as well.”
“…Alike?”
Heivan asked a beat later. Fedwin nodded.
“Yes, even their eye color is similar. But beyond that, how should I put it… the aura they give off? It’s quite alike. Almost like they’re mother and daughter. It’s really curious.”
Heivan let Fedwin’s words slide past and turned his gaze again to his child and her maid. Whatever was so amusing, the girl was squatting down, clapping her hands, and laughing.
…Just as Fedwin said, she had certainly brightened up.
Unlike before, when she was always timid and hiding behind others, she was now smiling brightly—like a child should, like other children her age.
His blue eyes then moved to the woman sitting in a similar squat opposite Flitta, smiling. She seemed to be placing something she had made—perhaps from the flowers she had picked—onto the child’s head.
That was when it happened. A hazy image of someone flickered before his eyes.
“…Oh, what’s this?”
“A gift for you.”
“Isn’t this a flower crown? You can make something like this? Oh my, it’s beautiful!”
A delighted voice echoed in his ears before scattering away like the wind.
It was a blurry afterimage of someone. Perhaps… it was the woman who had given birth to Flitta, whose memory had vanished. No, it was definitely her.
Don’t lose it. Remember just a little more!
Instinctively, Heivan tried to grab hold of that fragment of memory, knowing it would vanish soon, desperate to learn even a little more about her.
“Ugh…”
But as if to stop him from remembering, an intense headache tore through his head, making him clutch his forehead and stagger.
“Your Highness!”
Fedwin, who had been smiling at Flitta, quickly moved to support him. But Heivan straightened up before he could.
“Are you all right, Your Highness? Why all of a sudden… Shall I call the physician?”
Fedwin half-turned as though ready to drag the physician over by the collar, but Heivan waved him off.
“Don’t make a fuss, Sir Fedwin. It’s just… a brief headache.”
“But still—”
Before Fedwin could finish, Flitta abruptly stood from her play spot and came toward them.
“Don’t frighten the child unnecessarily. If she saw your face right now, she’d burst into tears.”
With his headache subsiding a little, Heivan even managed a light joke. That seemed to ease Fedwin, who let out a small chuckle before lowering his voice.
“But Your Highness should still be examined. You’ve been having these headaches more often lately.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Heivan replied shortly, turning his attention to Flitta, who had slowed and then stopped when their eyes met.
“What is it, Flitta?”
She made a small sound—“Mm”—and rolled her eyes around without answering. Heivan’s brows furrowed.
“…Flitta?”
His expression hardened. The child was hiding something, both hands clasped behind her back. As he took a step toward her, she glanced behind her and then brightened.
“Roze!”
Heivan’s gaze followed her voice. Roze had been approaching from behind Flitta, but when her eyes met Heivan’s, she froze in place—mirroring the child.
Both of them had messy hair adorned with flower crowns.
…If her nurse had seen this, there would’ve been an uproar. It’s a good thing I left her at the estate.
As Heivan thought this, Roze and Flitta whispered something to each other before the girl stepped toward him again. He just looked down at her quietly as she hesitated for a long moment.
“…Um, here.”
At last, she held out a flower crown. So that’s what she had been hiding behind her back.
…A flower crown?
Heivan narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. Flitta fidgeted, then took a deep breath and looked up at him, speaking clearly.
“Papa, it’s a gift.”
“…What?”
“I want you to wear this with us.”
Pfft. From behind, Fedwin made a sound like he was suppressing laughter. Heivan’s face twisted instantly; he hadn’t even had time to hide his expression.
“What…?”
“Haha! Why don’t you try it on, My Lord? You’re so handsome that a flower crown would suit you perfectly.”
Before Heivan could recover from his astonishment, Fedwin stepped closer, speaking in mock seriousness while barely containing his grin.
“…”
Heivan said nothing to scold his cheeky knight and instead looked at his daughter. She stood there patiently, holding the crown in both hands until he accepted it.
His gaze drifted past her to Roze, who wore an unreadable expression, as if she might smile but didn’t. When their eyes met, she quickly lowered her head.
And it wasn’t just her—knights, soldiers, and attendants resting nearby were all watching with interest.
In the midst of all those eyes, Heivan felt something close to despair. He’d never felt such a thing before anyone—except now, under the clear gaze of his young daughter.
It was absurd.
A flower crown?
Could the Grand Duke really make a fool of himself like that?
He could simply refuse. If her nurse had been here, she would have scolded the young lady for her lack of decorum instead of encouraging her to make such a thing with her maid.
But…
“…Haa.”
He let out a long sigh without realizing it. Flitta flinched, lowering the crown in her hands. The hesitant, unsure look on her face overlapped with her earlier hesitation.
She must have gathered a great deal of courage for this. She had never given him any sort of “gift” before. She had never looked at him with such hopeful eyes.
And so—
“…All right. Thank you.”
He couldn’t bring himself to reject the little hands holding out the crown for him.
He awkwardly replied and reached out to take it—but to his surprise, Flitta shook her head and gripped it tighter.
“I’ll put it on you.”
His brow furrowed again. But after another sigh, he composed his face into a neutral expression and bent toward her. Flitta, watching him carefully, lit up and stood on tiptoe to place the crown on his head.
The crown of wildflowers settled lightly on his hair. It didn’t fit—and perhaps that was for the best.
Heivan tried to ignore the thing on his head and spoke in an even tone.
“We still have some time before we set off again. Shall we take a walk together?”
“Uh… Yes!”
Flitta, who had been staring blankly at the crown on his head, nodded quickly and reached out her hand to him.
“…”
His gaze fell to her small hand, his blue eyes wavering with some indefinable emotion. Then he took her hand and began walking with her.
Behind them, Roze watched the scene and couldn’t help but smile warmly.
They still weren’t a perfect picture of father and daughter. There was still awkwardness, still moments of hesitation. But little by little, they were changing—moving closer to one another.
Even if only a little at a time, the sight of them drawing nearer was… so very—
“Roze, aren’t you coming with us?”
