Chapter 20
Rashid nodded his head.
I promptly gave him a flick on the forehead.
“Again. Did you stab the duchess with a knife?”
Rashid shook his head vigorously.
“Did you tell the duchess to go die?”
He shook his head again.
“Then how is it that she died because of you?”
Only then did I take my hand off his mouth. Rashid gasped as if he had been suffocating.
“Phew… But she died giving birth to me…”
“And who made you?”
“Uh…”
“The Duke and Duchess did. Your parents. Then isn’t it the Duke who caused her death? He made the baby. Or were you some kind of spontaneous generation?”
“T-That’s…”
Rashid’s pupils wavered in confusion at my logic.
“Did the Duke tell you directly? That you killed the Duchess?”
“No…”
He looked more confused as I bombarded him with questions.
“Then why do you think that?”
“The head maid…”
‘So the head maid is the problem here too.’
She must’ve kept instilling guilt in him, blaming him for the duchess’s death, molding him to her liking.
It was too obvious and unnecessary, so I cut Rashid off mid-sentence.
“You don’t need to listen to crap like that. This is usually a communication issue.”
“Communication issue?”
“Have you ever talked about this topic with the Duke directly?”
Looking gloomy, Rashid thought for a moment and shook his head. As expected. A textbook case of a family that doesn’t talk.
“Then go talk. You’ll never know unless you ask the person directly.”
“…Okay!”
Rashid, who had been sitting on the sofa, sprang up like a spring, looking like he was about to run off and ask right away. But a sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘What if the Duke is trash and tells Rashid it’s true?’
I quickly grabbed Rashid’s arm and pulled him back onto the sofa.
“Ugh. What?”
He slumped back down, clueless as to why I’d stopped him.
‘Why does he jump up like that right away? Kids really are action machines.’
I studied the clueless little guy sitting there innocently.
‘90% of male leads who turn evil are because they weren’t loved by their parents…’
Nope. This won’t do.
I looked at Rashid, who was staring at his grabbed arm in confusion, and said,
“Rashid, just in case, I’m saying this now: a child deserves to be loved without doing anything.”
“……”
“It’s not just parents who can abandon their kids. Kids can abandon their parents too. If it comes to that, you leave them.”
Rashid stared at me in shock, then burst out laughing.
‘What the—after all that serious talk?’
He laughed right in my face, making my brows furrow. He laughed using deep breaths from his belly, not matching his usual prickly personality, holding his stomach now.
He had no idea I was saying this for his sake.
“I’m not joking. If it really happens, make sure you take your share of the property. Get a solid contract. Verbal promises are worthless. Always leave a paper trail.”
“Even if it’s a joke, thank you. I feel a little better now.”
Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, Rashid looked noticeably better than earlier when talking about the duchess.
‘Good. That’s a relief.’
Feeling slightly reassured, I let go of his arm and advised him,
“Just wait a bit. I’ll check into things first, just in case.”
“Okay!”
For some reason, the way Rashid looked at me had softened significantly. He had been a bit wary and hostile at first.
‘Can’t hurt to get close. If the real daughter shows up later, maybe he’ll take my side.’
Satisfied with this internal justification, I nodded twice.
Feeling good about having a new backup plan, I slid the cookie plate over to Rashid. He looked curious but picked one up and munched on it.
“Don’t eat too much. We have dinner later.”
“Mm… Okay.”
Even as he said that, he didn’t let go of the cookie.
With a full belly and a peaceful heart, my eyes started to droop. It looked like Rashid felt the same way, as he was already nodding off with a cookie in his mouth.
I gently guided Rashid’s head down onto the sofa and pulled the cookie from his mouth, placing it back on the plate.
Thankfully, he didn’t wake up.
After confirming Rashid was sleeping well, I rubbed my eyes—and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep too.
“…Miss.”
“……”
“…Miss!”
A voice calling me repeatedly pulled me out of sleep.
“Mmm… What…?”
Lifting my heavy eyelids, I saw a blurry figure through my groggy vision.
“Ah… Ali…?”
“Yes, miss! It’s me!”
“What… why are you waking me up…”
Being pulled out of a sweet sleep made me irritable. I knew it wasn’t Ali’s fault, but my voice came out annoyed.
“It’s almost time for dinner, and you weren’t in your room, so I thought maybe you’d be here in the young master’s room.”
Only then did I remember the dinner I’d completely forgotten about. I rubbed my face and forced myself to sit up.
Rashid was still asleep with his arm under his head. Ali looked like she was debating whether to wake him or not.
Still groggy, I gently shook Rashid awake. He stirred and rubbed his eyes.
“Uuugh…”
“Rashid… wake up. We need to go to dinner…”
Rashid sat up, but his expression was still dazed.
We sat side by side on the sofa, half-awake, blinking slowly. Ali, smiling at the two of us, spoke gently to me.
“Miss, you need to go back to your room to change and fix your hair before dinner.”
Ali reached out to help me up. Figuring I had to move anyway, I took her hand.
But just then, Rashid grabbed my hand.
His eyes weren’t even fully open, but he instinctively held onto me when I tried to get up.
“Where are you going?”
“My room.”
“Why?”
Do I need a reason to go to my room?
I looked at our hands and then at his face, puzzled. His mouth was set like he was determined not to let go. I tried to shake him off, but he just gripped tighter.
“Rashid, let go. What’s wrong with you?”
I shook my hand, annoyed.
Then Rashid pulled my hand to his cheek.
My sleepiness evaporated instantly.
What the heck was he doing?
The warmth of his cheek on my hand startled me. He looked up at me and asked,
“Can’t I come with you?”
Rashid was pulling the “sparkling eyes” attack. I almost nodded instinctively.
‘Yep, a male lead candidate is a fox from the get-go.’
“Ugh. Still no.”
I averted my eyes and pushed his forehead back.
Looking sulky, Rashid lowered his head. That pitiful look reminded me of my youngest sibling, making it harder to walk away.
Feeling weak, I lifted his head with both hands.
“Hey. Why are you sulking now? Earlier, you were making it obvious you didn’t want to play with me.”
“T-That’s…”
“Enough. We can play tomorrow or after dinner. But for now, you need to get ready too.”
“…Okay.”
“See you later.”
Rashid nodded. Only after hearing his response did I let go of his head and follow Ali out.
Before leaving, I glanced back at Rashid. I tapped my left temple with my finger and grinned.
Rashid tilted his head, not understanding. When I tapped again, he copied me and reached up to his hair.
Only then did he notice his hair was sticking up, and his face turned beet red.
Smiling at his embarrassment, I left the room.
Still chuckling to myself as I remembered his face, Ali asked,
“Miss, you and the young master seem to have gotten close. You look happy!”
Realizing I was grinning too much, I quickly forced my lips down and answered nonchalantly.
“Well, a little? It feels like I got a cute little brother, so I’m happy.”
Ali gave me a puzzled look.
“Brother? Not friend, but brother?”
“Yeah. My youngest—”
I trailed off mid-sentence.
Ali looked puzzled at my sudden silence, but I clamped my mouth shut and said no more.
Because of my damn friendliness, I almost blurted out personal info from my original world. That was close.
I mentally added Ali to my watch list. At this rate, I’d end up confessing I was possessed.
To change the subject, I spoke quickly.
“Let’s hurry. We’ll be late for dinner.”
“Yes!”
When we arrived at my room, the maids were already waiting.
I sat in front of the vanity and let them work. My bedhead was quickly smoothed out with a few skilled touches.
Looking in the mirror, the result was quite satisfying.
Dressed in a new gown for the dinner, I headed to the dining room.
I must’ve been the last to arrive—everyone else was already there. I thought Rashid would be the last, but he was already sitting beside the Duke.
There was a seat next to Rashid and across from Kaiden, so I headed that way.
As I approached, Rashid stood up and pulled out my chair.
Surprised by the unexpected gesture, I looked at him, but he calmly pushed the chair in for me.
‘Do they get trained for this stuff young here?’
It was the first time I’d received such a gentlemanly gesture. I felt a little flustered. Was this just how boys here were raised?
Then I noticed everyone in the room was watching us. It’s not every day a seven-year-old pulls out a chair for another seven-year-old.
‘So he’s using me to show off his manners to the Duke.’
Because of Rashid’s over-the-top behavior, I suddenly had everyone’s attention.
And I’ve always had an incurable condition—if more than two people stare at me out of nowhere, my face heats up and my heart races.
‘I’m definitely going to get indigestion tonight.’
