Chapter 116 …
At the thought of Angelica, Helion’s lips curved softly upward. Having finished all preparations to head to the Grand Duke’s residence, the boy was just about to leave the marquis’s mansion when he happened to run into Marquis Dorter, who was on his way to the study.
“Helion, today is… ah, it must be the day you’re visiting the Grand Duke’s estate.”
After a brief moment of thought, Marquis Dorter looked at Helion and realized.
“…Yes.”
Helion simply nodded slowly, his eyes indifferent. Seeing his son’s detached reaction, Marquis Dorter spoke again.
“Come to think of it, today is the anniversary of that young lady becoming a member of the Grand Duke’s family.”
At the mention of Angelica, Helion unconsciously narrowed his brows slightly. Then he quickly smoothed his expression and replied,
“…That’s correct. Today marks the sixth anniversary of Angelica’s entry into the Grand Duke’s household.”
“Hmm. For an anniversary of that scale, I expected Lespel to hold quite a grand party. A few years ago, when that young lady first joined the Grand Duke’s family, they held a magnificent welcome banquet.”
At the marquis’s words, Helion recalled that time—the welcome party for Angelica. That was when he had first met her.
‘She was the only one who embraced the wounded me.’
Helion faintly smiled at the memory, then quickly composed his expression upon realizing he was standing before Marquis Dorter. Looking straight at him, he said,
“…That is the Grand Duke’s decision.”
“But still, something about it feels strange. Ever since that welcome party, most of the events hosted by the Grand Duke’s family have been small in scale. Well, the Lespel Grand Ducal House never threw parties that often to begin with… but when they did, they were quite grand, weren’t they?”
The marquis wasn’t wrong. The Lespel Grand Ducal House—its name alone was enough to command the reverence of nobles throughout the empire. When such a family held a party, it was rarely small. Yet after Angelica became part of the household, large-scale parties had noticeably decreased.
‘…There’s no need to tell Father.’
Keeping his expression carefully neutral, Helion said,
“They’re probably all just busy.”
“Well, if you say so.”
At Marquis Dorter’s response, Helion gave him a light bow.
“Then I’ll be going. The carriage is waiting.”
“…Ah, right. Of course. Travel safely.”
“Yes, Father.”
Helion quickly ended the conversation and turned away. The boy’s steps were slightly faster than before.
‘The reason the Grand Duke’s residence rarely holds large parties.’
In truth, Helion had never heard the reason directly from Olivier or anyone else. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t noticed.
‘Other nobles have probably realized the parties have decreased too… but they wouldn’t know why.’
However, Helion could tell through observation. In the end, it was all because of Angelica.
‘Angelica is afraid of crowded places.’
People like Celia and Aiden believed Angelica simply disliked crowds. But Helion was different. The boy had realized that she was genuinely afraid when there were too many people.
‘That was… at the Grand Duke’s birthday.’
A few years ago, Helion had attended Olivier’s birthday banquet. Since it was the Grand Duke’s birthday, countless nobles were present—Marquis Dorter among them. Of course, Kessel had not been invited. Only Helion, who visited often, and the head of the house—the marquis—had attended.
Many other nobles and even members of the imperial family were present at the party. But Helion noticed.
After some time had passed since the party began, when the number of attendees had easily exceeded dozens, Angelica’s complexion turned pale.
Moreover, the expressions of Sabu and Seolho, who stayed by the child’s side, weren’t good either.
So Helion directly suggested that Angelica take a walk. She readily agreed, and the two of them stepped out into the garden—
Just like when they had first met at the welcome party long ago.
And the moment they entered the garden and Helion saw Angelica’s expression relax, he became certain.
‘Rika is afraid of places with too many people.’
That was why Helion wanted to protect Angelica even more. She was intelligent beyond her years and outstanding in many ways… but at times like this, she was nothing more than a child.
After that, Helion, as always, attended most of the parties held at the Grand Duke’s residence. But perhaps the Grand Duke had noticed as well, because he no longer hosted large-scale events.
‘The Grand Duke also takes great care of Rika.’
Thus, today’s party would not be very large either.
Thinking this, Helion left the marquis’s residence, and as always, the Lespel Grand Ducal carriage was waiting for him.
“You’ve arrived, young master.”
“Phil, you came early.”
With a smile, Helion greeted the coachman who had been picking him up and dropping him off for the past six years.
“I couldn’t very well keep you waiting, young master.”
The coachman replied with a gentle smile. He then opened the carriage door and waited until Helion was seated. Once Helion took his place, the carriage began to move.
‘Rika will be cute today too.’
On the road to the Grand Duke’s residence, Helion’s heart thumped pleasantly.
After breakfast, Angelica was diligently dressed up by the servants. In truth, Angelica simply stayed still while the servants and Celia bustled around in her place.
“Kyaa, whose daughter is this pretty?”
Once the preparations were complete, Celia, brimming with excitement, asked Angelica playfully.
Angelica smiled shyly and answered,
“U-um, I take after Mom…”
“Well, of course! Our Rika is my spitting image. So pretty!”
Celia beamed and pulled Angelica into a tight hug. She wanted to shower her with kisses immediately, but worried about ruining the careful styling, so she reluctantly held herself back. Then she bent down and personally helped Angelica into her cute shoes.
They were custom-made shoes with low heels—comfortable even while moving.
“How is it, Rika? Any discomfort?”
“Hmm, no. I think they’re fine.”
“Hehe, still, walk a little more.”
“Okaaay.”
Celia watched Angelica walk without any sign of discomfort and smiled in satisfaction. Then she suddenly noticed the two animals yawning on the sofa behind them.
“Alright, alright. We should dress up Sabu and Seolho too.”
With a bright smile, Celia approached the two animals. As she came closer, Sabu and Seolho, who had been lying down, sprang to their feet.
[You’re dressing us up?]
Seolho tilted his head at Celia’s words. Of course, Celia couldn’t hear him, but Sabu answered instead.
[Well, it’s not like they’ll dress us up as much as Rika. Just stay still.]
[Ugh. I still don’t like uncomfortable things…]
At Seolho’s whining, Sabu let out a small chuckle. Even Angelica, who was walking nearby, smiled.
“Now then, since today’s Rika is styled in soft yellow, let’s match you two similarly.”
Smiling, Celia crouched in front of them and rummaged through her pocket, pulling out two small pale-yellow ribbons.
[Wow, ribbons!]
Seolho’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the tiny ribbons. Sabu let out a relieved sigh.
[…Good. At least it’s nothing too excessive.]
Unaware of the animals’ conversation, Celia began decorating them. She clipped a ribbon pin onto Seolho’s head and fastened a ribbon-style collar around Sabu’s neck.
“Sabu and Seolho are so cute too!”
Celia excitedly petted the two animals. Then, suddenly worried, she looked at them carefully.
“But it’s not uncomfortable, right?”
At her question, Angelica walked over to her side and said with a smile,
“It’s okay. They both like it.”
