CHAPTER 03 – Is This a Parenting Story or What?
“What?”
Estin was startled. How did she figure it out? As he looked flustered, the girl gave an awkward, sheepish smile.
“Well… you had a completely unfamiliar face. And I heard that some big-name nobles recently moved into the villa over the hill. So I just thought, maybe…”
“Ah.”
Hearing her reasoning, Estin quietly nodded. She might have looked clueless, but her guess was surprisingly sharp.
Mother did say the villa was built in the quietest, most peaceful village in the empire…
It was an interesting situation. Back in the duchy, just the name “Valroire” was enough to make people tremble.
But this girl, despite suspecting he was a noble, was treating him like a regular neighborhood kid. That unexpected contrast made Estin smirk inwardly.
This is kind of… amusing.
Normally, he’d say something like, “Yes, I’m the heir to the duke. Show some respect!” But oddly enough, he didn’t feel like doing that today.
The girl’s rare, unfiltered innocence had a softening effect on him.
This isn’t like me at all.
Truth be told, Estin was infamous for his bad temper. A body that constantly ached from a curse was one reason. Or maybe he was just born that way.
Either way, his reputation in the capital and duchy was pretty terrible. It seemed the rumors hadn’t spread this far yet.
So they don’t know who I am… Maybe that’s for the best.
He hesitated. His father—the Duke of Valroire—had sent him here to recover and made him promise to keep a low profile to avoid trouble.
Naturally, that included hiding which family he belonged to.
Yeah. It’s better to keep my identity hidden.
After weighing his options, Estin finally gave the girl a half-truth.
“Yeah. I’m staying at the villa. But I’m not anyone particularly important, so don’t get the wrong idea.”
“O-oh! I wasn’t thinking that at all!”
Miela jumped, eyes wide, and frantically waved her hands. Estin found himself thinking—
She looks just like a squirrel.
Her chubby cheeks and brown hair sealed the image. He was reminded of the little chipmunk he’d seen in the villa’s backyard yesterday.
Then, suddenly, the girl spoke up.
“Hey, are you hungry? Want something to eat?”
With that, she started unwrapping a small bundle on the table.
Inside were three or four rock-hard pieces of bread that looked like they’d been made ages ago, and a sausage slathered in a mess of mixed sauces.
Estin’s appetite vanished just looking at it.
“I’m good. I’m not really hungry.”
But right then, his stomach let out a loud growl.
Damn it!
His mouth and stomach were on completely different pages. His face flushed red with embarrassment.
Really? A stomach growl now? Come on…
Now it just looked like he was being picky. And the last thing he wanted was to come off as fussy about food.
He was mortified.
“Oh, sorry. I guess this kind of thing isn’t really to your taste. How about some fruit? I picked some apples from the back mountain yesterday.”
With an awkward smile, Miela hurried off to the kitchen.
When she returned, Estin’s eyes narrowed at the two apples in her hands.
These look awful…
They were bruised all over—no way those were freshly picked yesterday.
Seeing his expression, the girl rushed to explain.
“W-well, they may look like that, but they’re not rotten! I was climbing the tree and the basket slipped, that’s all! I washed them clean in the stream afterward! They’re totally fine to eat!”
“Hmmm.”
Estin started picturing her climbing a tree. How did those thin arms get her up there?
His gaze landed on her arm—covered in dark bruises.
She said the basket slipped? He doubted that was all.
“You hurt your arm doing that?”
“H-huh? Oh—haha, you saw it.”
Scratching her cheek in embarrassment, Miela nodded.
“It just kinda happened. Normally, I’m really good at climbing trees… But hey, even monkeys fall from trees, right?”
Estin tilted his head. He’d learned a lot of proverbs from his tutor, but that one was new.
“I’ve never heard that saying before.”
“Oh, uh… My mom used to say it. Before she passed away…”
Yikes. He nearly stepped on a landmine. Estin quickly apologized.
“I see. Sorry to bring it up.”
“No, it’s okay. Anyway, I guess you’re really not hungry?”
“Yeah.”
Estin nodded. After a beat, the girl glanced at him and asked shyly,
“Then… is it okay if I eat alone?”
“Go ahead.”
“Okay! Thanks!”
As soon as he gave permission, she stuffed some bread into her mouth.
The way she held the rock-hard loaf in both hands, munching determinedly, she looked even more like a squirrel hoarding acorns. Estin almost chuckled.
She’s really eating that? That bread looks like a rock…
It looked inedible, yet she was chewing through it like it was no big deal.
For some reason, Estin felt like he wanted to replace that awful bread with something soft and fluffy for her.
If she was that happy with such bad food, how joyful would she be with actual good bread? He wanted to see her smile.
If I just took her to the villa, I could feed her something better than that. Not quite as good as the duchy’s food, but still…
Yeah, that was half an impulse.
She did save me when I collapsed on the road. I guess I could at least repay her for that.
With a decent excuse lined up, Estin decided to bring her back to the villa.
“I should probably head back now.”
“Huh? Already? Are you feeling better?”
Miela put her bread down and rushed over, inspecting him with concern.
Being worried about felt… unexpectedly nice. Estin touched his forehead with a small sigh.
“Not exactly. But there’s a personal physician waiting at the villa.”
“Physician?”
Miela tilted her head at the unfamiliar word. Estin explained simply.
“A physician is like… a doctor, just for me.”
“Ohhh, I see! Yeah, I guess going back would be better than staying out here.”
Now understanding, Miela nodded. Estin was just about to casually suggest they go together—
“Then I’ll go to the villa and bring someone to help! A grown-up who’s strong enough to carry you!”
“What?”
Wait, no—that’s not what he meant. His plan to coax her into coming along wasn’t going as expected.
Desperate, he tried another approach.
“But if you go alone, the gatekeeper probably won’t let you in.”
“R-really?”
Her eyes widened in shock. Estin’s lips curled into a subtle smile.
“Of course. They don’t let strangers in. And what if I collapse again while you’re gone?”
He might’ve been half-manipulating her, using his condition, but it worked better than expected.
Miela looked like she was about to cry.
“Th-then what should I do…?”
“What do you mean, what should you do? Just help me walk.”
Estin offered his hand without hesitation.
Miela grabbed it instinctively—then gasped.
“…!”
His hand was unbelievably soft, completely different from her own rough palms from helping with village work.
She worried for a moment that he might be disgusted by her coarse hand.
But instead, Estin held her hand tightly and didn’t let go.
“Well? Let’s go already.”
Despite being a head shorter, the boy naturally led her forward.
