CCF Chapter 9

“Did Ether wake up?”

Ivelin jumped to her feet and opened the door, only to suddenly have to catch the child who ran into her arms crying.

“Uwaaaah.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Lady Ivelin, he became anxious because you hadn’t come back for a long time.”

‘I must have been too mesmerized by that face for too long.’

As she blamed herself while holding the still-crying Ether who refused to let go, Ivelin glanced at the Grand Duke — and immediately corrected her thought.

‘No, that face is impossible not to get mesmerized by.’

This one… this one she had to forgive herself for. Honestly. That face was the one at fault.

                                                                                     ***

After a long while comforting him, Ether finally stopped crying. By the time Ivelin straightened her back, Richel looked as though he had just received some kind of shock.

“Come to think of it, it’s about breakfast time. Your Grace, would you like to join us?”

Ivelin asked without hesitation.

“Are you speaking to me?”

Richel asked again, as if he thought he had misheard something.

“Yes, to you, Your Grace.”

“…You’re inviting me to dine together?”

“Did you already eat?”

A strange silence filled the air. Ether lifted his head and looked up at Richel.

Then Ivelin suddenly realized something and turned to Ether.

“Ether, who do you think this person is?”

“…Someone I don’t know.”

Ether blinked at him for a long while before answering.

“Then what about me?”

“Madam…”

He still wouldn’t call her “Mom,” but Ivelin didn’t give up and said,

“There’s another word for that — it’s ‘Mom’. And this person is your dad.”

“Dad?”

“Yes, your dad!”

“…Wh-what should I call him then?”

“You can just call him ‘Dad’.”

“Nooo…”

Ether shook his head firmly, as if that wasn’t right.

Ah — could it be that, just like how he called her ‘Madam’, he thought he also had to call Richel something other than ‘Dad’?

That misunderstanding definitely needed to be corrected.

“Ether, do you not want to call me ‘Mom’?”

“…”

There was no answer.

“Are you scared? Afraid I’ll get mad if you call me Mom?”

Nod, nod —

“Then you can call me whatever you’re comfortable with. But later, if you ever want to call me Mom or call him Dad, you can do that anytime. If you do, I think I’ll be really happy.”

“…Happy?”

“Yes, happy.”

“That’s a good thing, yes?”

“It’s a very good thing. When you’re happy, you feel good even when you’re doing nothing, and a smile comes to your face. When you feel content living here in the Grand Duke’s estate, that’s what it’ll feel like.”

“Then… Ether is happy right now too…”

Ether’s cheeks turned bright red as he answered.

“Ugh. So cute.”

Ivelin let out a pained sound, overwhelmed by the familiar ache of cuteness, and pulled Ether tightly into her arms.

In her ear, she could hear Ether giggling softly.

Up to that moment, Richel was still looking down at them with an expression that said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

That aside, the situation was serious — Ether had at least recognized Ivelin’s face immediately, but he had looked at Richel and asked who he was.

Ivelin decided to send Tami and Ether out for a while first.

She told them to go ahead to the dining room, and she’d follow soon after.

Ether looked reluctant, but since she had something to say to Richel, she managed to peel him off.

“Mom will be right there!”

Once Ether left the room and things settled, Ivelin turned to Richel.

For some reason, Richel flinched and took a step back.

The same man who had been exuding such an intimidating aura just moments ago.

Ivelin spoke firmly.

“Your Grace?”

“Yes?”

“You’ll have to come with us.”

“W-where to?”

“Where else — Ether has to eat. Even if you’ve already had your meal, you’ll need to join us.”

Ivelin’s tone was confident and unyielding.

“…Why, exactly?”

Richel looked genuinely flustered.

Still, for Ether’s sake — for his flower-strewn future — a father’s presence was necessary.

So Ivelin looked at Richel with all the earnestness she could muster.

                                                                                     ***

Ivelin and Richel were walking at a steady distance apart, like the same poles of a magnet repelling each other.

Stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye, Ivelin kept darting side glances so much it was like she’d gone cross-eyed.

But Richel just kept looking straight ahead as he walked — and his pace kept getting faster.

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, she made a stupid sound, but Richel was already far ahead.

“What the heck?”

For some reason, a competitive spark flared inside her, and Ivelin hurried after him.

But the closer she got, the faster his strides became.

Lotte, being much older, couldn’t possibly keep up and quickly fell behind.

Ivelin glanced back at her in hesitation, but Lotte waved a hand, signaling she was fine.

“Then I’ll go on ahead first.”

“Yes.”

Before the words were even fully out, Ivelin broke into a run.

Despite wearing a long, heavy dress, she ran surprisingly well.

Worried Richel might walk off even faster, Ivelin huffed and grabbed his arm.

Richel shot her a quick glance.

“What are you doing?”

Huff, gasp—

Catching her breath, Ivelin managed to speak.

“Why are you walking so fast?”

“…I usually walk quickly.”

“Do you even know where the dining hall is? It’s not this way, you know?”

Ivelin gestured with her hand.

Even if he disliked people, surely he had eaten in his own estate at least once before. Yet Richel was walking in the completely opposite direction.

He silently turned and began walking the way she had pointed.

“Actually, it’s not that way either.”

“…What are you trying to do?”

“I’m joking. Sorry if that annoyed you.”

“Huh…”

Richel’s expression twisted slightly.

Ivelin tugged on his arm again.

Of course, someone his size wasn’t going to be pulled, but even so, he followed her without resisting.

“Can I hold your hand then?”

She asked, thinking if she only held his arm, he might pull away and run off.

“No.”

A sharp rejection.

“Aw. Then can I hold onto your arm instead?”

“No. Let go.”

Ivelin pouted.

As expected, looks and personality were completely inversely proportional.

When they finally reached the dining hall, Ether greeted her with a bright smile.

Inside the hall, from the head chef to the maids, everyone stood in a straight line, tense and stiff.

All their gazes were fixed on Richel.

Ivelin didn’t care in the slightest — she ran straight to Ether and sat down beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Richel stood frozen in place like a statue, and in the end, Ivelin had to speak up.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to sit?”

For some reason, a collective gasp could be heard around them.

It seemed everyone was terrified of Richel, which Ivelin found rather odd.

Sure, he was the infamous cursed Grand Duke, so fear was understandable — but how could they look at that face and still be unaffected?

“The table.”

After standing silently for a while, Richel finally muttered something under his breath.

From how he immediately recognized the table, it seemed it wasn’t that he’d never been here before — just that he’d barely been here.

“Ah, I changed it because it was too big.”

The previous table had been ridiculously large, so far apart that Ether and she couldn’t even sit close — so she’d replaced it with a smaller one.

Apparently, there was a servant with a carpenter’s license from the Capital, so she’d asked for his help.

He had made it in just a few days.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly small now — only smaller than before.

“Hurry up and sit.”

She urged him, but Richel gave her and Ether one cold glance, then simply turned and left the dining hall.

It seemed something had displeased him.

“Oh, what do we do?”

Tami spoke nervously from behind.

“After coming all this way, he should have just eaten with us…”

Ivelin muttered, but at the moment, Ether in front of her was more important, so she didn’t follow after him.

And she couldn’t possibly order the servants, who looked frightened out of their wits, to go fetch him back either.

“Since His Grace left, let’s just eat by ourselves.”

“Why isn’t His Grace eating?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry.”

“Is it because he doesn’t like Ether?”

“Why would you think that?! Absolutely not!”

“Mm…”

Ether glanced toward the door Richel had exited through, then slowly nodded.

“It’s okay if he doesn’t like me.”

“I told you, that’s not it.”

“Yes.”

“But why is it okay?”

“If I keeps trying this much, maybe he’ll come to like me. Madam did too…”

“Ugh. You’re right. You’re so right. Isn’t our Ether an absolute genius?!”

“Hehe.”

Ivelin showered Ether with every kind of over-the-top praise imaginable.

At first, the servants had thought, Has that woman gone mad? but by now, they had grown completely used to it.

“Ether, what’s your favorite food?”

“Um, whatever Madam likes, I like too. I like this — meat!”

“Like mother, like son. Even our taste is the same!”

“Hehe. Ether and Madam are mother and son, so we’re the same.”

“Yes, yes. Ether, Mom will cut this up for you!”

“Yes.”

Before, Ether had always just mumbled hesitantly while watching others, but now he spoke clearly and confidently.

Thanks to Ether, Ivelin’s doting tendencies were exploding more and more by the day.

With a proud smile, Ivelin quickly cut the steak into pieces and brought it to Ether’s mouth.

“Whooosh~ Open wide! The meat is coming in~~”

“Aaah~”

It was neither noble nor dignified in the slightest, but no one frowned — everyone just watched with warm, content smiles.

                                                                                      ***

After finishing their pleasant meal, Ivelin left Ether in Tami’s care for a while and went to look for Richel.

It was because Lotte, who had parted ways with her earlier, had come to tell her that he was looking for her.

“You said he wanted to see me?”

It was the same office where Ivelin and Lotte had been receiving letters — only for them to be promptly torn to shreds each time.

Perhaps because of that, even though it had supposedly been tidied up, the air was still thick with the scent of ink and paper.

Ivelin sat down across from Richel, who wore a grave expression.

Soon after, Lotte came in with tea.

The original Ivelin had apparently enjoyed tea time quite a bit, as there were many different kinds, but the bitter and astringent taste didn’t suit the current Ivelin’s palate at all — she preferred adding lots of honey.

A slightly sour, tart fruit tea with two spoons of honey tasted like heaven.

Slurp.

“It’s delicious today too. Thank you, Lotte.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Lotte smiled faintly and stepped back behind her, while Richel looked at Ivelin with an expression that said he couldn’t make sense of her at all.

“I’ve heard from Lotte about what’s been going on.”

“About how I lost my memory?”

“Yes. Even if you did lose your memory, can a person really change this much?
Are you perhaps scheming for something — pretending for a reason?”

“Oh, that’s the longest sentence you’ve said today.”

“Wife.”

“But what can I do? I really lost my memory, and this is how I’ve become. I don’t particularly want anything.”

“If you wish to go to the Capital now, you can.”

“I can go to the Capital?”

“You can. It’s something I’ve suggested several times before, but you refused each time.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Ivelin blinked.

If it were her, she would’ve left this gloomy place for the Capital right away — so why hadn’t she?

“Would you like to go?”

Thinking she might be tempted, Richel asked quickly.

“No.”

Of course, she refused.

“Why not this time?”

“If Ether and you, Richel, are going too, then I’ll consider it.”

“That won’t be possible.”

“Then I’m not going either.”

It wasn’t possible to stop fighting monsters in the World Tree’s forest.

The seed of malice still caused uncontrollable urges to kill, and without Richel, the Grand Duke of Lekach, the final line of defense would collapse entirely.

She couldn’t leave this place.

Ivelin didn’t know why the original Ivelin had disliked going to the Capital, but she must have had her own reasons — just like the current her.

Ether’s flower path.

Of course, even with just her alone, Ether already seemed perfectly happy, but there was undoubtedly a difference between receiving a father’s love and not receiving it.

She herself had grown up without her father’s love, so she knew how vast that emptiness could feel.

With a sigh, Richel slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked straight at Ivelin.

Ivelin didn’t avoid his gaze either.

After a moment, as if realizing that sending her off to the Capital was hopeless, Richel gave up and said,

“Stop what you’re doing to Ether right now.”