"Ah... Actually, it's like this."
Just as I was wondering what to say, the secretary stepped forward with a businesslike smile.
"Alec Valt? I've come at the request of his relative. I work for the Winterwald Dukedom."
"The Winterwald Dukedom?"
"Yes. If something were to happen to Alec, we were supposed to take the children to his relatives' place. That's why I'm here."
"Relatives? But Alec said he was a total orphan—no parents, siblings, nothing. Who is this relative, anyway?"
When she said 'no parents, siblings, or anything,' the secretary cleared his throat loudly. Ahem!
"It's hard to go into details... Just know that I work at the Winterwald Dukedom."
"Someone who works at the Dukedom..."
Aunt Masha frowned, trying to figure out what was going on.
I roughly understood what Aunt Masha was thinking. She probably thought Alec's relative was something like a mansion servant.
'Well, the Duke also works for the Dukedom in a way, so it's not totally wrong.'
"So why didn't they come themselves? Why send a secretary...?"
"They're super busy, so they asked me to come. As co-workers, we're... you know... close."
He practically choked on the last word, like he'd just broken out in hives.
"Ah, a gardener, got it!"
Aunt Masha clapped her hands.
"Right. Gardeners are slammed this time of year."
"Hahaha."
I turned to Aunt Masha.
"Auntie, he's right. Dad told me we had relatives. So, Theo and I are going to go to our relatives' place."
"Ririn..."
Aunt Masha's eyes teared up again.
Aunt Masha was raising two children alone in place of her sick husband.
Even so, when we left the temple, she said she'd get us new socks and shoes.
In the Empire, it's a custom to give socks or shoes when you adopt children. It means you'll take care of them, protect their poor, beat-up feet.
'I can't believe she offered to take us in, just like that. I'm so touched.'
I gave Aunt Masha a long, tight hug.
"I was so happy when you said you'd buy us shoes. Thank you for everything, Aunt Masha!"
Of course, there were words I couldn't say.
'I'll be back to the green-roofed house with Dad once he's back! That's why I brought the appearance-changing magic tool!'
Since I knew it wasn't goodbye forever, I didn't cry.
Winterwald Dukedom, Office.
Calex felt an intense gaze.
"......"
"......"
He ignored it.
But he continued to feel the gaze.
Even two of them.
"......"
He tried to ignore it again, but...
Thump.
In the end, he put down the documents he was looking at. In fact, he hadn't been able to focus on a single word since earlier.
"What do you want?"
He snapped at the two heads peeking through the crack in the office door.
"Excuse me..."
A sassy pink head tilted slightly.
"So, when are you going to let us in?"
A tiny, chirping voice, that had no place in this Dukedom, tickled his ears.
"-yo?"
Ririn quickly switched to polite speech and smiled brightly.
He'd heard that Ruska had brought the children. He had also seen the carriage arrive.
He was planning to postpone meeting them because he had work to do. But it seemed they couldn't stand it and came all the way here.
He glanced over and saw she'd even brought that lump, Theo, with her.
That round, chubby little bread roll was staring blankly at him. Calex picked up the documents again in vain and said coldly.
"If you've got the ring, come in. If not, get lost."
"Yay! Daddy's here!"
The door swung open wide.
As she ran in, he saw the servants behind her turning pale.
Their faces screamed, 'We're dead meat.' No one barged into the Duke's office like this.
'Look at that.'
Even grown-ups are scared of me. And this little thing that barely reaches my waist is supposed to be the bravest?
"I missed you so much!"
"Didn't I say you could come in if you had the ring? Why are you here without it?"
"Huh...? I only heard the 'come in' part?"
"Now you're just straight-up lying."
She wasn't carrying anything.
He'd heard that the first thing she did at the mansion was ask for a locker with a lock. Talk about meticulous.
"Heh."
Her eyes sparkled.
Her bright green eyes, like polished glass, were staring right at him.
Calex got a faint headache, a weird sense of déjà vu.
'How is she so cheerful already?'
Just a little while ago, she was bawling her eyes out at the temple, loud enough to wake the dead.
If he hadn't snuck a peek, he'd never have known she was so heartbroken.
Are kids always like this?
"......"
He gave in and moved to the sofa on the side of the office.
Ririn started to sit next to Calex, but then seemed to think better of it and went to the opposite side. She even picked up her tiny, bean-like brother and sat him down.
"What do you want from me, kid?"
Calex asked in a somewhat listless tone.
"I just want to help you get your memories back, Daddy."
"What's in it for you?"
"Nothing. It's just what I want..."
Her lower lip stuck out as she mumbled.
"Is it weird to want your sick dad to get better?"
"......"
For once, Calex was speechless.
She was wearing a ratty old navy blue dress. Her shoes and bag didn't look like much, either.
Her pink hair was tied up, but it was still a mess. It looked like the kind of thin hair that gets tangled if you just look at it.
Someone would need some serious skills to manage that hair.
'Was I... useless?'
Why did I put her in such rags?
Grimy shoes. Grimy clothes. Grimy hair.
'If I was going to buy her stuff, couldn't I have gotten something nicer? Was I really that cheap?'
Calex, who was still mentally 22, not knowing that was the best dress you could get in Lepi Village, basically spat on his older self.
"I just want to live with Daddy again, like we used to."
But here's the weird part. She missed that crummy life. It was a strange feeling.
"And I'm really useful! I'm strong, and I pay attention to details, so I can do anything!"
"A little squirt like that, useful? My ass."
Calex muttered that under his breath, and Ririn snapped back, "I'm not a squirt!"
He leaned back, a cold smile creeping across his face.
"So what can you do? Going to be my personal maid or something?"
He meant it sarcastically. He half-expected her to burst into tears.
"Wow, can I really be your personal maid...?"
Which, of course, she wasn't.
Her eyes were practically shooting sparks, she was so excited.
'What the hell.' Calex Winterwald, a man who'd never lost an argument in his life, was getting completely outmaneuvered by this kid.
'But... like Mother said, maybe it's not a bad idea to keep her around for a while and see what happens.'
Elisa had come by earlier and said.
"Calex, think. Would you really have raised that kid in the middle of nowhere for no reason?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Five years ago, you were desperate to revive the sacred tree of this Dukedom... the Tree of God, remember?"
The Sacred Trees protected by the four Dukedoms of the Empire.
Exactly.
The Duke of Winterwald had a duty to protect that tree.
But for years, the Winterwald tree had been withering.
This was tied to the family's fate, so Calex had been doing everything he could to find a solution.
"So you're saying I... raised that kid to use her for the Winterwald Dukedom? Because I needed her for something?”
