Chapter 61

Grace shook her head lightly instead of giving him the mask in his hand. Grace replied when Arthur was puzzled by an action different from what she said a while ago.

“…..Arthur. I have one more favour to ask of you.”

“What is it, madam?”

“Can’t you give Leon a chance to choose whether to wear and take off the mask?”

“……Ah.”

“It was heartbreaking for me to hear that the child had been terrified all the time saying that his eyes were cursed. From what I heard, the curse doesn’t seem to be activated until Leon grows up, so why don’t you give Leon the freedom not to wear a mask if he doesn’t want to?”

“…….”

“And anyway, before the child grows up and becomes an adult, we’re going to break this curse. Can’t we?”

Arthur, who quietly listened to Grace, smiled bitterly and then nodded as if in agreement with her.

“……I’m very ashamed of myself and sorry for Leon after listening to my wife. Up until now, I have only focused on running away because I am afraid that people will point fingers, and that they will fall victim to the curse because of me.”

“…..Arthur.”

“Neither I nor Leon will run away like this anymore. Like my courageous wife.”

Arthur briefly kissed Grace’s cheek, which was exposed as he replied.

Unlike the kiss she had received while wearing the mask, Grace was more embarrassed than usual by Arthur’s body scent and breathing sound, which she felt more directly on her cheek and the soft touch on her skin. Arthur looked at her with a sweet gaze as if she was lovely.

With such sweet conversations and eyes like honey, the two entered the annex where Grace lived.

At a time when the night shift had not yet taken place, the two crept up the dark stairs with dim candles, like naughty children who had sneaked out of the bedroom.

Soon after, the two arrived in front of Grace’s bedroom and met Sally, who was dozing off in a chair in front of the door.

Sally, who had been dozing off with a bible in her hand all the time until the two of them got closer, opened her eyes in a flash to the presence of the two. Then Sally, who hurriedly got up, opened her eyes wide on Arthur’s face without the mask and quickly approached him and shouted.

“Oh my god! Duke! What’s going on here, how this happened!”

“….Because my wife asks me to tell her everything without hiding anything from her anymore.”

“… … Oh my goodness.”

Sally, more surprised by Arthur’s answer, covered her mouth with both hands and glanced at Grace’s face.

Soon after that, Grace’s face became tired as she had stayed up all night, but when it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it, Sally became bright and approached Grace’s front.

“Ma-, madam, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Wow! What a relief! I’m so glad! I knew from the first day that you were an extraordinary person! I thought in my heart that Madam was the Duke’s real companion, and I’m glad that I was right!”

“Thank you, Sally.”

“Me too! It’s been years since I’ve seen the Duke’s bare face like this! I’d like to share this good news with the butler and Sir Oliver! This time, even after seeing the Duke’s bare face, you are fine as usual!”

“…… Aha Sally”

Grace smiled embarrassingly at Sally’s fuss, and Arthur coughed briefly.

She had seen Arthur and Leon for a long time and took care of them like children, so it was not unreasonable for her to be overjoyed. But it was still early in the morning.

When the two showed signs of embarrassment, Sally, who was quick-witted, immediately understood it and shut her mouth. Arthur said after releasing his slightly stiff expression at Sally’s quick-witted appearance.

“… … Sally, I have an order for you.”

“Oh, yes. Go ahead. Sir.”

“In an hour, prepare breakfast for the three of us and bring it here. And tell Sir Oliver not to tell the butler to prepare my share of breakfast because breakfast will be served in the annex.”

“Yes. Alright.”

Upon receiving Arthur’s order, Sally soon bowed down and went down the stairs full of excitement.

Arthur and Grace looked at Sally’s back while standing side by side, and soon looked into each other’s eyes and burst into laughter.

After that, standing in front of Grace’s closed bedroom door, the two opened the door together and went inside.

In the darkroom, where the curtains were thickly drawn and the dawn light that was gradually brightening did not come in, Leon was sleeping peacefully in the bed in the centre room.

Fortunately, it seems that he hadn’t gotten up in the middle and looked for Grace. So Grace approached Leon while observing him sleeping in the same posture as when Grace left the room. Then, she carefully brushed the long bangs scattered over the sleeping child’s mask.

“… …uh-huh.”

Then, perhaps awake by the touch, Leon made a short muffled sound and tossed and turned.

Seeing this, Grace quickly dropped the hand that was stroking Leon and went to the side of Arthur, who had already pulled two chairs to the side of the bed where she was sitting.

Arthur naturally made Grace sit on the chair he brought, and then he also sat on the chair next to it. And the two naturally leaned on each other’s shoulders and heads and looked at Leon, who was asleep.

“……Fortunately, he sleeps well.”

“He usually wakes up and cries in the middle of the night when there is no one in the bedroom, but he seems to feel a sense of security because he is in my wife’s bedroom.”

“Oh, really? If I had known, I would have let him sleep in my bedroom right away.”

Grace looked at Leon while saying that as if she felt sorry for Arthur’s words.

However, upon hearing that, Arthur’s eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and soon he began to grumble in a small voice in Grace’s ear.

“That doesn’t make sense, madam.”

“Oh, my. Why?”

“..……I’ve never slept next to my wife yet, but it’s absurd that he gets to sleep next to you every day. You are my bride.”

“… … Arthur!”

“Even if you say it’s childish or naive, it doesn’t matter. It is said that a man’s jealousy is several times more childish and petty than that of a woman.”

Grace looked at Arthur’s face, who was still frowning and jealous of his younger brother, then snorted and laughed.

He kept looking cute with his childish jealousy while he had a handsome face that would suit more to statues or artworks than a person.

So, as Grace did to Leon, she pinched Arthur’s cheek that was exposed with her fingers. And Arthur relaxed his expression and grinned, then grabbed the back of her hand that had risen above his cheek and kissed it aloud.

Perhaps because he was not wearing the mask, Grace felt an unfamiliar feeling several times more than usual. So she hurriedly pulled out her hand and struck the chair she was leaning on.

Bang—

There was a louder-than-expected sound, so Arthur and Grace quickly adjusted their postures so that the sound did not come out any longer. But Leon slowly raised his upper body and rubbed his eyes with his small hand, perhaps because he had already woken up by the sound.

Then Leon, who quickly looked at the place beside him where Grace had been lying a while ago, opened his eyes wide and turned his head around when Grace was not there.

After that Leon, who soon found Grace and Arthur sitting side by side on chairs next to the bed where he was lying, smiled cutely and said.

“… … Hehe. Brother, sister-in-law. Are you awake already?”

“Yes, did you sleep well? Leon?”

“Good morning.”

“Yeah. Good morning.”

Leon, who smiled at Arthur and Grace’s friendly response to his greetings, suddenly looked surprised to find Arthur’s face without a mask. Then Leon, who quickly got up from bed, walked over to Arthur’s side and pointed his little finger at the face and asked.

“Bro-, brother! Uh, your face…….”

“Why? Is my face weird?”

“Why aren’t you wearing the mask, brother?”

“Your sister-in-law took it off for me.”

“… … Still, is that okay?”

In response to Arthur’s answer, Leon glanced at Grace and hesitated in answering.

The child’s appearance seemed to be concerned that Arthur’s face he had not seen in a long time was nice, but that others might have hurt his beloved brother again by taking off his mask.

Arthur wrinkled his brow as if his heart was hurting at the deep look, and Grace warmly hugged Leon and said.

“Of course, it’s okay. Why? Leon, is it weird?”

“No, it’s nice to see. He is handsome.”

“Then why are you asking if it’s okay?”

“……People……. He said people were cursed just by looking at his face and eyes…….”

“Really?”

“… … Yes. So my brother told me to wear a mask too… … . What if all the other adults see you again and say bad things?”

Arthur let out a long sigh as he listened to Leon, who hesitated at Grace’s question but honestly confessed his feelings.

When he decided to put a mask on not only himself but also on the child’s face, Arthur thought it would be best to protect Leon from those who chatted carelessly. However, Arthur belatedly blamed himself for his actions, as he thought he had unintentionally wounded Leon’s heart.

Grace bit her lower lip, upset by the sight of Arthur and Leon.