Chapter 22

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Not too long ago, it was said that there were only two heirs.

“Then there were three heirs?”

“That’s right. Rosaria is taking care of the Lady in the family.”

“Ha. No wonder I haven’t seen her for nearly two months.”

Rosaria, who made a name for herself as a gatekeeper at the border with her outstanding skills, is taking care of a child?

Is the kid okay?

The more he heard it, the more ridiculous he thought it was, but Karma kept his composure.

“There are some guys who already want to go. The border isn’t fun right now. They say this banquet will be more interesting. I wonder what kind of person the youngest miss is. Are you going too?”

“Anyway, it’s a boring meeting that requires formality. I’m not going to attend.”

“Really?”

Fayman nodded his head as if it was regretful, but he didn’t ask again.

Once refused, it was their way of conversation to not ask again. This method of dialogue sometimes brought tears of blood from the eyes of those who refused out of courtesy, when it was necessary to strengthen kinship among the clan.

“Okay. Then I’ll inform that everyone is going back, except for you.”

“Everyone’s going?”

“Yes. They are all curious.”

“What?”

Curious about the banquet? Or the youngest miss?

Either way, there seemed to be nothing special. Children of the clan could also be seen near the border. However, out of Fayman’s mouth came out a reason that Karma couldn’t have guessed at all.

“The little lady recently finished humanizing, and she’s five spans tall.”

“What are you talking about? Spans?”

“Five spans. I’m sure Hestia said it was about this.”

Karma was greatly shocked. How can she be 5 spans tall? He quietly stretched out his palms. So a little over a meter?.

(Note: 5 spans = 1,14 cm)

“I heard it’s less than a meter. It’s based on Hestia’s hand.”

(Note: Must be around 90cm since Irene’s really small. 2-3y old toddler size.)

“…Is there a problem with the successor? That’s why they announced that there were two people?”

“Fuhaha! You really don’t know anything! Pay attention to your surroundings.”

Fayman hit the wall while he laughed.

Bang! Bang!

The wall was beaten down without mercy. It cracked and dust fell. It was a familiar sight.

“The Lady is a bird. You didn’t even read Rosaria’s letter? There were loads of pictures of the Lady. So everyone lined up to go.”

Fayman pulled out a picture from his arms. A young child hugging a doll was smiling brightly with her head raised, perhaps looking at Rosaria.

Karma opened his eyes wide, and Fayman, who knows how much he admires cute creatures, shed a smirk.

That’s the way it should be.

He’d probably be even more surprised to find out that members of the family created a fan club for the Little Lady.

Fayman snatched the photo back.

“I’ll ask you one last time. Are you really not going?”

Karma responded faster than ever.

“Put my name on the list.”

“Okay.”

Fayman wrote Karma’s name on the spot.

This confirmed the return of all Gatekeepers.

* * *

My eyes opened early in the morning. I jumped up with a baby snake doll I was hugging while sleeping.

“How many nights are left?”

A few days ago, I started doing the same thing every morning.

One, two, three.

Ten fingers were spread out and folded one by one.

“Seven days left.”

The long-awaited day is now a week away. I buried my face in the doll at the fact that there was still a long way to go.

“I hope it comes faster.”

Then I soon noticed that the room was quiet and I came down from the bed. As I touched the carpet with bare feet and held a snake doll that dragged on the floor in one hand, Rosaria came inside just in time.

“Rodaria!”

(Note: I only noted now that she speaks Rosaria’s name wrongly. So I will write like the raw until she grows up.)

“Oh my, when did you wake up? I thought you were going to sleep a little longer.”

“Just now! There are 7 nights left!”

I stretched out the number seven with my fingers. Every day I was telling Rosaria how many nights were left.

“My little Miss Irene, you must be looking forward to the banquet day, right?”

“Yes! I want friends. Many!”

Stretching out my arms, I drew a large circle.

I thought the banquet was only for adults, but it wasn’t. Rosaria said that I would be able to meet with friends my age.

I’m so excited! I can meet new friends! What should we do when we meet? I hope we can have fun together.

As I was full of anticipation, Rosaria stroked my hair.

“You’ll be able to make a lot.”

“Yes!”

“Then, shall we wash up quickly and have breakfast before preparing for our banquet?”

“Why?”

Is there something I need to do early in the morning?

Rosaria smiled brightly when asked such a question because Irene had not heard about anything.

“Mrs. Seri is here. She’s the one who will make beautiful clothes for Miss Irene.”

“Irene’s clothes?”

“Yes. You have to wear pretty clothes at the banquet.”

Pretty clothes!

I have to look good to make new friends, so I’m going to wear pretty clothes! I ran to the bed and put the snake doll down. As I hurried, Rosaria prepared breakfast on the table.

Each morning, the meal was delivered to my doorstep so I could prepare quickly.

I used to eat at the dinner hall, but even if I went, there were more days when I had to eat alone than not, so I usually ate in my room.

This is because Cade, Seth, and Arban were all busy with their schedules.

We used to eat together once a week, but because of the recent banquet preparations, Cade was absent every time.

I blew the steaming food, but it was still hot.

“It’s hot!”

“You have to eat carefully.”

“What about Rodaria’s?”

When I asked while poking the quail eggs with a fork, Rosaria, who was cutting the meat in little pieces for me to eat, smiled brightly.

“I ate.”

“When?”

“When Miss Irene was asleep earlier.”

I guess I woke up late so she ate first. The clock’s hands were already pointing to ten o’clock.

“I want to eat with Rodaria.”

“Then shall we have dinner together?”

“Yes!”

I chewed the meat. A savory scent spread throughout. When my mouth was full of food, Rosaria poured water into a cup.

“You have to eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

“Yes. I’ll eat slowly.”

“Chew 10 times and swallow it.”

“Yes!”

Gulp.

I chewed it ten times and emptied the rest of the food.

“Irene is done eating.”

“Then let’s go to the bathroom.”

“Yes.”

As I got down from the chair and entered the bathroom, I saw a plastic staircase under the sink. As I went up the stairs one by one, a white hairdo suddenly appeared in the mirror hanging on the wall.

As I stepped up to the last stairway, I saw bright red eyes blinking.

I was standing on my tiptoes to show all of my face in the mirror, and Rosaria came in next.

“Miss Irene. I’ll brush your teeth. Ah-.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s rinse your mouth.”

“Poah!”

“Close your eyes.”

“Yes.”

Brushing and washing were completed quickly. I put some lotion on my face and rubbed my cheeks.

Pat. Pat.

“I put it all.”

“Good job! You’re so pretty.”

“Irene’s pretty?”

“You are the prettiest in the world.”

A smile came out of my mouth when I heard I was pretty. Rosaria, who had taken my clothes out of the closet, shouted loudly.

“Let’s change clothes now!”

“Yes!”

“What do you do when you change clothes?”

“Hands up!”

I raised my hand. I changed into a green dress and put on my new yellow sandals, and everything was ready.

“Are we done?”

“Please, wait a minute Miss Irene. I’ll bring Mrs. Seri soon.”

“Yes.”

“You’re a good girl.”

Rosaria took the blocks out of my toy box in case I would get bored of waiting. She even took out as many as five chocolates, which she had been strictly managing!

My eyes never thought of falling off the table.

“I’m good at waiting, I’m good at waiting.”

The target was chocolate.