CH 6

Only the sound of a fountain pen being dipped in ink is expected in the library, but an out-of-place voice resounds.

「Because of that, recently when I go out, she now sees me off with a smile on her whole face and it’s even more cute. Around the time she was reserved and shy, she was also cute, but……」

The head of the household, Duke Geordo von Ernest, naturally broke the silence of the library. Towards Ernest who was continuing to eternally openly sing his daughter’s praises, an admonishing voice descended.

「Geordo-sama, move your hands, not your mouth, please.」

「My hands are also working, it seems.」

Certainly, as for one’s point of view, his right hand was moving ink. While recognizing the reply to the delivered letter, he was going on and on about his family with such skill that jealous green eyes would ooze disgust. 

「Then, if you’re quiet, you’ll progress faster with your work, you know.」

「No, if I don’t express my overflowing love for my family, I will die. Does Heinz want to kill me?」

The butler, Heinz, is dumbfounded at the contents of the serious objection that was made. Should he be amazed or should he scold him, his judgement is puzzled.

「First of all, because Heinz tells me I should not talk with the exception of being at home, at work I am enduring it.」

「For you, when it comes to your family, your limits disappear.」

「Naturally. Towards my family, my love has never been exhausted.」

「Exactly for that reason.」

Punctuating with one syllable at a time, Heinz importantly warned him.

Even if the limit of the head of the household to be able finish their work while talking is high, it does not mean one must congratulate them. One should not disturb the workplace of people’s affairs.

「Geordo-sama, please be a little more aware of your situation and surroundings.」

Although he was famous for being a devoted husband, with his sweet appearance and behavior, in high society the amount of women approaching him for marriage isn’t decreasing. At work, his sweet smile that was shown, as it is, always with calm judgement, made a decision. Because of fame like this, coupled together with his magical aptitude, those around him called him the nobleman of ice. There is no weak point in this ice, but in front of his family he thaws, which is a problem. His appearance collapses and his orderly looks are spoiled, in addition to other things that crumble.

「As long as I have Dia, I don’t care about such things like my surroundings……」

「Is that fine? The other day, Lydia-sama, who heard of Geordo-sama’s way of working, held much respect for it, you know.」

Implicity saying Lydia was disillusioned is fine, isn’t it, Heinz thinks, and while making a threat, already straightened out his good posture. Heinz sighs at his internal thoughts while correcting his thinking. Thus in this way, periodically, if he didn’t encourage him, the duke of the first family would not find it difficult to abandon this position everyone envies.

While the fountain pen flows, Geordo smiles a little. His daughter again?, Heinz thought, but it was different.

「I honestly have good junior workers.」

「……I’m a butler, now.」

Already their views  are different, Heinz warned. In his school days, one year ago, Heinz served the Ernest family. However, even if they were content with their previous relationship, something like becoming negligent with professional duties, must not happen. In the middle of professional duties, the topic of appearing like he was close with the duke, was something he did not prefer. Geordo happily listened to  admonishing words he humbly received from the side. Because the duke was the second rank in royalty, a person who can send rebukes without cowardice is valuable. Because he had heard flattery from early on in his life, he found it disagreeable and grew tired of it.

「Heinz is strong, huh?」

From the olden days, the preface is hidden.

「Geordo-sama is too uninhibited.」

Does he remember what he did during his days as a student? Because his facial expression doesn’t change, he can’t read him, but Geordo laughs at the fond memories of them arguing. Heinz surely is mysterious, it seems.

Suddenly, the door being struck made a sound. The two’s gaze turned towards the door, and like a small bird a charming voice dignifiedly resounded.

「It is Lydia. Father, are you coming?」

Around the time the voice finished speaking, Heinz moved to the door and opened it. The young girl beyond the opened door was holding something in her hands, and Heinz prompted her to take a few steps inside.

「Oh, an angel has descended upon me, hasn’t she?」

「Father, your compliments are too excessive……」

Heinz knows she is saying it seriously, but as a butler stayed silent and refrained from commenting. Apart from that, being shy to the young daughter and admonishing her would be more of a problem, he feels. 

「I haven’t eaten anything, you know. Why did you come to the library?」

「Today, I heard that it was father’s vacation, so would you like to go to the spot with the flowers together…… am I being a nuisance?」

Lydia saw the fountain pen in the hands of her father who was sitting at a desk, and apologetically lowered her eyebrows. As if to dispel that sadness, turning with a smiling face, Geordo stood up.

「That is a fantastic invitation. Of course I want to go together with a princess. Besides, you arrived exactly when I finished writing the reply to that letter, so it is completely no problem.」

When Heinz glanced at the top of the desk, there was already sealing wax on the envelope. When did he do that?, he thought, amazed as to how the way he worked was like magic. He felt strange towards the ability that was shown when it regarded his family.

For Gerald, during the time Heinz was surprised, moved so he could take his daughter’s hand, and left the library. Because his butler was excellent, if he entrusts and leaves it to him, the arrangements for the letter will be completed, it seems.

「I’m sorry,  I cut your vacation day short.」

While going to his wife’s room, Geraldo apologized to Lydia. He wanted to use the whole vacation day completely for the sake of his family, but an urgent matter arrived and the time he spent with his family was regrettably cut short. As it is, he is already very busy, and he wasn’t able to spoil his young daughter.

「No, the times I am able to see Father working are very little, so I’m happy.」

Seeing the respectful look from his beloved daughter looking up at him, he unconsciously squeezed her hand.

It was a moment that he was glad he preserved at work. After this, he would also continue to persevere at work, he thought, and inside he trembled with determination. Even words of praise from the king could not give him such a delight.

Does Dennis have this feeling, he wonders.

He can recall the first time he saw it, the admiration towards one’s father and a gaze of respect, that time being from the boy who was a gardener apprentice. Receiving that look every day, he was rather envious. He intended to change his state of affairs with his beloved daughter, and so he was jealous of his exclusive gardener.

With being close to that age, if there was a chance, he wanted to have something like exchanging stories about their children over drinks. 

「Which reminds me, is that for Flora? It’s a little early, isn’t it?」

Lydia was carrying something like a thick book in her hands not holding onto Gerald’s. Is my daughter carrying a children’s book, he asked in his thoughts.

「No…… that isn’t the case. Afterwards, I’ll show you.」

「I see. I’m looking forward to it.」

Only slightly in a hurry, concerning what was in the hands of his beloved daughter, for Gerald he wouldn’t investigate further.

Arriving in front of his wife’s room, Heinz who had gone on ahead opened the door. Any appearance of being out of breath was completely nonexistent, his face was also like water, completely silent. Although he matched his young daughter’s walking pace, Gerald deeply thought there was no space for a break at work.

「Ahh, Dia.  You’ve become something like a goddess with your beauty, haven’t you? You are our jewel, you know.」

「Mother, is it okay to go together?」

「My, Gerald with Dia. With both of you, Flora will also be delighted.」

Fufu, laughed the woman who was smiling while embracing an infant as she sat on the couch. The mother of two children, her beauty was something Gerald considered worthy of praise without any doubt.

Gerald and Lydia also sat on the wide, luxurious couch. Lydia was exactly between both of her parents.

「Octavia-sama, should I get you something warm?」

For Gerald, because she would prioritize women in the house, and Lydia would also prioritize her mother who had just given birth to her younger sister, from the beginning he asked Princess Octavia for advice.

「Well, I’d like to request Dingla’s milk.」

「Certainly.」

With the rain that had gone on for a few days, considering how summer was close, in preparation for the cool air, Heinz had the maids prepare black tea.

In the time they prepared black tea, two people peered into the middle of Octavia’s arms, and were met with the same pink colored pupils. The two of them were reflected, and raising one’s voice with words that didn’t mean anything, very small hands reached up. Lydia unconsciously brought that hand close, and was grasped by the hand that was smaller than her own. At that strength, Lydia’s facial expression changed to a smile.

「You’re very cute, Flora.」

At the intimate moment between sisters, the look from both parents increased in warmth. For Gerald and the others, he suspected that the gardener’s apprentice’s work had bloomed.

「I’m sorry for coming late.」

「Oh my, in any case, you were working again, it seems?」

「I had to write a reply for a letter.」

Gerald apologizes for being late while stroking a wrinkleless platinum blonde, and for Octavia who could show purposely angry behavior, invited her husband’s forced smile. For Octavia who has no intention of blaming him, smiles, understanding it dispels the appearance of being angry to her apologetic husband.

She understands the extent her husband is busy and the importance of his post. However, he is making the most time for his family.

「The head of three provinces can be really popular, hm?」

Glowing red at the teasing he received, Gerald again sarcastically laughed.

「I’m not happy being popular for my work. I don’t want to be popular with anyone other than you.」

「Being popular with me, it can’t be helped anymore, can’t it?」 [T/N: Quit your flirting and explode!]

「That isn’t it. My love for you grows forever, you know.」

Even if the expectation is showing appreciation for work, it was changed to flirting between the two parents for the daughters in between them. This scene raises great concerns in Heinz, holding the maids back from the door, who wonders if this is good for children’s education. However, this scene is one that is quite unsurprising in the Ernest household.

「I heard from Heinz that it is very amazing that Father is working with the three ministries at such a young age.」

「It’s only because I have two elemental affinities, so it elevates me.」

Gerald was humbly replying to the respect from his daughter. Certainly it’s rare for someone to have two elemental affinities. However, that amount of magical power also is beyond a normal person’s means, and his talent was recognized, and his ability as the head of chain of command was valued.

The three departments, the Sorcerery Department, Medicinal Department, and Healing Arts Department, with things such as education and medical care and so on, cooperation is vital, and for each ministry, three ministers are appointed at the top. For the sake of supporting the country, it’s an important post, and it is a heavy burden to bear on people for the sake of power, and even if he is a duke, he cannot just sit on his laurels.

For this status, twenty four is young, and as for the calmly seated Gerald, for things such as the Duke’s house, he is doing his job properly, saying only nothing that it is due to the duke’s family and his dual attributes. For that reason, Heinz told Lydia the facts.

「That isn’t it! Father is amazing!」

「Thank you, Lydia.」

Still, even if she can’t understand difficult things such as politics, to her, her father is an amazing person with eyes like a Nigella flower that you cannot doubt. She herself had an identical eye color, and so it cannot be helped that she appears as beautiful, and with that, Geordo hugs his beloved daughter.

He can certainly receive her words, and the embraced Lydia also smiles, seeming happy.

「After the rain stops, shall we go for a stroll in the garden with everyone?」

「Via, is your health good?」

「Mou, even you treat me as a sick person, and three months in the estate is unhealthy.」

「For me, I know the best place to see the hydrangeas.」

At Octavia’s suggestion, Geordo, who doesn’t understand how long the postnatal recovery for a woman is, is concerned, but Lydia is excited about showing them around the garden. At the two’s respective reactions, Octavia softly smiled.

「Oh my, that’s wonderful. Dia has become very well-acquainted with the garden.」

「Ah…… um, recently, taking a stroll there has been my pastime……」

At her mother pointing it out, Lydia lost her momentum, becoming disordered. Geordo who knew the cause instead wonders.

「Oh, you haven’t told Via about Isaac yet?」

「Father!」

Why she had to be so flustered, Geordo doesn’t understand. He was thinking she had already told his wife a long time ago. The incident with him, in great detail, he had already told her about it and she listened.

「Come to think of it…… I heard a rumor that my cute Dia, with the gardener’s apprentice, was seen together……」

At her mother’s words, Lydia became frightened with a jump.

「I didn’t hear it from Dia’s mouth at all, you know. For me, it’s been lonely……」

「Eh……」

Octavia moved her hand to her cheek for emphasis, seeming sad. Thinking she was getting mad, Lydia, at the unexpected reply, was surprised, then was struck by the truth she had made her mother sad..

「Mother, that’s wrong! Um…… I thought she doesn’t like it……」

Lydia, hanging her head with her heart despondent, doesn’t notice the soft pink eyes falling on her.

「Why?」

「I, sa…… I thought appearing together with a commoner was distasteful……」

Her mother, a beautiful and sublime princess, Lydia yearned for her pride. To that kind of mother, if she can’t separate because of the social positions, she would be scorned, and given that, the scary topic of the boy who is gardener’s apprentice was being avoided.

「That person, is he Dia’s important friend?」

Although hesitating, Lydia nodded. But it doesn’t mean she feels ashamed. If that’s the case, in that respect, she must not lie, Lydia thought.

「I see…… if it’s Dia’s important friend, then I would also like to meet him.」

At her daughter’s surprised expression as she raised her head, Octavia gave an affectionate smile.

Understanding the meaning of her mother’s smile, Lydia let out a relieved and happy smile.

「If Zack commits a discourtesy towards Mother, I will precisely reprimand him.」

「Oh my, you two are on good terms if you call him by a nickname, you know.」

「Ah……!? That’s wrong!!」

「Should I be jealous of Zach, I wonder?」

「If you are worried, he’s a good person, I can assuredly say.」

「I’m also a small friend.」 [T/N: Honestly I got nothing, this sentence was weird.]

「It’s different, Mother!」

Both parents warmly smiled at their flustered beloved daughter. Octavia had long ago recognized the cause of the change in her daughter, and for Geordo, who thought the change was good, was watching over it carefully. Towards Lydia who often felt a sense of embarrassment she doesn’t understand and was often flustered, her mother’s arm went from her little sister and extended out. When she grasped that hand, somehow she calmed down a little bit.

After a friendly chat, Lydia had forgotten she was trying to take a stroll.

「……father.」

Tightly embracing the thick book, Lydia hesitated to continue the dialogue.

「What is it?」

While pressing with a smile, Geordo waited for her words.

「Um…… I, if I could talk with father a little more, and…… and because of that, Za…… why don’t father and I exchange journals…… I understand father is busy, but……」

In the middle of the book she timidly presented to Geordo, when he opened it, was brand new paper.

Because Lydia wanted to try hearing some of father’s work stories, she also wanted to equally hear stories from her mother of everyday affairs. However, because time wouldn’t permit it, it would be selfish, and so she decidedly gave up. The gardener’s apprentice, considering that, spilled out that if that’s the case, if you exchange journals, it would be good and easy to repeat. Girls like that, don’t they, he said, with a theory she didn’t understand, and in the family room exchanging letters didn’t make as much sense, she thought.

「I have been practicing my penmanship…… um…… is it no good?

「……!!?」

She blushed and made an excuse, and while shy, with upturned eyes, at the request his beloved daughter made in front of his eyes, Geordo laid down on the floor.  He trembled at this posture In order to bear the emotion welling up from inside.

「Father?! Are you sick!?」

「Rather, I’m feeling too good. Lydia.」

「…….God, I am thankful for you having sent this angel in front of me.」

Towards Lydia, who worries for her father who was lying down on the floor, lifting prayers to God, Octavia gracefully smiles at her daughter to give her peace of mind.

「Then, here, please take care of me.」

At the thought of the expectation being that if Lydia held the diary, it would fall, the butler took it. Raising his head, Geordo protested to his butler.

「That is mine and Dia’s.」

「It’s impossible for you to always be holding onto it, isn’t it? In the event Geordo-sama is not busy, I will hand it over.」

「I see. Because Father is also busy, is it fine if our intermediary is Heinz?」

「Certainly, Lydia-sama.」

Geordo is astonished at how his butler seized the matter, and moreover an unaware Lydia is relieved she can entrust the management to Heinz.

「Then, shall we go for a walk?」

「Yes, Father, let us go. I will guide the way.」

While feeling a dazzling sensation towards his beloved daughter who was extending and hand with a smiling face, Geordo takes her hand and stands up. Just his daughter smiling clears up any sorrow.

「Ahh, let us go.」

Led by the hand of his daughter, he turns his sight to his smiling wife who is holding another younger daughter.

Thus, the happiness that can be had on a calm holiday is thoroughly enjoyed by Geordo.

Afterwards, the gardener’s apprentice, who had only helped with the maintenance of the hydrangea, was held in the arms by the duke, and suffered damage until the butler stepped in.

Not a ton to comment on today. Hope you all enjoy the summer, and for those celebrating Memorial Day, have a good long weekend.

Additionally, to all our members of the Armed Forces, thank you for your service.

I’m taking a week’s vacation, but it shouldn’t affect our translation post speed, either. See you all then!

And as always, thanks for reading, and if you want to help support these continuing translations from a one-man shop, then do think about helping spread the site around. Or, if you’d prefer to help keep the site up/domain registered so I can spend more money on hot chocolate as translation fuel, then hit up my Ko-Fi which can be found at the top.