CH 19

After washing his face once, Cassis remembered Evelia’s last words before leaving the room.

―First, put away the papers and go to Ruth.

Still, he didn’t think he needed to be around Ruth. He had never nursed anyone.

It was clear that if he was next to him, he would only get in the way and not be of any help.

Rather, a nanny or maid would take better care of Ruth.

Besides, he can’t rest properly if someone is around, and I think he’ll rest better without me.

But…

After thinking for a while, Cassis got up and headed to Ruth’s room.

The nanny, who had been holding the child’s hand tightly at Ruth’s side, saw him and got up in surprise.

“Duke?”

“Shh. You’ll wake up Ruth.”

The nanny made a surprised expression as she saw Cassis muttering in a whisper, then moved away.

“Are you here to see the young master? Please sit here. It seemed like the young master also wanted to see the Duke…”

The nanny watched Cassis’s sideways glance at Ruth, then left the room.

Cassis hesitated for a moment, then sat down where the nanny had been.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just looked down at the wheezing child and took Ruth’s hand as the nanny did.

Now only seven years old, Ruth’s small hands fit into his large ones.

The child’s hand, like a maple leaf, was warm and soft.

When was the last time I held this child’s hand? It must have been when Ruth had just been born.

―Cassis, hold my Ruth’s hand.

Julia demanded him, even though she was grunting as if she would run out of breath at any moment.

Perhaps it was an act to entrust Ruth to him after intuition about her own death.

Cassis followed his sister’s words and took Ruth’s hand, who was in the arms of his nanny.

It was so small that it couldn’t be compared to now, and it looked like it would break with even the slightest force.

As soon as he held that hand, Cassis made his first vow that he would protect Ruth safely, even if Julia was not in the world.

He thought he’d been doing a good job so far, but something was wrong.

He knew that Ruth was afraid of him, or that he shivered at the sight of him, but that was the way he’d been when he’d seen him as a child.

That’s what father-son relationships are supposed to be like, so why does Evelia make it sound like he was wrong?

Cassis was confused.

“Ugh.”

Ruth rolled over and opened his eyes. He was rubbing his cheek against the pillow when he spotted Cassis.

“D-Dad?”

Cassis gently squeezed Ruth’s shoulder as he tried to wake up.

“No need to get up. Didn’t the doctor say you needed to rest?”

“Yes…”

Ruth rolled his eyes, clutching the covers tightly with both hands. He looked awkward being alone with Cassis, but Cassis didn’t mind.

He was awkward with his father, too.

It was like a father asking a sick child if they were okay.

Under Cassis’s watchful eye, Ruth’s mouth twitched before he managed to speak.

“You came to see me?

“Yes.”

“Hehe.”

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Just because.”

Ruth’s pale cheeks flushed a little. Cassis’s eyebrows wiggled.

“Do you still have a fever?”

“No, no.”

Ruth pulled the covers up to his nose.

“It’s just that it’s nice to have my dad around…”

Cassis didn’t reply this time. Or rather, he couldn’t. He was speechless at the first word he heard.

He’d never looked at his father and thought, “It’s good.” Why did Ruth tell him that?

Why did Ruth tell him that?

So why was Ruth saying that to him?

Unsure of how to react, Cassis covered Ruth’s eyes with his large hand.

“Go back to sleep before it’s too late.”

“Yes.”

He felt Ruth’s eyes close under his hand. His long lashes fluttered, tickling his palm with each flutter.

No, it wasn’t my palm that tickled, it was the inside of my neck.

Somewhere between my neck and my chest was itching, but Cassis could never quite put his finger on it.

* * *

The next day, Cassis came to her with the marriage contract Logan had drawn up overnight.

Evelia sat down and calmly reviewed the contract.

It summarized everything she had said yesterday.

‘It also contains information about Count Venion, wait a minute?’

Feeling something strange, Evelia put the contract down on the table.

“Are there any problems?”

There was. A very serious problem.

“Why isn’t there a clause about divorce in the contract? We decided to discuss it again, but isn’t it a bit strange that there is no mention of it at all?”

Logan, who was waiting for instructions from the two, looked at Cassis in surprise.

“You didn’t mention that, but…”

Evelia’s gaze shifted from Logan to Cassis. Cassis muttered uncharacteristically as if making an excuse.

“We agreed to discuss it later, so I didn’t think it was necessary.”

“No, it should be in the contract that we’ll discuss it later.”

Evelia thought she’d made a valid point. However, Cassis was somehow disapproving.

Only the pathetic Logan was caught in the middle, watching the two of them. When Cassis crossed his arms and remained silent, Logan asked cautiously.

“What would you like to do?”

Evelia pointed out the blank on the last page of the contract and emphasized it.

“Please include a clause that says, ‘We will discuss the divorce conditions again in the future.’”

“…….”

“Duke?”

“Duke?”

Logan and Evelia stared at the same time, and Cassis nodded reluctantly.

“Add it.”

Logan wrote exactly what Evelia had said in elegant handwriting.

Evelia quickly glanced over the contract once again, she remembered something she’d forgotten.

“What is it?”

Logan asked instead of Cassis.

“Come to think of it, I was in a hurry to get here and left my personal maid behind.”

Over the past week, Annie took care of her when she was confused in an unfamiliar world.

If she had been the exclusive maid of the idiot Evelia in the Venion family, she would have been annoyed or hated her, but Annie was very kind.

‘Even the original Evelia was grateful to her.’

Although she didn’t show it, Annie was being bullied by the fellow maids just because she was Evelia’s exclusive maid.

If this was the case with Evelia, what would happen without her, would Annie be more outgoing?

I could ignore it. But the warmth Annie had shown her over the past week was too much to ignore.

Cassis, who didn’t give a damn about people, replied as if it was not a big deal.

“I will appoint a new trustworthy maid as my exclusive maid.”

“Duke.”

Logan scolded him.

“It seems that the young lady wants to bring her exclusive maid.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Annie, she must be in trouble by now.”

“All right. I’ll speak to Count Venion.”

“Thank you.”

Evelia smiled at him and signed the contract.

Cassis also reviewed the contract and wrote his name next to Evelia’s.

Logan explained additionally as he took the paperwork.

“Preparations for the wedding take at least three months. You can assume that the wedding will take place in three months.”

“Yes, got it.”

“Is there anything you want?”

Evelia shook her head.

‘I think I had a romance about a wedding, but…’

It’s not even a marriage with someone you love, so what’s the point of romance about a wedding? To be honest, I didn’t want the wedding itself to happen.

“Do you think we could make it smaller?”

Logan smiled.

‘Sure. It’d be more dignified for the Adelhard.’

Evelia understood right away.

“All right. I won’t be involved, so you’ll have to make your own arrangements.”

“Okay, thank you for understanding.”

Logan then took the papers and went outside to talk. As if to touch the baton, the butler came in and served a simple refreshment.

Evelia guessed that the time had come to show her hand.