Chapter 51.1

“Then what?”

“You look proud.”

However, knowing that the meaning was not simply caring, the Grand Duke looked at him with discomfort.

“Can’t I be a kind father?”

“No, I’m just asking because I’m amazed.”

“It’s just that I think there’s another reason to carry such a strong person.”

“Any other reason?”

“I think you’ve been quite quiet since earlier, as if you’re asleep.”

He was such a mischievous guy. The Grand Duke almost said the word out.

“I’m just hugging you with all my energy. But, can’t I fall asleep?

“No, I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

At that time…

Allen grabbed Bebe’s one arm that drooped to the floor.

“Do you want to hold my hand like this? Oh! You want to be hugged by me? Oh, come on. Speak up.”

Allen, who followed like a puppy, smiled brightly and looked at Bebe in the arms of the Grand Duke.

It was around that time that the face of the Marquis, who seemed to not believe the Grand Duke’s words until recently, had changed.

“If you’re really asleep, I guess my son is putting on a show next to me?”

“… I’m not.”

“But it sounds like that.”

After talking leisurely, only the small head shook left and right.

All the vassals know that it’s Allen, who usually didn’t like to reveal himself.

He was a twin with stronger power than Lexit. However, Allen ran away when he saw the ghosts and did not tell his story easily.

The Marquis’ face hardened when he first saw Allen talk like that.

“Did you fall asleep?”

The Marquis used his strength and soon saw Bebe, who was hugged by the Grand Duke, and thought something was hidden. But now that he looked at it, he thought he might not have been wrong.

It was thought that the Grand Duke could not act for a sleeping child, and that Allen could not act so excessively.

“I’m not sure if she’s just hugging you because I’m tired.”

Of course, he couldn’t put down the unpleasantness left in his heart, but the Marquis turned his body.

“It’s not like that. My my. Then let’s go back.”

“Even though Bebe killed the monsters, we don’t know when they’ll appear again, so let’s try to get ahead. Weren’t we always behind? Always.”

The Marquis laughed at the sarcastic Grand Duke by thinking about what he had done in the past.

“Is that so?”

“So be careful. If you fall behind, you don’t know when you’ll be eaten. I’m not just afraid of the end of the world, Marquis.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

With the words, the Marquis walked ahead, as always.

Seeing the Marquis and the vassals, the Grand Duke’s eyes hardened in an instant as he walked behind them.

The only thing filling the forest was Allen’s voice acting as if talking to sleeping Bebe.

***

As if someone had opened my eyes up and down, my eyes flashed in the bright sunlight. Only then did the sense of reality return.

I, who worked hard to get rid of the monsters in the forest surrounding the Grand Duchy, fell asleep again after being in my dad’s arms. And now I remembered that I was finally back in reality.

“Ah!”

When I turned my head and looked around, I saw Cecilia dozing off next to the bed.

“Cecilia?”

As if her mind returned only after hearing my voice, Cecilia looked up and toward me. It was then that her eyes, which had been blinking slowly as if she were still half-asleep, opened.

“Oh, My Lady!”

“Yes! Did you sleep well?”

I smiled brightly and waved at Cecilia, but she only sighed deeply.

“Sigh… What do you mean, ‘Did you sleep well’? Oh my god. My Lady, I’ll be the death of you.”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t been able to get up for three days. Do you know how surprised I was? The day His Highness carried you, my heart dropped once, and you couldn’t get up after three days, so I thought the world was falling apart.”

“Did you worry a lot?”

“Of course. Will you wake up now or ever? I was so worried… I didn’t let you go like that three days ago, but I even regretted it.”

I slept for three days.

When I heard Cecilia’s words, I didn’t realize it, but I could feel it again when I saw her face, which looked like she’s going to have a shadow on her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept for days.

“I slept for a long time this time.”

“It was not a matter of ending up with a bit of sleep. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to wake up… I… I really…”

I felt rather good to see her, who couldn’t hide her excitement unlike usual.

There was someone who cared about me that much. At the thought of this, I keep smiling while watching her complaining.