I was wondering why he was so angry all of a sudden, but it was because I was having a picnic with Aiden.
“I can just go on a picnwic with Daddy later.”
“It won’t be your first.”
Dad shut his mouth firmly and avoided my gaze.
‘Sigh.’
Five years of experience as a father’s daughter. Now, I had the ability to relieve this stiffness.
I put my hands on my waist and looked up at my dark daddy.
“Is the first that important?”
“…of course.”
“So if ith not my first, you won’t go on a picnic with me?”
“…no, that’s not it.”
Daddy shook his head in a hurry. It looked like he had been wanting to go on a picnic.
“Daddy doethn’t want to go on a picnic with me?”
“Of course that’s not it!”
“Then ith fine!”
I came to a clear conclusion. Daddy looked at me as if he didn’t understand what I said. I nailed it down before he could conclude something else.
“Let’s go on a picnic twice!”
“……!”
I saw Daddy flinch.
‘A hit, he fell for it.’
I wanted to pass this over safely, but it didn’t go that way. Daddy, who was making an unpleasant expression, raised his gaze slightly.
‘Huh??’
His gaze was directed to none other than Aiden.
‘Why to Aiden so suddenly…?’
He spoke frighteningly, to the point where it was confusing.
“Leave that guy out.”
“Ung?”
“We’re going without that guy, the picnic.”
From the determined and cold voice, I nodded. I didn’t even intend to attach Aiden with Daddy anyway. Whenever they meet, they checked each other with their eyes, but only I died, who would get caught in-between them.
Nevertheless, Daddy didn’t look satisfied. Daddy looked down at me seriously. I also got serious because I thought it might be something serious.
“Keep your promise, Mabel.”
“What pwomise?”
“Twice.”
“……”
“We have to go twice.”
“O-okay.”
After hearing my answer so many times, Daddy finally seemed satisfied and left for his office with Gustav, who came to look for him.
I shook my head.
“It’s difficult raising Daddy…”
***
Aiden and I removed the rug and quickly dug up the stone while Lissandro and the maids weren’t looking. Just in case, Aiden picked up the stone.
“What do you think it ith?”
“I feel divine power. Quite a lot.”
“In that case, is it a holy rewic…”
“Should I find out?”
“Ung. Thwank you.”
Actually, the quickest and most convenient way was to ask the Holy King, but I didn’t want to ask the man. I had suffered a big incident due to a holy relic, and I still didn’t trust him.
‘Let’s trust the guild’s ability once.’
For this, it would be better to communicate with people than to ask my animal friends.
It was when I was thinking about such a serious problem. The nanny, who was watching us from a distance, approached us and asked,
“Are you enjoying the picnic?”
“Ung. Ith yummy and fun.”
“Then, shall I prepare a dessert?”
“Ung!!”
I nodded vigorously with twinkling eyes. I was full because I ate a lot of sandwiches, but it didn’t matter.
‘If it’s dessert, I can eat it even if my stomach bursts!’
And Aiden also liked desserts, so we can share it. However, Aiden’s face looked stiff for some reason.
“Aiden? Are you sick?”
“…no.”
“If you’we sick, make sure to say so, okay?”
“Yes.”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was sick.
After a while, a sweet dessert was placed in front of us. It was a chocolate cake that looked sweet enough to melt on your tongue just by looking at it. As soon as I saw it, I took a bite with a fork, but Aiden spoke with a serious expression instead.
“I heard from Casey that Duke Javier is planning something.”
“Wa ee ah?” (What ith it?)
Because there was cake in my mouth, my pronunciation was crushed. It was difficult to understand me, but Aiden seemed to understand just fine.
“We couldn’t figure out that much. We tried to find out by having guild members infiltrate, but…”
“Oom. Thath right. Ith hard to get in thewe.” (Oh. That’s right. It’s hard to get in there.)
I nodded, wiping my mouth with the handkerchief Aiden handed me.
I had already asked my animal friends to break into the Duke’s mansion several times, but it failed. Just what the hell was in there that it’s so hard for an insect to enter? There were layers of magic that blocked external intrusions.
‘The only ones I can trust are my animal friends.’
The mansions of other nobles weren’t so strict. At best, they had private soldiers stationed. On the other hand, the security level at Javier’s mansion was comparable to that of the Imperial Palace’s.
‘A man who is like a sneaky necromancer.’
If the mansion hadn’t had a barrier, I would have already found weaknesses to break the sassy Duke. There must be a lot of weaknesses in the mansion. So, the barrier must have been doubled or tripled. My hand, forking out of anger, stopped.
“Oom? Come to thwink of it…”
It wasn’t that there wasn’t any way to get into Javier’s mansion.
“What’s wrong?”
“What should ah do? How about I go and invwestigate? I can’t use horses, dogs, or animals.”
“Is Your Majesty saying that you will go to the mansion in person?”
“Ung!”
“No.”
I was amazed because he opposed it so firmly. Of course, I did know Aiden would say that.
“…why not?”
“It is dangerous.”
“Ith okay. Who would do bad things to a guesth they invite? Unless your head ith empty.”
“Guest?”
Aiden tilted his head slightly as if he was pondering. I guess he thought I meant I would infiltrate. I nodded with a smile.
“Ung. I have a twump card.”
***
A trump card. It was the invitation to the tea party that Emily sent me.
When I got back to the bedroom, I called Oscar, who came to see me, and wrote a reply. Oscar, who sat me on his lap, wrote as I spoke. Of course, I can write it alone, but considering the eyes around me, it was natural to use Oscar.
‘I have to pretend to learn letters sooner or later.’
Now that I was old enough to learn many things, Daddy would allow me to. While thinking of something else for a moment, Oscar looked down at me.
“Mabel?”
“U-ung!”
“What should I write next?”
“Thank you for invwiting me. I’m looking forward to the tea party.”
I looked at the reply Oscar wrote. I thought about it every time, but Oscar’s handwriting wasn’t like a child’s.
‘Did you practice after eating…?’
(T/N: She asking if he started to write after he first ate as a baby.)
Oscar’s head tilted as I looked at his handwriting.
“What is it?”
“If I send it like thith, I don’t know if I’m the one sending it or not…”
Since it was a clear reply, the sender had to show its authentication with a seal.
“Well, that’s true. Hm. Then, Mabel, do you want to sign it yourself?”
“Me?”
The unexpected offer surprised me.
“Don’t worry, Mabel. I’ll help you.”
Oscar held the quill in my hand. I grabbed the quill in a hurry and died in a cold sweat.
‘What do I do to look clumsy?’
I panicked because I grabbed the quill skillfully without knowing it. Oscar, who was watching me, put his hand over my hand.
“Here, it’s like this. Mabel… Gardenia, Ermano.”
My hand prematurely drew a line as Oscar’s hand moved. Perhaps because Oscar helped me, it was written much more clearly than my usual font.
‘This hurts my pride somehow…’
As I was disassembling with the other fist clenched, Oscar skillfully folded and sealed the letter.
“But why did you decide to go suddenly?”
“Ung, I want to gwet close with Emily…”
“I don’t think that’s…. exactly a good idea.”
“Ung?”
In response to Oscar’s somewhat unpleasant reaction, I turned and looked at his face. As soon as Oscar, who had a shaky expression, made eye contact with me, he smiled lightly.
“No, it’s nothing. Go and have fun.”
“Ung.”
“…should I go with you?”
Oscar’s proposal conflicted me very briefly. If I was simply invited to a tea party to go play, I would definitely go with Oscar, but this visit had a purpose.
‘I’ll be secretly picking the Duchy, but it’ll be uncomfortable to act with Oscar.’
At first glance, expectation seemed to pass in Oscar’s eyes that was looking at me. As I thought, it seemed that he wants to go because Enrique is in Javier’s mansion. I felt bad, but there was nothing I could do.
“No. Ith okay. I can gwo with Aiden.”
The smile in Oscar’s face faded.
“That guy…”
“Guy?”
“It’s nothing…”
I patted Oscar on the shoulder, who seemed to have no energy.
‘Did you want to see Enrique that much…?’
For Oscar, who missed his friend, I’ll have to talk to Daddy about the ban on young men sooner or later.
***
In front of Mabel’s bedroom.
Both of the rich men, who had finished their schedule, encountered each other accidentally.
“Hello, Royal Father.”
“Yes, Oscar. Were you on your way to see Mabel?”
“Yes.”
The two went into Mabel’s bedroom together. Of course, they expected Mabel to greet them with a bright fact, but the bedroom was dark.
“It’s not even eight yet, but it looks like she’s asleep.”
“Baby’s need a lot of sleep.”
Oscar laughed a little. This was because the Mabel who tried hard to overcome her drowsiness on the subject of being a baby, but eventually fell asleep with exhaustion, came to mind.
‘Why are you trying to fight so hard against sleep?’
It was something Oscar couldn’t solve in a lifetime.
As he approached the bed carefully, Mabel was in the corner of the large bed, facing the kitty and crouching while asleep. There were a lot of papers spread out around and baby oil pastels were held in her small hands, as if she was drawing before sleeping. Esteban picked up a piece of paper. There was something messy drawn on it.
“This…”
Esteban couldn’t speak. Oscar glanced at the paper, but was also speechless.
Esteban asked his son with a confused expression.
“What do you think this drawing is?”
“I think… it seems to express abstract feelings.”
Thus, Mabel’s ‘Javier’s House Investigation Plan’ became an abstract. Oscar picked up another picture. It was a picture that the kitty had no choice but to become a model for.
“What is this?”
At Oscar’s serious question, Esteban stared at the picture.
Yellow lumps.
‘If it’s yellow.’
Esteban’s eyebrows narrowed.
“It’s Enrique Javier. Get rid of it.”
“Yes, Royal Father.”
Oscar threw the picture away without hesitation. That way, Mabel’s ‘Picture Of Kitty’ became a portrait of Enrique.
The two men looked down at Mabel with confused expressions. The face of the child, who fell asleep without knowing that guests were visiting her, was very gentle.
“The cute Mabel will be attending a tea party by the lady of the Javier party soon.”
“Yes.”
“Just why didn’t you stop her, Oscar?”
“There was no justification. How can I stop Mabel from making friends her age?”
Esteban nodded with a light sigh. Anyway, it was important for Mabel to make friends of the same gender.
“Of course, she will also meet Enrique Javier. Watch closely when you go.”
“…I am not going.”
“What?”
“Mabel said she would take Aiden.”
“That can’t be…”
Oscar was sorrowed to recall what he had forgotten, and Esteban was in shock.
“Surely, it isn’t.”
A very terrible thought that he didn’t want to imagine filled Esteban’s mind.
‘No way, Mabel, to that guy Aiden…’
Oscar’s face, who thought the same thing, turned white. Both of them had something in common. Their spots were both taken away forcibly by Aiden. Aiden took Esteban’s first picnic, and he took Oscar’s place as her first tea party partner.
“Royal Father. I don’t think we should just watch like this. You have to separate that guy from Mabel.”
There was no regret for the human being named Aiden. For the past three years, Oscar and Aiden had maintained a fairly close relationship. But if Mabel was stuck in the middle, the story would change.
“I think the same way, but it’s dangerous to separate her from Aiden.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Before coming to Ermano, Aiden lost his reasoning and slaughtered everything because of Veron Arthur Devlica’s magic.”
This was the first time for Oscar to hear this because it was a secret only Lissandro, Gustav, and Esteban knew.
“I don’t think that guy will do it by will.”
“Yes. However, if Veron gives the order, he has no choice but to follow it. Mabel is the only one who can calm the runaway. He said that if he gets close to her or touches her, Veron’s influence will be nullified.”
“Is it because Mabel is the seed of God?”
“Probably.”
Oscar understood Esteban’s position. Aiden was a being that could not be easily controlled. It’s anxious to have him by your side, but it’s impossible to keep him far away. If Aiden ran away, there would be massive destruction one after another.
Esteban clicked his tongue.
“I was careless. How could he get so close to Mabel…”
“……”
The rich men, who had been looking down at Mabel for a long time with complex emotions, left the bedroom.
Click. Mabel opened her eyes to the sound of the door closing. Awakening to the sound of the conversation, she heard everything from halfway up.
‘The reason Aiden is next to me is because of that?’
If so, had I been taken advantage of? I was seriously worrying about it-.
“Well, it doesn’t matter…. I also use Aiden!”
After making a clear conclusion, I fell back asleep.