IDMWE 33

Chapter 33

Because she was playing with the child, Leona didn’t notice Rigan’s stiffened face.

Rigan unconsciously smoothed down his hardened facial muscles and spoke in as casual a voice as possible.

“That can’t be.”

His voice, tinged with a slight scoff, was so perfectly his usual tone that Leona couldn’t pick up on any strange atmosphere.

She nodded slightly and continued.

“True. Just looking at this house you built… Ah, come to think of it, you said this house was a gift from the Grand Duchess, right? What kind of person is she?”

Now that she thought about it, almost nothing was known about the Clanford Grand Duchess.

Of course, part of that was because Leona didn’t keep up with social circle gossip, but even so, the lack of information was strangely suspicious.

She didn’t recall ever hearing stories from her grandmother, Countess Avanin, who was active in high society, or from her mother, Isolte, either.

At Leona’s innocent question, Rigan fell silent for a long moment.

Only then sensing something wrong, Leona looked up at him—and at the same moment, Rigan’s lips opened.

“The complete opposite of you… someone with not a single thing in common.”

As he said this, Rigan’s expression looked somehow sad, somehow hollow.

Seeing that, Leona answered awkwardly.

“Oh, I see. So she must be a very quiet and demure person, huh? Haha.”

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Leona quickly brought up another topic.

“Ah, by the way, I’m really hungry after that nap. Come to think of it, it’s about time to start preparing dinner.”

She hurriedly changed the subject and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

“Rigan, do you know how to cook?”

“Just put the right amount of vegetables or grains in the right amount of water, and it’s done, isn’t it?”

“…If you can’t do it, just say you can’t do it.”

“There’s nothing in this world I can’t do. It’s not that I can’t—I’ve simply never tried.”

At that arrogant remark, Leona shook her head in disbelief.

“Never mind. I’ll just cook.”

As a Knight Department student who had plenty of camping experience due to training, Leona spoke.

“I can only do field cooking, but it should at least be edible. Do you have a kitchen here?”

“The door over there leads to the kitchen and dining room.”

“Okay. Let me just throw something together with the simple ingredients I bought from the village earlier…”

With that, Leona grinned mischievously.

“Then I’ll leave the little one to you again.”

Leona placed the child on top of Rigan’s stomach, who was still lying on the living room floor.

“What? That’s not—!”

Rigan tried to spring up, but with the little one straddling his stomach, he had no choice but to lie back down.

“Baba! Hehehe! Heehee!”

“Oh, looks like the little one wants to play horse-riding this time. Hang in there!”

“…Damn it.”

In the end, Rigan had to lift himself up and become a horse—something completely beneath his dignity.

—

***

—

“Hawum.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t long after they started playing the new game that the child began rubbing his eyes.

Having played excitedly, he was finally running out of stamina.

“Papa!”

The baby reached out to Rigan with sleepy eyes, fussing.

Rigan awkwardly scooped the child up in his arms.

“Abuu.”

Finding Rigan’s hold uncomfortable, the child squirmed this way and that in his arms.

Eventually, he grabbed Rigan’s finger and guided it to his own head, gesturing as if asking to be patted.

“Hah, you’re asking for quite a lot.”

In the end, Rigan leaned back against the sofa and had no choice but to gently pat the child’s head.

‘Was I really this clingy as a child?’

No matter how much he racked his brain, he didn’t seem to have any memories of acting so childishly.

The child’s hair was as soft as silk.

As he gently stroked it, he could feel the baby’s breathing gradually slowing.

‘At this rate, I might fall asleep too…’

Rigan’s eyes slowly began to close, and the sounds from the kitchen filtered into his ears.

This kitchen—which he’d only ever used for research, when he couldn’t spare time to eat or drink and would make energy drinks by grinding up all sorts of ingredients—was now filled with bustling noises and human presence. To him, it was a strangely wondrous thing.

The clatter of dishes.

The scent of freshly cooked rice.

The warm body heat of the baby in his arms.

In all of these things, Rigan felt a sense of comfort he’d never experienced before.

And then…

“Hey, Rigan. Dinner’s ready, so come eat… Oh?”

As Leona came out of the kitchen calling for Rigan, her eyes landed on the two figures now fast asleep on the sofa.

She crept over quietly so as not to wake them.

As if to prove they were the same person, even their sleeping expressions were identical.

Rigan’s face, leaning back on the sofa in sleep, seemed to have shed all of his usual prickliness and sharpness. His perpetually furrowed brow was relaxed, and his lips—which only ever spat out unpleasant words—even held a faint smile. It was so different from his usual self that Leona found herself staring for a long while.

“Hmm, if he just keeps his mouth shut when he sleeps like this, he really is handsome…”

Leona unconsciously murmured her observation, then the next moment let out a gasp and shook her head vigorously.

‘No, what am I even thinking?’

Thinking that the insufferable Rigan Clanford could look handsome.

Leona was startled by the thought that had unconsciously come to her.

‘Could this feeling be…’

Leona realized she was harboring a certain emotion toward Rigan—one she hadn’t been fully aware of until now.

“…Comradeship, or something like that?”

After all, they’d spent the entire day fighting the same battle called childcare.

If that wasn’t a comrade, what was?

“Goodness, of all days, the day would come when I’d think such things about that Rigan bastard.”

Leona chuckled at the sheer absurdity of it.

She considered whether to wake them so they could eat, or to let them sleep a little longer, and chose the latter.

‘It’ll get chilly by evening, so I should at least cover them with a blanket.’

She looked around and found a blanket.

‘Careful not to wake the little one…’

Just as she was carefully draping the blanket over the two of them—

Leona suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and froze mid-motion.

And, as usual, her animal-like instincts proved correct.

“Hehe.”

“……”

Somehow, the little Rigan had woken up and was staring at her with wide, round eyes.

The moment their eyes met, the child beamed and shouted.

“Mama! Play!”

“Hey, you little brat, just go to sleep!”

Childcare was truly never-ending.

—

***

—

Even at dawn, the little one wouldn’t sleep.

He toddled all over the house on his tiny legs, and Rigan and Leona were utterly drained—literally like wilted spinach.

“Hey, Rigan. Are all babies like this?”

“How would I know?”

“Come on, it’s you. You’re literally him—how can you not know?”

The two were so exhausted they could only bicker verbally.

“I can’t keep using my body anymore.”

Even Leona, who had no equal when it came to physical stamina, finally raised the white flag.

“Then what do we do?”

“Oh, how about telling him a story? Or reading him a book?”

“Hm, not a bad idea. Now that I think about it, I did enjoy books as a child.”

Rigan nodded.

Hearing that, Leona perked up and asked.

“What kind of books did you like?”

“The one I read most as a child was… ‘The Quantum Abyss of the Etherean Timespanner and the Unknown Chorus of Infinite Stars,’ I believe.”

“Ugh.”

Leona made a disgusted sound.

“You really read that as a child?”

“Of course. I quite enjoyed studying the interactions of stars in multi-dimensional space.”

At that, Leona looked at the little one.

“Little one, this big brother here is going to tell you about some E-something star stories. Sounds fun, right?”

“Uuuung!”

The child scrunched up his face at Leona’s words and shook his head vigorously.

“Oh, he says no.”

“How strange. That was my favorite book as a child…”

“Not that kind—something for kids… Ah, right.”

Leona walked toward a corner of the living room, as if she’d remembered something.

That was where she’d placed the childcare supplies she’d taken out earlier from the baby’s silver ring-shaped subspace.

“Right, I saw this while organizing earlier.”

What Leona held in her hand was a very luxurious-looking picture book. Its leather cover was adorned with beautiful gold foil and small jewels.

On it, in an elegant script, was engraved the title: *Cherentola*.

“Cherentola! It’s been a while. I used to read this as a kid.”

“What’s that?”

As Leona spoke in a delighted voice upon seeing the title, Rigan asked from beside her.

“What, you don’t know Cherentola? It’s the story of a soot-covered girl who lands a prince with just one shoe!”

Despite Leona’s explanation, Rigan wore a look that said, “And what about it?”

“How can you not know this? It’s practically required reading for children!”

Of course, as a child, Leona had preferred stories about incredibly strong warriors smashing villains to bits, but love stories featuring princesses and princes weren’t bad either.

The ambitious Cherentola who wins over a dashing prince! After all, she’d secured a handsome man, so she was a brave woman.

“Cheh! Cheh!”

The toddling little Rigan approached and showed great interest in the book Leona was holding.

Seeing that, Leona pretended to wipe away fake tears.

“Oh, you poor little thing… You probably wanted to read fairy tales like this too, but instead you had to read those weird E-something books—hah, so that’s why you grew up into such a twisted adult…”

“It’s not ‘E-something’—it’s ‘The Quantum Abyss of the Etherean Timespanner and the Unknown Chorus of Infinite Stars.'”

Neither Leona nor the child paid Rigan’s words the slightest attention.

“Alright, little one. Big sister will read this to you.”

“Kyah!”

The two excitedly sat down on the sofa.

“Now, let’s see. A long, long time ago, in a village, there lived a beautiful girl…”

Watching them, Rigan shook his head and rose from his seat.

“Hmph, then I’ll go do some magic research—”

“Papa!”

The child, who had grabbed Rigan’s sleeve without him noticing, spoke in an unusually firm voice.