“Big brother! Sister-in-law!”
“Leon!”
At that moment, Leon rushed out from the crowd waiting outside the carriage to meet Arthur and Grace.
Grace was delighted with the sight of Leon she had not seen in a long time and leaned towards Leon, who was running towards her, and spread her arms. Then Grace said while hugging Leon, who was hanging tight in her arms.
“Have you been good?”
“Yes! But I was bored because you weren’t here… …the walk wasn’t fun at all.”
“Is that so? Now that I’m here, let’s take a walk together every day.”
“Yes!”
Leon nodded strongly at Grace’s words that they should go for a walk together again every day, just like before she left the castle for a while.
Grace looked at Leon’s chubby cheeks, which were not covered by the mask, and kissed Leon with an unbearable loveliness for the cute child. And Leon smiled softly as he wiped the part where Grace’s lips touched with his palm.
Arthur watched the affectionate reunion between his wife and younger brother from one step away and soon spoke with a slightly sad voice.
“You only greeted your sister-in-law. This brother is a little sad.”
[T/N: Aww… Poor Arthur. Hahaha (〜￣▽￣)〜]
“Ah, brother! I’m glad you came back safely too.”
“Really? I don’t think so.”
“No. Big brother!”
Grace giggled softly at the sight of Arthur and Leon arguing childishly. The sight of two brothers having the same hair colour and wearing the same mask and talking at the same level was so good that it warmed her heart.
Arthur looked at Grace, smiling happily at them, and said with his arms out in front of her.
“Your arm must hurt. Give Leon here, and go into the annex and relax.”
“What? It’s fine… Arthur, you need to rest. I stayed overnight at Alberton Castle and took a break, but you’ve been riding a carriage since morning.”
“No, I don’t want to, big brother! I’ll be with my sister-in-law!”
Then Leon clung to Grace’s arms and complained, saying he didn’t want to go to Arthur. And after hearing his words, Arthur spoke with a frown.
“Leon, your sister-in-law needs some rest. Don’t bother her.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to. If my sister-in-law is okay with it, I want to sleep with my sister-in-law in the annex tonight.”
At that moment, when Arthur’s gaze became severe at Leon’s stubbornness despite repeated persuasion, Grace carefully intervened.
“Then, shall we sleep together in the annex for tonight?”
“Yes!”
“……..my wife.”
“I’m sorry, Arthur. Just for today, okay?”
Arthur’s slightly squinted eyes turned to Grace at the sight of her graciously accepting Leon’s pampering.
Seeing that, Grace begged Arthur with a smile on her face as if she was acting cute. Arthur smiled briefly and frowned as he couldn’t help it in the end.
“All right. Do as you please.”
“Thank you, Arthur.”
“……..But.”
Arthur smiled face to face when Grace thanked him for his willing permission.
After that, Arthur suddenly brought his face closer to Grace’s ear, who was holding Leon. Grace looked at Arthur’s side face, turning her ears red at Arthur’s actions, which brought her face close enough to hear his breathing.
Smiling softly as if he were cute, Arthur whispered quietly into Grace’s ear.
“Before we got into the carriage, the promise we made to each other we must keep it.”
“……Ah!”
“Then I’ll be waiting for you tonight where we took our first-night walk. Madam put Leon to sleep and come out slowly. I will also leave after finishing the work I have put off.”
Arthur whispered those words quickly, leaving a short kiss on the exposed Grace’s cheek, and then took a step back.
After that, Arthur said looking back at the knights who had already got off their horses and were waiting for him.
“I’m going to the office. I want a report in detail about what happened in the castle while I was away.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then, Madam, I’ll see you in the evening.”
“Yes, see you then.”
“Leon, you have to stay well behaved. Got it?”
“Yes, brother!”
Arthur, who greeted Grace and Leon warmly, soon walked with the knights towards the tower where the office was located.
Grace looked at his back as he moved away and rubbed her cheek with one hand, which was still blushing red.
At that time Leon, who was looking up at her, said, pressing Grace’s red cheeks with his small hand.
“Sister-in-law, your cheeks are red. Do you have a fever?”
“Huh? No? I’m okay…… Hey, Leon. Aren’t you hungry? Shall we have a snack together?”
“Yes! I like it!”
At Leon’s point, Grace turned her words around to distract Leon. Fortunately, the innocent Leon turned his attention to Grace’s words as she intended. Grace asked, lightly patting Leon’s head in her arms.
“What do you want to eat? Tell me. I’ll ask the chef to prepare it right away.”
“Umm, what’s good?”
Leon was troubled by Grace’s question. Is this better or that one? Hugging Leon, who was lost in thought, Grace slowly moved towards the annex.
───※ ·❆· ※───
With Leon in her arms, Grace headed to the annex.
During that short time from the front door to the annex, Sally and the attendants and maids around thought that she must be having a hard time, so they asked to hold Leon, but Grace refused with a smile.
It was because of Leon who was pampered and clinging to her every time she did. She always behaves like a grown-up, but being away from him for only two days she seemed to miss him so much, so Grace couldn’t put him down.
“Please put me down now.”
“Really?”
Eventually, only when she came to her bedroom in the annex, and at Leon’s request to drop him off, Grace put down the child she was holding.
Although he is still small, her arms became a little stiff from carrying the pretty heavy child. So when Grace sat on the sofa by the window next to the bed and rubbed her slightly numb arm, Leon, who was sitting on the opposite side of the sofa, came up to her and said.
“Does your arm hurt a lot? May I give you a massage?”
“Oh my, I’m not hurt at all. Thanks for the rub, Leon. But have you decided what you want to eat?”
“…….Ah! I want to eat Sachertorte!”
[T/N: Sachertorte Cake, also known as Sacher Cake and Eduard Sacher Torte is a famous classic Viennese cake. Probably the most famous chocolate cake of all time. It consists of a chocolate sponge cake cut into three layers, between which apricot jam is thickly spread between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake. The whole Sachertorte Cake is then iced with a velvet-like chocolate and served with a side dish of whipped cream.
Its description is mouth-watering.╰(￣ω￣ｏ)]
It was cute to see Leon rubbing Grace’s arm with his small hands, apparently sorry, so Grace reached out and pinched the child’s chubby cheeks lightly without hurting him.
When he asked about the snack he wanted to eat, Grace nodded quickly and winked at Sally right away who was standing at the entrance, as if she came all the way here to talk and decide about what he wanted to eat.
Sally immediately understood her meaning, bowed down to show courtesy, and went out of the door. Seeing that, Grace said to Leon, who was still rubbing her arm with his small hands.
“Until snacks are ready. Shall we read a fairy tale?”
“Great!”
“Sir Oliver, could you bring me some of Leon’s favourite books?”
“Yes, Madam.”
At Grace’s words, Sir Oliver walked out of the room as if he had been waiting, and soon brought some thin fairy tale books and held them out towards Grace.
Grace peeked at Leon’s eyes which were looking at the most read ones and picked up a book that was thumbed. Then Leon opened his eyes wide and shouted.
“Huh? That’s my favourite book!”
“Really? Shall we read this then?”
“Yes!”
Leon put his hands on Grace’s lap with his pretty Odd-Eye twinkling. Then the servants next to him noticed and quickly put the chair where Leon sat next to the sofa where Grace was sitting.
Grace blinked a little as if thanking them for their consideration, then with Leon sitting there, she read the fairy tale slowly.
“…… Once upon a time, there was a Duke who lived in the Snow Kingdom. The Duke was the strongest and most handsome man in the world, but no lady was willing to be his wife. Because the Snow Kingdom where the Duke lives was the coldest and most dangerous place in the world.”
By the way, it was one of Grace’s favourite fairy tales in the past.
The book is about a strong and handsome Duke of the Snow Kingdom who accidentally meets the beautiful Princess of the Spring Kingdom. Together they overcome various crises and meet with a happy ending. The book is quite interesting.
Grace, who was reading the book with excitement at Leon’s appearance with sparkling eyes, smiled broadly and looked back at Leon when her favourite part came out in the book.
“Yes, Leon. I like the part where the Duke of the Snow Kingdom saves the Princess of the Spring Kingdom from dying under a witch’s curse. The part where he vows to bind his life to the life of the princess. And promises that as long as they live, they will live together, and even if they die, they promise to die together.”
“That’s my favourite part, too!”
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[T/N: Now it’s my favourite part too. The last line is so emotional. (ಥ _ ಥ)]
Grace patted Leon’s head who was smiling and nodding at her words.
After that, Grace went down to read the book again. While Leon, the cute little reader, kept his eyes twinkling towards her.