CH 3.31

“… Yo, Your Highness.”

But the person standing at the door was none other than Haven, and not the nanny she was expecting. She was stunned at his unexpected visit and stood there blankly blinking. Haven raised one of his brows and opened his mouth.

“Are you going to let me in?”

“… Pardon?”

“Rosé, do I have to get your permission to go in?”

After hearing the words over and over again, Rosé finally understood the meaning and stepped aside in astonishment.

“No! Sorry. I was so surprised… No, not surprising, I meant.”

Uncharacteristically for her, Rosé floundered and shut her mouth. Of course, it was not surprising. It was not strange if the father visits his child. Nevertheless, she never imagined that he would come to Flitta.

“Uh? Oh, Dad?”

And that seems to be the same for Flitta as well. She heard the child stutter and called him. Rosé finally came to her senses and hurriedly entered the room and stood still behind Flitta.

“…”

Seeing this, Haven’s forehead wrinkled. He wondered why it was such a surprise that he had come, which made him somehow felt unfair.

‘It’s unfair.’

(TN: Aw, the father be jealous of his wife and daughter pair, my heart, ugh!)

He laughed, stunned by the thought that had come out of his mind. It was childish to find himself thinking things that he had never thought of when he was younger.

“… Your Highness?”

At that moment, she heard a voice calling him with caution. Haven raised his gaze and saw the woman who had called for him.

Rosé, who was staring with her eyes wide open, flinched when her eyes met him, wondering if Haven’s behavior of smiling in vain was because of not coming into the room.

‘What on earth am I doing?’

Haven sighed at the childish thought again, and then went into the room pretending nothing was wrong with him. But he couldn’t even take a few steps and stopped on that spot.

“… Oh, sorry. I haven’t cleaned uop yet.”

The room was in a mess. No, it wasn’t actually messy since only meals were left on the table and dolls were on the floor.

However, the problem was that it was a rare sight to see in the mansion of the Grand Duke, where everything was perfectly arranged.

But he had no intention of blaming the maid. It’s not that the child was left unattended in an unsanitary environment, it was just…

「 “I’m sorry. Let’s clean it up together, aaahh!” 」

「 “Stay where you are! What if you step on a broken piece and get hurt?!” 」

Was that hallucination? It must have been hallucinations. Haven felt the hallucinations came along with the headache, so he unknowingly pressed his hand near his temple and frowned. Rosé, who saw this, was surprised, and approached him.

“Your Highness? Are you all right?”

“it’s okay. It’s nothing.”

He waved his hand and went over to the sofa on the side and sat down. Then he opened his mouth to the two people who were still standing side by side at a loss.

“Looks like you’re having dinner.”

“No! She have eaten.”

Rosé hurriedly answered his question and moved to clear the table. Haven waved his hand at her and spoke again.

“No, I meant you, not Flitta.”

“Yes? M, me? Uh, that’s…”

Rosé’s green eyes trembled wildly. Haven stared at her, who couldn’t answer in embarrassment, then turned his gaze to the table.

Seeing that the tableware presumably belongs to Flitta was empty, she must have finished eating dinner.

But the dishes on the other side were barely touched. There was no need to ask who it belonged to anyway. Before he came in, the only people in this room were his daughter and this maid.

“… I’m sorry!”

Realizing that his eyes were fixed on the table, Rosé turned pure white and knelt down as it was. As Haven looked at her, Flitta, too, on the other hand turned pale, and hurriedly came between Rosé and him. Flitta’s arms were outstretched as if she will protect Rosé.

“Ro, Rosé… she didn’t do anything wrong! It was her who asked to eat with me!”

“…!”

“It’s real! Really… Hhnng.”

The child seemed to raise her voice for an argument, but then she slurred her words and burst into tears. Haven watched the scene and narrowed his eyes.

“Princess, please don’t do that. I was wrong. The Princess did nothing wrong at all.”

As if she didn’t feel his gaze, she hugged Flitta to protect her this time. Seeing that the two were insisting on that, he deeply sighed but the sound of his sigh made the two flinch.

‘If you had held the acorn, they would just be fairly surprised.’

He remembered once again how he had regarded his child and this maid as squirrels. And this time around, he somehow feels like he had become a villain who harasses the squirrel mother and daughter….

“I didn’t mean to say that you ate together.”

“So, please don’t blame the princess… Pardon?”

Rosé continued talking frantically while hugging Flitta, but belatedly understood his words and opened her eyes wide. Haven, who was looking back and forth between her and Flitta, sighed again and motioned for her to stand up.

“So, stop kneeling and get up now.”

“Yes…”

Rosé held back her body from flinching again at the sound of his sigh, then slowly stood up. Flitta also looked at her, and she quickly moved to the side of Rosé.

“I was just asking because you didn’t seem to finish eating as you were tending to the child. If it’s like that, you can eat.”

“No, Your Highness. I have eaten.”

Growl~ (Her stomach)

Along with Rosé’s strong denial, a pitiful voice was heard from somewhere. And at the same time as Haven’s eyebrow twisted up, Flitta turned her head to look at Rosé.

“Rosé, are you hungry? Because of me, you didn’t finish eating.”

Flitta’s eyebrows went down. The expression of regret was evident on her face. Rosé hurriedly shook er head.

“No, Princess. It’s, um, it, it’s a digestive sound.”

“Digestive?”

“Yes, because food gets digested inside… Uh, ahem.”

(TN: I mean yeah, Rosé, you can kid the child but not Haven, HAHAHA.)

Growl~

Right after unable to explain herself, Rosé’s face turned red and Haven pointed at her, and to the table, consecutively.

“Sit there and eat.”

“But I…”

“Rather than listening to ‘that sound’ while having this conversation, it’s far better talking while eating.”

As if asking, ‘Is this sound?’ Rosé’s stomach growled once again along with Haven’s words. Rosé moved to her table, unable to hide her blushing face any longer. Then Flitta looked back and forth between Haven and Rosé, and she hesitantly approached her Rosé.

Although Haven was a bit upset that Flitta followed her maid rather than him, he was suppressing his laughter deep inside.

It was a rare thing. Even when he saw the scene in the messy room, even when he saw her daughter sitting across from her maid and eating her meal, he was about to smile like this casually.

「 “I’m full just watching you eat.” 」

「 “What is that?!” 」

Just then, the hallucinations came again. It was the voice of a man and a woman who were friendly and cheerful.

… Even though it doesn’t exist in his memory, it’s like he have been missing that for a long time already.

Haven unknowingly grabbed his armrest. Then he took a deep breath, closed, and opened his eyes. Rosé came into his eyes again.

She was just about to put a round loaf of bread into her mouth and he was surprised when his eyes meet hers, the green-eyed woman.

「 “…I was full just watching you eat.” 」

The voice that he heard in his ears was unfamiliar yet familiar. Just like that. He knows better than anyone else that it can’t be.

Just like that, he forgot how to smile and talk to someone. He can’t even joke with anyone like that.

Not even to his daughter.

“…!”

Haven let go of the armrest he had grabbed and stood up. Then, while holding the bread, Rosé’s gaze, which was blinking at him, followed him upwards. He unknowingly avoided her gaze and spoke in a slightly flustered tone.

“Well… finish your meal. I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes? No, Your Highness. I am full now!”

Haven turned around whether he was going to leave like this. Rosé looked at him blankly and got up from her seat in surprise. Then, without thinking back and forth, she approached Haven’s side and grabbed his arm.

“…!”

His blue eyes widened. He looked down at the woman’s hand holding his arm. Then, Roséfinally realized what she was doing and hurriedly let him go, like a person burned by fire.

“So, sorry! I am… I just… ”

Rosé stuttered her words. She had everything to say to him, but they wouldn’t come out easily. She panicked, not knowing what to do, but suddenly woke up to the feeling that the hem of her skirt was being pulled.

‘… … Flitta.’

She saw the small child clinging to her skirt. Looking at those light green eyes calmed her down. Rosé took a deep breath, exhaled, and then turned to Haven.

A look of bewilderment was visible on the cool man’s face. Perhaps it was because of her actions holding his arm. Rosé closed her hands for no reason and then opened them.

The feel of his hard arm seemed to linger in her hand. These are the arms that once held her affectionately. She held back her tears for some reason, then opened her mouth.

“You came all of a sudden… How about having a cup of tea with the princess? It’s late, but if you do, it will be a precious time for you, too.”

“…”

Haven’s gaze, which was looking at Rosé, slowly turned to Flitta. Flitta was holding the hem of Rosé’s skirt with one hand, and when her eyes met her father’s, she secretly hid her body behind Rosé’s. But he didn’t seem to dislike that idea. Rather, the child’s light green eyes were sparkling with subtle anticipation, as if she had just understood Rose’s words.

I can’t wait to have a teatime with my dad, who doesn’t have fun moment at all.

“… Don’t do that. Just get the tea ready.”

(TN: This chapter is wholesome tho, ugh. When are you going to remember her, ugh!)