Chapter 99
I had no time to recover from the shock before Rere yelled again.
“I didn’t like you back then, and I don’t like you more now!”
The boy in front of her was clearly startled by her remark. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly to show how bewildered he was.
And I was even more surprised to see the boy turn stiff as he listened to Rere’s spite.
“Y-Your Highness!”
Both children’s eyes turned toward me at the same time.
“Mom!”
“Y-Yeah, Rere.”
“….Aren’t you the woman from last time?”
The Crown Prince instantly changed his attitude. He fixed his posture and set an amicable gaze on me.
“Yes.”
At that time, Rere came running and clung to my legs. She hopped in place as if asking to be carried by me.
“What’s going on here, Rere?” I asked as I lifted the child.
Rere wrinkled her nose and dropped the corners of her mouth.
“Ah, there’s an annoying situation just now.”
“Annoying situation?”
“Yeah! I told him that I don’t want to see him anymore, but the Crown Prince keeps looking for me.”
Rere brazenly talked about the Crown Prince in his presence, and showed her displeasure.
“R-Really?”
“My name is Eckart.”
“What?”
“It’s my name. My name is not Crown Prince or ‘you’, it’s Eckart. So feel free to call me by my nickname, Eri. That’s what my papa and mama call me.”
Rere winced as if perplexed by him.
“What?”
“I’ve told you my name, so I hope the little bunny will tell me her name as well. I heard that woman called you Rere or something? Is that your nickname? I’ve already heard your full name from my papa and mama.”
…His behavior was completely different from when we first met. If he scolded us for being loud before, he was particularly polite to us today.
That didn’t mean the Crown Prince actually talked to me. Just like a racehorse that only runs forward, his gaze was fixed on Rere.
“…Mom.”
“Yeah?”
But instead of telling the crown prince her nickname, Rere stuck out her tongue in disgust.
“I feel sick.”
“Why?”
“….He has been doing that for a while now. He went overboard.”
“But I think you should tell your name since the Crown Prince came all the way here.”
Rere seemed to be deeply troubled by my words but nodded her head at last.
“Okay! But stop bothering me, okay? Don’t even come back after this!”
“…I can’t guarantee that….”
“…Then, I won’t tell you.”
“I got it. Cute little bunny.”
I think I could understand why Rere felt sick of him. A child less than ten years old was able to say these cheesy lines so naturally.
“My name is Rebecca. Rebecca Petri. Don’t even think about calling me by my nickname.”
Rere wrinkled her tiny nose like a beast and puckered her lips.
“So your name is Rebecca…and even your nickname, Rere, sounds cute to me.”
“Haaa… then I’m going in first. I suddenly feel so tired.”
“Can we do that? Shouldn’t we escort the Crown Prince out first?”
“He’s not even a child. Why do I have to escort him out? Can’t he just go to the carriage by himself?”
The Crown Prince shook his head in a hurry.
“No need to do that. I’m an adult, so I can go alone. Don’t worry about me, little bunny.”
The Crown Prince moved away from us with his eyes closed as if to show his determination. The Crown Prince walked away with his chest out, however, he quickly lost his way and only left the garden after being guided by the attendant.
“Haa…I seriously hate that guy.”
When the Crown Prince was out of sight, Rere whined as if she had been waiting.
“Did you know that he had been bothering me while you were gone? Hmm? Haa….He’s really obsessed with me.”
“Really?”
“Haa…Rere is really tired now. It’s all because I’m such a pretty, lovely and cute daughter.”
Rere shook her shoulders with a heavy sigh. She then buried herself in my arms.
“Was it hard for you, Rere?”
“Yeaah! I hate it that he keeps sticking to me even after I say no.”
“You did a great job, our lovely daughter.”
“Not ‘our’ daughter.”
“No?”
“You should say ‘my’ daughter. Because Rere is Mom’s daughter. Say ‘my’ daughter!”
Rere smiled so brightly I couldn’t see her eyes then straightened her body to look at me.
“But why did Big Bunny sweat so much?”
“I saw the royal carriage. I must have sweated from running over just in case something happened to Rere.”
“Really? Geez, Big Bunny is such a fool who only thinks about Rere.”
“That’s right. I’m such a fool for Rere. So, is everything alright?”
“Yes!”
Even though Rere said she was okay, I couldn’t help but worry.
“Did the Crown Prince come alone?”
“Yeah! My Daddy brought him in….”
“Haa…the Duke again?”
“Yeah! But he looked perplexed, too!”
“…Did he?”
“Even the servants who came with the Crown Prince just returned from talking with Daddy inside.”
“Aaah….!”
I thought the Duke invited the Crown Prince when I was away, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Daddy is really mad, you know?”
“Really?”
“Yes! I’ve never seen him so angry. It seemed like he wanted to say something to the Crown Prince, but he held it in.”
“Aaah.”
“Anyway, let’s go inside.”
When I was about to go inside with Rere, someone rushed to the garden.
“Rere!”
“D-Daddy!”
“Ah…you were here. Did you just return from the outing?”
It was an expression that I had never seen before. He seemed to be really worried about his daughter.
I was about to say something about the Crown Prince’s visit, but I shut my mouth as soon as I saw his expression..
“It’s such a relief…..I was afraid something might happen to Rere….”
“Why weren’t you here?”
“I have no excuse for that,”
His eyes clouded as if hiding something.
“…Was it urgent enough to leave Rere alone? What were the servants saying?”
“His Majesty said that he would give me the information I’ve been looking for. I was distracted by it for a moment.”
He was definitely different from before. His expression was dark as if he was truly sorry for Rere.
“Everything is fine, Rere. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay with you.”
“No, it’s okay. Big Bunny came at the right time!”
“Yeah…that’s a relief. Anyway, did you return safely from the temple?”
“I’ve returned safely every day. How about you? Did you get what you wanted?”
“…I’m not sure. I’ve been trying to unearth information for years, but I can’t find it easily….this time, too…I could only find trivial information.”
Rere had been looking at us alternately and reached out her hand and patted the Duke on the shoulder.
“Don’t be upset. You can’t always get what you want every time, Daddy.”
“Huh?”
“It’s called greed. If you’re too greedy, your belly will burst.”
“My belly….?”
“Yup! Just like how Rere’s belly feels like it’s gonna burst after greedily eating three pieces of cakes every day. So don’t be too greedy!”
Rere jerked her body up and down then stroked his cheeks with her small hands.
“Do you get it? Daddy is a good boy, so he’ll surely understand Rere, right?”
“Yeah, I see. Can we have dinner together tonight? I have something else to tell you.”
“To me?”
His kind voice was so unfamiliar that made me flinch, thinking that he was someone else for a second.
“What are you going to talk about?”
“It’s about the information I’m seeking. There’s something I want to discuss with you as you are becoming Rere’s mother.”
“Yeah! Nice! Daddy and Big Bunny are going to spend quality time together today. Rere will eat well and go to bed early like a good kid!”
Rere wanted to stick us together no matter what it took, so she looked more excited than ever.
Even the Duke’s gaze toward us got calmer than before.
“Alright. Let’s quickly prepare and have an early meal.”
“Yeah! Let’s go. Rere is suddenly hungry. I got even more hungry after dealing with that troublesome kid. Let’s hurry up.”
Due to Rere’s endless nagging, we went straight to the dining room even though it was still earlier than usual.
The unexpected visit caused the chef to move urgently, so we had to sit longer as we waited for the food preparations, but other than that, it was pretty much the same as usual.
Particularly today, Rere couldn’t stop chattering to the Duke, and thus the meal time progressed smoothly until the end.
And when the sweet finish was about to arrive, Rere jumped down from her seat.
“Uaah…I’m full.”
“Rere. The dessert today is your favorite strawberry cake. Are you sure you’re going to leave?”
“U-Um…Well, I’ll go eat it in my room!”
“You don’t need to be in such a hurry.”
“No! That’s not it! Rere just wants to return to the room. So Big Bunny and Daddy can spend passionate time together!”
“Passionate time, you say?!”
I shook my hands strongly at her shocking remark, but Rere furrowed her eyebrows and side-eyed me.
“Rere knows everything! I saw it somewhere! Mom and Daddy are sticking close to each other and spending passionate time together! I saw it in the book!”
Looking at the child’s bright smile, I made a vow to myself.
I’m going to inspect just what sort of books Rere has been reading tomorrow.
Where the hell did this ‘passionate time’ come from?
“…Nanny.”
“Yes?”
“Take Rere to her room. And about the books that she reads….”
“…I’ll look into it.”
The nanny also seemed a little surprised and picked up Rere in a hurry.
“Little Miss. Nanny will take you to your room.”
“Okay! Big Bunny, Daddy! Have a good time!”
Rere waved her hands excitedly and disappeared with the nanny. As soon as the child left, the servants placed wine in front of us and left one by one.
There was only silence, and I looked down at the empty plate in front of me for a moment.
The Duke slowly opened his mouth,
“I honestly don’t know where to start. I’d thought about keeping it in my heart without telling anyone….but I think I should tell you.”
“What’s this about?”
“It’s about Rere’s mother.”
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