Chapter 73
“Dad!”
Seeing Leo rushing, he gave Chloe to Rosalind and hugged him. The child’s little feet swayed rhythmically as he was held in his father’s arms.
“Our Leo, what did you play today?”
“I played with Chloe!”
Really? You played with your sister.
Kyle nodded softly.
“What did you play with Chloe?”
“I told her an interesting story.”
Leo used to tell stories that Chloe couldn’t understand. He sometimes comforted her with a funny expression when she cried. The child seemed to be amazed and just happy with his first younger sibling.
“What kind of interesting story did our Leo tell? Will you do it to Dad later?”
“Hm, okay!”
Kyle smiled sweetly at his reply.
“But you know… Why is Chloe so squishy? She’s so soft and fluffy there!”
When Leo asked, blinking his eyes, Rosalind resisted her laughter and responded.
“You were like Chloe not too long ago.”
“I’m not!”
Leo shook his head as if there was no way.
“I’ve always been big!”
Kyle couldn’t stand it anymore and burst out laughing. Except for Chloe, who babbled without a care, the sound of the family’s laughter echoed throughout the room.
“I want to change clothes.”
“It’s still cool enough, but why, our Leo?”
“I don’t want blue. I will wear white!”
Leo looked at Rosalind with an angry face. However, she had a determined face that did not waver despite Leo’s grumbling. Seeing his unresponsive mother, the child’s whining grew even worse and she eventually forced her lips to open and began to say.
“Leo, the painting has already started, how are you going to change clothes? Right?”
An awkward laugh intermingled between her words.
They were in the midst of inviting the most popular court painter to paint a family portrait with difficulty. Originally, the court painter was a member of the imperial palace, so no matter how noble it was, it was not easy to call him.
But in the meantime, it wasn’t enough for Leo to cry all the time, saying he didn’t like his clothes, but he was tormenting Chloe’s cheeks with his hands. Each time Leo pressed the cheek with one small hand, her cheek went in and out, repeatedly.
“You can’t poke your sister’s cheek like that.”
This time, Kyle stopped him. Still, Leo did not listen to him and spoke dissatisfied.
“Chloe wore pretty clothes, so why am I like this?”
It looked like Leo didn’t like it, so he pulled his clothes all the way out.
Today, compared to Chloe, who wore a dress with a lot of fancy decorations, Leo’s clothes were much neater and simpler than usual. It was a formal dress that was close to a uniform though he didn’t seem to like it.
“Next time, Leo will also wear prettier clothes. Mom promise.”
Leo didn’t seem to be convinced by Rosalind’s words, so this time Kyle asked her son.
“Leo, don’t you like your clothes?”
Leo pursed his lips and nodded his head slowly. When Kyle questioned why he didn’t like it, the child responded with a burst of tears.
“Today, I want to be cooler than Dad…”
Leo was in tears, but Kyle and Rosalind burst into laughter on the spot. Even the painter who was painting began to bow his head and chuckle. Thanks to this, the painting stopped for a while, and Kyle hugged Leo and started to comfort him.
“I’m sorry. The child is crying, so I’ll comfort him for a moment and come again.”
When Kyle asked the painter for an understanding, the old painter responded with a warm smile.
“Isn’t that what kids are all about? It’s okay if you take a break for a while.”
While Rosalind was trying to hide her constant burst of laughter, Kyle was whispering sweet words in Leo’s ear.
“If I am drawing a picture of a harmonious family… my heart feels warm. It’s good to see both the couple and even the children.”
The painter, who was watching the scene, opened his mouth with a soft voice.
It may be just a word, but Rosalind, who was still in a good mood, smiled, saying thank you. When he started painting again, they looked more organized. Leo also stopped crying, and Chloe, as always, quietly blinked her pretty eyes.
Time passed quietly in a space where only the sound of the artist sketching was heard.
Leo would occasionally playfully poke Chloe in the cheek, even after he felt better, each time Rosalind gave him a gaze, telling him not to do it.
Kyle’s eyes were full of joy as he looked at them.
‘I’d like to have a meal with your mother coming weekend. She often comes to see Chloe. Last time I was at the Imperial Palace so I couldn’t see her properly.’
When they were almost done drawing the portrait, he asked Rosalind to invite Helen. After Rosalind gave birth to Chloe, Helen, if possible, had come to see her daughter and grandchildren once every two days.
Kyle suggested that she rather live together, but Helen jumped and waved her hand. Even when she was old, she added that she wanted to live a little more freely.
‘Good. After all, Mother was obsessed with seeing Chloe these days.’
Rosalind was delighted and agreed. So, this weekend evening, a grand table was set for Helen.
“What a gorgeous table setting for me… It must have been a hassle to prepare. I would just have a quick meal.”
When Helen said that, Kyle readily responded by shaking his head.
“How could it be? Rather, I was just apologizing for being unable to see you last time.”
“It’s not that I don’t know that the Duke is busy with country affairs. In the meantime, you must have been busy taking care of the children during vacations.”
Helen picked up her knife with a gentle smile in understanding.
Although Kyle usually instructed a healthy and plentiful table for Rosalind and the children, today, he prepared a variety of foods more delicately, considering Helen’s taste. As she sliced the meat into thin slices, Helen opened her mouth to savor it.
“Still, seeing the two of you well makes me happy.”
“Oh, since you’re here, please tell me about Rosalind when she was young. When I saw Chloe, I wondered what she was like as a child.”
“Rosalind as a child?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, don’t even mention it. How often did she cry, and how scared she was…”
“Really?”
Kyle replied accordingly to the Marchioness’ complaint. Meanwhile, Rosalind glanced at the two of them, her eyes flushed, but the conversation showed no sign of ending.
“She has a small body and fits well into a corner, so it was hard for the nanny and the whole family to find Rosalind.”
“If you look at it like that, it’s true that the gentle Chloe resembles me.”
“Of course. Rosalind was a crybaby.”
Everyone burst into laughter at the Marchioness’ resolute reply. As if she had no choice but to laugh, Rosalind’s eyes suddenly subsided.
Looking back, the family meals she remembered were always somber and suffocating. Her father was not interested in anything like family, including her and her mother, of course. It felt a little strange to see Kyle taking care of her mother so well.
This was the sight she had been imagining for a long time. The family around the table was so friendly and harmonious…
“…Do you think the story about my past fits your taste?”
Kyle shrugged her shoulders at Rosalind’s playful voice. With a witty reply, “It’s better than I thought,” an added bonus.
“Well, I don’t know what to say… I’ll go get Chloe’s coat for a while.”
Kyle said he would go and stood up, but Rosalind said she was fine. She let herself do the little things that the maid would do. Perhaps, thanks to her, he was busy and diligent when it came to taking care of the children.
As she took Chloe’s clothes and went back to the table, she suddenly stopped when she saw the portrait hanging in the middle of the wall.
It was a portrait of everyone, including her and Kyle, Leo, and Chloe.
The painting was completed sooner than expected. As soon as the painting arrived at the house, Kyle hung it in the most visible part of the entrance for everyone to see every time they entered the house. Even though Leo cried, and he comforted him… In the end, it ended well, but at the time, she was really nervous.
As she recalled that time, she smiled faintly, and a familiar man’s voice came from behind her.
“Why aren’t you coming in?”
Rosalind stared at the harmonious family in the picture.
A couple sitting on a chair. A beautiful little girl was held in her mother’s arms, and a young boy was standing next to her with a mischievous smile.
Her lips were slowly opened.
“…Family.”
It was an answer that had nothing to do with Kyle’s words. It was a calm voice, as if she was appreciating another family’s painting, but they both knew the meaning behind it.
“Yes. We are a family.”
In this picture, they were a married couple and a whole family.
“We will always be a family.”
Rosalind, who had fixed her gaze on the painting for a long time, turned her head to look at Kyle.
“I love you.”
It was a bit of a sudden confession, but he wasn’t surprised.
“…I often think of what it would have been like if we hadn’t met. I can’t imagine it.”
“I think we had no choice but to meet.”
That night years ago, from the moment he saw the woman crouching in the side of the garden, he and she was destined to be like this. It had to be like this.
Rosalind smiled softly at his words.
“I love you.”
His voice rang as quiet as this evening’s peace.
May she continue to be with him, so that this peace may last forever. Rosalind took hold of his hand in prayer. A warmth radiated through his hand. The warmth seemed to seep through her fingertips to her heart slowly.
“I love you too, Kyle.”
A feeling as warm and vivid as a spring day.
She felt the love and closed her eyes. His lips lightly touched hers.
It was an evening where an invisible peace descended deep and quiet between soft and friendly kisses.
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