20. Breakfast... together(?)

Yuki hadn't had her breakfast yet, she told Aki to wait and she went to take a bath in record time.

She saw that the duke was seating at the head chair and Aki was sitting on his left side. Yuki chose to sit on the Duke's right side, for no other reason than, it being closer to her, but lo and behold, the moment she sat on his right side, Aki who had been excitedly waiting for her Onee-chan, jumped down and trotted towards the empty seat beside her.

He was very short and the Duke had helped him adjust his seat just now so, when he finally got up to sit beside her, only his head was visible, he was too short.

The duke, to tell the truth, was enjoying some relaxed family time with the little child, but with Aki abandoning him time and time again for his sister, he wasn't in a great mood, but when he saw this pitiful sight, he didn't complain.

The first thing Aki thought of was to ask his Onee-chan, it was his basic trust on her, "Onee-chan... Aki is too small", with his misty eyes, he could make anyone feel pity and guilty.

Yuki looked at him and spoke, " You could sit on that side?"

"No! Aki will sit beside Onee-chan."

It seems in one day, the child had learned to be a bit willful; 'a bit' because after saying this, his grip on his pants tightened, in the process, wrinkling it.

Yuki nodded, if he wants to he can sit here, she will just change her sit then, but before she could do something, the Duke who had been silent, got up from his seat and brought the child to sit on his lap.

The dining table was not huge, to begin with, a rectangle top for 6 people to sit in, the duke also brought her seat a little closer towards the corner and with this everyone was happy, well, at least the father-son duo.

It was out of her processing ability to think that, a strict man like the duke would break dining rules and would actually let Aki sit on his lap... well, she didn't want to think much about it, he could live any way he wanted as long as, he didn't disturb her life or harm Aki in any way... she can accept almost everything else.

In this way, the family of three for the first time had their breakfast together.

…....

The Duke had to take care of a lot, after all, they will be shifting to the capital city of Agape permanently so, he had to handle some business and hire workers to take care of this place.

In the meantime, Yuki as always decided to do some study. They will be shifting so, the duke also suspended her teachers so, she had a lot of free time and meticulously used it gather some more knowledge.

Aki has always been alone and in his free time, he either hid behind that pot waiting for the fairy or, he watched TV to learn something, he still hadn't learned many of the alphabets so, it was a bit hard for him to read books so, he still stuck to picture books. Today, he finally found something to do!

Aki followed her sister and stuck close to her when she was reading books!

Yuki didn't say anything for the first hour, she just thought that he was also reading with her... just that she forgot, he was a 'normal' child.

After an hour of studying the history books, Yuki wanted to give her eyes some rest, but she couldn't move, it seems somewhere along the road Aki had dozed off...

Well, he was still a child... Yuki didn't want to disturb his sleep, but Aki woke up the movement he felt her move...

He cutely rubbed his eyes and said in a mewling voice, "Onee-chan...?"

Yuki gently patted his hair and said, "Sleep if you want to."

Aki immediately blushed, he had shown an embarrassing side to his Onee-chan! How can he sleep when his Onee-chan is studying hard!!

"Aki..?"

Aki slowly looked up at her and whispered, "Onee-chan... I'm sorry", he had a dejected face.

Yuki gave him a questioning look.

Aki mustered up his strength to speak, " I- I can't read difficult words..."

Finally, realization dawned upon Yuki, she hit herself inside her head, but externally she didn't have any change as she said, " Would you like me to teach you?"

Aki with his face as red as a tomato was looking down and also taking sneak peeks at her... he knew that she wouldn't laugh, but her helping him was way out of his expectation... he reflexively replied, "Yes!", he didn't want to let her have a chance to take it back, but when his high-pitched voice came out, he became a bit shy...

"Yes, please", he corrected himself.

…...

The Duke came back for lunch and saw this scene, Yuki was reading a book, which he determined was on the intermediate level magic theory while Aki was diligently writing something on a notebook, in the next moment, with a cheerful smile, he walked up to her and gave her the notebook as he waited for her...

Yuki took a single glance and she paused for a second, she saw the child waiting for him with starry eyes... Yuki placed the book on her lap and gave a gentle pat on his head, Aki who was praised immediately brightened up like a full moon.

The Duke made his way to the two of them, for some reason unknown, he didn't want to be alienated by these two... he wondered if something was wrong or, if it was the curse his Duchess put working. But he didn't mind, for the time being, he will do what he wanted from his heart, and will go back to himself once they reach the capital.

Aki saw his father first and ran up to him with the notebook and excitedly told him, "Papa, welcome back. Do you know?"

The Duke felt warm by his greeting and squatted to meet his eyes, "hm?"

"Onee-chan taught me the alphabets today. She is amazing!! I memorised them already! Onee-chan is amazing!", he was very excited to spread how amazing his Onee-chan was more than the fact that he had learned everything in a single morning!

Yuki heard him and slightly frowned, "Aki... the one who worked hard to memorise them was you."

Aki looked at her and pouted, "But Onee-chan is the one who is amazing~"

In a way, the duke was actually a bit taken aback when he saw her reading an intermediate level magic theory and yesterday, she was also reading some difficult history books along with these books at the lounge too... so, in comparison, Aki learning alphabets wasn't a huge achievement, but being aware of the environment this child grew in, in one hand he was proud of Yuki, on the other, he felt a bit weird for the child... It was easy for him to talk with Yuki as an adult and somehow he couldn't treat her as a child, but for Aki, the praise was due...

" Yuki helped, but it was Aki who did the hard work!", he gave a pat on the child's head.

Yuki didn't want to agree with him at normal times, but this was a fact so, she just gave a simple nod towards him...

But somehow watching her act like an adult, made that weird feeling inside him grow... though he chose to ignore it, for now, he knew he will have to face the repercussions in the near future.

Aki who was told that he had worked hard and also praised again, blushed a little and ran to his Onee-chan and hid his face in her embrace....he was still a bit shy.(>////<)