Chapter 15 - The Little one and the Duke, the Daughter and the Father

The sun was bright this morning.

Birds sing beautifully, and the sky is clear.

The cold air was so fresh that I inhaled it without realizing it.

"······ *Cough, Cough!"

"Oh, my lady!"

When I coughed, Peina rushed in and wrapped my scarf more around my head .

Other lands may now be at the end of spring, but I had forgotten for a moment that the Duchy of Wensgrey was in the middle of winter. The evidence were the snow under my feet.

Was it about 15 minutes away from the Duke's castle in a wagon?

Throughout the estate, there is a magic gate set up by Henriette. Onboard it, the wagon quickly reached a large orchard five days earlier.

"Wow!"

When I saw the snowy orchard scenery, I was greatly impressed without realizing it.

Beyond the snowfield, the horizon against the pale sky glistened white.

Orchards stretched in rows beyond. It formed a small forest with red fruit hanging, and a large tree stood in the middle.

The snowy orchard looked like a paradise in the middle of the snow.

"You're here, Duke!"

I could see someone running from afar.

He hurried up to Henriette, who was full of escorts and servants, bowed his head in respect, and shouted,

"I'm honored for your visit today."

"Good evening, miss. My name is Bernard Fedrel, the orchard's general manager."

He greeted me in a very polite manner too.

While Henriette was talking to the general manager for a moment, I began to wander far from the view of the maids.

'Is there a dog in here?'

I recalled a large, demure puppy raised in the orchard of Count Semond, and looked around the fence separating the middle of the vineyard from the place where the apple tree grew.

I kept laughing because I liked the feeling of stepping on the snow under my feet.

"Don't go too far, miss!"

"Woong!"

Responding to Peina's cry, Henriette glanced back at me from afar.

In order to not go far, I smiled broadly and raised one hand high and waved, and I turned around. I wonder if it's okay now that I've waved.

It's really big, by the way!

The snow covering the fence was brushed off with my hands and I looked through it, and the orchard submerged in the snow of the white horizon seemed much wider than that of Count Semond.

If the Count of Semond's orchard is a lake, should I say this is the sea?

'This is all mine now…'

I suddenly thought about it, and I couldn't believe it, so my head went blank. I felt a little dazed.

On the way here, I heard why Henriette decided to give me this orchard.

He also reportedly gave his three sons a place to take care of themselves within the estate.

All three sons only had one after they were over ten, but considering that I was not even over ten years old, he gave it to me a little early.

"I'll manage it, but it'll be yours from now on. When you're thirteen years old, I will entrust you with all control."

Did you give it to me earlier because I was a little wild at the meeting? I had a question, but I didn't ask.

'From here to there, it's all mine······.'

I didn't even have a room in my previous life.

And even when I was at Count Semond's house, I had a few things I can call mine, to be honest, it's just a few clothes, this skinny body, and my mind.

"pooh, hachoo!"

Oh, but it's too cold here.

It is located at the northern tip of the estate. Maybe that's why. It felt colder than where the duchy was located.

Sniffing, I looked around where Henriette and the maids were waiting, and just in time, Henriette was looking at me.

Wearing a black coat, he looked just like a shadow rising out of the snow.

Henriette just looked at me for a second and didn't say anything.

He opened his mouth with a strange face.

"Child."

Then he looks unhappy for some reason.

"····· Come this way. You have something to do from now on."

What am I going to do?

Henriette said he would do everything on his own regarding the process of leaving management rights, but what is there to do?

When I was taken over by curiosity, Bernard unexpectedly suggested that I ride a pony.

I looked at Henriette with a startled look, and he answered succinctly.

"Go."

Excitedly, I took Peina and Shelia's hand and followed Bernard toward the ranch in the corner of the orchard, where several ponies, big and small, were tied.

The thing I would do: ride a pony.

"This pony possesses the mildest behaviour, young lady. You can hold the reins and ride it like that. Wow, you're already in a horse-riding position, what a strong girl."

For just following advice on riding a pony, Bernard praised me to the point that his mouth was watering.

Looking at Henriette, he stood with a face that seemed to say 'yes'.

Following Bernard's guidance, I ran three laps in the ranch on a pony.

Next, I looked at the newborn foals, and they wanted me to name them, so I had to squeeze my brain.

After naming the foal, I picked the fruits myself.

The only fruit I got was strawberries because it was too big when it fell on my feet.

I felt proud after filling up a basket.

'But strawberries don't come out on snowy days, it's amazing. Is this all thanks to Henriette's magic?'

Henriette left to talk to other managers at that point.

Bernard, who continued to guide me, was surprised and enthusiastic when I harvested a basket of strawberries and took me and the maids somewhere.

It was a corner of the ranch, where, to my surprise, a large dog with a speckled calf pattern was tied.

The dog looked at me, gasped and wagged its tail. I guess he likes people.

"Wow. Puppy."

"Yes, it's a puppy. Lady, you like dogs, don't you?"

"Yes! But how did you know?"

His eyes widened and I asked, and Bernard grinned brightly to straighten his face.

"The Duke told me to show you the dog I have on the ranch."

Did he remember when I told the nobles in the meeting that I once played with a dog in the orchard?

Oh my god!

"Wow!"

Then the dog leaped to his feet and licked me on the cheek.

Then I burst into laughter without realizing it because the soft fur felt so ticklish, I could see the maids next to me smiling, sweeping their chest for some reason.

The guards who followed me and Bernard, looked at me with a pleased face.

The orchard of Count Semond was no longer in my mind. I played with the dog until Henriette came back.

"Lady, you were very hungry, weren't you?"

"Woong!"

Strawberries, picked by small hands, have been cooked for various desserts and served on the Wensgrey family picnic table.

Strawberry cake, strawberry tart, and milk pudding made with strawberries.

The ladies-in-waiting also took out the lunch boxes they had brought in advance from the basket one by one and spread them out. I sat with a face full of anticipation and shook my legs.

Sitting next to me, Henriette blinked slowly, capturing the child's cheeks fluttering.

Shelia opened the lid of the lunch box, and Peina shouted quite playfully.

"Ta-da!"

"Wow····· Ah?"

At that moment, the child tilted her head.

Among all the luxurious desserts that chefs and assistant chefs took care of because the lady was going on her first picnic today, a cookie with a unique shape was seen.

The shape was wrinkled and crushed, like it was made by a beginner in cooking.

The maids also looked at it and tried to swallow their laughter.

They have dark eye bags today, and she hasn't even noticed it yet.

"Uh….. cookies, I've never seen these before."

The good-hearted lady seemed to turn around and ask whose work was that.

The maids looked at each other for a moment.

All the more because Henriette is watching them closely.

At the end of the moment, it was Peina, who explained.

"Lady, the cookie was made by the master."

"······huh?"

The lady, who was embarrassed and usually used only "woong" or "yeah," made unfamiliar sounds.

She was looking at them with strange face, but the maids still remembered clearly.

What happened between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., was horribly suffocating.

"You guys, teach me how to cook."

"What?"

At the dawn of Henriette's declaration of taking the maids to the kitchen, they became horrified and terrified of such an unfamiliar situation.

The maids questioned him even though they knew they might lose their neck if they threw an unexpected question, Henriette said without changing his face.

"Cookies will do. She used to eat it exceptionally well.'

For a moment they wondered if the Master was crazy.

Yet he spoke so nonchalantly, just with a languid, weary look on his face.

"She won't eat it unless I give it to her."

And a little bit, I think the corners of his mouth trembled.

"P- personally…"

"Yeah, personally. The lady was afraid of the threat of poisoning, so the master made it himself. Try it."

The face of the lady looking at the crushed chocolate chip cookies became complicated.

She took a bite of the cookie first.

"Yum."

Soon after seeing the girl whose impression was almost distorted, the maid's hearts hardened.

They recalled Henriette at dawn.

Instead of a black uniform that sometimes smells of blood, he wore a white high quality soft apron on his body and he's holding a kneading mop instead of a mana-filled sword.

And he poured sugar into those cookies, saying,

"The little one has a sweet tooth."

How long would your lives have to be to see a nobleman directly involve themselves in the kitchen?

For those who have lived a life where it is easier to get blood on them than to get flour on their hands, making cookies that suit children's tastes by hand was like picking stars in the sky.

'Lady, cheer up!'

'Please, please don't throw up! Please!'

Beyond the eyes of the maid's worries and pleas, Henriette watched the little girl chew and gulp the cookies without blinking once.

Soon, a clear smile came to view over her round face.

"It····· It's delicious."

Lady's cheeks were twitching a little.

A faint smile spread over Henriette's face.

"Is that so?"

He swung his hand lightly in the air.

As the mana spread, the air quickly became warm. It formed a boundary.

The child's face, which had been slightly red due to the cold, turned red this time due to the heat.

"The food shouldn't cool down. Finish eating."

With his hands down, Henriette said. With a softer voice than usual.

However, with the unchanging cold voice.

"Without anything left."

Then the maids saw. The girl's desperate eyes, screaming for help.

But there was only one thing servants could do. Cheering.

'Lady, cheer up.'

'You can do it!'

The lady's eyes looked like it would soon tear up.

The sound of her crying heart seemed to be heard in the maid's ears.