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“Yes, I’m back. Princess and Noel.”
He greeted Rieta first, and then immediately turned to Noel.
His son was looking at him with a face full of many stories.
Perhaps the last ten days were full of pleasures that the Duke did not know.
“I’m back.”
He didn’t ask for all the stories now, and he brought the children into the house.
The rain they haven’t seen in a long time was warm and soft, but he couldn’t leave the children wet like this.
“Let’s meet in the family room after washing and changing clothes. I’ll listen to everything.”
He patted the two children on the back.
* * *
Noel and Rieta told the Duke about everything that had happened in the past ten days.
And he didn’t forget to deliver his late mother’s letter to his father.
Of course, the Duke also told Noel everything that had happened in the Duchy’s estate.
From the stories of people who suffered from lack of water to the devotion of the wizard.
After that, the whole family gathered together for a meal after a long separation, and the Duke returned to his office to do the rest of the work.
The butler who followed him came in with a small cart.
It had a fragrant smell. It was Victoria’s favorite tea.
“When it rains, the scent gets stronger. She said that, right?”
Soon a white teacup was placed on his desk.
The dark tea water swayed lightly.
“Of course, you enjoyed it.”
Suddenly, the butler answered a question that had not been asked.
“It looked like the two of them were playing detective all day long.”
“I suppose.”
There were traces of Noel in every corner of his office.
In the meantime, it caught his eye that Noel had only touched the areas he was allowed to touch..
It seemed like a minor thing, but he was really proud that Noel paid attention to the places where he was forbidden to touch.
“Noel told me that the ten days felt short.”
“How was it for the Duke?”
“It was the longest ten days in the world.”
“That’s what good parents are like.”
“I am not a very good parent.”
The Duke looked at the letter Noel had handed him a moment ago.
“Victoria wrote the letters, and I always waited for them.”
“Yes. The postman would only look into the Duke’s eyes if Madam’s letter was there.”
“Sometimes . . . there were times when the letter didn’t arrive.”
The young Duke used to panic, saying that he didn’t receive a letter.
It was his first relationship, and it was the first time that someone felt so special like this, so he had no choice but to become sensitive to even the smallest things.
“I was a little sad that it only came now.”
He carefully swept away the letter that had come to him over a long period of time.
“Perhaps . . . it may have traveled far away.”
“The letter resembles the owner and likes to travel.”
The Duke remembered Victoria’s letter traveling round and round the Empire in the mail wagon.
He hoped it had a relaxing and happy time passing mountains, seas, and rivers.
“If it weren’t for that, it might have stayed at the post office. If it was the Madam, she would have enjoyed it quite a bit.”
Wouldn’t she have watched the letters with various stories come and go with her twinkling eyes?
“I thought that the fact that a lost letter only arrived now was an excuse made by the post office to cover up the mistake.”
“Sometimes it seems necessary to set aside a present for later.”
The Duke nodded his head.
The young Duke, whose mood was determined by Victoria’s letter . . . Dwayne Mayer would never have agreed.
“. . . Is there another lost letter?”
Suddenly he murmured, then turned his gaze to the window where it was raining for a moment.
He wished there was.
A lovely letter he never received from the past may remain somewhere in this world.
One day, if it were delivered to him like a gift . . .
Suddenly, a knock was heard.
The Duke returned from his happy imagination and allowed the other person to enter.
It was a telegram from the Duchy’s estate.
Now, the good news was that it was raining there too.
Starting on this day, the long drought of the Empire had finally come to an end.
However, it was several months later that the halted banquets started again and everything returned to normal.
* * *
The night the Duke returned, Noel, who had been waiting until late into the night, got out of his room as the night fell.
“Young Master? Can’t you sleep?”
Of course, as soon as he came out, the servant found him, but Noel hurriedly said, “Shh!”
“It’s not like that, I have work to do.”
“Work to do? May I help you?”
“No. I’m going to the family room, that’s all.”
The servant carefully looked at Noel’s expression.
He wondered if it was the face of a naughty child who was about to play a huge prank.
“. . . No.”
“What?”
“No, you have the face of a gentleman. Young master.”
“Of course. I am a gentleman who knows how to repent.”
Noel answered triumphantly and looked around quickly.