I silently raised the delicately feather patterned dessert spoon.
No one can catch up with the Dukeâs whims.
I thought we were going to go home right away because he was upset, but we came to the private room of the bakery we stopped by before and ordered the same food as then.
I didnât know what to do, so I ate the parfait as he wanted.
The eyes with white eyelashes narrowed narrowly.
âIf you donât want to eat, donât force yourself to eat.â
âI, like it, delicious!â
I ate even more hastily, fearing that if I said I didnât want to eat it, I would go back to the mansion right away.
âWhat is delicious about it?â
âThis chocolate and fruit parfait and that brownie cookie andâŠâŠ.â
The Duke looked at me as I touched the desserts on the table one by one and suddenly asked.
âAre you sick?â
âYes? What?â
ââŠâŠ If you want something to eat, order more.â
Even after leaving the bakery, the duke did not return to the mansion right away. He took me here and there just like before I ran away.
He showed me a ballet performance, bought toys, and ate dinner at an eye-poppingly expensive restaurant before returning.
After we returned to the mansion, he seemed completely back to normal.
During the month and a half, when I was almost confined, the servantsâ attitude, who had remained silent except for essential work, also changed.
I found out later that the only person who saw blood horribly in the process of tracking me was that noble man who had been harassing a sick woman in the slums before.
âHe was wondering what kind of baronet he was.â
Anyway, Duke Janus thought the man had kidnapped me and sold me somewhere, so he questioned the man, and he only released the man after he heard the man complain that he didnât know anything even after all his limbs were cut off.
(âIf they say they donât know even though their limbs have been cut off, they really donât know,â the duke said, as if passing on life hacks that would be useful in the future.)
After that, the duke turned the direction of his investigation and searched all over the capital to find me.
Fortunately, Nina and Nick handed me over, and things went smoothly. There was nothing bad about receiving a small reward.
Neither Lucy, nor Anton, nor the driver uncle received any serious disciplinary action.
Still, I was sorry and couldnât face them, so I avoided the three people for a while, but rather, they first stabbed me with candy or dried fruit and suggested that we reconcile. The person who deserved to be forgiven was me, so I took it lightly.
I wondered if my second escape failure was going to go over like that.
âBetty- Betty-.â
From that day on, the Duke started calling me like a dog in the neighborhood and looked for me whenever I was out of sight.
As I was chewing on the meat Lucy had cut to make it easy to eat, I heard ominous conversations in my ears.
âWhere is Betty?â
âHe is having a late lunch in the dining room.â
The Dukeâs voice was clearly heard in front of the dining room, and Lucy, who had no strength like me, responded quickly to her masterâs question.
âShe is here.â
My mouth was full of thick beef, so I chewed hard before swallowing before I could open my mouth.
âYou are here.â
âOf course. I went out and came back now. The owner came and you didnât see me, was the meal delicious, Betty?â
It was true that it was the servantâs ethics to greet the master of the mansion with me. But, to excuse myself, no one told me to come out the front door when the Duke came home.
It was clearly revealed that the servants of the capital mansion already regarded me as something other than a servant.
Itâs already in the past, and now thereâs nothing I can do about it, so I just dipped the last piece of meat with a fork and put it in my mouth.
âYes, eat a lot.â
Despite the pressure from stroking my head while speaking in a soft voice, I chewed on what was in my mouth.
âYouâre done eating?â
âYes.â
âWas it tasty?â
âYes.â
It had no effect on me now. I smiled broadly at his sarcastic question and nodded my head.
A life of luxury where nothing goes my way.
âI ate a good meal without labor today too, punk.â
I was about to get off the chair, but my body suddenly lifted up and I found myself in the boyâs arms before I knew it.
The wider contact area amplified the breeze-like feeling I felt when guiding earlier.
In that state, his hand lightly patted my backâŠâŠ.
âUrgh.â
I burped.
The duke put me back on the floor as if he was done. He didnât care about my blushing face from the burp that came out of nowhere.
âThat, that is for a newborn baby, you bastard!â