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22. Commitment
When Kyrie woke up the next day, she looked at MarryAnne vaguely and asked with cloudy eyes.
“Who are you? Are you the new maid?”
The once calm mansion soon had a disturbance.
Nathaniel heard the story and looked for Kyrie a little impatiently. Kyrie was with the butler in the gallery.
“Ernst. Too much dust. It’s a place for customers to see, so you should pay special attention to the gallery.”
Nathaniel stopped at the light and harsh voice.  She heard the sound of his footsteps, so Kyrie turned her head around to see the newcomer. She looked a little taken aback, but  then, she greeted him with a slightly clumsy gesture.
“Hello, my name is Kyrie from Count Buchanan.  Are you my father’s guest?”
MarryAnne mouthed next to her.
‘Mental regression.’
She gave a resentful eye. Nathaniel turned his head to Kyrie. Kyrie was waiting for his reply, but his shoulders stiffened.
[How old are you?]
“…….I am ten years old.”
Unsatisfied that there was no answer, Kyrie said a little sternly.  If she had been the original Kyrie, she would have gracefully asked back whether his ear canal was blocked.
[Ten years old.]
“Yes.”
[……]
Nathaniel realized that he wasn’t as happy as he thought he was. Although he seemed to be glad that Kyrie had forgotten all of her memories, he knew that was never a good sign. He swallowed the confusion and answered slowly.
[Yes. I’m a guest.]
“I’m sorry for the poor response. Your name is…?”
[Nathaniel.]
“uh……”
When there were no words to follow, Kyrie hesitated in embarrassment. Then Cesar approached from behind her.
“Lord.”
“Lord?”
Kyrie asked in surprise. Cesar frowned and looked at Kyrie. Nathaniel naturally cut the gap between them.
[You must have heard the story.]
“Of course.  Things are getting more and more complicated.”
[I’ll take care of it for the time being. What is it?]
Cesar’s face grew serious.
“Excuse me. The Emperor’s soldiers are encamped around the mansion.”
[Are they going to attack?]
“It’s not like that yet, but the atmosphere is unbearable……”
“Soldiers?”
While Cesar was speaking, Kyrie’s anxious voice interrupted.
“Kyrie. I am talking to the guest.”
[It wasn’t something to say in front of the child. Let’s change the place.]
Unlike Nathaniel, who immediately lowered his voice, Cesar frowned. Kyrie was startled and trembled.
“……sorry.”
Her face turned white, and the words died.
Nathaniel was very upset. He thought it would be good to hit that father once with his cane, and that one time would be enough to kill him, but Cesar Buchanan was Kyrie’s biological father anyway. He couldn’t understand his blood relationship, so on the contrary, he had to be very careful about it.
Nathaniel smiled without a hint of happiness and pulled out his cane. He then said in a cold voice,
[Buchanan. You should laugh. You’re making such an impression, so Kyrie misunderstands  that you’re angry.]
“Yes?”
[If there is nothing to laugh about, I will make you smile.]
“Sir, now more than that……”
[Yeah, that’s up to me.  So laugh.]
Nathaniel carefully leaned towards Cesar.  He tapped Cesar’s shoulder with the tip of his cane and whispered.
[Otherwise, what’s the reason I’m keeping you alive?]
Cesar, frightened, walked towards Kyrie, skillfully laughing at the subject.
“……you don’t have to worry now because the lord will solve it!”
Nathaniel looked at him with stern eyes. He’s a sly person. He didn’t need his hands to kill someone.
Kyrie didn’t even know what he was talking about and her father laughed so she just laughed along. It was a smile like a peach blossom.  Nathaniel’s lips softened.
[Do you like it?]
“Yes?”
Kyrie blushed after answering in surprise.
“Um, sorry to interrupt you two, sir……..”
[You are welcome to intervene. Right, Buchanan?]
“Hahaha!  of course.”
Cesar awkwardly tapped Kyrie on her slender shoulder.
“Come on, Kyrie.  I…..I have to work, so please take good care of the Lord.  Can you do it?”
Despite the small caresses and compliments, Kyrie hardened.  It looked like he had made a great deal of effort.  The reason why she is so cute, yet unhappy sometimes, is that it is probably because it is not an attitude suitable for a child.
“Yes, Father.”
“You are Buchanan.”
“Yes, father. I know.”
“You shouldn’t be an irresponsible person like your mother.”
“…..Yes, father.”
Kyrie, who was full of motivation, slumped her shoulders a little. Nathaniel was even more annoyed at the remarks he still couldn’t understand the subject of.
“Father, but…….”
Kyrie hesitated and added.
“When is mother coming?”
Cesar’s face turned expressionless.
Nathaniel realized why Kyrie’s attitude had been evading at the age of ten.  It seems that Cesar Buchanan and Zhenya Hartwood had not yet divorced.  No matter what the circumstances were, it was a time when they were connected by the bond of family.  At one time, the meaning of family is clear in Kyrie’s mind.
Cesar ignored his daughter’s question and looked at Nathaniel.
“Our enlisted men are coming up from the territory. It’s not huge, but it’s not as bad as you think, with Archibold missing and Vermont going into infighting. But I want to avoid an all-out war.”
Instead of answering, Nathaniel drew a gentle curve in front of his lips with his thumb and index finger.
[You should laugh.]
Nathaniel’s blue eyes were cold. Cesar’s mouth trembled and then he laughed a little, then quickly turned around and left the room.
After Nathaniel turned his attention to Kyrie again, he smiled and bent his back slightly.  He reached out his hand gracefully and respectfully.
[Would you like a cup of tea?]
Kyrie reacted with a wide eye, cleared her throat with a ‘hmm’ and then gently grabbed Nathaniel’s hand.
“As much as you want.” She said with a shy smile.
***
There was some silent crisis in the mansion
“Miss. I will help you recover.”
MarryAnne said so and went out, but Kyrie hesitated. MarryAnne’s pointy ears were unfamiliar and made Kyrie uncomfortable.
“Excuse me……, what about Martha?”
Marta was Kyrie’s nanny, who was already dead. Nathaniel blinked and one of her servants quickly brought another maid to help Kyrie. MarryAnne retreated with a shocked face.
While Kyrie was dressing up, Nathaniel also came out into the hallway.  MarryAnne stood blankly in the hallway and when she felt Nathaniel’s presence, she raised her head with shiny black eyes.  Both of them said at the same time in the hallway where there was no light.
“She needs to be fixed.”
[Leave her for a moment.]
MarryAnne, who exhaled for a moment, shouted,
“It’s all because of Nathaniel-sama!”
There was despair in her eyes. Nathaniel calmly reached for his wand.
[I don’t deny it.  But I would like it if she took a break.]
“The lady forgot MarryAnne!”
[So what are you going to do?]
“I will forcefully awaken her memories!”
After MarryAnne said that, she flinched and rolled her one remaining black eye from side to side.
“Mom told me, there was such a spell, obviously……!”
[What is the risk?]
MarryAnne bit her lip.  Her momentum became more ferocious.
“But the lady has forgotten MarryAnne……!”
[It means, it’s dangerous.]
Nathaniel thought for a moment.
Shall I kill her beforehand?
Kill and hide her from anyone.  A half elf who has no connection with her is not looking for anyone other than Kyrie.
Unless it’s Kyrie.
Nathaniel remembered Kyrie smiling as she hugged MarryAnne.  And then the strength of his hand holding the cane was released.
[……Let her rest for a while. Kyrie is human, so human ways will be less harmful.]
MarryAnne lowered her head and raised her eyes as if piercing her eyes, giving her a look full of resentment.  Nathaniel added.
[Contact Old Ciudad. Even that one of Fort Ducane.]
“……They are going to kill Nathaniel-sama.”
[Yeah, ask them to send assassins too.]
“MarryAnne too wants Nathaniel-sama to die……”
Suddenly, a small dagger appeared in MarryAnne’s hand.  Her white eyes didn’t even move as if she was trying to find Nathaniel’s weak spot.  In fact, MarryAnne had been like this all the time when Nathaniel was in the mansion.
Nathaniel laughed out loud.
[The only person who did not do so was Kyrie.]
***
Seeing the jacaranda in full bloom in the garden, Kyrie shrugged her shoulders with excitement.  But she glanced at Nathaniel and gently glanced at the flowers.  Nathaniel looked at Kyrie with gentle eyes, with a hint of mourning.
[Do you like jacaranda?]
“……Yes.”
With a little hesitation compared to her bright face, she admits honestly.  She probably hadn’t finished her education on etiquette yet, so she didn’t seem to know how much an aristocrat would answer.
[What else?]
“Something else?”
[Something you like.]
Kyrie smiled brightly. She certainly had a pretty smile, but it was a fake expression that he believed had been specially rehearsed to answer these kinds of questions.
“I like Angela’s art these days.”
[Which work?]
“‘A descending angel’.”
It wasn’t something a ten-year-old would like. Nathaniel covered his mouth with a teacup, refreshingly ignoring her bravado.
“Are you a duke?”
[Call me Nathaniel. Why did you think so?]
“I want my father to be kind. I don’t think it’s Old Ciudad, are you the Duke of Edenhall?”
[The 7th family differs only in the size of the territory and the number of enlisted men, but there is no upper or lower.]
“But, this is the first time I’ve seen my father appear so tamed. So it’s not Eden Hall? After all, you look like a wizard when you pull out your cane… Ah! Are you royalty?”
Young Kyrie asked with her eyes shining. Do you think chattering is part of good hospitality, or is she just curious? Either way, it was a long time ago for him to see a lively Kyrie, so he felt a little dazed.
[Think of it.]