“Feel free to.”

Before Meiana’s words even finished, Cedreloi gave his approval. As his response came too quickly, Meiana felt a strange sensation for a moment. However, to avoid the atmosphere from becoming awkward, she quickly continued speaking.

“Why does the duke treat the duchess so coldly? Is it because of the duchess’s parents… because thoughts of those two come to your mind?”

Cedreloi, as if expecting such a question, slightly lowered his head and let out a silent sigh. It was a sound filled with regret and a hint of sorrow, like a faint whistle.

“Yeah. Arianthe resembles Liria a lot. She took after her in everything except for her personality. They are so identical that it’s impossible to deny she is the child of those two. So whenever I see Arianthe, I can’t help but recall myself from back then. If I had just tried to find those two at that time, Arianthe wouldn’t have ended up living without knowing her birth parents. That’s why I can’t look directly into the eyes of that child.”

Meiana immediately refuted his words.

“I mentioned something similar before, Duke. Your guilt doesn’t do any good for the duchess.”

“I know, but…”

“From now on, how about we ban the word ‘but’?”

Cedreloi raised his eyebrows, looking at Meiana as if questioning what she meant by that. With a natural gesture, Meiana lifted the corners of her lips.

“It’s a game we play with the duchess. We each prohibit one word or action, and then bet on who can continue the conversation longer without using the banned word or action.”

“Arianthe plays such a game?”

Meiana looked at Cedreloi as if asking why he said that. He continued.

“Come to think of it, she doesn’t seem to wander around the man
“Look at the Duchess for a longer time. And think more. What does she want to do right now? What could she be thinking? What does she want to say? How might she be feeling? You have to keep thinking about those things. You’re her father, after all.”

“By thinking, you mean you can figure that out, is that what you want to say?”

“That’s right. It’s not about what I want to say. It’s because it’s the truth. Spend just one hour alone with the Duchess tonight. It would be even better if you stayed by her side until she falls asleep.”

Cedreloi, who had turned his head for a moment, looked at Meiana with a smirk.

“So you’re informing me of your plan to slack off on work using me in this way.”

Meiana replied, “Employees always have a mountain of work. Don’t worry; I won’t sneak into the wine cellar and get drunk while you entrust the Duchess to me.”

Cedreloi rebutted somewhat awkwardly, “I didn’t even worry about that.”

Meiana exaggeratedly nodded and joked in a nonchalant tone, “That’s a relief. You shouldn’t doubt me, Duke, so I can sneak into the wine cellar at ease.”

While Meiana was having a long conversation with Cedreloi, Arianthe, who returned to the room with Gemero, had been sulking the entire time.

For the first ten minutes, she was quietly sitting still, but then she started throwing toys in any direction, seemingly annoyed. Still not relieved, she suddenly came out to the living room and sprawled out on the couch until her tiny nose almost touched the floor. It was a sign that she was about to throw a tantrum.

“Duchess! What are you doing there? Oh my goodness! Get up quickly!”

Vainti, who was dusting, tried to lift Arianthe with a disgusted look, but it was not an easy task as Arianthe firmly fixed both arms and legs to the floor.

Despite Vainti’s groaning, she managed to sit Arianthe up. However, as soon as Vainti’s hands let go, Arianthe immediately flopped back onto the floor, revealing a small snort. It was a prelude to a full-blown temper tantrum.

“Duchess! Get up! The floor is covered in dust! We’re cleaning right now!”

“So what!”

“It’s messy! Why are you lying there?”

“I don’t know! Go clean! Don’t bother me!”

Vainti placed her hands on Arianthe’s waist.

“Really. Where did you hear the phrase ‘Don’t bother me’? It’s probably ‘Don’t care’ or ‘Don’t mind.’ And how can I clean when you’re lying down like that?”

“Then do it. Vainti, you fool. Foolish ladybug Vainti.”

“What’s a ladybug again!”

“A ladybug is a ladybug! You’re a ladybug.”

It’s getting completely forced now… Vainti’s shoulders slumped. Once she started being stubborn and throwing tantrums like this, there was no way to deal with her.

Meiana wondered how on earth she managed this stubborn child so well. Did she carry around some kind of secret twig? There was a story about how cats won’t mess with twigs, and she wondered if Meiana carried something like that.
“Duchess! My goodness!”

Incredibly quickly, at the moment her foot caught on something, Arianthe’s body spun half a turn in mid-air.

Having fallen with quite a loud noise, Arianthe, as if now having a proper excuse to show her temperament, threw the dustcloth aside and began shaking her entire body.

“Vainti, it’s because of you! I fell because of you! It hurts!”

Surprised, Vainti, who had rushed over, looked at Arianthe with a bewildered face.