Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

The castle had been noisy since morning.

It was because the exterior of the castle had completely changed overnight.

The reaction was enthusiastic.

On the contrary, opinions were raised as if Her Grace had been coaxed as she would have escaped from the inkstone.

I didn’t even explain the circumstances, but everyone thought Aedis did it for me.

…… The answer was correct. I didn’t even know this was possible.

Today Aedis curled my hair and gave me a ponytail.

And as he was finishing, he carefully observed the hair ornaments that were lined up in the room one by one.

It seemed he didn’t like anything.

There was a look of disappointment in the long fingers that were tapping the table.

“Eve, you need to buy more headdresses.”

“There are more than 200 in front of you right now.”

“You are frugal.”

What do you mean?

Hearing frugality for the first time living as Maevia Morgana, Aedis flew his finger in the air, ignoring the ridiculous expression on my face.

More than 200 headdresses were neatly arranged at once.

Not all luxury items were brought from the capital, but this alone was by no means a small number.

Objectively, even from the point of view of nobles.

Moreover, since each of them was handcrafted with precious stones, it did not have the same design as those sold on the market.

“Wait a minute.”

My husband with a picky eye was blown away.

Left alone, I looked into the mirror on the vanity with my eyes wide open.

My hair, carefully rolled up from the bottom, was only fixed, but it was so pretty that I could go to the ball as it was.

It looked elegant from the side and lovely from the front.

Hmm, at least I can’t say anything about him decorating my hair. His skills are improving day by day.

I came to understand why Sarah began to feel a sense of crisis.

Soon Aedis returned with a headdress of unknown origin.

The silver pins were studded with small jewels of light blue in unfamiliar patterns.

The pattern was as splendid as the emblem of a certain royal family, but the hairpin itself was a simple design.

“It’s not black?”

Aedis paused when I said it like it was a pity.

I reassured him with a smile as he seemed to distrust his own aesthetic sense.

“I like it, so please do it. But where did you get it from?”

“That……”

“Hmm?”

“It is a secret. Not yet.”

Aedis tilted his head to avoid my gaze.

…… Crazy, why are you suddenly so cute?!

A light touch rested on my head while I couldn’t get away from my husband’s charms.

A satisfied smile appeared on Aedis’s lips as he pinned my hair.

“Then I will get ready and follow you. See you in a little while.”

As I slowly left the room, Paimon appeared.

“Eve, where are you going?”

After many times expressing that he hated the affection between me and Aedis, Paimon seemed to come to visit mainly when Aedis was not around.

“To the office. To meet Regen’s tutors in person.”

I received regular reports on Regen’s course progress. It had been through one butler once.

It was around the time I arrived at the office and ordered dessert.

I waited all day for my husband who was supposed to be beside me, when the wrong person slammed the door.

“Your Grace!”

It was Shaula, who had been idling in her room for several days on the pretext that Aedis had beaten her, and forgot about the amount of food that was equivalent to a month’s food for the Knights Order.

Somehow, she looked similar to Paimon.

“Is it suspicious that you appear as soon as I am alone?”

“Yes, of course, I waited for the Lord to leave.”

Shaula answered naturally.

I asked the maid to bring one more serving of dessert, but Shaula laughed as if joking.

“Your Grace, do you know? There was a fight between the knights in the morning. I just watched.”

“You didn’t intervene, but there was a fight?”

“Yes. Procyon said the walls were cleaner than Castor’s hands. He said he couldn’t even follow the inspection of the territory because he was dirty?”

Are you in a position to speak like that to others?

I stared at Shaula, who must have had her last bathing day when I forced the maids to wash her.

“Now that you mentioned it, let’s take a bath today too.”

“Your Grace, I am different from ordinary humans.”

Shaula had a disgusted expression, and the maid brought dessert.

As if she had waited, Shaula poured her share of canele into her mouth.

The cylindrical dessert with grooves was large enough to fit in the palm of the hand, but not enough to fit in the mouth of the average person at once.

Clearly, Shaula’s mouth was different from that of ordinary people.

When I pushed the plate in front of me, Shaula ate without hesitation.

A good eater who hates washing.

“I feel like I have a huge dog.”

“I’m not a dog, I’m an escort.”

Huh?

“Are you going to escort me?”

“Because a lot of fun things happen when I’m next to Your Grace.”

Then Paimon, who had melted comfortably in my lap, began to be wary of Shaula.

“Eve, you know I can protect you better than her, right?”

Paimon was still invisible.

I had introduced Paimon to Sarah before Gilbert’s biological father came to visit. So, Paimon only became invisible when Sarah came in.

I also talked about Paimon to Regen for a long time.

However, the meeting between the two was put on hold indefinitely as Regen mumbled that he should prepare earplugs right away.

I must introduce him to Shaula soon.

“I will ask you first. You’re no longer the commander, just my escort knight, are you okay with that? If you feel sorry for the current knight commander, please tell me.”

“Huh? I’m stronger than that guy, so why bother?”

There was not a single mistake in the expected answer.

Then, when I made a face like that, Shaula laughed.

“By the way, Your Grace, when are you going to let me fight with the dragon?”

“If it’s Paimon, he’s a dragon-like spirit.”

“Bring it on! I will kill her! I’m going to beat her to death! And eat it and kill it!”

“Anyway, I’ll have to warm up. You know I was totally disappointed yesterday, right? I didn’t even get to hand over the beast Gilbert.”

I paused while stroking the growling Paimon with one hand.

“Did you know that the beast was Gilbert?”

Shaula was on the other side at that time. She wouldn’t have seen it.

“Can’t help but knowing.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you when we take a bath together later. Not today. I don’t want to take a bath today. I’m too lazy to take it off now.”

In order to find out Shaula’s secret, it seemed that we had to take a bath together.

The maids who took my order and washed Shaula may have some guesses, but it would have been better to hear it in person.

No, it doesn’t matter if I don’t know?

For some reason, Shaula frowned quickly.

“But now I’m Your Grace’s escort, so just know that.”

Then Aedis knocked on the door himself.

“Eve, can I come in?”

As if she had not felt Aedis’s presence, Shaula jumped up.

“Eeek. Your Grace, I’m going! If you’re alone again later, I’ll find you on my own!”

Aedis was outside the door, so she’ll have to give up leaving through the door.

So as she wanted to escape, Shaula opened the window and jumped out.

…… Isn’t this on the 3rd floor?

I asked my husband, who came in leisurely.

“Aedis, what did you do to Shaula?”

“As much as she did wrong to you. Afterwards, she was treated by a familiar.”

Aedis laughed when I said he gave my escort knight the poison and the cure.

As the window closed by itself until it was completely locked, Paimon mumbled.

“Somehow, I feel like I have to go.”

I grabbed Paimon, who was about to leave my lap.

I can let Shaula go, but she was not as lonely as my spirit.

“Stay here. It’s boring when you’re alone.”

“Well, if that’s what you want.”

“……”

“But, Eve, why am I sweating like this? I, a spirit, shouldn’t have cold sweats?”

“Aedis, Paimon will have a hole in his body.”

“I was just staring at him.”

I checked the time while patting the trembling Paimon.

It was time for Regen’s morning class to end.

Soon after the butler and Regen’s tutors entered, with the exception of Tolyman Elliott.

Aedis said he ordered Tolyman to go to the north, but I did not know the details.

Even the butler tried to avoid answering with a face asking for help, so I pretended not to know because it seemed to have something to do with my birthday.

“Did you call, Your Grace?”

They greeted me in turn. They didn’t even notice Aedis, who had hidden his presence.

“Is this your first time gathering like this? No other than that, I want to hear this story from you in person.”

They reported in a mixture of comfort and lip service as if they thought I was calling them to hear that Regen was gifted or talented.

“The Lord comes to class with a very sincere attitude.”

“Even if he is not smart, he does not neglect the efforts.”

“Isn’t that really the greatest talent?”

However, Viscount Cates was an exception.

“I don’t know.”

Her back was bent, and her fingers were stained with ink that had not been completely erased.

I was reminded of a scholar who lives in the closet.

It was far from the dignified appearance of a nobleman.

But she was a skilled tutor, and her name would rise and fall in the capital.

“Viscount, you do not know?”

I don’t think it’s the first time she’d said this.

The other tutors looked at her and gave her a tired look. One pointed out openly.

“Hey, Viscount Cates? Are you going to say that again?”

She stared at me through her thick spectacles as if she intended to ignore the sounds around her.

“Your Grace, it seems to me that the Lord is deliberately pretending that the class is difficult to understand.”