The Seventh Plan. Revenge Done Right. (10)
Carl gripped the cup tightly with both hands and gulped it down sweetly. In the meantime, my hands were busy wiping off the sweat from the child’s forehead with a handkerchief while fanning him with my hands. Carl drank the water coolly and happily let his hair droop over my chest.
After Carl had let go, the knight soon went out of the room to do his job and the Duchess Dowager, who was at the desk in order to avoid all the commotion, took a seat down next to me.
“I’m afraid that someone isn’t just like that lively boy. Now, this old woman is not able to look after him because she’s all out of strength already.”
“I guess it’s because he no longer has any friends over and he’s starting to feel more bored these days. I think that it would be nice to call in some children who are about the same age as Carl.”
“Really? But since he’s still too young, they’ll definitely have to come with their parents as well…”
Now that it was going to be Carl’s third birthday soon, it had been obvious that a noble child, who should be around the same age as Carl, would like to come with their parents to visit the Duke’s castle and the fact that many people would have wanted the position too. Just like Margaretta, Viscount Desmond, she might have to leave suddenly according to her husband’s wishes or like Baroness May, there was a possibility that she would attach herself to another faction and expose some information in regards to Carl himself. Also, like Baroness Eran, who had neglected her duties and gotten kicked out before she started to hold a grudge as well as claiming such strange plots. Hmm.
“If it’s okay, I think that it would be nice to gather the children who live near the castle, regardless of their social status. They are the ones who will continue to live close to Carl in the future anyway… The knight who played with Carl a little while ago probably has a younger brother who would be the same age as Carl.”
I didn’t really think of it in advance, I simply said what had come to my mind when I saw the knight who kept playing with Carl like an older brother. Nevertheless, the Duchess Dowager immediately gave a nod without thinking for a long time.
“Okay. Now that Carl is your own son, it’s only right to teach and raise him in the way you think is right.”
Even before any of that, the Duchess Dowager hadn’t particularly interfered with my way of raising Carl, but she said that she had completely agreed with me, which emphasized the fact that Carl was truly my son. I stroked the curly hair of my pretty son, who looked absolutely nothing like me. The top of the child’s head, which was slightly damp with sweat, gave off the unique sweet scent of a little baby.
“Of course. It is definitely a good idea. Rather than growing up alone like Gellerhard and then proceeding to become a father before playing with the kids, it would be much better to play with some friends from a young age.”
Actually, I really wanted Carl to be a person who would play with his friends during his youth and enjoy playing with his children when he grew into a father once he got older, but I just smiled at the Duchess Dowager instead. Carl, who had been resting his head against my chest, whined that he was feeling hungry.
“Okay, let us eat then. It’s already meal time anyway. Where is Gellerhard?”
“He’s with Count Petrika at the moment.”
Until the time I had gone to see Carl, he and I had a really good time with Count Petrika. I patted Carl on the back, who was whining that we should be getting dinner quickly. He grabbed some more cookies, but Gellerhard must have been hungry too. I’m going to go and get some dinner for Gellerhard as well later.
“I am grateful that the Count had readily agreed to the adoption… but he said he had something to talk about.”
“Okay. I just received the documents and I have checked them already. He acknowledged you as Carl’s mother and even signed a declaration to request your parents to raise Carl in case of emergency. Isn’t this all because he trusted you, Amanda? Well, I saw how you raised Carl like this, so of course it should be that way.”
The Duchess Dowager announced in an elegant voice that Count Petrika and the entire family had declared that they would not execute any power just because they were Carl’s maternal family. I smiled shyly on the board that she had laid out and continued to stroke Carl’s hair.
“Yes, originally, Carl was already like my child to me… and now, he is really my child. I will continue to protect Carl’s pretty smile. That’s right, our Prince. Are you going to get along with Mandy too?”
“Yes! Mandy—”
Carl always smiled broadly, but today he was really cute somehow. My cute baby, it felt like my eyes, which had seen many things that I shouldn’t be seeing while facing Count Petrika today, were being healed gently.
“Since Carl is so hungry, we should really have something to eat quickly.”
“Let’s do that then.”
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