8. The Eighth Plan. To greet the new family members warmly. (7)
“Mandy.”
“Welcome back, Gellerhard. Carl is already asleep. He said that he would show you how to build a tower later.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, look at it tomorrow and be surprised since he had built it really well indeed.”
Kiss, kiss. Gellerhard kissed my cheek in succession before he started to wrap his right arm around my waist.
“I missed you, Mandy. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Vivian beforehand…”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Even if it wasn’t a child like Vivi, I would still have welcomed it if it had been the one whom you picked up.”
“…It was precisely because she had been a child like Vivi. I didn’t want to disappoint Mandy since Vivian’s parents might be coming to look for their child.”
A child like Vivi. The child who resembled Theodora so much. If Vivian had found her parents, it would have been a great joy and something to be celebrating about, but, as Gellerhard said earlier, I would have been disappointed still.
“Did you find Vivi’s parents?”
“Well, I asked the Lords near the border and even showed the ring to the knights, but no one really knew. The merchants have asked me to let them know if there are any plans to dispose of the jewels in the ring though.”
It was evident that the jewels were of fairly good quality for the merchants had dared to say such a thing to the Duke. A young baby who had been holding onto a jeweled ring unknown to the knights and Lords of the North as well as the Lords near the border. On top of that, the place where she had been discovered was on a battlefield…
“Vivi woke up. So, Mandy will change her diaper ~”
“I searched for it, but couldn’t find any at all. Rumors will soon spread wide, so if they are alive, they will eventually make their way to the duchy.”
Could we send away this baby by then? Some unanswerable questions ran through my mind. I turned around as I stroked Gellerhard’s arm around my waist.
“Don’t hide it next time and let me know. Do you even know how worried Mother and I had been?”
“Why?”
“Unlike the usual, I couldn’t see one of your arms and the speed at which you were walking had been slow. I was surprised to see if your arm was actually injured. Mother almost fainted too.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…”
“Apologize to Mother tomorrow as well.”
I returned a total of three kisses on the cheek of my husband, who had his eyebrows drooped down as he reflected. Gellerhard, who had closed his eyes until my kisses were over, soon opened them again and went to kiss my lips this time. His lips, which had kept on touching lightly, met against mine again. His breath soon mingled between my slightly parted lips and our lips met once more.
“Um, Gellerhard—”
“Amanda—”
His insides felt really hot. It was the moment when our moistened lips had just about to get overlapped once again.
“Mandy, Carl— Uh, Dad!”
“Cooh.”
With the appearance of Carl who started to rub all over his sleepy eyes, the quiet Vivian soon made her presence known as well.
*
My second brother, Patrick, who had just returned with Gellerhard, stuck out his tongue as he remarked that he did not know much about Gellerhard and the knights who surrounded Vivian in that war. Patrick, who had two younger siblings—including myself—thought that Vivian was rather odd for a baby, but the knights who had left the ways of upbringing to their wives and nannies simply commented on Vivian’s ability to listen, to eat meat, and to not cry. Still, he insisted that he really had no idea.
“Actually, I’m a bit reluctant to say, but it’s true that she does resemble you and the Duke. Plus, they say that she looks a lot like you too…”
Without thinking much, Patrick then turned the topic to see if he wanted for me to confide in him.
“Oh, yes. Do you know how much she looked like you were younger? She looked like she had been taken out of some kind of mold. Her eyes, nose and mouth are all alike and as for the color of the eyes too. Look, how can they look like this? I guess it really is destiny then.”
I quietly placed her in my arms while stroking Vivian’s head as she munched on the cookie with both hands. Her short curls were soft. How about the top of her head? On the round back of her head, thick brown hair was gently tousled.
“Don’t tell other people about it.”
This cookie was a little too hard for a baby the size of Vivian, so it had been a rather burdensome food. The men did not seem to have thought of giving the baby some soft food and Vivian ate well even when they had shared what they ate without giving much thought as well. Perhaps still, the knights, including Gellerhard himself, did not realize that Vivian was strange and to that extent, Vivian would simply remain as a miraculous baby who had been saved by Duke DeMancier amidst the battlefield.
Patrick nodded and pretended to sew up his lips. Then, he changed the subject right away.
“Okay, I’m going there tomorrow.”
“Where? To our parents?”
“Yeah. I already rested enough and I haven’t seen their faces in a long time too. They must have been very worried since I had participated in the war without even saying anything.”
Patrick confessed while scratching his head. I thought of the two daughters of Count Decca who were still staying in the Duchy. Liam was also an administrator at the Dukedom, so I wondered if he would get along with one of the two on his own if I left him alone. Nevertheless, Liam didn’t show much interest in any of the ladies and I began to wonder if being an administrator was really that better than being a Lord instead.
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