Chapter 37

Chapter 37

“Is it?”

“Yes. The floor creaks, and the drafts come through…”

“And?”

“…So I thought you might be uncomfortable…”

“I won’t be uncomfortable.”

“And there are a lot of crows. So it’s a bit gloomy. Oh—but no ghosts, at least.”

“Then it’s perfect.”

“Ah. There’s also nowhere to park the carriage.”

A typhoon had wrecked our little garden a while back, and since no one ever visited, I’d never bothered to clean it up.

“Then when we arrive, I’ll have the carriage left at a nearby inn.”

He brushed it off lightly, his tone flat as always. I knew he wasn’t the type to nitpick—I’d been worrying for nothing.

His words were a relief, and as my mind settled, sleep I’d missed last night came crashing down on me. Even as the wheels rattled and the carriage swayed, my eyelids grew heavy, weighed down.

‘No! If I fall asleep tired, I’ll sleep ugly!’

I jerked awake and shook my head wildly. I did *not* want to be caught drooling across from the Duke.

‘Stay awake!’

I widened my eyes and glared at the scenery outside the window. I steeled myself: I would *not* fall asleep.

“Laura. We’re here. Wake up.”

“Huh? I wasn’t asleep… I just had my eyes closed.”

I snapped my head up at the Duke’s faint voice. Something plopped onto my lap—his rolled-up outer coat. Confused, I looked at him.

Ah. So that’s what happened.

I snatched up the coat with both hands and thrust it toward him. He must have rolled it into a makeshift pillow and wedged it under my head while I slept.

Tsk. I thought I hadn’t slept… guess I did.

“We’ve arrived, Laura. Time to get off.”

“Yes.”

Flushing with embarrassment, I pushed open the carriage door. There before me stood the familiar, shabby old building—its crumbling walls, a roof that looked ready to cave in, a palm-sized garden, and a gate that groaned from neglect. This was our house, the one people called the Cursed House for its dilapidated look.

‘Home!’

Overjoyed, I leaped straight from the carriage and sprinted toward the mansion.

“The eldest daughter’s home!”

I flung the front gate wide open and shouted at the top of my lungs. My siblings came spilling out through the doorway in a rush.

“Sister!”

Lucia dashed over and buried herself in my arms.

“Me too! Me too!”

Roti stretched out both arms, spinning in circles around us. After holding Lucia tightly, I pulled Roti—who’d been waiting her turn—into my embrace as well.

“Noona. You’re back?”

Ren walked over, cradling the youngest, Ryan, in his arms. I let Roti go, turned to him, and stretched out my arms.

“You too?”

“I’ll pass.”

‘Knew he’d say that.’

Ren’s the coolest of the bunch. But I never back down.

“Hey. Come on.”

“Fine, fine…”

Ren grumbled for a moment, then handed the baby to Lucia and walked over to me. The second brother, who’d shot up taller without my noticing, wrapped his big arms around my shoulders.

“Welcome back.”

He patted my back lightly. I returned the gesture, tapping his shoulder in reply.

“Oh, right. Kids, we have a guest.”

I craned my neck and looked past them toward the doorway.

“A guest?”

“Yeah. A very important one. You all need to be on your best behavior, got it?”

I dashed back outside and grabbed the duke’s arm, leading him in. The Highen siblings had lined up side by side in front of the gate, waiting for us.

“Your Grace, these are my siblings. In order of height: Ren, Lucia, Rotera, and little Ryan.”

“Everyone, this is His Grace, the Duke of Cuvershaiden.”

The children’s eyes went wide as they stared at the duke. They seemed fascinated by this stranger who’d wandered into their home. Among them, Roti’s eyes sparkled with particular brightness.

“What brings Your Grace to our house?”

Ren tilted his head and asked.

“He brought me all the way here.”

“He escorted you himself? The duke?”

When I cut in to answer, Ren shot me a puzzled look.

“Yeah. Thanks to him, I had a comfortable ride.”

I took the youngest from the third-born and said it. Even though we hadn’t met in so long, the baby didn’t seem awkward—he nestled right into my arms.

“Ryan, it’s your noona. Your oldest noona.”

Lucia pressed herself close to my side and whispered into the youngest’s ear.

“Ueung.”

Ryan let out a short whimper and closed his eyes again. It looked like he was falling asleep just like that.

Aigoo, so cute, my little brother!

I’d heard that at this age, babies quickly forget the faces of people they don’t see often. I’d been worried about that, but thankfully, the youngest wasn’t wary of me. I didn’t know if he recognized me as his noona, but either way, it made my heart swell. I just stood there for a moment, watching his soft cheeks move with each breath.

“He’s so handsome!”

Just then, Roti scurried up to the duke and blurted it out. Startled by the child’s sudden outburst, he turned his gaze to her, a little flustered.

Hmm… come to think of it, our Roti was a girl who took faces very seriously. So whenever she saw someone she thought was handsome, she’d act a little over-the-top. Just like now.

“Roti. Come here. You’re embarrassing him.”

I hurriedly scolded the troublemaking fourth-born. I knew that man was handsome too, but I’d never said it so plainly…

“It’s fine. I’m not embarrassed.”

The duke answered with a light laugh. Then he looked down at Roti with a calm gaze.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from your sister. You’re Roti, right?”

“Yes. Yes! I am Rotera Highen. You can call me Roti! Your Grace!”

Roti bobbed her head quickly. She seemed thrilled that the handsome man had spoken to her.

“Your Grace. Please have some tea. I’ll serve you tea!”

And then she promptly offered him tea.

I was a little taken aback by the fourth-born’s sudden initiative, but thinking it over, I couldn’t just introduce my siblings to our guest and send him off without at least offering him something. He was an honored guest, wasn’t he? At the very least, as the kid said, it would be best to serve him some tea.

“Please do, Your Grace.”

Ren chimed in, agreeing.

“Very well. Excuse me, then.”

After that, Ren withdrew to prepare the tea. And I led the duke to the drawing room. Then, suddenly, a few worries started creeping into my head.

‘Is our drawing room clean?’

‘Wait. Do we have a matching teacup and coaster set?’

‘I want to treat him well…’

As I was fretting over that, the duke, who had been following behind me, strode up to stand right beside me.

“It seems to me the youngest resembles you.”

He glanced at Ryan, who was in my arms, and said it. I looked at the duke once, then followed his gaze.

“Is that so? I can’t really tell yet…”

The baby’s plump cheeks wobbled as he gummed at nothing. Honestly, Ryan had that chubby baby face where his features were buried in the flesh. Minus the sibling bias, he looked exactly like a steamed bun.

“How can you tell who he takes after when his face hasn’t even formed yet? Do you see a grown-up version of him or what?”

“It’s because his eyes are big and his face is round. That’s why I see it.”

As if he’d read my mind, he added quickly.

“Ah. I see.”

“Oh. I guess that kind of makes sense.”

I exclaimed in admiration. But maybe my voice came out a bit too loud, because Ryan scrunched up his tiny face and slowly opened his eyes.

“Oops. Sorry, Ryan. Did I wake you?”

I whispered with a start, and the baby opened his eyes fully. But gentle-natured Ryan didn’t cry in spite of it. Instead, he stared unblinkingly at the duke who had entered his field of vision. The duke’s reflection shimmered like a mirror in the baby’s big pupils.

“Ryan. That’s the handsome duke.”

Roti bounced excitedly beside me.

“Yeah. The handsome duke. Feast your eyes, little one.”

Hearing that, I lost it for a moment too. Ryan kept staring at the duke, just as I’d said.

Oh. He’s reacting? Does he like pretty people like me and Roti? Is this the mystery of genetics?

I lifted Ryan up in both hands to show him the duke’s face closer.

Take a good look.

The youngest kept his gaze fixed on the duke’s face.

“Uuurk.”

And then he threw up.

“Aaah! I’m so sorry!”

A watery, milk-like liquid streamed down the duke’s clothes. I quickly pulled the baby back into my arms.

“Ryan! He threw up!”

Roti jumped up and down, shouting in a panic.

“I know. Please be quiet, Rotera Highen.”

Lucia grabbed her and scolded her sharply. It was an absolute scene of chaos. My mind was a mess too.

No. That must be expensive clothing. Besides, the duke’s spare clothes had probably already left with the other carriage for Cuvershaiden. He was originally supposed to just drop me off and return right away.

An indescribable turmoil engulfed me.

“I’m sorry, Duke…”

Why did he do that? Is his stomach upset?

“Don’t worry about it.”

He replied to my downcast voice.

“I’ll at least get you a change of clothes! Use the bathroom too!”

I quickly changed course from heading to the drawing room and led the duke to the bathroom. Then I shoved him inside.

“Lucia, does the hot water work?”

“Yeah. You just need to light the fire.”

Thankfully, the tap that used to only run cold seemed to have been fixed while I was away.

But there was another problem. As I thought about it, we didn’t have any clothes in the house that he could change into. At first, I considered offering Ren’s clothes, but Ren was still growing — his things would likely be far too small for the Duke.

With no other choice, I went to my father’s room and started rifling through the wardrobe. I pulled a suitable shirt from a shelf layered with dust, untouched for so long.

“Dad’s shirt?”

Roti pressed herself against my side, grabbing my arm.

“Yeah. You think it’s okay to offer this to the Duke?”

“Mm.”

I patted Roti’s round head a couple of times at her ready answer, then took the shirt in one hand.

As I remembered him, my father had been a solidly built man. So his clothes wouldn’t be too small for the Duke. I gave the shirt — the scent of my father long since faded from it — a few sharp flaps to shake off the dust, and stood.

“Unnie!”

As I stepped out of the room with the clothes, Roti held out one hand, palm spread wide, as if she were throwing a little tantrum of affection.

“Hold my hand?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay.”

I took the child’s hand and walked back toward the bathroom. The old corridor on the way home creaked under my footsteps.

Lifting my gaze a little, I saw the roof that had flown off on the day of the storm was now patched up. The new wooden planks, a different color from the originals, made the repair obvious to anyone. The work was clumsy, but it looked like it would be enough to keep out the rain and cold.