One Step Forward to the Flower Path

Dante also brought Ivanna’s dinner himself.  As the Duke of the biggest and richest duchy, work was constantly piled up; but Ivanna’s meal was absolutely his top priority.

Alaine handed a tray with meals to Dante, who seemed to be reaching out to it like it was the most natural act.

“It would be nice if His Grace had a meal with her too.”

That line had a good ring to it.

“A meal with Ivanna.”

He was already happy enough to watch the child emptying the bowl little by little.  It was overwhelming for him to see his child grow up.  But that was the limit for now.

“Should I prepare it?”

“No, not yet.  The counselor told me that the most delicate stage is when she just opened her heart.  I can’t be impatient.  I have pay attention and do things slowly.”

‘Oh, I see.’ At the words, Alaine’s eagerness loosened.

It seems that she became a little impatient because the Young Lady finally opened her heart wide enough to take a bath.  It was only yesterday when she asked for bath, but she was already suggesting to Dante that they eat together today.  They can’t be impatient.  They must keep in the mind that a treatment never occurs in an instant.

Dante headed to Ivanna’s room.  There is now a daughter in the room where Louise used to stay often.  He felt both sadness and joy.

“I think I’ll have to see His Majesty soon.”

However, the Emperor is located in the capital, the center of the empire.  The Duchy of Vicente, where Dante is, was at the border.  He could not go to the capital because it would mean leaving Ivanna alone, nor could the Emperor come as to the Duchy.

“I have to send a letter.”

Although he was sure that the Emperor had already heard from Countess Irene, but it would be different if he himself would be the one to send a letter about the child.

‘I’m sure they are waiting.’

“······.”

Arriving in front of the door, Dante paused for a moment at the fuss he felt inside.  It wasn’t the same scream or confusion as yesterday, instead, children’s chatter voices overflowed.

“This way, this way!”

“Will the ball roll over there because you scream at it?”

“You just need to kick it well!”

“Shall I kick your head off?”

The constant quarrels of twins.

“The ball keeps moving alone!”

Ivanna’s pleasing shout, not screaming or crying.

Dante knew for the first time that Ivanna could shout something that wasn’t screaming.

“That’s right, I didn’t kick it wrong!”

“It’s the ball’s fault!”

The quarreling twins immediately changed their posture and agreed with Ivanna.  Dante burst into laughter without realizing it.

“It’s noisy.”

When Louise was there, the place seemed to be full of life, but after her disappearance, the mansion became as still as death.  The twins, who were supposed to be children, in the midst of their father’s anger remained silent and grew up so fast.  Because of the Imperial blood, the Imperial Family achieves faster mental growth than their age, but that was not what made the fast growth of the twins.  Dante realized it late.

Knock, knock.

When I knocked on the door, the noise inside died down.  Somehow it was a little disappointing.

“You’re here, Father.”

“Is it already evening?”

As Dante went inside, the twins, who were sweating and gasping, opened their eyes round.  They didn’t even know that it was already dark outside because they were busy playing.

“It’s late, so go back to your room now.”

The twins frowned regretfully.  Ivanna, who was breathing louder than the twins, hugged the rolling ball.

“Are we going to stop playing?”

“If you want to play again tomorrow, you should take a break today.”

“Why?”

“That way, you can play more.  If you play too hard today, you won’t be able to play for a while tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  Your sister and brother will come tomorrow, so let’s stop here for today.”

“Come tomorrow?”

“If little sister wants it.”

Valerie and Luan replied at the same time.  Ivanna, wiggling the ball, nodded her head.

“Let’s have fun tomorrow, too.”

“I’ll be back then.”

“Let’s play tomorrow, too.”

Valerie and Luan simultaneously patted Ivanna’s hair.  Ivanna opened her eyes in surprise.  Instead of retreating, the twins smiled wide at their little sibling who’s not used to the patting hands above her head.

“Let’s continue playing together in the future.”

Ivanna touched her hair with a small hand.  She was so cute that the twins and Dante laughed happily.

“I’ll be on my way then.”

Valerie and Luan sadly left while Dante looked back at the children.

“Valerie, Luan.”

“What?”

When the twins stopped and looked up at him, Dante took turns patting the two on the head with one hand.

“You did nothing wrong, so don’t blame yourselves.”

The twins opened their eyes wide.  Dante was a little sorry to hear about the two from Sullivan.

“Rather, thanks to you, I have been able to cross the biggest hurdle.  Thank you.”

The twins shut their mouths tight.  They were surprised that a blunt father suddenly stroked their heads and even thanked them.  Of course, they didn’t hate it, but it was rather embarrassing.

“······Yes.”

The twins blushed at the same time, quickly lowered their heads and went outside.  After Ivanna came, the mansion was completely changed.  Much more than in Louise’s time.  It was a pleasant change.

“Ivanna, let’s eat.”

I still think it’s too early to eat together, but I wondered if it would be okay to use the table, so I opened a low bed table that could be used on the floor.

When I put the tray on it, Ivanna, who had come down with the ball, leaned up.

“What is this?”

“It’s a table. If you eat with a bowl on the floor, your back and throat hurts. It will be more comfortable if you do this.”

‘Oh, right.’ Originally, when she ate with her mother, she always sat in a chair and ate at the table.

‘I lived so long like that in my first life that I got used to it.’

Ivanna nodded and sat down in front of the table. Dante was relieved, nervous that she would say no.

“What’s this?”

Today’s meal was tomato pasta with delicious grilled meatballs. It was prepared especially like this because she can’t eat only soup and bread forever.

“It’s pasta. The red sauce was made with tomatoes.”

“It’s red, but isn’t it strawberry?”

“There are many red things besides strawberries.”

“Is it delicious?”

“I like it.  Would you like to try it?”

Dante rolled the noodles and put them around the child’s mouth because she was not good at using forks and spoons yet.  Ivanna sniffed and opened her mouth.

“How is it?”

Dante looked nervous and saw the child’s lips wriggling.  The child, who had a serious look as if she had faced the most profound problem in the world, nodded her head.

“Strange?”

She thought about it for a while, but soon shook her head.  Dante again rolled the pasta and put it in her mouth.  Ivanna kept tilting her head and emptied it without leaving anything behind.  She didn’t even spit out tomatoes.

“Here, drink juice.”

Dante thought that tomato pasta may not suit her taste, so he brought some strawberry juice just in case.  When he gave her the glass, she drank it deliciously.  As soon as she emptied the glass, red strawberry juice smeared on her lips and cheeks. Ivanna gently wiped it with a soft cloth before wiping it with her hands.

“Was the pasta not good?”

“It was amazing!”

‘She didn’t say no. I’m glad I can bring more variety of food.’

“Then would you like to try this this time?

Dante cleared the empty bowl and put the chubby macaron on one side of the tray in front of Ivanna, who pricked it with her hand.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a macaron. It’s very sweet and delicious.”

“Sweet?”

“Sweet.”

Perhaps because of the word ‘sweet’, she was less alert than when she first saw pasta. Ivanna quickly grabbed the macaron and ate it.  Her pretty purple eyes turned round.

“Delicious?”

“Delicious!”

‘It seems that she’s inherited this trait from me and Louise. Seeing that she likes sweets the same way too.’

Ivanna bit the macaron with excitement.  And Dante carefully held her hand as she reached for another, even though she still had one in her mouth.

“You can take your time, Ivanna.  Because no one will take it away.  It’s all yours.”

“Mine······?”

“Yes, it’s only for you, so you don’t have to rush.  It’s all right to eat slowly.”

‘Only for me.’

Ivanna saw the macaron in front of her again.  Five colorful macarons.  

‘All these delicious things are mine?  It’s only for me?’

Ivanna glanced up at her dad.  As if it were true, her dad never touched the macaron.  He waited for her to chew on what was in her mouth.

‘It was really mine.’

Ivanna ate the macaron slowly.  No matter how slow she ate, her dad was neither fidgeting nor angry.  It was quite different from the people who took away the bowl when it was time to empty it.  So Ivanna could taste the sweet and delicious macaron for a long time.

***

After dinner, Sullivan came and put some medicine on her body once again.  She didn’t take a bath because the skin was so weak that it was still not in good condition to wash every day.

Ivanna was very sleepy.  She thought it because the medicine that was put on her body smelled of fragrant grass.  But she also thought that maybe because she played too much during the day.

‘Dad was right.  I was so sleepy that I couldn’t run like in daytime.  I thought I would be able to sleep very well if I lie down right now and snore like this.’

The sound of Sullivan packing her luggage was heard.  But Ivanna couldn’t open her eyes.  She felt that her eyelids seemed to stick together.

“Are you done?”

As she fell asleep, she heard her dad’s voice.  Ivanna flinched a finger without her knowledge.

“She must be very tired. She just fell asleep.”

“Seems like playing with the twins made her use all her energy.  Good work.  Go ahead.”

She could hear the door closing.  The sound of footsteps that came near was heavier than Sullivan’s.  Ivanna’s heavy body tossed and turned in the midst of her sleepiness.

“Daddy······?”

“Yes.”

“Daddy······.”

“Yes, I’ll be here for you, so sleep without worries.”

Ivanna felt her father’s warm hand tickled her hair.  The touch on the forehead and cheek, far from being scary, felt really good.  She knew this is a hand, but she wasn’t scared because it was her dad’s hand.  She knows that her dad’s hand was a hand that held her warmly.

“Daddy······.”

“Yes.”

“Daddy······.”

“Yes, Ivanna.”

‘No matter how many times I called him my dad while sleeping, my dad answered again and again.’

The warm and friendly voice was so good that Ivanna smiled.  And she knew that she would have a good dream today.