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A sudden warmth and a voice that came out of nowhere stopped Leticia's hand.
Startled by this, Leticia inadvertently handed over the towel.
"I can do it..."
However, unlike his confident snatching of the towel, Idris was clumsy.
'It must be because he's never attended to anyone in his life.'
But his next words revealed a different reason.
"...Too weak."
"What is?"
"Your neck. It feels like it would break with the slightest pressure. I'm uneasy."
Well, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?
Thinking that, she looked in the mirror and understood why he was complaining.
Without exaggeration, his hand was almost the size of Leticia's head.
Even so, his awkward touch, refusing to give up, made her laugh.
"Why are you laughing?"
"It's funny to see His Grace the Grand Duke acting as a grooming servant."
The man, who would normally have wittily countered her words, was focused on brushing her hair. Just as clumsy and awkward.
Watching him, Leticia's eyes sparkled as if something had occurred to her, and she let out a small exclamation.
"Do you have anything to do today?"
"Why? Are you going to play with me if I don't?"
"Well... something like that."
Just then, the brushing was finished.
Leticia got up and led Idris to the table.
Then, she placed the documents she had brought down in front of him.
"While I'm organizing what I'm going to do, please review this."
<Charity Bazaar Budget Proposal>.
Only then did Idris realize her plan and looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
"...Is this really playing with me? Or are you just using me?"
In response, Leticia smiled faintly instead of answering.
"I'm the Grand Duke Dellua's lover, aren't I? If I don't do this properly, your position will be in trouble too."
"Ha, now you're even threatening me."
"His Grace is a kind person, so he'll gladly do that much for his lover, right?"
Idris glared at Leticia as if he was at a loss for words, but he didn't seem to dislike it that much.
In the end, he began to review the documents as she wished.
The documents were neat. Not only the handwriting, but also the details.
It was to the point where there was no need to review them.
In any case, he completed the review wholeheartedly as Leticia had asked.
But...
"...Leticia?"
He thought he hadn't heard the sound of her writing on paper for a while.
Before he knew it, Leticia was asleep, slumped on the table.
"Seriously, is she sleeping?"
"......"
"With me right in front of her?"
She had been on guard when she first entered the room.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Leticia, who had let her guard down and fallen asleep.
But the laughter soon disappeared, leaving only a subtle look in his eyes.
"Should I be sad that I can't make you feel tense, or..."
He muttered, fiddling with Leticia's blonde hair scattered on the table with his long fingers.
"Should I be happy that you trust me?"
He didn't like her being too wary, but he didn't like her trusting him too much either.
He couldn't figure out what this feeling was.
He couldn't figure out why he was making up all sorts of absurd reasons to stay by her side, and then being unable to do anything about her unguarded state.
Idris watched the sleeping Leticia with self-deprecation at his contradictory self, then quietly picked her up.
And just as he carefully laid her on the bed.
Leticia, whose eyelids were twitching, suddenly opened her eyes wide.
'...?!'
Leticia, who had woken up after dozing off, froze at the situation in front of her.
No wonder, Idris's face was right in front of her!
Staring at Idris in a frozen state, Leticia was able to easily deduce the current situation from her last memory.
She had fallen asleep while planning her work.
And Idris was in the middle of moving her to the bed.
'Should I say thank you...? Should I say sorry? No, more than that.'
The distance is too close.
But the reason why it was difficult to open her lips was not because of the breath-catching distance...
It was because of the darkness in his eyes, which were turned away from the light.
She was afraid of that darkness that seemed like it would pounce and devour her as soon as she opened her lips.
But the heavily pressing silence was just as suffocating.
Eventually, Leticia opened her mouth.
"...I'm sorry. I've been tired lately because I've had so much to worry about—"
But before she could finish her sentence, Idris moved even closer instead of pulling away.
Leticia's heart sank as his shadow fell over her.
At that moment.
"Don't trust me too much, Leticia."
Along with a voice that dropped low, his forehead bumped against her forehead.
"Because I'm not as good a man as you think."
His shadow, which had been cast over her, and his arm, which had been supporting her neck, were gone.
Soon, the sound of the door closing could be heard.
Only then did Leticia realize.
That the loud thumping sound in her ears was her heartbeat.
The next day, only one thought floated around in my head all day long.
"Don't trust me too much, Leticia."
...What on earth did that mean?
This morning, I didn't see Idris's face because he went to work early.
That's why I was even more worried.
"Young Lady Chloe?"
"......Ah."
I had even come to visit the orphanage but was still lost in thought, and only came to my senses when I heard Michael's voice.
"I'm sorry. I've been a little out of it lately. I'll snap out of it now."
There's nothing more foolish than dragging the caretaker into work during work hours.
After shaking off the unnecessary thoughts, I followed Michael around the orphanage.
The size of the orphanage was not very large, but it was equipped with a classroom with a chalkboard that was not found in other orphanages.
"If we receive support this time, we would like to teach not only writing, but also fields in which each child has talent, such as sewing or art."
"That's a good idea. There will be many children who have talent in other areas than language."
Michael, who was usually shy, was more confident and sure of himself than anyone else when explaining this project, just like yesterday.
After passing through the classroom, the next place we arrived at was...
"This is... a library?"
"Yes. Since the teachers can't teach everything, I created a small library in the hope that the children would find the answers themselves."
As Michael said, the scale was still small, but it was a place that resembled a library.
'It's definitely a business worth donating to and investing in. For the sake of those children's future, and for the sake of this empire's future.'
After looking around the library, I felt a great sense of responsibility for how important the work I was in charge of this time was.
As I strengthened my resolve and tried to move to the next place.
There was something that caught my attention.
'Huh?'
It was the three small shadows that had been following us for a while.
When I felt the presence behind me and turned around, I saw three children hiding behind the wall, watching us.
I thought they would run away or hide as soon as they made eye contact...
Two of the boys, who looked to be about ten years old, quickly hid.
But a girl who looked to be about six or seven years old ran towards us with a tearful expression.
With an old teddy bear in her arms.
And then...
"Teacher, boyfriend?"
She pointed at me with her small hand and asked Michael.
Then Michael's face turned red in an instant.
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