Day 18 of Being Trapped in a Terrible Game, Day 17 of Tutorial

To get straight to the point, the song was quite effective.

Since that was the only lullaby I knew, I immediately sang it whenever Anastasia showed signs of crying.

She never seemed to tire of it, always listening to the song with serious eyes as if finding it fascinating.

♡SYSTEM♡

Mental strength recovers after a long-awaited rest.

[Mental strength: 80/100]

As if to prove this, the next morning felt refreshing.

Was the world always this beautiful?

It’s funny how my attitude completely changed just from one good night’s sleep and finding a way to handle the baby…….

But I feel confident that I can handle anything now.

I desperately needed a day like this.

“Shall we spend time with Father again today?”

Anastasia stared at me blankly.

As she approaches one month of age, she seems to make eye contact quite well now.

‘Babies really are cute.’

Her cuteness, evolved for survival, draws attention just by breathing and makes me want to nibble her cheeks.

Cromwell is quite harsh to not even give this adorable creature a single glance.

Should I thr*st her toward him?

It’s ridiculous to beg for attention from someone who’s supposed to be a father, but……

“Still, I have to try.”

Let’s go!

I clenched my fist to pump myself up.

Today again, a fine breakfast was prepared at the right side of the head seat.

Since it was prepared when I became less talkative, it will probably disappear tomorrow.

I plan to be noisy again.

It’s better not to taste something I’ll miss for the rest of my life.

“I greet you, Duke Cromwell.”

“……”

“Good morning!”

If there was any difference from my usual greeting, it was that I thr*st Anastasia toward his face.

The baby didn’t cry, perhaps only feeling discomfort when actually touching the Duke.

Instead, she slightly opened her mouth and looked at the person in front of her.

“……What is this?”

Duke Cromwell frowned as he looked at Anastasia right in front of his nose.

“The lady has started making eye contact!”

I tilted my face slightly to meet Duke Cromwell’s eyes.

“She should see her father’s face more than her nanny’s.”

As always, I emphasized ‘father.’

The most important thing is for Duke Cromwell and Anastasia to recognize each other as family.

I anxiously watched to see if the old—he’s in his early twenties—Duke might develop inappropriate interest in the newborn, but he showed no signs of blushing.

‘……Should I be grateful for his indifference.’

I took Anastasia back and sat down.

The table was quiet as usual.

After experiencing this silence for over a week, I’ve grown accustomed to it.

Duke Cromwell slowly ate while scanning documents, and I fed Anastasia milk.

“……”

Anyway, I need to foster paternal love.

I can’t waste this precious time without any interaction.

Even if he’s not curious, I’ll bombard him with TMI.

Timing my words with when Duke Cromwell put down his documents, I opened my mouth.

“It seems the lady responds more to ‘Tasha’ than ‘Ann,’ could I call her Tasha for a while?”

I learned this after her crying subsided.

When I call her ‘Ann,’ she ignores me, but when I call her ‘Anastasia’ or ‘Tasha,’ she often makes eye contact.

I swear on the quest completion reward that it’s absolutely not because she dislikes ‘Ann’ for being too ordinary.

‘What can I do if she responds to Tasha?’

Of course, it would be a lie if I said I didn’t think ‘even newborns can distinguish between special and common names’ while watching Anastasia…….

“I think it’s important to help her recognize her name first.”

I timidly added, looking at the Duke who gave no answer.

Did I make a mistake? After all, it’s the name of the late Duchess…….

Duke Cromwell silently glanced at me, then shifted his gaze to a new document.

It meant I could do as I pleased.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from having breakfast with the Duke, it’s that while his likes may be unclear, his dislikes are painfully obvious.

Such a bland reaction meant ‘do as you wish.’

“Lady, I’ll occasionally call you Tasha from now on.”

When I pronounced the new nickname, Anastasia looked at me while drinking her milk.

This action proved my earlier claim, but Duke Cromwell was only looking at his documents.

There was no further conversation after that.

Afraid that if I suddenly became too talkative, he might say something like ‘this will be the last breakfast,’ I decided to be satisfied with this much conversation for now.

I plan to gradually increase the amount of dialogue, just as I had decreased it before.

While I was playing this one-sided game of reading the Duke’s mood, Anastasia finished her meal.

“I shall take my leave first.”

I stood up, patting Anastasia’s back.

The secret to maintaining this time for a long while is to disappear without lingering around for no reason.

It was Duke Cromwell who stopped me as I was about to leave.

“Yesterday,”

What’s this about?

I awkwardly sat back down on the chair.

For someone who made me die of curiosity, he didn’t satisfy that curiosity.

“……”

He didn’t speak for a long time.

……What did I do wrong yesterday?

—I shall take my leave now.

I can’t pretend not to know or act innocent when I’ve behaved shamefully.

I couldn’t control my emotions like a child…….

My face burns at the thought of yesterday’s events.

After ruffling his neatly arranged hair several times, Duke Cromwell finally spoke.

“I heard you visited the library.”

Thankfully, what came out of his mouth was unexpected.

How did he know that, and why is he telling me this……?

It wasn’t a visit, just peeking around.

“It’s good for children to be exposed to books from an early age.”

This conversation started with difficulty.

Now that the topic has come up, I should ask him to open the library…….

“I’ve ordered the library to be opened.”

But Duke Cromwell was one step ahead.

Am I hearing this correctly?

“Oh, really?”

This isn’t a soulless ‘oh, really.’

It’s an ‘oh, really’ where I can’t think of any other reaction except to ask again because I can’t believe this luck that fell from the sky.

Even though I’m not at a level where I can see Veros’s favorability yet!

♡SYSTEM♡ The library has been unlocked by [Duke Cromwell’s order]!

‘Is this what they call a cheat key? Hack? Early access? Something like that?’

Is Duke Cromwell sitting in that chair?

What’s this, I can only see light.

The halo radiating behind his silver head mercilessly pounded my corneas.

“……! Thank you!”

I expressed my gratitude a beat late.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have asked earlier!

I feel like giving him a kiss.

‘I guess he does care about Anastasia more than I thought.’

I never imagined he would look into the nanny’s activities.

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

“Hello!”

I confidently entered the library with Anastasia.

System windows saying my favorability was too low or entry was impossible no longer appeared.

“……”

Veros greeted me with a deadpan expression.

His haggard look resembled someone who had just heard they would die tomorrow.

“It was just a passing comment…… If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

Ugh.

With a sigh heavy enough to sink the ground, Veros shook his head.

Excuse me, but I have feelings too.

It seems he was the one who reported my library visit to the Duke.

It was probably more of a complaint than a simple report.

“Then please continue with your work……”

If I stay around this sensitive librarian, I’ll surely get another lecture.

I tried to avoid him with a casual greeting, but……

“No playing with fire in the library.”

Veros followed me.

“Why tell me something so obvious……”

“Just in case.”

He smiled.

To him, I seem to be a criminal, or more precisely, a potential arsonist who might burn down the library.

“But why are you following me?”

“Just in case.”

Veros recited all sorts of precautions beside me.

“It’s unavoidable if Lady Anastasia cries, but please refrain from making loud noises, Miss Keith. This includes exclamations like ‘Ah!’ or ‘Oh!’ When you finish reading a book, please don’t try to shelve it yourself, but place it on the return shelf. I’ll take care of everything. And please remember that books should never, ever be torn.”

It doesn’t feel great to be treated like someone who doesn’t know basic library etiquette.

“……I know all of this already……”

“You seem to have forgotten that these are all things you’ve done.”

Lorelai Keith, what on earth did you do to hit rock bottom in terms of trust?

“Since the Duke has permitted it, I’ll behave properly this time, really. You really don’t need to follow me.”

I tried to appease Veros.

I need to be alone to have a comfortable conversation when I meet Caligo.

‘I want to ask where Caligo is, but……’

Then he’d wonder how I know about the library’s situation and be suspicious of what I’m plotting with Caligo.

It’s unfair to quietly accept this as karma.

“Should I pinky promise?”

“What would I do with a pinky finger I’ll never use? Why collect it?”

“……”

Veros insisted on following me.

……I wonder if I’d get permanently banned from the library if I knocked him out briefly.