Mrs. Holson didn’t seem particularly satisfied with that conclusion, but she appeared to accept it nonetheless. That was a relief. A romance rumor between me and Duke Baniche? It was such a horrifying thought that even imagining it gave me goosebumps. If the ducal family found out, they’d want to quarter me.

“Haha, Mrs. Holson, there’s no way… Mr. Theodore is just Elodie’s father.”

I shook my head.

“What a shame, what a shame. I thought you two looked good together!”

“We probably look good together because of Elodie. Both Mr. Theodore and I cherish Elodie.”

“True, Miss Bertin has become much brighter since Elodie came.”

Fortunately, Mrs. Holson seemed to accept my words and didn’t probe further.

The rest of the time passed naturally. The Duke watched, entranced, as Elodie began busily collecting autumn leaves. I chatted with the other ladies while looking for children around Elodie’s age that she could meet frequently.

In the midst of this, it finally became time to eat the prepared lunch.

“Elodie!”

I called out to Elodie.

“It’s time for lunch!”

I saw Elodie bouncing over like a spring. I chuckled as I unpacked the lunchbox.

‘It’s a good thing I made plenty.’

Fortunately, there was enough for the three of us to share. I had originally packed extra to share with other children, so there wasn’t a shortage.

“Elodie, sit here.”

I tried to seat Elodie between the Duke and me, but Elodie shook her head and sat behind me. Finding myself suddenly between Elodie and the Duke, I sighed.

‘Well, I suppose this is more convenient for serving food…’

Just as I was about to offer the lunchbox to the Duke, having given up,

“It’s fine. I brought my own food.”

He said, pulling something out of his pocket.

‘…?’

I frowned. What the Duke took out of his pocket looked far from luxurious food. It looked like…

‘A protein bar?’

Moreover, it was a long, gray, tasteless-looking solid that seemed even less appetizing than the protein bars I had eaten countless times before my transmigration.

“Will that be enough for you?”

“It’s what I always eat, so there’s no need to worry.”

Oh, does he think he’s some kind of cold city man… I thought briefly, before forcibly taking what looked like a protein bar from his hand. In the process, my hand briefly touched his, but I was too annoyed by the sight of this protein bar-like thing to care about such trivial contact.

“…!”

The Duke looked at me with wide eyes.

“Don’t eat this in front of the child.”

I sniffed it. There was no sweet or savory smell that should come from food, it was completely odorless. Such a thing would obviously be tasteless too. In other words, it wasn’t fit for human consumption.

“For someone with so much money, to eat this…”

“It’s because I have money that I can eat this.”

The Duke stiffly corrected me.

“Taste doesn’t matter much to me anyway. As long as I can eat quickly and fill my stomach, that’s enough.”

“Ah, is that so?”

I responded reflexively. It seemed to indeed be some kind of protein bar, but this wasn’t right.

“Your Grace, I don’t care what you eat, but not in front of Elodie. Understand?”

“…Understood.”

The Duke nodded reluctantly. I was relieved that Elodie wouldn’t have to see more of her biological father’s self-destructive behavior. Indeed, Elodie needed to live with me.

The thought of this adorable child following that cold, emotionless human and eating protein bars for every meal was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

‘No, that absolutely cannot happen.’

And even if he was the villain of the original story, he should eat proper food instead of these protein bars.

‘Such things should disappear from this world!’

I handed the Duke an egg mayo sandwich.

“I’m thinking of making this a new menu item at the cafe. Please try it.”

The Duke looked at the sandwich with an expression that showed absolutely no expectation, but reluctantly took it from my hand. Once again, the Duke’s hard, calloused hand touched mine. Well, my hands weren’t particularly soft either due to years of labor, but they were still better than the Duke’s.

‘He’ll probably just take one bite with a face that shows how much he hates it.’

I decided not to pay attention to whether the Duke was nibbling on the sandwich or not and started eating the lunchbox with Elodie. The food I had made myself was delicious. So much so that both Elodie and I were eating silently and earnestly. At least until a word slipped from the Duke’s mouth.

“This is delicious.”

The response was the same dry tone as before, but this time something was different. Contrary to the bland expression, it sounded like he genuinely found it delicious. I was a bit surprised and looked at Duke Baniche, only to be even more shocked. Duke Baniche was staring at the sandwich with unbelieving eyes.

I prayed that Duke Baniche wasn’t allergic to eggs or mayonnaise. Of course, being a capable person, he wouldn’t die, but Baniche was the villain. It wouldn’t do any good to provoke him. Duke Baniche continued speaking.

“I can… taste it…”

I frowned. What nonsense was he talking about? Of course, he would taste the delicious flavor. I cautiously asked Duke Baniche,

“Um, are you alright?”

“…”

Duke Baniche didn’t say anything. Instead, he took another bite of the sandwich.

“…!”

His eyes widened, and the hand holding the sandwich trembled.

“Is it spoiled? If so, you don’t need to eat anymore, just give it here…”

Sensing an unusual aura from the Duke, I trailed off. That’s when it happened. The Duke slowly raised his head to look at me. I inhaled sharply. His red gaze was intensely fixed on me.

“…”

I swallowed hard. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I couldn’t open my mouth properly. There was a dangerous glint in the Duke’s eyes. Unlike the mad look from before, it was more like…

‘Just like a predator.’

Moreover, it was as fierce as the gaze of a predator that had just discovered its prey after being unaware of its presence for a long time…

‘I-ignore it.’

I tried to shake off the uneasy feeling. Anyway, as long as Elodie was sticking close to me, the Duke couldn’t harm me. He certainly wouldn’t want to do something that would make his beloved daughter never forgive him.

Swish. At the sound of something passing by, I unconsciously lowered my head. It seemed like a leaf was moving…?

“Kyaaaa!”

Embarrassingly, as soon as I looked down, a shrill scream burst from my mouth. A giant centipede had caught my eye. No, I have a lot to say about this too. Don’t they say autumn centipedes are the most venomous?

And here, as autumn was almost over, a centipede as long as Elodie’s arm with bushy legs was quickly crawling up my skirt!

“Aria!”

I heard Elodie’s terrified voice from afar.

“Don’t come here!”

I shouted, trembling. It would be terrible if Elodie got bitten. I tried to think. No, I tried to make an effort to think. But my mind, frozen in shock, couldn’t produce any thoughts. That’s when a large shadow fell over me. It was Duke Baniche. I was so frozen that I couldn’t react at all. In those few seconds, Duke Baniche dealt with the centipede simply. It was a very primitive method. He just grabbed the crawling thing with his hand and threw it away.

“…”

I gasped for breath. Should I be alarmed that he grabbed a venomous centipede with his bare hand? Or should I be grateful that he solved the problem while I was too scared to do anything? I couldn’t decide which reaction I should show.

Of course, since the other party was the villainous Duke, I chose to respond with a polite greeting.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“It’s nothing.”

The Duke’s eyebrows curved.

“You’re more timid than you look.”