Chapter 22
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Chapter 22
Vivian's eyes fluttered open.
"Looking at the grain, it's ginkgo wood. The lack of discoloration suggests it was dried thoroughly in the shade."
I could see Curtis examining the bookmark with meticulous attention.
"Ginkgo wood's scent repels insects. It's excellent for preserving books. This will prove quite useful."
"..."
"You have a keen eye for assessing objects."
That's when Vivian understood.
Curtis's earlier misinterpretation of my feelings had been nothing more than a playful jest to tease me.
"I shall use it well."
His way of praising the object's merits was simply his awkward method of complimenting a child.
Vivian, who had been blinking her large eyes with a bewildered expression, finally shed her worries and smiled brightly.
"You're too kind!"
And seizing the moment, she pressed forward.
"So can I come read books with the Duke from now on?"
Curtis raised one eyebrow at Vivian's unexpectedly sharp conversational turn.
"...How did the conversation shift in that direction?"
"My etiquette instructor said that you can tell what kind of person someone is by looking at the books they read."
"You wish to know about me? Why?"
"Because I want to become friends with the Duke."
Curtis's brow furrowed at Vivian's answer.
"So the gift was indeed a bribe."
Unwilling to continue unnecessary conversation, he moved directly to the point.
"What is it that you desire?"
Vivian's eyes blinked at his blunt question.
"If you speak honestly about what you want, I may grant it."
Since Vivian's arrival, the atmosphere of the Estate had transformed.
'Not only Rachel, but even the servants who were unsettled in this unfamiliar Village—she's changed them all.'
Considering the changes this child had brought, even if her intentions were audacious, there was little I couldn't grant her.
Whatever the child desired would hardly be difficult from my position.
Moreover, once someone has tasted the sweetness of power, they become all the more loyal.
There was no harm in conditioning her in advance from my perspective as her master.
But...
"I don't want anything. All I wish for is to become friends with the Duke."
The mischievous child's eyes were so clear and honest that they seemed resolute.
That's precisely why Curtis felt even more bewildered.
"Why, exactly?"
"Because the Duke seems like a good person."
Not frightening, but good?
It was an unfamiliar descriptor for him.
"...So?"
"My philosophy teacher once said, 'When you gain a good friend, it's as though you've lived another life entirely.'"
"..."
"That's why I want to be friends with the Duke."
Caltz swallowed a hollow laugh.
I'd arranged for the child to attend lessons thinking it would benefit her, yet in that brief span, her mind had grown remarkably sharper.
A Duke—himself—becoming friends with a commoner, and one who was two generations his junior no less.
Vivian, as if she'd read the very thoughts churning in Caltz's mind, smiled innocently and declared her ambitions.
"Wouldn't it be fun to be friends with me? I have plenty of friends around your age, you know."
"Ha."
She even made a point of mentioning that befriending someone her age wasn't new to her.
Caltz, utterly taken aback, let out a genuine chuckle.
She was far more cunning than he'd anticipated—or perhaps, far more formidable.
* * *
From that day forward, whenever Rachel attended his heir's lessons, Vivian would seek out Caltz.
Though I'd worried he might grow annoyed and chase her away, Caltz received her warmly.
How could one tell from his austere demeanor that he regarded Vivian favorably?
For instance...
'Oh, apple juice today!'
Small things like refreshments arranged precisely at the time Vivian would arrive, just as they were now.
Vivian interpreted this as a positive sign.
'Of course, the Butler must have prepared it.'
Yet the fact that Caltz, who never touched the refreshments himself, hadn't ordered them cleared away meant he tacitly approved.
"Thank you for the meal!"
Caltz, watching Vivian eat the refreshments with earnest appetite, asked a question.
"Which book would you like to discuss today?"
Their conversations typically consisted of Vivian asking about books she'd studied or read, with Caltz answering in turn.
'Has the Duke truly read every book in the House of Edelwein's collection?'
At first, Vivian had harbored doubts about Caltz's claims.
Yet regardless of which book she mentioned, he understood it effortlessly, proving his words were genuine.
"In philosophy class today, I read a book called 'Life is a Series of Regrets,' and I'd love to discuss it with you."
Caltz let out a soft laugh.
For a mere nine-year-old, the books she read were remarkably profound.
Yet separate from that observation, he found himself genuinely curious about what a nine-year-old who'd read such a work might think.
"Have you ever experienced deep regret in your life?"
"Yes. That's why reading this book made me reflect on that incident once more."
"That incident?"
Just then, an unnamed bird began singing on a branch visible through the window.
Vivian, gazing at it pensively, began to speak.
"Once, my father went to the Forest and brought back a baby bird that had lost its mother. It was so adorable. I raised it carefully and released it back into the Forest, but..."
Kaltz gazed steadily at the child's dejected eyes.
Without hearing the rest of the story, I could sense what had happened.
"A few days later, we found it dead in front of our house. It looked like it had been bitten by a snake and fled to our home."
"You must have regretted releasing the bird back into the Forest."
"Terribly so. I kept thinking—if only I hadn't sent it to the Forest then and had kept it with me instead, wouldn't we still be together now? I thought about it constantly."
"Kind intentions do not always yield good outcomes."
"...."
"But that is not your fault."
"...."
"You did not know what the future held, and you made the choice you believed was best at that moment."
"That's true."
"And it was also the bird's choice. In the end, it was the bird's decision to leave your arms and fly away."
"But... if I had never let it outside from the beginning, wouldn't it have never flown away?"
"If you had kept it locked in a cage and fed it only delicacies, it might have spent its entire life yearning for the outside world and resented you on the day it died."
That the bird would not have been happy had Vivian done so—I knew this well.
Because once, I myself raised Isela in precisely that manner, so precious and beloved was she to me.
Kaltz continued.
"Hypotheticals upon hypotheticals lead nowhere. Focus only on what actually occurred."
"What actually occurred...."
"That bird lived well during the time it spent by your side, and once it returned to the Forest, it surely enjoyed its freedom and was happy."
"...."
"Of course, in its final moments, it may have regretted its choice as well, but that is not your burden to bear. That is its own."
Though it might sound somewhat cold, it was my way of offering comfort.
"However sorrowful, release the past that cannot be undone. That creature would not wish for you to be held captive by it, bound to what has already passed."
Vivian stared intently at Kaltz as he spoke.
After finishing, Kaltz felt her gaze and looked back at the child.
It occurred to me that my somewhat cold tone might have wounded her, but contrary to that expectation, Vivian let out a bright laugh.
"You're truly an adult, Duke."
"...Truly an adult?"
"I think a true adult is someone who knows far more than a child does. That's why it seems you understand my feelings so well."
At the child's words, Kaltz let out a soft chuckle.
Yet that laughter carried a note of self-mockery.
I merely speak with polished words; I have never once felt like I became an 'adult,' no matter how many years have passed.
I still make wrong choices and regret them.
I advise the child to release the past, yet I myself remain trapped in it still.
Then Vivian, her eyes bright and keen, asked.
"Have you ever regretted something, Duke?"
Kaltz, who had been dwelling on the past, faltered at the child's question.
"Since you listened to my story, I'd like to listen to yours too."
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