Chapter 54

“Why—would you like a daughter instead?”

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it…”

Whether he felt that he had to answer it, Gellerhard began to think much more seriously. Carl, who was simply idle in his father’s arms, slowly grabbed a tiny handful of Gellerhard’s hair and tucked it into his ear. Why would children love having their noses and ears stuck with hair like that? Suddenly, it appeared that Gellerhard’s hair was still wet.

“Why is your hair so wet? Let it dry first before you come over.”

If the water that got left in his hair were to go into Carl’s ears, it would be a big deal. I removed Carl’s small hand that was holding onto his hair. Carl’s hand then began to grip my finger tightly.

“It’s all because I just want to see you soon.”

He answered without any hesitation this time before Gellerhard reached out and cupped my cheek. His purple eyes thoroughly scanned both my face and body closely.

“I was worried since it must have hurt a lot.”

“Huh. Quite a lot.”

It did hurt a lot, so I immediately agreed to his words. Carl also added by following after my words as well.

“Mandy, it hurts a lot—”

Gellerhard’s hand caressed my back as well as my waist before I slowly took a step closer to him and kissed Carl on the cheek, when he suddenly burst into the conversation. Carl, who had become speechless even in the midst of it, was constantly copying people’s words and his vocabulary kept increasing day by day.

“I got much better thanks to Carl. Thank you for protecting me.”

“Huh! Mandy is all better!”

Gellerhard smiled at his son’s elated face as well as mine. It had been clear that he thought it was a good thing to say to a child. As I even knew that it was true, I eventually changed the topic with a smile. Carl wouldn’t be able to understand everything that I said to Gellerhard, but I still didn’t know how a child would remember what I spoke about, so I should tell him the truth of the incident while Carl wasn’t there.

“Are you going to come here right after the banquet?”

“Is that okay?”

“Hmm. Oh, but I often wake up even after sleeping for a while, so Gellerhard might be tired instead.”

After having this full stomach, it became hard to walk around and lie still for a long time. Even when I was sleeping, I would toss and turn to sleep several times. In fact, even after I fell asleep, I would often wake up. It was actually Gellerhard, who had just returned from a long journey, that I had been afraid of since he might not be able to get enough rest.

“Are you okay? Still, I’d like to sleep next to you.”

Gellerhard lowered his purple eyes slightly and spoke in a deep voice in response. He nodded his head more reluctantly because he had missed the sense of security that came through his large body, even if he couldn’t have sex as of the moment.

“Carl wants to sleep with you too!”

Carl, who had been sleeping together with me for the past few months, exclaimed instantly. Since he had been a child who slept so well that he would not even know if he was being carried off, Carl had shared the bed with me for the past few months without any sort of discomfort at all. He then asked while stroking Carl’s soft hair.

“Will Carl sleep with us as well?”

At my words, Carl responded loudly with a nod.

“It is. Then, Carl sleeps here too.”

Another kiss landed on the cheek. During the time I was full, I could no longer hug Carl like before, but I started kissing him as much as I could instead. Carl immediately held out his lips and raised his head. When my cheeks were brought closer, his small pair of lips brushed against me before it fell off.

“Me too.”

The moment I lifted my head while laughing at Gellerhard’s words, I could see that Carl was already sticking out his lips and raising his head towards Gellerhard’s chin. Gellerhard, who was actually waiting for my kiss, smiled at Carl before lowering his head to look at his son and eventually smiled after him. Just as Carl had been waiting for, he was finally able to kiss Gellerhard’s stocky chin.

“I’m glad that you came back only after shaving.”

I also stroked his smooth cheek as I gave a kiss on top of it. Out of consideration for my heavy body, Gellerhard didn’t even raise his bottom until Carl and I finally had our dinner.

“I just wish that we could have a meal together over here…”

The banquet that was held after returning had not been a matter that could be easily missed by the Duke himself. With a faint sigh, Gellerhard then rose from his seat. His hair was still half dried.

“Don’t get up. I will come back as soon as possible.”

Gellerhard stopped me from trying to stand up. As I sat back down, I suddenly thought of him coming back to my bedroom while smelling like alcohol later.

“Have a good meal. And don’t drink too much.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Gellerhard nodded his head earnestly and put down Carl, who never tried to escape from his arms even for just a moment.

“Carl, our Young Master. Your father says that he is going to eat now.”

“Are you going to eat?”

“Yes, see you later.”

“Okay. Then, later…”

Carl calmly sat next to me and waved to Gellerhard.

“See you later!”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”