The next day, Leciel woke up with the maid telling her that it was time for breakfast.

“Ah, I slept well.”

Leciel’s face wore a satisfied smile as she stood up and stretched.

She had worried that she might have trouble sleeping due to nightmares last night, but fortunately, she had a good sleep.

‘As expected, the bed is amazing.’

It had been so long since she had slept in such a soft bed.

With such a bed to sleep on from now on, she felt she would continue to enjoy peaceful nights.

Although this was just a villa, soon she would be leaving for the Grand Duke’s mansion in the capital, where the bed would surely be just as comfortable and soft.

Thinking about it made her look forward to it.

However, Leciel quickly got out of bed at the maid’s remark that the Grand Duke, Kael, was waiting to have breakfast with her.

She asked the maid to wait outside for a moment.

Before going out for breakfast, there was something she needed to take care of.

The maid obediently left the room at Leciel’s words.

Then Leciel gently woke up Mimi, who had slept with her.

Mimi was already awake at the sound of Leciel’s movement.

“I’m going out for a bit, so stay here quietly and don’t cause any trouble.”

Since Mimi hadn’t received permission from Kael yet, it wouldn’t be good if others saw her wandering alone.

Mimi understood Leciel’s words through her friendly body language and nodded cutely.

However, at the same time, she gave Leciel a disappointed look as if she didn’t want to be separated from her.

After a quick wash and change of clothes, Leciel headed to the dining room with the maid’s guidance.

There, Kael and Carren were already waiting for him.

“Did you sleep well?”

“It was comfortable to sleep without someone tossing and turning next to me for once.”

“You’re so blunt. You could have just said you missed me.”

Despite knowing Kael’s words weren’t literal, Leciel pretended not to understand, cheekily responding.

After politely greeting them with gratitude for the good sleep she had in their fine house, she thought to herself that simply saying she slept well would suffice. Admitting she had missed him would only complicate things.

“Well, I suppose I did miss you.”

Even with such a light remark, Kael found Leciel’s behavior amusing and chuckled.

Seeing his expression, Leciel looked at him as if to say, “That’s not it.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What’s wrong with my expression?”

“It looked like a silly kid’s expression.”

“Really? I thought it was a cute kid’s expression.”

Taken aback by being called silly, Leciel raised an eyebrow in response.

“It seems you’ve accepted being called a kid.”

“That’s not what I meant to convey; I meant <cute>.'”

“Okay, cute kid.”

Kael said with a mischievous expression, emphasizing the word <kid> deliberately.

In response, Leciel glared at him with annoyance, but she didn’t say more beyond expressing dissatisfaction.

She felt it would be futile to engage in further conversation with Kael, who seemed to be teasing her just for fun.

In fact, whenever they engaged in verbal banter, Kael always emerged as the victor.

‘Anyway, he never gives up even if he’s an adult.’

Leciel puffed out her cheeks.

Kael chuckled again at the sight.

Truly, she was an honest child.

It wasn’t easy to show emotions so openly on one’s face. Therefore, teasing her was even more enjoyable.

However, Kael decided not to tease Leciel further, as he was afraid of upsetting her.

It wasn’t easy because her chubby cheeks seemed to be asking to be poked.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Apparently, the bed in the Grand Duke’s house is so soft that sleep comes easily to me.”

“You really liked the bed.”

“Very much, immensely, absolutely!”

If she were to rate the bed in the Grand Duke’s house, she would give it 110 out of 100 points.

“Good to hear.”

Kael was worried Leciel might have trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

“And I usually sleep well anywhere, as long as it’s not the floor.”

“Well, I guess that’s why you managed even in such place.”

Recalling where Leciel had lived in the demon forest, Kael nodded in agreement.

“Even if it was that kind of place, it was my comfortable home in its own way.”

How much effort she had put into building that home.

Leciel recalled with a touch of emotion.

“It must have been a precious place for you, and I was thoughtless.”

Though he didn’t mean to belittle her living conditions, if she felt that way, it was his mistake.

Even if that place was worse than a stable, considering her situation, it must have been a haven for her.

Meanwhile, Carren, pretending not to be interested, listened carefully to their conversation.

He was wondering whether there would be an answer to his question in their conversation.

He had refused to hear any answers from Leciel because he didn’t want to be teased by his father, but that didn’t mean his curiosity had vanished.

If his father had described her as a lifesaver, there must have been a reason for it, but he couldn’t fathom what it could be.

If interpreted literally, it meant she had saved his father from death. But how could a young girl like her save his father by any means?

Therefore, he was even more curious.

And Carren was the type of person who had to find out the things that made him curious.

Carren was perfectionistic, and not knowing something made him oddly uncomfortable and unhappy.

Soon after, as Leciel sat down, food was served.

“Whoa…!”

Leciel couldn’t help but marvel at the continuous stream of dishes.

Observing her, Kael casually remarked.

“We should get you a chin rest.”

“… huh? A chin rest?”

“You seem about to drool all over the table…”

“It’s not that bad.”

She wouldn’t drool because she was 10, not some toddler who was barely one or two years old.

Leciel turned her face away with a somewhat grim expression.

“Then eat.”

Kael smirked at Leciel.

“But isn’t this a bit much for breakfast?”

Looking at the plentiful food, Leciel asked, wondering if she could really finish it all.

“With two growing kids, shouldn’t we have this much?”

“It seems like a lot for that.”

“You need to eat this much to gain some weight and grow taller, don’t you think?”

“Do I?”

Leciel murmured as she slowly lifted her arms and looked at her wrist.

Even though she was still young, her wrist looked exceptionally thin.

Indeed, she seemed small and skinny when compared to Carren in front of her.

Their genders were different, and there was an age gap, so it was natural to have some physical differences, but even considering that, Leciel was unusually small.

No one would believe that she was ten years old.

‘I need to eat more and grow taller.’

That way, she could shed that kid’s image and start looking like her age.

With this in mind, Leciel began to eat somewhat aggressively.

Observing Leciel eating with determined, Kael paused his own meal and looked at her with an intrigued expression.

Her expression was so serious that one might think she was fighting rather than dining.

Moreover, her cheeks, now puffy from stuffing the food inside, resembled stuffed steamed buns.

In contrast to her struggle to live, her fair skin gave off a milky-bun-like impression.

“Why are you staring like that?”

Leciel noticed the intense gaze when she had been eating diligently for a while and asked.

“Because it looks delicious?”

“Well, if it looks delicious, you should eat it.”

Why did he just watch others eat?

Leciel shook her head as if unable to understand why Kael would speak as if he was describing a bun.

Then she poked the food with her fork and offered it to Kael.

“What’s this?”

“It looks delicious, right? Since I’m offering it to you, it should taste even better.”

Kael made a strange expression at Leciel’s words.

It was the first time someone had acted like this towards him, which made it unfamiliar and awkward.

However, Kael obediently accepted the food Leciel offered.

Whether it was his illusion or not, the food that had seemed tasteless a moment ago suddenly tasted delicious.

For a moment, Kael looked at Carren with an expression as if he wanted something.

“What is it?”

Carren, who was silently eating, seemed uninterested in Kael and Leciel’s conversation.

“Earlier, I realized something.”

“I’m not particularly interested.”

Carren dismissed it as obvious nonsense.

However, Kael didn’t care about Carren’s response and continued casually.

“I’ve realized that food tastes better when someone else feeds it to you.”

“… that’s just a misconception and a distortion created by the brain. So, please eat on your own.”

“Tsk, you’re not cute.”

He didn’t think that Carren would feed him obediently like Leciel, but he gave such a cold answer.

Kael was slightly disappointed.

With a sigh, Leciel reached out and handed Kael a piece of food.

She pretended not to care, but she could clearly see his disappointment, which made her feel slightly sorry.

“This is why daughters are the best.”

Kael, with a satisfied voice, accepted the food Leciel offered with a pleased expression.

Unlike his blunt son, Leciel had some playfulness and charm.

“I’m not your daughter, though.”

“Not now, but who knows about the future.”

What he wanted most was for Leciel to become his daughter-in-law but adopting her as a daughter wouldn’t be a bad option either.

“Well, we never know what the future holds.”

Right now, she didn’t particularly want to be his daughter, but who knew what the future held?

Rather than being a dependent, being adopted as a daughter might be better.

Then, even if she didn’t share blood with Carren, they would be like siblings, which wouldn’t be bad.

“Yes, we never know.”

Just like calling someone <brother> can eventually become <honey>, calling someone <uncle> can eventually become <father>.

Thinking this, Kael smiled contentedly.

After finishing their meal, Kael, Leciel, and Carren had a brief teatime.

It was to have a proper conversation that they hadn’t had yesterday and to formally introduce themselves to each other.