The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 34

My face has been green for two days.

It was because Carol painted it so thoroughly that it still couldn’t be erased.

As I watched the color fade from my face day by day, I felt like I could understand how the bear who became a human by eating garlic felt.[1]

Gradually, my skin color began to look human again.

“Ehehehehehehe.”

Carol’s laughing face was red. She had been caught and transformed into Iron Man.

Hoho. It was my handiwork. I didn’t forget to detail the yellow part around her eyes.

“You think it’s funny? Stop laughing.”

I answered sullenly, but I couldn’t prevent my laughter from leaking out, either.

Pffft.

Seeing the pink face that had faded from red, several characters popped up in my mind.

Such as Piglet, or Piglet…

It was a perfect match.

“Ahem. Lady Carol, Lady Sharon? Be quiet. It’s class time right now.”

I swallowed my smile at the strict Madame Judy’s words.

Carol, who would normally doze off in secret, also groaned.

We were studying theology right now. Carol hated it with a passion, and I wasn’t interested in it either. I read theology books because I didn’t have enough to read in the study, but I didn’t believe in a god.

I was Carol and Julien’s living god, Santa, and elf; so, what need was there for gods?

Instead, believe in me!

As I copied the theological texts, I muttered the idol song I used to listen to.

The protagonist tonight is me, it’s me![2]

Or,

How are you leaving the beautiful me behind~ [3]

Something like that.

The middle school and high school kids sang these songs everyday, so I couldn’t not know them.

“Focus.”

My eyes met Madame Judy’s, who like a ghost had caught me. She pushed up her glasses.

Eek. She looked like a ghost.

I was the one in that position before. Madame Judy must be very tired too. Looking over at Carol… She still had to do the rest of the work as well.

“Sharon.”

“What.”

I responded to Carol’s whisper.

“Can’t you write mine for me?”

“Nope. And I won’t paint your face red again either.”

“…I’ll give you 500 shillings.”

500 shillings was equivalent to 500 wons. I didn’t think I raised this child to be cheap…

“Hmph.”

“Then, 1,000 shillings…?”

What a shame. Her pupils began to tremble ruthlessly as she tried to do the puppy eyes.

“Hey, do I look that cheap?”

“Ladies!!”

However, the one who replied was Madame Judy.

Ah, I wasn’t the one who started talking!

I could understand why the students I taught felt wronged.

I wasn’t being loud!

***

I escaped the room where we had been studying as Carol talked her head off about all sorts of things.

“Persistent little girl.”

I was walking alone in the hallway, shaking my sore fingers after copying down the texts.

Ugh. My fingers.

I hadn’t had to write lines when I was in high school…

I should have just gone to visit Julien. Unfortunately, Carol wouldn’t resume her outside activities until next week.

“Excuse me, Lady Sharon.”

I turned my head. The one who had awkwardly called me was Orland, the butler.

“Oh, Orland. It’s been a while.”

The duke’s mansion was uselessly large that it was hard to see people.

“Yes. Do you happen to have a moment right now?”

“What is it?”

Was there something he had to tell me urgently?

Orland shook his head and said,

“The Duke asked for you.”

I could count on one hand how many times I’d encountered the Duke since I came to his household.

He was a busy man.

Did he know that I was the one who cast out the Duchess this time?

I was flustered by the sudden request.

“Can you tell me what it’s about?”

“I don’t know the master’s will.”

Orland’s face showed that he really didn’t know. So what could he do?

“…All right. Where is the Duke?”

At times like these, you had no choice but to face things head-on.

***

The only part of the Duke that resembled Carol was the color of his eyes and his hair.

Since the Duke and Duchess were beautiful people, Carol was also pretty, but they didn’t really look alike.

I took a close look at the Duke for what felt like the first time.

Just what was he going to say?

He called me here, but he’s only staring at me.

“…So you’re called Sharon.”

It was quite a while before the Duke started talking.

Didn’t he know his own niece’s name?

His level of indifference pierced the sky, broke through the atmosphere, and entered the thermosphere.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

However, since I was his dependent, I answered politely.

“Why is your face like that?”

“……”

I closed my lips firmly.

Ah, I forgot! It hadn’t been erased yet. Ack! Carol!!

“…So long as you’re not sick, it’s fine.”

“I’m not sick.”

It took a while for the Duke to speak again. When his gaze lifted from the floor and to me, his face was as stiff as a wall.

“Sure… Sharon, I… I know what you did.”

“What…?”

This was almost like a horror movie.[4]

It was a script that I felt I heard many times. However, the Duke was being serious. His cold gaze hinted that what he was trying to say would not be light-hearted.

“Everything that you’ve done since you entered the mansion. I’m talking about everything that you did to protect my daughter.”

I didn’t think to deny it while I was being evaluated by the surprisingly cold duke.

I waited for him to speak without saying anything.

But also, he called her ‘my daughter.’

Was this some sort of skit?

“I know it was you who plotted to get rid of my wife. I know how clever a chid you are.”

So was he saying that I did wrong?

I looked at him, but he didn’t seem upset.

What was this…?

“But amusingly enough, you don’t seem to want anything. You’re acting for my daughter without anything to gain. So I didn’t stop you. Rather, I’m thankful.”

“Excuse me?”

I was seriously surprised.

He was thankful?

If he knew how much I cursed him inwardly, he could never say something like that.

Ah, maybe not.

Properly raising the daughter he neglected was a task that deserved such words.

“…So that’s why I want to make you an offer.”

“What is it…?”

“Please take care of the household until Carol is grown up. You just have to continue doing as you’ve done.”

Did he just call me to say something like that?

He didn’t need to do that. I’d have continued to do it so long as he ignored me.

The Duke stared at me, who did not reply, for a long time. Then, he parted his lips again.

“Where do I begin?”

I had no intention of replying to him until he resolved my doubts. So I just stared at the Duke. It wasn’t just because I was wondering what he would say; it was also because I wanted to stop him from speaking.

“I truly am grateful for you. Sharon. It’s thanks to you that Carol could grow up into a lovely lady.”

It was the first time. The humane, warm smile on the Duke’s face was so alien that it gave me goosebumps.

“And… Thank you, too, for growing well.”

The Duke rolled his pipe in his hand for a moment. He glanced at me and put the pipe down, making an anxious face.

“I’m still hesitating. Ha. It seems like you won’t say a word before I tell you everything.”

He seemed to have seen through me.

“Your mother was just the same.”

“…My mother?”

“Yes. That child also had a stubborn side to her.”

A little bit of the tension eased from the Duke as he brought up Sharon’s mother for the first time.

“…What I want to tell you now is an old story. That’s right. I’ll start there.”

The Duke hesitated.

What was it? He really wasn’t acting like a duke today.

“In your eyes, does Carol resemble the Duchess?”

To be honest, though both Carol and the Duchess were beautiful, they didn’t resemble each other. Carol seemed to have more gentle traits.

“I don’t know.”

Instead of giving a proper reply, I tilted my head.

What was he trying to say?

“…Carol isn’t Sarah’s biological daughter.”

What?

Wait a moment. Did I read something like this? I only remember that the work hadn’t been completed yet.

Did the main story line just skip over the side character’s backstory?

I was dazed by the unexpected fact.

“Before I married Sarah, I had a lover. I had met her while studying abroad. Her name was Lily… Like with any other love, it came to an end. I returned home and married Sarah. However… It turned out that she was pregnant.”

What the heck!! Was this why the Duchess was so evil?

I felt like I could sort of understand why she acted that way toward Carol now. Not that I could absolve her, but just that I understood why.

Huh? But Sarah also had a lover since before her marriage to the Duke…

What had happened?

I was confused by the sudden outpour of information. I couldn’t even guess at what had happened.

“Sarah and I were in a marriage of convenience. Furthermore, Sarah couldn’t have children. In exchange for listing her as Carol’s mother, Sarah asked me to give up all rights to the child.”

No way… He didn’t agree to that, did he?

With a sinking heart, I stared at the Duke’s face.

That… That was no fun.

“I listened to Sarah’s request. I thought it would be better than letting Carol grow up as an illegitimate child…

So I became such a cold-hearted father. I can’t even call Carol’s name properly. But Sarah gradually went too far.”

Thinking about the Duchess’s actions, I could sympathize with the Duke’s words. As he said, Sarah was the scum of the earth.

How could she act like that to a child?

Of course, that didn’t mean I could forgive how the Duke hurt Carol.

“…Even if you don’t look at me like that, I know you don’t like me… It’s like… It feels like I’m looking at your mother.”

The Duke’s face took on a sad tone.

“I understand. You won’t accept my excuses. I have no intention of asserting parental rights to Carol in the future. I’ve lost my qualifications to do so a long time ago.”

“I’m glad you know.”

Without my realizing it, a sharp response slipped out of my lips. Fortunately, the Duke did not seem to mind.

He sighed before he continued speaking and drank some water for his dry throat.

I could see that this situation was uncomfortable for the Duke, too.

“…I just wish for one thing. I want that child to grow up properly and enjoy her life. For that, I would do anything. You can think of it as me trying to compensate or that I’m doing it to ease my guilty conscience. I don’t care.”

The Duke put down the cup of water he had been fiddling with.

“The reason I’m acknowledging you now after turning a blind eye for so long is because of something Carol told me not long ago.”

Speaking of which, Carol had come to see the Duke alone before. I had asked her why, but she didn’t answer and just smoothed it over. Maybe I would hear the answer today.

“But it’s too early to tell you.”

Oi.

I had hope for a moment. I felt like I was given a tasting but not the whole meal. But what could I do when the Duke said that he wouldn’t tell me?

“So, I intend to do anything for Carol’s future from now on. Of course, this applies to you, too.”

“…You’ve truly become an unexpected helper, Uncle.”

“So it was unexpected. I see.”

The Duke’s eyes curved up like a human. Today, I’ve seen a weird… no, today, he’s shown me many new sides to himself.

“…But, I would like Carol to grow up not knowing about the adults’ issues.”

So that was why there was no mention of the circumstances of Carol’s birth in the novel.