The Male Lead I Raised Is Obsessed With Me - Chapter 4

“Madam. Madam is really like a blessing for our family. I couldn’t even find a coin if I looked on the floor every day, but you picked up the jewelry right away on your first day here.”

Bella babbled in excitement next to me.

Every time she spoke, her breath was still white in the cold air.

If I make money, the first thing I’ll have to do is make the castle warm.

“So that’s the thing, ma’am. Do you have any plans to pick up jewels again?”

“Bella. It was just luck.”

I asked calmly to Bella.

“Are you not working?”

“My job is to follow you.”

“Don’t do that.”

I couldn’t assign a maid to the poor duke’s family just to help me.

“That’s my job. Making meals for the Duke and Madam, cleaning the room, and washing clothes. I have more work to do because the maid that served the Duke ran away. She was the nanny for the children.”

I turned around and ignored Bella’s twinkling eyes, lest I ever pick up jewels again.

“Well. Come to think of it, isn’t it time for lunch soon?”

“Yes? Oh! The time has already come! Madam, would you like something to eat?”

“I’m fine. Do you still have some leftovers from the meat you bought last time? Please make a dish that will revive energy.”

I still haven’t recovered from the shock of malnutrition.

“Madam always only takes care of the Duke. Do not worry! I will cook with all my heart!”

After sending Bella off, I was able to think more clearly.

I need to get back what Frug stole as soon as possible, but I don’t know when to talk to Ruth.

It would be better to talk about it after seeing how much Ruth trusts Frug.

Just then, Ruth was passing by in the distance.

“Ruth!”

I waved my hand in greeting.

Eyes that were as cold as the stars in the winter sky looked at me and warmed up like the spring breeze.

Oh my, you’re so cute!

I threw away the determination to stay far away from the boy that I had met when I first signed the marriage registration form, and I waved my hand even more enthusiastically.

But he is so adorable.

If I could stay away from such a kid, I’ll probably be the kind of person to ignore a kitten when I see one.

I was quite impressed that I took such good care of the sick and from that day on, Ruth followed me around.

Ruth ran, stopped in front of me, and asked with his arms wide open.

“Can I hug you?”

“Of course!”

I stretched out my arms and hugged Ruth tightly.

His warm body temperature felt good to the touch.

“You don’t have to ask for things like that and can just hug me right away.”

“But if I run to you like this and hug you right away, you’ll be sick.””

“Huh?”

Oh my god. Did you care about me because you thought I’d be sick?

Our Ruth is so cute and sweet.

I can’t even imagine the iron-blooded man who had never laughed properly before he met the female protagonist…

Is puberty that scary?!

I got a little depressed.

“Are you depressed?”

“What. No…”

I tried to shake off my thoughts.

Someday he will marry the female protagonist, but it was a little comforting to think that she would never see such a cute Ruth.

“Ruth. Is there anything you want?””

“Something I want?””

“Yes! You can say anything!”

Kids this age always had everything they wanted.

I have to buy Ruth’s favor and I still have some money left from selling the jewelry.

Actually…I think I just wanted to buy something for Ruth.

Ruth, who had been agonizing over what I said for a while, whispered in my ear.

“Then can you buy you for me?”

“What? Me?”

I shouldn’t laugh.

Imagine how hurt little Ruth would be if I laughed at him!

I desperately held back my laughter and spoke to him seriously.

“You can’t buy or sell people. Is there anything else you want?”

“Hmmm…”

Ruth shook his head with a gloomy face.

“Why did you want to buy me?””

“That way, I can stay with you for the whole time.”

“We’ve been together for a while now.”

We were together almost all day as I stayed with Ruth until he woke up in the morning and fell asleep at night.

Ruth shook his head stubbornly.

“These days, we’re apart.””

Oh my. Cute.

I had to bite my lips hard not to squeeze Ruth too hard.

Otherwise, Ruth may be crushed in my arms.

Ruth must have been very lonely in this castle because there were no kids his age and all the people around him were busy working.

I was just adoring Ruth in my arms as much as I could, but a face that I hate appeared.

It was Frug.

He approached us with a flat smile.

“See? You must have recovered from your illness. What did I say? I said it would be okay if we didn’t spend the money to call in a doctor.”

Wow. I can’t believe a person would say that.

Frug didn’t seem to have noticed that I secretly called the doctor with the money he stole.

I stood in front of Frug while hiding Ruth behind me.

He laughed at us and left as if he was looking at a young cat doing a bad job.

After confirming that he had disappeared, I looked at Ruth’s complexion.

“Are you okay, Ruth?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Frug’s reaction, their relationship doesn’t seem to be that good but I asked him anyway.

“Ruth. Are you close with him?”

“…Not really. I think my father liked him, but I don’t like him.”

A sharp voice informed me that Ruth and Frug’s relationship was not good.

Okay. I could talk to Ruth and implement the plan.

“Then, Ruth. Can I kick him out?””

He’s a very bad person who steals from your inheritance and embezzles your property secretly!

I was going to add that, but Ruth nodded first before I could even bring it up.

“Yes. If you want to then you can do it.”

The way he looked at me was so sweet and full of trust.

I eventually ended up hugging Ruth tightly.

I decided to give this lovely child a gift.

~*~

After Ruth’s illness got better, I couldn’t be with him as much as before.

In order to better adapt to this world, I was busy thinking about the contents of the original story and reading books in the library.

But today, I decided to make time for Ruth.

“Really? Really?!”

Ruth couldn’t hide his excitement at my words and continued to ask.

These days, Ruth has become more adorable as he has gained some weight to balance out his hollow cheeks.

“Huh? Really.”

Seeing Ruth running around in excitement, I was immersed in thought.

How do you play with kids?

The blizzard has stopped. Shall we play outside?

I put on my thick coat, gloves, a scarf, and finally a fur hat to go outside with Ruth.

Ruth, who had suffered from prolonged abuse, looked like a tiny round ball now.

I took his hand and went outside.

The garden was not properly maintained and usually had a gloomy atmosphere. Now it was covered with white snow and was quite charming.

Every time I stepped on the snow-covered ground, there was a crunching sound.

Snow sledding would be wonderful on a day like this!

After finding a suitable wooden plank to replace the rice sacks, I took Ruth up the steep hill.

I sat down first on the wooden plank and then placed Ruth in front of me.

A small body was snuggled into my arms.

“Come on, Ruth. Hold this string tight. Your legs should be lifted. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to speed up.”

I grabbed the string that controlled the sled, gathered Ruth’s legs to put it on the sled, and asked.

“Are you ready?”

“Huh…?!”

“Then count to one okay? Three, two.”

As I started the countdown, I laughed playfully at Ruth peeking back at me.

Then he shouted the last number and kicked off the ground.

“One!”

The sled shot straight ahead like an arrow.

“Oh my god!”

“Ahh!”

We screamed joyfully at the same time.

However, there was one thing that I didn’t expect.

“It’s too fast!”

I thought we were going to collide with the tree in front of us.

Fortunately, when I desperately put my feet on the ground to slow down, the sled’s speed gradually began to decrease.

However, in the end, we couldn’t overcome the rebound and fell down.

“Oh, my. Ruth!”

Ruth raised his head with a ‘hah!’ sound.

With the tip of his nose and his bangs covered with snow, his eyes sparkled.

“Ruth! Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

“Yes!”

I carefully checked if Ruth was injured anywhere, but there were no scratches thanks to his thick clothes.

Ruth pulled at my hand as if he wanted to go again quickly.

I was proud to see him having so much fun because he had never asked me to actively step up and do something.

We decided to go to a lower hill this time and sled more safely.

As we sledded up and down the hill a few times, Ruth soon showed signs of exhaustion.

His physical strength was weak because he hadn’t recovered that much yet.

“Let’s play again next time.”

Huh?

When I tried to appease Ruth, he grabbed my fingertips as if he was disappointed.

“…Will you be with me then, too?””

“Of course.”

Ruth smiled broadly at my answer.

It was a bright smile like a flower blooming on white snow.

~*~

(3rd person pov)

“Oh my.”

In the end, it seemed that the wife lost to the husband’s stubbornness last night.

Bella, who came to wake Ruth up first in the morning, laughed at the two children sleeping side by side one another.

Felia was stretched out on the wide bed.

Ruth, who rolled his body like a puppy, stuck tightly next to her.

It was a lovely sight just by looking at it.

Bella reached out to wake Felia up.

Then Ruth, who was right next to Felia, opened his eyes and grabbed Bella’s hand.

“…”

The red eyes staring straight at her were frightening.

Bella completely forgot over the past few days.

He was the owner but Ruth was actually a difficult person for Bella as well.

It’s a huge cold Valruga castle.

And Ruth was a pale child who was always expressionless like the last ghost left.

It seemed like it was a joke until she looked at his red eyes, and Bella felt like Ruth was something else. Not a human being.

But he had changed when Felia came.

Ruth was gentle in front of Felia like a well-tamed puppy.

Before Felia came, he was a difficult owner to talk to, but now he looked like a child of his age so Bella was relieved.

‘I forgot because of his wife.’

Bella looked at Ruth with fear.

He then let go of Bella’s hand and whispered.

“I went to bed late yesterday. Let her sleep in more.”

Then he settled back down next to Felia.

It looked like a faithful beast protecting its sleeping master.

“It’s a relief that the Madame came.”’

Ruth, who was always alone, was scary. But when he was next to his wife Felia, he was not so frightening.