ALL NOVEL Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
“Accidentally Targeting Family”
October 21, 2022.
“When Alicia heard that her mother, the Countess Lancaster, had invited Eric, she was quite startled.
However, she quickly changed her mind.
After all, she didn’t have the courage to go and express gratitude for the invitation, especially considering how adamantly Eric had declined before.
So she thought it was just as well.
But when they actually met, Eric didn’t show any indication, making it difficult for her to find the right time to bring up the topic.
Nonetheless, she managed to speak up eventually.
“Don’t worry. Today’s the last day anyway.”
“Huh?”
“You won’t have to worry about dealing with situations like this in the future.”
“That’s not what I meant-.”
“It’s already come to this point. Not today, not now. I’ve been quite impolite today.”
“Are you leaving already?”
“Huh?”
“Oh, no, I mean-.”
Eric interrupted Alicia, perhaps misunderstanding her confusion, and reiterated his point.
“As I mentioned earlier, there’s no need to worry about this matter.
I’ll handle it.”
“Yes, of course.”
With a troubled expression, Eric asked, seeming puzzled.
“Then?”
“Well, actually, there’s something I need to discuss with the Count.”
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and the Countess poked her head in.
“Have you talked enough?”
“Oh, yes. We were just about to leave.”
“If you’re okay with it, let’s have dinner together.”
“Huh?”
“Wow, let’s eat together!”
Edward’s face lit up as he grabbed Eric’s arm.
As Eric hesitated to respond, the Countess nodded to the butler waiting outside for her response.
“No, wait.”
“Then come with me. Edward, come along.”
“Let’s go. Hurry up.”
As Edward pulled his arm, Eric looked at Alicia in confusion.
“I haven’t prepared anything separately, but I hope it suits your taste.”
“Huh?”
Surprised by the unexpected statement, Eric asked, but Alicia, pretending not to be bothered, walked ahead to the dining room, leading the way before Eric and Edward.
***
Seeing the children standing side by side in the dining room, Eric was once again taken aback.
“…There were more siblings.”
“We’re above average. Say hello, kids.”
“Hello. I’m Emma.”
Emma, around the same age as Edward, greeted politely but seemed somewhat guarded, while the young twins, Ryan and Lyla, looked up at Eric with curious eyes and waved their hands.
In response, Eric awkwardly smiled and briefly raised his hand, then quickly lowered it.
“You look a lot alike.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“Yes. It’s like watching the process of growing up.”
He thought to himself as he followed Alicia to his seat.
***
Eric tried to focus on the meal, but it wasn’t easy.
With eyes glancing here and there, he couldn’t fully enjoy the taste.
‘I feel nauseous.’
He had eaten just fine on the battlefield, but this meal was the most difficult he had ever experienced.
Finally, as the tea and dessert arrived, he felt a sense of relief that it was almost over, and his mind began to clear slightly.
“Brother… Are you a knight?”
“Huh? Yeah, I am.”
“Wow. Are you good at fighting?”
“Um… I guess so?”
“Who would win if you fought a tiger?”
“…I haven’t fought one.”
“Why not?”
“Huh?”
‘Have I ever fought a tiger in my life?
No, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one in the wild.’
Unable to come up with a suitable answer, he pondered seriously before speaking.
“Tigers are probably an endangered species, right?
So if you kill one, you could get in trouble.”
“Why?”
“Uh…”
“Ryan, let’s talk after eating.”
“Okay.”
Ryan, as if he hadn’t asked at all, closed his mouth and began to focus seriously on the pudding.
“You don’t have to worry so much about it. I’m not really asking because I’m curious.”
“Oh, I see.”
When Alicia quietly reassured him, Eric nodded awkwardly.
“Lyla, be careful. You might drop it.”
Since the child who had been hiding her face seemed to want to sit next to Eric, they had no choice but to let her sit there.
However, perhaps afraid of making a mistake in front of Eric, Alicia was stricter and more nagging than usual.
“Slowly… Slowly, okay? Yes.”
“Lyla.”
“Yes…”
As Alicia’s stern voice scolded her, Lyla hummed a bit before closing her mouth and picking up the pudding spoon, only to drop it with a clatter.
“Oops! My… my…”
“Don’t cry. Here, eat this.”
Seeing Lyla tear up at the spilled pudding, Eric pushed the pudding he hadn’t touched towards her.
It was probably better that way since he probably wouldn’t eat it anyway.
“Oh…”
“Huh?”
He looked at Lyla, who seemed to be asking to be fed, with a bewildered expression.
“It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
Feeling inadequate, Alicia moved to Eric’s side where Lyla was sitting, lifted the child onto her lap, and began to feed her the pudding.
“Is it tasty?”
“It’s delicious…”
Lyla giggled happily. Watching her closely, Ryan, who had been sitting on the chair, got down and pulled on Eric’s clothes.
“What?”
“Ryan wants to…”
“Huh?”
“Hug…”
As Ryan extended his arms, Eric hesitantly lifted the child onto his lap.
“Oh…”
“Do you want to be fed?”
“Ryan, you can eat by yourself, you know.”
As Alicia scolded, Ryan clung to Eric, on the verge of tears.
“I… I want to be fed too… Not just Lyla…”
Seeing Eric’s confusion, Alicia sent him a glance seeking help as she gently patted Ryan’s back
Eric then glanced at Edward and Emma for help, but the siblings were too engrossed in their dessert to notice.
“They’re really something. Let’s see how they turn out in the future.”
Alicia reluctantly turned her head towards her mother.
When their eyes met, Lady Lancaster chuckled and spoke.
“It seems like Ryan has taken a liking to Eric. He even wanted to sit next to him earlier.”
Surprised that her mother would call out a name she had just learned today, Alicia looked at her mother.
“Thank you so much for looking after them like that. Do you like children?”
“Well, it’s… yes.”
As Alicia responded, Eric, who was busy feeding Ryan, accidentally met Alicia’s gaze while spooning pudding.
“He keeps crying, so that’s why.”
After briefly observing Eric’s embarrassed expression as he tried to justify himself, Alicia let out a short laugh.
“Huh?”
“Please feed him slowly. If you give him too much, he’ll spill it and cry again.”
“Oh, like this?”
“That’s enough.”
“Ah-ah-ah-ah…”
“Alright, sorry. Here.”
As Eric quickly fed Ryan, who was still fussing, the child laughed after swallowing the pudding.
Unintentionally, Alicia found herself laughing along while watching them.
“Oh… Maybe that’s what Lady Gloucester meant by that painting she mentioned.
Seeing Alicia with her son, it’s like a picture in my mind. I must arrange for them to meet.”
“Ah, perhaps it is.”
She watched with interest as the two fed the twins side by side.
***
*Sip.*
Lady Lancaster, resting in her bedroom due to feeling unwell, hurriedly read a letter brought by the servant and burst into laughter.
“He seems like a good kid. And apparently, he’s skilled too.
The nickname… Well, it’s a bit funny.”
After Eric’s visit, Lady Lancaster had asked a junior acquaintance to inquire about Eric, and this letter was the response.
Smiling as if finding it amusing, Lady Lancaster calmly took out a fresh sheet of paper to write a letter to Lady Gloucester.
***
“Mother, did you call for me?”
“Yes, are you here?”
Surreptitiously hiding the letter from the Duchess, Lady Lancaster greeted Alicia.
“I have something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Eric. What do you think of him?”
Perplexed by her mother’s cheerful question, Alicia sighed.
“Mother, we’re not in a situation to be thinking about that right now.”
“Why not?”
Alicia felt her patience wearing thin due to her mother’s sunny disposition.
Her father, the Duke of Lancaster,
had been traveling domestically and internationally for research purposes for years, and her mother, who was in poor health, remained relentlessly optimistic about everything.
As a result, Alicia was the only one left to take care of the household affairs.
“The twins are growing up, Emma needs to prepare for her education, and on top of that, we’ll need more money to send Edward to military school in the future.”
“Oh, really?
Why don’t you ask Eric?
He probably knows quite a lot.
After all, he’s doing well.”
“…Please stop trying to push us together.”
Despite expressing her displeasure, Alicia’s mother continued to smile brightly.
“Alicia, Mom’s talking about you. I hope you think about yourself before worrying about the house.”
“But I am thinking about myself. I said I have no intention of getting married.”
“Who said anything about getting married right away?
Just meet him once.
How can you think about marriage after meeting only twice?
You’re getting ahead of yourself, dear.”
“…Fine.”
“Mom, have you ever thought about marriage? Do you secretly like him?”
Alicia was momentarily speechless at her mother’s teasing words.
Well, when she was feeding pudding to Ryan, she briefly entertained the thought that he could potentially be a good father, even if just for a moment.
But isn’t that something anyone could think of?
Still, just because she had briefly entertained the thought didn’t mean she suddenly liked the guy.
“And besides, he’s a knight commander, right?
Wouldn’t it be nice to be with someone strong enough to protect you?”
“Then he should be protecting the kingdom, not me.”
“Kill two birds with one stone. Anyway, you’ll probably be included in that category.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lady Lancaster smiled at her daughter’s blunt response.
“Alicia, if he’s a knight commander, he earns a hefty salary plus danger pay almost equivalent to his salary.
On top of that, it’s a public position, so he gets a monthly paycheck like clockwork.”
“…”
“And you wouldn’t have to worry about the house. Your father will take care of it when he returns.”
Although slightly taken aback by the mention of a high-paying public position,
Alicia’s mind returned to her father, the Duke of Lancaster.
‘What difference does it make if my father returns?
Unless he discovers a gold mine or something.’
Alicia pouted inwardly, muttering to herself, but then suddenly became curious.
“Why do you like him so much after meeting him just once?”
“Because he seems like a good kid. Haven’t you thought so?”
“Well…”
He seemed like a good person.
If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have helped or pretended not to notice her troubles with her siblings.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t even thanked him or apologized.
Alicia fell silent, contemplating her own thoughts.
“And he had a charming demeanor.”
“…Pardon?”
Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected words, but Lady Lancaster chuckled to herself before speaking tenderly.
“I just hope your mother didn’t miss out on a chance for a potential good match. That’s all.”
“…”
“You know, people can surprise you. Honestly, you don’t think he’s bad, do you?”
“He’s not bad. But…”
“But?”
“But I’ve already turned him down. So, there’s no chance of meeting him again.”
Eric had assured her that he would handle it decisively and had emphasized not to worry, repeatedly.
But Lady Lancaster smiled as if to say not to worry.
“Don’t worry about that. This time, Eric extended the invitation.”
“He did?”