Chapter 30

“…Anyway, that means the Pantale count family was behind the development of all magic tools.”

“Yes. Some people think that just because they’re a count, they’re inferior to a duke, but despite their short history, they had remarkable support. In magic history textbooks, the name Pantale is never left out.”

“So that’s why they were framed.”

“Yes. Originally, the empire was centered on two powers, the imperial family and the temple. Then the Pantale count family appeared and rose rapidly. Thanks to the magic tools they developed, the quality of life for commoners improved, so it was only natural they gained support.”

Reina listened quietly, then curiosity got the better of her and she asked Peter.

“Then why did my lord manage to prove that it was a false accusation?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“…”

“Well, it’s not for a bad reason, so it’s fine.”

‘If it’s not a bad reason, isn’t it fine to tell me?’

Leaving Reina’s doubt behind, Peter smiled brightly and moved on with the lesson.

“When the magician comes next time, we’ll measure your mana too, Reina Botn… now, moving on to the next topic, magic crystals are…”

She still had a long way to go.

* * *

Bonita walked down the empty corridor, step by step.

Since Reina wasn’t around, a maid named Sofia would sometimes come to look after Bonita.

But Bonita found it hard to get close to her, so she preferred going alone to watch the training grounds.

Whenever she did, the knights who were training found Bonita absolutely adorable.

“So heavy…”

After running into her several times, the knights began preparing snacks just for Bonita and handing them to her whenever she appeared.

Since everyone gave her something, a cookie, a candy, a piece of chocolate, Bonita once again ended up with her arms full of snacks.

“Whoa…”

The ducal residence was enormous, and to a child, all the doors looked the same with similar decorations.

Because of that, Boni wandered around for quite a while without finding the room she shared with Reina.

So it was only natural that she ended up near the study where Damian was working alone.

Bonita carefully gathered up the snacks that had spilled everywhere and continued down the corridor.

Every time she climbed the stairs or walked along the long hall, thump, thump, a piece of candy or chocolate fell from her arms.

Hearing something drop, Damian opened the door and frowned at the small scene unfolding in front of him.

“…What’s this?”

In front of the study lay a small chocolate wrapped in polka dot paper. Damian picked it up and turned his head to the left.

“…What is going on…”

One candy, one cookie.

Sweet snacks were scattered irregularly along the corridor.

Damian turned his head to the other side.

“…I get the idea.”

A small child with pink hair.

Various snacks were sticking out of the child’s small arms.

Lately, Reina had been busy studying, and Estelle was sick and kept isolated.

A maid close to Reina had been assigned to look after Bonita, but according to the knight commander’s report, the child kept showing up alone at the training grounds.

Damian remembered the question the knight commander had casually asked him and toyed with the chocolate in his hand.

“Do you know where children like to buy snacks these days?”

It seemed every knight at the training grounds had prepared treats just for Bonita.

After reaching that perfectly accurate conclusion, Damian gauged how much work he had left for the day.

‘Nothing urgent.’

With long strides, Damian walked down the left corridor, picking up the fallen snacks as he went.

After a short while, he spotted the back of a small child ahead.

The child was walking so carefully that it barely looked like she was moving forward.

“Bonita.”

“…!”

Clutching the snacks tightly, the child creaked as she turned her head toward Damian.

“D-Duke.”

“Why that expression?”

The child looked startled, her face clearly saying she’d been caught.

Bonita shouted desperately at Damian, who was watching her with a puzzled expression.

“I-I didn’t steal these!”

“…?”

“I-I really didn’t steal them…”

He already knew.

To begin with, what was there to steal here.

More than anything, having watched the Botn mother and daughter, Damian knew Bonita didn’t have a stealing habit.

“The knight uncles gave them to me…”

But when Damian stayed silent, Bonita seemed frightened, big tears welling up and spilling from her eyes.

“W-Why are you crying?”

Even someone as stone faced as Damian couldn’t help but panic when a child cried.

Instinctively, Damian bent his knees and lowered himself to meet Bonita’s gaze.

“I know. The knight commander asked me about a shop so he could buy you snacks.”

“…”

“The reason I called you…”

Damian looked down at the small chocolates, candies, and the cookies wrapped in paper in his hands.

“…Called me?”

Damian carefully placed the small snacks back into Bonita’s arms.

“I wanted to give you a present too.”

When Damian said “present”, Bonita’s eyes widened.

As the muscles around her eyes moved, a tear rolled down, but her expression was full of expectation.

“…A sword?”

“No, not that.”

When Damian denied it, she openly showed her disappointment.

Seeing how clearly her emotions showed, Damian thought that might be the difference between Bonita and Reina.

“It takes a bit more time to choose something that suits you. Something accurate is better than something fast.”

“Still…”

“And you’ll need a sword, and a teacher too.”

“Mm hm.”

Damian looked at Bonita for a moment.

She hugged the snacks tightly, unable to hide her disappointed expression.

“…Will you walk yourself, or should I carry you?”

“Huh?”

“You look like you have a lot to carry.”

Only then did Bonita realize that Damian was talking about going somewhere with her.

“Um, um.”

She glanced back and forth between the snacks in her arms and Damian.

“I’ll walk.”

“Alright.”

Damian nodded at Bonita’s clear reply and took off the jacket he was wearing.

“Put the snacks in here.”

“Okay!”

Without any idea how valuable the jacket was, Bonita dumped all the snacks into it.

Damian tied up the jacket, now the most expensive snack bundle in the empire, and stood up holding it.

“Then let’s go.”

After taking a few steps, Damian suddenly turned his head to the side, more precisely downward.

A pink head was wobbling along slowly behind him.

Damian subtly stepped back and held out his hand to Bonita.

“You can hold it.”

“…”

Bonita looked at the hand Damian offered.

His thumb and pinky were positioned so they were easy to grab.

It looked similar to the hand Reina always held out to her.

“…Hehe.”

Holding onto Damian’s much larger hand, or rather just part of it, Bonita smiled brightly.

It was a completely different hand from Reina’s.

Unlike Reina’s, it was covered in a thick glove, large and cool.

But Bonita didn’t dislike it.

‘He asked.’

Whether she wanted to walk or be carried.

Just that alone made her happy. The fact that he acknowledged she could walk on her own.

Bonita found Damian’s presence and kindness, similar yet different from Reina’s, quite comforting.

Hand in hand, the two of them walked down the corridor at a slower pace than before.