I’m Not Doing This With A Friend

Chapter 40

A few weeks have passed since the date with Carson.

A peaceful day without any special events. These were the normal days I wanted.

After spending the day without much, Leen opened the familiar letter paper in front of her and smiled brightly.

It was the ‘uncle's triumph'. Following the apron operation, the crying strategy must have been successful.

Leen folded the letter feeling proud of his victory. It felt like watching a student brag about his report card after performing well and having good grades.

"You're such a lover!"

Meanwhile,

The Duke of Lisianthus felt like he was flying in the sky these days.

It's because of his relationship with his beloved wife, which had been estranged due to their son, was recovering.

No, to call it recovering, it felt better than before. All thanks to the great advice of a child named Leen.

She was so smart and clever that I wanted to have her as my daughter.

‘It would be much easier to make her a daughter-in-law than an adopted daughter, but as a daughter-in-law, I feel sorry for the child who has to endure Carson's personality.‘

Because of Carson's personality, I couldn't marry her to someone like him, as a parent deciding for her marriage.

Above all, my wife has wanted to have a daughter for a long time.

It didn't matter if the child's parents were alive. In some cases, noble families adopted bright commoner children.

After Carson was born, the love that should have been mine was divided.

Seeing the affection split in two, I was opposed to having a second one, but I thought it would be fine if it was Leen.

In fact, even the Duke didn't hate his son Carson from the beginning.

How lovely Carson, who has inherited the cotton candy pink curly hair of my wife Sylvia.

Considering that Carson had half of Sylvia's blood mixed in this tiny body rather than the fact that he was a son, he felt more precious than anything else in the world.

…It was actually the second time.

Because for him, the first was always Sylvia. Anyway, it was just around the age of five that the Duke began to deviate from the Carson he cared for.

It was when Carson inherited the magic talent of the Duke and Duchess and heard the sound of genius in earnest from the public.

The Duchess pounded the Duke's chest with her fist with a distorted face.

"What should I do? Our Caon, Caon…!"

"Sylvia, calm down."

"Do I look calm now? Caon seems to have the same personality as yours! What should I do with this? What should I do, dear!"

Sylvia seemed to have exploded in her sorrow, and she finally began to cry.

The Duke was embarrassed and patted her back. But it was the Duke himself who really wanted to cry.

What did he do to deserve Sylvia's resentment?

Wasn't it the servant who stole Sylvia's accessories and Carson who cast magic on the servant?

"Sylvia. Don't cry. I'll take care of Carson. He's still young and not good at controlling his emotions."

"Hicc~ But, honey I heard that you used to shoot magic on people when you were at the age of Carson."

Sylvia's words, which hit the nail, briefly made the Duke speechless.

"…But I only picked the ones that I could hit with."

"Was that something to brag about?!"

Sylvia shouted back and pushed him away.

"I don't know! That's why I was hesitant to date you! Let's get our son back now!"

Thud!

The Duke wept as he looked at the closed door.

After meeting Sylvia, I've been changing my personality like I've transformed, but if she got angry with my past like this, I can't help but feel resentful.

‘I thought I needed a close conversation with my son.'

✿

"Son."

Carson turned his head away. It was an act that clearly showed his will not to make eye contact with the Duke.

"I'm going to see my father."

Despite the Duke's subsequent second call, Carson pretended to listen.

In fact, the conversation between the Duke and Carson did not just start, but it has been more than 30 minutes.

It's because the Duke scolded Carson with his resentment and sorrow.

At first, Carson rebelled, saying that he had done nothing wrong, shooting with his magic.

However, the Duke silently stopped his son and continued his education.

No matter how genius he was, it was only a five-year-old's magic, but there was no way the Duke, who was reputed to have the same skill as the current Wizard, couldn't stop him.

The Duke, who thought he had scolded him to some extent, sighed deeply and opened his mouth with a more determined voice.

"Carson. You have to be able to control your emotions so that you could become a Duke respected by others later."

Then, Carson, who was huffing and looking elsewhere, opened his eyes wide and looked at the Duke.

He also looked a bit saddened.

"Dad couldn't control his anger…"

There was silence between the two.

"…Dad was good at controlling anger, not anger control disorder."

‘Yes, in front of your mother.'

The Duke pressed down the thought and swallowed it.

Carson, who was examining the Duke's expression, raised one corner of his lip shortly after.

"Hmm."

The Duke felt somewhat lost at the mysterious expression his son made.

✿

It's already night and it's time to go to bed.

The Duke was determined to set the mood with his wife today to make up for what happened in the morning.

The Duke, who washed himself clean and even sprayed perfume, which he had never used, entered the bedroom wearing only a light robe

But what's this…

Sylvia was not alone in the bedroom. It was with a strange brown creature. In addition, Sylvia was moaning, holding her heart.

"Ugh!"

The startled Duke rushed to Sylvia.

"Sylvia!"

However, the Duke had no choice but to stop running.

It was because of the brown creature in front of Sylvia.

The identity of the brown creature was my son, Carson, wearing a rabbit pajamas.

It was a pajama with rabbit ears that his son never wore even if Sylvia begged him to wear it.

Up to that point, it was serious cuteness, but the fact that one cheek became plump while chewing a lollipop from where it came from caused quite a fatal blow to the Duke's heart.

Yes, Sylvia held her heart and suffered because of Carson's fatal cuteness.

Carson, who tilted his head as if his mother were strange, pulled Sylvia's sleeve with his little hand.

"I'm going to sleep with my mom today."

Sylvia covered her mouth with both of her hands, showing a touching expression. Then she hugged Carson once more and said tenderly.

"It's all good, but you shouldn't eat candy before you go to bed. Son."

"Yes."

As Carson nodded obediently, Sylvia gave a sullen expression again.

‘I couldn't believe such a cute creature was my son!' Sylvia thought to herself.

"Then Caon, are you going to sleep with Mom and Dad today?"

At Sylvia's words, the Duke was enveloped in a strange feeling. It was a complex feeling that was both good and bad.

However, such complex emotions were unnecessary.

Because…

It was because Carson wept and fell into Sylvia's arms when he heard that he's going to sleep between his mother and father.

Carson shook his head in Sylvia's arms and spoke in a shaking voice.

"Dad is scary…"

Then, in the morning, Sylvia, who remembered that the Duke had disciplined Carson, looked at the Duke with contempt.

‘How the hell did you scold the kid?‘

Sylvia stood up from her seat, holding Carson.

And in a cold tone, she spoke to the Duke.

"I can't help it. You should sleep in another room tonight."

It was like a bolt from the blue sky.

Since the Duke married Sylvia, he's never slept alone, except for unavoidable occasions.

Sylvia, who saw the shocked Duke's expression, lifted an eyebrow.

"Then should I sleep in another room?"

The Duke shook his head hastily.

Even if she slept on the floor, he could not kick her out of the bedroom.

"Then I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I want you to move until I come back. Caon, let's go clean with mom."

"Yeah."

That was then. The Duke, who had been experiencing the feeling of losing the world, met Carson's eyes.

In Sylvia's arms, Carson was smiling bright at him. It was the smile of a winner.

After that, Carson appeared like a ghost whenever the Duke and Sylvia tried to set the mood, and separated the two.

He must have known everything and did it on purpose

Moreover, as he grew older, the traces of Sylvia on Carson's face disappeared, and gradually resembled the Duke.

If it were like Sylvia's face, I would have been less angry.

As such, the relationship between the two only worsened.

After finishing his recollection, the Duke stroked his chin, which was only smooth without beard marks.

"… As expected, I need a daughter. I'll have to officially propose adoption next time."

✿

From some point on, Hans sat next to me in herbal medicine class as if it were natural.

Well, I don't mind sitting next to him. The problem is…

Why are you making such a gloomy expression by sitting next to me? Even when he unintentionally confessed to Jane, he looked fine the next day.

"Leen, I was thinking about it yesterday, but if you say that you don't want to date someone you don't know, do you mean that there's a possibility if you slowly get to know each other?"

While thinking excessively positively…

I just shrugged even though it was ridiculous back then.

Well, even if I didn't know him well at first, now that I know he's fine in many ways, I didn't mean to interfere with his unrequited love.

If Jane accepts him, then it will, and if she doesn't like him, she'll take care of it.

But he's been so depressed for days now. How can I not care even if you try not to?

"Hans, what's wrong with you?"

Hans smiled bitterly at my question.

"Oh, did it show up on my face? Haha, it's not a big deal."

Hans sighs deeply as the world leaves.

It was the aura of someone who had something to do.

Are you giving me a hint to ask what happened to you??

"It's not a big deal, but you sigh like that?"