Ch13 - Contract + Morel was thoroughly seen taking a bath

The next evening, Bill handed Morel a document that was in French. Morel looked at it for half a day and couldn’t make out the head or tail of it. He could only pick out words like “contract”, “effective period”, “Earl Mephistopheles”, and such.

“What’s this?” Morel asked quizzically. 

“A contract. Morel, are you willing to let me become your adoptive father?”

Bill interlaced his fingers and propped his chin on both hands. He looked at Morel with a solemn expression from across the table.

“Adoptive father…” He was still processing the two words.

“It means I’ll become your father in the eyes of the law. Then you’ll be my son and I’ll use all my resources to care for you, educate you, and raise you to adulthood.” 

Morel’s eyes slowly lit up. He was so excited he couldn’t speak properly, “T…then Morel can be with Bill gege…always?”

“Yes.”

“Bill gege…will never…never dislike me?”

“Would a father dislike his son?”

“I’m willing!”

Morel shouted.

His loud voice disturbed the black cat sleeping on the chair. It fell to the floor and remained confused as to what happened for a long time…

“Good.” Bill stood up, handed Morel a pen and pointed to the black line on the bottom, “Sign your name there. Then the contract will be established.” 

Morel immediately wrote his own name.

Today was the happiest Morel had been for a while.

Bill gege was now his dad!

The thin piece of parchment became the most trustworthy guarantee of his happiness. 

Since he was “Dad” now, they could spend every day together. Bill gege would give him morning and goodnight kisses, read him stories, dote on him like any other father, and perhaps even pick dishes for him when they eat…

Oh right. I can’t call him Bill gege anymore.

It was “Dad”.

That’s so weird! 

Morel really thought so…

After all, Bill’s appearance was too beautiful. He looked no older than 20…20? That’s not right…when Morel was 4, Bill only looked a bit younger than he was now…

One day, Morel lay in the bushes and looked at Bill. Finally, he asked, “Dad…(so weird!) how old are you?”

Bill glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. He gently placed his finger on his lips and smiled, “It’s a secret.” 

“…”

Speaking of which, about this new address. Morel simply couldn’t get used to it at first.

He still called him “Bill gege”, “Bill gege” all day.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“You’re missing three words.” 

Morel’s face was red.

He felt like Bill was acting more childish than he was…

But for the sake of obtaining benefits, he could only repeat himself, “My dearest Dad, I want a goodnight kiss…”

“I can’t hear you.” 

“My dearest Dad, I want a goodnight kiss!”

Bill was having fun…

“I still can’t hear you.”

Morel’s face was black. His green eyes flashed dangerously in the dark like a little wolf. “Dad, are you going to kiss me or not?!” 

Bill raised a beautiful brow and sighed lightly, “Yes, if you want something, you must tell me clearly.”

Saying this, he leaned over.

His right hand was braced against the bedside. His black hair slipped over his shoulders and fell like a waterfall, brushing over Morel and making him feel ticklish.

Morel subconsciously closed his eyes. 

Bill gently brushed aside the strands of hair on his forehead and soft lips akin to flower petals landed on his forehead.

It had no more force than a butterfly alighting. It was only a kiss. But miraculously it held magic that allowed Morel to dream sweetly all night, immersed in a beautiful wonderland.

Thus, under Bill’s frequent guidance, Morel finally became accustomed to calling him dad.

And the competent dad naturally had to teach him about etiquette. Standing posture, sitting posture, dining manners; other than these, there was the most basic thing of all, and that was personal hygiene. 

Speaking of which, there was a matter that troubled Morel.

It was about bathing.

Morel hated taking baths. His hackles would raise whenever he heard the word, just like a cat. He was always told that bathing would spread diseases. The average person only bathed once a year and even the wealthy people in his hometown wouldn’t bathe unless they were sick or about to get married…he never used the bathtub and normally used it to store junk.

In fact, this way of thinking was common in France too. Since most people didn’t bathe and their body odors were especially strong, the perfume industry boomed in France. However, although Bill was an Earl of France, his view was completely different. He mocked the people who said the bubonic plague was spread through bathing. He told Morel that was only true for public baths and private baths were hygienic and safe. 

But Morel couldn’t accept this! From when he was small and even up until now, he only ever wiped himself using a towel. As a land duck that couldn’t swim, you want him to take a bath? That would be more difficult than ascending to heaven!

Even Auntie Karin was left helpless against him. Normally, Morel’s nature was obedient and gentle, but whenever the idea of bathing was brought up, those virtues disappeared without a trace. He would run away like a flea while Karin chased after him with a towel! Later, Karin compromised and settled for him cleaning himself thoroughly with a towel.

But when Bill learned of this, he scrunched his beautiful brows.

He only needed to say casually one night, “Only children who bathe can sleep on my bed.” 

And poor Morel had no choice but to concede.

Since it was already late at night, Bill let Morel use his personal bathroom.

It was Morel’s first time entering his bathroom and unlike the common brass bathtub, Bill’s bathroom could only be described as luxurious. He pushed open the frosted glass and stepped onto the glossy marble tiles. The inside was filled with mist. There were delicate velvet curtains and a never-ending stream of water poured into the circular wooden sunken bathtub. The maid had already put in fragrance and scattered the rose petals.

The maid held a towel and stood by the side. She smiled at Morel. 

Morel lowered his head and walked around the maid to the corner of the bathtub…the maid walked over and closed the frosted glass door. Everything was peaceful for a moment, but as expected…not a minute passed and it was chaos inside the bathroom! The sound of Morel crying while resisting made Bill who was reading outside unable to take it. He stood up and pushed open the frosted glass.

Hearing the sound of the glass door being opened, Morel accidentally loosened his tight grip on his pants…and time seemed to stop at this moment.

In the next second, Morel was miserably sprawled on top of a soft blanket and the maid successfully peeled off his pants, exposing his white and soft little butt and legs…

Morel turned his head shakingly and saw Bill leaning against the door, his arms crossed, and his smile inscrutable. 

His face immediately became red!

He instinctively reached out his hands to cover his butt…

Bill was merely smiling before, but now he was laughing!

The maid turned around in bewilderment and asked, “You Highness…should I stop?” 

Bill was laughing so much that he couldn’t stand straight. He motioned with his hand, “Continue.”

The maid received his affirmation and resumed peeling off Morel’s clothes…

My God…Morel was like a cooked shrimp, his entire body was red…

He had never experienced being stripped like this! 

Filled with rage and humiliation, he didn’t care anymore and jumped directly into the pool of water…water splashed everywhere! He was like a turtle, pressing against the edge of the pool to avoid being caught and his hands covered his important bits as he shouted incessantly, “Don’t look at me, don’t look at me…wuwu…stop looking at me! What are you laughing at! Despicable!!”

Bill knew Morel was feeling embarrassed, so he nodded towards the door, indicating for the maid to leave.

He crouched by the pool and looked amusedly at Morel who had retreated another foot. He smiled, “When you were sick, I would bathe you every two days. I’ve already seen everything, so what are you being shy about?”

Morel: “You…” 

Bill said patiently, “What about me? I’m your dad now, what’s wrong with a dad seeing his son naked?”

“Dad, you really…saw everything?”

“En.” Bill nodded his head.

Morel’s eyes were swirling. Round and round. 

He choked for half a day but still couldn’t say a thing. In the end…he submerged into the water…little air bubbles floated to the surface.

He remembered his grandma telling him that a guy should look at a girl’s bare body.

Eh? Then can a guy look at another guy’s bare body…

He would always wipe Hania all over…that was normal! 

Because Hania was his didi!

Then, since Bill was his dad now…and he was also a guy…why was he feeling embarrassed?

That’s right, I must be crazy…

Morel finally managed to convince himself, but when the image of Bill with his inscrutable smile popped into his head…he successfully pulled his golden hair until it was a mess. 

Whatever, he just didn’t want his dad to see!!

He couldn’t help it, he was embarrassed…

Even if you asked him why, he was clueless as well!

***
August. At the breakfast table. Bill was drinking milk when he asked Morel, “Do you want to study art?” 

Morel enthusiastically nodded his head.

He liked painting. He liked the pigments made of flowers, he liked the dazzling colors of nature, he liked mixing those colors to create new wonders…no, actually the top reason why he liked painting was because his dad also liked it. He liked his dad’s concentrating expression.

Every time, he wished he possessed a pair of hands that could eternally capture the most beautiful things in the world…for example, his dad’s beauty.

“Then how about attending the Milo Royal Academy of Arts?” Bill suggested. 

“Wouldn’t I be able to take classes with Hania then?” Morel stood up in excitement!

“You can’t.”

“Why??” Morel widened his green eyes.

“He’s only 7 and attends the primary art class. You’re almost 13, so you’ll be attending the intermediate art class.” Bill raised his eyes and looked at Morel who was crestfallen. He said, “But the both of you are at the same academy. Although you’ll be a bit far apart, you can go visit him often.” 

“Really?!”

“Yes.”

Morel happily took a few bites of his bread.

But he suddenly thought of something, “But I don’t have any foundations in art…can I keep up?” 

“Don’t worry, you can do it.” Bill’s voice was gentle with a hint of laughter.

In an instant, Morel felt like he could do it!

“Then, is the academy far from home…”

Morel hadn’t finished speaking yet when Bill said, “I can arrange for you to board at school, but you’ll be able to come home once a week. How’s that?” 

“Once a weekkk—” Morel dragged out his sentence, expressing his reluctance.

Bill chewed on his bread and asked lazily, “Not happy with it? Then how about once a month? Or once a year?”

Morel sulked and said gloomily, “Then once a week…but Dad, didn’t you say you’ll always be together with me?”

Bill smiled, “I was just scaring you. If you want to come home, just send me a telegram and I’ll have someone pick you up. And the academy is under my supervision so I’ll also visit often.” 

Morel was relieved and smiled.