Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

Epilogue (2)

A loose smile hung on Raven’s mouth as he looked at Irit wriggling around.

“Father?”

Raven, who was still holding the child in his arms while preventing him from raising his head, slowly bent down. A brief kiss had transpired and went over Irit’s head amidst the confusion.

“Then, let’s head down together.”

It was clear that Gilbert would have them prepared by now. The family eventually made their way to the dining hall in the company of the maids, who tried their very best not to disturb them at all.

Irit really liked to be in between the couple. And the same thing went in the dining hall. The child sat on a chair that was made to fit his own body before quickly calling upon his parents. The child, who was holding onto his father with his left hand and his mother in his right, had looked rather triumphant.

As expected, the meal was served shortly after. A main dish for one was set up right in front of the child who ate as much as Raven did.

Molitia tried to cut out the child’s food into small pieces with a knife, but Irit had blocked it. The child glanced at his father before stepping forward as he hoped that he would do it by himself.

“Mother, Mother.”

The piece of meat on the fork looked like it had been cut already. Still, the knife seemed like it couldn’t be lifted properly due to his inexperienced hand movements. Nevertheless, the child was looking all proud as Molitia had praised him generously.

When he was being complimented, the cheerful child instantly gave Molitia a little bit more. The honor of giving her the first bite of his cut in his life and she had put that piece of meat into her mouth with a smile lingering around her mouth.

“How is it? Is it good?”

“Maybe it has become much more delicious since it was given to me by Irit himself.”

“Hehe.”

The child’s cheeks immediately lifted up. Subsequently, the small hand that had been holding onto the knife started wiggling quite hard as if it was only playing around.

After eating to a certain extent, Irit’s eyes slowly became cautious. Not much meat was left with the buttery juices. Instead, there were some disparate vegetables on the other side, as if they were decorated on top of it.

The chicory hadn’t been touched even once, so it didn’t get messy at all.

‘I’m full.’

The child’s expression then turned sour. He only wanted to put the fork away—just like this.

“Irit, you can’t be picky.”

How did he know? Irit’s expression blurred by the voice that impeded at an amazing time.

“Answer?”

“Yes…”

He was a kind father, but Irit also knew that he just couldn’t disobey him at times like this. The child then took upon the fork at the vegetables with such an unwilling expression painted on his face.

After a little bit of hesitation, he closed his eyes and popped some vegetables into his mouth. The child’s cheeks puffed out with the tinge of bitterness that touched the tip of his tongue.

It had such a terrible taste, but the child still moved his teeth well. Instead of spitting it out, he chose to hold his breath and yielded to those vegetables.

Gulp—when the food went down with a tiny chug, a sheer loveliness lingered in Raven’s eyes.

“Good job. I’ll help with your horseback riding practice tomorrow as a reward.”

“With Father?”

The child’s eyes immediately sparkled at the unexpected reward.

“Yes, I’m not going to the Palace tomorrow.”

“How exciting!”

“In exchange, you’ll have to eat everything that has been served today.”

“I got it!”

Where did the crying scene even go—and the lively child’s fork was quickly heading back to the plate. He still hesitated to put it into his mouth, but once he had them in, he somehow swallowed everything down.

Raven looked at Irit pleasantly.

After the meal, following with a rather small scuffle, Irit took over Molitia’s arms once again. The child on her lap was embraced by her, who mentioned that she wouldn’t be overdoing it as she beamed with a full smile.

While stealing glances at Raven, he then laughed in vain.

“Who does he look like—wanting to be held in your arms?”

“He’s still a child.”

“I wasn’t like that. At that age, I’ve already done my share of work.”

‘Really?’—Molitia’s mouth soon closed when she was just about to ask that. It was due to her notion that thought he might really be like that. Of course, she knew that it was partly a joke.

She looked down and patted the child gently.

“Are you sleepy, Irit?”

“Eung…”

The child whined in her arms. It was already time for bed.

“Let’s go to bed now, then.”

“No, I want to sleep with Mother…”

“You have to go to bed.”

Raven then held Irit. The meek whining still continued, but the child soon hugged his neck and began falling into a deep sleep.

It was not until the child had been carefully handed over to the nanny that the only two of them were finally given some space. The crackling sound of burning fire could be heard faintly throughout.

“Doesn’t it seem like he’s been grumbling lately?”

“Isn’t it because he’s quite bored?”

“He can just make as many playmates as he wants.”

Molitia just smiled embarrassingly. Perhaps Irit’s whining wasn’t simply a need for some playmates.

At that moment, she recalled the nanny’s words that he was yearning especially for his parents’ affection. Sometimes, it had been said that it might be an offset by a brotherly affection, but the possibility was also rather slim against Molitia’s figure as well.