Chapter 19
“You little man-stealing cat! Get out of here this instant!”
Along with the lisping words, a tiny finger jabbed straight at me.
(A man-stealing cat...? I've never seen anyone use that phrase in real life...!)
Almost moved, I gazed at the owner of the voice.
She was a young lady of about seven, dressed in a baby-pink dress and adorable as a doll.
Her golden hair was tied into tightly curled twin tails—magnificent drill curls.
“Dorothea, that's enough. Stop it.”
“But, Onii-sama...!”
Julius-san gently lowered her hand and guided her toward me.
“Riko, this is Dorothea. She's my cousin on my father's side.”
Though she was young, she was clearly a noble young lady. She wasn't someone I could possibly call “Dorothea-chan” and speak casually to.
I played it safe and simply replied, “It's nice to meet you, Dorothea-san. I'm Riko.”
Perhaps she didn't like my attitude, because Dorothea-san glared at me with her big eyes. She was openly hostile, but cute.
“Now, listen here! I am going to marry Julius Onii-sama! You get out of the way!”
“Huh?”
“That's not true. And just how many years apart do you think we are...?”
Ah, a marriage between an estimated seven-year-old and a twenty-five-year-old really does feel a little criminal...
“But Father and Mother definitely said...!”
“It's troubling when the Count and Countess tell a child such a joke.”
Julius-san's voice had turned a little chilly despite his smile, and I more or less understood the situation.
(Ah... So the Count and Countess want to marry Dorothea-san into the ducal family, and she believes that's what will happen, but Julius-san isn't taking her seriously...)
Maybe her parents had told her that age didn't matter, that she should win him over with her youth—and, after all, she'd be the future duchess!
(Hmm, Julius-san is wonderful, but there's quite an age gap from Dorothea-san's perspective... Is she really okay with that?)
Without seeming to pay any attention to Dorothea-san, who was desperately arguing, “But! But...!”, Julius-san took my hand as usual and started leading me to the tea room.
Seeing this, a small “Huh?” escaped Dorothea-san's lips, and she looked a little dazed.
(Wait, shouldn't we be escorting our guest in this kind of situation...??)
As I wondered that, a young butler briskly picked Dorothea-san up and carried the wildly struggling young lady away with ease.
“Um... is it really all right to treat her like that?”
Even if she was technically his marriage prospect...
“Nothing comes before you.”
Saying that, Julius-san bent down slightly and brought my hand up toward his lips... Wait, it's not okay to do that when a little girl is watching!!!!
Instinctively, I covered his approaching lips with my other hand.
In the end, his lips did touch the hand I'd used to stop him, but that was still better than letting her see him kiss my hand...
“...Eep!?”
Startled by the warm, damp sensation on my hand, I hurriedly pulled it away.
(D-did he just lick... lick my hand...!??)
Julius-san stuck out his tongue a little with a mischievous grin.
I hurriedly looked toward Dorothea-san, who was in the middle of grabbing the butler's hair and struggling, and she didn't seem to have noticed us.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Maybe Julius-san had timed his move for when Dorothea-san wasn't looking.
(But even so, w-what in the world was that...!?)
Until we reached the tea room, I tried desperately not to think about my hand and to cool down my burning face.