Evangeline
A girl was running down the long hallway with little footsteps.
Holding up the wobbling flesh bouncing around her… no, holding up her skirt, she desperately ran onward.
She tripped several times, only to be helped back up by her attending maid each time. The maid worried over her, and though she looked ready to cry, she endured it and kept running.
And so, she finally arrived at the room she had been aiming for, the duke’s office.
“Ojiisama!”
The sharp-faced old man seated at the desk in the office immediately melted the moment he saw the girl enter.
“Ohhh, Evangeline dear, what’s wrong? Mm~?”
The young civil official standing beside the old man looked utterly appalled. The duke, normally so strict, spoke to his granddaughter in a sickeningly sweet tone.
“Ojiisama, I have a favor to ask!”
“Oho, and what sort of favor might that be? Go on, tell Gramps.”
Tears slowly welled up in the girl’s eyes.
“E-Eva?”
“Ojiisamaaa… help him… please save him.”
“E-Evangeline!? D-did some brat make fun of you again…”
He could not bring himself to say “calling you a white pig”, but while suppressing the boiling rage inside him, Evangeline’s Ojiisama, Duke Halterius, asked his granddaughter gently.
“Who was it? Who made you sad? Who must I save you from?”
But Evangeline shook her head.
“That’s not it. The one I want you to save isn’t me. It’s Dermont-sama, Ojiisama.”
“Dermont? Hmm?”
The civil official beside the duke explained, “The son of that baron family from the recent incident.”
That family, the one accused of being responsible for the theft at the Hohenberg Marquis House tea party the other day.
What connection could there possibly be between that boy and his granddaughter?
“Dermont-sama isn’t the culprit!”
“Eva, but evidence was found.”
“But it’s not true! Absolutely, absolutely not!”
He had no idea what basis she had for saying that, but in truth, the old duke himself already understood that someone else was the real culprit.
Just yesterday, Marquis Hohenberg himself had visited the ducal house and stated plainly that the baron’s son was not the culprit.
If the victim himself said so, then it was likely the truth.
More importantly, the Spanberg Baron Household had a good reputation, while the Spanberg Count Household, the one that reported them, had a terrible one.
(And on top of that, rumors say the Count’s son has sticky fingers. Most likely, he found out his boy stole the necklace from the marquis’s house and panicked, pushing the blame onto his nephew.)
That was why the necklace had been found in the baron house. That fact itself could not be denied.
“Haah…”
“Ojiisama! Dermont-sama was kind to Eva!”
“W-What!?”
“He smiled at someone like me!”
By “someone like me”, she meant her figure, far too overweight for a five-year-old.
And the one responsible for that was the old duke himself.
For the sake of his unbearably adorable granddaughter, he had gathered delicious foods from every corner of the world and fed them to her endlessly.
Whenever Evangeline said something tasted good, he would increase the portions more and more, until before he knew it, things had become like this.
As the daughter of a ducal house, she had attended tea parties and such from a young age, and the duke knew full well that people whispered and laughed behind her back wherever she went.
Because he himself bore responsibility for it, he could not directly scold the nasty brats making fun of her.
Even Felix, the son of Marquis Hohenberg, had frowned upon first meeting her.
“Evangeline. Was this your first meeting with the baron’s son?”
“Yes, Ojiisama. It was the first time we met.”
A boy who smiled at his granddaughter upon first meeting her.
A boy who showed kindness to his granddaughter upon first meeting her.
That alone made the old duke’s heart pound.
He absolutely had to save him somehow.
But…
“Ojiisama, say something?”
“U-Umm…”
The necklace had indeed been found in the Baron’s house. The Count had likely hidden it there, but the fact remained that the kingdom knights had discovered it there themselves.
Without finding the true culprit, they could not declare him innocent. But since the stolen item had already been recovered, finding the real culprit would be difficult as well.
Which meant…
The duke groaned.
“Ojiisamaaa.”
He did not want to make his adorable granddaughter cry.
If they could neither find the true culprit nor prosecute him… then there was only one thing left they could do.
“Evangeline, do not worry. Leave it to Gramps.”
“Really, Ojiisama!?”
“Yes.”
Evangeline’s face brightened instantly, and she threw herself into the duke’s arms.
“Ojiisama, I love you!”
“Oho, and I love you too, Evangeline. Now then, Gramps still has work left to do. Why don’t you go have a snack in your room…”
Just as he said it, Evangeline pressed a finger against the duke’s lips.
“Ojiisama. I don’t want snacks anymore.”
“D-Don’t want them?”
He had reflected on feeding her too much. Recently, he had already reduced her meals to moderate portions twice a day.
And now she did not even want those?
“I’m going on a diet!”
“A-a diet!?”
Not only the duke, but even the young civil official was shocked speechlessly.
“Because I decided I’m going to become a wonderful lady.”
“A w-wonderful…”
“Anyway, I’m going out for a walk now! I’m gonna walk lots and lots!”
With that, Evangeline waddled off with her little footsteps. The maid bowed once before following after her, and the two left the office together.
Watching them leave, the duke let out a deep sigh and sank heavily into his chair.
“Love…”
“Hm?”
“They say love changes a woman… and truly…”
“Mm… but Evangeline is only five years old! Isn’t this too early? Hmm? Isn’t it!?”
Joy and loneliness mixed together chaotically inside the old duke.
But he immediately picked up a sheet of paper and began writing with his pen.
The recipient was…
“To His Majesty the King?”
“Yes. I have an idea. Evangeline may not be entirely pleased with it, but if it goes well, it should benefit the Baron household.”
The finished letter was immediately sent to the royal palace.
And three days later…
The entire Spanberg Baron family would be escorted to the royal palace in the capital of the Kingdom of Olfonse.
What do you think about this chapter?
