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☾ nineteen ☾

'If not my father, then who?'

To think the one he was referring to was not my father...

'I ended up saying a bunch of nonsense because I misunderstood...I'm so embarrassed.'

Then, he started laughing all of a sudden.

It made for a pretty sight but, for some reason, I felt offended.

'What the–why is he suddenly laughing?'

Annoyed, I called him out bluntly, "Hey, don't just laugh and say something."

He stopped laughing and turned to stare at me.

I think I instinctively became nervous because his gaze looked so serious.

'What is he going to say?'

After a few more moments, he finally opened his mouth.

"So, did you say the gift was a pair of cuff buttons?"

"Yes, these ones."

He gave a slight frown when I showed him the cuff buttons.

"They're not very practical for a knight."

'Well, I'm not even a knight myself and frankly, I think this is a pretty nice gift. Is he just trying to pick another fight with me?'

I grumbled with a scowl, "You must be really good at picking out presents then."

A smile arose on his face.

'Sigh, he was really blessed with his looks.'

It was rare to see him smiling, so I couldn't help but continue staring at his face.

"Well, I did give my father a present not too long ago." He said, a faint smile remaining on his frigid-looking face.

"He's been looking pretty worn out lately, but it seems he has been able to regain some of his energy even in his later years thanks to me, so I'm glad."

Hm.

Contrary to my impression of him, it seems he was actually a filial son, seeing how he seemed to be in a good mood talking about it.

'But what kind of gift was it that it helped his father return to high spirits?'

I suddenly became curious and asked him.

"What did you give him?"

"You don't need to know."

He brushed me off with that rigid voice of his.

But then again, I didn't expect him to give me a proper answer anyway.

Vexed, I scowled at him until he continued.

"If it's from you, the Duke will like anything."

He'll like anything that I give him?

It would have been believable if my father's body was possessed by someone who was warm and held a lot of affection for others — but my father was not.

Therefore, those words were simply nonsense.

My mood dropped by the disingenuous response I had gotten even though I had asked him seriously.

'Useless. He's my father's apprentice yet he doesn't seem to know anything about my father.'

I let out a sigh.

'The buttons were pretty expensive too...I can't just not give it to him. And I also have to return the necklace anyway.'

However, due to my father's indifferent temperament, it was highly likely that if I just left the pendant and cuffs on his desk, he wouldn't know that they were from me.