“If His Majesty insists, we can serve you separately. What would you desire?” I asked in a dramatic, formal tone.
“I’m not here as the king. I’m just here as Siegfried.”
And so our peaceful time together began.
“Papa, you don’t like tomatoes?” Cirelle was now fully attached to Siegfried. The other kids turned to stare at her.
“Papa?” they repeated, looking confused.
“Cirelle, don’t call him th—”
“I’d be delighted if everyone here called me that,” Siegfried interrupted me.
“Us too?”
“I’d rather marry you than call you Papa!” one of the girls chirped.
“Hey, now!” I chided.
These kids had no idea that Siegfried was the king. Even Theodore simply addressed him as “Lord Siegfried” when we were around others instead of “His Majesty” to keep the children in the dark. It would be a huge commotion if the children found out they were dining with the king. It was better to keep it to ourselves.
“Aw, I’m sorry. I already have someone special, so I can’t do that.” Siegfried responded with genuine kindness even to the children’s cheeky comments. He was already engaged to Risthea. And with his looks and position, people had confessed to him more times than he could count. Ladies’ men sure are different, I thought with a pout.
And it wasn’t because I was jealous. Not at all. In my original life, I’d had no time to pursue romance because I’d had to focus on survival. Kreis hadn’t had much luck with women either. So I wasn’t jealous. Really. Not one bit.
“Oh, you’re totally jealous.”
“I’m not giving you any meat,” I said to Professor, who was begging for scraps at my feet. He looked totally shocked.
“Lord Kreis, please don’t give Professor any more meat. He’s already had two full servings.”
“Two? That’s way too much!”
“Hey, I don’t gain weight no matter how much I eat!”
That’s not the point. The kids are still growing, so feeding them should come first!
The moment I brought up the children, Professor lowered his head shamefully and slowly shuffled away to curl up in the corner.
“Sometimes it looks like you’re talking to Professor, my lord,” Theodore said.
“Ha ha. Well, he’s so expressive it seems like I really do understand him! Ha ha ha...” I tried to laugh it off.
He would think I’d gone nuts if I told him we could actually talk to each other.
“I see.” Theodore nodded and then gently dabbed the corner of my mouth with a square of fabric he pulled from his chest pocket. “You had a bit of sauce there.”
“So, Theodore, you volunteered to be the butler for the estate, did you?”
“With all due respect, Lord Siegfried, I didn’t want to be the butler for this estate. I wanted to be Lord Kreis’s butler and serve him.”
“Ah, I see. So you’re devoted to him, then?”
“He saved me, Lord Siegfried. I was filthy, worn down, and had not a penny to my name, but he took care of me the whole night without leaving my side. I only want to repay his kindness, that’s all.”
“Theodore...”
I could tell he genuinely cherished me. I felt both moved and empathetic. You never forgot the kindness of someone who helped you at your lowest point—and you never forgot the cruelty either. Just like how Kreis’s anger toward Gilles and Claude had never gone away.
“Do you swear you have no ulterior motive?” Siegfried asked.
“Yes. I only wish for Lord Kreis’s happiness. So I wouldn’t forgive anyone who made him unhappy, even if it was you, Lord Siegfried.”
“Theodore! You mustn’t say such a thing!” I exclaimed.
He must have had a death wish, saying something like that to the king! But Theodore didn’t flinch even when I scolded him. He just kept staring at Siegfried, who stared back at him in return.
Panicked, I quickly intervened. “Siegfried, wait. Theodore doesn’t mean you harm and...”
“It’s fine, Kreis. He passes the test.”
“Thank you,” Theodore said.
“Huh?”
What test? What did he pass?
“I have a request. Could you come to my room later?” Siegfried asked.
“Of course,” Theodore replied.
“Wait, what?”
Just moments ago I thought they were going to get into a fight, and now they were speaking like old friends?
“What just happened?” I asked, feeling completely out of the loop.
“There, there. Have a tomato, Kreis. You like tomatoes, right? Don’t pout,” Siegfried said.
“Young master! Don’t you try to dump your tomatoes on Lord Kreis!” Karina caught him red-handed, and all Siegfried did was shrug sheepishly.
“Papa, you shouldn’t give people food you don’t like.”
“Yeah! If you don’t eat it, you won’t grow big and strong!”
“Can’t eat tomatoes? That’s so childish!”
The other children jumped in to tease Siegfried, who begrudgingly stabbed a tomato with his fork.
“Fine, fine. I get it. It’s not like I can’t eat them. I’m not childish at all. I’ll eat every bite.”
He popped the tomato into his mouth and immediately grimaced, prompting Karina to burst into laughter.
“Oh, young master... You really do like Lord Kreis, don’t you?”
“Pfft!”
“Are you okay?!”
Siegfried nearly spit out his food and I quickly handed him a glass of water. He snatched it from me and chugged it down, his face redder than I’d ever seen it before.
“Karina!” He actually yelled, which was very unlike him.
Karina blinked in surprise. “Wh-What? Young master, I just... What?”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, cocking my head.
And then Theodore smiled. “Lord Kreis, please remember. I’ll always be on your side.”
“Huh? Why are you saying that, all of a sudden?”
I cocked my head again, still confused. But no one gave me an answer. Meanwhile, I saw Professor wagging his tail off to the side, looking like he was in high spirits.
“Are you asleep, Kreis?”
It was late at night, and I’d stayed up late, struggling with documents Theodore had compiled about the domain. I’d only just crawled into bed when I heard a quiet knock at the door followed by Siegfried’s hesitant voice.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“I just haven’t been sleeping well lately...”
I could imagine the burden of being a king was great. And it was only natural, as the lives of every citizen in the kingdom rested on his shoulders. But despite all that, I’d never once heard this sort of complaint from Siegfried.
“Huh? Don’t tell me he’s paying you a ‘night visit’?”
I shot a glare at Professor, who was lounging at my side. That was all it took before he muttered, “Guess I’ll get out of your way,” and slunk away.
“Come in,” I said, opening the door to let Professor out and Siegfried in. He walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking troubled.
“There’s something that’s been weighing on me since that day.”
“Which day?” I asked.