Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Grandpa's Shoulder
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Even though it was still early in the morning, stacks of documents towered on Grandfather's desk like a mountain.
High enough to nearly obscure the upper body of Grandfather, who was far from small.
"Your granddaughter coming to visit you first thing in the morning—you must be delighted."
The Chairman Grandfather tossed out the joke as he added a few more papers to the desk.
"That's an uncharacteristically lame quip from you."
Grandfather shot back coolly before turning his head to look my way.
Even while handling paperwork indoors, the old man sat impeccably, his cravat tied tight without a single crease. It was downright intimidating.
Truly, not just anyone can hold a high position.
Fortunately, Grandfather didn't issue an order for me to leave upon spotting me.
To be precise, he had no spare moment to spare me any attention.
The instant his gaze, which had briefly landed on me, shifted away, his secretaries filed into the office.
They bustled about, piling new documents on the desk or delivering reports.
'No way could I ever handle being a duke, no matter who tried to force it on me.'
Just eavesdropping on them was enough to make my mind go fuzzy.
I flipped open the book I'd brought as an excuse, but I barely managed to turn a single page.
And to top it off, the sofa was so plush...
I settled onto the sofa in the center of the room and began nodding off.
With my baby body stuffed full from Dad and Dietrich's overfeeding frenzy, there was no resisting the wave of sleep crashing over me.
Scratch...
The only sound in the room had been the quill scraping across paper—until an unfamiliar snoring mixed in.
Scratch...
The Duke, who had been signing documents for aid to earthquake-stricken areas, lifted his head.
The source of the noise was the leather sofa in the center of the room.
Mariella lay sprawled there.
Until just moments ago, the child had been fighting to stay upright, her head bobbing desperately. Now her body had slowly tilted over.
She was fully reclined now, snoring away in blissful comfort.
"Pfft."
The Chairman, watching the scene, stifled a laugh through his nose.
The Duke, who had been observing his cousin's amused expression all morning, leaned back from his desk-hunched posture and averted his gaze.
The child's sleeping face was a mess.
One chubby cheek, stuffed like a squirrel's with food, was squished against the sofa, her mouth protruding like a crucian carp's.
And then there were her dangling hand off the edge and the book that had fallen to the floor.
"This reminds me of Leopoldt's childhood."
"Does it?"
"Don't you remember, Your Grace? Leopoldt used to hate books with a passion when he was little."
"Hmm. Can't say I do."
"It's still vivid in my mind. He'd get summoned to Your Grace's office and fall asleep right there before he could even turn two pages..."
He claimed not to remember, but that wasn't true.
Leopoldt had once been the heir to the Northern Duchy—and the firstborn son who lost his mother at birth.
In his younger days, the Duke would often call Leopoldt to his office to teach him personally.
Every time, the boy would squirm in his seat before conking out in exactly the same pose as his daughter.
And whenever that happened, the Duke's second wife would bring snacks.
The woman would smile softly at the soundly sleeping Leopoldt and the somewhat irritated Duke, always trying to soothe him.
Such peaceful days had existed for the Duke once.
"At Dominic's birthday banquet, the house knights boldly blocked Leopoldt's path."
It was an incident already reported to the Duke alongside the knights' reprimand.
Yet the Duke stared at the Chairman as if he'd heard nothing of it.
"Even lowly knights treating Leopoldt with such disdain—it's unacceptable, Your Grace. He is still your eldest son, after all."
"He should have steeled himself for that when he abandoned even the heir position and walked away."
"Leopoldt was young back then."
"Young, my foot."
"It was right after he came of age. And... there's a world of difference between Your Grace disciplining Leopoldt and some random knights disrespecting him."
The man before him was the Chairman of the Council of Elders—and the Duke's cousin, as well as his most trusted confidant of many years.
The Duke massaged his stiff nape upon hearing his subordinate's firm words.
He was getting old, it seemed.
Just a few hours at the desk had his head throbbing.
But his sharpness was far keener now than in his youth.
"You've heard about Mark fighting with your grandson, I assume?"
The question carried an edge: Are you siding with Leopoldt out of grudge over your child's issue with Dominic?
The Chairman gave a faint smile at his liege, who trusted no one easily.
"It's just children's squabbles, nothing more."
"Is it true the Dvayer family lent you money?"
"I didn't borrow it."
"...So it's debt left by your son. Tell me how much is left. I'll cover it for you."
"I'm not so senile that I'd beg Your Grace for pocket change."
"Stubborn as ever. How can you be so inflexible?"
Even as the Duke openly scolded him, the Chairman stubbornly refused help to the end.
Gazing at that resolute face, the Duke frowned, recalling the Chairman's sole son.
His first cousin once removed was a wastrel gambler.
He'd spent his life causing trouble, then died at the gambling table, leaving two young children behind.
No one knew the full extent of his debts.
Not even the Verbain Count family, collaterals to the ducal house, could shoulder them.
The Duke clicked his tongue, reminded of why the Chairman always wore those shabby old clothes.
"Looks like we both failed at raising our sons."
"No arguments there. Still, Leopoldt... he's better off than mine."
The Chairman's faint smile deepened as he watched Mariella smack her lips and roll over.
"He raised his child with kindness, after all."
The Duke didn't argue with that.
The girl had stepped up so boldly for Joachim—a boy she'd never even properly met—which proved she was good-hearted.
It was almost amusing to recall how she fearlessly spoke her mind before him, when other children shrank at the mere sight.
Who knew the youngest of his five grandchildren would be so spirited.
'Father!'
Leopoldt had been the same as a child.
Spotting the Duke from afar, he'd come galloping over like a spirited colt, shouting "Father!"
As faint old memories resurfaced, the Duke suddenly felt a prickling pain spreading across his shoulders and twisted with a grimace.
The Chairman, watching, looked concerned.
"Shoulder hurting again?"
"It's nothing."
"Don't just rely on physicians—visit the temple for once."
"Priests only prescribe bitter painkillers anyway. They help in the moment, that's all."
It was then.
Mariella—who'd been sleeping soundly, even smacking her lips—snapped her eyes open and lifted her head.
Her drowsy eyes scanned the room until they met the Duke's gaze.
Light slowly returned to her hazy blue irises.
"Ughhh!"
In that instant, Mariella raised both hands to the sides like someone surrendering.
Then she twisted her body backward, letting out a bizarre noise.
The Duke's eyebrows rose, then fell at the sight of the child launching into such odd behavior right after waking.
I must've dozed off without realizing.
But if there was one conversation I hadn't missed amid the rest, it was the one the grandfathers had just shared.
'Shoulder hurting again?'
That's what Chairman Grandfather had said.
I already had a hunch nagging at me.
Just yesterday, after chewing out Mark, Grandfather had rubbed his nape like he was exhausted.
And now this.
To draw Grandfather's attention, I launched into the biggest stretches I could manage.
What I was doing now was an exercise to strengthen the rhomboids.
'Raise both arms into an L-shape like this, then...'
Regulate my breathing to keep tension out of my shoulders, lift the arms with my back instead, and gently draw them back and together.
The key was relaxing the neck and shoulders as much as possible.
To ensure the back muscles got fully stimulated.
"Euuu, streeetch!"
After a quick full-body loosen-up, I sprang to my feet from my seat.