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I Hid the Duke’s Daughter (Web Novel) - Chapter 8: A cup of ice cream
Chapter 8: A cup of ice cream
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Islay returned to the hotel and thought over the day’s events.
He kept thinking about the little girl he had met earlier.
Golden hair that seemed to melt in the sun, and those clear, amber eyes. For some strange reason that child continued to remind him of Evelyn. The little girl’s smile was very endearing.
‘Did she say her name was Bianca…?’
He kept thinking about the child who had forced him to eat her sandwich. Without realizing, Islay let out a small chuckle. His low laugh echoed across the room. He awkwardly touched his lips that were curled up into a smile.
“…..”
He didn’t even remember the last time he had laughed out loud. But today, he would keep laughing whenever he thought of that child. Feeling unfamiliar with his laughing self, his eyebrows furrowed.
‘That child…I don’t know if she was able to return home safely.’
At that moment.
– Knock knock.
Islay slightly raised his head. His watery smile had long since disappeared and he spoke stiffly,
“Enter.”
The butler who had opened the door gave a deep bow. With a blank expression, the butler carefully spoke to his master.
“Your Excellency, there is an invite here for you.”
“I definitely said to reject all invitations.”
Islay was one of the most powerful people in the empire. But despite his influence, in the last seven years of his search for Evelyn, Islay had seen over a hundred local noblewomen, to no avail.
Islay tapped his armrest with his finger.
His butler continued to explain.
“The invite seems to have come from a resident of Annette.”
His finger paused for a few seconds. He could understand why his butler didn’t immediately reject the invitation and asked him about it.
If it was a resident of Annette, then…
‘I can get help in finding Evelyn.’
He had ordered his butler to report to him on any leads on Evelyn. Though right now, he felt that anything he grasped was like grabbing onto a straw while drowning in water.
Islay spoke softly.
“I understand. Why don’t we go and see what it’s about, then.”
“Then I will let them know.”
Despite his answer, the butler did not leave the room immediately. Wondering what more his butler had to say, Islay turned to look at him.
After hesitating a bit, the butler asked Islay.
“…How would you like to have dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“Yes. You have opted to skip your meals since yesterday.”
Ah. Islay blinked. Now that he thought about it, other than the sandwich that the little girl had given him today, he hadn’t eaten anything else since yesterday.
‘And now that I think about it, that sandwich…was delicious.”
A smile reappeared on his face. Actually, it had been a long time since he had eaten something and thought it ‘delicious.’
Glancing at his master’s facial expression, the butler threw out another question.
“Should I send up what looks alright?”
“Then…let’s make it a sandwich.”
“Understood. The food will be sent up shortly after preparation.”
Though a sandwich wasn’t the most filling meal, it was better than having nothing.With these thoughts, the butler nodded and then exited the room. Islay continued his thoughts from where they left off.
‘So, why a sandwich.’
Well, he knew why he said that.
Because the sandwich that the little girl had given him today reminded him of the ones that Evelyn used to make for him.
His thoughts were like tangled thread, and he let out a sharp sigh.
And in a few moments, the sandwich arrived at his room.
“…”
In contrast to the sandwich from earlier today, it was a luxurious looking sandwich. Oven-baked bread on the outside, and marinated beef and fried onion that had been cooked with butter filled the insides.
The shape, its delightfully sumptuous smell wafting from it.
However, Islay didn’t have an appetite from this delicious meal. After taking a few bites and merely picking at his food, he gave up on trying to eat the rest of his meal.
***
The next day.
Evelyn, finished with her work for Saturday, closed the shop and got ready to leave with Bianca.
“Bibi, let’s go!”
“Ye~es!”
As a cheerful Bianca skipped over, Evelyn, who was carrying a shopping basket, slightly smiled. Today, they would be going shopping.
When they visited the nobleman who had saved Bianca, Evelyn planned on bringing cookies as a present. Bianca swallowed and then spoke.
“Mommy, later when we bake the cookies can we put in chocolate chips too?”
“Of course, you can do as you like.”
“And can the cookies be rabbit-shaped?”
“If you want, today we can even make them into star shapes and puppy shapes too.”
“Yay!”
The child jumped up and down with excitement.
She likes it this much?
Evelyn looked at her daughter with amusement before bending down.
“Oh dear, looks like your hat became a little crooked.”
After straightening the hat and tying the hat ribbon into a bow, Evelyn tightly held the child’s hand. She felt the sweet warmth of the child’s hand in her own.
***
As the two went grocery shopping, they bought the ingredients needed for baking cookies as well. After they had gotten everything they needed, they headed home, both arms carrying goods. Bianca neatly carried a bag of sugar the size of her arm.
Their legs needed a rest, so Evelyn paused and turned to ask Bianca.
“Bibi, should we drop by to have ice cream before going home?”
“Re, really?”
Bianca’s eyes widened. Ice cream was something they only ate on very special occasions, like Bianca’s birthday, for example.
Ice cream was also Bianca’s favorite snack.
Evelyn nodded her head at her daughter’s question.
A rosy-cheeked Bianca jumped for joy.
“I want to eat ice cream!”
“Alright, then let’s go.”
The two set off to the ice cream shop.
All of a sudden, Bianca, who had been walking ahead of Evelyn, paused.
“Bibi?”
Evelyn walked up to her daughter and asked. Bianca was looking at a beautiful display in a small jewelry store they were just passing by. There were wedding rings and necklaces shining as they peered into the window.
But after a few seconds, Bianca quickly turned around. Her eyes were half opened and made her look apathetic about the jewelry display.
“Hmph, the ring I saw last time was much prettier.”
“Ring from last time? What do you mean?”
Unable to follow, Evelyn tilted her head. Bianca had a frustrated expression as she tried to explain.
“You, you know. The ring that the mister had.”
“Did the gentleman have a ring?”
“Ah…did I forget to tell you about that? I thought I told you already….”
Bianca awkwardly smiled, and began to explain the events in more detail. As Evelyn listened, she began to get a better sense of what her daughter meant by the ring, and about what had happened.
Seeing that the baby bird had been returned to its nest, that meant the gentleman had climbed up the tree. And in the process, his ring case had fallen out of his clothes.
“So then, a ring came out of the square box!…”
“Bibi, the ‘square box’ is actually called a ring case.”
As Evelyn gently corrected her, Bianca gave a big nod, her sparkling eyes gazing towards her mother as she continued speaking.
“And there was this huuuuge and really pretty ring!”
Bianca narrowed her eyebrows after she finished speaking.
Even though she was only seven years old, she felt that just ‘huuuge and really pretty’ was lacking as a description.
“That…it was a yellow and big jewel in the ring, and it sparkled when the light hit it, you know!”
“Did it really?”
“Really, it was sooo big!”
Evelyn swallowed. So then, to such a nobleman with such an expensive ring, was it fitting to give him cookies…? Her child tilted her head as if she had realized something.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Hmm?”
“You know Mommy, that jewel in the ring, the color of it was the same as the color of your eyes.”
At that moment, Bianca’s voice overlapped with Islay’s from so long ago.
‘When I ask you to marry me, it’ll be with a ring embedded with a jewel that is the same as the color of your eyes.”
‘And I hope you’ll never take that ring off. Promise?’
…That’s right.
The sweet memories, like some kind of sweet, lethal poison, flooded her. Because no matter how much she thought over the past, she would never be able to return to it.
“Mommy? Mommy!”
Bianca’s voice cut through her thoughts, and Evelyn snapped out of her daze, looking down at her daughter’s smiling face.
“That, can I have two scoops of ice cream? One for strawberry flavor, the other chocolate!”
“No honey, you can’t, you can only have one scoop, please.”
Evelyn shook her head and then opened the door to the ice cream store. A store employee greeted them as they entered.
“Welcome.”
“Alright, so which flavor do you want?”
Evelyn looked at her daughter and asked.
“Hmm…then…chocolate flavor…”
“Please give us one scoop of the chocolate flavor.”
The employee handed them the ice cream in a glass cup.
“Thank you.”
Evelyn sat Bianca on a chair and told her daughter, who was busy stuffing her face with the ice cream.
“Mommy is going to use the restroom and I’ll be right back, so just stay right here. Got it?”
“Got it!”
The child nodded. But Evelyn was still worried, so she asked the store employee to keep an eye out for her daughter.
“If it isn’t much, please look after my child for just a couple of minutes.”
“Of course, don’t worry.”
The friendly employee nodded their head. Evelyn kept looking back at her child as she rushed to the restroom.
After a bit of time passed.
Bianca, who had been engrossed in her ice cream, reached the bottom of her now empty cup. With a regretful face, she nibbled on her spoon as she looked around the store.
‘I’m bored.’
Light poured in from the glass windows of the ice cream store. With nothing else to do, Bianca looked out the window. But while she was looking out, she saw someone.
“Huh…? No way, is that Mister Lay?!”
Without a second thought, she got up from her seat and ran outside.
“Oh my! Hey, kid!”
Even though she heard the employee’s voice behind her, Bianca first needed to go see Mister Lay before she did anything else. Because if she stopped, the mister was going to disappear!
Bianca ran over and called out.
“Mister, Mister Lay!”
At her voice, Islay looked behind him. Upon noticing Bianca, his eyes widened.
“Bibi?”
***
Annette City. This was where Ibelin’s mother was born and raised.
Islay walked down the street at a slow pace.
He had a little bit of time before his meeting with the mayor, and decided to take a stroll around the town. Busy shops lined a small but busy street. It was Saturday, the beginning of the weekend, and even though it was still early and there were quite a lot of pedestrians.
‘Just in case, in case I have a fateful meeting with Evelyn on this street.’
His wish was so funny that Islay laughed at himself.
But then.
“Mister, Mister Lay!”
Surprised, Islay looked back to see a cheerfully smiling Bianca.
“My, so it’s Bibi. We meet again.”
“It’s not that we’re meeting again.”
Bianca raised her chin. Her amber eyes glinted as if they were playfully dancing.
“Mister, if I didn’t call out to you we probably wouldn’t have seen each other at all! There’s so many people here!”
“Ah, I see, then I should be grateful to you, Bibi.”
Until Bianca had talked to him, only Islay was by himself in the middle of the street. Everyone else was with their families and friends. The fact left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Bianca looked at him with a curious face.
“But Mister, where are you going now?”
“I had a little time left before an appointment, so I was just taking a walk.”
More like a ‘wandering around with no goal,’ but Islay answered casually. At his reply, Bianca looked at him with hawkish eyes.
“Then, let’s go eat ice cream over there.”
“Ice cream?”
“Mmhm. The ice cream there is really delicious.”
Bianca spoke in a serious voice. At the same time, Islay found the ice cream store employee glancing over at him through the shop’s window.
It didn’t seem like the employee recognized who Islay was.
Then, it would be best to go to a place where he could keep an eye on the employee.
“I see, that’s how it is. Bibi, would you like me to buy you some ice cream?”
“Yes, yes!”
Without a care for any kind of courtesy, Bianca cutely gave a huge nod.
– Kuku.
Islay erupted into chuckles.
***
Islay brought the child into the ice cream shop. After greeting the employee with his eyes, he asked.
“So, which flavor do you want?”
“Strawberry please!”
Bianca answered immediately. But before he could place the order, she grabbed and pulled on his sleeve. As Islay glanced down at her, he saw the child putting on a stubborn expression
“Mister, you should eat ice cream too.”
“Me? Hmmm…I’m not sure…”
“The ice cream here, is, really, really good!”
Unable to win against her persuasion, Islay began to think of what to order. The child strongly recommended the chocolate flavor.
After watching Islay order, however, Bianca’s eyes sharpened as she asked.
“But, why are you getting ice cream in a cup?”
“Ah, it’s because I need to leave soon, so getting it in a cup will be more convenient.”
“Awwww, that means you aren’t eating the ice cream with me? Don’t leave…”
Bianca pouted as she asked. Islay gave her a small smile and stroked her head.
“I’m sorry, but as I said earlier, I am a little busy today, so I cannot.”
At that answer, Bianca looked at Islay with begging eyes. They were the cutest puppy dog eyes.
‘…should I just cancel my appointment with the mayor?”
Islay began to seriously consider this option.
