DKVM Ch 22

Chapter 22

Vivian opened her eyes slightly…

“From the grain, I’m guessing this is from a ginko tree And the lack of discoloration suggests it was dried in the shade.”

She glanced over at Karlz, who was scrutinizing the bookmark.

“Ginkgo’s scent repels insects. It’s good for preserving books. It’ll come in handy.”

“….”

“You have a good eye for things.”

Vivian suddenly realized.

Karlz was playing a prank on me earlier.

“I’ll put it to good use.”

I realized that praising an object on its merits was his way of telling me that he wasn’t good at dealing with children.

Vivian’s eyes widened in disbelief, but then she wiped away her worries and smiled.

“You’re welcome!”

Then I seized the opportunity to push further.

“So, can I come read with the duke in the future?”

Karlz raised one eyebrow at Vivian’s unexpected turn of conversation.

“…What are you saying?”

“Because my manners teacher says you can tell what kind of person a person is by the books they read.”

“You want to know about me? Why?”

“Because I want to get to know the duke.”

Karlz narrowed his eyes at Vivian’s answer.

“So the gift was a bribe after all.”

Not wanting to drag out the unnecessary conversation any further, he cut to the chase.

“What do you want?”

Vivian blinked at his directness.

“If you tell me honestly what you want, I might listen.”

Vivian’s arrival changed the mood in the mansion.

‘Not just Rahel, but she also changed the mood of the restless servants who came to the unfamiliar village.’

Considering the difference this child made, her intentions, however outlandish, were not unreasonable.

If it is what this child desires, it will not be too difficult for him.

Besides, once the girl has tasted the sweetness of power, she will be even more loyal.

It wasn’t such a bad idea to tame her from the start.

But…

“I don’t want anything. All I want is to be friends with the duke.”

The child’s eyes were clear and resolute, without a hint of falsehood.

It confused Karlz even more.

“Why would you want that?”

“Because the duke seems like a nice guy.”

Not scary, but nice?

It was a rather awkward qualifier for him.

“…So?”

“My philosophy teacher said,’ When you have a good friend, it feels like you have lived another life.’.”

“….”

“That’s why I want to be friends with the duke.”

Karlz stifled a laugh.

I made her go to classes in order to help me, and she’s already grown up this much.

A duke befriending a commoner, a kid two generations his junior.

As if reading Karlz’s mind, Vivian smiled innocently and revealed her aspirations.

“It would be fun to be friends with me, I have a lot of friends your age, Duke.”

“Ha.”

She even went so far as to claim that it wouldn’t be the first time she’d made friends of this age.

Karlz burst out laughing in disbelief.

This kid was a lot smarter than he’d expected – and scary.

* * *

From that day forward, Vivian sought out Karlz whenever Rahel went to her successor class.

She was worried that he would kick her out for being a nuisance, but Karlz took her in well.

His dry demeanor made her feel welcome.

For example…

‘Oh, it’s apple juice today!’

Like now, little things like snacks spread out for Vivian’s arrival.

Vivian took it as a positive sign.

‘Of course, it was the butler who took care of it.’

Karlz’s refusal to put the snack away meant that he condoned it.

“Thank you for the food!”

Karlz said, glancing over at Vivian, who was munching away.

“What book do you want to talk about today?”

Their conversation consisted mostly of Vivian asking and answering questions about books she had studied or read.

‘I wonder if the duke really read all of the duchy’s books?’

Vivian was initially skeptical of Karlz’s claim.

But then she realized that he was being sincere, and he understood whatever book she was talking about.

“I read a book in philosophy today called ‘Life is a Series of Regrets,’ and I’d like to talk to the duke about it.”

Karlz let out a wry laugh.

For a nine-year-old, the book was pretty profound.

But aside from that, he wondered what the nine-year-old who read it was thinking.

“Have you ever had any major regrets in your life?”

“Yes, so that book got me thinking about that thing again.”

“That thing?”

At that moment, an unnamed bird was chirping on a branch outside the window.

Vivian stared at it before speaking.

“Once, my dad went to the forest and picked up a baby bird whose mother had lost it, and it was so cute, so I raised it and sent it back to the forest…”

Karlz looked into the child’s glazed eyes.

He didn’t need to hear the rest of the story to know what happened.

“I found it dead in front of my house a while later, like it was bitten by a snake and was running away and ended up here.”

“You must have regretted sending the bird back to the forest.”

“Yes, a lot. I thought a lot about it and wondered if I would still be living with it if I had kept it instead of sending it back to the forest.”

“Actions done with good intentions don’t always have good results.”

“….”

“But that’s not your fault.”

“….”

“Because you didn’t know what the future would bring, and you did what you thought was best at the time.”

“That’s true.”

“And it was the bird’s choice to fly away from your arms, after all.”

“But…if I hadn’t let him out in the first place, would he have flown away?”

“Even if you had kept it in a cage and fed it only delicious things, it might have longed for the outside world all its life and blamed you the day it died.”

Karlz knew that the bird would not have been happy if Vivian had done that.

That’s because he had raised the one who was so precious and dear to him, Isela, the same way.

Karlz continued.

“There’s no end to the hypotheticals, so just know what happened.”

“What happened…”

“The bird did well during his time with you, and I’m sure he was happy to be back in the forest, enjoying his freedom.”

“….”

“Of course, in his dying moments, he may have regretted his choice, but that’s not for you to decide, it’s for him.”

It might sound a little cold, but it was his own way of comforting himself.

“Let go of the past, even if it’s unfortunate because I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to be shackled to the past.”

Vivian stared at Karlz as she said it.

Karlz felt the stare and looked up at her.

In hindsight, he realized that the child might have been hurt by his rather cold tone, but Vivian smiled.

“The duke seems like a real grown-up.”

“…A real adult?”

“I think a real adult is someone who knows a lot more than a child. So I think you understand what I’m thinking.”

Karlz chuckled at the kid’s comment.

But there was a tinge of self-pity in his laugh.

He was just a smooth talker who had never become a real adult, even at this age.

Still making the wrong choices and regretting it.

While advising the child to let go of the past, he himself is still living in the past.

That’s when Vivian’s eyes lit up and she asked.

“Do you ever have any regrets, Duke?”

Karlz, who had also been reflecting on the past, paused at her question.

“The duke listened to me, so I’d like to listen to him.”