* * *
The next morning, Sia threw up again.
Twice in a row.
His tiny body was burning up with fever.
This time, even he seemed to realize it was serious—he didn’t protest when I mentioned calling a doctor.
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Ugh… Don’t talk to me….”
“Got it. I won’t talk. Don’t get mad, or your fever will rise even more.”
I soothed him and shut my mouth as he demanded.
At that moment, the door quietly opened, revealing the master, who had brought today’s documents and Yuti as I instructed.
Even as he groaned with his eyes tightly shut, Sia had an uncanny ability to sense new presences.
The moment the master entered, his eyes snapped open.
I clicked my tongue at his overly sharp wariness and gestured for the master to leave.
“Asis, good work. Just leave the documents here and return to the office.”
“…Yes.”
His voice was reluctant, but he obediently placed the papers beside me and left.
Meanwhile, Yuti, who had been lingering by the door, glanced at the now-closed entrance before approaching the bed.
“We meet again, Your Grace.”
“Yeah. But this time, take care of this kid instead of me.”
“I’m not a kid! Don’t call me that!”
“Maybe it’s because of that temper, but no matter what we do, his fever won’t go down.”
I pressed my palm against Sia’s chest, holding him still as he flailed.
Yuti looked between us, scratching her head.
“So, this is the little one who scratched up your arm, Your Grace?”
When I wordlessly widened my eyes in confirmation, she was silent for a moment before rummaging through her bag.
I thought she might pull out some medicine, but instead, she took out a nail clipper.
“He needs his nails trimmed.”
“…Thanks.”
“What kind of person—”
“Shh, Sia. Say thank you.”
“Hmph!”
He whipped his head away, making me chuckle, while Yuti quietly did her job.
After examining him for a while, she let out a short sigh and came to a simple conclusion.
“Looks like he’s sick because his stomach couldn’t handle rich food after so long.”
“What did you eat before coming here, kid?”
“I’m not a kid!”
“Sia, stop getting mad and just tell Yuti what you ate.”
“…I… didn’t.”
“What?”
“I didn’t eat anything! Those bastards ignored me and said I’d lose value if I gained weight, so they starved me!”
He thrashed his limbs in anger as he spoke.
I did my best to soothe him and turned to Yuti.
“If he hasn’t eaten anything, what should we do?”
“Well… his stomach must be weak from hunger, so he’ll need to eat porridge for a while.”
“What? No way!”
The moment Yuti finished speaking, Sia recoiled as if someone had stolen his favorite snack.
He shot her a betrayed glare before turning to me with pleading eyes.
“…Do I really have to eat just porridge?”
“You have to listen to the doctor.”
When he saw there was no room for negotiation, his desperate gaze turned into something more scheming.
In a low grumble, he muttered:
“You’re filthy rich, but you’re stingy about food….”
Even with his fever-flushed face, he wasn’t intimidating in the least.
I tapped his plump lips with the back of my hand, silently telling him to stop pouting.
The moment my hand touched him, he immediately shut his mouth.
Watching him, I said evenly:
“Choose your words carefully, Sia. This isn’t about money, it’s about your health. And if you want to enjoy all the delicious food my wealth can buy, you need to get better first. But if you keep throwing up, you might be stuck eating porridge for life. Is that what you want?”
He flinched at my quiet tone and glanced at me.
Seeing that, I deliberately softened my expression and wiped the tears welling up in his eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because it’s unfair! I thought being taken in by a noble meant I’d finally get to eat good food, but now I’m stuck with porridge!”
His clear voice rang out as he buried his face in his pillow, his small shoulders trembling slightly.
“Ever since Mom and Dad died, I haven’t had anything good to eat…. Just those goddamn stale loaves—”
“…Those awful, tasteless loaves.”
“Those goddamn loaves and whatever slop they called soup—it was so bad I couldn’t even tell if it was food or trash!”
“That bland soup… I see. That must’ve been tough.”
Even when I corrected his language, he stubbornly stuck to his choice of words. In a way, it was impressive.
Sighing, I pressed a hand to his forehead.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Yuti chuckling at our exchange.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I turned to her.
“So if he eats porridge for now, he’ll be fine?”
“I don’t want porridge….”
“Shh.”
“Yes. Let’s feed him porridge for a few days and check his condition again later.”
With that, Yuti gave him his medicine and left the room.
After a moment of silence, I felt Sia’s gaze on me.
But the second I turned my head, he quickly looked away, feigning indifference.
Was it because he was a kid?
I really couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
Shaking my head, I bent down to pick up the papers that had fallen to the floor during his tantrum.
Along with them, I grabbed my fountain pen and started working.
Despite his fever, Sia showed no signs of sleeping.
I could hear him shifting around on the bed.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I called to him.
“Sia, go to sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Sleep anyway.”
“I said I’m not sleepy!”
“If you close your eyes, you’ll feel tired.”
At that, he made a point of opening his eyes even wider.
I almost scoffed at the irony—he really wasn’t a baby, yet he absolutely was one.
Sighing, I set my papers down and placed my left hand lightly over his eyes, making sure not to actually touch him.
“Now sleep.”
“I didn’t ask you to cover my eyes.”
“Shh.”
I turned back to my papers, ignoring his grumbles. Soon, he went silent.
Even without looking, I could tell by his steady breathing that he had finally fallen asleep.
Just in case, I waited a little longer before pulling my hand away.
His face, once filled with irritation, was now peaceful in sleep.
‘So this is what they mean when they say kids look like angels when they sleep.’
His round forehead and slender cheeks, hinting at his lack of proper meals, were flushed red with fever.
I gazed at the child for a moment before resuming my paperwork.
Then, just before lunchtime, I gathered the completed documents and rose from my seat.
Leaving the room quietly, I entered my office.
The master was nowhere to be seen, likely having stepped out for a while.
I placed the documents on my desk and stepped out into the corridor, where I encountered three employees passing by.
They greeted me when our eyes met, and I responded appropriately before speaking up.
“Would you mind doing me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Tell the head chef to prepare some porridge. Keep it plain—no added ingredients. It’s for someone with a weak stomach.”
If Sia had heard me, he probably would have been horrified.
The employees exchanged glances at my request before nodding and quickly walking away.
Watching their retreating figures for a moment, I then returned to the bedroom—just in time to find Sia awake.
His gaze, still hazy from sleep, wandered the room before locking onto mine.
“You’re up?”
“…Don’t you have anything better to do? Why are you always hanging around me?”
“Nope, nothing to do. I’m the Scarecrow Duke, after all.”
“Duke?”
“Yeah, Duke.”
“A Duke, you say?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What kind of Duke acts like this?”
Sia’s sharp remark broke the brief silence as he gave me a once-over.
Tilting my head slightly, I studied him in return.
When our eyes met, he mumbled as if making an excuse.
“I mean… you’re a Duke, but you don’t have that… you know, that aristocratic thing. Dukes are supposed to be really high-ranking, aren’t they?”
Struggling to find the right words, he trailed off with a frustrated sigh.
I had a rough idea of what he was trying to say.
He was probably referring to noble privilege or aristocratic elitism.
“Yeah, it’s a high rank. But I only became a Duke because I wanted something, and I’ll be stepping down soon enough.”
“Why? Isn’t being a Duke a good thing?”
“Is it…? Then, Sia, do you want to be the Duke?”
Muttering as if unsure himself, I suddenly posed the question, making Sia stare at me in disbelief.
“What the hell are you talking about? Did you eat something weird? Did you hit your head? Is this family even going to be okay like this?”
His words, sharp as daggers, made me scrunch my nose before shaking my head.
“No. I can just marry you and make you my proxy.”
“If you marry someone like me, people will talk. Are you planning to live a long life or what?”
“My reputation can’t get any worse. And it’s just on paper—it’s not like we’d actually do anything.”
“Forget it! I don’t want to be a Duke!”
Sia grumbled about how ridiculous it was for me to be saying such things to someone I barely knew.
While I let his complaints go in one ear and out the other, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
The moment the noise reached his ears, Sia clamped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes.
Glancing at him briefly, I called out toward the door.
“Who is it?”
“Your Grace, I brought the porridge as requested. What should I do with it?”
“Ah, right. Thanks. Just leave it by the door.”
“Understood.”
As the presence outside retreated, I slipped off my wheelchair and walked over to retrieve the porridge.
When I turned back, Sia was eyeing the bowl in my hands with a look of distaste.
“Porridge…”
His expression turned grave as he glared at me.
“This is seriously annoying.”
“Could you stop being so mad?”
“It’s my emotion! Don’t tell me what to do with it!”
Hah… Taking care of a kid is really no joke.
* * *
