* * *
As soon as morning broke, Ed was overwhelmed by the flurry of tasks coming at him from every direction.
“Head Butler!”
“Ed, Sir Ed Butler!”
The chaos stemmed from the preparations for Ronen’s birthday party, rushed forward without giving him time to adapt to the sudden changes in routine.
The endless stream of work left Ed so exhausted that he wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep.
But reality refused to give Ed even a moment to indulge in such fantasies.
“Ed! Oh, no, I mean, Head Butler now, right? Anyway, the chef says everything’s ready in the dining hall, just as you asked. All you need to do is show up!”
Ed knew he needed to finish his current tasks quickly to get started on Ronen’s first event of the day.
“Got it, Sena. I’ll finish this up and escort His Grace there. Is the young master still in his room?”
“Yeah, but it was lively when I passed by earlier. Looks like he’s playing with Roa again. Why?”
“It’s been so long since the brothers spent time together… I thought it’d be nice if they came down to the dining hall together too.”
Sena gave Ed a playful grin, her expression mischievous.
“As expected of the Duke’s one and only personal butler. I’ll let the chef know you might be a bit late.”
Once Sena left, Ed sighed in relief, feeling a little less burdened.
He clapped his hands once, as if steeling himself, and began delegating tasks to the heads of various departments, much to the wide-eyed amazement of the gathered servants.
“This is like passing a bomb around!”
Though he thought he heard Jaynon and Tenz muttering something along those lines, Ed chose to ignore them.
‘Good. That should keep things quiet for a while.’
With the chaos momentarily subdued, Ed stretched his shoulders and made his way to Ronen’s room.
When he opened the door, he immediately understood why Sena had said it was noisy.
“Young Master Ronen.”
The room was a mess of Roa’s fur and feathers from disheveled pillows.
The sight of Roa rolling on the bed, scattered toys, and a sweating Ronen made it clear what had been happening.
It seemed Ronen was trying, in his own way, to heed the doctor’s warnings about Roa’s increasing roundness—words that reminded Ed how terrifying modern-day concepts like “expansion” could be.
‘Not that rolling around on the bed looks particularly effective…’
“Ah, Ed! I was just playing ball with Roa. Want to join?”
‘Well, the effort counts for something, right?’
Smiling faintly, Ed plucked a feather stuck to Ronen’s forehead and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I need to get to the kitchen today. We’re making cakes for the year-end party.”
Ronen looked at the floor with disappointment, clutching the ball in his hands.
Ed pressed a hand to his chest to calm its sudden thudding.
‘Ah… he’s too cute.’
“If you’d like, why don’t you come along?”
At Ed’s suggestion, Ronen immediately perked up, nodding vigorously.
His bright expression struck Ed’s heart again.
“Then clean up your hands and face before coming down. His Grace will also be joining us to make the cake. Is that all right with you?”
“Yeah, sounds great! I’ll clean up and head down soon. So, you go ahead to my brother!”
‘Huh…?’
Ed had expected Ronen to light up at the mention of His Grace, but his reaction was strangely subdued.
Puzzled, Ed was shooed out of the room by Ronen and made his way to the Duke’s office, tilting his head.
‘…This feels like the look the orphanage kids gave before causing mischief.’
When Ed finally escorted the Duke to the dining hall, Ronen was already there, fully equipped in borrowed chef attire from Erin.
Overjoyed, he bombarded Erin with endless questions but ran to greet Ed and the Duke the moment he noticed them.
With every step, the oversized chef’s outfit flapped around his calves, momentarily tripping him up.
Just as Ronen stumbled, Ed lunged forward to catch him, enveloping him protectively.
The sudden motion made Ed stagger, only to be steadied by the Duke from behind.
“Young Master!”
“Ronen!”
The two brothers’ combined efforts kept Ronen safe, leaving him blinking in surprise before grinning widely when he realized he was nestled between them.
Unlike Ronen’s carefree laughter, Ed was struggling to compose himself.
Before him was Ronen, soft cheeks flushed and warm in his arms, while behind him, the Duke’s solid frame pressed reassuringly against his back.
The situation made Ed want to flee, but the brothers showed no intention of letting go.
Clatter.
“The cake layers are ready for assembly… um…?”
The head chef, pushing a cart laden with génoise sponge, froze at the sight.
There was Ed, trapped between a smiling Ronen and the Duke, who appeared amused by the scene.
Erin was off to the side, diligently decorating a three-tier cake as though nothing unusual was happening.
After a moment of silent contemplation, the chef set down the cake layers beside Erin and retreated quietly, pretending he’d seen nothing.
It took a while before they actually began decorating the cake—by which time Erin had already prepared a second one.
The hands-on work had been mostly completed by Erin and the chef, so all that was left for the Duke and Ronen was the fun part: decorating.
But even this simple task encountered an issue.
Normally, Ronen wouldn’t stray far from the Duke or Ed, but whenever they focused on their work, he wandered over to Erin instead.
The result was a cake that became more of an “Ed & Asnel” creation than a “Ronen & Asnel” collaboration.
The same pattern persisted in the afternoon when they went on a picnic.
While Ed and the Duke remained on the picnic blanket, Ronen and Roa dashed off to play in the distance.
‘Something’s off. Normally, Ronen wouldn’t leave His Grace’s side like this. To be this obvious about avoiding him… even in the kitchen, and now here.’
Ed began to worry if, just like in the original story, the relationship between the Duke and Ronen was beginning to strain.
“Ed.”
‘What do I do? I thought finding Ronen quickly would prevent a rift, but was I wrong?’
“Ed.”
“Gah!”
The Grand Duke, who had been sitting a little apart, was suddenly pressed close behind him.
“Ah… Did you call for me?”
The Grand Duke nodded gravely, his expression serious as he gazed at him.
“What do you think, Ed? About Ronen…”
Realizing that the Grand Duke was grappling with the same dilemma he was, Ed swallowed nervously.
“About Ronen…?”
The Grand Duke seemed on the verge of speaking but ultimately let out a heavy sigh instead.
Watching him, Ed suddenly recalled a phrase he’d once read online: ‘There are two ways to drive someone crazy—one is to stop mid-sentence, and the other is…’
‘Hmm…’
The Grand Duke, who had clearly been savoring Ed’s perplexed expression, resumed his words.
“Could it be that Ronen is… going through puberty?”
The Grand Duke’s suggestion hit Ed like a lightning bolt.
‘P-Puberty?!’
“Ha… But, Your Grace, young master Ronen is only ten years old. Isn’t it far too early for that?”
“Is it? I think I started going through it around Ronen’s age.”
Recalling a portrait he’d seen in the research lab, Ed began to understand the Grand Duke’s reasoning.
‘There are kids in Korea who start puberty early, so… could this really be why Ronen’s acting like this?’
Lost in the disconnect between the story’s logic and his own reality, Ed failed to notice the Grand Duke’s amusement as he watched him.
It wasn’t until a few days later, in the evening, that Ed’s overworked brain finally rebooted.
* * *
Лю
Lmao