The Black-haired Noblewoman, Who Disguised Herself, Seems To Have Been Doted On While Serving As The Caretaker For The Duke Who Dislikes Women - Episode 25

There were pictures of several people drawn there. Probably children. A boy in pants and a girl in a dress. Looking at the picture with the lower part painted green, my chest ached sharply.

Maybe this child actually wants to play in the garden with everyone.

I’m sure of it. There are several children around the same age, and while everyone is happily playing outside, there’s no way she would want to be alone in her room.

“I’m Michelle. Nice to meet you. You’re really good at drawing. What’s your name?”

“Claire……”

“Clara-chan? Wow, what a lovely name!”

I’m so happy that you replied, and my face naturally breaks into a smile.

It was at that moment.

“Michelle, you were here all along? You disappeared so suddenly, it surprised me. I turned around and you were gone… Huh?”

Mr. Curtis barged into the room with his usual cheerful voice. Immediately, Claire’s face stiffened.

Mr. Curtis came right in front of us, crouched down, and stared intently at Claire’s face.

“You’re a new face. Did you just arrive here recently?”

“I’m Curtis. Nice to meet you!”

“Why aren’t you going outside? Hey, let’s go play together! Moving around makes lunch taste better!”

“…………”

The more Mr. Curtis tries to talk to her, the more Claire shrinks back and bows her head deeply. She must be a very shy child. Or perhaps she has a fear of men. The fact that Mr. Curtis doesn’t know her suggests that she might have recently come to this orphanage due to some circumstances.

She probably still hasn’t gotten used to the other kids.

I don’t know how many days have passed since we got here, but I’m sure you’ve been told several times, “Why don’t you go play outside?” And if you hear the same thing from us, who you just met, you might feel like you’re being scolded. Especially if you’re a shy child.

“Um, you know, this is my first time coming here too. It’s really spacious, isn’t it? It makes me feel a bit nervous.”

When I said that, Claire slowly lifted her face and looked at me. Her eyes were slightly moist. Was she really scared after all?

I smiled and gently extended my hand to her.

“Hey, big sister, I want to go see the garden. But I’m a little nervous… If it’s okay with you, Claire, could you hold my hand and go with me? If you don’t want to, we can come back here right away. …What do you think?”

When I spoke to her in a quiet voice, Claire hesitated for a moment, then cautiously placed her fingertips on my hand.

“Hehe. Thank you. Well then, shall we go take a quick look?”

At my words, Claire-chan nodded slightly. Mr. Curtis, who had been watching our exchange, stood up first and headed towards the garden. While being mindful of Claire-chan, I gently took her hand and followed him.

Wow… This is overwhelming…

When I followed Mr. Curtis outside, I was surprised to find the garden much larger than I had imagined. There were quite a few children, ranging from small ones around three years old to older ones around fourteen or fifteen. At a glance… thirty, forty… even more…?

Even if a child who is not sociable suddenly comes to a place like this alone, it might be quite difficult to make friends right away. They probably wouldn’t know who to talk to.

“Ah! It’s big brother! Hey, big bro!”

“Yay! Big brother is here!”

As soon as they see us, a few boys rush over to Mr. Curtis. They surround him, each talking at once, saying things like, “Let’s race,” “Let’s play hide and seek,” “Hey, look, I can do a handstand now!” and pulling at his arms to take him away. When Mr. Curtis glances back at me and I nod with a smile, he says, “Okay, okay, one at a time,” and goes off with the kids.

I observe Claire-chan next to me. She is looking down and snuggling closely to me.

Alright.

“Everyone seems to be having a good time. … Hey, can we go over there for a bit?”

Claire didn’t respond, but she didn’t show any signs of reluctance either. Being careful not to pull her forcibly, I slowly walked towards the flowerbed in the back.

There were about four or five girls around there, crouching together, who were about the same height as Claire-chan. I went over to them and gently tried to talk to them.

“Hello. What is everyone doing? Playing house, maybe?”

Then the girls all turned to look at us at once. Claire-chan’s fingers tightened around my hand.

In the next moment, the eyes of the girls staring at me sparkled.

“Wow!”

“Your hair is so pretty, big sis!”

“It’s pink! Wow! So nice. Cute.”

It seems they like my hair color. This is my chance, so I crouch down next to them, still holding Claire-chan’s hand.

“Hehe. Thank you. It’s rare, isn’t it? You can touch it if you want.”

As soon as I said that, the girls all reached out to touch my hair at once. Then, giggling and squealing, they started to play with my hair.

“Wow! It’s so smooth and fluffy!”

“Beautiful… Look, it’s glowing purple!”

“From this side, it sparkles and looks silver!”

While letting the girls who are delightedly saying “amazing, amazing” touch as they please, I can’t help but giggle because it tickles.

At that moment, I suddenly noticed a girl staring intently at Claire.