A family conversation

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“Mr. Takumi thinks so too.. Still, do you really think it will be alright?”
“In the previous conversation, Ms. Anne would have become strongly aware of the duke’s family. And so unlike before, she would see you as someone to follow, instead of resisting. I think she will listen and figure out how to make the most of your advice…”
“Hmm, I see.”

She wasn’t terribly stupid, probably.
It had been her that made suggestions to Count Barsler, after all.
She was just thinking in the wrong direction.

And so I thought that she would realize that instead of just seeing the duke as a rival, she might want to follow his example.
Well, I had practically told her to do that.

“Well, I suppose it is best to keep her with me after all …Still, it will be difficult…”
“But you already raised Ms. Claire and Tilura. And while Tilura is still childish, Ms. Claire has been brought up to be the ideal sort of woman.”
“Mr. Takumi’s ideal woman…”
“…Really? Well, Claire may as well have been raised by the servants in the main house. After my wife died… Well, I tried to do my duty as a father…but I am not sure if I succeeded. Though, perhaps I shouldn’t say such things in front of Claire. After all, she escaped the main house in order to avoid the talk of marriage…”

Ms. Claire looked like she blushed for a moment, but it was probably just the firelight.
Still, it seemed like Mr. Ekhenhart had not been very involved when it came to her education.
…Now that I thought about it, that did make sense.

Would it be rude to think that if she were to learn from Mr. Ekenhart, she would have inherited his unconventional and rougher qualities. The kind of person who just did what was amusing?
After all, Ms. Claire did not decide things in the spur of the moment, but was more thoughtful…

“…Hmm! Well, father was busy with his duties as a duke. Besides, I knew how troubled and in pain you were after mother’s death. And so I also did my best so as to not give you any trouble. Even though I was sometimes a handful for the servants…”
“In that case, perhaps Ms. Claire really did have those qualities…”

I immediately thought of Sebastian and Ms. Lyra.
There was also Ms. Gelda…but she was clumsy, so I won’t think about her right now.
Regardless, as long as there were good servants like Sebastian and Ms. Lyra, then it made sense that Ms. Claire would have been raised so well, even without Mr. Ekenhart’s help.
According to what I heard from Sebastian last night, the servants were very fond of Ms. Claire.

So it was her original traits, as well as the education from the servants, and her feelings towards her father regarding her mother’s death…
All of that had led her to the right direction, and resulted in the present Ms. Claire.

“I’m sorry for troubling you. I did want to spend more time with you and Tilura, but…I was often unsure about what to do. Still, I am happy to see that you turned out so well.”
“Father. So you agree with Mr. Takumi then…”
“Well…yes…”
“Huh? Oh…yes.”

While I didn’t know the details, I suppose things had been awkward with his daughters after his wife died.
And then there was the matter of arranged marriages. And they had drifted apart.
But in spite of such complications, Ms. Claire had turned out alright. And so it was all good in the end.

The way Mr. Ekenhart felt apologetic towards Ms. Claire, kind of reminded me about how I felt towards Leo, for not being able to spend much time with her.
After that, Mr. Ekenhart looked at his daughter and muttered what was on his mind.
In contrast, Ms. Claire’s expression becomes troubled or somewhat sullen.
Mr. Ekenhart seemed like he wanted me to agree with him, and so I nodded.

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World