The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 103

Confident that he had her almost convinced, Caleo played his final card.

“And if you get the shot today, you don’t have to take a bath.”

“Really?”

To Nivellia, who still threw a tantrum if made to bathe more than once a day, this was a very tempting offer.

“Really.”

“…For real?”

“For real.”

“Really really?”

“Really really.”

“If you’re lying, I’ll break up with Mommy!”

“I don’t want that.”

In the end, Nivellia was dragged away by Caleo, both hands clutched tightly in his, looking pitiful—like a prisoner being escorted to jail.

The porcelain piece she had taken hostage was safely returned to its original place.

“I hate shots…”

Nivellia whimpered the entire way.

“Grandma is dumb! She invented something as useless as shots…!”

“They’re very useful, actually.”

The syringe was one of the medical tools Saintess Muniel had designed after the Krepata  war ended 40 years ago.

Muniel had also developed various medical instruments, medical knowledge, healthcare systems, and treatments.

But instead of keeping those breakthroughs to herself, she shared everything freely so anyone could use them.

“I just came up with the ideas. Others completed them. That’s why they shouldn’t belong to me alone. There should be no discrimination in healing.”

That was one of the reasons Saintess Muniel was still respected and admired by all.

Although, ironically, her own granddaughter had resisted those achievements by sticking her butt out and trying to run away.

So, with a hopeless look on her face, Nivellia finally stood in front of the clinic and held out her arm.

“Oh dear, so you were dragged in again.”

Clearly used to this kind of scene, the physician gave a cheerful smile as he rubbed the soft, pale arm with cotton soaked in cold disinfectant.

“Hieeeeng!”

“I haven’t even given the shot yet.”

“No! It hurts! It really hurts!”

“I haven’t even taken the syringe out yet.”

In the end, Nivellia received the shot amidst dramatic whining.

Whatever injustice she felt, she started sobbing, even sniffling through her nose, and thumping her little fists against the floor.

“The world is so unfair!”

“I think you’re the unfair one…”

Caleo, who felt like he aged three years just trying to get her vaccinated, replied with a worn-out voice.

“Haha, the Marquis is having a rough time, I see.”

“Please don’t laugh. I really am.”

“There’s a reason people say seven is the most troublesome age… Or was it four?”

“Nini’s adorable no matter what age. Easy to say when it’s not your child.”

After that casual exchange, the physician left the room.

“Alright, let’s go have some cookies now.”

Caleo lifted the still-sniffling Nivellia into his arms.

Tears clung to her long, thick lashes, rolling down her cheeks and pooling at her chin.

“Did it hurt that much?”

Seeing her cry made Caleo feel a twinge of guilt. He gently wiped away her tears with the back of his hand.

Nivellia nodded vigorously.

“I thought my arm was going to fall off.”

“That’s a bit dramatic. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“How would you know? I’m the one who got the shot!”

“I got one this morning too. And I had them when I was your age.”

Caleo, who had benefited from Saintess Muniel’s medical advancements since childhood, lifted his left arm slightly.

Nivellia stared at his arm, thick as her head, and muttered,

“But you’re an adult.”

“What do you mean? I was once small, just like you.”

“You were little once?”

Her eyes widened in shock, as if that fact was beyond belief.

Even the stinging pain in her arm seemed to vanish in that moment of revelation.

“Puhaha!”

Caleo burst into laughter and hugged her tightly, overwhelmed by how adorable she was.

“You little bundle of cuteness and love!”

“Heehee!”

Every time Caleo held her, he could feel how much she had grown.

“There won’t be many more years I can carry her like this.”

He swallowed the bittersweet feeling and gently set Nivellia down on the floor.

“Daddy, I want a cookie!”

“Let’s go to the dining room. Your brothers are there too.”

“I’m going first!”

But when she acted this wild and carefree, it reminded him she still needed his care. That gave him a strange sense of relief.

Caleo was slowly learning what it meant to be a parent, the fact that watching your child grow wasn’t only filled with joy.

“Nini, you’re here?”

Soles, who was waiting in the dining room, called her over and patted the empty chair between himself and Aref.

Nivellia crawled under the table and climbed into the seat.

“You know you’re not supposed to come in like that.”

“Hehe, it’s faster. I don’t do this outside.”

“You shouldn’t do it at home either.”

“Young lady, your skirt is covered in dust.”

“Oh no.”

Aref, Nivellia, and Soles.

It had already been three years since the three of them started sitting together like this and sharing snacks.

And Nivellia always sat small between her two brothers.

Three years ago, and even now.

In fact, she seemed even smaller than before.

Not because she wasn’t growing. She had grown a lot and was taller than most kids her age.

But Aref and Soles had grown even faster.

Aref especially had grown so quickly that the clothes he wore in early spring had sleeves that were already too short by early summer.

And it wasn’t just their bodies that had changed.

Their behavior showed more grace, and even Aref’s once cold expression now showed calm confidence and quiet strength.

The boy who had grown up surrounded by love in the Deiamor family had become a graceful young noble.

But his careful and cautious nature was still the same.

“Aref, did you finish your cookie?” Nivellia asked, her mouth covered in crumbs.

Aref gently brushed them away and replied, “I already ate with Soles earlier.”

“We could hear Nini crying about the shot from all the way here,” Soles added with a teasing smile.

Thinking it would take a while, they had gone ahead and eaten.

Nivellia huffed and ignored him, then went right back to munching on her cookie.

Soles asked, “You’re not dipping it in milk?”

“I like eating it this way now.”

She had realized that drinking milk after chewing a dry cookie made it taste even better.

After they finished, the three of them ran through the halls to play.

Their games were simple.

Aref would run ahead, then suddenly turn back with his arms wide open.

Then Nivellia would run into them.

“Got you!”

“Aha haha!”

Aref’s laughter filled the hall. He finally felt comfortable enough to laugh without holding back.

Next, Nivellia ran ahead and spread her arms wide.

This time, Soles ran toward her and jumped into her arms. Nivellia staggered but held her ground.

“I caught you, big brother!”

“Wow, Nini, you’re really strong. You got way tougher!”

“Grandma teaches me how to punch.”

“Let’s call it self-defense.”

Since her fifth birthday, Nivellia had been taking regular self-defense lessons.

Although to be honest…

It was probably the adults’ way of tiring her out so she would fall asleep faster at night.

Soles had watched a few of her training sessions and thought so.

Most of the training didn’t involve real techniques. It was more about playing hard and using up her energy.

The funny part was that it was usually Grandma and Grandpa who ended up sleeping well afterward.

Muniel even came down with body aches once. After that, Ardores joined the training too.

“There’s nothing more ridiculous than becoming a widower because of your own granddaughter.”

That day, Grandpa’s serious face was still fresh in Soles’s memory, even though it sounded like a joke.

“Ah!”

Nivellia, who had been hopping along, suddenly said,

“Let’s go see Al!”

The children went straight to a certain room.

It was the one right next to their grandparents’ bedroom.

Standing in front of the door, they politely knocked.

Though there was no reply, they knew that meant it was okay to enter.

They slowly opened the door and saw the dim, quiet room inside.

Soles lit a match from the box on the small side table near the door and lit a candle with practiced ease. The room quickly filled with a warm glow.

Holding the candle, he stepped into the center of the room.

There stood the cradle, just as it always had.

Inside were all kinds of trinkets and stuffed animals, scattered about. They were gifts the children had brought and left behind during their visits.

Today, Nivellia pulled a honey drop from her purse and gently placed it beside the large egg resting in the cradle.

“Hey, dragon.”

She could now peek into the cradle with just a slight lift of her heels.

“Are you still sleeping, all curled up?”

The one who had once been the dark dragon, Ather, was now a white egg.

It happened exactly ten days after Nivellia’s fifth birthday.

The black dragon had turned white and was now completely sealed within a smooth, white shell.

“I wonder when you’ll wake up.”

Nivellia whispered, almost to herself.

Neither Aref nor Soles could answer.

Every day, they checked for even the smallest sign of change, but the egg was always the same. Smooth, round, and without a single scratch.

Once, they even placed a piece of red yarn or a bit of light fabric on it, just in case.

But when they came back the next day, the items were still resting in exactly the same place.

“…”

Nivellia reached out and gently stroked the egg.

“When you wake up, we have to play together. Okay?”

Aref and Soles reached out too and softly touched the egg.

The egg still gave no reply.

But the children continued to talk to it, just as they always had.

The next morning.

“Huh?”

Nivellia blinked in surprise as she spotted a visitor who had arrived at the mansion first thing in the morning.

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