Chapter 32

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Ilvaleno thinks Cain's face is exceptionally beautiful, though he doesn't say it out loud.

Of course, he thinks the same about Dian, who looks a lot like Cain.

I once thought that if he looks this good at seven, he'll surely become a heartbreaker when he grows up... but then I reconsidered, thinking he's so infatuated with Dian that he wouldn't even glance at any other young ladies.

But this morning, that beautiful face was in a very pitiful state.

His swollen eyelids from crying were so puffy that his eyes couldn't open. His cheeks were red from rubbing away tears, and his nostrils and the area under his nose were chapped from blowing too much.

"Terrible face."

"…Can you give me a wet towel?"

His voice was also terrible. He hadn't been screaming, but his throat was probably a bit swollen from sniffing.

Ilvaleno placed his hand over Cain's eyes and closed his own, concentrating.

"Is it that bad that you have to cover it with your hand?"

Cain asked, thinking his swollen eyes were being hidden, but Ilvaleno ignored him and cast a healing spell.

The spell was weak, so it couldn't completely restore his face, but it brought back some of his dignity.

"Terrible. Your eyes are leaking a lot. You've been rubbing them too much. I'll go get a towel."

"Wait, wait a moment."

Cain grabbed Ilvaleno's arm as he stood up to go to the bathroom, stopping him.

"You can use healing magic?"

"I can't do much, but I can handle small scrapes."

Ilvaleno explained that he rarely uses it in front of others to avoid raising excessive expectations.

"If that's the case, you should have kept it to yourself. Swollen eyes would have healed on their own if you had just applied a cold compress."

"It's fine. As I said yesterday, I've decided to support you."

However, he emphasized that Cain shouldn't spread it around.

The people in the ducal household are all good people.

Some of the servants in this house are from upper nobility, like the butler and Elise's maid.

I've heard that the butler's family is a marquess, and the maid's family is a count.

These people have been teaching me, an orphan, as an apprentice without looking down on me. Even if they do look down on me, they have the sense not to show it.

Ilvaleno thought it was okay to use his minor powers without hiding them in this house.

"Hmm."

Cain looked thoughtful, with the same expression as the butler.

"Anyway, thank you for the other day. My sisters were very happy."

"What are you talking about?"

Ilvaleno placed a wet towel on Cain's eyes and touched his nose, healing the rough area around it while thanking Cain.

Cain couldn't think of what he was referring to.

"You donated the leftover fabric and embroidery hoops you used for practice, right?"

"Oh, right. I got a personalized hoop from my mother, so I thought the practice hoops were no longer needed. The scraps from sheets and tablecloths won't run out anytime soon."

On the day Cain attended the embroidery club, Ilvaleno had taken a day off to visit the orphanage. He had obtained permission from the ducal household in advance and was given various items to bring back as gifts.

Jars of jam and pastries, sewing supplies like needles and threads, and the fabric they had practiced on, as well as unused fabric.

Elise had also given him several new plain cotton handkerchiefs.

"Mother gave you new handkerchiefs... Ilvaleno, once you improve your skills with scraps, you could embroider flowers or animals on new handkerchiefs and sell them in town."

"Handkerchiefs embroidered by orphans won't sell."

"Is that so?... I'll think about it."

Cain wanted to know more about the common people, but as a child of the ducal household, he couldn't just go out into the city. He only had the information he heard from his tutor during study breaks.

He had gone to the orphanage a few times with a guard, but they went straight there and back, so he couldn't really observe the lives of ordinary citizens.

(There's not enough information to go on, even with my past life memories...)

Cain felt frustrated by his powerlessness as a child.

Still, he thought it was fortunate that he had his past life memories from the moment he was born, unlike those who suddenly remember their past life after reincarnation, so there were still many things he could do.

"Alright, let's start with what we can do. Ilvaleno, I have a favor to ask."

Cain slapped his cheeks to muster up some energy and smiled at Ilvaleno.

"I'll listen to your request, but first, breakfast. Eat something first."

"Since yesterday, you've been trying to make me eat a lot, haven't you?"

"I fed you and slept next to you, and you perked up. I think what that Grandma Sakae said is true, so I've decided to put it into practice."

When Ilvaleno returned with the breakfast cart, he saw Cain looking at the flowers by the bedside with a melting expression.

Those were Cain flowers, which symbolize "I love my brother."

Ilvaleno sighed softly, thinking everything was fine now.

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