The Doll and The Prince - v2 Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Naruhito (9)
For lunch, Otoha brought me a delicious porridge.

"Naru, can you eat by yourself?"

Of course.

"Really? Will you okay even if I'm not here? Should I stay until you finish eating?"

Why?
I shook my head, and Otoha stood up with a troubled expression.

"Will you eat properly?"

I'll eat. I can eat by myself now.
In the quiet room, after Otoha left, I blew on the steaming porridge to cool it down.
I took a bite, and it got stuck in my throat. It didn't taste like anything. Why? I tried drinking water. Despite being cold, it didn't taste good.
Maybe I wasn't hungry. I put down the spoon and leaned back on the sofa.
The area around my chest was hurting.
I don’t understand.

It was quiet. When I closed my eyes, I seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Feeling unwell?"

Gently, a blanket was placed over me, and I opened my eyes. Sai? I'm fine.

"Haven't you eaten? I can't tell if something’s wrong. I will call Lord Ikumatsu. Wait for a moment."

"I'm fine."

"You can keep sleeping if you want. Just wait."

Sai said that as he got up, and left. Ikumatsu then came in. Was he back?

"Welcome back."

I tried using the words I recently learned. When someone who went out comes back, you say "welcome back."

"Thank you. I'm back."

And when the person who returned says, "I'm back." I only say "welcome back" because I don't go out.

Ikumatsu gently pinched my cheek and pulled under my right eye. He said to open my mouth, and I did. He lifted my clothes and checked my whole body.

I said, "I'm fine," but he just smiled kindly.

"Healthy people eat meals."

Did I not eat?
Well, whatever. I had something to ask Ikumatsu~

"What's ‘fadher’?"
"Fadher... ah, father, right? That’s Lord Kujou, for example. That person became my foster parent. I'm an adult, so it’s a matter of paperwork, though.

"Foster parent?"

"A father, yes. Someone who takes care of a child's daily life. I'm already an adult, but he gave me his last name and became my family. Thanks to that, I was able to get a medical license."

I just wanted to know about "fadher," but now there were more mysteries…. Oh well, I'll just smile vaguely.

"... I wonder what you didn't understand. This is troubling. I have gotten a father at this late age, so maybe I'm not explaining it well."

It's okay.
Hearing about Lord Kujou was interesting.

"Won't you eat?"

Ikumatsu, looking troubled, scooped porridge onto a spoon and brought it to my mouth.
I like the food, but~

I was also troubled by not being able to open my own mouth.

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