I felt sorry for the maids.
They had only come to dote on me, and now they were pale with fright.
I resented Lucas for showing up and ruining the mood instead of minding his own business.
Reaching my hands out toward him, I spoke.
“Ah-bah!” (Get lost!)
At that, Lucas stared at me with a blank, utterly clueless expression before uttering something incredibly stupid.
“Did that thing just call me ‘Papa’?”
Crazy bastard.
As if.
“Yes, My Lord.
It seems the baby—ah, Lady Ellie—thinks of you as her father.
She has been calling for her papa quite a bit.”
Masha quickly chimed in.
“Hmm.
Papa…”
Lucas’s expression returned to its usual unreadable mask.
He stepped closer, his face completely blank.
Standing beside Masha, he peered down at me before extending his palm, face-up, right in front of my face.
I brought my hand down, fully intending to slap his palm as hard as I could.
Smack.
My tiny hand landed softly on his massive palm.
Before I could pull back to strike again, Lucas closed his hand around mine.
I tensed, half-expecting him to crush my bones, but there was barely any pressure.
It was a loose grip, easy enough to slip out of if I wanted to.
“She’s tiny.”
“She is still so young…”
“Papa…”
Lucas murmured again.
The maids, who still had their heads bowed low, began exchanging cautious glances.
What were they doing?
They needed to keep their heads down if they wanted to keep them attached to their necks.
“If you were to hold her, My Lord, Lady Ellie would be absolutely delighted.”
I recoiled in horror at the head maid’s words.
Hold me?
Is she insane?
Do you people even know who he is?
He’s the monster who has destroyed this world over a thousand times!
“Kyah!”
When I shrieked, Masha beamed.
“Look, she’s already so happy!
Lady Ellie is incredibly bright; she already understands what we’re saying.
My Lord, would you like to hold her?”
No!
“Hold this?”
Lucas frowned.
No.
Don’t hold me.
I hate this.
“I have held her as well, My Lord.”
I hadn’t even noticed when Kuhn had slipped into the room.
“She is very soft.”
Kuhn just had to add that completely unnecessary detail.
Lucas’s red eyes gleamed with a strange light.
He stared down at me, then reached for my arms.
Realizing he was about to lift me by my limbs, Masha gasped in a panic.
“M-My Lord!
If you lift Lady Ellie like that, her arms will break!”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“L-Like this, the way I do…
support her under her arms…”