Dejected Mr. Ekenhart
As Liza seemed hesitant to go to the other children, Leo pulled her by the sleeve.
It was like a cat and a kitten… Only Leo was a dog…a wolf, and Liza was a fox.
Well, I could let Leo take care of her now.
…As for the other problem…
“Mr. Takumi… But Liza was fine earlier. Why is she suddenly…”
“Well, your face was covered… Even Ms. Anna didn’t know who you were… So she probably thought you were a stranger?”
“…Hmm… Still, one does not like to scare children… Tilura never reacted like that…”
“Well, it’s probably because you were there ever since she was born.”
Mr. Ekenhart was sitting in a corner and leaning against the wall.
And I wasn’t the only one who was amused. Ms. Anna and the other workers were also chuckling.
The duke was… No one knew how they should react.
“Well, well. Cheer up. After all, you were one of the people who helped her, so I’m sure it will be fine.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Mr. Takumi… Still, what can I do so that she won’t be scared…”
I approached Mr. Ekenhart and patted him on the shoulder consolingly.
For a second, I wondered if I should be acting so familiar around him… But at this point, he seemed more like some friendly old man who was just your neighbor.
Besides, he didn’t seem to mind.
“Well, you do have a rather intimidating face… So I don’t think it should be surprising…”
“Do you think so? Grrr… I thought that growing my beard out would make children like me…”
Both Ms. Anna and I looked at each other.
That’s why he grew out his beard?
I had always thought that beards had the opposite effect…
Maybe if it was in an interesting shape… But Mr. Ekenhart’s was rough and wild looking… It did not give the best impression.
While I had not known her for very long, it was clear that Ms. Anna and I were thinking the same thing… Which of us would tell him what we were thinking?
“Since you’re the one who runs this place and has known Mr. Ekenhart for a long time…”
“No, no. I could not say such a thing to His Grace… You must do it, Mr. Takumi…”
“Oh, I don’t think Mr. Ekenhart would be offended if you do it, Ms. Anna…”
“But surely it would be better for a man to tell him? Now, don’t be shy…”
“Mr. Ekenhart is troubled over how children react to him. And since you know so much about children, your advice would be valued more…”
Such was the argument we had with our eyes.
…Well, I suppose it was all just my imagination.
However, she was chuckling as if we really were saying such things.
“So…Mr. Takumi. What shout I do? It seems that Liza and Tilura like you well enough. So you must have some advice?”
Mr. Ekenhart had suddenly raised his head and asked for my opinion.
…Tsk. So it was going to me after all.
Ms. Anna looked at me triumphantly and with a smirk, said, ‘Yes, Mr. Takumi. Do tell…’
Hah… I had no choice then. Well, Mr. Ekenhart would not easily take offense, I suppose…
“I think that… No, there is no guarantee that it will work, but… Perhaps that beard…”
“The beard? It is quite impressive, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. …But I think you could tidy it up a little… To be honest, I think it’s your beard that makes you frightening to some children…”
“Wh-what!? You are blaming the beard!? That is…ridiculous…”
While it was difficult to say, I ended up blurting it out.
However, Mr. Ekenhart did not take it well. He was clearly in great shock as he fell back down on the ground.
“In the first place, Mr. Ekenhart. Why do you leave it like that?”
“…A long time ago, I used to shave it… But shortly after Tilura was born, she looked at me and started crying… I was aware that I looked intimidating, but… It was quite a shock… However, shortly after, I went on a long journey. And I did not have time to shave before returning.”
“And Tilura saw you like that?”
“Yes. And though she used to look at me and cry, this time, she stretched out her hand towards me and laughed… Ever since then, I had this idea that I should leave my beard as it is… Of course, I do trim it during social events…”
“So that’s the reason…”
He had been sad that he made Tilura cry, but when he grew out his beard, it made her happy…
It reminded me of the story about Ms. Claire getting married. Mr. Ekenhart seemed to often misunderstand his daughters and be affected by them.
Perhaps Tilura was merely curious about this unusual beard, and it had nothing to do with whether he looked scary or not.
In any case, perhaps she had never been scared of him, and it was just bad timing when she cried… Perhaps it was because she was used to being around women, and would have cried even if it was someone else.