Chapter 265: Exceptional.
Dylan watched the little furrow between her brows deepen. He didn’t say anything else. Instead, he quietly pushed his chair back, stood up, and reached out to help her down from her high chair.
Eira neither resisted nor responded to his earlier words. She simply let him lift her into his arms before gently setting her down on the floor.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she looked up at her father and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
For a long second, she didn’t say anything. She simply kept her eyes fixed on him, staring at him in silence.
Dylan didn’t look away either. He met her gaze calmly, giving her all the time she needed to organize whatever she wanted to say.
And then—
"Don’t scare me all the time," she said with a little pout, her voice soft yet carrying unmistakable determination. "Mama already loves Eira. When someone loves you, they don’t leave you. Mama won’t leave Eira either."
She no longer sounded as timid as before.
Then, turning around, she was about to head upstairs. However, after taking only a single step, she paused.
Looking back at him once again, she added, "If Dada wants to spend time with Mama, Dada should find his own time. Eira won’t share her time with Mama."
She gave a tiny huff before turning away again and hurrying upstairs to find her mother.
Dylan watched her retreating figure, both hands slipping casually into his pockets. A helpless smirk slowly tugged at the corners of his lips.
His daughter truly believed her mother would never leave.
She believed it so wholeheartedly ...
... that even he almost wanted to believe it too.
But unlike her—
He knew better.
She might hesitate leaving Eira, but he couldn’t be nearly as certain when it came to himself.
He had already watched her walk away from him once ...
So decisively.
So resolutely.
... that he believed, if history chose to repeat itself in any way, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to make the same choice again.
If only he possessed even half the certainty their daughter carried.
Unfortunately ...
He couldn’t.
His confidence had long since been shattered.
But—
There was still one thing he remained absolutely certain about.
No matter what happened this time ...
He wasn’t letting her leave again.
The last time had been an exception. And exceptions don’t repeat.
"Sir."
Mabel’s voice quietly broke through his thoughts.
Dylan slowly turned his gaze toward her.
She stood a respectful distance away, her hands folded neatly before her.
"Do you need me to arrange anything else for you?" she asked softly, looking up at him. She had come only after noticing him standing there alone for quite some time.
Dylan remained silent for a brief moment before calmly shaking his head. "No." His gaze drifted toward the staircase where both Adelyn and Eira had disappeared.
"Just prepare some warm milk for both of them before bed."
Mabel followed his gaze toward the staircase before immediately nodding.
"Yes, sir."
With that, she watched him quietly head in the same direction, leaving the dining room silent once more.
It was rare for her to see him care for anyone besides the young miss with such quiet attentiveness.
Yet this time ...
It was so obvious that it simply couldn’t be ignored.
Smiling to herself, she turned back toward the dining table and gestured for one of the maids to begin cleaning it.
As the maid stepped forward, she suddenly paused and looked back at Mabel.
"What’s wrong?" Mabel asked, finding her staring her way.
The maid quietly gestured towards one of the dishes on the table before asking cautiously. "Isn’t this the dish that the guest prepared earlier??"
"You may call her Ma’am or Ms Grace. That would be more appropriate," Mabel corrected gently before following the maid’s gaze toward the dish.
Her brows furrowed slightly the moment she saw it. One glance was enough for her to recognize that it hadn’t come from the kitchen.
"It looks like this ..." the maid said carefully. "How had Sir and Little Young Miss eaten it?"
The dish wasn’t burnt.
But it looked dangerously close to being so.
"Maybe ..." Mabel answered, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced herself. "Maybe it didn’t taste bad."
Looking at the bowl, only a small portion remained. That alone suggested the food couldn’t have been too terrible.
Even so, curiosity got the better of her.
Stepping forward, she picked up a spoon and scooped out a small bite. The moment it touched her tongue—
She nearly coughed.
An overwhelming bitterness spread through her mouth so suddenly that she almost spat it out before forcing herself to swallow.
The maid stared at her, concern immediately filling her eyes. "Is it ... very bad?" she asked cautiously.
Mabel didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The expression that had flashed across her face moments ago had already answered everything.
"But ..." the maid said in disbelief, "... that’s the only dish Sir and Young Miss had for dinner. How were they able to finish almost all of it?" She glanced towards the other dishes that nearly remained untouched on the table.
Mabel turned and gave her a mild look.
"Since ..." she said calmly, "... they were able to eat it, then that only means the taste and flavor must have been exceptional."
The maid blinked for a second. Then realization dawned on her. She immediately lowered her head, nodding. "I understand ..."
"Now clean everything up here," Mabel instructed before turning away.
"Yes."
With that, the maid quickly got to work.
————————————————————
Meanwhile—
Upstairs, in her room—
Adelyn furrowed her brows as she tried dialing Nigel’s number once again.
However ...
The call still couldn’t connect.
"This ..." she muttered under her breath while trying again. "Where did he disappear to now?"
They had been friends for years, and Adelyn knew him better than most people.
Yet recently ...
She simply couldn’t understand him anymore. He kept disappearing without a word, only to return as though nothing had happened.
Where exactly did he have to go so often?
The automated voice sounded once again from the other end of the call.
It was the same response as before.
His number was still unreachable.
Adelyn slowly lowered the phone and stared at the dark screen, the crease between her brows deepening.
