Momentarily unable to comprehend Adelia’s words, I asked her again, and her expression turned earthy, as if she had made a big mistake.

“Well… What did my brother say to Herena?”

“Uh-huh. Does Calix have something to tell me?”

“No, it’s not that… Oh! Adelia, I suddenly feel unwell.”

As Adelia touched her forehead, she suddenly began to groan.

“Why? Adelia, where does it hurt?”

“Yeah. My stomach feels a bit cramped. I need to go inside and rest quickly.”

“Oh, okay. Let’s go inside quickly. Wait, I’ll support you.”

“Thanks.”

I carefully escorted Adelia to her room.

“Take a rest, Adelia.”

“Yeah. You too, Herena.”

Adelia, back to her comfortable demeanor, waved me goodbye as she lay on her bed.

After exchanging greetings with Adelia, I returned to my room.

Then, I recalled the conversation Adelia had just had.

Confession.

What could that mean?

Calix’s confession—what could it possibly be?

I was too curious, but considering Adelia needed some calm, I couldn’t hold her back and ask.

At the same time, facing the current situation Calix was dealing with, it was best to endure and focus on resolving the most important matters.

“I need to solve the most urgent issue first.”
Having come to that conclusion, I spent the entire day busily moving my body to erase Adelia’s words from my mind.

Another day passed, and morning arrived.

Today, the four of us hurriedly prepared to go to the orphanage.

It was the first time all four of us went out together.

So, I was filled with anticipation, expecting many joyful moments.

“You brought all this here?”

Looking at the numerous gift packages loaded onto the carriage, I admired Adelia with childlike wonder.

“Yeah. I felt sorry because I haven’t paid much attention since getting married.”

One of the reasons Adelia came to the capital this time was to see the children.

When I mentioned that the children missed her a lot when I went to Lushatra a while ago, it seemed like she deliberately decided to come.

“I should have visited more often.”

Although I had visited once before Adelia’s trip, compared to our usual visits, it was insufficient.

“No, Herena. You were busy with various things.”

“Still, as someone living nearby, I should have peered in more often. Anyway, the kids will really love it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. If I knew, I would have prepared gifts too, considering Herena gave them last time. Now that everything is ready, shall we depart?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

With Calix’s support, Adelia climbed onto the carriage.
Following that, I took Kaern’s hand, climbed onto the carriage, and took a seat next to Adelia and Calix on the opposite side, with Kaern sitting next to me.

While riding the carriage, my heart fluttered as we sat side by side for the first time.

“Adelia, is it not uncomfortable?”

As the carriage started moving, Kaern carefully asked Adelia, looking after her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“If there’s any discomfort or anything, you should tell me right away, okay?”

“I will.”

Every time I saw the friendly interaction between the two, I felt pleased with my choice, confident that it was not a mistake.

“Since the men are joining today, the kids will probably like it more.”

Adelia said with a satisfied smile as she glanced at Kaern and Calix.

“Yeah, probably. They’re likely to play even better than us since they have much better physical strength.”

“Both of you, when we get to the orphanage, don’t just stay expressionless like now; smile, got it?”

Upon Adelia’s warning, both men simultaneously grimaced.

“Don’t make that expression.”

“Adelia, I didn’t do that.”

Calix pleaded to Adelia as if feeling unfairly treated.

“That’s right. My husband didn’t do that. It was just my brother.”

Adelia praised her husband, giving a disapproving look to Kaern.

“…Kaern didn’t do that either.”

Seeing that moment, I involuntarily found myself defending him.
At my words, the three of them looked at me with surprised eyes simultaneously.

“What did you say, Herena?”

Adelia, who clearly heard but acted as if she hadn’t, asked me as if in disbelief.

“…Kaern will do well too. Right, Kaern?”

I looked at Kaern, signaling him to agree with my words.

“If you wish, so be it.”

Fortunately, as if he had expected it, Kaern gave a very satisfying response.

He even showed a rare smile while saying it.

“Wow, did my brother just smile?”

Adelia couldn’t easily erase the shocked expression from her face until we arrived, finding it hard to believe.

After an hour of riding, the carriage arrived at the orphanage on the outskirts of the capital.

“Adelia Unni!”

“Herena Unni!”

“Wow, the sisters are here!”

As soon as we got off the carriage, the children ran towards us like arrows, welcoming us.

“Mary, how have you been? It’s been a while, Jane.”

Adelia greeted the children one by one, calling them by their names.

“Catherine! Jimmy!”

I, too, greeted the children warmly, even though I had seen them last time.

“Sister, didn’t you miss seeing Catherine? Catherine was so sad because Sister didn’t come.”

Catherine, who barely reached my waist, pouted while Adelia embraced her, throwing a tantrum as she did to me.

Since the same situation always unfolded whenever we came here, Catherine’s behavior was quite natural.

“Catherine, that’s not a polite way to talk. …Sister.”
However, the difference from last time was that the director was present at the orphanage today.

Unlike the previous visit when the director was away, Catherine called us in a dead voice at the angry voice of the director that we couldn’t meet last time.

“It’s okay, Director. I told the kids to feel free to say anything.”

Adelia, while patting Catherine’s head, smiled reassuringly at the child.

“That’s right. We want to get along with the kids, so please don’t scold them, Director.”

I also smiled and supported Adelia’s words.

“But still, you shouldn’t spoil the kids too much.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Knowing well what the director was worried about, we nodded along with our responses.

However, over the years of coming here, we had already become close to the children in the way we wanted.

Also, the children didn’t know much about nobility and etiquette yet.

So, if the situation allowed, we wanted to get along with the children here without any formality.

“Today, we have some newcomers.”

“Here, this person is my older brother and Herena’s fiancé, Duke Kaern Laverion. And this person is my husband, Marquis Calix Crayton.”

When the director sent a glance to the two men standing behind us, Adelia introduced them.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Kaern Laverion.”
“Oh, so you’re Duke Laverion, who always steps forward to protect us whenever the empire is in danger. Thank you so much for coming all the way here.”

“It’s my first time meeting you. I’m Calix Crayton.”

“Aren’t you Marquis Crayton, who was famous in the capital until recently? Thank you so much for coming.”

“Today, my brother and my husband will be with the kids.”

“Wow, are the brothers going to play with us too?”

Upon hearing our words, including Kris, some of the boys clapped their hands in excitement.

“Yeah, we’re going to play together. It’ll be fun, right?”

“Yes! That’s awesome.”

However, only Jimmy had a chubby face and was glaring at Kaern.

“Jimmy, what’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

Although Adelia went to Jimmy and asked gently, the child still kept his mouth shut.

Realizing the reason behind Jimmy’s expression, I quickly approached him.

“Jimmy.”

Jimmy stared at me with wide eyes and then opened his mouth.

“Is that brother really Nuna’s fiancé?”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right.”

As I confirmed, tears welled up in Jimmy’s eyes.

“Last time, Nuna told me that if I became an adult, we would get married. Was that a lie?”

“Jimmy, that’s…”

I was caught off guard by the unexpected situation, but I tried my best to comfort the child somehow.