It took longer than expected to compose herself and have dinner.

She cleared her throat and opened the door, trying to show only her good side to Ru.

“Ru?”

As she called out the name affectionately, her skirt suddenly became heavy.

“Mommy!”

It was because Ru, who had been waiting at the door for Diana to return, had bounced over like a rabbit.

The child couldn’t even tell time, but with animal-like instincts, she knew what was late and what was early.

Sure enough, the child pointed out the late return.

“You’re late!”

“I’m sorry. Were you hungry?”

“No! I’m not hungry. But I missed you, Mommy…”

Eeing!

As she naturally stretched out her arms, Diana picked her up and kissed her round cheeks. The child couldn’t hold back her blooming smile and nuzzled her cheek against Diana’s neck.

“Mommy, I love you. I kept smelling your scent. But you didn’t come quickly, so I was frustrated.”

Ru’s five senses were highly developed, befitting a Lycan. She must have been waiting at the front gate early on, drawn by the scent carried by the wind.

Diana entered the main building, patting the child’s back.

She saw the sandbox Ru had dug, the carved branches, and the pebble castle.

“You were playing well by yourself, weren’t you?”

“Mmhmm. I was playing nicely.”

Ru smiled brightly and caressed Diana’s cheek.

As they entered the bedroom and she put the child down, Ru quickly unfolded the folded wooden table.

“Here!”

“Thank you.”

When Diana opened the three-tiered lunchbox on it, joy rippled in the blue eyes.

“Wow.”

“Eat a lot, chewing slowly and thoroughly.”

“Okay!”

Ru cut the veal steak into small pieces.

When Diana smiled, pleased that she was using the spoon, which was much larger than her hand, as taught, Ru smiled back and first passed the finely cut meat to Diana.

“Mommy, ah.”

“Mommy’s full. You eat, Ru.”

“…Mommy, first!”

“Oh, you cutie.”

Diana supported the arm holding the fork, lest the small arm hurt, and opened her mouth.

“Mmm, it’s delicious. Now you eat it all, Ru.”

“Okay!”

Of course, even after that, Ru offered food several times.

“Ru, I told you Mommy already ate? You should eat a lot.”

“I ate a lot too!”

Ru patted her full belly and blinked her eyes prettily.

Reluctant to refuse and see the drooping corners of her mouth, Diana inevitably opened her mouth and approached, and Ru licked the sauce on her mouth, gently closing her eyelids.

That moment so closely resembled the young Raoul that Diana couldn’t help but think of old memories.

On the day they celebrated their first ritual together, he had smiled so beautifully, moved by her sincerity.

〈It’s the happiest table in the world.〉

It was a precious time that would never come again. As Diana smiled bitterly and tried to regain her appetite, Ru suddenly pushed the table away.

Huh?

Startled by the sudden action, the moment Diana parted her lips, warm and soft little hands tightly wrapped around the back of her neck.

The child nestled in her arms mumbled.

“Mommy, don’t cry.”

“What? Mommy’s not crying…”

“I heard it all. The sound of you crying. When I sleep, when I pick berries… Today too.”

“I did…?”

“Yes. I’m happy to be with you, Mommy. Are you not happy…?”

“How could that be? I’m happy. So very happy. Just seeing you eat fills me up, and just seeing you play and sleep well makes me so, so glad.”

“Mmhmm. Me too. I only need you, Mommy. I don’t need Dad…”

“Dad?”

Suddenly? Diana held the sobbing child tightly and asked with a puzzled face.

The trembling back under her hand made her worry that the child might have a fever.

Ru repeated several times that she didn’t need her dad, and eventually made a slightly angry sniffling sound.

“I hate Dad. He doesn’t even come to get us. Meanie! Raoul! I hate Raoul!”

Diana’s eyes widened a little in surprise.

“Ru… you know Raoul?”

“You kept saying Raoul, Raoul…”

Did I call out Raoul’s name in the forest? Diana was lost in thought for a moment. She thought she might have done it unconsciously.

Ru sobbed, even flaring her nostrils, and eventually fell asleep, exhausted.

Diana laid the bean-sized body on the soft blanket and held her tightly.

As the warm baby’s body temperature filled her arms, it seemed to wash away the sorrowful and knotted feelings from the morning.

Ru’s real mother must have cried a lot because of her dad.

She would have heard the crying from afar, but it was mature of her not to ask and pretend not to know.

At most five years old, the child was keenly mindful of adults, which was also inevitably concerning.

Diana looked down at the child who fit snugly in her arms, breathing heavily.

The silver thread-like, shimmering hair was damp from the rising fever.

When she brushed it away with her hand and fanned her, the furrowed brow relaxed.

It must be hot, but the way she burrowed into her arms was funny, cute, and at the same time, heartbreaking.

Come to think of it, this hanok. It showed signs of careful construction.

She had been worried about having to burn firewood in the winter, but the magic hanging in the bedroom maintained a constant temperature.

Cleaning and laundry were done sparingly, but the bedding was always fluffy and dust didn’t accumulate well.

Moreover, it was surprising that the old house, abandoned for more than 10 years, was spotless without any decay.

Whatever the intention behind its preparation, it was clearly a building that had been built with considerable effort.

‘A hanok built within the ducal castle. It must have been built by my father’s order.’

Was he planning to confine and neglect Mother in a secluded villa? Or was it a consideration to preserve Mother’s identity?

Diana knew nothing about her father. Other than the fact that he was an unforgivable villain.

She touched the bumpy scar on Ru’s neck and frowned, choking up.

“What’s the point of knowing… It’s not like it erases the wrongs committed in the past.”

Unfortunately, there was no affection between parent and child between the two.

Diana even more affectionately wrapped Ru up like a gimbap and kissed the top of her head.

“It might even be for the best. I can leave this land without lingering feelings for Raoul. I can feed Ru the dunkel without hesitation.”

She had been tirelessly working to break Ru’s curse for some time.

To purchase dunkel in large quantities, she scoured the market and mobilized her few connections to inquire everywhere, but obtaining more than a dozen of the fruit, which had a rare cultivation environment and demand, was as difficult as plucking stars from the sky.

It was a moment when Theodore’s sincerity in obtaining that rare fruit solely for the purpose of tormenting her felt newly impressive.

Anyway, there was no longer a need to agonize over to whom and when to give this fruit that was so difficult to obtain and cultivate.

Just in time, Ayla had awakened as a saint earlier than in the original work.

Yes, it’s for the best. A situation that benefits both the sister and the brother-in-law…

Diana smiled bitterly and tightly closed her dampened eyelids.

Now, I will no longer be held back by Raoul and will go my own way. With that resolution.

Diana sent a letter to Fisar early in the morning.

Now that Phenice had inherited the position of head of the family early last year and started an art support project earlier this year, it was about time for him to make a move.

The art competition, which should have been held last year, was postponed to this year.

It was because Phenice was too busy to even blink after a blood donation center was opened in the Hyperion territory as soon as he took the throne.

Moreover, last year, Fisar was also not in his right mind.

He must have been very scared… Unable to confide in me that he was a mixed-blood… The atmosphere in the territory was ominous. Every day must have felt like his life was being threatened.

The emperor wanted the people to voluntarily report and execute the rebels, saying there was a limit to suppressing them with military force.

He gained the favor of the turned people by giving large rewards to those loyal to the empire.

With the cultivation area for crops gradually decreasing due to the infestation of magical beasts, the reward of hundreds of gold was like winning the lottery.

As a result, it became more frequent for innocent mixed-bloods to be framed as rebels and put on the execution platform.

Upon hearing this fact, Diana moved Fisar’s residence to the small city of Luxen located in the northwest.

It would be fine for him to return to his hometown, but since the Jacquebert territory was an island, Diana wouldn’t be able to go and help him in case of any unforeseen situation.

It was because she was afraid of taking a boat.

She had only learned of this fact last summer, not long ago.

After Raoul cut off contact and disappeared, she always had a gloomy side, as if a screw was loose somewhere.

Hoping for Diana to regain her old smile, Angela suggested taking a large cruise ship that ran through the territory.

〈The open sea will lift your spirits a bit. These days, you only spend time in the castle.〉

Diana replied that she would try to adapt to seasickness as well.

But the moment she set foot on the ship, she couldn’t move a muscle.

Her heart pounded excessively, her breathing trembled, and cold sweat poured down like rain.

After sitting on the floor complaining of dizziness, she vomited all the vegetable soup she had eaten for lunch.

‘Why am I like this…?’

She didn’t know until now.

She thought her trained mind, strong enough to even kill water snakes, was quite sound.

But Diana was afraid of getting on a boat!