Jacqueline stopped midway up the stairs. Windsor, looking down at his tightly pulled robe, gazed down at her two steps below.

“What is it now?”

“Benjamin.”

“…”

“I need to go see Benjamin.”

Windsor slightly furrowed his brow at the sudden mention of his nephew’s name. Why did she need to go to that child at this hour, his expression seemed to say, utterly incomprehensible.

She was still like unpredictable popcorn.

Jacqueline quickened her pace. Swiftly passing Windsor, she only stopped when she noticed her tightly pulled robe.

And she turned to look at Windsor, still standing in the same spot. This time, she urged him from two steps above.

“I said I need to go see Benjamin?”

“…”

It seemed she had no intention of going alone. As Windsor took a step, she began to move again.

“Benjamin might be scared.”

“Of mere thunder like this? Benjamin is the future heir of the Preston family.”

“As you know, Lord Preston, there’s no correlation between being the Preston heir and fear of thunder.”

“That’s not what I meant. Benjamin has had science lessons and knows thunder is just an electrical discharge phenomenon due to unstable atmosphere. If my memory serves me correctly, it was in the sixth tutor’s curriculum.”

A pause.

Jacqueline stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned around. Her voice suddenly became sharp.

“Ah, I forgot for a moment. That Lord Preston is precise about everything.”

Windsor couldn’t understand why she was angry, nor could he predict that moment. All he could do was submit to the oncoming storm.

Jacqueline started moving again. The robe she held was pulled taut. Whip, she turned her head and glared at Windsor.

What are you waiting for?

A silent rebuke flew. As he took a step, Jacqueline snapped coldly.

“Lord Preston, you lack imagination. Doesn’t the thunder sound like a monster’s cry? Don’t you feel the fear that lightning might strike your head? Don’t you feel the urge to confess crimes you haven’t even committed?”

“This is Preston Manor, not the vast ocean with nowhere to escape. The probability of lightning striking your head is extremely low. The manor is a stone building, very sturdy, and lightning doesn’t pass through. In other words, there’s no safer place than here.”

“That’s why.”

Jacqueline, speaking up to that point, finally sighed. Giving up on persuading this man of reason and logic, she muttered in a deflated voice.

“It’s scary even if it’s not the vast ocean.”

“You mean you, Miss Somerset?”

At those words, Jacqueline flinched as if struck at her core. She stammered, unlike her usual self.

“It’s not that I’m… It’s Colin. The teddy bear we met then, Colin is in Benjamin’s room. Colin is very afraid of thunder. Let’s just go check if he’s sleeping well.”

It was a flimsy excuse, but Windsor didn’t point it out. Jacqueline, walking a step ahead while holding his robe, occasionally looked back.

As if checking whether the person she was holding onto was indeed Windsor Preston.

“Lord Preston, don’t you think about the mysteries of the universe before sleeping? The afterlife? Or embarrassing moments from the past? Or maybe a future where you become suddenly rich? …Ah, you’re already wealthy.”

Adding the last part sheepishly to herself, she concluded with, “Anyway.”

“Right now, Benjamin’s imagination is exploding.”

At those words, Windsor raised one eyebrow. Still with an expression of incomprehension.

“That’s inefficient behavior. Bedtime is set, and it’s much more productive to sleep soundly during that time. Rather than wasting time on useless imagination.”

“Ah, yes. I forgot again for a moment that Lord Preston is precise about everything.”

Grumbling again in a sharp voice, Jacqueline suddenly lowered her voice. And she brought her index finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

The two were now standing in front of Benjamin’s room. Taking a light breath, she carefully pushed the handle.

“…”

Through the silently opening gap, a room steeped in darkness appeared.

It was quiet. Everything was in its place, and the child was motionless on the bed. He seemed to be in deep sleep.

“He’s sleeping.”

Jacqueline whispered in a small voice. A faint relief could be felt in her voice, buried under the sound of rain. Windsor replied with an expression that said ‘of course’, “He must have been tired.”

“Sweet dreams, Benjamin.”

As she was closing the door after giving a gentle goodnight greeting.

Flash.

Boom crash!

Once again, the world lit up. The moment as bright as midday disappeared, and the world was again dyed in pitch-black darkness.

“…”

And Jacqueline and Windsor couldn’t take their eyes off the bed. There, they saw a small back lying face down, hugging a teddy bear and trembling.

The child buried his face in Colin’s belly, flinching every time there was a rumbling sound.

“Don’t be scared, Colin… I’m here…”

A fragile voice that seemed about to burst into tears barely reached where the two were standing.

The expression disappeared from Windsor’s face. He stared intently at Benjamin. As if observing an object he was seeing for the first time, very unfamiliar and strange.

At that moment, Jacqueline closed the door again. While Windsor was looking puzzled, she knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock.

Jacqueline called out in a louder voice than usual, lest it be drowned out by the sound of rain.

“Benjamin, it’s me. If you’re awake, may I come in?”

“Yes, Miss Somerset.”

A reply trying to sound composed came from inside.

Jacqueline counted to three in her mind before opening the door. Benjamin greeted her sitting stiffly on the bed with a rigid face.

Rumble.

The sky roared roughly once more. The child’s shoulders flinched at the terrifying sound like a monster’s cry.

However, Benjamin pretended not to be startled and just stared ahead with his lips tightly sealed. Jacqueline walked to the bed, whispering gently.

“Colin is afraid of thunder. I came to see if he was sleeping well.”

“Um, he won’t be scared because I’m with him.”

Benjamin answered, tightly grasping Colin’s hand. It wasn’t just her imagination that the fist buried in darkness seemed to be trembling.

“Colin is more of a coward than he looks. So.”

Pausing there for a moment, Jacqueline looked back. The child’s gaze moved along to behind her back.

Benjamin then noticed that another person was standing in the darkness.

“Lord Preston has agreed to stay with you until morning.”

“…Uncle?”

The child opened his eyes wide in disbelief. And it was the same for Windsor. He looked at Jacqueline with his brow slightly furrowed.

“Isn’t that right, Lord Preston?”

“Surely not because of the thunder. As I said earlier, thunder is just unstable atmosphere…”

“Please, shut that mouth.”

Jacqueline exclaimed in a low voice with a smiling face. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.

Windsor couldn’t predict her, but he could be sure of one thing. If he shook his head now, a fierce storm would surely come.

This was her final warning.

“…”

Windsor nodded slowly. His gaze now turned to his young nephew. The future Marquess Preston, whose eyes met his in the darkness, straightened his shoulders.

“Ah, I’m not afraid of thunder, so I’ll be fine alone, Miss Somerset.”

As if he had expected this, Windsor nodded. Benjamin had taken science lessons and wouldn’t be afraid of mere thunder.

Windsor opened his mouth calmly.

“If I’m not needed then.”

“But Colin is afraid of thunder, so he’d feel reassured if uncle stays.”

Benjamin hurriedly added, lest Windsor turn around and leave the room. Jacqueline, bringing the oil lamp close to her face, rolled her eyes at him.

Thanks to that, her angry expression was very visible.

Windsor walked to the bed and sat in the chair beside it. Jacqueline, as if she had never rolled her eyes, whispered to Benjamin in a honeyed voice.

“Now that Lord Preston is here, Colin won’t be scared anymore. So Benjamin, don’t worry and sleep comfortably.”

“Yes, Miss Somerset.”

Benjamin rustled into the blanket. The child who had been lying facing the ceiling slowly turned his body towards Windsor.

Benjamin, trying to fall asleep, opened his eyes slightly several times.

“Uncle?”

“Speak.”

The child exhaled a sigh of relief only after confirming that Windsor’s black shadow was there.

After that, Benjamin called his name several times more. Still, he had nothing to say.

Windsor didn’t know the reason, but he guessed it might be similar to why Jacqueline had brought the oil lamp close to his face.

Jacqueline was right. His young nephew was afraid of thunder.

Had he forgotten everything he learned from the sixth tutor?

He pondered deeply, but no answer came. Meanwhile, the child’s breathing became even.

Jacqueline, keeping watch at the bedside, quietly pulled up the corners of her mouth. She pulled the fallen blanket up to the child’s neck.

Colin, please take care of Benjamin for me.

After whispering softly, she straightened her bent waist. And looking at Windsor, she bid farewell.

“Then have a good night, Lord Preston.”

“Thanks to you, I think I will. Tomorrow seems like it will be a very tiring day.”

“When Benjamin becomes the Marquess Preston, today’s memory will protect him.”

Suddenly, Windsor’s gaze turned to the bed. His eyes, brighter than others, saw a faint figure.

Today’s memory protects the future Marquess Preston?

Jacqueline, who had cast ripples on Windsor, left the room without lingering, as if unconcerned with his deep thoughts.

Belatedly, Windsor’s gaze followed her shadow. She hesitated as she stepped into the hallway.

Rumble.

The sky still poured out discontented cries, and the pitch-black hallway swallowed by darkness was like the maw of a monster with its mouth wide open.

At that moment, Jacqueline became a little girl walking towards the monster’s belly of her own accord. Or a princess who had barely escaped from the monster’s stomach.

“Hmm…”

She spun around. The door closed behind Jacqueline. Windsor raised one eyebrow as he watched her approach lightly.