William didn’t know how to adapt to Ginevra, who apologized at the drop of a hat.

“I thought you purposely avoided making friends.”

“That’s partly true…”

“I thought you didn’t have friends because there were no humans at your level.”

“No…”

William, who was momentarily stunned, quickly denied it.

“I just don’t like noisy things. And now that I have to socialize, it’s not like before…”
“Got it.”

It felt very unfamiliar and awkward for William to be the cause of his mother’s worries. Suddenly, he didn’t know why people had changed, but…

“Things like making friends, I’ll handle it myself, so you don’t have to force yourself to engage in social activities.”

“Why?”

“You don’t like that kind of thing. Don’t do it for my sake.”

“If I don’t care, people might misunderstand again. I’m saying this so you won’t be neglected.”

Actually, it wasn’t much of a misunderstanding. From Ginevra’s perspective, she had almost neglected him for the past 50 years. The problem was that she now realized it was neglect.

William, who didn’t know Ginevra’s feelings, annoyingly said, “Anyway, I’ll handle it myself.”

A change that he couldn’t have imagined in the past when he would never dare to annoy his mother. However, William was completely unaware of it.

“Go on. The festival is over now.”

“But they said there’s another festival tomorrow?”

Ginevra already had plans, but she pretended not to know and looked at William.

“The role of the festival knight is only for today. Tomorrow, I’ll spend the whole day studying for exams.”

Although the exams were still far away, he was planning to stay locked in the dormitory and not come out even if he died. He hated crowded places.

“Alright. Do your best.”

Ginevra had achieved her goal of confirming William’s sociability, so she decided to withdraw neatly.

“William, see you on the weekend!”

“Goodbye, Lara.”
When Ginevra hugged Larisa and disappeared with teleportation, William sighed.

“Mother, you left the dolls behind…”

However, it was not as heavy a sigh as before.

As soon as Ginevra arrived at the mansion, she asked Larisa.

“How was he?”

“What?”

“William, I mean.”

“Oh, William. He was cool.”

Ginevra chuckled. That wasn’t the point of her question.

“Is he doing well in school?”

“What?”

“Did he look dark or anything?”

“Not at all?”

Ginevra sighed in relief. She was unsure about her own thoughts. Having experienced three failures already, she couldn’t trust herself.

She hadn’t noticed her son’s unhappiness and wasted 50 years. So, she asked Larisa because she thought Larisa would be the first to notice William’s unhappiness as his fated companion.

“Are you worried?”

“No.”

Unintentionally denying it, Ginevra, who had put Larisa down, spoke again.

“But, honestly, yes. I am worried.”

Today, William seemed to be managing social life reasonably well, but she was concerned if she had raised him too introvertedly or if it was too late for his character development.

However, William wasn’t as gloomy as she thought, and he seemed more mature than expected. He was even able to follow her mother freely, handling the aftermath.

“William is strong. You don’t need to worry.”
You could consider it as the naive words of a child, but Ginevra couldn’t dismiss Larisa’s words lightly.

Apart from being mature for her age, Ginevra couldn’t ignore the fact that, during the missing 50 years that only she remembered, Larisa had been the closest person to William.

Even if memories vanished, intuition might linger.

“Yes, that’s right. He’s a strong child…”

To change an unhappy fate, sacrificing his life three times and even crawling back time—things an ordinary person couldn’t achieve, William had already done three times.

William was a child with strong determination. So, the weakness and anxiety weren’t in William but in Ginevra herself.

“Larisa, can you promise me one thing?”

“Yes?”

“Promise me that you will never abandon William. Then, I can be relieved.”

“…I promise.”

It wasn’t for William’s sake. Larisa made the promise for Ginevra, who seemed anxious.

“And I won’t ever abandon you either.”

“What?”

Ginevra burst into laughter.

“Just a small thing.”

“Really.”

Larisa said with all her might, summoning her courage.

“At least, I hope you won’t feel lonely as long as I’m here.”

Ginevra remained motionless for a while, unable to react, lost in thought.

“So, during the time without William.”

‘Were you lonely?’

“Mother?”

“No.”

She wasn’t even thinking about the moment William died, but tears seemed to well up.
“Something got into my eye.”

“What?”

“Anyway, don’t forget what you promised.”

Without waiting for a response, Ginevra disappeared as if fleeing.