“Why did you come again?”

“I had a scary dream……”

Larisa was sobbing while hugging a rabbit doll in one arm. Guinevere was perplexed.

“You had a scary dream?”

“Hic, yes……”

‘What am I supposed to do……’

Guinevere, barely managing not to blurt out her inner thoughts, carefully chose her words.

“But why did you……”

Come to me? Before she could finish asking, Larisa quickly answered.

“William said that there’s no one stronger than Mother in this world, so it’s safest by your side.”

Guinevere was very irritated at having her precious sleep disturbed.

However, she couldn’t get angry at a crying child. And it was cute, and her son’s thinking was quite admirable.

Besides, doesn’t she have an obligation to treat this child well anyway? That way, she can keep her oath, prevent William from running away, and stop another tragedy from happening.

‘That’s right. Our lives depend on this child.’

Swallowing a sigh, Guinevere asked.

“Then what should I do for you?”

Larisa put on the most pitiful expression she could muster. It was Larisa’s ultimate move that could make even the most ruthless lady buy her flowers. Larisa spoke in a piteous voice.

“Can I sleep here with you? When my mom was around, I always slept with her…… I’m too scared to sleep alone.”

Larisa whimpered and gently grabbed the hem of Guinevere’s clothes. Guinevere flinched. In Guinevere’s history, this was the first time such an adorable creature had approached her so openly.

Especially since children usually trembled in fear before her, this situation was even more unprecedented. Guinevere couldn’t bring herself to turn Larisa away.

“Here, you sleep here.”

Guinevere decided to give up her bed. Since she was already awake, she planned to continue her research. She was still engrossed in her study of time reversal magic.

It was when Guinevere was diligently drawing equations while looking at the golden sphere that had now shrunk to the size of a marble.

Rustle rustle.

Toss toss.

Roll roll.

“Can’t you sleep?”

“No……”

“Why, are you still scared?”

She was indeed scared, but Larisa calmly lied.

“No, it’s just that the yellow marble is so pretty.”

Guinevere smiled pleasantly and said.

“It’s not a marble, it’s a magical impression. It might explode if you touch it.”

“What happens if it explodes?”

“Well. Maybe half of this continent would blow up?”

“Eek.”

There was something in Guinevere’s room as scary as Guinevere herself. Larisa started to get nervous every time Guinevere casually twirled the golden sphere, worried it might explode.

Seeing Larisa’s frightened face, Guinevere said nonchalantly.

“Don’t worry. It might explode if someone else touches it, but it’s fine if I handle it.”

‘Even if it explodes, only this laboratory would be blown away.’

She had already stabilized it to such an extent that even if it did explode, it would be nothing to Guinevere. Guinevere continued her research under the pressure of needing to complete the magic quickly. However…

Rustle rustle.

Toss toss.

Roll ro…

This made research impossible. Guinevere admonished in a deliberately stern voice.

“Lara, you need to sleep early. If you sleep late, you won’t grow tall.”

Larisa spoke with a sniffling sound.

“Wh-when I slept with mom, we slept together……”

Can’t we sleep together? She didn’t have the courage to ask that. Larisa curled up small and watched Guinevere’s reaction. The sight was quite pitiful.

Anyway, with Larisa on her mind, work wasn’t going well. Guinevere decided to sleep with Larisa, even if it was a bit uncomfortable. She needed to sleep to recover her magical power anyway.

Fortunately, Larisa fell asleep quickly just by lying in bed together, without asking to be hugged or fussing.

Guinevere, lying on her side watching Larisa’s angelic sleeping face, let out a sigh. Come to think of it, it hadn’t even been a month since Marina died.

“You’ve lost your mother too.”

How scared must she have been of sleeping alone to come to someone rumored to eat children? The plight of Larisa, who had no one to rely on, suddenly hit home.

And…

‘I lost my son that day too.’

She couldn’t even stop her son from taking his own life right before her eyes. She just stood there stupidly. At that time, the 7-year-old Larisa was running around trying to save her mother.

‘Can I protect them this time?’

Once again, that day vividly came to mind.

‘I’m sorry, Mother. I can’t let Lara suffer any more.’

William plunged the knife into his heart before she could do anything. Guinevere was surprised by something hot flowing down her brow and wiped it with her hand. It was tears.

‘Me, crying?’

She couldn’t even remember the last time she had shed tears, it had been so long ago.

Guinevere blinked in surprise at her own tears. But tears tend to flow more the more you try to hold them back.

Guinevere tried hard to hold back her sobs, lest she wake the sleeping Larisa. She was disgusted with herself for crying now.

After giving birth but not raising him properly. After neglecting and abandoning him to let things come to this.

Instead of crying, Guinevere uttered the name that was stabbed like a knife in her heart.

“William.”

‘I’m sorry.’

She didn’t even have the decency to say sorry. She could only repeat his name.

“William….. hic……”

How much did it hurt? How painful was it to stab your heart three times? You’ve already experienced the feeling of losing a loved one three times and yet…

“I… I will protect you. William……”

This time, she will protect everyone. Larisa too. William too. Even if she has to sacrifice anything.

*

And Larisa, who stayed up all night that night, appeared before William the next day with a haggard face.

William, surprised to see Larisa’s face with dark circles reaching down to the tip of her nose, asked.

“What happened? That… face?”

“William. I couldn’t sleep at all.”

“Why?”

Larisa hesitated a little. She was unsure whether she should tell that last night, the terrifying Guinevere Rodante had fallen asleep crying while calling William’s name.

Somehow, it felt like she might get scolded by Guinevere later if she said it.

‘Everyone has at least one secret they want to keep.’

Larisa inwardly sighed and said.

“I had a scary dream… I went to Mother’s room, but there was something scary there……”

She was talking about the sphere of light she saw last night, but William imagined something else.

‘Mother is a bit scary.’

William thought casually at first, but was taken aback by Larisa’s next words.

“Can I sleep in William’s room?”

“That’s not allowed.”

Now Larisa felt dejected.

“Why!”

Larisa was only 7 years old. After her mother passed away, there was no one to sleep with Larisa anymore. Larisa had never slept alone in her life.

How scary it is to fall asleep alone every night!

“Then I’m going to Uncle Hedel!”

It seemed like Uncle Hedel would gladly sleep together. However, William said seriously.

“That, that’s absolutely not allowed!”

“Then can I sleep with William?”

“……”

“Where is Uncle Hedel’s room?”

With no other choice, William took Larisa to his room. But feeling that this wasn’t right, he knelt in front of Larisa again and said.

“Larisa, I’ll say it again, but originally ladies shouldn’t enter men’s rooms carelessly. And men also shouldn’t enter women’s rooms carelessly……”

“No! I don’t want to be a lady! I don’t want to be an adult!”

Larisa started throwing a tantrum. Big tears started falling from her large eyes.

“I don’t want to be an aduuult.”

William quickly picked Larisa up. A maid who had just finished tidying up the bedroom came out and asked what was wrong when she saw Larisa crying.

“Ah, well….. Lara says she’s scared to sleep alone.”

“Oh my, Young Master. You’ve become so kind since getting a little sister.”

The maid disappeared with a warm smile.

‘That’s right. Larisa is only 7 years old, why am I unnecessarily maintaining propriety alone? Everyone will just think I’m a kind brother taking care of his sister.’

William didn’t realize that he was doing this because he didn’t want to be a kind brother. But William decided to be a kind brother for the sake of the sobbing Larisa.

“Alright, stop crying. You can sleep together in my room.”

“Sniff sniff, really?”

“Yes.”

“Sniff, then I’ll just hold your hand while sleeping.”

‘Somehow that feels like a line I should be saying…..’

As for Larisa, she wanted to ask to be hugged, but she was already holding back a lot.

So from that day on, the two ended up sleeping together.

When Guinevere heard the news, she chuckled and said.

“It’s fate indeed.”

Hedel, the messenger bird who brought the news to Guinevere, asked incredulously.

“Didn’t you say you were going to marry them off? Is it okay to raise them like siblings like this?”

“It doesn’t matter. The more you try to separate them, the more they’ll burn for each other.”

‘I know because I’ve tried.’

Guinevere deliberately ignored Hedel, who was looking at her as if he couldn’t understand her. She had tried everything she could. But those two only became more passionate.

Rather, actively trying to bring them together was a method she hadn’t tried yet. Even if they really did become like siblings this way, it didn’t matter. If that happened, the chances of her son dying would decrease even more.

‘But will that really happen?’

They were people who fell in love no matter how they were separated. In fact, with each regression, the speed at which they fell in love increased. Judging by William’s level of obsession, it seemed that even if memories were lost, emotions remained in the subconscious.

‘He’s my son, but… what a terrifying guy. Who on earth does he take after?’

Guinevere absolutely did not think it was herself.