To be honest, Guinevere had never thought that her proposal would be rejected.

Though she spoke with a smile, inwardly she felt like spitting blood. Because she knew how much William loved Larisa.

She had decided to support their love this time, but now she had to give up on that.

But if William’s feelings were sincere, if he could really give up this child to protect Larisa, she thought she should respect that too.

But then…

“I don’t want to.”

“I see, of course… What?”

“Tee-hee!”

She was stunned. Guinevere asked again to Larisa, who was laughing innocently.

“You don’t want to?”

“No.”

“Why, why?”

“Well, you see.”

Larisa whispered in Guinevere’s ear. The child’s breath tickled.

“I might marry William someday.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t?”

“Oh my, William is as handsome as a prince. What if I want to marry him later?”

That’s true. Guinevere let out a hollow laugh.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to get married…”

“I don’t now, but who knows about later?”

“So, you’re keeping William as insurance?”

“What’s insurance?”

“It’s something like that.”

It was absurd yet amusing. With one word from Larisa, all her worries up until now became meaningless.

If Larisa didn’t want to, how could they adopt her? William’s grand plan had become completely useless.

‘I wonder how William will react when he hears this.’

Guinevere was in a good mood as she spooned up some stew. She naturally started feeding Larisa, who was sitting on her lap, causing the attending servants to be shocked.

‘Even young master William has never been fed like that…’

Guinevere diligently attended to her.

“Eat well and grow up quickly.”

“Nom nom.”

“What should I give you next?”

“Meat!”

“You know what’s good.”

Watching Larisa eat well, she had a thought. Whatever decision William makes, in the end, all results depend on Larisa.

Just as Guinevere can’t win against the son she loves, even William can’t win against Larisa whom he loves. He may deny it, but that’s how it will be in the end.

If so… Things become simple. There was no need to try to persuade William in the first place. It’s a matter of winning Larisa’s favor, protecting Larisa, and pouring everything into Larisa.

Guinevere had an epiphany.

*

William, returning home with a heavy heart after finishing the week, was startled to see Guinevere waiting for him holding Larisa. It was the first time Guinevere had come out to greet him like this.

Larisa stretched out her arms and shouted.

“Welcome back, Teacher Siod. Welcome, William!”

“Ah, ah…”

Larisa tilted her head. It was because William didn’t hug her like he used to. Even the atmosphere between Teacher Siod and Guinevere seemed awkward.

Instead of being hugged by William as usual, Larisa stayed in Guinevere’s arms as they went into the dining room. It was strange that Siod didn’t say a word the whole way.

“Teacher, are you sick?”

Siod answered with a smile.

“How did you know? Amazing. Teacher’s heart is hurting right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I was hurt by someone.”

The clever Larisa reflexively looked at Guinevere’s face. Guinevere subtly turned her head to avoid her gaze.

Even in the dining room, William and Siod were silent. Because Guinevere was quiet too, Larisa watched the three people’s expressions.

Since it seemed like none of the three would speak first, Larisa let out a big sigh.

“Did the three of you fight?”

“What? No.”

“No.”

Unlike William and Guinevere who answered right away, Siod remained silent. Larisa instinctively sensed that he was deeply upset, seeing Siod continuing to eat calmly.

It’s the first time I’ve seen Teacher Siod sulk. To Larisa, Siod seemed quite generous, so him sulking felt like quite a big deal.

Larisa turned to look at Guinevere again. Guinevere flinched when their eyes met and lowered her eyelashes. It seemed obvious that Guinevere was at fault.

Larisa let out a big sigh. No one was stepping up in this situation. Is it time for me to step in? Larisa put her hands on her hips and said in a stern voice like an elementary school teacher:

“The person who did wrong should apologize first.”

Pfft.

William, who had choked on his water, started coughing. William was also an observant boy. He could guess that Siod was angry.

But would mother be the one to apologize? William glanced at Guinevere. Surprisingly, Guinevere’s eyelashes were trembling.

‘This is bad.’

William, thinking his mother was surely angry, quietly pulled his chair back. He was planning to grab Larisa and run if necessary, but something surprising happened.

“…I’m sorry.”

It was so surprising that even Siod dropped the knife he had been using to cut his food.

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

The attending servants retreated and stood against the wall. Something earth-shattering had happened. That Guinevere Rodante was apologizing…!

Even Siod asked in confusion:

“…For what?”

He didn’t mean to childishly ask ‘What are you sorry for?’ in revenge. Siod unknowingly covered his mouth and stammered.

“No, I mean. I was just feeling a bit hurt, I didn’t mean you had to apologize…”

Siod had only wanted to show he was sulking a bit, he hadn’t expected an apology.

Rather, as the source of all the trouble, he thought he should be willing to take Guinevere’s anger if she wanted to vent.

He was planning to pretend to sulk just for today and give in again from tomorrow…

But Guinevere had no intention of just letting it go like this. Siod was an essential presence. Not only for his heart, but also for William’s education and safety.

And for William’s sake, Guinevere could kneel and beg Siod a thousand or ten thousand times. She had vented her anger at him before her emotions, but she would never do so again.

“I didn’t mean it when I said I wanted to turn back time to before I met you.”

“Gasp.”

Larisa covered her mouth with both hands. Then she whispered quietly to William.

“That was really harsh.”

“It was.”

Guinevere calmly continued speaking.

“It couldn’t have been true. Even if I went back to that time, there’s no guarantee I would give birth to William again.”

William’s mouth fell open.

“In fact, I think this moment, right now, is the best moment of all. I don’t want to regress again.”

Siod got up from his seat and slowly approached Guinevere. He wiped away the tears falling silently and waved his hand behind him to dismiss the servants.

“Me too, Vera.”

“…”

“I don’t want to turn back time either because this moment is too precious to me.”

How nice it would be if they were alone right now. Then I’d kiss her. Siod glanced at the children looking this way and suppressed his ulterior motives.

“You’ve become such a crybaby. What are we going to do if you keep crying like this in front of the kids?”

“What’s wrong with crying a little?”

“Our queen can do whatever she wants.”

Siod tried hard to signal William with his eyes.

‘Could you leave for a bit? Hm?’

‘There’s still food left.’

William looked at Larisa’s rice bowl and met Siod’s eyes again.

‘I said, could you leave for a bit?’

‘Why don’t you leave instead?’

They were able to communicate with just their eyes. Larisa noticed they were having a silent conversation, but she didn’t realize Siod’s ulterior motives.

“So have you made up now?”

“Hm? Haha, yes. We’ve made up.”

Guinevere, wiping her tears with a napkin, said gruffly to William.

“Oh right, William. I have something to tell you too.”

“Yes?”

“Larisa refused the adoption.”

“What?”

“Larisa said she doesn’t want to be adopted.”

William looked at Larisa and asked.

“Why? It would be good for you too if we became family, you wouldn’t have to be anxious. Didn’t you say you wanted to be rich? I’ll handle the annoying politics, so you can live however you want.”

Larisa swung her legs and giggled.

“I’m already rich, aren’t I? Mother said she’d give me this mansion.”

“Huh?”

Larisa grinned and boasted.

“It’s true! She gave me the house deed too.”

What on earth happened during the week I was at the academy…? William looked at Guinevere again.

“What are you looking at? I can do what I want with my house.”

“But, is that allowed?”

“I put half of the assets into the mage tower operating fund and half into Larisa’s dowry annuity, not just the mansion.”

“…”

In other words, William would become a beggar if he didn’t marry Larisa.

“Mother, do you think I’ll give in because of this?”

“No. You live however you want. I’ll live however I want. What can I do if Larisa is so pretty that I want to leave her all my assets?”

William was at a loss for words. Larisa smiled broadly and said:

“William can keep living in this house. Oh right, Teacher Siod too!”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Larisa smiled contentedly. With this, Larisa’s anxiety was resolved through financial treatment. Guinevere’s fears were the same.

William was already a caught fish. There was no doubt he would fall for Larisa when she grew up beautifully and set her mind to it. Guinevere planned to continue working hard to win Larisa’s favor.

“Lala, eat up. Shall I cut the meat for you?”

“Yes!”

“Come sit over here.”

Larisa hopped down from her chair, pushed Siod aside, and plopped down on Guinevere’s lap.

“Aah~”

Guinevere popped a small piece of cut steak into Larisa’s mouth.

“Oh my, how pretty. You eat so well. You should eat vegetables too, okay?”

“Lala eats vegetables well too!”

“That’s wonderful.”

At that moment, the two men realized who the real power holder was. That this small girl had become the true authority in this household…