Whether Lucien had finished counting or not, the sound of triumphant laughter echoed as he began to find the children. Arianthe, with only her head peeking through the hole, glanced outside and then giggled, hiding her body back in the shadows.

“It seems I’ve only found three so far.”

“Lucien can’t play hide and seek at all. That guy is all talk; he can’t even do three-digit addition yet.”

Arianthe, sparkling her eyes, looked at Sailerus.

“You can do three-digit addition?”

“Of course. I’m ten years old.”

“I can’t do it yet; I’m only seven.”

“I could do it when I was seven.”

Sailerus laughed mockingly. It took a while for Arianthe to realize that he was teasing her, but instead of getting angry, she lightly slapped his hand, suppressing laughter.

“You tricked me.”

“Sorry, are you mad?”

Arianthe smiled, pursing her lips.

“No, I’m not mad. I’ll learn three-digit addition soon. When the teacher comes.”

Sailerus’s eyes widened.

“You still don’t have a teacher?”

“No, there used to be one. A few… but my father sent them all away because he hit me. You know, the person’s name was Bimon. He was a really wicked devil! If I made a mistake while doing homework, he would hit my hand with a long ruler.”

Even if Bimon had heard, it would have been an exaggerated and mixed-up story, but it didn’t matter. Sailerus seemed to believe all that was said. With an innocent expression, he grabbed Arianthe’s small hand, surprising her as she tried to pull it away, but Sailerus held on too tightly.

“What are you doing!”

Sailerus, as if he didn’t hear whether Arianthe was angry or not, looked around with his small hand and then looked up.

“Did that really happen?”

Arianthe, pouting her lips, withdrew her hand abruptly. This time, Sailerus didn’t hold on and let go.

“It really happened. Meiana saw it too. So Meiana got really mad.”

Sailerus’s eyes widened.

“Really? That maid?”

“Meiana is not just a maid.”

The boy looked somewhat puzzled by the blunt response. Sailerus’s reaction wasn’t strange either. There were many servants in his house, including a nanny, a governess, someone who helped with dressing, and others. However, no one had thought of anyone like Arianthe’s “Meiana” as special.

“That maid…”

As Arianthe glared, Sail
“I wish Meiana could become my mother,” Arianthe said.

Upon hearing this, Sailerus widened his eyes. He, who seemed to have forgotten the fact that he was hiding under the pillar, looked around as if he had remembered and spoke.

“But your father is a duke.”

“So what?”

“How can a maid marry a duke?”

“Meiana is not just a maid!”

Of course, that was true. Sailerus thought so. But still, a maid was just a maid… regardless of whether she was important to Arianthe or not.

Now ten years old, Sailerus, who was more mature than his peers, was well aware of the unseen power of ‘social status.’ If he had any bad aspects like Lucien, he would undoubtedly have been a disaster for the Alt family’s employees.

However, Sailerus was still just a child. He couldn’t figure out how to convey his thoughts to Arianthe without hurting her.

“Umm… I don’t really know.”

In the end, Sailerus discreetly took a step back. Arianthe, with a pensive expression, had been drawing something on the ground with her finger.

Then it happened.

“What are you doing here? What if something happens!”

An angry voice rang out, echoing within the pillar where the two children were hiding. Arianthe and Sailerus, startled, peeked their heads out of the hole, and their eyes met Lucien, who was red-faced with anger.

Arianthe looked at Sailerus with a triumphant expression, as if to say, ‘See, I told you I wouldn’t be found easily.’

However, Lucien had no intention of praising Arianthe’s hide-and-seek skills.

“What is this! Do you know how much I ran? What if you hide in a place like this! It’s cheating!”

As Lucien shouted in frustration, Arianthe, with defiant eyes, put both hands on her hips.

“It’s not cheating! Look, Bridget is still visible over there. And Ivy too! As long as we don’t leave the garden, what’s cheating about it?”

“Hey! It’s our first time coming here! But how are we supposed to find you when you hide in a place only you know? You deliberately tricked us, little brat!”

Angry, Lucien forcefully shoved Arianthe’s shoulders. Arianthe didn’t fall, but she staggered back a few steps.

Already sensing that the children had been caught, others who had been rushing over were visible. Sailerus, not wanting the fight to escalate, made an annoyed expression and blocked Lucien.

“Lucien, what are you doing? Apologize to Arianthe.”

However, Lucien raised his voice to Sailerus as well.

“What are you saying? Why are you taking the side of this girl we just met today!”
It was at that moment. Sailerus thought something had swiftly passed in front of his eyes. It didn’t take him long to realize it was Arianthe’s small hand.