With a smile, the Viscountess sighed and continued, “If you’re the young lady… it must be even more challenging. You’ve been alone all this time. When Cyrus was born, he didn’t say it out loud, but he was very uneasy. I’m not his birth mother, so it was probably even more challenging for him.”

“Viscountess, you really cherish Lord Cyrus.”

While wearing a gentle smile, the Viscountess looked at Meiana.

“Of course. I can’t exchange that child with anything else. Whether he was born from my womb or not, Cyrus is no different… But it took a long time to convince Cyrus of that. Although Cyrus is very gentle and intelligent, he is still at an age where he doesn’t know much about the world, right? He’s a well-behaved child, and there hasn’t been any extreme mischief or crying, but there have been several times when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep. So, as soon as my recovery was complete, I kept Cyrus by my side. It’s the same as taking care of a newborn. As a result, he gradually found stability.”

Meiana suddenly realized why the Viscountess had shared such a long story with her. It was an attempt to provide one of the ways to bring Ariante and Swan closer, as suggested by Venti…

Although the method of “putting them together and confining them” as Venti mentioned was absurd, the method proposed by the Viscountess was not significantly different. The point was to increase the time Ariante and Swan spent together.

Stopping her steps, Meiana looked straight at the Viscountess and politely thanked her.

“Thank you, madam. You’ve given me a clue.”

The Viscountess smiled.

“Don’t mention it. I’ve only given advice because I’ve experienced it before. The method might not work for the young lady and Lord Glendon’s son… Seven and ten years old is an age where there might be a lot of trouble and a lot of joy. However, just as adults need to be close to develop affection, it’s the same for children. If you keep separating them just because the young lady is uncomfortable, there might come a time when it becomes irreversible.”

That was right… Continuously keeping them apart would only deepen the emotional divide. Although Ariante might express irritation, Meiana decided to increase the time for Swan and Ariante to walk and play together in the future.

As they knocked on the door, Gémero came out. He wasn’t surprised even when he saw the unexpected Viscountess. Perhaps he had seen the carriage arriving from inside.

“Viscountess, please come in. The Duke saw the carriage coming and instructed to prepare the carriage. I will escort you to the reception room.”

“Thank you. I apologize for the trouble.”

Following Gémero, the Viscountess went inside. At that moment, Sedilloi’s voice came from inside.

“Meiana, please come in for a moment.”

Turning her body to retreat immediately, Meiana turned her head with a puzzled expression. Then, Alt Viscountess raised her gloved hand, gesturing for her to come over.

‘What is it now?’

Meiana thought. After hesitating for a moment, she closed the door and went inside.

At that time, the children sitting in a circle in the garden were discussing something seriously, pressing their foreheads together. In the distance, gardeners and servants were bustling about, but since the children were quiet, no one paid much attention.

Meiana also thought the children were observing ants or something… But that wasn’t the case at all. If she knew what the children were talking about, she would never have brought only Alt Viscountess inside the mansion.

Umbrose said, “But if we’re going on an adventure into the forest, we need something to eat.”

Compared to his friends, he had a plump figure and loved snacks very much. At the moment when Luzian was about to tease Umbrose, Ariante leaned on her elbow and glanced at him seriously.
“Yeah, that’s right. We’re going on a picnic to the forest! So, we need cake and tea.”

Chrony, who had been fiddling with his fingers, spoke cautiously.

“But carrying all that might be too heavy…”

Sailorus replied, “We can divide it and take it. But we’re planning to go secretly, right? If we say we’re going to the forest on our own, Mother will never allow it.”

Ariante nodded with pursed lips.

“Father and Meiana won’t allow it either.”

Luzian snorted and playfully hit Ariante’s cheek.

“Are we still talking about that servant? What permission would a servant give…”

Ariante shot a sharp look at Luzian, as if saying, ‘If you don’t want another beating like before, keep quiet.’ Luzian, in response, pretended to adjust his glasses and avoided Ariante’s gaze.

Chrony spoke again with a trembling voice, “But is it really okay for us to go to the forest on our own? What if there’s something scary…”

“There’s nothing scary at all! Seriously. We just don’t have to go too far. I’ll never get lost!”

Upon Ariante’s words, Sisi snorted.

“How do you know? Whether you’ll get lost or not. The Duke’s forest is very vast.”

“I know better than you?”

“What did you say?”