Even to Mayana’s gentle voice, Ariante didn’t respond. She just stubbornly clung to her. Otherwise, she might disappear somewhere.

After a brief smile and silence, Mayana, while lightly arranging Ariante’s hair, spoke again.

“Do you know, my lady?”

Ariante, who was mumbling in her arms, turned her chubby face.

“What do you know?”

“You saved me, my lady.”

Ariante’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“When did I?”

“It’s an old story. When was it… Right, it was the day you asked the kitchen to make caramel sandwiches. Do you remember?”

“I don’t remember.”

Mayana smiled as if she had expected that and hugged Ariante again.

“Back then, my lady, you were standing at the kitchen counter, telling the chef how to make sandwiches. The chef was, of course, flustered… And I was watching it from the kitchen entrance.”

That’s when Ariante interjected.

“That caramel sandwich ended up selling incredibly well. It became a Balthminster specialty.”

Mayana laughed.

“That’s right. And your father said he would give up his bureaucratic position and make a living just by importing sandwiches.”
Finally, a faint smile appeared on Ariante’s face. Mayana carefully examined her face, caressing her cheeks and soothing the tear-streaked eyes.

“Anyway, back then, my lady, you were holding a crow feather, standing by the kitchen counter… When I saw you, it occurred to me that you’ve grown much taller than when I first saw you. You must have really grown. Still, there wasn’t that much of a difference, but… It felt like suddenly you looked fully grown, as if we’ve spent a very long time together. And during that time… I realized anew how precious you were to me.”

“I felt the same. Mom was the most precious to me.”

Ariante said, and Mayana responded with a loving peck on her round forehead.

“For me, it was only my lady. In times of distress, sadness, and injustice, you were the only one who could make me forget everything. Honestly, his lordship wasn’t much help back then.”

Mayana, making a teasing remark, hugged Ariante a little tighter.

“My lady was everything to me. She will be in the future too. That’s the only thing I wanted to say.”

Ariante, without saying anything, quietly touched Mayana’s hand.

It was a hand rougher than that of any lady in El Bleuen. No matter how refined and cultivated it was, deep-seated calluses didn’t disappear. The scars were still there.

But Ariante loved that hand. When Mayana gently caressed her, hugged her, and sang lullabies, there was nothing to fear. Even the most terrible nightmares couldn’t torment Ariante.

While Ariante was quietly playing with her nails, she whispered.

“Mayana is the same. Mayana is my everything. More precious to me than anything else. She loved me even when everyone else didn’t. Worried about me and took care of me… It wasn’t something that could be done for money. Since we first met, Mayana has been my mother. From the time she gently touched my cheek to wake me up when I pretended to sleep.”

Mayana chuckled softly.

“I was really impudent back then.”

Ariante, making a creaking sound, held Mayana even tighter. Leaning her forehead on her shoulder, she felt as comfortable as when she was young. Even after becoming the wife of a duke, Mayana never used perfume. So Ariante could always, anytime, embrace Mayana and find solace in her warm scent.

“Mom.”

Ariante spoke in a small voice, and Mayana replied, “Why, my daughter?”

“You won’t give birth to a younger sibling for me, right?”

“I told you. I’m content with just you.”

“That’s something you said when I was a little kid.”

Perhaps she no longer thought that way. Mayana laughed inwardly and swept Ariante off her lap, who kept slipping because of the dress.

“Mom, I’m enough as your daughter, Ariante. There can’t be another child in the world as lovely and kind as you. Then the balance would be too off, wouldn’t it?”

“Then give birth to a son.”

“Swan is there, isn’t he?”

Defeated, Ariante lifted her head with a fluttering heart from Mayana’s lap. Then, she casually flicked the crumpled dress.

Mayana gently took Ariante’s hand and pulled her down, smoothing out the wrinkles as if by magic.

While holding Ariante’s hand, Mayana looked up.

“Do you know how much Mom loves you? Do you know how wonderful, kind, and beautiful you are?”

Silently gazing down at her, Ariante, like when she was young, smiled brightly.
“I am whose daughter, isn’t it obvious? From the crazy foal of the rural marquisate to becoming the vigorous lady of El Bleuen, Mom’s efforts were the greatest. So, there’s really nothing to worry about.”

And Ariante added this at the end.

“Even if I come to hate everyone in the world, I won’t be able to hate anyone as much as Mom. After all, I love Mom the most in the world.”

―End