“Your Highness, let’s play together again later!”

Berith, who I thought would throw a tantrum not wanting to leave, jumped for joy as much as Ronowe when he heard that Fleur Marquis had come to pick him up personally. Compared to when he was three years old, there are times when he puts his own feelings less forward and naturally accepts the situation, and this was exactly one of those times.

Honestly, if he cried and made a fuss when parting, it would be a hassle to comfort him, but fortunately, now that he’s ten years old, he doesn’t do that anymore.

Although it was less tiring than in the past, since I couldn’t predict when he might act out unexpectedly like throwing Poppy in the greenhouse, I decided to give warnings in advance when going to places where children might run wild in the future.

However, on the other hand, I wondered if the existence of a mother was really that great. Of course, it seems natural for parents to give birth to children, give them attention, take responsibility for raising them, and exchange emotions with their children.

In some life, I casually read about this in a book, and above all, I was reborn as someone’s child, so I experienced that weight firsthand.

But even though I felt something burst open when finding the doll, the treasure Hecate had prepared, and thereafter became more empathetic to others’ emotions, why is there still this subtle discrepancy? Why do I feel this incomprehensible, blocked feeling whenever I reach this direction of emotion?

As if reviving the feeling I had when hearing Yong Yong’s last request, I unconsciously clenched my fist tightly.

“We’ll be back in two days!”

“You don’t need to come back, just leave quickly.”

I nodded vaguely in response to Ronowe’s words. It wasn’t a particularly friendly tone, but the riffraff didn’t mind.

There were times when I spoke harshly, but whether because they were used to it or because they knew I didn’t intend to hurt them, they didn’t cry. The siblings held hands amicably and waited with the maid at the position where the carriage would stop.

Soon, the Fleur family’s carriage arrived, the door opened, and I briefly exchanged greetings with Fleur Marquis who stepped out of the carriage for a moment.

“Your Highness, we shall take our leave now.”

While Ronowe and Berith cheered and clung to Fleur Marquis, acting spoiled, Carlyle approached and politely greeted me, and I turned my head to look at him.

‘Oh?’

But in Carlyle’s expression that I met, I saw something more than just regret… an emotion that was difficult to explain flickering and disappearing. I thought that even if he’s precocious and older than Ronowe and Berith, he’s not even an adult yet, so he might show immature aspects.

“Are you that sad to part with me?”

“Yes.”

Carlyle, forcing a smile, said he hoped he could see me again in two days and hurriedly ran towards the carriage without saying anything else. It seemed he was embarrassed for belatedly showing all his emotions to me.

‘What a strange fellow.’

I watched the carriage carrying the Fleur family members leave, then stepped back a few steps, and soon felt the presence of someone walking nearby. It was Sasha and Phreyri.

“I wanted to stay a bit longer, but it’s already time to leave.”

Phreyri had a gloomy face with the corners of his eyebrows drooping.

“You can come again next time.”

“But I’m so disappointed.”

Sasha, who was standing beside Phreyri, comforted the depressed Phreyri with positive talk, saying he could come back anytime, and even patted his shoulder. However, Phreyri’s face didn’t brighten up, showing no particular change.

Then, as the Vladimir family’s carriage appeared in the distance, Phreyri turned around and walked elegantly towards where I was standing, suddenly grasping my left hand, which I had extended as if to shake hands, tightly with both hands.

I was taken aback but couldn’t show it, and even began to think whether he was becoming attached to me because he had no sisters.

“I really enjoyed today, Your Highness.”

Phreyri, who had been showing a visibly sad expression, smiled a gentle smile that seemed genuinely happy when saying goodbye.

With a happy face that seemed to have not a single trace of falsehood, Phreyri even showed eye-smiles and became tinged with the sunset like a flower that only blooms when the sun sets.

Seeing Phreyri’s short platinum hair glittering, I thought about how much he must have suffered, having mostly stayed in bed, so I responded with something like, “That’s nice.”

“It would be an honor if you invite me again next time.”

“Alright. I’ll send you an invitation, but can you let go of my hand now?”

However, there’s a law that this is this and that is that, so I prayed that Phreyri would not grab my hand so burdensome in the future.

“I’ll see you off personally, so you should go now.”

“My, how considerate. The way back won’t be lonely.”

So I tried to change the subject to quickly pull my hand away, and decided to send Phreyri and Sasha home and rest. When my hand was finally free, I tried to quickly put Sasha in between us.

‘Farewell, little chick.’

But then…

Grab-!

No sooner had his hand separated than Phreyri linked arms with me, and clung to me as if I were his own sister, humming a tune. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t pleasant either, it was really ambiguous.

I’m not the type to enjoy someone being clingy like this, but I wasn’t vulgar enough to yell at him to get off, and I didn’t want to do anything that would disgrace the honor of the royal family, so I inwardly prayed for this moment to pass quickly, saying it was giving me goosebumps.

Stumble-.

But I didn’t know this wish would be fulfilled in such a twisted way so quickly. Because out of nowhere, Phreyri, who had been walking well while looking ahead, suddenly staggered and sat down on the ground.

I worried that people might misunderstand that I had pushed him or stepped on his foot, causing him to fall, but no one seemed to think that way, and everyone came running, calling out to Phreyri in surprise.

“Phreyri!”

And of course, the first to run over was Sasha.

“Ouch…”

Since he might have scraped his knee or suddenly lost strength in his legs and twisted his ankle as he sat down, we had to be careful. Instead of immediately trying to support him, which could injure him more, I decided to first check if he was in a state where he could stand up by holding my hand.

“Are you alright?”

I abruptly extended one hand with the nuance of asking him to try grabbing it and standing up. But Phreyri was strange from this moment on.

Judging by the personality and behavior he had shown so far, he should have either immediately stood up with a bright smile while holding my hand, or if the injury was severe, apologized with a sorry face saying he didn’t have the strength to stand up holding someone’s hand because it hurt too much.

However, he did neither of the two expected responses, and instead looked at the hand I had extended with teary eyes, then bowed his head deeply, and even clenched his fist with the hand that was touching the ground.

He acted like someone who was feeling frustrated, embarrassed, and ashamed somewhere.

“Hey, are you going to keep doing that?”

I couldn’t say, “Do you want to dig a mouse hole and hide now?” so I pretended not to notice and spoke casually. Honestly, I couldn’t keep my hand extended until he grabbed it. My arm was getting numb.

“I’ll hold your hand, so hurry and get up.”

Even a sunflower-like girl might have surprisingly strong pride inside. I clicked my tongue inwardly as I saw Phreyri, who seemed to have come to his senses only after I spoke as if slightly complaining.

“I’ve committed such rudeness.”

Phreyri, who was smiling awkwardly with his eyes, finally grabbed the hand I had extended after waiting embarrassedly and carefully stood up.

“I am deeply sorry, Your Highness.”

Eventually, as Phreyri apologized for causing trouble, Sasha, who had been waiting behind watching the situation, spoke urgently and didn’t know what to do. He looked like someone going crazy because a very expensive, high-value statue was about to break.

“Let’s go back quickly! I’ll carry you on my back, so don’t strain yourself.”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

However, unlike Sasha who was anxious and seemed about to lose his breath at any moment, Phreyri spoke calmly and precisely what he needed to say, even while occasionally furrowing his brow slightly as if enduring pain in his ankle.

“I am deeply grateful that Your Highness has personally seen us off, but we should hurry on our way.”

But Sasha was adamant, and he politely conveyed to me that he would support Phreyri and walk slowly to the carriage, so I should be at ease. I had no particular reason to refuse, so I thought it was good and quickly answered.

“Alright, go on then.”

As I waved my hand telling them to go, Sasha and Phreyri bowed once more according to etiquette and turned around.

Sasha and Phreyri continued to whisper to each other, clinging closely afterwards, and I stood still in my place, pricking up my ears as much as possible out of curiosity about what they were discussing in lowered voices.

“You should rest at the mansion for a while.”

“Are you telling me to lie down like a corpse again? I’d rather disappear than do that.”

However, I couldn’t properly hear their voices or grasp the flow of the conversation as only occasional words were audible. From what I could make out about rest, corpse, and so on, it seemed they were bickering about treatment related to the fall just now.

“Don’t be stubborn. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Anyway, as it was proper etiquette to watch them leave even if I didn’t see them off, just as I had done with the Fleur family, I just watched Sasha and Phreyri’s backs with Poppy beside me.

“I’ve always waited for you every time your soul shattered and scattered across the world. I’m fine with waiting for you as much as needed, I’m used to it by now.”

Soul? What kind of philosophical word is this? Barely holding back a yawn that was about to come out, I watched as the Vladimir family’s maid opened the door of the carriage that had just arrived.

“But your soul is unstable now, so if you don’t rest well, it will soon break down.”

“I really mean disappearance literally, Phrey.”

“Are you thinking of giving up on revenge like this?”

“No, of course not. Revenge has been my long-cherished wish.”

As the distance gradually increased, it became difficult to understand what they were talking about even with my ears pricked up. Still, there were two words that were faintly audible at the end, which raised questions because they didn’t fit Phreyri’s current situation.

“Revenge? Wish?”