It was around dawn when the sky outside the window began to grow dimly light.

Aeli’s mind was in complete turmoil, not even remembering how she had said goodnight to the child the previous evening.

She had made a promise she knew she couldn’t keep, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

“This is also a problem… Sigh.”

But there was something else truly troubling her.

After struggling to compose her emotions all night, it suddenly dawned on her as day was breaking.

It was good that the child could use magic. The ability to implement more sophisticated magic through self-study without formal training was truly a gift worthy of blessing.

…If only the child wasn’t of Rattliffe blood.

[What will our child grow up to be?] […You’re worrying about that when the baby isn’t even born yet?] [No, just thinking. You’re a swordsman and I’m a mage.]

“Maybe they’ll become a magic swordsman if they have talent. Of course, only if the baby wants to.”

Aeli said in a bland voice, sitting askew on the couch and leaning against Lutis. She was chewing on a piece of apple Lutis had just fed her.

Hearing Aeli’s words, Lutis asked with an expression that said he was hearing something quite unexpected.

[What are you saying? Of course they’ll become a swordsman.] [What? You were just scolding me, but now you’re deciding the child’s future before they’re even born!] [That’s not it. I’m saying if it had to be one or the other, there’s no way they’d be a mage.] [That’s the same thing!] [How is that the same? Everyone of Rattliffe blood is incapable of using magic.] [Right, magic! …Huh?]

What did he say? Aeli, who had been turning around to look back while half-raising her body that had been leaning, paused.

Lutis, whose gaze met Aeli’s at quite a close distance, said with an expression of disbelief:

[Don’t tell me you didn’t know?] [……] [There’s no one in the Empire who doesn’t know that. No, more than that, we just talked about this at the Count’s mansion recently. The Count and Countess were so disappointed, remember?] [I-I know!] [When did they say that?]

Lutis asked, narrowing his eyes. Aeli averted her gaze slightly and answered.

…During tea time in the reception room?

Smack!

At the clear, crisp sound of impact, Aeli clutched her forehead and glared at Lutis, shouting:

[Ow! Why did you hit me?!] [Oh, did that hurt? I tried to do it gently… S-sorry. Let me see. Does it hurt a lot? Is it swollen…? It looks a bit red, I’ll call the doctor, just a moment.]

Lutis flustered like a rain-soaked puppy at Aeli’s single word, even though he had been the one to flick her forehead.

He gently caressed her forehead as if handling an extremely fragile handcrafted item.

The jumbled words he was spitting out showed just how flustered he was. In reality, the forehead flick had made a big sound but strangely didn’t hurt much.

It was obvious that had been Lutis’s intention as well.

Nevertheless, Aeli, who had become rather calm in the face of Lutis’s excessive panic, had to reassure him.

[No… It’s not that bad. I just overreacted, it’s fine.] […Still, we should have it checked just in case.]

It seems she wasn’t very successful though.

Lutis, who had ended up calling the doctor to apply ointment to a non-existent wound, spoke in a low voice.

[But…] [Hm?] [It wasn’t in the reception room, it was in the dining room. Not during tea time, but during a meal.] [Hey! Are you really going to do this?!] [Hahaha! Ah, okay. I won’t do it anymore. Don’t get angry.]

You’re not alone, you know. What if the baby gets startled? Hm?

Lutis bent down, laughing like a child. It was to sit Aeli back down as she tried to spring up from the couch she was perched on.

As a result, they ended up in a position that felt strangely like an embrace, and Aeli, whose vision was suddenly filled with Lutis’s chest, blinked rapidly.

It was a valid point.

The next thing that happened was Lutis, who had been staring blankly at the suddenly calm Aeli, lowering his head to her forehead. There was clearly a warm, soft sensation on her forehead, along with a cool, sweet cotton scent-

‘Ah, this isn’t right.’

Anyway, so the point was this.

Someone with Rattliffe blood flowing through their veins cannot use magic.

Though she didn’t know why, perhaps that was the reason Lutis was exceptionally skilled with a sword.

So here’s the question.

– …How on earth is Adi able to use magic?

Aeli’s guess was that it was likely just a coincidence due to the mixing of Mason’s blood, but it was hard to say for sure.

It was just a guess after all. In short, she wasn’t certain.

Aeli, who had been peeking around the bed all night watching the sleeping child, finally came to a conclusion after daybreak.

Since it didn’t seem to be a problem that could be solved immediately, the only option was to ask the child not to use magic in front of others.

As Aeli closed her eyes tightly, feeling overwhelmed already, the sound of raindrops hitting the window reached her ears.

As Mari had said last night, it had been raining since dawn.

‘Maybe it’s unusually dark because of the weather.’

Although it should have been well past sunrise by now, it was gloomy outside.

Yes. That was all that had risen.

Perhaps because of that, the usual morning birdsong was also absent.

It seemed the child would likely sleep in today. After all, bedtime had been later than usual due to yesterday’s commotion, and it was dark outside – perfect conditions for sleeping in.

Thinking this, Aeli decided to spend more time admiring the child’s soft cheeks pressed against the bedding.

Knock knock-

“Young master, are you still sleeping?”

After a few minutes, the sound of knocking came from outside the door, causing Aeli to turn her head.

Aeli looked at the child upon hearing the voice, presumed to be – actually, certainly – Mari’s. Oblivious to the question just now, the child was sleeping soundly.

After a few dozen seconds, Mari knocked on the door once more and muttered outside. It seemed she was debating whether to just quietly enter or not.

Creeak-

“As I thought. Still sleeping.”

Mari, who had finally carefully opened the door, glanced at the child sleeping on the bed and nodded. Of course, being the room it was, she couldn’t prevent the sound from the hinges.

Mari also knew the child had gone to sleep late yesterday, so she didn’t seem to intend to wake them right away, moving her steps carefully.

Aeli’s gaze, which had been naturally following Mari, caught something.

– …You already brought the flowerpot?

Seeing the small flowerpot carefully held in both of Mari’s hands, Aeli moved her steps while repeatedly rubbing her cheeks with her palms. Even so, it was only one or two steps within the narrow room.

‘I thought it would be after the rain stopped at the earliest, since I mentioned it late last night.’

As Aeli peered curiously from behind Mari, observing the flowerpot placed on the desk, flower petals were reflected in her retina.

The droplets of water clinging to it suggested it had been brought from outside while it was raining.

Mari, who had just put down the flowerpot and was quickly leaving the room, was very disciplined and quiet.

Indeed, she was worthy of being the only person who had come up to the bedside to wake the light sleeper that Aeli had been as a child.

– Adi will be happy when they wake u-, huh?

Aeli tilted her head at the single sheet of paper that caught her eye as she absent-mindedly gazed next to the flowerpot.

It seemed like that had been tucked a bit further back until just now.

She had never seen it before, as the child usually didn’t show what they were scribbling, and always hid the paper somewhere after playing with it.

‘Even though they tucked it between book pages yesterday.’

It seemed the paper had moved due to the wind created by Mari’s movements, as the child had fallen asleep without fully closing the cover.

…To cut to the chase, she failed to protect the child’s privacy. It was because she couldn’t resist the temptation of curiosity.

Aeli’s expression became strange as she looked at the exposed paper, pretending it was an accident while squinting.

This feeling was, well, difficult to describe in words.

There was a drawing with the characteristic clumsiness of a young child.

As if to indicate who each person was, writing was above each smiling face,

Seeing the round ink mark near the child’s nickname, as if they had hesitated for a moment at the end, Aeli swallowed.

The image of two adults smiling in a flower garden, with a much smaller child between them, reaching out both hands to grasp the parents’ hands.

It was a visibly happy family at a glance.

– ……

Aeli went to the bedside where the child was sleeping without any particular reaction, kneeling down.

Seeing the family drawn in black ink without any coloring tools, she just felt.

That she should do this.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Gasp, flowers!”

– Mari came and left them while you were sleeping. Shall we say good morning to our flowers?

Sure enough. The child, who had been wriggling under the blanket, suddenly sprang up from bed upon discovering the flowerpot on the desk, exclaiming. It happened in the blink of an eye.

At Aeli’s words, the child nodded while carefully slipping out of bed, then immediately went in front of the flowerpot and opened their mouth with a bright smile.

“Good morninggg?”

– Do you like the flowers?

“Yesss. I’m really really going to take good care of them.”

– You should say ‘I’m going to take good care of them.’ Is our Adi still not fully awake?

“Umm, I’m going to take good care of them!”

Was that “Umm” an affirmation or a negation?

Aeli gently buried the unknowable truth and said with a soft smile.

– Alright. Then shall we thank Mari for the flowers when she comes?

“Yes!”

The child nodded vigorously at Aeli’s words and muttered.

Every day, every day, I’ll take good care of you, so you have to bloom for a long long time. Okay?

The angelic-looking young child smiling brightly and the lovely flowers.

It was quite a lovable combination, and Aeli, who had been smiling unconsciously, only stopped smiling when Mari brought a slightly late breakfast some time later.

“Did Mari bring this?”

“Oh, you’ve already seen it?”

“Mmhmm.”

“It looked like the rain might get heavier, so I went out at dawn to bring it in case the petals fell.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

More accurately, it was because of their subsequent conversation.

Aeli, who had been watching Mari and the child conversing warmly with a pleased expression, suddenly looked around.

‘…Why has it been so busy since earlier?’

The mansion had been in disarray due to the servants going back and forth between the main house and annex for the past few days, but… it wasn’t to this extent.

Aeli’s brows furrowed as it seemed a bit excessive to simply ignore and overlook.

It wasn’t just Aeli who had sensed the unsettled atmosphere. The child, who had been rolling their eyes repeatedly, opened their mouth towards Mari.

“By the way, Mari. Is there something going on today?”

“Pardon?”

“Everyone seems so busy…”

At the child’s question, Mari looked around with an expression that said ‘oh no’ and carefully answered. Probably because the Duke came at dawn.

Hmm, I see.

‘…Wait. That’s not right?’