A drop of water fell onto the teacup that was half-filled with black tea mixed with sugar and milk.

‘What did I just hear…?’

Aeli, who had been bending her body sideways to meet the child’s eyes, trembled her pupils.

For a moment, she doubted if her ears were wrong upon hearing the completely unexpected remark.

“……”

“……”

However, after confirming the reactions of Noel and Lutis, hmm.

She had no choice but to acknowledge it.

The other two had dumbfounded expressions not much different from her own.

‘…It doesn’t seem like I’m going senile at this age.’

Aeli, who thought she might have gone slightly crazy as a side effect of coming back from the dead, pursed her lips and looked at the child.

The child’s eyes were already swollen from crying for a long time, and her nose and cheeks were flushed red, reminiscent of strawberries.

Could there be any tears left to shed after crying so much with that small body?

It was beyond worrying and starting to become unsettling to see the child looking like she would spill all the moisture in her body.

Rolling her pupils, Aeli raised her gaze slightly to look at Lutis.

“Sniff. Hic…”

“……”

He was quietly looking down at the child sitting on his lap and sniffling, with a pensive look in his eyes.

Seeing that, Aeli also felt troubled, just like Lutis.

Of course, she wasn’t exactly at ease to begin with, so this was closer to an excuse, but- anyway, that’s how it was.

Black clothes and tears.

That was all the child said, but with just those two words, what could be inferred was clear.

‘…A funeral?’

Aeli thought, furrowing her brows and narrowing her eyes.

‘Did she have a nightmare because of Noel barging in yesterday?’

If the child was reacting like this out of anxiety over that incident, it wouldn’t be too unusual.

But even if she had a dream, it wasn’t one where Noel was the villain and they were harmed. Instead, it was about attending a funeral out of the blue.

Certainly, that was quite random.

Moreover, based on the context, the subjects of the funeral were none other than the previous Count and Countess.

In other words, Aeli and Noel’s parents.

‘A child who can’t even remember her grandparents’ faces could have such a dream?’

Is that possible?

It wasn’t easy to dismiss it as just a feeling and move on, as something seemed off.

Aeli opened her mouth to ask the child.

“Adi. Can you tell me a little more about that? Did you perhaps while sleeping-.”

“I don’t knoww- Hic….”

“……”

I thought I might be able to understand something if I heard more, but it seemed like it wouldn’t work out.

Aeli smacked her lips in vain at the sight of the child turning her back and avoiding conversation altogether while sitting on Lutis’ lap.

‘…Was it really just a dream?’

For a moment, she wondered if she was reacting too much to what a young child said.

‘No, but Adi doesn’t seem like the type to confuse dreams with reality.’

That’s because, although the child had become more whiny, she was still quite mature mentally compared to her peers.

Considering that the child had grown up isolated without receiving proper education, it was even more surprising.

Sometimes she seemed to be around ten years old, and other times she looked like a mere child.

“……”

No. Maybe she could be confused because she’s a young child.

It seemed both right and wrong, and while Aeli was pondering somewhere in between those thoughts-

“Ho, hot….”

“Huh- what?”

“I don’t like- hot things, wahhh!”

Aeli was startled and jumped up from her seat at the child suddenly throwing a fit and crying her heart out.

Perhaps the teacup she was holding was too hot for her delicate skin.

Aeli moved to a position facing the child who had turned her back, intending to take the teacup from her instead.

“No! I won’t go! I, I don’t wanna gooo…!”

“Adi, it’s not that, just the teacup,”

Where does she suddenly have to go?

Aeli, who was reaching out to the child without knowing what was going on, stopped in her tracks at the stinging sensation felt on the back of her hand.

Smack, crash!

“……”

“……”

It was only after some time had passed that she realized the pain she felt was from the child rejecting her and striking down.

So… Adi said she didn’t like her.

Compared to Lutis getting punched in the jaw earlier by the flailing child, this level of injury was nothing, but.

“……”

For Aeli, who was used to the child smiling happily or at most turning her back in a sulk whenever their eyes met, it couldn’t be anything but shocking.

‘Did she say she didn’t like me because she thought I was telling her to go back first…?’

She racked her brain but couldn’t find a clear answer.

Rather, she belatedly recalled that even the teacup, which she had thought to be the cause of the child’s outburst, was actually only heated to a moderate degree.

It had been like that from the moment it was handed to the child, so by now it would have been lukewarm.

Falling deeper into the labyrinth of the situation, Aeli lowered her gaze. The broken teacup was rolling on the floor.

“Da, daddyy… Hueeng…!”

What on earth was this situation?

Not understanding at all, Aeli could only silently watch the child burying her face in Lutis’ arms and sobbing again.

‘Rather than not wanting to come to me…’

It seemed more accurate to say that she didn’t want to be separated from Lutis.

Aeli, who recalled the child usually leaning more towards her mother when she and Lutis were together, smacked her lips slightly.

The flow of emotions was completely incomprehensible.

‘Are all children that age usually like that?’

Still, she had no idea.

Aeli stood still in that spot for at least a few minutes, and only after Lutis told her to sit down and moved over could she come to her senses.

“……”

“…Ah.”

“……”

“Ah- no. That, uh, that’s…..”

“……”

“-Sur, surprised. I’m shorry…..”

In the process, the child seemed to come to her senses belatedly, saying “oops” and hastily rubbing her tear-stained face with her arms.

Naturally, no one believed those words at face value.

They just refrained from speaking.

“……”

At that moment, Aeli, who had glimpsed the fear filling the child’s eyes, thought.

She had been dismissing it as just a feeling because she wasn’t sure, but no matter how much she thought about it, this wasn’t normal.

Aeli wanted to ask the child.

‘…Adi.’

What are you hiding?

These words also remained unspoken.

[This is the timeline separator]

Some more time passed after that.

As soon as she stopped crying, the child, with a determined expression, threw a tantrum saying they shouldn’t call the previous Count and Countess.

Since she kept insisting it wouldn’t work without gaining anything more from that conversation, it was indeed a tantrum.

So it went without saying that they had a long verbal battle.

Aeli stared at the child who had gotten off Lutis’ lap at some point and was now sitting next to her.

“Mommyy…..”

“Adi. As I’ve already said several times, that’s not something we can decide on our own right now, okay?”

Perhaps judging that persuading her would be faster than Lutis since it was a matter concerning Mason.

The child snuggled close to Aeli’s side, looking up at her with teary eyes, and whined.

In fact, it was true that throwing a tantrum to her was more effective than to Lutis.

Why?

…Unfortunately, because she had no power in this situation.

Right now, she wasn’t Mason’s only direct descendant, but just a worm #1 hoping to be registered as a collateral relative.

‘Sorry. Mommy has no power…’

On the other hand, it would be unreasonable for Lutis to intervene and tell the previous Count and Countess not to come to the capital.

He had already done plenty of unconventional acts in others’ eyes, but well.

No joke, if he did such a thing, putting aside his noble dignity, Lutis’ hair might get yanked out by his angry parents-in-law.

From the perspective of the child’s grandparents, Aeli and Noel’s parents, and Lutis’ parents-in-law…

‘They raised Lutis like their own child.’

Then, after their daughter died, he left the child behind and went to the battlefield, not even letting them meet, and now that they could finally see the child, he tells them not to come to the capital?

It was an act that went beyond overstepping authority and bordered on tyranny, so it was enough for the Count and Countess to be furious.

As Lutis’ childhood friend and spouse, she had a duty to protect her husband’s hair.

Thinking that way, Aeli opened her mouth.

“Hmm… If you insist, how about you go with daddy to greet them, Adi? You can stay by their side to ensure grandma and grandpa’s safety.”

“No!”

“……”

Was it just her imagination or did the child’s pronunciation, which had been slurred, suddenly become very accurate?

Smacking her lips, Aeli sighed in perplexity.

To begin with, no one had the right to confine the previous Count and Countess to their territory, regardless of who it was.

That wouldn’t change much even if it were Noel…

“Then if we goh, it’ll be okayh, right?”

“Even that requires making a visit request and getting approval, and to use the gate, you need to have visited at least once before. But Adi, you’ve never been to Mason, have you?”

“I went to daddy’s house for the first time too! I- I rode the gate?”

“That’s because it was Ratliffe, and Mason is a bit different. In the first place, Mason was the one who created the gate, so it’s a kind of privilege… No. Anyway, even if we go, we’ll have to ride a carriage for several days. Can you handle the motion sickness?”

Adi, you get severe motion sickness.

At Aeli’s question, the child’s mouth shut tight.

That’s because if they didn’t take the gate, it would take several days, making it a difficult journey even for those who didn’t get motion sickness.

Even if they somehow took the gate close to Mason’s territory, the time spent riding the carriage wouldn’t be short.

Unable to come up with any more persuasive words, the child’s cheeks gradually puffed up.

“…When I came out of the annex, you shaid let’s go together.”

“……”

“You never keep your promises. Mommy’s mehhn….”

“……”

As soon as the child’s words ended, a scene flashed through Aeli’s mind.

[If we get a chance later, shall we visit Mason’s territory together? We’ll go and meet your uncle, grandfather, and grandmother. They all cherish and love you very much.]

“……”

She definitely said something like that.

Aeli closed her eyes tightly.

You reap what you sow.

‘-But I didn’t know it would turn out like this…!’

Anyway, it was time to pay off the karma.