Aeli rolled her eyes and looked down at the child with a troubled face.

The child’s puffed up cheeks and pouted lips seemed to represent how upset the child was.

Aeli swallowed her saliva and closed her mouth.

‘Back then, the annex, no, not even his own bedroom, but the attic at the top was the entirety of Adi’s world.’

She wished he could have seen and experienced a little more.

The sky is blue, the flowers are fragrant, and the world is vast.

Even a young child would know this fact, but there was a big difference between simply knowing and actually experiencing it.

If a child who grew up in the annex without much interaction with people was given a better choice, shouldn’t they be guided to the right path?

That thought remained unchanged even now.

She just wished he could come out of the cage that was trapping him. That was all she wanted, but…

“Yaa-yak-soo-ok…”

“…”

“Ah, if you don’t keep your promise… I’m a bad adult…”

“That-,”

How did it come to this?

She definitely wanted to introduce the child to other loving families as soon as possible if the opportunity arose.

She wanted to let him know that there were so many people who cherished him and wished for his happiness, not just Lutis.

‘But that was when I wanted to pull out all of Lutis’ hair and kick his shins to my heart’s content!’

Of course, it’s not that she doesn’t want to formally introduce Mason to the child, but considering the situation, it wasn’t as urgent as before.

For now, Lutis had become the child’s fence.

It wasn’t the right timing to thoughtlessly bite and suck, telling the child that he was such a lovely person and deserved to be cherished.

‘…But it’s true that he’s lovely and deserves to be cherished.’

Aeli, who had become armless in the meantime, nodded her head according to the flow of her consciousness and hurriedly came to her senses.

Anyway, although it pricked her conscience greatly, it was difficult to immediately grant the child’s request.

As already mentioned, she was not Mason’s direct descendant unless she revealed her identity, and Lutis, although a son-in-law, had no right to stop the Count and Countess from going to the capital.

Aeli let out a small sigh, smacked her lips, and opened her mouth.

“It’s difficult right now, so let’s just stay this time, and later-,”

“No!”

“-Enough.”

That’s when it happened.

Noel, who stopped the child from opening his mouth with his two fists clenched, spoke.

“I’ll try contacting them. Will that work?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“I did tell you yesterday, but judging by the lack of news, they probably haven’t left yet. If we go back now, the timing should be about right.”

It was unclear whether he had given up on the child’s tantrum or intended to take this opportunity to revamp his image.

Perhaps he thought it wasn’t right to remain silent after hearing the unpleasant story, even if it was the claim of a child who knew nothing.

At Noel’s words, the child abruptly raised his head and blinked.

“You’re… you’re listening to me?”

The child, who had been observing Noel, asked slowly.

The favorability had hit rock bottom, even becoming minus just a moment ago, but seeing it immediately change to polite speech with those words, it seemed quite desperate.

Well, if not for that, there would be no reason for the child, who usually quieted down quickly even if he threw a tantrum, to cry so badly.

Aeli felt like a bad parent as the child’s eyes widened, and she fidgeted with her hands.

Noel, who nodded his head without a word, stood up from his seat and opened his mouth.

“Even if they haven’t left yet, I need to ask for their opinion, so I can’t give you a definite answer. However, if the young master tells them not to come to the capital, they may be greatly disappointed.”

“…”

“But they will probably understand. Especially Father-,”

It seemed like he had more to say.

For some reason, Noel trailed off and turned his head slightly to the side.

“…Anyway, instead, I’ll try talking to them about going to the estate. I’ll give you an answer by today, so if you do end up going to the estate, clear your schedule. I have no intention of accommodating you that far when I’m already adjusting everything for you.”

“…”

“And you.”

“…”

Perhaps she was listening to Noel’s words with a half-dazed mind.

When the surroundings suddenly became quiet, Aeli, who felt strange and raised her gaze from her hands, blinked her eyes in surprise.

Oh…

“…Me?”

“Yes.”

“…Why me?”

At Aeli’s dumbfounded answer, Noel sighed and held his forehead.

She could immediately understand the meaning of that expression because she had seen it a few times before when they lived in the same mansion.

-What should I do with her?

It was exactly that kind of face.

Tak.

Noel took something out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and then nodded towards Aeli.

“Take it.”

“Huh?”

Aeli’s gaze turned to the table as Noel opened his mouth with a displeased face.

There was an unfamiliar adult woman’s brooch.

“What is this…?”

Aeli picked up the brooch with a puzzled look and widened her eyes.

She may not have mana, but she has eyes.

That means she can’t fail to recognize the magic formula engraved on the brooch.

It had a different appearance from the brooch Noel had taken from her, and the engraved formula was slightly different. This one was probably of a much higher level.

“The presence will remain the same, but the face will be difficult to recognize. When facing directly, it will look appropriately distorted, but later when trying to recall separately, the specifics won’t be remembered.”

“Why this…”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to get permission to enter the family registry? From what I see, it seems you don’t want to reveal your face until then.”

He had already noticed that? Aeli’s eyes rolled and turned to the corner.

She couldn’t remember there being such a brooch in the capital mansion during the four years she was gone, regardless of what happened.

Aeli looked at the brooch in her hand.

It was also far from the latest fashion of accessories she last remembered. Then…

‘Did he buy it new?’

Why? That was the first question that came to mind.

It was natural because Noel had just been hostile towards Aeli a moment ago.

Aeli, who was considering the possibility that a women’s brooch with such a formula just happened to be in the capital mansion at this exact timing, narrowed her eyes.

It was practically improbable, so it meant he had made it after returning to the mansion yesterday.

‘Let’s think about it.’

It would have definitely taken about twenty hours to make the extraction solution to test if she was a vampire.

She didn’t know how long it took to wash up and change clothes, but that meant he made this in the short time left after making that extraction solution.

Aeli slightly opened her mouth and raised her head.

Noel, who had been looking down at Aeli with still displeased eyes, opened his mouth.

“If you miss this opportunity, it won’t be easy to meet the former Count and Countess for the time being. They rarely went out of the mansion, let alone the estate, for the past few years, so it will be even more difficult.”

“…”

In summary, it was this.

You should also go and resolve it all at once.

Aeli blinked slowly and asked.

“But earlier, you clearly told me not to come with Adi,”

“Isn’t it obvious? Solve your own problems. Don’t drag other people into it.”

“No, no! That’s not it.”

“…”

“…If we go to the estate, we’ll be going together. But how,”

“-I mean, find a separate time when the child is not around. Mason has quite a few things to see, so it should be possible to take some time apart for a bit.”

“…”

“In the capital, the distance is close, so we can set a separate day, but it’s not easy to do that while going back and forth to the estate, so there’s no other choice but this.”

After saying that, Noel listed off reminders with a tired face. In fact, it was closer to a notification than a reminder.

Although he had no intention of letting them stay in the estate for long, the main purpose itself was to have the child visit Mason Estate.

Even if she didn’t know how long they would stay, it would at least not be just one day.

During that period, it would naturally look strange to continue wearing the existing brooch she had been using.

‘Putting aside the strangeness, the brooch itself might not even work…’

In any case, she had to be careful since there were quite a few people interested in magic in Mason.

Aeli, who nodded slightly, was followed by Noel’s words.

“It will stand out if you keep wearing just one. I’ll make a few more with other accessories, so make do with those for now.”

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not for your sake, but because I don’t want to cause trouble when we go to the estate.”

“…”

“How many people in Mason do you think won’t recognize that face?”

…Well, that’s true.

Since she had been poking around here and there every other day, not only the mansion staff but also the estate residents would have seen her at least once.

In the meantime, she couldn’t possibly go around exposing the same face.

‘-Of course, I thought I wouldn’t be able to go together.’

She was just thinking about what to do if the child and Lutis went to Mason Estate.

Since she couldn’t freely switch between being a ghost and a human, she was making a resolution to stay still in the guest room of the mansion, but hearing this unexpected news made her dumbfounded.

Aeli fiddled with the brooch in her hand.

Noel glanced at Aeli and turned his back.

-It couldn’t help but be a mentally exhausting day in many ways.

And three days later, at dawn.

“Uh- Mom, hurry, hurry!”

“Adi, the sun hasn’t even risen yet…”

Even the horses are sleeping at this hour…

Aeli groaned at the child who woke up and shook her awake, urging her to hurry up, even though it hadn’t been long since she fell asleep.

It was the day they were leaving for Mason Estate.