“Urgh…”

“Adi, are you alright?”

Aeli asked worriedly, looking at the child sprawled on the couch and retching.

It was as if she had heard the child’s claim of hunger as a last desperate cry before starving to death.

She couldn’t help but admire her parents, especially her mother, who had immediately guided them to the reception room and piled up a mountain of food in front of the child.

The child’s demise now was the result of not being able to refuse the food the grandmother had offered and diligently stuffing it into their mouth.

In other words, indigestion.

‘There were so many dishes, hmm.’

Aeli thought, smacking her lips.

It was surprising that the child had consumed that much with their small body, even if they couldn’t finish it all, as the dishes that appeared were not light enough to be considered finger food or a meal.

Perhaps it wasn’t a lie when they said the meal preparations were not yet complete.

Aeli, who had momentarily doubted her parents’ sincerity, opened her mouth as she sat the child up who was lying sprawled on the couch.

“It’s harder to digest if you lie down like that, so let’s sit up, okay?”

“But… my tummy doesn’t feel good.”

“Is it better if you lie down?”

“That’s not good either, urgh…”

“…”

Then doesn’t that mean both are just difficult?

Aeli looked down at the child, who was making crying noises with their face buried in the back of the couch, with a perplexed expression.

‘Well, it would be stranger if they didn’t have serious indigestion after eating that much.’

If it was just a matter of digestion not going well, the child wouldn’t have looked so haggard.

Aeli briefly recalled what had happened in the reception room a little while ago.

The child, who had initially tasted the sweet dishes to their liking, eventually declared defeat at the end and made a face as if their throat was stuffed with food.

The look of shock on the child’s face as they tilted their head, as if asking if the grandmother was serious, was really memorable.

Aeli smacked her lips.

Of course, her grandmother loved to feed them things even when she and Lutis were young, so she thought that could be the case.

“…But it wasn’t quite like this for us, it’s strange.”

Recalling her memories, Aeli let out a small chuckle, as it was clearly different from when her grandmother simply made sure they had meals and snacks.

Well, it wasn’t particularly strange considering that the grandmother hadn’t seen her grandchild in a very long time, so her feelings may have been excessive.

Just looking at the room provided to the child to use during their stay at the estate, one could roughly imagine what the situation at the mansion must have been like while they were coming here.

Aeli compared the guest room she remembered from the mansion to the room they were in now.

‘They wouldn’t decorate it to this extent even if the guest was from the imperial family.’

It was even more than when Lutis had previously decorated the room, saying that he would live with them.

From the wallpaper and curtains in bright tones befitting a child’s dwelling, to the lovely accessories and luxurious furniture made of light-colored wood.

No matter how you looked at it, it was clear that it had been decorated solely for the child.

This was not simply a guest room, but one that had been furnished with a specific person in mind.

Aeli, who had been blinking her eyes rapidly, opened her mouth as she gently stroked the child’s back.

“Is the medicine still not working?”

“Umm… I don’t know.”

“Really? It seems like it’s about time for the medicine to take effect…”

“…”

Aeli murmured, lowering her gaze.

It had been roughly twenty minutes since she had taken out the digestive medicine from the emergency medicine she had brought just in case and gave it to the child as soon as they entered the room.

Shouldn’t it be normal for the child to feel a little better by this time?

Aeli, who was trying to gauge whether the medicine was not working, the child was in that state because it was working, or the medicine was slow to take effect, suddenly thought of something as she looked around the room and turned her head.

Aeli made eye contact with the child and spoke.

“Adi.”

“Umm…”

“Then shall we go outside and take a little walk? We can also take a look around the mansion.”

“…Outside?”

Yes, outside. Aeli nodded her head.

Hadn’t the child been in the carriage the whole time from leaving the capital to arriving in Mason?

Although they had gotten out in between for meals and sleep, it was by no means easy for a young child to sit in a carriage for that long.

If the medicine was slow to take effect, Aeli thought that the child’s poor condition might also be a reason for it.

‘I… should first tell Adi to get permission from Lutis, then secretly return to the guest room assigned to me and wait.’

Obviously, she couldn’t move around freely right now.

Aeli, who had come to the room assigned to the child using the secret passages within the Mason mansion, blinked slowly.

There was no way she wouldn’t know a path this short in the house she had lived in for nearly twenty years.

Moreover, there was no one in the mansion who would normally use these secret passages anyway.

…If she knew, shouldn’t she make use of them?

Aeli, who had confidently thought so, stuck out her tongue a little and wet her lips.

Anyway, since she couldn’t freely move around with the child while hiding her identity, it was best to ask Lutis and go together.

Lutis also knew the geography of Mason well, so it wouldn’t be difficult for them to go alone while keeping others away.

They could also ask Noelle or the former Earl and Countess to go together, but there was a reason why that wasn’t easy either.

‘First of all, it’s questionable whether Noelle would even agree to go, and Adi doesn’t seem to like it very much. As for Mother and Father… it might be okay, but I feel like they’ll stuff something into the child’s mouth again.’

Wouldn’t it be awkward if they went to digest the food but came back with even more?

As Aeli was making that judgment, the child raised their head with sparkling eyes.

“…Can we really go outside?”

“If you go with Dad?”

“What about Mommy?”

“Umm, depending on the situation…?”

When the child narrowed their eyes at her words, Aeli, whose reaction was not what she had imagined, stammered and rolled her eyes as she continued.

“Ah, Adi, you went to the lake at the Ratcliffe estate last time, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“There’s a lake in Mason too, although it’s not as big. It might not be bad to look at, even if it’s a bit smaller in size.”

“…”

If she had to compare it to the lake at the Ratcliffe estate, it would be embarrassing to call it a lake.

The lake at Ratcliffe was so large that one couldn’t see the end with the naked eye, so if that was to be called a lake, the lake at Mason was closer to a pond than a lake.

Clearly, her side was the image that people commonly thought of as a pond, no, a lake, but why did she feel like she had lost somehow?

Aeli, who had become uneasy, added awkwardly to persuade the child, who had momentarily shown an interested expression at the mention of a lake but still looked half dissatisfied.

“…And there are a lot of fish living in this pond.”

“Pond?”

“…Ah.”

“…”

“Ah, no, no. I meant to say there are a lot of fish living in the lake. I was thinking about something else for a moment, so I misspoke…”

“…”

“…Shall we go and say hello to the fish friends? If we’re lucky, we might also see rabbit or deer friends coming to drink water or rest.”

Aeli herself had frequently seen animals there, so she thought they might really be able to see them.

Perhaps thanks to Aeli’s earnest persuasion, this time the child seemed to think deeply for a while and soon nodded slightly.

“But Mommy has to come with us.”

“Oh, umm… that might be a bit strange for other people to see right now-,”

“Then we can just tell other people not to come…”

“That’s…”

“Adi. We’re here as guests now, aren’t we? Of course, if your grandmother, grandfather, or uncle say it’s okay, we can do that, but- we can’t just do as we please on our own.”

“…”

“I’m not saying we won’t go, but if they allow us to go without the servants, let’s go together then. Okay? If they say we can’t, then this time you and Dad can go together, and we can go with Mommy another time.”

“…But this is Mommy’s house.”

It’s her house, so why can’t she go around freely… When the child spoke with pouting lips, Aeli’s mouth closed involuntarily.

She hadn’t explained to the child their current situation – that is, the scandal that would circulate when she was ambiguously positioned between Lutis and Adi.

It was a story that wouldn’t be good to know anyway, and she didn’t really want the child to know either, so it was natural.

Since she hadn’t told the child, it was understandable that they didn’t know, but it didn’t seem like this child wouldn’t have noticed it even implicitly.

‘It was the same with the previous incident at the temple.’

To the extent that the child would match their words perceptively if she had to hide her identity, it didn’t seem like the child had said that because they really didn’t know.

Then, the only reason she could think of was…

“Adi, are you upset that Mommy can’t move around freely and has to be mindful of others?”

“…”

“Do you not like that we can’t tell Grandmother and Grandfather?”

“…That’s not it,”

“Okay.”

“Un- uncle only says bad things, and you can’t even say anything back… Everyone looks at you strangely. This is Mommy’s house…!”

“…”

Aeli sighed.

Everyone seemed to be hiding it, but apparently it was useless.

Even if Noelle vouched for her identity, a young woman who abruptly intervened would inevitably be foreign.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t upset, but she was okay with it since she understood, but.

Aeli stroked the child’s hair, who looked even more heartbroken than herself, and said.

“Mommy is fine, dear.”

“But I’m not okay with it…”

“Okay. Then will Adi comfort Mommy instead? I think one hug will do. Mommy will hug Adi too.”

“…”

The child, who sniffled slightly as if their nose was stuffy even though no tears were visible, slowly stretched out their arms.

Aeli smiled faintly as she hugged the small warmth that entered her arms.

‘I’m so glad to have you.’

And it was fortunate that they were able to get permission to quietly go out for a walk by the lake on their own.

It was fortunate, but-

“…”

Aeli, who had been staring blankly at the child crouching by the lakeside and sprinkling something they had created with magic, asked.

“Adi, what are you giving to the fish?”

“Umm, ice.”

“…To the fish?”

“Yes. It’s hotter here than in the capital, so I’m giving them something cool to eat.”

“…”

What should she do with a child who was giving frozen water to a creature living in water?

Aeli, who had become roughly perplexed as to where to start explaining, requested help from Lutis with her eyes.

“…”

“…”

Of course, he was just as perplexed.