‘I’ve never seen someone use magic like that before…’

Aeli wasn’t sure if she should be amazed at the child using magic just to feed the fish, or be surprised at the idea of having the fish eat ice.

After staring at the small chunks of ice plopping into the lake surface for a while, Aeli smacked her lips softly.

Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.

Meanwhile, the fish that mistook the ice hitting the water surface as food were busily opening and closing their mouths. They were so fervent about it that just watching them was exhausting.

Splash!

It ate it. Aeli let out a small exclamation as a fish leaped out of the water and opened its mouth wide to take in a piece of ice.

…Ptooey!

But it immediately spit it back out, causing the exclamation to die down.

Looking closer, about half of the fish mistook it for food and gulped it down whole, while the other half spit it back out after realizing it wasn’t food when they put it in their mouths.

‘I’ve never tried giving ice to fish so I’m not completely sure… But they live in water and are called fish after all.’

She decided to leave them be, as she didn’t think that amount of ice would be dangerous for them to eat.

The child was having so much fun, and Aeli figured it would be fine to let the child do as he pleased to this extent.

However, as she quietly watched the scene unfold, the child’s face got closer and closer to the water surface to the point of almost falling in, causing her to rethink things a bit.

At this rate, the child really would fall into the lake. Aeli quickly tried to get the child’s attention.

“Adi.”

“…”

“Adi?”

“…Yes?”

“Instead of doing that there, shall we walk a bit? You said you came out because you’re full, right?”

While she had indeed said that at first, the child was more or less persuaded by the suggestion to go see the fish living in the lake as well.

The truth wasn’t that important.

As the child reluctantly reduced the number of ice chunks falling into the lake without stopping them completely, not wanting to leave, Aeli continued speaking.

“If we go back in like this, we’ll have to have another meal like before. Is that alright?”

“…!”

“Of course, I won’t force you if you say you’re full, Adi. If you don’t want to, just say so. Better not to eat than to force yourself and get indigestion like earlier.”

“But…”

“We can always have another meal tomorrow. Or you can just occupy a seat and take a bite here and there, saying you ate a lot earlier and are full.”

“…”

“Hmm… But that would make you uncomfortable, Adi. Even if Papa helps out if it seems excessive, you’ll still have to digest it, right?”

So shall we walk together, my prince? Aeli playfully smiled and reached out her hand to the child.

While he was a young lord, not a prince, it wasn’t untrue to say he would really become a prince if Lutis declared he would establish a principality.

The child pursed his lips and took Aeli’s hand.

“I wanna pway a wittle more…”

“It’s a bit late to stay long… Then shall we take one lap around the lake and play with the fish just a little longer before heading back?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

The prince should do as he pleases, right? Adi smiled brightly, paying no mind to Aeli who was still keeping up the concept.

Aeli briefly wondered if she was imagining the feeling of somehow losing to the fish.

The thought crossed her mind that they should put a small fish tank in the child’s room when they returned to the capital.

But that thought was fleeting. Because-

“Papa.”

The child naturally stretched out both arms towards Lutis.

It was a pose that anyone could see meant “pick me up”. Aeli blinked rapidly. They needed to walk to aid digestion, so what was this about asking to be carried?

She wondered if the child didn’t notice the oddity of it or had gotten used to it without realizing.

Aeli hurriedly stopped Lutis as he bent down to pick up the child.

“Wait- wait a moment.”

“…?”

“…?”

As Lutis and Adi simultaneously turned to look at her with identical faces, Aeli smacked her lips with a “tsk”.

They had always resembled each other, but seeing them like this, they really looked alike- No, that wasn’t it.

Aeli opened her mouth.

“Adi.”

“Yes?”

“We agreed to aid digestion, right?”

“Wight.”

“Then shouldn’t we walk? If you ride on Papa’s legs, won’t you still be full, Adi?”

“…Oh.”

What do you mean “oh”?

Even before the child could react, Lutis let out a small sound as if he had just realized it, causing Aeli to make a dumbfounded face.

He had seemed oddly out of it since getting out of the carriage. Maybe it wasn’t just her imagination after all.

‘I thought he would get an earful from the count and his wife, even if not as much as what Noel did. But there were surprisingly no issues, so maybe that’s why.’

Actually, that had been unexpected for Aeli too.

She had predicted that they might blast him with magic the moment they met. No, they would hurl magic at him.

Punches wouldn’t have much impact on a Swordmaster.

So she thought they might burn off all his hair or bizarrely change the color and design of his clothes.

‘Since Lutis is the duke after all- It would be difficult for them to express their anger overtly. No matter what he did, they would probably use magic to restore things to some extent later.’

That had been the most mild reaction in her predictions, but in reality, nothing had happened at all.

While she was having those thoughts, the child had already gone quite a distance away before she noticed.

To think he got that far away with those short legs in the brief moment she looked away.

Aeli was startled and called out to the child. Even though the three of them were together, it was still dangerous for the child to move alone by the water.

“Adi, if you go ahead alone-,”

“Shh-!”

“…?”

As Aeli approached the child together with Lutis, the child quickly shook his head and brought his index finger to his lips.

He had lowered his posture and was hiding behind a clump of grass. Aeli tilted her head, wondering what he was trying to do.

Rustle.

A small white body with a round tail. Long ears and red eyes.

It was a rabbit.

“The wabbit must’ve come to dwink water.”

“…Oh my.”

“If we surprise it, it’ll run away. So we have to be quiet.”

Then he gestured for them to also hide their bodies, as if to say they should follow his lead.

The rabbit had come all this way just to drink water. Wouldn’t it be a shame if it got startled by them and ran away without even getting to drink?

The child said this, and Aeli obediently followed his instructions.

Lutis did the same, resulting in the three of them crouching together behind the underbrush.

If anyone saw them, it would probably look quite comical, but-

‘No matter how much a rabbit drinks, how much could it possibly drink anyway?’

Aeli chuckled softly at the sight of the child firmly clutching a rabbit doll in both hands, not sure when he had brought it out.

She was careful not to let any sound escape.

…It was peaceful and nice up to that point.

Splash!

“…?!”

Aeli hurriedly reached out and covered the child’s eyes at the shocking scene that unfolded before them.

The rabbit, which they thought had only come to drink water, suddenly shoved its face into the lakeside.

Splash, splash!

“…”

…It caught a fish.

‘Wh-what?’

Ra… Rabbits are herbivores though?

Aeli gaped at the scene with a gaze somewhere between dumbfounded and appalled.

She was worried it might start gutting the fish right then and there, destroying the child’s innocence.

She had thought it was unlikely, but with that concern, she couldn’t bring herself to remove her hands covering the child’s eyes.

“Wh-what is it? What’s wong?”

“…”

“Mommy? Papa?”

The child, unaware of the situation, was struggling and grunting, trying to remove Aeli’s hands that were covering his eyes.

“…What are you doing, let go!”

Rustle!

The child accidentally kicked the grass while flailing about.

It wasn’t unreasonable for the keen-eared rabbit to hear that sound.

The sight of the rabbit with a fish dripping red blood in its mouth was, how should one put it… The kind that was very difficult to put into words…

The rabbit, which had sharply turned its head towards them, hopped away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Only after the rabbit had completely vanished did Aeli lower her hands that were covering the child’s eyes.

“What was that all about… Where did the wabbit go?!”

“The rabbit must have been very hungry. It went to eat after drinking water- went off, you know?”

“…!”

This was all for the sake of protecting her child’s innocence.

Aeli, who suddenly found herself the target of the child’s resentful gaze, had no choice but to break out in a cold sweat trying to appease the sulking child throughout their walk.

‘…Come to think of it, I think that rabbit made eye contact with me.’

Was it just her imagination?

Aeli tilted her head quizzically but soon dismissed it as inconsequential.

Later that night.

After finishing their walk and returning for a meal, the child once again complained of being full. Aeli and the child opted to tour the mansion.

-Of course, it was Lutis who took the child around the mansion, as Aeli felt self-conscious about wandering around freely.

[And so Papa showed me the woom he used. It’s weally neat and tidy.] [Ah, Papa probably likes things clean after all.] [I saw Mommy’s old woom too. It was so big!]

Ah, that’s because the wall to the next room was torn down before.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell her son, “When I was around your age, I broke my leg while climbing a tree and was put on house arrest. I got so frustrated that I smashed the wall with a mana tool in a fit.”

Left with no choice but to remain silent, Aeli quietly listened to the child until she soon heard the sound of even breathing.

The child, apparently quite tired, had fallen fast asleep without even sleep-talking once. Aeli stroked the child’s hair and got up.

‘The fatigue from traveling to the territory has piled up, and we were out and about today too, so he must be tired.’

I should go to bed too. With that thought, Aeli headed to the room assigned to her through a secret passage in the Mason mansion.

To make a little excuse here, being back at the Mason mansion after so long and the child’s chattering had made her briefly sink into nostalgia.

Before reaching the guest room, Aeli slightly changed direction in front of the passage leading to her original room.

Creak-.

‘It’s not like anyone will be awake at this hour anyway… I’ll just take a quick peek.’

Muttering to herself, she opened the door- and the room revealed itself, looking no different from how she remembered it.

The child’s excited words had given her some idea of what to expect. But it truly looked exactly the same as when she first married Lutis and headed to the Rattleff mansion.

From the curtains and bedding tailored to her tastes, to the furniture, wallpaper, and various decorations.

The moonlight entered through the large, tall windows that suited her preference for open spaces, illuminating the room.

Perhaps thanks to the moonlight, the room was bright for nighttime. As she was slowly looking around-

Thud.

Thud, thud.

“…!”

Startled by the sound of approaching footsteps, Aeli quickly turned around.

The door had definitely been closed, so she wasn’t sure how the person had entered without a sound.

Aeli gasped at the figure standing right behind her.