[Lutis! Look at this! The baby smiled!]

Aeli recalled the moment she first met those eyes.

The child had cried loudly as soon as it was born, as if to leave this world.

Except for spending most of the day sleeping like a newborn, the baby was generally full of smiles.

Even when crying after waking up, just showing the face would make it giggle.

When eyes met while eating, giggle.

When kissing the cheek goodnight, giggle again.

They say babies usually cry at the drop of a hat. For some reason, Aeli and Lutis’s child would laugh at the drop of a hat instead.

[Aww!] [Our baby, are you happy to see mommy?] […Gack! Hack, cough!] […Huh? Why, why is this happening? Mari! Mari…! Help!]

It was so bad that the baby choked while breastfeeding because it laughed when their eyes met.

Thanks to that, Aeli had to cover her face with a cloth every time she nursed the baby.

[…What should we do when the baby smiles so easily?] [Why? Isn’t it good to smile a lot?] [If the baby doesn’t shy away from strangers, it could be dangerous when they’re a bit older.] […That’s true. Lutis, what should we do?] [Do you think asking me will give you an answer?]

Holding one finger each from mom and dad in its tiny hands.

When the baby smiled, puffing up its chubby cheeks characteristic of infants, Aeli would put her heads together with Lutis to worry.

While wiping the drool from the baby’s mouth with her free hand, their eyes would inevitably meet.

Perhaps because it took after Lutis, those purple eyes that shone especially bright when smiling.

To borrow Mari’s expression, those eyes like flowers made of amethyst were a scene that stood out vividly in Aeli’s mind among all the moments of the child she loved with all her being.

That’s why she knew at a glance.

“Oh, mo-mother? …Is it you?”

When there was no answer, the body holding the doorknob slipped halfway out as if urging a response.

She had been so anxious to find the child ever since opening her eyes.

−…

But faced with the gaze staring straight at her, Aeli hesitated and stepped back.

Aeli, who had retreated a couple of steps, slightly moved her lips.

‘…My baby.’

Black hair like hers and eyes reminiscent of Lutis.

In Aeli’s memory, this was the newborn she had seen just yesterday.

…But why had it grown so much?

It was clearly not a level that could be achieved in about half a year, that is, in the span of two seasons passing.

‘Maybe my child turns out to be a new human species.’

Aeli, who had been thinking such nonsense, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

The gloomy mansion atmosphere she had noticed earlier when in the main building, and the faces that looked strangely aged.

She had thought it was because they were struggling with the sudden absence of the lady of the house.

In fact, was it simply because more time had passed than she thought?

Aeli’s eyes rolled back towards the child.

Their gazes met.

Swish−

−…?

When she moved a few steps to the side, the child’s eyes rolled to follow her.

From speaking just now, to now looking with such clear eyes.

This seems… like the child can see her?

−…How old are you?

“Um… uh….”

The child, who seemed not to know how to speak, flinched and swallowed.

It seems the child can hear her too.

No one else had noticed her presence, but for her son to recognize her existence, should she laugh or cry at this?

As Aeli tried to hide her complicated feelings, it was then.

Small, stubby fingers carefully spread out.

Four fingers.

Aeli blinked rapidly and asked again.

−Four years old?

“B-but next month I’ll be five!”

The answer came back in a slightly raised voice, as if upset even though she had only asked about the age.

The hand that had been holding the doorknob at some point was now clenched into a fist.

A dimple formed on one cheek of the child who had tightly closed their mouth.

‘…I have that dimple too.’

Over the face of the child looking up at her, the memory of the baby who would giggle whenever their eyes met overlapped.

She must have smiled without realizing it, as the child wore a blank expression for a moment before opening their mouth again.

“Mo…ther? Is it you?”

Flustered by the sparkling eyes, Aeli blurted out whatever came to mind.

−Th-that, ah, probably not?

In the negative direction.

The child’s shoulders slumped.

“But we have the same hair….”

−Uh, well, about that….

As the head lowered more and more, Aeli’s panicked gaze fell on the tray left by the maid.

−Let’s eat first…! Shall we talk after we eat?

She definitely said it was dinner.

Quite some time had passed since they faced off at the door, and it was snowing winter outside.

Enough time had passed for the food to cool, so she urgently looked at the child. The child, who had seemed to be contemplating, slowly nodded up and down.

“But you have to tell me after we finish eating.”

−O-okay.

Aeli awkwardly agreed and hurriedly entered the room.

Since she couldn’t touch objects or people, the child had to drag the tray over himself.

As the child closed the door, sat on the bed, and opened the tray lid with familiarity, Aeli frowned slightly.

‘Usually the servants do this kind of thing.’

The meal menu was somewhat balanced, but it was far too simple for dinner.

Moreover, this attic room…

Aeli turned her head to look around the room.

One modest-sized bed suitable for servants to use, a small wardrobe. Lastly, an old desk that looked like it could only be used for writing simple letters.

It was a small room that felt cramped even with just the two of them, with only three pieces of furniture fitting inside.

‘Isn’t this the perfect age to use the room we prepared?’

Even among noble families, only those who doted on their children excessively would give them the room next to the parents.

It was a place they had put a lot of effort into, even breaking down walls to expand and filling it with all sorts of good things.

But why leave that place empty and…

−…

Let alone the other rooms in the main building, why stay in such a small and shabby attic room in the annex?

Aeli moved closer to the child’s side and asked.

−Baby, how long have you been staying here?

“I’m not a baby….”

−…Right. Then what’s your name?

Aeli didn’t know the child’s name.

It was a kind of custom to name a child only after at least 6 months had passed, but she had died before then.

It was only natural.

Still, even before the child was born, she and Lutis had diligently searched through ancient language dictionaries, so they must have given a pretty name−

“…Young master?”

−That’s a title, not a name.

“Um….”

−Yes?

“Um… Young masteeer….”

−…

Aeli unconsciously gulped.

Wasn’t a four-year-old usually able to converse to some extent?

‘He seemed to speak well just now, but why does it feel like we’re going in circles…?’

Feeling uneasy as if her non-beating heart was pounding, Aeli opened her mouth.

−…Don’t tell me you don’t have a name?

The child nodded.

−Good heavens….

Aeli, who had stumbled and staggered, barely managed to steady herself.

He really doesn’t have a name?

…At four years old?

‘Has Lutis gone mad?’

Born as a count’s daughter and raised somewhat elegantly, Aeli cursed for the first time in her life.

Fortunately, she instinctively stopped it from coming out of her throat due to the child’s presence.

‘My beloved child, whom I sacrificed my life to bear and nurse, doesn’t have a name at four years old.’

Moreover, he said he would be five next month.

It was an unacceptable level of treatment for the sole heir of a duke’s family, and Aeli’s arms trembled with anger.

Now that she looked closely, the clothes he was wearing were of good quality but short in length.

The fabric was also too thin for winter use.

She had her suspicions since he was in the attic room of the annex, but…

−Did your father perhaps remarry? Is a stepmother mistreating−

“N-no! That’s not it!”

The child, who had been emptying half the plates, hurriedly waved both hands in denial at Aeli’s words.

−…Then?

“Father didn’t do anything wrong! There’s no stepmother, but he’s just too busy….”

−…

“H-he can’t come home often either. So Mari said that’s why….”

−No matter what, that’s−

Aeli closed her mouth that had been moving. A familiar name rang in her ears.

−…Mari?

When she muttered as if talking to herself, the child quickly nodded and added that she was her mother’s maid. At the same time, a familiar face flashed through her mind.

Curly auburn bob hair and hazel eyes. A gentle face with freckles dotted across the bridge of the nose.

The daughter of the wet nurse and the close maid who had come with Aeli from her family home when she got married.

She thought Mari would have returned to the Mason family since she had died. Does it mean Mari has been taking care of the child all this time, since there’s no way the baby who wasn’t even a year old would remember that time?

‘But if that’s the case, I haven’t seen her at all since regaining consciousness. Has she gone back now?’

At this time of all times?

Aeli, who had been narrowing her eyes lost in such thoughts for a moment, shook her head. In any case, there was something else important right now.

As Mari said through the child’s words, there were cases where names were given late due to circumstances.

However, no matter the circumstances, there are no parents who leave their child nameless until this age. Recalling that fact made her feel like exploding with anger.

That was certainly true, but.

“But… she really said that….”

−…

Seeing the child fidgeting with his fingers while looking at her, she couldn’t bring herself to state that fact outright.

Trying to defend Lutis somehow with those pretty purple eyes sparkling, Aeli swallowed.

‘…Let’s find out the details without the child knowing. I can think about it later after I find out on my own.’

Aeli, who had barely suppressed her rising anger and disappointment, let out a deep sigh.

Perhaps thinking it was his fault, the child looked anxious and added:

“I wanted to come to the top room too! Mari and the older brothers and sisters didn’t make me!”

−Here? It must be tiring to go up and down. Wouldn’t a room downstairs be much better?

“That may be true, but….”

−Look at this. Even with the fireplace lit, frost has formed outside the window because it’s so cold. You could catch a cold like this.

“…But you can’t see this far from there, and you can’t see the stars well either. And I’m not allowed to go outside….”

−…What?

Aeli’s eyes widened at the child’s statement.

−Did someone lock you up?

Aeli gritted her teeth and muttered inwardly.

‘He should have arrived long ago even accounting for after work hours, but he hasn’t shown his face until now.’

Not giving a name, not properly managing the child’s clothes and living quarters, and even not letting him go outside?

‘In the world, that’s called abuse right away.’

…It seemed Lutis was indeed doing a terrible job at parenting.

If she could, she wanted to feed Lutis a soup full of spicy Eastern spices like she did when he was young.

Now that he was no longer a young child like then, through his nostrils instead of his mouth.

That would be too lenient for him.

Aeli raised her hand to rub her nape. She felt as if her throat was blocked.

“Th-that’s not it….”

−You shouldn’t cover up for this kind of thing, baby. Your father is in the wrong.

“That’s not it, Father is away at war now! They said not to let me go outside because it’s dangerous!”

−…What?

Aeli’s body, which had been constantly massaging her nape, stiffened.

Who went where to do what?

−When?

“…”

−…When?

“J-just before I turned one….”

−…

…Huh?

Aeli’s expression contorted grotesquely.

She came back as a ghost after 4 years of being dead, and what happened?

The state of the household was literally a mess.