Lutis, who had thought that far, frowned deeply and raised his body from the couch where he had been lying.

It was because he was convinced that there was no point in lying down as he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.

“Ha……”

It was a war he had entered without even dreaming it would drag on this long. No, hadn’t he not even been certain it would really lead to war?

Expecting it to end in a few months at most, he had set out with only a month’s worth of preserved food more than the anticipated number of months.

Just thinking about the times they had suffered from food shortages because of that still made his teeth chatter.

‘Even if we had assembled an elite force, the numbers didn’t make sense from the start……’

He had set out leading just over two hundred men, but as if they had come fully prepared, the enemy forces numbered easily over thousands just counting those who could handle aura.

If that had been all, they wouldn’t have struggled so much.

As if to remind them that it was a country advanced in magical engineering, it wasn’t easy to break through the front lines beyond a certain point due to the weapons flying in from all directions.

It was such a fierce war that even with Lutis, a Sword Master, and the Knight Commander, an Expert-level, holding the front, they could only manage to drag it into a prolonged battle.

“……”

And so, sixty-three had died from poisoning after desperately trying to eat beast carcasses and unidentified plants.

Twenty-seven had died from immediate death in battle, including shock from injuries and complications.

Four had taken their own lives, unable to endure the prolonged war despite holding out until reinforcements arrived.

A total of ninety-three survivors. Less than half the number.

‘In that situation……’

There was a reason he had to hold on so tenaciously. If he were to die in battle, there was only one person left to lead the family, wasn’t there?

In a situation where there were plenty of people drooling at the mouth, eyeing the benefits that would fall to them if that one person died, Lutis gritted his teeth and endured for 4 years.

Crack.

[……!]

Until the pocket watch he had received as proof that the magic cast on the mansion was still maintained shattered into pieces.

How shocked he had been when he returned to the camp and saw the shattered pocket watch. His memory wasn’t intact until he beheaded the leader of the royal army who had come to battle.

By the time he could vaguely recall, he was covered in blood, unsure if it was his own or someone else’s.

“……It seemed like nothing was wrong.”

He thought something must have happened. Otherwise, there was no reason for the magic that had been well maintained for 4 years to be suddenly broken.

Lutis, frowning at the assumptions that came to mind, got up from his seat and headed to the window.

‘I should tell the head butler to look into the reason why the magic was broken as well.’

Thinking this, he clasped his hands behind his back and raised his head to look at the moonlight.

“She probably won’t even remember who I am.”

Lutis was simply dumbfounded at the ridiculous news that she had been tending to the flowerpot because she wanted to see him.

It was an action that resembled someone to a T in its foolishness.

In fact, he hadn’t even listened to any news after confirming the child was safe, despite having hurried back as soon as the war ended.

“……”

It did weigh on his mind that he hadn’t given her a name even though she was five years old, but he didn’t have the courage to show his face just now.

[Send those who have been with the mansion for a long time to the annex. Refrain from entering unless there are special circumstances.] [But, Your Excellency, there are not a few people who take pride in the work they are doing now, the longer they have worked in the mansion. A sudden personnel change—] [Isn’t it right to first think about where that pride comes from?] […..] [Two days. Pick the personnel within that time.]

Thinking about it now, even the fact that the child had gone through such things was due to his misjudgment.

At the time, he was too preoccupied to consider that far.

He should have at least thought that they would consider it a demotion.

If the private funds had been decreasing since the time the aide went down to the duchy to handle the backlog of paperwork, this must have been done under someone’s tacit approval.

It was uncertain whether he could find out the reason, given that that someone was no longer of this world.

‘Absent master and mistress, an aide who was supposed to be a watchdog but disappeared at some point, decreasing private funds along with the head butler who condoned this……’

How would this have looked in others’ eyes?

They would have considered it a kite with its string cut.

Even if the pride of being a servant of Rattliffe comes from serving the master, if that master becomes the cause of what they perceive as demotion, all the more so.

With the private funds reduced, making it barely enough to maintain the mansion, they thought it was okay to be a little negligent, which led to this state.

“It’s their own fault, so I don’t feel particularly sorry about them being driven out, but with the servants already few in number, and now a large portion of the existing staff leaving as well.”

The annex will become desolate too. Lutis, who had been staring at the moon in the sky, lowered his gaze with a face that had noticeably grown gaunt over the past few years.

“What should I do from now on……”

Despite the deepening night.

There was so, so much to think about.

[This is the timeline separator]

Meanwhile, Aeli, who had been laid up sick all day and only managed to face the wide-awake child when it became deep night and no one else was around……

“……”

−……

She broke out in a cold sweat. In fact, she wasn’t sure if ghosts even had sweat glands, but that’s how she felt.

Of all times, Mari had just left, saying she would bring some thin soup since the child probably hadn’t eaten anything all day.

‘What is all this about……’

Aeli, left alone with the child who was buried in the blanket with bright, sparkling eyes, subtly averted her gaze.

When the child was sick, she had been too preoccupied and pretended to be calm, but when the moment came, she couldn’t grasp how to react.

The child, with only eyes peeking out, seemed to be so happy just looking at Aeli’s perplexed face that they kept blinking, without saying a word.

Their tiny toes were visibly wriggling even outside the blanket.

−……How are you feeling now? Is anything still hurting?

Aeli, finally unable to resist the child’s gaze, slowly opened her mouth to ask.

As if they had been waiting for this, the child nodded vigorously and answered.

“Mommy was here, so it didn’t hurt at all.”

−……

As if to prove those words true, the child stopped wiggling their toes, and both cheeks turned a peach-like rosy color.

That cute sight should have made her laugh, but for some reason.

Feeling a strange tightness in her throat, Aeli couldn’t even respond and let her arms hang limply at her sides, not knowing why.

“……Can I call you mommy……?”

−……

“Ah, no…… now that I think about it, my head does hurt a little bit……”

It seems they were worried about having cried that they wouldn’t call her mommy if she didn’t leave.

Pretending to be sick to get attention when there was no answer to their question was quite……

How should one describe this feeling?

−Well. What’s wrong with a son calling his mother ‘mommy’?

“……!”

−Weren’t you upset all this time when mommy said she wasn’t your mother?

Waking up to find her trying to run away and disappear. Enduring fear to crawl up to the roof to find her, only to be scolded without understanding those feelings.

Not saying ‘I love you’ like others do, not hugging or kissing, not even holding hands once – didn’t they hate her for that?

There was so much she wanted to say, so many questions to ask.

But suppressing all of that, Aeli voiced the first thing that came to mind. The child shook their head vigorously in surprise.

“No!”

−……

“I, I mean……”

−……Yes? Adi?

“You were here, so I just liked it……”

You taught me, played with me every day, said goodnight, asked if I slept well, and, and……

The child, who had been mumbling for a while and folding their fingers one by one, just smiled broadly when they ran out of fingers to fold.

They turned to lie facing where Aeli was standing and wiggled their fingers again.

Then, when their eyes met, they buried their face in the pillow, content with just that.

“Hee…… now I have a mommy too……”

They must have thought they were whispering to themselves.

Aeli, who had heard the child’s distinctive voice, just moved her lips. Just as words were about to flow from Aeli’s mouth.

Knock knock.

“Young master, are you still awake?”

Hearing Mari’s knock, the child lifted their face from the pillow and glanced this way.

Aeli nodded slightly.

“……Yeah, I’m not asleep yet!”

“Oh my. Why are you smiling so prettily all of a sudden?”

“Because I’m feeling a little bit good right now……”

“You’re feeling good even though you were sick?”

How strange. Mari wanted to say that but couldn’t bring herself to, tilting her head with that expression.

Finally, Mari brought the tray to the front of the bed where the child was sitting and placed the soup bowl, saying:

“It’s lamentable that I have to say this suddenly when you’re in a good mood……”

“What does lamentable mean?”

“Uh…… it means feeling sad.”

“……Why?”

The child asked, sensing something ominous and leaning their upper body back slightly. Until then, their gaze was still fixed on the soup bowl, which hadn’t been opened yet.

In the end, the child’s intuition was very accurate.

Very, very much so.

“……Because it’s bean soup?”

“Wh, what…… Why? Isn’t it corn and sweet pumpkin? ……Why?”

“You were sick, young master.”

“I’m not sick now!”

“That’s because you received treatment, but if things don’t change, you might not grow up to be a strong and healthy adult. To avoid getting sick again, you need to build your immunity.”

And there’s nothing better for building immunity than eating a balanced diet. They say beans are very good for you. Mari said.

Aeli stared blankly at Mari’s subtly raised corners of the mouth, then blinked rapidly.

‘She…… seems to be enjoying this?’

She could feel the determination to correct the picky eating habits burning in this opportunity.

Similar to the look Aeli had once received from the wet nurse, hmm……

“I won’t eat it! I don’t need that!”

The child, whose pronunciation suddenly became clear in anger, screamed while moving their body backward to avoid Mari.

They even turned around completely to flee towards where Aeli was, while Aeli just stood still in her original spot.

“I, I hate it! I hate it…… Aack!”

As the child was turning around and wriggling to escape from the bed, their body tilted backward precariously.

Thud!

“……”

−……

It was then that the startled Aeli reflexively caught the child’s body.

……Huh?

[This is the timeline separator]