“……”

“……”

The child who had fallen flat on the ground, nearly face down, couldn’t get up easily.

Usually, when one falls, they reflexively brace themselves with their hands, but in an attempt to protect the flower they were holding, the child had stretched their arms upward, resulting in a complete tumble.

In a situation where crying out in pain would have been understandable, the child remained face down without making a sound.

Startled, Aeli rushed over to help the child up but paused to look around.

‘…If I go to help them up, it might draw attention.’

Moreover, the knight commander, who should have immediately checked on the child, was standing awkwardly, exchanging glances with Lutis.

It was a look clearly suggesting that if Lutis had any conscience, he should help the child up himself, since the child had fallen while chasing after him.

Recalling how a few months ago, he had been punished for offering advice to Lutis…

‘This time, will I really end up losing the use of one of my limbs?’

Aeli briefly worried, remembering the gaunt face of the knight commander when he had been released from confinement, but soon shook her head.

As far as Aeli remembered, the knight commander was loyal to the duke’s family, but not one to recklessly risk his own life.

He must have some assurance to react like that.

– Some assurance…

…Right? Aeli thought, looking anxiously back and forth between Lutis and the knight commander.

Perhaps the knight commander expected that as soon as he approached the child, Lutis would leave without looking back.

While she too was cautious about Lutis and the knight commander noticing anything strange, it wasn’t just that preventing her from acting hastily.

As she fidgeted, watching the child still lying face down on the ground while keeping an eye on Lutis, it happened.

“Hah……”

Lutis, with his brow deeply furrowed, sighed and slowly moved his feet.

“Ah, ah……”

The child, who had been face down on the ground, slowly raised their head at the shadow looming over them, opening their mouth with wide, round eyes.

Lutis bent down and carefully helped the child up, quickly looking them over from head to toe before speaking.

“Your knees and elbows are scraped. Your chin……”

“……”

“…I’ll call for a priest. Get treatment.”

Lutis said in a stiff tone after noticing a scrape under the child’s chin as well.

The child, misunderstanding this as lack of interest, became dejected, but…

‘……’

What should I do about this, really?

Aeli, knowing that this was exactly the reaction Lutis showed when he was nervous, was simply dumbfounded.

Who on earth would call for a priest, spending thousands of gold, for just a few scrapes?

There had been a time before when a priest was called for a cold, but the situation was different then.

It wasn’t urgent enough to call a priest right away. Although the fall had been loud, with proper ointment and care, these were wounds that would heal within a week.

‘No matter how much money they have, this is, umm……’

Worried that if left like this, the child’s sense of economics would soon be ruined, Aeli was sighing, wondering what to do, when it happened.

“This……”

The child, who had been silently observing until now, carefully tugged at Lutis’s arm and handed him something.

It was the flower they had stubbornly protected even while falling.

“……”

“You don’t have to call the priest. It’s okay. But……”

“……”

“I’ll give you this… so… instead, treatment… if you go together… won’t you?”

Father… The child, who had been mumbling and moving their lips, finally let out a sound.

Lutis, frozen in place for a while, slowly reached out his hand. It was to receive the flower the child was offering.

After taking the flower and blinking for a moment, Lutis turned his gaze towards the child.

Happy that their father hadn’t run away and had accepted the flower, the child was blushing and smiling broadly.

“Hee……”

“……”

-……

The flower, pristine and clean down to its roots without a single blemish, and the child, covered in dirt and scraped all over, yet smiling happily.

How many parents could see this scene and still coldly walk away?

Aeli was certain that these two were not such parents.

“…Walking like that will open your wounds.”

“Ah…!”

In the end, Lutis would have no choice but to do as the child wished.

It was a scene that unfolded exactly as Aeli had predicted, without the slightest deviation.

“There are slight traces of blood, but it’s just a simple bruise. It should heal well with proper application of medicine.”

“……”

“And… although the possibility is slim, irritating the wound could cause it to worsen, so young master, please be careful not to touch the affected areas.”

Additionally, picking at scabs could leave scars. If the wounds feel sore at night, drink this medicine. Change the gauze on your face daily, but be careful not to let water in.

The child, cradled in Lutis’s arms as they visited the court physician for treatment, nodded at the various precautions.

Aeli tilted her head, noticing something different about the court physician compared to last time.

‘This person seems older…’

…Was the previous one an apprentice?

As she was looking around, puzzled by the complete absence of the other person, Aeli paused.

“……”

-Is that a person or a statue…

Having gained a strange confidence in Lutis, who had first picked them up, the child refused to let go, not wanting to get down. As a result, Lutis sat stiffly with the child in his arms.

Unable to refuse, he had the child sitting on his lap, quietly watching them receive treatment…

-Are you feeling good?

Aeli’s eyes met the child’s over Lutis’s shoulder. She asked with a smile.

The child answered by enthusiastically sparkling their eyes and moving their lips. It meant that mother was right.

‘To think this could be resolved so quickly…’

Watching the excited child rubbing their cheek against Lutis’s shoulder, Aeli closed her eyes tightly, feeling bitter about the time wasted unable to do anything.

She wasn’t unaware that she hadn’t done much herself.

However, knowing that her death was the cause of things coming to this point, she couldn’t speak up confidently…

-……

Still unable to view Lutis entirely favorably, Aeli rubbed her neck with a complicated expression.

“It’s all done. Please be mindful of the points I mentioned, and although you came to the research lab yourself today… tomorrow I’ll visit the young master’s room with gauze and bandages.”

It was then, as she was spinning in place with her arms crossed, unable to define even her own emotions.

Meanwhile, the court physician, having finished the treatment, handed a medicine bottle to the knight commander standing next to Lutis and the child, saying this.

As Mari was absent, and there were no maids around to receive the medicine bottle instead, this happened.

“Ah, ah……”

Now that the treatment was over, it was naturally time to return to the room.

Realizing that the pretext for staying with Lutis had disappeared, the child hunched their shoulders and lowered their head, looking quite dejected.

As soon as the court physician finished speaking, Lutis withdrew the hand supporting the child’s lower back, seemingly about to leave his seat.

It was clear he intended to hand the child sitting on his lap over to the knight commander.

Grasp.

“……”

“Ah… no, that, uh……”

The child, who had unconsciously grabbed onto Lutis’s clothes and resisted, looked around in panic.

Just as they were enveloped in a moment of silence.

Knock knock.

“Young master, the preparations for the garden tea table are complete.”

A maid who knocked on the door of the court physician’s research room spoke.

“…!”

Come to think of it, the child had told Mari they wanted to have their afternoon snack outdoors, intending to get revenge on the knight commander.

Aeli turned her head, recalling this fact as the child’s face suddenly brightened as if realizing something.

The child, who had been half-handed over to the knight commander and was still dangling, wiggled their feet in the air and looked up with sparkling eyes.

Lutis’s eyes trembled slightly as he suddenly received such an intense gaze.

“……”

“Snack……”

“…Go and eat.”

“It, it would taste better if we eat together.”

“……”

“Today, chocolate cake… Mari said she’d give…”

“……”

“Gra, grape, grape juice with honey, she said she’d put ice in it too……”

“……”

As the child earnestly spouted what they thought were temptations, Aeli pressed her lips together, swallowing her laughter. The child was quite serious.

Lutis, who had been maintaining silence while receiving the child’s gaze, answered quietly.

“…I’ve been away from the mansion for long and need to process documents. I’m sorry, but have your snack alone……”

It was a fleeting moment. The knight commander, who had been quietly observing the atmosphere, handed the child back to Lutis, whom he had been awkwardly holding, and spoke.

“While there are indeed outstanding matters, thanks to your diligent work over the past few months, it shouldn’t be a problem to postpone for a day.”

“How would you know that when you’re not even my assistant?”

“With your assistant away in the duchy and you restricting the entry of retainers, I had no choice but to fill in.”

“……”

“The Montero family is also one of Rattliffe’s retainers, so I too have learned a thing or two since childhood.”

“So why are you doing work I didn’t even ask for—”

Lutis, who seemed about to raise his voice in sudden irritation, closed his mouth as the child in his arms squirmed and adjusted their position.

He seemed to have judged that it wasn’t right to act forcefully in front of a young child like last time.

The child, keenly perceiving that the situation had turned in their favor, chimed in.

“I, I… I can share my cake……”

“……”

“Not all of it… but half……”

“……”

“Um, um, half of the half more…?”

“…I don’t have a hobby of stealing snacks from children.”

“…! Don’t, don’t go… I can give you grape juice too…!”

And so.

It was the moment the Swordmaster was completely defeated by a five-year-old child.