After Lutis watched the passed out child for a while, he picked him up and sent him back to his room.

Having fallen asleep just before dawn and slept soundly all day, the child finally yawned and opened his eyes late in the afternoon.

It was already some time after the sun had passed its zenith.

“Adi, now that you’re awake, shall we wash up and go eat?”

“…..”

“Adi?”

“….Aah! What is this!”

The child who had been staring blankly at the sunlight streaming in through the window suddenly bolted upright.

Startled by this, Aeli looked at the child with wide eyes.

“Did… did I fall asleep?”

Seeing the dazed expression on the child’s face, a stark contrast to his initial shout upon waking, Aeli hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Yes, you dozed off in the middle of talking, remember?”

“…..”

A few seconds passed in silence.

The child stretched out his hands that had been resting on his knees and pulled back the blanket.

Thinking he was about to get out of bed to head to the bathroom.

“….Adi?”

Aeli’s mouth moved on its own as she saw the child approaching the bedroom door instead of the bathroom.

The child placed his hand on the doorknob leading to Lutis’s bedroom without answering, but…

Click.

“…..”

Click click.

The door that had been locked in the meantime would not open again.

Hiing. The child turned the doorknob a couple more times in disbelief before finally speaking with slumped shoulders. He looked quite dejected.

“I had something to say…!”

I messed up…. Aeli, who had been watching this series of events blankly from behind the disappointed child, asked. She wanted to know what this was all about.

“We were going to plant flowers together….”

“Flowers all of a sudden? ….Where?”

“The other day… when I was looking at picture books with Mother, I saw a place. It’s been a long time but no one has fixed it….”

Hearing the child’s words, Aeli opened her mouth slightly and nodded. Now that she heard it, she thought she knew which place he was talking about.

It was a spot they had discovered when they went down to the garden after the child had urged her to try kidnapping a fairy while they were staying in the attic of the annex.

‘Has that place been left unattended until now?’

Aeli tilted her head for a moment, then blinked and said.

“But you know Daddy is busy during the day and can’t play with you. Even if we go now, it’ll be hard for him to come along.”

“Then, then I won’t eat dinner….”

“That’s not allowed. You’ve already skipped breakfast and lunch, so you must eat dinner.”

At Aeli’s firm refusal, the child lowered his head.

Seeing how pitiful he looked, Aeli’s heart softened.

“…..”

“Mother… I want to plant flowers….”

As the child looked up at her with sparkling eyes, Aeli put a hand to her forehead.

Certainly, even if the number of servants had noticeably decreased, it was strange to leave something unsightly unattended for a long time.

Moreover, considering it was the front row of the flower bed even if it was in the annex, hmm….

‘It seemed like it would only take one more day to finish.’

It didn’t seem like the labor shortage was so severe that they couldn’t even fix that much.

In the first place, if it had gotten to that level, there should have been problems inside and outside the mansion. But there were no such signs, so it was probably intentionally left untouched.

Thinking there must be some circumstances for not acting rashly, Aeli let out a deep sigh.

‘Alright, I give up….’

Lowering the hand that had been supporting her forehead, Aeli bent down to meet the child’s eye level and spoke.

“Then ask a servant if it’s okay to touch the flower bed. You’ll need various supplies to plant flowers, so you need to ask if they can bring them right away.”

“Mmm, okay.”

“….And Adi. Even though we employ them, we shouldn’t force them. They have their own order too.”

“…..”

“You can’t throw a tantrum if you don’t get the answer you want, okay?”

“Okay….”

“It might be left alone because it’s dangerous despite appearances… Anyway, even if the servant brings the supplies and Daddy agrees to go with you, when the sun sets you have to come eat dinner. Promise.”

“Promise….”

Only after reciting a string of precautions out of concern and linking pinkies with the child to make a promise did Aeli straighten up.

To be honest, this response came from assuming that all those conditions were unlikely to align.

‘The chances of having seedlings on hand that they’re not going to plant regularly are low, and Lutis will probably say he’s too busy at this hour.’

Even if she somehow managed to persuade him, there wasn’t much time left until dinner, so the child wouldn’t have much time to plant flowers anyway.

As soon as Aeli finished speaking, the child hurriedly got ready and left the room to call a servant.

And then…

Knock knock.

About thirty minutes later, the child stood in front of Lutis’s door holding a trowel in one hand and a watering can in the other, and knocked.

‘No way… this is happening?’

Aeli furrowed her brow and tilted her head as she looked down at the back of the child’s round black head.

As soon as the child left the room, he had grabbed a passing servant and asked point-blank.

[Can I plant flowers in the annex flower bed?] [P-pardon?] [Um… no, uh… I was told to ask. Because I’m not allowed to do it on my own without permission.] [Ah…..] […..] […Um, could you wait a moment please?] [Mm.]

Aeli was astonished by the servant’s answer after he went somewhere briefly, pausing the conversation.

The flowers planted in that bed weren’t difficult to obtain, nor were they expensive, so they were kept in stock regularly.

It just so happened that new ones had been purchased the day before yesterday, so they were still fresh.

[However, while we do have seedlings, it was the Duke who stopped work on the flower bed… so it’s not under our jurisdiction and we’ll have to ask him separately about this.] [I’ll go ask about that. I don’t have time now! Where is Father working?] [That would be his office, ah. Today he’ll be in his bedroom.]

For that reason.

Knock knock knock!

Aeli squeezed her eyes shut as she watched the child knock on the door again when there was no answer.

She couldn’t understand why he happened to be resting today when he was usually so busy at other times.

Could it be that he worked so late at night intending to rest during the day?

‘…If that’s the case, he could have played with the child for a little while at dawn.’

He could have played for an hour or two without issue if he was going to clear his entire day’s schedule anyway.

Feeling disappointed at that thought, Aeli was muttering quietly enough that the child wouldn’t notice when.

“No wonder the training grounds were empty today, so that’s why-”

“Hey, hey, be quiet! I told you I have to move around carefully today…!”

Aeli turned her head at the voices coming from outside the window. Maids carrying laundry were just passing by below.

Almost simultaneously, Lutis opened the bedroom door and looked down at the child.

“…Isn’t it snack time now?”

“Um… but I came right away because you were sleeping.”

“…I regret to make you come for nothing, but I have no plans to go out today. If you came to have tea together-”

“I’m going to plant flowers in the annex flower bed. Father, come with me….”

It was before Lutis could finish speaking.

The child looked up at Lutis, raising his head, and spoke while showing him the trowel.

Lutis looked down at the child speechlessly, as if at a loss for words at the sight of his drooping eyebrows and pouting lips.

After some time passed like that.

“Please come with me….”

“…..”

The door quietly closed in front of the child’s face.

Along with telling the servant to prepare indoor clothes to change into.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Father, water.”

“…..”

The child who had been sitting on the handkerchief Lutis had spread on the ground spoke. It seemed he was done planting as he put down the trowel he had been holding.

The child’s mark was engraved next to the flowers that had been planted in a huddled row.

It no longer gave a feeling of emptiness.

Instead, the awkwardness of the irregularly planted flowers was faintly visible. Aeli smiled helplessly, thinking it was cute and not bad in its own way.

“All done!”

After watering the soil with the silently handed watering can, the child sprang up from his seat, not hiding his sense of accomplishment. His hands and face were completely covered in dirt.

Lutis, who had been staring somewhere with a troubled expression the entire time the child was planting flowers, briefly lowered his gaze to examine the child’s dirty face before taking something out of his breast pocket.

“Fa- blub… ah wait! Puu-oop, eek!”

“Be quiet. It’ll get in your mouth if you do that.”

“Mm, then just a little, plub, gently please….”

Even though she knew he had already taken out a handkerchief earlier.

Aeli blinked at the sight of Lutis wiping the child’s face with a new handkerchief in hand.

It seems he hadn’t packed just one handkerchief.

‘Well, there are many occasions to wipe things when with a child.’

Could he have more? As Aeli was sending a puzzled look, she came to her senses only after Lutis finished wiping the child’s face and helped him wash his hands by sprinkling water.

The face that had looked vaguely dazed since dawn was at the point of showing hesitation.

“…..”

“Father?”

Only when the child’s hands, damp from the water, were about to dry did Lutis lower himself to look at the child and ask.

“I have somewhere to go now.”

“…..”

“…Would you like to come along?”

The answer of the child, who was always looking for opportunities to spend more time together, was as good as decided.

As the child nodded his head, Lutis carefully grasped one of his hands and he gripped back firmly.

After hesitating for a moment, Lutis began walking.

Contrary to Aeli’s expectation that they would ride a carriage for an outing or enter the main castle, their steps were directed towards the small walking path behind the annex.

‘Just where are they going-‘

Aeli, who had been frowning and wondering why they were going deep inside at this hour as the sky was turning red with sunset, froze.

It was the moment she discovered the tombstone neatly engraved with her name.