Gasp. Mari closed her mouth in surprise, having answered unconsciously without realizing it.

“Uh, huh?”

As the child asked in surprise, Mari waved her hands, saying she had misspoken.

“Well, I just heard it somewhere. I shouldn’t have said anything. The duke will take care of it, so shall we eat some snacks first?”

Seeing her clear reluctance to continue the conversation, Aeli narrowed her eyes.

She already knew from an official document a few months ago why the annex management had ended up in such a state.

They must have briefly explained the reason, as they couldn’t expel the annex staff en masse without any explanation.

‘They said they mainly punished the ringleaders who escalated the issue with the tacit approval of the previous head butler.’

Having heard that story, she couldn’t have missed how noticeably unsettled the staff’s atmosphere was for a while.

Seeing how they treated the child even more respectfully after the example was made, she had thought it wasn’t bad and let it pass.

An example had already been set.

Though she couldn’t know exactly how much of the inside story Lutis had uncovered, the punishment of the staff was over, and with the head butler already dead, only one thing remained.

‘…It seems they’ve found where that money was leaking to.’

If so, as Mari said, it was up to Lutis to handle the rest.

It was also content not good for a young child to know, so in the current situation, it was better to divert the child’s attention.

Aeli slowly blinked as she watched Mari take out and set down the snacks she had brought for the child.

‘I hope he’ll just let it go…’

The problem was that recently, both Aeli and Lutis had been strangely distracted and unable to fully focus on the child.

Because of that, if he heard this story while still sulking…

“…Who is it?”

There was no way he would simply let it go as usual. Sure enough, the pouting child looked up at Mari and said:

“Y-Yes?”

“I asked who it is. I understood what Mari was saying. Those people are why I had to wear clothes until they were all worn out.”

“Well…”

“…Papa gave those to me, and those people took them away.”

“…”

“So I should… hear about it…”

…right. Aeli gently spoke to the child. The child looked this way for a moment, pouting his lips, then continued:

“I have the right.”

“But young master, you’re still young. There’s no need for you to worry about such things. You can just live as usual—”

“I’m not a baby! Why doesn’t anyone tell me anything?!”

They say knowledge is power, waaah. Unable to hold back the accumulated frustration of the past few days, the child finally burst into tears.

It’s best to keep stories that are no good to know from reaching a child’s ears if possible. That was only natural.

However, in a space with dozens of residents, complete shielding was impossible no matter how careful one tried to be.

‘He must have felt frustrated, learning bits and pieces of stories that involved him, but not being told directly.’

Had the consideration backfired? Aeli couldn’t tell.

Aeli, who had been silent, closed her mouth at the child’s next words.

“Adults are all liars…”

—…

Knowledge is power. It was something she had said. She hadn’t come up with it herself, but had found the phrase in a book she once read in the library, following Lutis.

Seeing the child sniffling sadly, Aeli finally had no choice but to speak.

—Adi, stop crying and look at Mama?

“…”

The child turned his back abruptly. It meant he was still not over it.

—I’m sorry Mama, Papa, and Mari didn’t tell you properly. We didn’t know you would be so upset.

“…”

But it was a parent’s heart to not want to place worries on a child’s shoulders as much as possible.

Moreover, if the situation suggested he was a victim caught up in adult circumstances, they would naturally want to hide it even more.

—This isn’t something you did wrong, but something that happened because adults made mistakes, right?

“…”

—So it seems Papa wanted you to be happy, that’s why. Mama and Papa have to resolve this, so he wanted you to keep smiling like you have been.

“…But,”

—Then how about this? As you said, you have the right to know since you’re involved too. You might be curious.

So let’s eat some snacks first, and when Papa calms down a bit, we’ll go ask him. Aeli said.

It was uncertain whether Lutis would readily open up, but since she herself didn’t know the full inside story either, this was the best option.

The child who had been lying face down on the couch slowly sat up.

“…I want to eat snacks and go to Papa.”

“To the duke? …He didn’t seem to be in a good mood, so it might be better not to visit today…”

“Papa said he won’t eat dinner with us again today. It’s already been three days, when else can I ask if not now?”

“…Three days?”

Mari, who had been listening to the child with a troubled face, blinked rapidly and asked.

The child shook his head as if she didn’t even know that, and picked up a cookie.

“You don’t know that either? Three nights!”

“…”

—…

Aeli and Mari simultaneously trembled their eyes in surprise.

The strangely subdued atmosphere suddenly became fluffy, as if cotton candy had been sprinkled on top.

‘Uh… So, I think he’s trying to say three days now.’

Mari’s lips trembled finely before she gritted her teeth and asked.

“Young master, ahem… Ahem! Could you perhaps teach me how to count days?”

Mari’s question came out after making a sound that was unclear whether it was a fake cough or a sob. She seemed to have held it in well up to that point, but…

“…Mari, don’t you know how to count?”

“I, hic… I suddenly got confused.”

“Um… one day, two days, three days, four days…”

The child counted the days, folding his fingers. Only the numbers were changing from two days onward.

Mari, who had been listening to the child sitting on the couch, suddenly dropped something under the table and lowered her head. Needless to say, she didn’t come back up.

‘Ah, I know this.’

I heard that because the heads of the imperial officials were excessively brilliant, they over-complicated basic problems that even academy freshmen could solve, and got all the answers wrong.

Wondering if this was such a case, Aeli gritted her teeth along with Mari.

The child, who was similarly smart to a degree that exceeded expectations and was amazing, sometimes showed such an unexpected side.

“Eleven days, twelve days… What?”

The child’s questioning gaze, having belatedly grasped the situation around him, pierced them as he turned around with his eyes tightly shut.

The back of her head tingled, but there was nothing she could do.

‘If I turn around and burst out laughing here, it would really be hopeless.’

That day, he might even pack his bags and threaten to run away.

Aeli was doing her best to hold her breath to humor her five-year-old son when…

The child suddenly stood up from his seat while eating snacks and looked around.

—…Adi? What’s wrong?

“I hear a sound from the next room.”

Aeli tilted her head at the child’s words. She hadn’t sensed any presence herself.

However, before Aeli could stop him, the child was faster in opening the door to the adjacent room while holding a half-eaten cookie.

“…”

“…”

Lutis, who was in the middle of changing into his outdoor clothes, froze when his eyes met the child’s.

‘No way… He really was there.’

It seemed children had quite keen hearing after all.

For a moment, Lutis’s gaze flew to Mari as if asking why she didn’t stop him.

But immediately after, as the child opened his mouth, Lutis could no longer give her any more meaningful looks.

“Papa… Where are you going?”

“Something came up and I need to go out for a bit. I’ll be back before sunset—”

“You’re going to see that person, right? The one who took away what Papa gave me.”

“…”

If only he hadn’t shown it on his face. Lutis’s eyes wavered, apparently not expecting the child to know even that much.

The child’s eyes sharpened next.

“I have the right to know about that too.”

“…It’s something you don’t need to know.”

“But I could know. I’m curious!”

The child shouted. Apparently intending to prevent any escape, the child walked up to Lutis and looked up at him as he continued speaking.

“Then just tell me who it is. I won’t ask to go with you, so just tell me…”

“…”

“…If you ignore me and leave, I won’t eat with Papa anymore.”

“…”

“I’ll eat alone in my room.”

“…”

“I’ll just have to live miserably eating only soup and bread for the rest of my life…”

Having become somewhat accustomed to wheedling by now, the child promptly pulled out the threat card.

Though he would be the most dejected if it really came true, he said it knowing Lutis would give in.

As expected, after glancing out the window as if gauging the time left until sunset, Lutis sighed and opened his mouth.

“…There was a servant who was briefly in charge of looking after you when you were younger and got injured at dawn. I heard he became crippled from that incident and quit his job, and it turns out he was the son of the previous head butler.”

“…”

“I was on my way to check in person, as it didn’t seem good to let him into the mansion since he might harbor ill feelings from that incident.”

“Th-that… Could it be the red-haired older brother?”

“…I don’t remember that much, but the previous head butler’s wife did have red hair. Now I really must go—”

Lutis, who had opened his mouth after pondering with a sunken face, seemingly judging it better to explain what happened rather than take the child along, was about to demand the child keep his promise and let him pass.

—…!

Aeli couldn’t help but open her eyes wide in surprise.

“T-Take me with you!”

The child clung tightly to Lutis’s leg and shouted.