Aeli rolled her eyes, feeling a sense of déjà vu at the sight of someone hanging from a tree like a cicada.

‘Wait, why is he suddenly acting like this?’

Although he had become much more comfortable and was increasingly winning against Lutis,
there was still some sign of caution in his demeanor.

Knowing this, Lutis must have been waiting for the child to fully open his heart.

It was surprising to see him suddenly being so stubborn.

-Adi, let’s come down first and…

“I want to go too…!”

“…”

The child mumbled with his face buried in Lutis’s legs. Cookie crumbs in the child’s hands were staining Lutis’s clothes.

Staring at this sight, Lutis said,

“I thought I said I would let you go if you told me the story.”

“I… I asked you to tell me because you weren’t going to take me, not because I said I wouldn’t go if you told me!”

“That’s the same thing.”

“It’s different…!”

What an untimely melodrama this was. Aeli was momentarily speechless, dumbfounded.

Setting that aside.

‘…How does the child know the hair color of the butler’s son?’

Given that she had no memory of it herself, it must have happened after Aeli’s death.

And since Lutis didn’t seem to have received proper news from the mansion since he left for war, it must have been before the war broke out.

Then the child would have been a baby not even a year old.

No matter how smart, could he remember things from that time?

Aeli, whose memories were hazy even from childhood, let alone infancy, had no way of knowing.

‘Seeing how desperately he wants to go, there must be something to it.’

Aeli thought, rubbing her chin.

The child was now even subtly wiping cookie crumbs from his mouth onto Lutis’s pants.

Lutis, with a slightly frowning expression, opened his tightly closed mouth and said to the child,

“It’s too early for outings since you haven’t been around the mansion for long. It’s dangerous, so no.”

“It’s not dangerous… really…”

“…”

“If I can’t go out, you can call him here…”

Forgetting Lutis’s warning that it might be dangerous to summon him to the mansion due to possible resentment,

The child slightly lifted his face buried in Lutis’s leg to look up.

With drooping eyebrows and pouting lips, he looked quite pitiful.

“No-”

“It’s not dangerous if daddy protects me…”

“…”

“I’ll stay still right here. I’m really good at that…”

Considering everything that had happened so far, it wasn’t a very credible statement.

Probably, if he’s lucky, he won’t start flailing his arms and legs the moment he sees his face. Aeli thought.

Sharing the same concerns, Lutis sighed and picked up the child clinging to his leg, saying,

“…Then let’s make a promise. If you don’t keep it, there will be no snacks for a week, is that alright?”

“A, a week?”

“Yes.”

“…”

The child’s mouth clamped shut like a clam.

“A… a week is too long.”

“Then you just need to keep your promise.”

“…Can’t it be just half of that?”

The child protested, watching for a reaction. It was clearly not going to work.

Taking this as a failed negotiation, Lutis extended his arms to put the child he had been holding back on the ground.

Only then did the child grab Lutis’s collar and speak.

“I… I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I’ll stay still!”

“…”

“Hup.”

So… in other words, while grabbing his collar.

Mari, who had quietly raised her head to assess the situation, involuntarily gasped at the scene before her eyes.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, Lutis frowned with a displeased expression and called the butler, saying,

“Your Grace. The carriage preparations are complete-”

“Cancel the outing. Instead, send someone to bring him when dawn breaks tomorrow morning.”

“…Pardon?”

“Do I need to say it twice? You-”

“…Daddy?”

“…”

“…”

At the child’s call, Lutis, who was about to habitually add something, closed his mouth.

Having witnessed Lutis’s attitude towards the Knight Commander and the butler earlier, Aeli knew that what he was about to say was a scathing sarcasm.

‘…That really needs to be fixed. What will the child learn from seeing that.’

It seemed the war had truly ruined the man.

Lutis sighed softly and dismissed the butler.

“…Aren’t you coming now?”

“It’s late now. By the time we send someone to call him and finish talking, it will be sunset.”

“Then we can go after eating.”

“…”

Lutis stared blankly at the child speaking as if it were obvious, then adjusted his hold.

In other words, it was a statement made without considering that there was neither the rank nor the business to casually dine together.

Whether the child knew or not that Lutis had deliberately postponed it to the next day to avoid disrupting the child’s meal time.

The child, wrapping his arms around Lutis’s neck, questioned,

“But daddy.”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you eat with me?”

“…”

“I’ve eaten alone for three days already…”

“…?”

In the end, Lutis had to eat that day with the child sitting on his lap.

Along with correcting the sudden date counting.

The next morning.

-Adi, Adi! Not yet, we need to change clothes first!

“What if daddy talks without me while I’m changing clothes……”

-……Did you check that it’s 7 AM right now?

Aeli stopped the child who was trying to head to Lutis’s bedroom as soon as he opened his eyes.

No matter how urgent, there’s no way they would finish talking at this hour.

‘They wouldn’t… right?’

In fact, Aeli couldn’t be certain and harbored some doubts while thinking this way.

However, she wasn’t thoughtless enough to express these inner feelings to the child.

If she did, it was clear he would run out in his pajamas right away.

-Let’s eat first, then change clothes and go. Even if they come early, it won’t be until noon.

“Then I’ll go early and-”

Just as Aeli managed to calm the restless child and sit him back down, the child, who was answering Aeli’s question without realizing it, turned his head abruptly with a look of realization.

It was because he belatedly remembered that he had been maintaining an attitude of not being fully appeased yet.

‘I guess this much means he’s already forgiven me…’

Seeing that it was clearly just sulking out of feeling hurt, Aeli said with a bitter smile.

-Anyway, let’s go see daddy a little later. We still won’t be late.

“…”

-…Is Adi still mad at mommy?

“…”

The child who had been pouting for a while looked at Aeli’s expression. Then, gently grasping the tips of his own fingers, he opened his mouth.

“…Mommy always says she’ll tell me before leaving, but she always sneaks away when I’m sleeping.”

-…

“I want to keep being together… but you leave without telling me, so I’m scared you’ll suddenly disappear…”

What if daddy leaves me too. At the words that tumbled out of the child’s mouth as he hung his head and fidgeted with his hands, Aeli closed her mouth.

It wasn’t the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from an ordinary five-year-old.

So the reason he had been sulking all this time was because he knew she was sneaking off somewhere every night.

Aeli moved her lips for a moment before answering.

-…You knew about that? Why didn’t you say anything?

“…What if you get tired of me complaining and abandon me? I know it’s selfish to want to be with mommy all day.”

The child’s reaction was typical separation anxiety. Aeli had noticed this for a while, but…

‘This isn’t even in the magical realm, so I don’t know anything about it. To try and fix it, I’d need to study by reading books or getting advice somehow.’

Unfortunately, except for the child, there was nothing or no one she could touch, be it people or objects.

And she had been cautious about bringing up such talk to the child carelessly, watching for signs…

‘He already knew.’

Aeli lowered her gaze with a thoughtful expression.

Even being able to be this close now was only possible because she was a ghost. If that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have been much different from Lutis.

While she might not be as busy and pressed for time as him, there was certainly no shortage of work within the mansion.

She wasn’t sure whether to consider this fortunate or tragic.

Aeli met the child’s eyes at his level and opened her mouth.

-…I’m sorry, Adi. I purposely went out for short periods thinking you’d be more anxious if you knew, but I didn’t realize you were aware. From now on, I’ll always tell you before I go.

“…”

-And if it’s okay with Adi, shall we practice being apart little by little from now on?

“Se-separate…?”

-Mm, I don’t mean leaving completely, but since Adi has been with mommy all day until now. When you grow up more and become an adult, it might be very difficult to live like this.

No matter how absolute parents are to a child, there’s clearly an age range where this applies.

It doesn’t matter now, but as time passes, the symptoms will worsen. Rather than struggling later, it would be better to practice gradually from now on.

After pondering for a while, the child stretched out both arms towards Aeli.

“Hug me…”

-…Okay. Shall we spend the morning just the two of us, with you saying you’ll eat alone today?

The child nodded.

She could tell that this was an expression of agreement, even if her suggestion wasn’t entirely to his liking.

Aeli stretched out her arms and picked up the child.

‘He seems to have grown a bit in just a few months…’

Seeing him growing day by day, just…

It made her feel emotional.

After finishing breakfast and getting ready, the child sat on a couch set up in a corner of the study with Lutis, swinging his legs.

How much time had passed like that?

Knock knock.

“Your Grace, I’m told he has just arrived.”

“Show him in.”

At last, the door opened.