“……Dad asleep?”

-It seems… so?

Aeli slowly nodded to the child looking up and asking her.

It was the face of someone in deep sleep from any angle.

Aeli was thinking she should tell the child to wake up Lutis, as everyone would worry if they stayed out too late.

The child, who had already gone up to the sleeping Lutis, lowered his head while looking around curiously.

Watching the child, Aeli opened her mouth.

-……Adi, what are you doing?

“Umm, looking at Dad’s face.”

-……

Is that fun? Recalling how Aeli herself had been talking alone beside Lutis just a moment ago, it wasn’t much different behavior between Aeli and the child.

Thinking that it could be similar behavior since he was her son, Aeli closed her mouth. She had no right to question this.

-Didn’t you say you were hungry earlier? Adi, don’t you want to go eat?

Instead, she spoke words to coax the child who must be hungry from playing since midday.

At that, the child alternately looked at Lutis and Aeli, then carefully moved his steps while reading the mood.

It was the basket that a servant had packed along with a muffler when they went out.

The child slightly lifted the cloth covering the basket and said quietly.

“I’ll eat this while waiting.”

-……Shouldn’t you eat a proper meal at mealtime?

“There’s sandwiches, and finger food, and blueberry cake, and se… se… seru… fruit juice too.”

-……

“……Since Dad’s sleeping, this is all mine! Ah, oops…!”

Th-this is all mine. The child, who had unconsciously shouted with an excited and proud face, was startled when Lutis stirred and lowered his voice.

‘These were certainly packed so we wouldn’t get hungry during the boat ride.’

The contents were still there since the child had been too busy teasing Lutis to think of taking out the snacks.

As they weren’t meant to fill one’s stomach, the portions were small and just enough for a light snack, but it seemed more than enough for the child to eat alone.

It didn’t seem to matter since they weren’t foods that needed to be eaten warm.

However, as the sun had set and the temperature seemed to have dropped, Aeli asked out of concern that the child might catch a cold.

-Aren’t you cold?

“It’s warm so I’m fine.”

-Hmm……

Aeli let out a sigh and turned her gaze to Lutis.

His head was uncomfortably bent as if he had unknowingly fallen asleep while reading a book.

‘Maybe it would be better to wake him up so he can sleep comfortably in the bedroom……’

She thought for a moment, but considering Lutis’ past record, even if she woke him up to return to the mansion, he probably wouldn’t go back to sleep.

If the last time he slept was for a few hours relying on medicine before coming down to Rattliff territory…..

‘He didn’t sleep when we were in Duke Duran’s territory either, so it’s been 8 days now.’

……It might be better to just let him sleep.

Quickly acknowledging this, Aeli spoke to the child who was already sitting with his legs spread in front of the basket, taking out and eating the food.

-Dad looks tired, so why don’t you just eat that for now, Adi? But let’s go back right away if servants or knights from the mansion come looking for us.

“Okaaay.”

-And tell me right away if you get cold anywhere or want to go home and rest.

“Okay. Then I’ll eat this and play a little more.”

-Alright. But Adi.

Why are you eating the cake first? Aeli asked.

The child, who was about to put a piece of cake in his mouth with a cute fork, froze and looked at Aeli.

It was quite a funny sight as he only moved his eyeballs while remaining still.

“……”

-Adi.

At Aeli’s repeated inquiry, the child, who was about to put the cake in his mouth, quietly put it down and said.

“I… I was going to eat this first and then eat the sandwich.”

-Even if the cake is bite-sized, you’ve already eaten three pieces.

“Since it’s bite-sized, I only ate three bites……”

-……Let’s eat the sandwiches and finger food first, then have dessert. If you eat sweets first, you’ll lose your appetite.

She had been relieved that the child was growing well after being fed properly for several months, like a sprout watered.

But at this rate, Aeli decided to correct the child’s eating habits, feeling a sense of crisis that he might become malnourished or unhealthy from eating only desserts.

When she spoke firmly, the child drooped his eyebrows and put a sandwich in his mouth.

Though he had grumbled that he wanted to eat more cake, after chewing a few times, he smiled brightly saying this was delicious too, which was quite childlike.

After finishing the food in the basket, the child patted his protruding belly, saying he ate well.

At the behavior that seemed both age-appropriate and not, Aeli grabbed both of the child’s cheeks and briefly kissed his round nose tip.

The child giggled, saying it tickled, and snuggled into Aeli’s arms.

Though he could have pushed her away, Aeli took the child who deliberately cuddled up to her and sat by the lakeside.

Perhaps because the weather had been nice during the day, except for a few clouds floating slowly across the sky as if swimming, the moon was very bright.

-Our Adi couldn’t see the lake properly earlier because you were teasing Dad, right?

“Hehe, I wasn’t teasing.”

-Oh? Is it okay to lie to Mom, or not okay?

“Not okay.”

-Let’s look now before Dad wakes up. Even when Mom came here before, we only stayed during the day and left before sunset, so this is my first time seeing the night view.

“Is it Mom’s first time too?”

-Yes. It’s the first time for both Adi and Mom, huh?

“Wow……”

The child’s eyes sparkled as he let out a small exclamation. Though the daytime scenery was certainly beautiful, the night had its own charm and wasn’t bad.

The calm surface of the lake rippled slightly following the faint wind.

The child, who had been staring at the scene of the ripples glistening softly in the moonlight, spoke.

“Mom, Moooom.”

-Yes?

“When you and Dad came here before, what was it like? Was it prettier than now?”

Judging by the expectant look in his eyes, he seemed curious about the past of her and Lutis that he often heard from Mari.

Aeli let out a sigh at the child’s question.

-Hmm……

Having grown up as childhood friends and ended up married, Lutis and Aeli didn’t have a particularly romantic narrative.

Of course, when they visited Rattliff territory in their mid-teens, nothing as grand as what the child was imagining happened.

……If there was something a bit interesting, there was one thing.

Aeli slowly opened her mouth.

-Mom and Dad got engaged in Rattliff territory after graduating from the academy. We originally just came to play, but Dad proposed during a boat ride on the lake. We just held the engagement ceremony right away while we were at it.

“En… gagement?”

-Engagement is when you promise in advance that you’ll marry this person in the future. Mom received a proposal from Dad even before going to the academy.

“Gasp, twice?”

The child inhaled sharply and looked up at Aeli.

Aeli smiled gently, pulling up the corners of her mouth, and continued speaking.

-But we had just turned 10 years old, so no matter what, that was too sudden.

So I set a condition.

[You like me? ……Why?] [……I don’t know.] [Hey, what’s that! Who confesses so unromantically?!] [……Is that the problem?] [Of course. Don’t you think a lady deserves some romance?] [Lady……] [Well, let’s do this then. I think our feelings might change since we’re still young, right? It would be troublesome if that happens when we’re all grown up.] [……] [So say those words again after we graduate from the academy. Until then, think about why you like me, and if your feelings haven’t changed after graduation, confess to me again while explaining why you like me.]

If you still like me then, I’ll seriously think about it too.

Despite saying that, by the time Aeli was graduating from the academy, she had completely forgotten about it.

It was because she hadn’t even considered that his feelings truly wouldn’t change, given that it was a conversation from childhood.

So she readily accepted the suggestion to visit Rattliff territory after graduation, not knowing anything.

Splash-!

[Oh, oh…… Wow. Did I almost get in big trouble just now?] [Why did you dangerously… on the boat…!] [Thanks for helping, if it weren’t for you Lutis, I really would have fallen in!] [……]

Insisting on wanting to see the lake behind the ducal residence, she slipped while trying to look at the fish and ended up half-submerged in the water.

It was then that Lutis, who had grabbed and pulled up the startled and flailing Aeli, burst into tears.

‘Apparently he remembered that I told him to confess after graduation if his feelings hadn’t changed, so he was planning to propose during the boat ride,’

The season happened to be when summer flowers like sunflowers and roses were in full bloom, so the scenery was very pretty.

[No…… That’s romantic……] [……] [But still, to cry……] [……I didn’t cry.] [Umm, wait. ……Okay! It’s fine. Although I’m in this state right now, I’ll listen.]

Go ahead, try it. Aeli said, her upper body soaked and looking like a drowned rat.

Lutis looked at Aeli with a dumbfounded expression, then lowered his head and opened his mouth. At the same time, he took out a ring from a pretty case he had prepared at some point.

[I like your smile. I like your kindness that comes from consideration for others instead of cheap sympathy, and when I’m with you, the day passes quickly without time to feel depressed. I like that you have a cheerful personality, excellent magical skills, and don’t focus on appearances like other nobles. But.] [……] [You told me to find reasons why I like you…… but those are just things I defined as reasons because I liked you, and I don’t think my feelings would change even if you stopped doing those things.]

Rustle.

-……

It was when she was reminiscing about the past alone, as the child listening to the story had already fallen asleep.

Aeli hurriedly but carefully put down the child she had been holding in her arms and turned around at the sound of movement behind her.

Lutis, who had woken up at some point, was looking down at the sleeping child.

‘Did he… not see?’

From Lutis’ perspective, it would have looked like the sleeping child was floating in mid-air alone.

As Lutis just stared at the child without any particular reaction, Aeli gulped.

Lutis seemed to ponder for a moment, then took off the outer coat he was wearing and covered the child with it. Next, he raised his slightly trembling hand and took out the locket hanging around the child’s neck,

Click.

With a small sound, the locket opened. Aeli’s portrait and a fresh flower petal inside were revealed.

“……”

As if hesitating about something, Lutis stopped with his other hand half-raised in the air.

-Oh, oh……!

When the wind blew, the thin flower petal feebly flew towards the lake.

Thinking it was a big problem since it was something the child cherished, Aeli exclaimed.

Grab!

Lutis quickly moved his body and caught the flower petal.

The problem was that when the flying petal entered Lutis’ hand, his feet were no longer touching the ground.

It was the moment Lutis’ body tilted forward.

“……!”

As the moon that had been hidden by clouds revealed itself, a bright light illuminated the lake.

As if trying to confirm something at the same time the flower petal entered his grasp.

Was it just her imagination that Lutis’ eyes widened for a moment as he unnaturally turned his head towards where Aeli was?

[So the only certainty I can offer is this. When I’m with you, my days are enjoyable and life has meaning. So……]

I want you to stay by my side for a long time.

Aeli couldn’t know why those words came to mind at this moment of all times.

Splash!

The dull sound of someone falling into water filled a corner of the night scenery.