“Eek! Mo… Mommy!”

The child, startled by the commotion, woke up and looked around.

The child blinked for a moment, as if trying to gauge what was happening, then raised their head.

The child stared at Aeli and asked.

“Wh-what, um… What’s going on?”

−…Your father fell into the lake.

Aeli unconsciously opened her mouth to answer the child’s question with the plain truth.

The child was shocked by Aeli’s words and looked at the lake. However, not a single bubble rose to the surface of the water, which was calm as if nothing had happened.

The child’s eyes trembled as they knelt down, touching the ground, and said.

“Da… Daddy died…!”

−…

“Mo-Mommy and Daddy are both ghosts now, and I’m the only human?!”

…He probably wouldn’t die from just a minute of diving.

Although Aeli was also puzzled by the lack of bubbles, she was certain that Lutis couldn’t have drowned. She moved her lips.

She felt she should say something to the child, but in that state, it didn’t seem like they would listen.

“…I’m not dead.”

Just as sound was about to come out of Aeli’s mouth.

Lutis, soaked from head to toe, walked out of the water onto land and spoke while looking at the child.

Lutis rolled his eyes for a moment, seemingly scanning the surroundings, then showed his palm to the child.

“I accidentally… opened the locket and something happened, so the petals got wet. I apologize.”

“Something happened?”

“…The wind blew.”

Seeming unwilling to go into details, Lutis mumbled his words. Watching him, Aeli turned her gaze to the child.

The child slowly reached out towards the dripping Lutis while looking at the wet petals. The child took the petals and carefully put them in their pocket instead of the pendant, then spoke.

“I’ll leave this outside and wait for it to dry.”

“…Alright.”

“But…”

“…”

“If this makes Daddy in danger… it would be better not to have it.”

The child looked down and glanced at Aeli, who was right beside them.

Perhaps knowing that the petals originally belonged to Aeli, the child seemed worried that saying such things might upset their mother.

−…

Aeli’s fingertips twitched at the gaze fixed on her, and she thought.

‘I don’t particularly mind.’

Aeli was never one to be overly attached to possessions.

Whether it was because she was born as a noble’s daughter and grew up wanting for nothing, or if it was just her inherent nature, she didn’t know, but she didn’t particularly cling to objects.

Except for when she was very young and thought hiding an extra snack from her parents was a big deal. The things she did cherish were mostly gifts.

‘It’s true that I especially treasured the flower I received from Lutis and the vase I kept it in, but…’

However, the reason those were precious was because they were worthy of it.

It wasn’t simply because they were expensive or rare items hard to obtain, but because she appreciated the thoughtfulness of the important person who gave them to her.

Given that was the reason she cherished them, there was no way she would value the objects more than the person who gifted them.

Aeli smiled faintly at the child and said.

−It’s okay, Adi. Mommy prefers you and Daddy being safe much more than flower petals or other things.

Hearing Aeli’s words, the child finally nodded slightly and opened their mouth to Lutis. They seemed hesitant, as if gauging the situation.

“It’s precious… but I like Daddy much more than this.”

“…”

“If only I were fine without Daddy… it would be better not to have it…”

“So, I wish Daddy would love himself a bit more.” The child said, hugging a doll to their chest and tapping the toe of their shoe on the ground.

It meant not to throw his body around recklessly.

After staying like that for a while with no response from Lutis, the child rubbed their eyes sleepily and looked up at Lutis.

“I want to go to sleep now…”

“…Alright.”

“Can I have a hu… oh…”

“…I’m wet, so I can’t.”

“Okay…”

The child reflexively reached out towards Lutis but trailed off upon seeing his drenched state.

Awkwardly lowering the arm they had raised, the child gathered their book and belongings and followed along beside Lutis as he left.

As they had insisted on not taking a carriage to view the landscaping, the two had to walk for quite a while.

The child, plodding along the moonlit forest path, looked up at Lutis and asked.

“…”

“…Can I hold your hand?”

“It will be damp.”

“…I still want to.”

Finally, the small hand firmly grasped the tip of Lutis’s wet fingers.

Aeli followed behind, taking in that scene.

Droplets of water falling from the large body left traces along the path they had walked.

[This is the timeline separator]

When Lutis and the child entered the mansion, the servants were startled and opened their eyes wide.

Certain that it was due to Lutis’s appearance, Aeli watched his back as he headed to the bathroom, guided by a servant.

If he were to pick up the child, it was obvious the dampness would transfer to them too.

Though it had dried somewhat from walking slowly to the mansion at the child’s pace, the still damp clothes seemed quite uncomfortable.

“Ah-choo!”

−Are you cold too, Adi? Shall we go wash up and sleep now?

“Mm-hmm…”

When Aeli turned her gaze to the child and asked, the small head nodded back and forth.

They seemed to be trying to nod, but drowsiness had set in, making their body uncooperative.

Already from halfway to the mansion, the child had been walking with eyes half-closed, so Aeli had been gently pushing their back to help them walk more easily, without Lutis noticing.

And so, after the child dragged their feet into the bathroom, washed in the tub, and collapsed onto the bed.

A few minutes later, Aeli sighed as she watched the child sleeping deeply. On the bedside table, a single flower petal lay alone on top of a pure white handkerchief.

‘That must be…’

Though she didn’t realize at first, now she knew that petal was from the flower Lutis had given her as a gift in her younger days, which she had cast a preservation spell on.

After all, it couldn’t look so fresh after several months had passed.

One might think the child had cast their own preservation spell, but if so, they would have cast it on the whole flower, not just kept a single petal like this.

‘If a maid had dropped and broken the vase, the flowers in it couldn’t have remained intact.’

So Aeli guessed this one petal was all that had been salvaged intact.

The person who would have kept and preserved it was undoubtedly Lutis.

−Hah…

Aeli rubbed her mouth and chin in distress.

She couldn’t forget the expression of surprise on Lutis’s face, with eyes wide open, just before he fell into the lake.

−Did he see? When I sensed his presence and turned around, he was already right in front of me, so he must have seen, right?

But if so, there was no particular reaction.

Judging by how he immediately responded to the child’s words after coming out of the lake, he must have heard everything the child said in despair when Lutis didn’t surface.

[Da… Daddy died…!] […] [Mo-Mommy and Daddy are both ghosts now, and I’m the only human?!]

Yet he didn’t question it after hearing those words. Aeli couldn’t help but find it strange.

Did he really not see or hear anything, and it was just a coincidence that the situation matched up?

No matter how many scenarios she considered, she couldn’t find a clear answer.

As if trying to shake off her thoughts, Aeli shook her head vigorously and poked the sleeping child’s cheek with her fingertip.

She had decided to let go of her thoughts, since no amount of pondering would give her an answer unless she went and confirmed with the person in question.

“Mmm…”

The child frowned slightly and smacked their lips, but after a few more pokes to their cheek, they finally buried their face in the pillow.

Unable to admire the sleeping child’s face anymore, Aeli smiled briefly and approached the window.

The sky was still clear, with moonlight shining down.

Perhaps due to her unsettled feelings, looking at the sky brought back memories of the past she had been recalling at the lake earlier.

[Is the moon always this big here?] [It’s the same moon you see in the capital or Mason. How could it be any different?] [Well, yes, but how should I put it… Does Rattliffe seem particularly bright?] [But you… You received a proposal today, and all you have to say is about the moon?]

There were certainly times when we watched the moon together in the territory.

After receiving the proposal by the lake, I adamantly refused to answer in that state, so we only faced each other again in the evening.

I called Lutis out to the terrace, dressed in a white chemise nightgown with just a thin, translucent shawl draped over it, ready for bed.

He must have been frustrated too, coming nervously only to hear me say such deflating things.

‘…Actually, I was just talking nonsense because I was so nervous.’

With my poker face, Lutis probably didn’t realize.

Given how often our conversation topics bounced around normally, I was a woman with a history of saying random things.

[To be honest, I’ll tell you. I’ve never seriously thought about it before.] […] [But I’m going to accept it anyway!] […What?] [It’s not that I dislike you, I just haven’t thought about it. If anything, I… like you. But I’m not sure if it’s as a friend or romantically.] […] [I’m sorry to ask you to wait longer when you must have thought about it for a long time… but could you give me a little more time? Let’s get engaged first, and since you spoke up first, I’ll propose to you when I’m certain.]

Looking back now, it was a ridiculous thing to say.

Marriage isn’t child’s play, and in the closed-off noble society, even the fact of getting engaged and then breaking it off was enough fodder for gossip.

Yet despite considering that, I was asking him to wait indefinitely for an uncertain future.

If I had heard those words myself, I would have thought, what kind of person says such things?

…Actually, that was exactly the expression on Lutis’s face. I just didn’t realize it at the time because I had seen it so often.

[It won’t take that long. Though it was just a passing thought, if I had to choose a spouse, I wondered if there was anyone in the empire I’d enjoy living with more than you.] […] [In exchange, if you find someone you like more than me before we get married, I’ll let you go without a word. That much would make my conscience a little less guilty…] […People might say it’s improper for you to propose.] [Why should I care about that? Why criticize others for what they lack the courage to do themselves?] […] [You probably don’t know. There were dozens of young ladies at the academy who fell for someone but couldn’t confess first, and just pined away in secret.]

Wouldn’t it be cool for a young lady to propose marriage to a man first in times like these? Aeli said with a smile.

Leaning on the terrace railing and turning around, Lutis’s eyes sparkled as if they had absorbed all the light in the world, yet his face was utterly blank…

That strange dissonance made Aeli burst out laughing.

Separately from that, she really had no idea she could come up with such an embarrassing sentiment while looking into someone’s eyes.

[Anyway! If you’re okay with it, that’s what I want to do. Actually, I never thought anyone besides family could have such feelings for me.] […] […Thank you. Whatever happens from now on, I’m really happy you said that to me.]

That’s what I said. The result of those words is explained by the existence of the child sleeping soundly in bed now.

Lost in memories from the rare reminiscence, Aeli smiled bitterly.

And at that moment.

“…Ah, Eli?”

Hearing an unexpected voice, Aeli turned around with wide eyes.

There stood Lutis, looking at her from the doorway, having entered the child’s room at some point.