Aeli rubbed her eyes, thinking she might have seen it wrong, and looked ahead again.

-……

Not only Lutis, but also the letter in his hand remained the same.

Suddenly, Aeli’s eyes quivered as she recalled the words she had said the day before while enjoying tea time with the child.

‘That can’t be…… It’s not because of what he said about quitting his position as the head knight, is it?’

If that was the case, hadn’t it been several months already, as Lutis had said?

As she looked at Lutis and the letter alternately with an unsettled expression, Lutis, who felt the gazes of the children besides her, slightly moved his lips.

“……”

“……Appa?”

The child looked up at Lutis and tilted his head.

He had clearly heard from his mother in the morning that his father had gone to inspect the territory and would not return until after noon.

The child, who had already planned to play with Sioren in the garden until noon after breakfast and have a snack together when Lutis returned in the afternoon, seemed perplexed.

Aeli was also feeling the same way, so she asked Lutis.

-…… Why are you here?

“……”

Instead of answering, Lutis glanced at the letter, and Aeli narrowed her eyes.

Now that she looked closer, the letter was already torn open.

If so, it meant that Lutis had already checked the contents.

‘…… I guess the content is important enough to postpone the territory inspection and come directly to find me.’

Aeli, who felt it intuitively, realized that Lutis had come to talk to her.

However, even if the child was there, he couldn’t openly talk to her in front of Sioren.

It was natural, as there was nothing more to be done than being treated as a crazy person for saying that he could see a ghost that was invisible to others’ eyes.

Aeli glanced at Lutis and lowered her gaze towards the child.

-……

If it was a serious discussion, there was no need to have it in the presence of the child.

Thinking that she could summarize and convey the necessary details after the conversation was over, Aeli bent her upper body to match eye level with the child and opened her mouth.

-Adi, Mom will talk to Dad for a bit and come back, so can you play with Sioren for a while?

“……?”

The child looked back and forth between Aeli and Lutis with a questioning gaze, then turned his eyes to Sioren.

He had to answer since he was asked a question first, but he hadn’t even mentioned playing together with Sioren yet.

The child then blinked his eyes and asked Sioren.

“Can I eat with you too?”

“I don’t mind…… but right now, I was told not to eat anything other than soup…… so there won’t be much for Adi to eat.”

“……”

“……Yo.”

Sioren, who had been forced to speak casually to the child just before, answered the child’s question and then glanced at Lutis, changing the ending of his sentence.

It seemed like a reaction that knew there were more nobles who disliked speaking casually than one would imagine.

Lutis spoke to Sioren, who was being mindful of him.

“Have the servants prepare that separately. For now, go to the room and wait.”

“……”

“……And you can converse comfortably inside the mansion. Non-humans are neither nobles nor commoners, so there’s no need to be bound by etiquette.”

Upon hearing Lutis’ words, the child jumped up with delight.

That meant they could eat together and go out to play.

“Then I want to eat dessert outside, not here!”

“……”

“……Ah, elder brother, you can’t eat snacks either?”

“They said…… drinks are allowed to some extent.”

“Then let’s go out together after eating.”

Sioren, unable to resist the sparkling eyes looking up at him while holding his sleeve, nodded his head.

Perhaps because he had been confined for a long time, the child really enjoyed going outside.

Even when he was in the capital, the only thing close to an outing for several months was taking a walk in the mansion’s garden, but he showed no sign of getting tired of it.

Moreover, how could it not be exciting to explore the huge mansion with a lake in the backyard after coming to the Ratliffe territory for the first time?

Confirming that the child’s reaction was not bad, Aeli spoke again.

-Adi, Mom will talk to Dad for a bit and come back, so have a meal with Sioren. Even if I’m late, I’ll be back before you finish your snack in the garden.

“Okay……”

The child mumbled a response as if groaning while rolling his eyes and glancing at Sioren.

Aeli straightened her back which she had bent to match the child’s eye level.

Now it was time to go and find out about the contents of the letter.

-So what’s written in there?

Aeli opened her mouth as soon as she sent the child to Sioren’s room and entered the bedroom with Lutis.

Lutis looked down at the letter in his hand, sighed as if he had a headache, and said while covering his eyes with one hand.

“It’s not just a letter…… It’s an imperial decree.”

-…… What?

“As soon as the messenger arrives and confirms the contents, we are to go up to the capital and enter the palace. ……With the child too.”

-…… What?

Aeli made a dumbfounded sound, blinking her wide open eyes without being able to say a proper word.

An imperial decree, well, she thought it could be possible considering the unauthorized absence so far.

-…… Why Adi?

She couldn’t understand the intention of having them bring the five-year-old child along to the palace.

Moreover……

-Our relationship with the imperial family isn’t bad…… but it’s not like we’re close enough to introduce our child and exchange blessings when visiting, right?

Wondering if there had been any noticeable changes in the few months between her death and Lutis going to war, Aeli asked with an unsettled expression.

Of course, the answer was negative.

“……Do I look like I’m happy with this content?”

-Uh…… No.

The tone sounded gentle, even affectionate, but the way of speaking was extremely stiff.

Aeli, unable to overcome that gap, answered awkwardly.

Lutis must have intentionally spoken softly in consideration of the situation, but.

‘I’m really…… really sorry, but it’s even more burdensome because it’s awkward.’

Those were words she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.

In response to Aeli’s answer, Lutis slowly opened his mouth.

“Since I witnessed the messenger confirming the imperial decree, we’ll have to leave by today at the latest.”

-…… This is serious.

Aeli narrowed her eyes and groaned.

Since he had returned in such a hurry, it was right to give up the expectation that Lutis would have actually inspected the territory.

That was also a problem, but with the illegal slave auction case not yet fully judged and in disarray, a sudden imperial decree……

Even if an assistant came down midway to handle urgent matters separately, the amount of documents piled up over more than 4 years was unimaginably large.

‘In fact, even if I work nonstop for several months, I don’t have the confidence to finish it all…… But now I can’t look at the documents, so Lutis has to do my share too.’

In short, the situation wasn’t very good.

The child had been in the territory for a short time, and she had planned for a week in advance, giggling, but how could she bring up the topic of returning to the capital today?

Aeli didn’t have the confidence to handle all the aftermaths.

As she was groaning at the overwhelming difficulty, Lutis hesitated for a moment and said.

“……So I was thinking, how about you and the child stay here?”

-…… What?

Aeli frowned at Lutis’ words.

Now that they had received the imperial decree, it didn’t make sense not to follow the order.

The resignation request could be excused because there was no choice due to the aftermath of the war, but this was a bit different.

Lutis still had one hand covering his eyes. But as if he had anticipated the reaction from Aeli’s dumbfounded voice, he continued.

“Going to the capital right now…… doesn’t seem like a good choice.”

-……

“With the discovery of the slave auction being known through the media, there are quite a few curious eyes on the child. Also, we don’t know what malice the families of those arrested might harbor.”

-……

“……I told you, before I went to war, the child had been under assassination threat.”

Lutis gritted his teeth and clenched the veins on his neck. He seemed unable to control his anger just by bringing it up.

Unlike those who simply sought remarriage and acted, the families mentioned in this case had nothing to lose.

Once caught, they were all going to die anyway, so it didn’t matter if they added or subtracted a charge. There was a high possibility that they might even plot revenge.

Since they couldn’t target Lutis, the Sword Master, if his wife was dead, the most vulnerable person in the end was the child.

Even if the child had done nothing wrong, the arrows would eventually point to the easiest target in their eyes.

‘So you’re saying it’s better to stay inside the territory where it’s easier to handle, then.’

Aeli sighed and rubbed her face, then opened her mouth.

-Lutis, for now…… I think you’re too agitated. You said we have to leave by today at the latest, but it’s still morning. We have time. Let’s calm down first and think about it again.

“……”

-You said you want Adi to continue staying in the territory because he might be in danger.

However, Aeli’s thoughts were a bit different.

According to Lutis, it was a threat the child would face regardless of whether he went to the capital or not.

“That’s why I’m saying this. With a significant number of elite knights who went to war dead and many retiring due to injuries, the number has decreased and the security has become relatively loose, so it’s better to stay in the territory-”

-But even if we stay in the territory, you can’t be here all the time.

Aeli said.

It wasn’t that the knights guarding the Ratliffe territory were weak.

However, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t be able to defeat Lutis alone.

“……”

-In that case, it’s safer to directly protect him by your side. You know that too, don’t you?

“……”

Moreover, the imperial decree clearly stated to bring the child along.

Unless there was a good reason, not following it would obviously be seen as blatantly ignoring the order, and Aeli couldn’t help but worry.

Regardless of the true intention, that was a very important aspect.

Furthermore, how could she tell the child, who could finally be with his parents, that he had to be separated from his father for a while, knowing that he would be anxious?

She didn’t want to explain the details of this situation to a five-year-old child in order to make him understand.

In response to Aeli’s opinion, Lutis bit his lower lip hard and showed a self-deprecating smile.

“……As you said, the child is only five years old.”

-That’s why-

“-It seems that Alvarez and the temple were also involved in this case.”

But our child hasn’t even received the blessing yet. Lutis said.

The implication of those words was so clear.

Aeli swayed for a moment.

-……

The imperial family and the temple are keeping an eye on the child.