Aeli tightly shut her eyes at the tragic non-tragedy unfolding before her eyes.

It was because she lacked the courage to face her own self who had turned into a bald mountain.

‘But, but it doesn’t seem like my hair has disappeared?’

Aeli closed her mouth at the sensation of long hair still covering the back of her neck.

Well, it was only natural to say that since it wasn’t an annihilation magic but a simple transparency spell.

That made it even more miserable.

In the first place, color transformation magic is not easy to learn unless someone demonstrates it in front of you, so it was surprising when he had learned it.

‘I didn’t even know it was possible to designate transparency…..’

Perhaps it was because no one thought to attempt such a thing, or maybe the child was an anomaly.

While it was still doubtful that the source of that talent was entirely self-taught, it seemed like there would be little gain in asking.

Judging from previous experience, Aeli blinked her eyelids while having such thoughts. She was contemplating whether she should open her eyes or not.

“Huk……!”

“……”

The sound of the child gasping in surprise rang in her ears.

She knew she couldn’t just keep her eyes closed like this.

But hearing that sound, she began to have a growing conviction that not opening her eyes would be more beneficial for her mental health.

As if sensing Aeli’s hesitation, Lutis opened his mouth.

“……Blonde, huh.”

“……”

Huh? At Lutis’ words, Aeli inadvertently opened her eyes and lowered her head.

She saw golden hair spilling down in front of her eyes.

Well, she was glad she wasn’t bald, but……

“I clearly saw that color designation wasn’t possible……?”

“Uh, that, I mean when I was spa…… sparkling, I cha…… changed it.”

“……In that brief moment?”

“Yesss.”

……Is that possible? As she muttered with a doubtful face, the child flapped his arms in the air as if feeling wronged.

It wasn’t entirely impossible to change the color designation simultaneously as the light burst if he had closed his eyes.

‘Theoretically…… it’s possible.’

The reason it still remained theoretical was because the time from the invocation of magic to its application was less than 1 second. If it weren’t for that, she would have felt a bit more at ease.

She wondered if it was possible to specifically modify just that part of the formula within 1 second.

If it fails, it puts a burden on the circle, so for safety reasons, no one would go that far,

“……”

Oh?

Aeli, who stopped mid-thought, turned her gaze to the child.

As always, it was amazing to see that there was no circle.

‘Could it be because of that?’

Like all magic, the higher the magic, the more severe the burden from the backlash when it fails.

But if there is no circle to bear that burden, there is no real penalty for the child.

It seemed unlikely that he was bold because he didn’t know about this backlash, as she had mentioned it in the library before.

Along with the fact that there was no circle, she had been so preoccupied with the fact that this had to be kept secret that she had not even thought of such an advantage.

It was amazing that she had not realized this until now.

“……”

Gulp.

I wonder if I’ve given birth to a more remarkable child than I thought. While thinking that this didn’t make sense, Aeli was about to jump up immediately.

“……It’s truuue.”

Unaware of Aeli’s thoughts.

The child added shyly, as if he thought the lack of response was because she didn’t believe his words.

He said that he had inadvertently changed the designated color upon seeing his father’s hair, but realizing that the same hair color wouldn’t work, he had made a sharp turn to blonde.

‘……If that’s true, it’s fortunate that it didn’t change to silver.’

If that had happened, she would have had no choice but to hide in the bedroom until the magic was undone.

Leaving aside standing out, it could have potentially been a crime of impersonating the imperial family.

If he had changed it by mistake, trying to cast the magic again would require at least a few hours of rest before it could be cast again.

It wasn’t because the caster was tired, but because if the cycle was too short, it would strain the subject the magic was cast upon.

On the other hand, undoing the magic and going as is would also make the black hair stand out too much.

‘It can be changed with potions, but… that has side effects when taken for a long time, and it’s too troublesome to obtain.’

Although Aeli herself could make it directly, it took too long from procuring the ingredients to manufacturing.

So for now, if they wanted to go out, they had no choice but to rely on the child’s magic.

Considering that, it felt fortunate again that it was blonde, so Aeli blinked her eyes rapidly.

The child, who had been staring blankly at such Aeli, rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Mommy, can’t we go togetherrr? I even changed your hairrr……”

“Oh, uh?”

“……I want to go togetherrr.”

“……”

At the words spoken with pouting lips, Aeli stammered in bewilderment.

After doing so for a while, Lutis, unable to bear it, stepped in to mediate.

“……There aren’t many colors as vivid as your hair right now, but it’s not like blondes are rare in the empire.”

“……”

“If you’re really worried, tying your hair and wearing a hood is also an option.”

At first glance, it sounded like he was just stating an opinion, but in reality, it was clearly meant to persuade Aeli.

Wearing a brooch with a recognition-lowering magic, covering half of the face with a cloak, and tying the hair to conceal it.

That way, there would be nothing revealing to identify, so Lutis’ words were not wrong.

Furthermore, even if the hood were to be pushed back and the hair exposed, there are well over hundreds of nobles with blonde hair in the empire, and it’s not even her real hair color, so there would be no point in searching.

Aeli, who had been contemplating, lowered her head at the tugging of her indoor dress hem.

“Mommyyy…….”

The child looked up at Aeli with teary eyes and pouting lips, then buried his face in the skirt of her dress.

Left with no choice, Aeli sighed and nodded her head.

“Alright…..”

She really didn’t know what was right anymore.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Uwek……”

Is this really the right thing to do?

Still unsure, Aeli spoke with a troubled face while rubbing the child’s back.

“Adi, are you feeling very sick?”

The child, who was about to shake his head to say no, seemed to feel nauseous even with the slight movement, and he frowned and made a tearful face.

They had all been so distracted by changing Aeli’s hair color that they had forgotten the child gets motion sickness in carriages.

They had neglected the fact that they needed to give him motion sickness medicine and had all gotten into the carriage together before realizing something was wrong.

Fortunately, it was before departure at that time, so they could have told someone to bring the medicine, but−

‘How do I open the door when I got into the carriage with them without making a sound?’

After nodding to go together, changing into a simple outdoor dress, and coming out, she had tried to tie her hair by herself but failed, so Lutis had done it for her.

Come to think of it, she had said she would go to the temple together, but there was no way to go out without being noticed.

It was absurdly frustrating to have been bickering over hair color without solving the biggest problem.

At that moment, Lutis, who had been heading towards the corner of the bedroom, fumbled at the wall hidden by the curtain next to the window and pressed somewhere.

[……There was such a passage in the bedroom too?] [It’s natural for important places to have emergency exits. Your office, my office, and the child’s room all have them.] [……] [Besides that, it seems there is one on each floor.]

Then, the hidden door opened smoothly without making a sound.

Surprised, Aeli looked at Lutis and asked, but the answer she received made her inevitably show a displeased expression.

It was a valid point that there was no way they could leisurely roam around the mansion in a dangerous situation, but……

[Wouldn’t having that many actually increase the likelihood of being caught?]

That’s what she thought, but the answer was that the interior was already twisted like a maze, so unless one knew the way, they would end up in the wrong place.

He meant it was a needless worry.

Anyway, Lutis, who had taken her to the end of the passage first, said to wait here when the outside came into view and went back into the mansion.

While doing so, perhaps out of concern, he handed her something, and when she was examining it, a carriage stopped in front of her.

That was now.

As if he had temporarily dismissed the knights who should have been escorting the carriage, there was no one around, so Aeli was able to easily get into the carriage and speak.

“Adi, can Mommy see it for a moment? There we go.”

“Wha…… what is thissss……”

“It’s a ring that increases the recovery rate of stamina, but it’s still a bit big for Adi. Still, having this on will make you feel a bit better.”

“……Woahh.”

“See, Mommy was right, wasn’t she?”

The child, who had been squinting at the ring that was so large it had to be worn on the thumb to barely fit loosely, soon let out a small exclamation.

As Aeli said, having it was much better than not having it.

‘It’s what Lutis gave me earlier though.’

When he said he would leave her alone for a moment and return to the mansion, he had handed her what turned out to be various magic-imbued accessories before turning his back.

Moreover, they were all things she had personally made and given as gifts to Lutis, who was never without injuries while learning swordsmanship in his childhood.

They were made when she was young, so the performance wasn’t that great, and even then, she couldn’t do everything herself, so she only wrote the formulas and had the family’s mage engrave them onto the accessories.

A ring that slightly recovers stamina when worn, earrings that enhance natural healing, a bracelet with a defensive magic that can block a direct attack once or so.

At that time, he had never used them, saying that relying on such things would not improve his skills and that accessories were a hindrance.

‘But I had no idea he would keep these for well over 10 years.’

They were even well-maintained to the point where they could be worn immediately.

So Aeli handed the bracelet and ring in her hand to the child without hesitation.

The earrings were given to her to wear since the child’s ears were not pierced yet.

‘Anyway, Lutis would know to use them, and I made them for men, so it’s better for Adi to wear them than me. Besides, I’m wearing earrings too, so either way……’

As she was rationalizing while adorning the child with jewelry, contrary to Lutis’ intention, Aeli glanced at Lutis.

The person in question seemed unconcerned, as if he had done so out of worry about leaving Aeli defenseless while he was away.

Feeling relieved, thinking it was fortunate, it was at that moment.

“Your Grace, we have arrived at the temple.”

As the carriage slowly reduced its speed.

A voice was heard among the knights who had been escorting the carriage.