What… What kind of situation is this?

Aeli rolled her eyes as she looked at the handful of black hair that seemed to have been torn out of the small hand.

‘Was he serious about turning her into a bald head?’

Unless Lutis went crazy and sat the child next to Noel, there was no way she would have gotten her hair grabbed like that.

With a bewildered expression, Aeli looked around the drawing room again and slightly opened her mouth.

Looking again, they weren’t couches but all single chairs.

‘When he told me to come to a different place instead of the drawing room we usually use… ‘

So that’s why there were no long chairs in this drawing room.

Rather than simply having two couches facing each other, it would be more definite to distinguish between the head and lower seats if everyone sat in separate, independent seats.

Glancing at Lutis sitting in the head seat closest to the window, Aeli soon turned her gaze to where the child and Noel were.

From Aeli’s perspective, the seat to Lutis’s left was vacant, and the child was sitting to his right.

Noel’s position was facing Lutis and closest to the door−

‘…But still, he’s a count and you had him sit there?’

It was the lowest seat.

Normally, the chair to Lutis’s left, which is now vacant, should have been where Noel sat.

Seeing that everyone was seated and she was the only one standing, it seemed she was supposed to sit there.

Of course, it was natural for Lutis to be in a bad mood, as Noel had barged into the bedroom without notice since morning and even attacked Aeli and the child.

‘Honestly, it’s fortunate that he didn’t draw his sword.’

Rather than not drawing his sword, it seemed more accurate to say that he was taken aback and couldn’t draw it because the child was unexpectedly and terribly angry…

Anyway, that’s how it was.

However, even considering this special circumstance, Aeli couldn’t help but feel perplexed by the seating arrangement that directly showed “There’s no seat to give to someone like you, so get out quickly.”

Aeli, who felt uncomfortable despite not having done anything wrong directly, couldn’t bring herself to sit down and just stood still.

Noticing Aeli, Lutis opened his mouth.

“Since you’re here, don’t just stand there and come sit down.”

“…..”

In common sense, does it make sense to walk over and sit down without any regard in this mess?

Noel and the child, who belatedly noticed Aeli’s presence due to Lutis’s remark, turned their heads.

“…..”

“Mommy!”

The reactions of the two, which had been clearly divided from the beginning, became more pronounced as the child called out that title.

It meant that Noel’s gaze had become even more intense.

Aeli felt as if cold sweat was running down her back at Noel, who was glaring at her without saying a word instead of getting angry like before.

Now that she was no longer a ghost, it seemed more likely to be true rather than an illusion.

Aeli, who was awkwardly rolling her eyes and raising the corners of her mouth, opened her mouth slightly and spoke.

“Ah, well… Ha- haha…..”

“…..”

“Well, shall we?”

“…..”

“…Yes?”

Even though all the servants and knights had been dismissed, just in case.

Aeli, who belatedly raised her voice, slowly moved her feet.

The creaking movement of her body felt quite unnatural even to herself, and she was half crying inside.

In order to consciously turn her thoughts in a different direction, Aeli recalled the knights she had encountered before entering the drawing room.

They seemed to be heading to another floor on Lutis’s orders, and they were all talking with dubious expressions.

[I hope we won’t be punished for this. Ah, why did I have to doze off at that moment when I wasn’t even that tired…!] [You think you’re the only one who dozed off? We were all in the same state until the head butler discovered us, so if we get punished, we’ll all get punished together. We’re a community of fate now, so you can be happy.] […Are you in the mood for jokes in this situation? Since the Duke and the commander didn’t say much, I think it’ll be fine….] [If it makes you feel better to think that way, go ahead and pray as you wish.] […This unhelpful−]

Whether it was because she had put the perception-lowering brooch back on or because they simply didn’t pay much attention to her.

Seeing them conversing with each other, Aeli was finally able to resolve her question.

She had wondered why the knights guarding the door didn’t show up until Lutis came despite such a loud noise coming from the bedroom, but it seemed Noel had put them to sleep with magic.

‘It’s not naturally possible for everyone to fall asleep and wake up at the same time, yeah.’

In the first place, it didn’t make sense for a trained knight to doze off while on duty.

Unless their mental state was completely gone, it was something that could never happen in Ratliff after Lutis returned.

Because if they were caught, they would immediately be punished or expelled from the order of knights.

She could guarantee it as she had seen with her own eyes how tightly disciplined they were.

As Aeli sat down while listing those thoughts, the gaze that had been intently staring at her face became even more intense.

“…..”

“…..”

Aeli blinked rapidly and clenched her fists at Noel, whose displeasure at her sitting here was evident at a glance.

He seemed to be displeased that someone unknown was sitting in the head seat instead of her.

‘…No, is it because I pushed Adi aside and sat down?’

It seemed a bit ambiguous to be displeased that she sat in the seat where Noel should have sat.

Although the child had let go of Noel’s hair as soon as he spotted Aeli, he probably couldn’t even distinguish between the head and lower seats yet. It didn’t seem like he would have gotten that angry if Noel had tried to change seats.

Meanwhile, as Aeli sat down, Noel, who had been glaring at her for a while, stopped and looked at Lutis before opening his mouth.

“I heard from a servant that this person is the young master’s nanny.”

“…..”

“Now that everyone is here, let’s hear it. I’m really curious to see what kind of great story someone who neglects a guest and seats a nanny he didn’t even know existed above the young master has to tell.”

…It seems he really is angry that I’m sitting in a higher seat than the child.

At the heavily sarcastic remark, Aeli closed her mouth.

At this point, she could roughly infer the process of how Noel got his hair torn out by the child.

He probably wasn’t happy with a mere nanny sitting in a higher seat than herself or her nephew, but he knew Lutis wouldn’t let it slide if he tried to change seats himself, so he tried to at least have the child sit in the head seat instead.

Of course, there was also Lutis’s retaliation for what happened in the morning, but in the eyes of Noel, who didn’t know the whole story, the current situation would seem quite insane.

So he probably told the child to change seats to the opposite side, but the child, who already didn’t see Noel in a good light, wouldn’t have listened to him.

‘He must have tried to lift and move him, but got his hair pulled out….’

Even so, the child rarely showed hostility to strangers at first sight.

Seeing how much he disliked Noel, it seemed he had really developed a strong animosity.

Aeli, who was sympathizing with Noel for being hated by his beloved nephew, suddenly paused.

‘…Wait. Adi can’t possibly remember Noel, so how does he know he’s his uncle?’

The time when Noel was residing in Ratliff was when Adi had just been born, so there’s no way the newborn child would remember him.

Aeli narrowed her brows slightly as she tried to recall if she had ever told him that he had an uncle.

She couldn’t remember.

It seemed possible to infer it since their hair and eye colors were the same as hers, but it also seemed unreasonable to judge based on that alone.

As Aeli pondered with doubt, Lutis opened his mouth, not allowing her thoughts to continue for long.

After listening to Noel’s sarcasm, Lutis soon opened his mouth and spoke.

“Usually, uninvited guests aren’t treated as guests, as far as I know.”

“…..”

“Well, I was going to contact you soon anyway, so that’s fine.”

At Lutis’s remark, adding that he would later charge Mason for an apology and compensation for attacking the mistress and heir of the ducal family, Aeli slightly opened her mouth.

Putting aside the remark that seemed to retaliate against the fight, what was he calling her the mistress for when he was about to reveal her identity right now?

Aeli, whose nerves were on edge, only clenched her fists tighter at Noel’s scoffing laughter.

Her innocent palms were being damaged by well-maintained nails.

Just as Lutis was about to continue speaking, Noel, who raised a hand to stop him, spoke.

“…Wait. Let’s catch the thief first before listening.”

“…?!”

There’s a thief? Startled by Noel’s remark, Aeli looked around.

However, she couldn’t find anyone other than them in the drawing room, so she placed her head back in its original position.

“…..”

“…..”

Aeli, who made eye contact with Noel, who had been staring at her intently, trembled her pupils slightly and exclaimed.

‘Ah… I’m that thief?’

Aeli, the former count’s daughter, former duchess, and now her son’s nanny, was greatly perplexed.

She had caused many accidents, but she grew up without lacking anything and received an education that was second to none.

So naturally, she had never laid hands on someone else’s belongings even once in her life, but she was accused of being a thief?

As she froze somewhere between absurdity and bewilderment, Noel, who seemed to think something of her, clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.

Aeli watched in a dazed state as the brooch she had attached to her chest landed on Noel’s palm.

Lutis opened his mouth at Aeli, who had suddenly had the brooch she made herself taken away and was accused of being a thief.

“…You seem to have misunderstood. That item is something I gave to her, so it wasn’t stolen.”

“And it’s also something my sister made and gave to the Duke as a gift. Has the Duke become so out of his mind that he would give an item he received as a gift from his deceased wife to his new lover?”

“…..”

“In that case, I must take the young master to Mason even more so. It’s clear to see how a child raised by such parents will turn out.”

Noel, who enunciated as if chewing out the words in a low voice, glared at Aeli and Lutis.

Aeli, who felt genuinely wronged for the first time in a while at the expression that seemed to think they were in cahoots, bit her lip hard.

This conversation really wasn’t going anywhere.

‘…If I’m going to get scolded anyway, I should say it’s me for now.’

If he really couldn’t believe it, she could even perform a grave excavation show right in front of his eyes.

If she showed him the empty grave or the coffin in the underground chamber and explained, even if he didn’t completely trust her, he wouldn’t be able to act rashly.

Of course, they were innocent, but even if he thought she had been revived through black magic or preservation magic, he wouldn’t be able to reveal it anywhere unless they all died together.

Although it was a somewhat mean and coercive method, given Noel’s personality, he wouldn’t believe her even if she talked nicely, so Aeli was about to open her mouth.

“I’ll explain that−”

“I’m the lady’s brother, and I even directly repaired the magic she had cast on the brooch, so I think I have this much right to speak.”

As if he thought she was trying to take the brooch back, Noel put the brooch in his inner pocket and spoke.

Aeli turned her head towards Noel and opened her mouth blankly.

…What did he say?