Rumble rumble. Rumble rumble rumble.

Chirp. Chirp chirp−

The sound of morning birds chirping and wheels rolling echoed through the peaceful forest.

I didn’t even know what state of mind I was walking in, but my insides were burning up.

‘Everyone looks so happy.’

Except for me.

The cheerfully chirping birds seemed terribly annoying.

As I walked along the path, I kept glancing at Kashar.

‘He didn’t come here to kill Louis and Evan, did he?’

That couldn’t be the case.

There was no connection between them yet.

‘But just in case.’

You never know what people might do.

We soon arrived at the kitchen door. The door was wide open.

At that moment, Kashar, who had been silently following behind me, spoke up.

“By the way, what did you hit me with?”

At that question, my eyes naturally fixed on the wall by the kitchen door.

There, unused earthenware pots were displayed.

“That… those.”

I carefully pointed to the earthenware pots.

Naturally, his gaze stuck to my fingertip and then shifted to the pots.

“…Pottery?”

That’s right. The earthenware pot was a K-pottery recognized worldwide.

As I watched his expression change moment by moment, I had a slightly different thought.

‘If I hit him one more time.’

Wouldn’t everything be alright then?

But the miracle of him getting hit by the pot again wouldn’t happen.

‘What should I do.’

It was the time when the children should be deep in sleep.

My heart felt like it was burning up with anxiety.

“If you’re trying to buy time, you’d better stop.”

Along with a warning not to have stray thoughts.

“Umm, Eileen?”

That’s when it happened. A youthful voice caught my attention.

“Lord Louis?! Lord Evan too…”

The children I thought were surely asleep were standing on the other side of the kitchen in their pajamas.

Louis, who still seemed drowsy, was rubbing his eyes but tilted his head curiously at Kashar behind me.

Evan also seemed wary of the stranger, pulling Louis’ body towards himself.

‘We’re really screwed.’

The three people who shouldn’t meet right now were all gathered in one place.

‘Who could have known it would turn out like this?’

As I was lamenting, Louis came trotting over.

“Who are you, mister?”

With each blink of his innocent-looking eyes, my heart sank along with it.

‘Please be quiet, Your Highness!’

I pleaded inwardly, but it didn’t reach Louis.

Kashar just remained silent, as if this situation was beyond belief.

After a moment, Louis, who had been thinking to himself, clapped his hands together.

“Ah, I got it! Mister, you’re Eileen’s lover, right?”

“…Huh?”

It was a completely off-base guess.

Before I could deny anything, Louis seemed to have already reached his conclusion.

The child emerged from behind me and stood boldly in front of Kashar.

“Eileen belongs to us!”

It was truly a majestic posture.

Kashar’s brow furrowed and one eyebrow raised.

His face, with an expression that said he wouldn’t take it even if given, looked like it was about to explode. My face turned pale in response.

“Lord Louis. Wait a moment. It’s not like that…”

I tried to stop Louis with an awkward smile.

But the child seemed to have seriously misunderstood something again.

“Gasp, could it be. Are you a villain who came to bully us? I won’t let villains get away!”

“Lord Louis!”

Louis was holding up an earthenware pot as a weapon.

Kashar’s eyes looked ominous as he saw the pot that already had a history.

‘This could really turn into a disaster.’

No one would care about the deaths of abandoned princes.

If Kashar set his mind to it, he could kill everyone and cover up the incident.

Since things had already gone this far, I decided to bet on pretending to be crazy.

“That’s right. Lover!”

“What?”

Kashar, who had been silent all along, retorted.

He was dumbfounded, but for me who had decided to act crazy, there was nothing to hold back.

I linked arms with Kashar and clung to him tightly.

“Darling, please relax your expression. You’re making the princes misunderstand.”

“…”

“Why did you come, making things so embarrassing?”

Hohoho. An artificial laugh echoed through the kitchen.

Among the many part-time jobs I had done, there were guest and extra roles.

I decided to make full use of my shallow acting knowledge.

“Is he really Eileen’s lover?”

“Of course. So, Lord Louis, please put down that earthenware pot quickly.”

“Really? A real lover?”

“I’m telling you, yes?”

So please put down the pot. Please.

Every time Louis moved the pot, I could see Kashar’s eyes changing moment by moment. Louis glared at Kashar, seemingly not afraid at all.

I just wanted to die.

As that suffocating standoff continued, it happened.

“Louis. Give it here.”

“No, I have to protect Eileen!”

Evan, who had been watching from behind, took the pot from Louis and put it far away.

Louis immediately looked like he was about to cry, but I inwardly cheered.

‘Nice, Lord Evan!’

I wanted to pick up Evan right then and kiss his soft cheek. Though Evan would probably be horrified.

At this point, I sneaked a glance at Kashar again.

Was it because he had been hit on the head not long ago? Or was he assessing the situation?

Seeing him standing still even as I was acting as his lover, a glimmer of hope bloomed.

‘Could he be unexpectedly gentle-natured?’

Although he was portrayed cruelly in the book, maybe that wasn’t all there was to him.

Evan and Louis were still kind at this point too.

With vague expectations, I tried to subtly push him towards the exit.

“Let’s call it a day and next time…”

“You’re going to send me away like this after putting me in this state?”

He growled fiercely, seeming to have caught on to my intentions.

“Go… I mean, let’s go in together! I was preparing breakfast!”

I guided the way into the dining room as if I had never tried to push him towards the door.

‘I have to live a little longer.’

First, I had to separate Kashar from the children.

I pushed him while signaling to the children with my eyes.

“You woke up unusually early today. Your Highnesses, please go back in and sleep some more!”

“No, I’m going to inspect!”

Louis shouted like thunder and stuck close to my side.

The child was glaring fiercely at Kashar.

‘What is this now!’

Maybe Evan would stop him this time too.

But Evan was silently following me by Louis’ side.

‘Why aren’t you stopping him this time!’

I cried out inwardly, but of course, he couldn’t hear me.

We all moved to the dining room together.

Seating the twins and Kashar, it was quite a comedy.

“Ha, hahaha.”

Broken laughter echoed through the quiet dining room.

Sometimes when a person is too dumbfounded, they become rather calm.

That was the case with Kashar right now.

“Oh my, what’s… Are you a guest?”

Emma, who had come out after hearing the commotion, widened her eyes like a rabbit when she saw Kashar.

“Emma, I need to prepare breakfast, so you attend to him instead.”

“Hup, yes…!”

Before leaving the dining room, I whispered to Emma in a small voice.

“Don’t ever leave the princes and Lord Kashar alone. I’ll be back soon, so stay with them. If anything happens…”

“I can hear everything, so keep the whispering to a moderate level.”

Even my whispering was caught by the beast-like man’s ears.

“Ah, it’s not like that.”

As I turned back with an awkward smile, he grinned crookedly.

“I won’t kill children in my right mind.”

“Of, of course. How kind you are!”

“Kind? That’s the first time I’ve heard such nonsense…”

“Oh, what a joker−!”

As I made a gesture of hitting the air, one of Kashar’s eyebrows raised.

When I quietly hid both hands behind my back, he grinned. It was the smile of a very handsome murderer.

“You’d better prepare quickly. Let’s see how amazing this breakfast is.”

It must really be my funeral day.

Emma stepped forward in place of me, who had stiffened up.

“Duke, I will attend to you.”

Well done, Emma!

“Then I’ll make it quickly and come back!”

I hurried to the kitchen.

‘What should I do now?’

Ingredients were spread out in the kitchen.

Even if I prepared busily, it wouldn’t be enough, and I could only laugh bitterly.

‘Who would have known the children would die before even becoming villains!’

What Kashar was waiting for wasn’t the breakfast I prepared, but an explanation for this situation.

‘In other words.’

If I didn’t prepare an excuse, I was a dead man.

‘But what could I possibly say.’

The explanation was over with that earlier.

If there was anything to gain sympathy, maybe the pitiful princes forgotten among the old palace and people?

‘My life isn’t included in that.’

A bad ending before the original story even begins.

What a wonderful ending it was.

‘What will happen to our princes if I die!’

I clenched both fists.

‘The princes can only grow up properly if I live.’

No matter what anyone said, I was the children’s guardian.

‘A mother is strong.’

With that one thought alone, I picked up the kitchen knife.

‘I need to prepare something so delicious it will wake them up.’

People become gentle when they eat delicious food.

‘No matter how monstrous a man he is, he’s still human on the outside.’

I sighed as I looked at the ingredients.

Of all things, what I brought from yesterday’s dream was.

‘Dried pollack.’

It was an ingredient I brought because the children liked Korean food, and I wanted to eat a refreshing soup.

A rich broth was boiling on top of the fireplace.

I stared at the pale yellow dried fish with confused eyes.

‘I’ll just try it.’

My skill at making hangover soup was acknowledged even by Korean restaurant owners.

I picked up the mallet, recalling only that one fact.

“That’s right! You! Should have! Lost! Your memory! Why! Are you! Snooping around! Someone else’s house!”

Thwack−! Thwack−! Thwack thwack thwack thwack−! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

I pounded the dried pollack mercilessly with the mallet.

Of course, what I was doing now wasn’t violence, but a proper cooking process.

‘I think I understand why people beat dried pollack after a marital fight.’

After a moment of physical labor, my body temperature rose.

I started cooking with the softened dried pollack.

‘I brought soy sauce and sesame oil in advance. I should mince fresh garlic and add it.’

From frequent visits to the dream world, quite a few seasonings had accumulated in the kitchen.

‘It’s not a difficult dish, so it should be done quickly.’

As I stir-fried the dried pollack, radish, and minced garlic in sesame oil, a delicious smell filled the kitchen.

Then I poured in the broth, added bean sprouts that I had grown myself from a kit, seasoned it, and it was done.

“It’s ready!”

Soon after, rice freshly cooked, dried pollack soup, and several side dishes were piled on the tray, enough for everyone.

The steaming soup smelled quite appetizing.

‘To make it warmer…’

I transferred only Kashar’s portion to an earthenware pot and heated it separately.

I couldn’t help feeling nervous.

I swallowed dryly and headed to the dining room with the tray.

There, the princes and Kashar were chatting pleasantly.

‘Did nothing happen?’

The atmosphere seemed better than expected, which was reassuring.

I asked Emma, who was standing in the back, with my eyes if the situation was okay.

‘No problems?’

‘There were so many.’

As Emma shook her head slowly with a pale complexion, an innocent voice was heard.

“But, but. Why is your head like that, mister?”

It was Louis.

Just as I was about to cover my mouth to hold back a scream, I made eye contact with Kashar.

“Ah, this.”

He slowly stroked his messy hair and answered.

“Someone tried to knock me out and abandon me.”

His languid smile strangled my throat.

But Louis’ mischief wasn’t over yet.

“Gasp, were you dumped by Eileen?”

Louis, with his eyes wide open, was adorably cute to the point of wanting to cry.

“…Dumped, huh.”

He chuckled, seemingly finding it ridiculous that he suddenly got a lover and was even dumped.

“If this counts as being dumped, then I guess I was dumped.”

It wasn’t being dumped, but being hit, though.

Kashar’s eyes looking at me seemed to be saying that.

“Wh-when did I ever do that? Darling.”

“Didn’t you say with your own mouth that you were trying to abandon me?”

“Ah, then you’re about to be dumped!”

Louis clapped his hands as if he understood.

I felt like I was going half-mad at this maddening flow of events.