“It’s crumpled. Straighten it out.”

“Is that so? Ah, I see. There’s soot on my hands. This is a trace of being burnt.”

“Burnt?”

It seemed like the children had found something in the top room of the tower.

When Lion entered the open door, there were many items like a warehouse storing goods.

However, everything was charred—portraits, burnt children’s items, vases, and more.

It seemed like they were storing items after the unfortunate fire.

He wanted to tell the children not to stay between these items with such stories, but,

“Wow. It could be misunderstood. I have crimson hair like me, right? What if one of those three is a lady? Ah, I should have done better.”

“Your hair color is just like Mia unnie’s…! She said it’s nice to have a sister with the same hair color.”

“Huh? What’s that? Thanks. Even though I’ve heard it several times, it sounds good.”

“Uh-huh!”

It was a conversation between Mia and Nia as they looked at the remaining portrait of the Duchess in the tower.

Listening to that conversation, Lion thought it might be better to leave the children alone.

‘It’s better not to force them to go down and find out the story.’

Lion quietly watched the children explore like visiting a museum, and while they played, he waited, reading a book placed nearby.

As time passed, the golden sunset colored the book he was reading yellow, waking him up.

Lion raised his head abruptly and looked for the children.

The quiet children had already fallen asleep on slightly charred cribs.

He contemplated waking the sleeping children there, but ultimately, he decided to leave them alone for a while since Lucia would have a challenging journey ahead when she returned.

And while waiting, he went out to a narrow terrace where the golden sunset was illuminating.
It was a small terrace without a roof, but the scenery was refreshing at a glance. The peaceful sky, where birds flew freely, stretched widely, presenting a landscape of the entire capital of the kingdom. The warm golden roofs glowed, creating a picturesque view. It was an unexpected turn of events, but for him, such leisure was quite rare.

Then, it happened.

Suddenly, he felt a presence right next to him.

“Thank you for looking after the children.”

A quiet but clean voice with a refreshing scent.

Even without looking, he knew who it was.

However, Lion was somewhat surprised by the words that came out of her mouth and quickly turned towards Lucia.

Then, her white forehead appeared right in front of him.

It seemed quite close as the terrace was narrow.

“…!!”

As he froze when meeting eyes with Lucia like that,

“Do you have some kind of illness? I’ve seen you freeze like that occasionally.”

“…Ah.”

So, not exactly frozen, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

‘As expected, she doesn’t remember.’

Their first meeting at the debutante ball.

It was bitter, but he preferred being remembered as the man who felt nauseous in the memory of the woman he liked rather than not being remembered at all. He smiled faintly.

At the moment when Lucia looked at him with a puzzled face due to his laughter, a choked sound was heard from behind.

“Nia?”

The child who had just woken up approached her mother with unsteady steps, tightly wrapping her thighs around Lucia.

“Let go and go away… Nia, scared.”

The child seemed to have had a nightmare.

However, in Lion’s eyes, her coldly stiffened face stood out.

It seemed like the child had received a significant shock from what the child said.

Soon, the child’s mother lifted her small body, holding her close to her chest.

“Never let go. Swear.”

She patted the child’s back, looking into the eyes of the sun, shining with a light that would never fade.

The gaze of the woman, as if carrying an unspoken burden, was never light.

Lion decided not to question the unique atmosphere between the mother and daughter, who seemed to carry something heavy, and just watched over the direction they were heading from the side.

Always observing the path these two were taking from the sidelines.

That alone was enough to wish for eternity.

“…If there’s a time you want to break the taboo and have a moment, it’s now.”

He quietly murmured, capturing the wind as he gazed down at the dazzling city bathed in golden light along with the mother and daughter.