“Kian. You’re such a good boy. The Duke must be very pleased with you.”

Kian seemed to appreciate my compliment more than anything. He casually touched his nose and scratched the back of his head.

“I’m happy if you’re happy, Mother.”

Sicar, having regained the use of his hand, went back to folding colored paper, and we were able to achieve our goal before dinner time.

All the completed items were put in a glass box. A thousand cranes were sent to Kian’s room and a thousand roses were left in mine.

That night, before going to bed, I visited Kian’s room. I saw him praying towards the box where he kept the cranes, but I didn’t ask about it. I simply hoped that Kian’s precious prayer could be answered.

And I gave Sicar a little help to earn points with Kian after his prayer.

“Look, Kian. These cranes were made by the Duke and me, and that dreamcatcher was made by the Duke.”

Kian embraced me tightly, as if he didn’t care about Sicar.

“Thank you, Mother. I think I’m really a lucky boy.”

Looking at how Sicar’s frostbitten hand had recovered, I thought he might be starting to open up, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Kian. How do you feel about the Duke?”

Kian seemed hesitant to tell me the truth, but he did.

“Well… he’s cold.”

I wondered if it was more important for Sicar to open up to Kian than the other way around.

“Kian. Even though there are times when he is cold, there are good people.”

“There are good people who are coldhearted?”

“Yes. There are people who are coldhearted but have the right thoughts. The Duke is one of them.”

“Is the Duke really like that?”

Kian looked at me with his wideeyed innocent eyes, and I felt a bit guilty, but I was sure that Sicar would not harm Kian more than necessary.

“Of course. He may be clumsy at expressing his emotions now, but one day he will express his warm heart.”

“Will he really?”

“Yes. So you just need to grow up strong and healthy with our love.”

Kian seemed uncertain, but he nodded.

“I’ll think about it.”

After giving Kian the warmest smile I could, I kissed him on the forehead. Kian hugged my waist tightly with his small, delicate hands.

“Sleep well, Kian.”

“Sleep well, Mother.”

I stroked Kian’s belly until he fell asleep, hoping he wouldn’t have nightmares tonight.

Checking the back of my neck, the royal emblem was still clearly visible. If I could hide this emblem quickly, I would be free to roam outside.

Looking at the time, it was about time for Lucy to leave the house.

Please let Reydoks change his mind today.

Reydoks couldn’t shake off the possibility, even though he didn’t believe what Yura had said.

‘It’s ridiculous to believe such words, but just in case.’

So Reydoks left the room only after confirming that Lucy was fully asleep.

Walking alone down the hallway, he kept telling himself that the words of the Duchess were just nonsense.

While Reydoks was putting Lucy to sleep with a lullaby, Lucy, who was watching the twinkling stars in the night sky through the window, remembered an old fairy tale.

It was a story about a boy who missed his mother so much that he walked in search of her on a cold winter’s day and when he fell by the roadside, his mother, who had become a star, came looking for him.

Lucy thought that if she too wandered the streets in search of her mother and fell, her mother might come looking for her.

‘On a day when the stars shine brightly like today, it will be easy for Mom to find me.’

At a time when everyone was asleep, Lucy left the house and wandered aimlessly.

Like in the fairy tale, if she wandered aimlessly and fell, she thought she could meet her mother. Even if it wasn’t tonight, she wanted to see her mother’s face at least once tomorrow night. She missed her mother so much.

Lucy, who was wandering the streets on a cold day, didn’t get far before she fell.

This was what Lucy wanted. She felt a warm touch in front of her eyes as she lay on the freezing cold ground.

She couldn’t see the figure clearly, but from the warm body heat she felt, Lucy knew her mother had come down from the sky.

‘Mom. You came to find me.’

Lucy wanted to open her eyes to see her mother, but she lost consciousness as if she had fallen asleep.

When Reydoks found Lucy lying on the street, his heart sank. Lucy’s body temperature was already chillingly cold.

Leydocks hugged Lucy tightly in the carriage to keep her body temperature from falling further.

He had checked that Lucy was sleeping, but for some reason, he was worried about what Yura had said. He went to check on sleeping Lucy, but she had indeed disappeared and was nowhere to be found.

He felt it was all his fault for not properly protecting his child when he heard from the doctor that she could have suffered hypothermia if there had been a slight delay.

He knew that Sicar was not the type of person to make idle comments, nor was he someone who would be swayed by the words of others, but he pretended not to know because he did not want to hold hands with him.