“Mmm. Mmamma.”

“Wait. I’m getting your food now.”

While grumbling with my mouth, my hands were busy warming up the milk. It’s already been some time since I started living with the child…

“My goodness, it’s been a week already. This is crazy.”

It’s been a week since I asked the detective, who said he wouldn’t speak further with a shameless person who abandons their child, to help me find the child’s father.

It wasn’t a misconception that the look of contempt, which didn’t disappear no matter what I said, seemed to vanish when I mentioned finding the child’s father. Perhaps the detective decided to see me as a somewhat pitiful mother rather than an intolerable human trash.

Either way, it was equally unfair, but what could I do? In this rural village where I fled alone without knowing anyone, and in a situation where I had to hide my identity, that unreliable detective was the only person who could help me.

Although I paid extra and asked him to hurry as much as possible, even though the detective said I’d have to wait about ten days. A week had passed, and there was still no word from the office.

While waiting for contact, my week was literally hell.

You could call it ‘parenting hell’, so to speak.

I, who had never even dated in my previous life, let alone married, was going crazy trying to take care of a one-year-old baby alone.

“Mmummu!”

“I-I’m coming!”

If I were to describe my impression after a week together, a child is truly a marvelous being.

They seem happy one moment, then suddenly cry and fuss, and why do they have so much energy? If I took my eyes off for just a moment, the baby would crawl all over the house, bumping into things here and there, so I couldn’t relax at all.

I really had no idea raising a child would be this difficult. Moreover, I didn’t even bring a maid, which is quite common. I was truly alone, in every sense of the word.

In a world where I couldn’t get help from the sea of information, the knowledge of Naver’s experts, it was really, really hard for a 20-something lifelong single with no parenting knowledge to take care of a child.

The child, who had been sniffling as if about to burst into tears at any moment, became quiet as soon as I gave them the bottle and started sucking the milk with great vigor.

A teardrop hung precariously at the end of the child’s long eyelashes.

When I gently touched the teardrop that looked like it might fall at any moment with my finger, the child made a cute giggling sound while drinking milk, as if tickled.

“…When you’re this calm, you’re really nothing short of an angel.”

I never thought I’d relate so much to the saying that children are most lovable when they’re asleep.

I was incredibly grateful for this momentary calm and peace. Thinking about how I struggled all morning making baby food that I had no business making, ugh. It really made me shudder.

“When on earth is this detective going to contact me?”

Shouldn’t he bring some news after about a week? I wondered if it was unreasonable to expect a competent talent in such a small rural village, even though they said he was the most skilled detective in the village.

The child, who had been eagerly sucking on the bottle, slowly blinked their eyes as if sleepy now that their stomach was somewhat full.

“Feeling sleepy now that you’re full?”

It’s not quite nap time yet, but it seems sleep is coming earlier today. Carefully lifting the child so as not to drop the bottle, I headed towards the stairs.

This small log cabin that I chose as my hideout wasn’t very big, but it had a reception room, kitchen, and a small guest room on the first floor. On the second floor, there was a bedroom, making it perfect for living alone.

“Utcha.”

I quickly pulled out the bottle still sloshing with unfinished milk, patted the small, delicate back to burp the child, and then laid them down on the bed. I didn’t forget to make a wall with pillows to prevent them from falling if they rolled over.

The baby’s lips, already red, had turned bright red from sucking so vigorously on the bottle.

The child’s face, now flushed with a healthy glow, was so lovely that I stood there for a moment, lost in admiration.

Bang bang bang.

At that moment, the sound of someone knocking on the door downstairs snapped me back to reality.

“Who is it?”

Who could it be…? Ah! They must have finally found the child’s father!

Since the only person who would come looking for me was the detective, I didn’t even ask twice before running downstairs and opening the door.

“Why did it take so long? I even paid you extra to ask for your help. If I knew it would take this long, you shouldn’t have accepted the additional payment. My goodness, I’ve been through so much…”

I was about to pour out all the fatigue accumulated over a week, transformed into anger, but as soon as I opened the door, I closed my mouth at the sight of the large man standing before me.

…This person isn’t the detective?

A man with a completely different height, build, and face from the detective I met a week ago was looking down at me.

And he was fully armed, at that.

“…Who are you?”

“It’s been a while, Count Louisette.”

My name flowed so naturally from the man’s lips. It felt like a voice I had heard many times before.

“Who are you? Do you know me?”

The man’s face hardened at my question. Is he someone I know?

“…I didn’t expect to receive a warm welcome anyway.”

“Pardon?”

What is this man saying?

“But I’m not in a position to be turned away at the door.”

At the man’s incomprehensible words, a red flag suddenly went up in my mind. I should avoid this man. It’s dangerous! This seemed to be a warning that Celeste’s instincts were giving me.

My mind, already complicated because of the child, had no room for other thoughts.

I grabbed the doorknob to close the door, trying to avoid the man.

“I think you’ve come to the wrong place. Goodbye then.”

“I said I’m not in a position to be turned away at the door.”

But the man’s hand moved a little faster. In that split second, he put his hand through the gap and pulled in the opposite direction, the action so quick that I couldn’t even try to block it before the door opened. Wide open, at that.

“It’s been a while. Almost two years, I believe.”

The greeting, accompanied by a short sigh, didn’t seem to particularly require my response.

“So, do you intend to keep me standing out here?”

“Uh, well, that…”

I quickly racked my brain. Should I lie and say I’m not Celeste, or should I try to push him away, saying I can’t receive guests right now?

At least until I knew who the man was and what business he had here, it seemed I shouldn’t let him into the house.

“Uh, ex-excuse me!”

But my deliberation was an unnecessary waste of time. Before I could answer, the man took a long stride and stepped into the house.

“How can you just barge in like this without permission?”

“Your tone is as harsh now as it was two years ago, Count.”

I stepped aside, pushed by the man who arbitrarily strode into the house.

Two years ago? Then this man is someone I met two years ago… What was Celeste up to back then?

The man’s muddy footprints marked his path, probably because the dirt road was wet from bad weather. I felt irritated for a moment. After struggling with childcare all day, I had finally managed to find time last night to clean the floor all night. How could I feel good seeing someone trampling through the house with muddy boots?

Regardless, the man looked around the house and then headed for the table in the center of the reception room.

Anyone would think it was his own house. What an audacious fellow. Since it didn’t look like he was going to leave right away, I closed the door.

But who is this man really? Is he someone from the original story? Since I know all the content of the original work, I might be able to recognize him if he’s a character that appeared in it.

Let’s think. Two years ago, Celeste had a lover. The handsome Grand Duke with blonde hair and gray eyes, Franz Albrecht Toskur. The name was too long to remember well, but this man, known as Grand Duke Toskur, was the best villain character in the novel.

“…Franz?”

No, it’s not him. I quietly murmured the name thinking it might be that man, but looking properly, this man wasn’t blonde.

Jet black hair. And his eyes were far from gray. So he’s definitely not Franz. Then who among the men around Celeste had black hair?

“If you called that name on purpose to anger me, you’ve succeeded, Count.”

The man who had stopped walking and turned around at the name Franz had his brows deeply furrowed.

So not only is he not Franz, but he seems to be on bad terms with Franz too.

The man, still frowning as if in a bad mood, jerked his chin as if telling me to come closer.

I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the man while pretending to walk closer.

His black hair, slightly covering his forehead, was neat. His eyebrows, which disappeared and reappeared between his hair strands as he moved his face, were the same black as his hair. Whether his brow bones were prominent or his eyes were deep set, the dark shadows under his thick eyebrows made the man’s face look even sharper.

His long eyelashes sparkled as they caught the sunlight coming through the opposite window bars. Below them, inscrutable teal eyes of unknown depth captivated my gaze.

The black uniform suited the man’s skin tone well. From his broad shoulders to his taut chest muscles and down to his slender, long legs, the man’s appearance was like a painting.

I stood for a moment, trying to jog my memory. In fact, the only characters in the novel whose appearances were described were the protagonist or supporting characters of similar importance. Among them, someone with black hair and teal eyes who was also on bad terms with Franz…

…There was only the protagonist.

So. The male protagonist of the original story who executes Celeste had black hair and blue eyes like this.

Karl Ludwig Johann Albrecht.

He is the Grand Duke of Otaka, the young emperor’s cousin, and the typical capable male protagonist who purges Celeste and Franz and eventually ascends to the imperial throne.

But why is he here?

My mind simply stopped thinking any further. As if overloaded.