Chapter 112
“Mother! Mother! This cake is really delicious!”
Zephyr Humphrey excitedly stomped his feet as he stuffed his mouth with the cake Leonhard had given him. He wanted to share this delicious treat with his beloved mother, Laila, and offered her a fork.
“Oh my, it’s tasty, isn’t it?”
“Right?”
Seeing Laila’s gentle smile, Zephyr became even more excited and ran over to his father and grandmother, who were talking.
“Father! Grandmother! Try this cake! It’s really good!”
Recently, both of them hadn’t looked very happy, especially his grandmother. He had heard words like “Winston” and “Frost” being mentioned, but as a child, Zephyr didn’t understand what was going on.
He just wanted them to feel better by eating something delicious.
However…
“Zephyr, what kind of behavior is this?!”
His grandmother, Anna, snapped in a sharp voice, making Zephyr shrink back.
As he stood there, teary-eyed and holding the cake, people around them glanced over. Anna, noticing their stares, lowered her voice and whispered harshly to Zephyr.
“Do you even understand the situation we’re in? Didn’t I tell you yesterday to be careful with your actions here?”
“I… I just wanted Grandmother to have some delicious cake too…”
“Forget it. Do you think I could eat something when I know who prepared it? I don’t even want to see it. Get it away from me.”
Although she was talking about the cake, it felt like she was rejecting him personally. Zephyr bit his lip, holding back tears.
“Zephyr, Grandmother is not in a good mood right now. Go back to your mother, okay?”
Arthur, his father, gently pushed him away, glancing nervously at Anna.
When Zephyr returned to Laila, his eyes were filled with tears. Laila felt both sadness for her son and frustration toward Anna.
‘No matter how much she resents Winston, how could she be so harsh to her own grandson?’
When the invitation from Winston had first arrived, the Humphrey household had been in chaos. Malrus, who had already suffered from the traps set by Hestia, had exploded in rage upon hearing the news.
Ever since Malrus had been briefly imprisoned, their family had been on edge. Problems kept arising, and Malrus was constantly on guard. Because of this, Anna had also grown increasingly tense.
They used to be a somewhat harmonious family, and Zephyr had always been adored by his grandparents. But now, every day felt like walking on thin ice.
To make things worse, Malrus couldn’t even attend this event himself. So before they left, he had placed his hands firmly on Zephyr’s small shoulders and said:
“You are our last hope now. You must befriend the young lord at any cost! Do whatever it takes! If you can’t win his favor, then find a weakness to use against him. Zephyr, you’ll do this for your grandfather, won’t you?”
It was less of a request and more of a threat.
Zephyr was a shy and gentle boy, not someone who could easily scheme or manipulate. Laila hated that he was being dragged into the dirty affairs of adults.
She had begged her husband, Arthur, to step in and talk to his parents.
“You know how things are right now, Laila. Please understand. My parents are already on edge. I’ll tell Zephyr to just pretend to be friendly, nothing more.”
Malrus was old enough to pass on his title, yet he still refused to let go of his control over the family. Arthur had grown up under his parents’ strict rule, so he never had the courage to defy them.
Laila had always known this about him, but now she resented how weak he was—how he couldn’t even protect their own son.
“I’m sorry, my son. I should have warned you that Grandmother wasn’t in a good mood today.”
Laila gently patted Zephyr’s back as he sniffled.
“I just… I just wanted Grandmother to be happy after eating something yummy… But I think she doesn’t like me…”
Seeing her son cry quietly, afraid to sob too loudly in front of others, Laila’s heart ached.
‘Such a sweet child… Why can’t she see that?’
At that moment, a cheerful voice called out nearby.
“Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”
Laila turned in surprise.
“L-Leonhard, my lord!”
Leonhard, seeing Zephyr’s teary face, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his tears.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
Zephyr sniffled and shook his head.
But the tears kept coming, so Leonhard glanced around, then quickly picked up a plate. He filled it with delicious cookies and cake before handing it to Zephyr.
“These are all my favorites! Hestia and Uncle brought in famous pastry chefs just for today. They’re really good, so try them!”
Zephyr hesitated, then took a bite of a cookie.
“It’s… tasty…”
“Right?!”
Leonhard grinned.
Before long, he kept offering more snacks, and Zephyr, like a little bird, quietly accepted them one by one.
His tears dried, and soon, the two boys were laughing together.
Laila was stunned.
Zephyr was not easy to comfort once he started crying. It usually took a long time to calm him down. Yet, Leonhard had done it effortlessly.
“Let’s go try some other treats together!”
“Okay!”
Before she knew it, the two had become close, holding hands as they walked away.
Laila was speechless as she watched Leonhard introduce Zephyr to the Frost siblings.
“Why was he crying?”
A voice beside her made her jump. It was Hestia.
Seeing the woman who was constantly insulted by Malrus and Anna standing before her, Laila’s mind went blank.
Yesterday, she had managed to stay in the background while her husband and mother-in-law handled things. But now, she was alone.
She looked back and, as expected, saw Anna glaring at her.
‘Behave yourself!’
Anna’s fierce eyes carried a silent warning. Laila swallowed nervously.
“Oh, um… He was just a little upset… He wanted to give his grandmother some cake, but she refused, so he got sad. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Hmm…”
Hestia glanced at Laila’s awkward smile, then at Anna, who was intensely watching their conversation. She quickly understood what was happening.
“I thought he was hurt. Leonhard suddenly ran over to him.”
“…The young lord?”
“Yes. I told him that he has a cousin around his age, and he was really excited to meet him. So when he saw a boy his age crying, he couldn’t ignore it.”
Laila was speechless.
She had only ever seen adults scheming and calculating their every move. But here was a child who had acted purely out of kindness.
“He’s not hurt, right?”
“Ah, no, he’s fine.”
“That’s good. It looks like they’re having fun now. They’re all laughing.”
Laila turned to look.
It was true—Zephyr was laughing loudly with the other children.
‘My son…!’
Zephyr had always been shy. Even when Laila encouraged him to make friends, he had never been able to open up.
Yet now, for the first time, he was playing happily with children his age.
“It would be nice if they became good friends. Having someone the same age is important.”
Hestia’s words made Laila hesitate before quietly asking,
“…Do you really want my son to be close to the young lord?”
She was really asking: Even though our families don’t get along, you don’t mind them being friends?
Hestia noticed Laila’s trembling shoulders and the way she kept looking at Anna. She smiled.
“Of course. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be friends.”
Laila pressed her lips together.
“Children should be allowed to grow up as children. They don’t need to be burdened with adult problems.”
With that, Hestia walked away, leaving Laila deep in thought.
And for the first time, a crack appeared in the Humphrey family.
“Yes!”
“The cookies were really delicious!”
“The first layer of the cake was chocolate, but the second layer was whipped cream flavor!”
“The pudding melted in my mouth right away!”
Except for the older kids around Elvin’s age, all the younger children were excitedly chatting.
As the room quickly became noisy, Hestia calmed them down.
“Since everyone has eaten well, it’s time to digest now, right?”
“Digest?”
“Yes, would you all like to follow me?”
As Hestia led the way, the children eagerly followed behind her, just like in the story of the Pied Piper.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
