Special Side Story – Episode 5

Time passed, and before they knew it, it was the day Jeremy started kindergarten.

From the early morning, Jeremy was brimming with excitement.

He was so eager to go that he barely touched the toast topped with his favorite jam, instead insisting on putting on his kindergarten uniform right away.

And now—

“Wow, it’s my kindergarten uniform!”

Jeremy’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the uniform hanging on the wall.

A white shirt layered under a yellow knit vest, paired with black pants.

And to top it all off, a matching yellow hat.

Gazing at the uniform as if entranced, Jeremy suddenly turned his head.

“Will I be able to make friends when I go to kindergarten?”

“Of course.”

Dante smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“You’ll probably make more than a hundred friends.”

“Wow!!”

Jeremy let out a cheer.

Just then, Elze gently joined the conversation.

“Well then, shall we get you dressed first?”

“Yeah!”

Jeremy nodded enthusiastically.

When Dante took the uniform down from the wall, Jeremy eagerly grabbed the clothes in his arms.

Then, grunting with effort, he started putting on the shirt.

Usually, his nanny—or Elze or Dante—would help him get dressed.

But today, they just stood back and watched quietly.

They’d recently been teaching Jeremy how to dress himself.

“Daddy…”

After struggling with the buttons for a while, Jeremy looked up at Dante with a pout.

Dante motioned for him to come closer.

“Come here.”

He fastened each of the buttons one by one.

Then Jeremy returned to his “dressing by myself” mission.

After finally managing to get his legs into the pants, he moved on to his socks.

But—

“Oh dear, Jeremy.”

Watching closely, Elze spoke softly.

“You put your socks on inside out.”

“Oh!”

Jeremy’s amber eyes widened in surprise.

After a bit more fumbling, he managed to fix them properly.

Throughout it all, Elze and Dante waited patiently until Jeremy was fully dressed.

More accurately, Dante looked like he was dying to step in and help, but—

“No.”

Elze’s firm glance held him back.

At last, Jeremy hopped up from his seat.

“All done!”

Now, he looked more or less presentable.

Elze stood and gave his clothes one final adjustment.

Then she glanced at Dante.

“Shall we head out?”

“Let’s.”

“Yes!”

Dante and Jeremy nodded in unison.

Looking at the two of them—father and son who looked like they’d been made from the same mold—

Elze couldn’t help but feel a warm surge of affection.

* * *

Elze and Dante were currently seated on a long bench prepared for parents,

watching as the children took part in the kindergarten entrance ceremony.

“…Aren’t those the Marquis and Marchioness of Offenheir?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard they even came to the orientation, but still…”

Parents seated nearby kept stealing glances at the two of them.

The shock from earlier, when the Marchioness and Marquis had arrived at the ceremony, hadn’t yet worn off.

Slung over Dante’s broad shoulders was Jeremy’s tiny yellow kindergarten backpack.

The sight left many parents with a bizarre, almost cosmic sense of disbelief.

That ‘Marquis of Offenheir’… wearing a child’s backpack?

But Dante didn’t care in the slightest.

He was wholly focused on one thing—Jeremy, standing among the other children.

“Ha, our Jeremy. What do we do, he’s just too cute.”

Leaning toward Elze, Dante kept whispering into his wife’s ear.

“I really think our kid is the cutest in the world. Don’t you think so?”

“….”

Elze chose to remain silent.

Though inwardly—

‘Well… our Jeremy ‘is’ adorable.’

In his little yellow kindergarten uniform, Jeremy looked just like a baby chick.

Adorably sweet, like something you wanted to scoop up and cuddle.

Yes.

Elze had no choice—she was, after all, Jeremy’s mother…

“Mom! Dad!”

Jeremy glanced over his shoulder and waved his tiny hands excitedly.

Dante and Elze waved back in unison.

Grinning brightly, Jeremy straightened his back and turned forward again with a proud posture.

“He’s so good.”

Dante murmured with satisfaction.

Elze said nothing, but inwardly, she agreed.

At least at this point, Elze thought the entrance ceremony would finish without incident.

But…

* * *

‘What on earth just happened?’

Shortly after the ceremony ended, the Marquis and Marchioness of Offenheir were called into the counseling room.

Elze, unable to hide her disbelief, stared at Jeremy.

“Tch…”

Still fuming, Jeremy sat huffing and puffing in his seat.

His once-neat uniform was now completely wrinkled, with spots of dirt clinging here and there.

At least he wasn’t injured—that was something.

“Well, Jeremy got into a fight with a boy named Albert…”

The teacher muttered awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.

Seriously? How long had it even been since the ceremony ended?

He couldn’t even hold back for the short time before going home?

A deep crease formed on Elze’s brow.

Meanwhile, Dante stared fixedly at his son and then suddenly said,

“Jeremy.”

He called out.

“So, did you win?”

“Ugh.”

That strange groan came from Dante because Elze had pinched his side as hard as she could.

Jeremy answered proudly,

“Yes!”

“Jeremy, you can’t fight with your friends.”

Elze couldn’t hold back any longer and jumped in.

She never imagined he’d get into a fight on the very day of his entrance ceremony.

“So why did you even fight?”

At that, Jeremy looked deeply wronged and shouted loud enough to echo through the entire room.

“Albert said he has two younger siblings! He bragged about it!”

Then, practically yelling:

“He asked me why ‘I’ don’t have any siblings!!”

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence fell.

Elze genuinely never imagined ‘that’ would be the reason for the fight.

Then Jeremy’s expression crumpled into a pout as he whined.

“I want a little brother too. Okay?”

Elze instinctively glanced at Dante out of the corner of her eye.

Naturally—he was the one who kept putting off any plans for a second child.

Meanwhile, Dante had gone completely stiff.

“Well, about that… a little brother…”

Trying to respond, Dante bit down on his lower lip.

Elze fought back a laugh that was threatening to spill out.

This was supposed to be a parenting moment, after all.

But still, seeing that usually unbothered man flounder like this…

‘Cute.’

…And once you start thinking someone is cute, it’s all over.

Elze let out a deep sigh inwardly.

It was clear now—she had fallen far too deeply in love with Dante.

* * *

The children’s fight was, more or less, resolved without issue.

Neither set of parents had any intention of turning the situation into something bigger in the first place.

(Although, Albert’s parents were completely stunned when they unexpectedly came face-to-face with the Marquis and Marchioness of Offenheir.)

With their faces still puffy from crying, the two children exchanged a handshake of reconciliation—followed by a hug.

Jeremy promised that, no matter how upset he got in the future, he would try to talk things out first.

(Though Dante ruined the moment a little by saying, “Well, if you’re going to fight, you’d better win,” earning a cold glare from Elze.)

And so, the day finally came to an end.

That evening, as Elze was brushing her hair in front of the mirror, she suddenly looked at Dante through the reflection.

“Dante.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think?”

Elze shrugged lightly.

“About Jeremy being upset that he doesn’t have a little sibling.”

“Well…”

Dante found himself at a loss for words.

Elze asked playfully,

“With how much he wants one, are you really still against having a second child?”

“But… it was so hard for you.”

Dante replied with a downcast look.

Elze let out a deep sigh.

“Seriously, how long are you going to keep bringing that up? I told you I’m fine.”

“But still—”

“Why would I hate having the number of people I love most in this world go from two to three?”

In that moment, Dante’s red eyes trembled visibly.

Elze was now calling him “one of the people I love most in the world.”

That truth alone filled him with overwhelming joy.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Dante swept Elze into his arms.

Wrapped around his neck, Elze asked softly,

“If we do have a second child, would you rather have a daughter or a son?”

“Obviously a daughter—one who takes after you.”

With that, Dante pressed a deep kiss to Elze’s lips.

Their night as husband and wife was just beginning.