“Leo.”
Erin called out lovingly while holding the child in her arms.
Raising a child was a series of unexpected moments, and every day the child grew rapidly.
Suddenly, Leo began to roll over and then started crawling.
It felt miraculous, as if he were operating in his own separate timErine.
“Recently, it looks like he wants to walk on two legs. He keeps trying to put strength into his legs.”
“How can those tiny feet stand up?”
Aiden muttered as if he couldn’t imagine it.
No matter how he looked, it seemed impossible for the child to find his balance.
Yet, whenever Leo tried to stand on his two feet, Aiden would support him enthusiastically.
That was when.
“It’s nice to watch Master Leo, but both of you need to eat this.”
Mona came up with what appeared to be two bowls and offered them.
“Erin. Eat up quickly.”
“The Duke needs to eat as well.”
“It’s no use for me to take something to bolster my strength….”
“What are you saying! Your Grace, your face has gotten so thin… If you look at your earlier portraits, you can see how much weight you have lost….”
Erin motioned with her eyes to hurry and eat as Mona chided with advice full of concern. It was only after the two had ingested the medicine that Mona allowed herself a satisfied smile.
“You both need strength to be able to take care of Lord Leo. So, make sure to take this daily from now on,” Mona said firmly, always strict regarding the health of Erin and Aiden.
Indeed, there was no fault in her words; both Erin and Aiden had noticeably lost weight over the past few months.
“I hope you can finally get a good night’s sleep today,” Mona murmured worriedly as she collected the empty medicine bowls.
“I really wish that were possible…” Erin muttered vacantly toward where Mona had exited.
“Erin. It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything today,” Aiden comforted, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“No, Aiden. You’ve hardly slept at all recently.”
“I can go for a month without sleep.”
They continued to exchange words of care for each other, but the conversation carried a weight of gravity, as though they were pitiful figures facing immense challenges ahead.
***
In the middle of the night.
The child’s slumber was fleeting.
“Waaaaah!”
As the child burst into tears, Erin and Aiden’s faces grew dark with noticeable tension.
One thing they had realized while raising a child was that there was no coping with the crying of an infant.
“Why is he crying this time?”
“It can’t be hunger. He just slept, so it’s not sleepiness either. Maybe…”
After Aiden took over Leo, he placed him carefully on the bed and pulled down his pants to check below.
His skin was dry and clean.
“It’s not this either.”
“Waaaaah! Aaah aaah!”
Leo’s cries grew louder.
Erin and Aiden struggled to soothe him in any way they could, trying this and that, when Logan and Isabella approached.
“It seems Leo has started crying.”
Isabella spoke as she came over, and Erin turned to look.
The couple had stayed to watch over Erin as she recovered from childbirth, and then left for their own territory a few months ago.
And recently, they had come to the capital to stay for a dinner meeting with close acquaintances.
“Did you come because of Leo’s crying?”
“We were returning from a walk at night and heard it. Are you okay?”
“It seems like he’s going to cry for a while.”
Erin said this as she patted Leo diligently but also with a sense of resignation.
Once Leo began crying in the middle of the night or at dawn, no one could cope with it.
He cried without tiring, and it had become routine for Erin and Aiden to spend the entire night trying to soothe him.
No matter how much they loved him, they couldn’t help feeling exhausted.
“I bet he’ll have the strongest voice later on.”
Aiden said this with a bit of astonishment at the boisterous crying while he tried his best to comfort the baby.
Erin, who was watching this, responded,
“It seems like he cries the loudest when Aiden holds him.”
“I feel that too.”
The two of them burst into laughter at the same time.
“Waaaah!”
In that moment, as if demanding they not forget his presence, Leo’s cries grew louder, causing Erin and Aiden to fluster.
A scenario no one could have imagined was unfolding.
“Wait a moment. Let me try soothing him.”
Logan, who had been watching, stepped forward.
“You?”
Isabella looked at Logan in surprise as he made his way toward Leo, who was in Aiden’s arms.
“Be careful.”
Isabella, a bit anxious, helped Logan to ensure he held Leo securely.
Aiden also looked at Logan with a skeptical eye, but Erin’s face held an expectancy.
When Logan took the crying Leo into his arms, the cries grew louder.
Just when everyone thought ‘as expected,’
“Uh…?”
Isabella’s eyes blinked slowly.
Erin and Aiden were the same. Aiden’s mouth even fell slightly agape.
And for good reason.
“You’re doing well…?”
“You seem very used to it.”
The ceaseless crying of Leo that seemed never to stop began to lessen gradually, and before long, he drifted into a light sleep.
The way Logan held the child was clearly the most stable for anyone to see.
It was an unbelievable sight, even while they were witnessing it with their own eyes.
Among them, it was Aiden who was especially shocked.
“What kind of trick did you use?”
Aiden’s tone was somewhat rough.
His gruff gaze was fixed on Logan.
Precisely, it was directed at Logan who was adeptly soothing Leo.
It was a harsh look, almost as if to say he couldn’t acknowledge Logan’s skill.
“Trick? It’s skill.”
“……”
The more Aiden struggled to conceal his envy, the more unabashedly Logan responded with his relaxed demeanor, not hiding his pride.
Leo was still sound asleep. His lips parted slightly, and he even made a smiling expression with a soft “Heh”.
“Erin. If Leo cries and can’t sleep in the future, just leave him to me.”
“Yes, Father. That’s incredible!”
As Erin expressed her pure admiration, the fortunes of Logan and Aiden intermingled.
No one had expected Logan to adeptly soothe and put the child to sleep.
Everyone was taken aback. It was clearly not the skill of a novice.
What had Logan done to become so skilled at this?
It wasn’t a fluke.
Afterward, whenever Leo cried over the next few days, Logan would come over and skillfully comfort him.
Each time, Leo would laugh gleefully in Logan’s embrace and comfortably fall asleep.
Each time, Erin, Aiden, and Isabella would be surprised and at a loss for words.
Especially Isabella, who was watching from the side, couldn’t contain her curiosity; it was just too intriguing.
So one day, after finishing dinner preparations early, she deliberately set aside time alone with Logan in the garden under the pretext of teatime.
Then she seized the moment to ask Logan.
“Why do you take care of children so well?”
“Um. Well…”
As Logan hesitated and averted his gaze, appearing embarrassed, Isabella’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, prompting Logan to speak up, tense with nerves.
“I’ve had some experience.”
“Experience?”
Logan’s explanation risked being gateway to even greater misunderstandings.
“That’s not it… Before…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Isabella nodded, recalling the memory.
It occurred to her that Leo seemed to cry a lot like Aiden.
“But what does that have to do with it?”
It was a question implicating what Logan’s ability to soothe children had to do with the situation.
In Isabella’s memory, Logan had never been familiar with taking good care of Aiden. Perhaps…
Receiving Isabella’s quizzical look, one that clearly suggested she couldn’t guess the reason, Logan made a pained sound and then let out a low sigh before beginning to explain.
“When Aiden was young, I tried many things to calm him when he cried.”
“…”
“It seems those things have stuck with me.”
Logan touched the back of his neck, looking somewhat sheepish as he explained.
But instead of being convinced, Isabella looked even more bemused.
“When did you take care of Aiden?”
“… Well.”
Logan feigned a cough as if suddenly finding his throat sore.
“When you were asleep.”
“…?”
Isabella’s eyes couldn’t widen any further upon hearing this story that she had never heard in over two decades.
Aiden often woke up crying at night. That was a time when Isabella hardly slept well.
But that period didn’t last long as Aiden soon started sleeping well through the night.
Or had he not actually been sleeping well…?
She was now confused by Logan’s words and curious too.
“Just like with Erin, you also must have been up all night taking care of Aiden.”
“…!”
“Especially since you couldn’t sleep well at night. Your face became so thin that you looked as if you would turn into a skeleton at any moment.”
Surprised, Isabella’s eyes narrowed as she pinched Logan’s arm in a teasing way.
Logan flinched and continued speaking.
“I just wanted you to be able to sleep comfortably at least.”
Without looking into Isabella’s eyes, Logan cleared his throat unnecessarily while his gaze drifted to a spot beside her.
Back then, Logan had devoured various parenting books and called for a professional nanny to get all sorts of advice.
After that, Logan would secretly take Aiden out every night when he cried, and comforted him until he fell back asleep.
Years ago, the two had cleared up a long-standing misunderstanding and spent a lot of time talking and bonding.
Still, for Logan, baring his heartfelt sincerity like this was somewhat embarrassing.
That’s when it happened.
A cheerful laugh, light on his ears, was heard.
Isabella’s eyes curved beautifully.
She stared intently at Logan with a look of amazement.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“….”
“Tell me in detail.”
At that time, she had thought Logan was indifferent, not just to herself but also to Aiden.
But it turned out Logan had been making efforts for her even then.
Even though the truth had come out only now, she was thrilled.
She wanted to share this story with Aiden too.
“Are you really okay with this?”
To Logan’s surprise, he regarded Isabella’s reaction with caution as he asked her.
He evidently did not want to bring up that story if possible.
“That story involves… your mother too.”
At that moment, Isabella’s eyelids fluttered ever so slightly.
Pausing as if holding her breath, she then let out a puff of laughter and nodded her head.
“Please, tell me the story.”
Isabella said, matching Logan’s gaze with a gentle look in her eyes.
“The memories might fade, the bad ones too, especially if you’re the one telling it.”
