When Logan rushed over in a panic, he found Isabella lying in bed, fast asleep.
The stillness around her was such that, for a moment, he mistakenly thought she wasn’t breathing.
Before he knew it, the servants had discreetly left the room.
Logan reached out a trembling hand toward Isabella’s face…….
There it was, faint but unmistakable—the breath of life in her.
It was when Logan’s face twisted, not knowing what to do.
“Ugh… Waaah!”
The moment Aiden, who had been asleep until just now, woke up, he burst into tears.
As if searching for his mother, Aiden flailed his hands in the air.
But when no one came to hold him, Aiden’s cries only grew louder.
As an overwhelmed Logan was wondering what to do, he saw Isabella’s eyelids flutter at the sound of Aiden’s crying.
That’s right, now is the time.
He had studied how to care for a child.
It’s okay. He can do this.
Logan steeled his resolve and carefully picked Aiden up.
Supporting the head firmly to prevent it from flopping, wrapping his arms securely around the bottom, then holding close to the chest to provide a sense of stability…
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t cry.”
With the softest and most tender voice he could muster, Logan soothed Aiden.
But Aiden’s cries only grew louder.
“Waaaah!”
What to do? Logan looked around frantically and spotted a toy on the bed where Aiden had been lying.
That’s it.
With Aiden clutched in his arms, Logan flailed about and shook the toy for Aiden to see.
“Huh? Why is this happening?”
“Waaah!”
It seemed like everything he did was only making matters worse.
“Stop crying, please.”
Everything felt so new and awkward.
Clumsy and almost ridiculous.
But Logan didn’t give up, and kept trying to calm Aiden down.
“Uh… Waaah…”
And then, as if Aiden could sense Logan’s desperate heart, the crying gradually began to subside.
Let’s give it a try.
Logan daringly covered his face with his hand and then, revealing an exaggerated, goofy expression as he lowered it.
“Peek… a… boo?”
“…”
“…”
Just as Aiden’s face seemed to freeze in seriousness, Logan, feeling embarrassed, was about to turn his head away.
“Hehehe?”
Aiden cocked his head inquisitively, his face a mix of bewilderment at what he was seeing.
That made Logan feel embarrassed as well.
He suddenly sensed a strange gaze from the side and turned to look.
But Isabella was still asleep.
Logan turned back to Aiden and lowered his voice even further.
***
“Pfft.”
Isabella couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing, even as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“I actually remember.”
“You remember?”
Logan’s pupils shook aimlessly.
‘Surely not, it can’t be. It shouldn’t be. It mustn’t be.’
He silently wished, as if casting a spell within his mind.
But, regrettably, his spell had no effect.
“I still wasn’t completely sure until now.”
Isabella continued as she recalled the memory of that day.
“I thought I heard some noise, so I briefly opened my eyes, and there you were, holding Aiden, shaking your head and making a funny face.”
Isabella clearly saw it.
Every single detail, very accurately.
“I was half asleep, and I thought maybe it was a dream.”
“…”
“But it wasn’t a dream, was it?”
Isabella smiled at Logan.
“It was real.”
She smiled very brightly.
In that moment, a single thought surfaced in Logan’s mind.
What’s the big deal?
It’s a bit embarrassing, and my face feels like it’s on fire, but she’s so happy because of it.
If this made her so joyful, then it was actually fortunate that Isabella saw him that day.
***
That night, the struggle with Aiden did not come to an end.
The annoyance returned to Aiden’s face, which had seemed to slightly smile.
It was at the moment Logan tensed up that Aiden opened his little mouth.
‘…Could it be a yawn?’
Looking closely, Aiden’s eyes narrowed and he kept opening his mouth; he seemed sleepy.
Of all the secrets Logan had learned, the lullaby was what he was most confident in.
This time, he held Aiden with confidence.
He opened his mouth softly in a low and pleasant voice.
“Lullaby, lullaby, my baby.”
And then Aiden’s eyelids slowly began to close.
Gently dozing off.
Through all the efforts, whether from sheer exhaustion or from Logan’s care, Aiden finally fell asleep after a prolonged struggle.
Cold sweat ran down Logan’s forehead without him noticing.
‘It’s a lot harder and more exhausting than I thought.’
Dazed, Logan stared blankly at Aiden.
Unknowingly, a faint smile formed on his lips.
But this brief moment of peaceful respite was fleeting.
Until the morning sun rose, Aiden burst into tears three more times, and dark circles formed under Logan’s eyes overnight.
Isabella had been doing this every day.
It was wondrous.
That’s why looking at Isabella, who had collapsed, felt gut-wrenching.
Thankfully, the next day, taking care of Aiden became a bit more familiar.
This time, Aiden burst into laughter as soon as he made eye contact with Logan.
Honestly, even though physically weary, it was a mentally enjoyable time.
It was on the third day with Aiden by Isabella’s side.
Isabella still hadn’t opened her eyes, but the doctor said that she should come to her senses today as it was a problem of accumulated fatigue.
So, while looking at Aiden, Logan anxiously checked Isabella’s condition.
That was when it happened.
With two knocks, the voice of the assistant came through the door.
“Your Grace, there’s an urgent matter that requires your signature.”
Having been by Isabella and Aiden’s side, naturally, tasks needing attention had started to accumulate.
But just a little bit longer.
Until Isabella opens her eyes, at least.
Logan was putting off other matters with the desire to be by her side when she woke up, but in reality, it was no longer possible.
With no other choice, Logan had to step away for a moment.
Before leaving, he made a special request to one of Isabella’s servants who had been quietly working without leaving the area for the past few days.
“Your name was Whitney, right? Please watch over everything while I’m gone.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
After Logan reluctantly turned his steps away, about half a day had passed.
It was before Logan had returned.
Isabella’s eyelids fluttered gently. Slowly, she began to open her eyes.
Even in her still groggy state, Isabella instinctively looked around.
“Aiden?”
Her heart skipped a beat, fearing that the Duchess might have taken him away, but then she saw the servant holding and caring for Aiden.
“Whitney took care of you.”
Isabella relaxed her body and smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Whitney replied with a gentle smile. While it had been Logan who had looked after Isabella and Aiden all along, Isabella mistook it for Whitney.
And Logan, who returned a bit late, didn’t bother to correct her misunderstanding.
***
“…”
At this point in the story, silence fell between Logan and Isabella.
Thinking back, it was a misunderstanding that started then. From that time on, completely deceived by Whitney’s lies and acting, she was regarded as a truly caring person for Aiden.
It was a scar and pain that could never be erased, even until the moment of death. And it was all the more painful because it wasn’t them who suffered, but Aiden.
Especially, Logan’s regret was even deeper. If Logan had told her at that time that it was he who had been looking after Aiden all along.
But at that time, he thought it was better not to say it. He had believed that for a while.
“Haah…”
In the end, Logan let out a sigh as he recalled what happened later.
***
As soon as Logan heard that Isabella had woken up, he hurried back. What caught his eye was Isabella, who was receiving Aiden from Whitney and looked relieved.
If Logan had revealed in that moment that he had been by Isabella’s side, taking care of Aiden for the past few days, it seemed as though it would fracture the peaceful expression on her face.
She might feel awkward and uncomfortable with that revelation.
All he wanted now was for her to rest easy.
Logan simply advised her to avoid overexertion without saying much else.
“You should rest for now.”
“I’m fine. I already feel sufficiently…”
“You’ll collapse right here if you overdo it. You have to be aware of your physical state.”
Logan spoke firmly.
With no other choice, Isabella laid back down on the bed. In truth, her body still felt heavy and weak.
And so, for a full week until Isabella was completely well, Logan watched over Isabella and Aiden whenever she was awake.
When Isabella fell asleep, he took care of Aiden so as not to wake her.
Thanks to that, Isabella could sleep through the night undisturbed and could rest comfortably as he had hoped.
Over the course of that week, it seemed that Aiden was gradually coming to recognize that Logan was his father.
You might wonder if a child who can’t even speak yet could understand, but Logan was convinced of it.
As time passed, Logan’s hold became steadier, and his lullabies grew sweeter. At some point, Aiden stopped crying the moment Logan held him.
“Looking at you like this, I can see features that resemble mine.”
It became a pleasant pastime for Logan to find traces of Isabella and himself in different aspects of Aiden’s face as he looked at the child over time.
A smile came to him naturally. For Logan, this time was peaceful and warm because he had spent plenty of time with Aiden and Isabella.
***
“I wish I had known about that at the time…”
If she had, maybe things between the two of them could have started to change from that point on.
Isabella mumbled with some regret, recalling hypothetical situations that had no significance now.
Back then, they didn’t know.
What each other was thinking.
She never imagined there would come a day when she could reminisce about those moments and smile.
But as she thought about it, it was true.
There were several moments and opportunities where the two of them might have understood each other better.
Yet, they missed every chance they had.
And so, her feelings of guilt towards Aiden only grew stronger.
