~Chapter 17~
Very few people knew that Latryne was not of noble blood from the Grand Duke’s family.
The only ones who knew were the elders of the family and some old, retired officials.
So, the fact that I knew was strange, considering the situation.
I intended to keep that knowledge completely to myself.
Of course, besides the people I mentioned, there were two more who knew about it.
Latryne himself, and Ered.
Ered knew this very well, and that made him closer to Latryne.
“The Grand Duke must be having a hard time.”
“…Actually… a marriage proposal came in not too long ago.”
“What? A marriage proposal?”
I was thinking about various things related to Latryne when the sudden mention of a marriage proposal almost made me bite my tongue.
Seeing Latryne hesitating for some reason, I instinctively stood up and shouted.
“You’re not seriously considering it, are you? Ah!”
Forgetting my injured state, I stood up too quickly, and my whole body felt like it was collapsing.
As my face turned pale, Latryne hurried to help me lie back down.
“Commander, you’re not well. You shouldn’t get up so suddenly…”
“Are you seriously considering that marriage proposal?”
I was back in Latryne’s arms, but I had gotten so used to it by now that I didn’t even mind. I asked him calmly.
Latryne had a strange expression on his face.
Why is he making that face?
“…Why are you saying that?” he asked.
‘That’s what I want to ask.’
Regardless of what I was thinking, Latryne continued.
“Did you already hear about my marriage proposal? I thought you wouldn’t have heard yet…”
Of course, I hadn’t.
I had only recently heard that Latryne would be coming to the imperial palace, so there was no way I could have already known such information.
“Of course I haven’t heard anything.”
“Then why did you react that way?”
“Well, because it would be unfair to Seri.”
“Excuse me?”
Latryne’s eyes went wide. I sighed.
From Latryne’s perspective, getting remarried might be a good idea.
But from Sertien’s point of view, it wouldn’t be good at all.
Sertien is Latryne’s only child, and even now he’s being treated poorly. What would happen if Latryne remarried and had more children?
The result was obvious without even thinking.
He would probably be treated even worse than he is now.
In the short time I had known Sertien, I had grown attached to him. I couldn’t allow Latryne to remarry.
It seemed that Latryne fully understood that too, and he must have realized what I was trying to say.
“Of course, Sertien is my priority. I’ve never seriously thought about remarriage because of that.”
“Then, you don’t plan to remarry in the future, right?”
“For now, yes…”
Feeling relieved, I said, “That’s good… I’m glad the Grand Duke is such a good father.”
Do people get closer faster when they share physical contact?
In the time we spent together, I had grown so close to Latryne that I relaxed completely and leaned into him.
Latryne didn’t seem to react, which made me think he had gotten used to me too.
Actually, it seemed like he was too lost in thought to pay attention to me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing… So you really haven’t heard anything about my marriage proposal? Not even who the other person is?”
I wondered why he kept asking that, but I answered anyway.
“No, not yet. Maybe I’ll hear more details once we return to the palace, though…”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“It’s nothing.”
Latryne turned his head away from me as he spoke.
‘What’s with that disappointing reaction?’
I turned my head away from him as well, looking out of the cave, and saw that the rain was starting to let up.
Seeing this, I gently freed myself from Latryne’s arms and walked toward the entrance of the cave.
“Be careful.”
Latryne hurried to follow me as I moved, his voice full of concern.
Pointing outside, I said, “It looks like the rain has stopped enough. Should we head back now?”
“You’re right… Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m fine. As you can see, I’m completely okay.”
To prove that I was okay, I exaggerated my movements, waving my arms around.
But I overdid it, and once again, I lost my balance and nearly fell.
Latryne caught me and said, “As I thought… It’s best if I carry you.”
“What? But… you hurt your leg too, didn’t you? Can you really carry me up the mountain like this?”
I had noticed earlier that Latryne was limping slightly.
How could he carry me with that leg?
But before I could say anything more, Latryne picked me up and said, “The rain has stopped, so it’s fine. You’re not that heavy anyway. And my injury isn’t that serious, so don’t worry.”
With that, Latryne began carrying me up the mountain.
I had been worried about finding our way through the mountains, but thankfully, Latryne seemed to know the path well and moved without any hesitation.
After our earlier conversation, I felt much closer to Latryne. As I rested quietly on his back, I suddenly asked, “It’s strange… We haven’t known each other for long, but it feels like we’ve known each other for ages. Maybe it’s because you’ve been taking such good care of me…”
“I’m glad to hear that. I feel the same way,” Latryne replied.
Hearing that made me happy.
It was my first time seeing Latryne, but I really liked him.
So much so that I wanted to stay close to him from now on.
Even though people said his former wife looked exactly like me, that didn’t matter to me at all.
Carefully, I asked:
“If it’s not too rude, may I call you by your name? I really want to stay close to you from now on.”
Latryne smiled gently and answered:
“Feel free to call me by my name.”
I could instinctively tell that Latryne felt the same way as I did.
Happy that I’d made a new friend, I said to Latryne:
“Then please call me by my name too.”
“Alright.”
“And… about Seri calling me ‘Mom’…”
“I’m sorry about that. I’ll talk with him…”
Since I hadn’t meant it in that way, I quickly shook my head and answered:
“No, no. I’m fine with it. I thought it might bother you, but it doesn’t bother me at all. So it’s okay to just leave it as is.”
“It doesn’t bother me either. But for Seri’s sake, I should explain things to him properly.”
“That’s true.”
Even though I felt a bit sad, I didn’t show it.
As we continued moving forward, the sun had fully risen in the sky.
And in the distance, I could see a large mansion.
I spoke in surprise:
“Latryne, that’s amazing. It was so dark, but you managed to find the mansion so quickly…”
“I’m familiar with the area. I’ve walked around here often and memorized the layout. The prince used to scold me, asking why I bothered with such things, but… it turned out to be useful after all.”
I laughed at Latryne’s words.
“But since the two of us disappeared at once, wouldn’t the others have gone out to search for us too? What if we miss each other…?”
I was starting to worry that we might miss each other when I suddenly saw someone approaching from a distance.
“Daddy, Mommy!”
It was small, and as it got closer, I realized it was Seri.
Seri’s face was a mess of tears and snot.
I got off Latryne’s back.
Seri ran toward me and hugged me tightly.
“Mommy… Daddy… Why did you leave me again? Why did you disappear again? I hate you both!”
Latryne came closer as well.
Seri looked at him and then ran to hug Latryne too.
“Daddy! Was it because Sertien didn’t listen to you? Is that why you and Mommy were going to leave me like before Mommy did? I’m sorry. I’ll be good from now on!”
“No, Seri. Daddy’s not going anywhere. I’m sorry for disappearing without telling you.”
Latryne comforted Seri and wiped his face.
It seemed that our sudden disappearance had triggered memories of his mother.
He must have been unconsciously worried that his father would die just like his mother.
As I watched Sertien cling to Latryne, unable to let go, I felt sad for him. And then, I suddenly realized that I still hadn’t asked why Erias had died.
Not that asking something like that would be polite anyway. It was probably better that I hadn’t brought it up.
Shortly after Sertien had run up to us, I saw a doctor rushing over as if he had followed Sertien.
“Young Master, it’s dangerous to go off on your own like that.”
The doctor was speaking to Sertien, but he seemed to only just now notice us.
His eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Latrine and me.
“I’m so glad you’re both safe. I was worried something might have happened to you.”
The doctor let out a sigh of relief.
They probably wanted to come search for us sooner, but the heavy rain must have made it impossible.
“Was Seri doing alright?”
I asked, worried.
I was concerned that a maid might have mistreated Sertien.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like there had been any problems, as the doctor replied,
“Yes, although he’s been crying constantly, worried about you two, there were no major issues aside from that.”
Hearing that he had been crying, Latryne patted Sertien’s head even more.
“I was worried something might have happened, so I sent a letter to the Imperial Palace, but the roads are blocked, so I’m not sure if anyone will be able to come.”
Even though the weather had been terrible, the palace had a tradition of sending letters regularly, so they had managed to send one.
They usually used birds trained to fly even in bad weather.
But still, the fact that they’d sent a letter… it was the right thing to do, but I felt conflicted.
