“Uuh… ”
The child, looking at the pale yellow eyes, opened his mouth slightly while dangling in mid-air.
“I came to… greet you.”
The person who lifted the child opened their mouth cautiously.
“…Huh?”
The child blinked rapidly, his neck shrinking, as if he didn’t understand.
And so did Ellie.
‘…Why is the knight commander here?’
Too surprised to approach the door, Ellie froze. Meanwhile, the knight commander, having put the child down, bowed.
“Greetings. I am Sirren Montero, assigned to guard the young master starting today.”
“Oh… Guard?”
“The Duke personally gave this order.”
When Rutus was mentioned, the child raised his head, which had been lowered, to check the knight commander’s face.
Because he was too short to look up at the tall man, his neck seemed to hurt.
Noticing this, the knight commander knelt on one knee and continued.
“I apologize for bringing this up right away, but there are quite a few servants carrying heavy items, including cleaning tools.”
“…Mhmm.”
“If you run around like this and accidentally bump into something, you could get seriously hurt, so it would be best to refrain from doing so for your safety.”
“….Mhmm”
The child, avoiding the gaze of the unexpected new face by rolling his eyes around, slowly nodded. It was the same reprimand Marie had given him a few months ago.
Wondering if the child’s dazed response meant he was dispirited, Ellie soon furrowed her brow and thought.
‘So, was that why Sir Montero was with him this morning?’
To appoint the Knight Commander, whose absence would inevitably cause problems, as a personal guard, leaving behind other personnel who could at least be replaced, is that not a radical personnel move?
‘Instead of doing this, he should have just shown his face in person..’
Ellie wasn’t pleased with Rutus, who was avoiding him for months and constantly creating such situations
How could she possibly smile when she had to continue watching the child, who would get hopeful believing that Rutus cared about them, only to be disappointed again and again
When he never showed his face.
It’s not like he’s trying to play a joke on anyone. Not knowing whether to be exasperated or enraged at this cruel feast of hope torture, Ellie rubbed her chin as she walked slowly.
The child, who for some unusual reason didn’t notice Ellie approaching him, asked the knight commander
“But there are already uncles who guard me in front of my room…?”
“Ah, they will continue to guard you as before without any changes. As for me… I will only escort you when you go outside the mansion, young master.”
“…Outside?”
“Yes. For example, when you go for a walk in the garden or if you have to go out.”
At the knight commander’s response, the child, as if lost in thought, pressed his lips together and wiggled his fingers.
The knight commander muttered to himself, “uncles…,” with a hurt expression, but the child didn’t seem to care.
‘Well, since most of the knights who guard him are a little younger or about the same age as Sir Montero, so it’s understandable, he’s upset.’
If they were uncles, then naturally the knight commander would be an uncle too.
Though he hadn’t married yet and was slightly past the usual marriage age, he was still more suited to the term “young man” than “uncle.”
Of course, even so, from the perspective of a child who had only lived for five years, ‘uncle’ was indeed the correct term, so it wasn’t something I should concern myself with.
Thinking so, she nodded, and then the child opened his mouth again.
“But until now, no one ever followed me when I went… for a w-walk?”
“Well, it’s because the Duke…”
“……?”
“…Ah, well… I couldn’t contact my family due to the war. After taking a leave to return to my estate and urgently dealing with the accumulated work, I was finally able to take on this duty.”
“I see…”
The child nodded quietly, and Ellie let out a small sigh.
Judging from the knight commander’s flustered expression, the latter part of his explanation was probably an excuse he hastily came up with.
That meant that Rutus had been watching even when the child was out for a walk, except when he was in his room…
-……
…That was happening.
Ellie’s mouth gaped open in shock.
‘I was careful just in case, but I did play with Adi and talk when there was no one around!’
That wasn’t all. She had shown the child how to weave a crown of clover and held his hand while making it together, as promised. Sometimes, she would hold him in her arms or sit him on her lap.
When she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, the child would giggle, saying it tickled, and then lie on the ground.
Although she hadn’t acted as freely as she had in the room, so that the servants and the guards wouldn’t notice.
But she had carefully checked the tall bushes around her before holding the child or sitting him on her lap.
‘That…’
…Could it be that he has seen it?
A shiver ran down Ellie’s spine as she tried to gauge the Sword Master’s eyesight.
Since Rutus wouldn’t have seen her, it must have looked like the child was floating in the air and talking to himself.
If he suspected it was magic and questioned the child, that would be a problem. and if he dismissed it as a supernatural phenomenon and gave the child a hard time, that would also be a problem.
-Have… I messed up?
Muttering quietly, Ellie pulled her long hair and gulped dryly.
There was nothing she could do about what had already happened, so she could only pray that Rutus hadn’t seen it. But she had to be more careful from now on.
Since the knight commander was now assigned to escort him on every walk, she could no longer let her guard down.
The child, perhaps hearing Ellie’s frustrated muttering, quietly turned around and made eye contact with her.
“……”
-……
What should we do? The child, who seemed to have had the same thought as her, looked up at Ellie with eyes full of the same question.
Ellie forced a smile and opened her mouth.
– Well… It’s a shame, but let’s be more careful from now on.
“…..”
-…Instead, how about we increase the number of bedtime stories I read to you from one to two? What do you think, Adi?
“……”
Comparing a leisurely walk of one or two hours a day to reading one more bedtime story at night.
It seemed like a loss to call it an equal exchange, and the child didn’t seem very pleased.
Young Master, is there something you left in the study?”
“…”
“…Young Master?”
“No…”
The child was half-turned, facing Ellie, who stood behind him.
Seizing the opportunity, Ellie quickly spoke up when the puzzled Knight Commander questioned the child.
-It must be past lunchtime. Shall we go eat now? Marie must be looking for you.
“……”
Only then did the child sulkily turn back to face forward and nod.
“……?”
The Commander, who was unaware of this entire situation, simply tilted his head in confusion at the child’s nod, despite saying “no.”
* * *
Originally, it would have been the hottest time of day around lunchtime.
However, due to an unexpected encounter with the knight commander, time had passed, and by the time the child finished his meal, the intensity of the scorching sun had already subsided.
While Marie tidied up the dishes, the child, who had maintained a sullen silence, listened attentively to the conversation.
“Young Master, what time should we prepare the snack later?”
“…Will there still be other servants around when I eat my snack too?”
“Probably? Since a large number of servants left from the annex, some staff from the main house had to be transferred to the annex.”
“……”
“I need to stay by your side, but right now, I’m the only one who knows the situation in the annex properly….”
Since Marie had to leave briefly in the afternoon, other maids were keeping watch in her place during that time.
Knowing that fact, the child, who had once again confirmed it with Marie, pondered for a while and looked out the window.
Although the hottest part of the day had passed, it was still a muggy day due to the lingering summer.
“……I want to eat outside today.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay in this heat?”
“Yeah, just have the snack outside. Tell the other maids to leave. And when I’m done eating, let them come out again and clean.”
About an hour or so should be enough. The child murmured this while resting their chin on the back of a couch and rolling his eyes.
Marie nodded and said.
“Then I’ll bring you a drink with ice to cool you down. Shall we say about two hours from now?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you like a smoothie or a juice? Peaches and watermelons are in season, so I think they would be delicious as drinks. Oh, and there are grapes too.”
“Then grapes…and add some honey too.”
Marie replied that she would and finished tidying up the dishes.
After that, as if knowing without being told, Ellie discovered the knight commander waiting at the door, ready to go for a walk, and realized only then.
‘So that’s why he said he wanted to eat his snack outside…’
It seemed he wanted to get revenge on the knight commander, who was the reason he couldn’t go for a walk comfortably.
TL/N: GO GET THE POOR MAN, ADI! LOL.
In order to tease the knight commander, he chose the option of suffering in the hot weather himself, but… he seemed to be concerned about the innocent maids having to stay with him as well.
-Hmm…
Unfortunately, for a knight whose daily routine is to swing a sword all day in even hotter weather, that method would not have much impact.
However, Marie had already left a long time ago, and the knight commander was also right nearby, so there was no way to convey the message.
…Ellie, who had chosen to keep it a secret, subtly avoided the child’s gaze.
Shortly after starting their walk in the garden.
Ellie cheered silently as she looked at the child’s frozen back with a flower in one hand.
“……”
“……”
It was the moment the father and son faced each other for the first time in four long years.
* * * *
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