Chapter 19
Hey!
Adelen had never before been of such great significance to anyone.
She was someone whose presence didn’t matter, whether she was there or not.
But now, could she have become a little more special to the baby?
The word “special” filled her with excitement.
“Oh, our precious little baby!”
Adelen couldn’t hide her joy, hugging the baby tightly as she rolled around the room.
“Aduele! Aduele!”
The baby, also excited, called Adelen’s name repeatedly.
“Feeling good today?”
The head butler, who had just come in for mealtime, saw the scene.
“Oh, Head Butler! Look at this! Go on, baby, what do you say?”
“Aduele!”
“He’s talking!”
The butler raised an eyebrow.
The baby had brought additional budget changes, special trips for shopping, and a multiplied workload. Initially, he couldn’t look at him warmly.
But seeing him daily, he grew fond of him.
“Did you just say Adelen?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Can he say anything else?”
“Well… Maybe? If taught?”
“Then have him say ‘Shend,’ go on.”
“What’s ‘Shend’?”
“My name.”
(…)
No one would dislike hearing their own name from a baby.
“Baby, say Shend. Shend.”
“Ah-oo?”
“Sheend.”
“Aduele!”
The baby was stubborn.
No matter how many times Adelen repeated it, the baby paid no attention.
It was as if Adelen were the only person in the world, and he stubbornly kept calling for her.
“Adelen, call me Mr. Shend from now on, not ‘Head Butler.’”
“Is it really necessary…?”
The jealousy over not being called by name was stronger than expected.
Only after calling “Shend” a hundred more times, the head butler eventually left.
“Baby, won’t you try Shend, not even once?”
“Aduele?”
“…Guess not. Fine, let’s start with ‘mommy,’ ‘poo,’ and ‘snacks.’”
“Ampah!”
“…….”
It was truly fortunate that the Head Butler wasn’t here at the moment.
The baby seemed to understand what was important. After Adelen, the next most important thing appeared to be food.
“Oh, baby. Your name is Havel.”
But wasn’t one’s own name supposed to be the most important?
Everyone, including herself, just kept calling the baby “baby” or “crown prince,” so his name rarely came up.
At the very least, he should know his own name.
“Havel, can you say it?”
“Ha-eh?”
“Yes, Ha-vel.”
“Ha-veh.”
“Yes, well done. You’re Havel, and I’m Adelen.”
“Ha-veh, A-due!”
Maybe there’s an instinctive feeling about his own name.
While he steadfastly refused to say Shend’s name, he easily repeated his own.
“Um… what else is there?”
While she looked around, thinking of more things to say, it was time for the master to return to the room.
‘What’s the right way for him to address the master?’
As she prepared to welcome the master’s return, that thought filled Adelen’s mind.
It made her look a little different from usual.
“Are you not feeling well?”
Rakalt, who was about to walk by indifferently, paused to ask.
For the master to speak first—it was a chance.
Answering questions was something she could now manage, but starting a conversation still took a lot of courage.
“Oh, no! I’m not unwell… actually, I just have a question.”
“What is it?”
“How should the baby address you?”
Rakalt couldn’t answer right away.
It had never occurred to him that the prince of Morn would need to address him directly.
“Even if he’s a hostage, he’s still the crown prince. It doesn’t seem right for him to call you the same thing I do… and he can’t just call you by name… I’m not sure.”
“But why suddenly bring this up?”
“Oh! The baby’s starting to speak. He even called my name. So, he’ll probably start calling you soon too…”
Proudly, Adelen lifted the baby, chattering on.
“A-due!”
The baby, realizing he was being talked about, smiled brightly and shouted again.
Rakalt frowned.
It really did seem like he’d be speaking fully soon, just as Adelen had said.
The baby was growing faster than expected.
At first, all he could do was eat, cry, and sleep, but now he was crawling around and even starting to talk. Watching him grow made the passage of time clear.
What was supposed to be a matter of days had unexpectedly stretched into a much longer operation.
“Don’t teach him.”
Rakalt deliberately spoke more coldly and sharply.
He had to be cautious about emotions that naturally accumulated over time.
What good would it do to invest emotions in the crown prince of a potential enemy nation with an uncertain future?
“Yes?”
“Why would he need to know my name? So he can remember it and seek revenge?”
“…Oh…”
Once again, Adelen forgot that they were supposed to be enemies.
She quickly accepted this, nodding glumly and starting to step back.
At that moment, the baby pointed at Rakalt and shouted,
“Hey!”
It felt as if all the blood in his body rushed down to his feet in an instant.
Adelen, horrified, covered the baby’s mouth.
“Sir, sir, sir! I… I didn’t teach him that! It… it was just a sound, a sound!”
For the first time in a while, she found herself trembling in front of her master.
She had reached a point where she could sleep soundly while he was up and about, and she could now casually greet him when they passed each other.
Though she still felt tense at times, she hadn’t been as scared as if her head would be taken off in a long while. But at this moment, she couldn’t shake off the fear of death.
“Yes, yes, baby. You were saying, ‘Yay! I’m so happy,’ right?”
“Yay!”
“See, sir? It was just a sound, nothing disrespectful meant towards you!”
“……”
Given the context, it seemed plausible. Rakalt understood this, though the frown on his face wouldn’t go away.
A thought crept in: he needed to set a more definite timeline.
If things continued like this, he wouldn’t be able to capture General Kias or throw Morn into turmoil—he’d just be raising a child in vain.
But neither Adelen nor Rakalt knew at this time that a storm of problems, much larger than the trivial matter of titles, was about to blow away such concerns like fallen leaves.
Adelen awoke to an unusual commotion.
“Baby…?”
Out of habit, she reached to her side, but the baby was still fast asleep.
“?”
She opened her eyes fully and got up. She thought an assassin might have snuck in while her master was away, so she immediately felt tense.
But it wasn’t an assassin who had arrived; it was her master in an unfamiliar appearance.
“Master…?”
It was the time he’d usually be out for knight training. But here he was in the dressing room, being attended to by the head butler as he changed clothes.
After carefully adjusting his collar and sleeves in front of the mirror, Rakalt looked over at Adelen.
“You’re awake?”
This was the most splendid attire she’d ever seen him wear.
Instead of his usual simple, neat clothing or training attire, he wore such magnificent clothing that he looked like a prince from an old storybook.
So, my master has this side to him…
If he always dressed like this, rumors about beheading people or punching out of nowhere wouldn’t have even existed.
Rakalt ordered Adelen, who was staring at him in awe.
“You’re awake, so get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“We’re going to the palace.”
“?”
Adelen just blinked.
The palace? The only palace she knew was the royal palace, and entering it was a distant fantasy for a common-born maid.
“The palace… what should I prepare?”
“Change your clothes.”
“Huh? Me? Why?”
“You can’t go into the palace in maid’s clothing.”
“I’m going to the palace?”
It was as if someone was talking about her life, but it didn’t feel real at all.
Adelen, still in a daze, kept asking questions.
“Yes. His Majesty wishes to see the crown prince.”
“Oh… I see. But why me?”
Instead of answering, Rakalt looked at the baby.
Adelen followed Rakalt’s gaze to the baby.
“A-due! Yay!”
The baby, now well-rested, was looking in their direction with a big smile—a smile that seemed to carry a silent threat that if he were separated from her, he’d cry his heart out.
There was something else in this world that was frightening.
Blood, the master, and… the baby’s smile.
