The Maid With a Child

2. The Identity Of The Baby.

 

Even though they knew it was nonsense, they said whatever they wanted because they didn’t know anything, and that’s how it ended up like this.

It was a disaster caused by people who were all unmarried or didn’t have children around them.

In the meantime, the baby kept crying and reached his limit, his face turned red as if he was about to suffocate.

“…How about soaking some bread in soup and feeding it to him?”

Adelen suggested again, pretending to take a look.

“Oh, yeah, that’s it!”

Those who had become thoughtful surrounded Adelen and started running to the kitchen. Adelen also ran frantically while holding the baby in her arms.

“Soup, soup! Bread!”

They looked like a group of thieves who had just broken into the kitchen.

The kitchen servants who had just started preparing a meal for the master and the knights stopped in surprise.

“Hurry!”

The kitchen servants completed their assessment of the situation with the baby on the verge of suffocation and the urgent cries.

It was the baby that the master had left for them to raise! That baby was on the verge of suffocating from crying!

The kitchen servants put everything aside and prepared baby food.

“Eat, eat, please, eat…”

The people watched the spoon going into the baby’s mouth and begged with their hands held together.

The spoon went right into the baby’s open mouth.

“Uh.”

The baby stopped crying and licked his lips. The tension in the kitchen made even the sound of breathing audible.

Gulp.

The moment they saw the food going down the baby’s throat, the people clenched their fists and cheered silently.

They did it. They raised the baby… for ten minutes as the master had commanded.

Ten minutes had barely passed.

These ten minutes were like hell.

“Ugh…Raising a child is really hard.”

In an instant, the people who had become tattered groaned and fell down.

Adelen also took a deep breath and brought the next spoon to the baby. The baby who had tasted food once eagerly ate it. One of the people who were watching the scene while lying down suddenly asked,

“So who is this?”

“Erghh…”

“Our master?”

“…Um.”

All answers ended with ‘Our master?’

“What about our master?”

The other servants all knew, but Adelen did not. She had never been curious, wondering if she would ever see her master, who spent most of his time in the palace or on the battlefield.

The master who brought the bloody smell of the battlefield was certainly scary enough to make her shiver just by looking at him from afar.

However, appearances do not necessarily reflect people’s personalities.

“Our master is…..”

“Um….”

They were whispering among themselves, but it was still difficult to openly evaluate their master. The servants looked at each other and finally one spoke up.

“He is a great general.”

“Yes?”

“So… he was born to be active on the battlefield?”

“You say he is great at martial arts?”

“Of course, that is also true, but, uh, in terms of personality and temperament, he is a perfect fit…. You know some people just don’t fit in. They faint at the sight of even a drop of blood from a needle.”

“Ah!”

Adelen found the correct expression.

“He has no blood or tears?!”

“That’s right!… No! Our master hates people who don’t do their jobs properly and do useless things the most. There’s no way someone like that would take on a job that isn’t his out of pity.”

The servant, who had happily agreed to her conclusion, hurriedly cleaned up the mess. However, everything that needed to be said had already been said.

Adelen combined the first impression and behavior of the master she had seen briefly, and the servant’s evaluation to mentally organize what kind of person he was.

‘A person who is best left undisturbed.’

The way of life changes depending on the master’s personality.

Some masters will throw you a coin if you cling to them, while others find being distributed a nuisance.

Her new master was the latter. If he was the type of person who strictly divides what he should and should not do, then the servants were likely to be nagged beyond imagination.

“So who is this?”

The topic returned to the baby again.

The identity of the baby was indecipherable no matter how much you looked at it, it was a mystery.

Then, one person shouted as if they had realized the truth of the universe.

“Ah!”

“What!”

With everyone’s attention focused on them, the person who realized the truth excitedly began to explain in a logical manner.

“If he is this young, he must have been born during this war, right?”

“Right?”

“Then, if you calculate the time he was in his mother’s womb, he might have been born right before this war broke out? If he was born a little late, he could have been born early in the war, right?”

“Uh…That could be possible, right?”

The exact age of the baby was unknown, but it was a rough guess.

The person who was speaking earlier lowered their voice as if they were revealing a secret.

“Could it be our master’s…?”

Everyone’s eyes simultaneously turned to the baby’s hair. Brown hair with blue-tinged brown eyes.

The master had gray hair that was like ink soaking into silk and light blue eyes that were close to lavender.

There was no resemblance.

“They don’t look alike though?”

“Wouldn’t it make a bit more sense if he was with a brown-eyed woman?”

“That’s too far-fetched. And, if it were his child, he wouldn’t have brought it like a piece of luggage and thrown it like a ball.”

“It could be possible if it was our master, right? If it was a child born by mistake…”

“Or maybe the woman died in the war and he had no choice but to bring it….”

When many people’s minds were gathered, creativity was unleashed in a great extent.

However, those who had been pondering for a long time came to the same conclusion at the same time.

“… Our master?”

There’s no way that would happen.

Everyone shook their heads at the same time.

“Why? I think it’s plausible.”

Only Adelen tilted her head and voiced her dissenting opinion.

It all sounded like a plausible story. Why were they all shaking their heads so firmly?

“Our master doesn’t get close to women.”

“Ah, is he close to men….”

“Shh!”

Adelen, who had been speaking without prejudice, was scolded and shut her mouth in an instant.

The servants were deep in thought and, not satisfied with scolding her, covered Adelen’s mouth and looked around.

“If the master heard that, your neck would really fly off.”

“Huh?”

“Our master! Just! Is so busy with state affairs that he doesn’t have time to care about women!”

“Ah, ah. Yes, yes.”

“He’s not unpopular at all!”

“Yes….”

They say a strong denial is an affirmation….

However, Adelen nodded obediently, showing off her outstanding maid spirit.

Since long ago, it’s easier to live in this world without an ego.

Even though Adelen obediently agreed, the servant continued their rambling without stopping, as if it was a nightmare that they couldn’t shake off.

“There was a man who thought like you and was caught…..”

“Then…?”

“Master is the type who never uses force unless it’s a battle situation….”

“Then…?”

“All his facial bones were blown out. With one punch.”

“Hic.”

Adelen’s face became the same as the servants’ and she cowered.

She thought that people’s appearances and personalities might not always be the same, and tried to defend her master, but she took that back.

The master was someone whose bloody aura could be felt from the outside and emanated from the inside.

“Ah, why does the child’s identity matter? Since the master ordered us to raise him, the most important thing is to raise him well!”

“That’s right! We are Sigelion!”

The servants all clenched their fists and shouted.

We are Sigelion!

It was a rallying cry that I had never seen in any other house. Sigelion’s servants especially emphasized their sense of belonging to the family. It seemed to be because they were a family of knights. Adelen, who was still not yet fully immersed in the sense of belonging, clenched her fists.

“Yes! I’m Sigelion!”

“That’s right! So Adelen. Break a leg. We only trust you!”

“…Yes? Wait a minute. Only me? What are you talking about?”