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nVellian came down the stairs and found Astelle standing at the end of the corridor.

nAstelle was having a conversation with the emperor’s servant.

nSince it was far away, he could only see the side view, but her calm and elegant face was creepy and pale.

nVellian approached in surprise.

n“Lady Astelle?”

nAs he approached and called to see what had happened, Astelle turned around one breath late.

nAstelle smiled calmly at Vellian.

n“Oh, Count. Nice to meet you again.”

nThe face looking back slowly wasn’t different from usual.

nIt wasn’t pale and it wasn’t solid white.

n‘Did I see it wrong?’

nAs he turned to the servant, the middle-aged servant quickly explained the situation.

n“His Majesty took Young Master Theor to the hunting lodge, and I was talking about it to Lady Astelle now.”

n“What?”

n‘The child? Why?’

nThe hunting lodge was a remote place in the middle of the forest.

nThe forest was so wide that it was the villa that was built in case the emperor couldn’t return to the castle while hunting.

nEven if he thought about it roughly, it wasn’t a good place to go with a child.

nBesides, Kaizen wasn’t particularly fond of children.

n‘Why did you do such a weird thing all of a sudden?’

nVellian, feeling the doubt, looked at Astelle standing quietly and found the answer.

n‘No way, is it because of this person?’

nAstelle, standing silent, asked Vellian in a plain tone.

n“Count, how long does the hunting lodge take from here?”

n“If you go on horseback as soon as possible, you will get there in an hour.”

nOne hour.

nIf I leave right now, can I be on time?

nEven if she went as quickly as possible, the medicinal effect will drop immeadiately.

nThe tip of her finger trembled.

nAstelle hid her trembling fingers under the hem of her long cuffs and turned back to Vellian.

nYou should never show embarrassment in front of this man.

nAstelle did not show a tense appearance and tried hard to maintain a calm expression.

nDon’t panic.

nI’m not sure what will happen yet.

n“As I said before, the child got sick of the flu some time ago…”

nAstelle spoke calmly with an unshakable smile.

n“He should taking medicine on time. So I brought a box of pills.”

n“Oh yeah, you said it before.”

nWhen young children are ill, they sometimes continue to take physical supplements or nutritional supplements for a month to two months.

nIt was a spontaneous excuse to remember that there was a nutritional supplement made for the child in the medicine box.

nIt was a hard excuse, but other than that, there was no other reason to complain that she would suddenly go to find the child.

n“I’m not in a hurry, but can I follow along and give him some medicines?”

nVellian looked at Astelle with a little surprise.

nOutside, it was an atmosphere of rain at any moment.

nIn this situation, she is going to go to the hunting lodge and give the child a medicine.

nIt wasn’t really a lot of devotion.

nVellian thought that even his real mother wouldn’t be able to take care of her child like this.

nOr is it because she can’t believe His Majesty?

nAre you afraid to lose the child?

nAlthough Kaizen was a competent emperor who ruled the country well, of course he was not a man who could take care of a child.

nHe didn’t even like children.

nStill, there must be knights and attendants in the hunting lodge, but it was a bit unusual.

n‘Well, I don’t have to refuse.’

nVellian wanted to maintain a good relationship with this dignified former empress.

nTo him, the young emperor seemed to be interested in her.

n“Sure. Because the rain has just stopped. Let’s go to the hunting lodge at this time. Prepare a wagon right now…”

n“No, I would like to ride a horse after a long time rather than a carriage.”

nAstelle intercepted Vellian, who was trying to order the servant, and asked with a smile.

nIt wasn’t a particularly strange request, but Vellian felt a little weird.

nHe didn’t known the former empress for a long time, but as far as he observed, Astelle wasn’t a person who wanted to go horseback riding in this situation.

nWhy are you doing this all of a sudden?

nDo you have to go to the child so urgently?

nHe looked closely at Astelle.

nBut Astelle’s smiling face did not reveal any suspicious signs.

nThere was no urgency or an impatient quiver.

nVellian nodded after a brief silence.

n“Yes, Lady.”

n* * *

nThe cold rain struck the window without fail.

nIt was good until he arrived at the villa, but as soon as he went inside, heavy rain poured out as if the sky had been opened.

nKaizen and the entourage had to be lodged inside the villa upon his arrival.

n“It’s raining again…”

nTheor hung from the window and muttered without energy.

nThe little child’s small hand left a dry handprint on the white frosted glass.

nKaizen, sitting in the study room of the villa and looking out the window, laughed as he looked at the drooping descent without energy.

n“Shall I show you the bear here?”

n“Is the bear here?”

nAs soon as he said that, he approached with twinkling eyes.

nKaizen smiled and woke up from his seat.

n“Sure, there is one.”

nWith a feeling of hoping, Theor followed Kaizen to the hall used as a dinner table.

nThe banquet hall in the middle of the villa was full of various ornaments.

nKaizen took the child in front of a large ornament standing on one wall.

nUnder the wall decorated with crossbows and hunting guns, there was a bear tall enough to reach the ceiling.

nTo be precise, a stuffed bear over 2m with thick brown fur and sharp claws.

n“Is this a bear…?”

nTheor stared at the bear blankly.

nThe bear stood with it palm as large as a plate.

nIn its large mouth, he saw sharp fangs.

nThe bear that Theor thought was not like this.

nA little more fluffy, dongle, and cute smile… he thought it was like a bear doll.

nFar from being fluffy, it was like a terrifying and threatening beast.

nTheor turned to Kaizen with a suspicious face.

n“Is this… a bear?”

n“Yes, is this your first time to see a real bear?”

nThis is a real bear.

nIt was very different from what he imagined, but Theor approached the bear with caution.

nHow big the bear was, even if Theor reached out his hand, his fingertips were barely struck by the bear’s waist.

nTheor grabbed the bear’s leg with both hands.

nStiff brown hair touched his hand.

nCarefully pushed the bear’s leg, but the leg caught between the fur did not move.

nHe whine again and pushed with both hands, but the leg still didn’t move.

nThe bear stood still like a stone statue with its arms out and its mouth open.

nTheor removed his hand from the bear and asked Kaizen again.

n“Why the bear doesn’t move?”

n“Of course it doesn’t.”

n“Why?”

nTheor blinked his blue eyes with an innocent face.

nKaizen did not know how his words would affect this child.

nSo he replied without thinking.

n“Because its was dead.”

nTheor was astonished and could not breathe and looked up at Kaizen.

nWith his eyes wide open and his mouth open a little, he solidified like a stone statue.

nThe child’s blue eyes shook greatly. His little lips trembling.

nAt this point, Kaizen was also a little embarrassed.

nTheor asked as he looked up at Kaizen with a look as if the world had collapsed.

nThe child’s voice was trembling with shock.

n“… Bear… why did its die?”

n“……”

nKaizen was a sobering monarch who led the war at the age of 20, and led to victory.

nHe was also a powerful emperor with dignity that would never be dazzled even in front of several great nobles.

nBut when he faced a young child who was shocked and trembling with his tearful face, Kaizen couldn’t have the courage to tell him, ‘I caught the bear’.

n“Oh… oh, yeah, here’s the hunting gun that my grandfather used.”

nEmbarrassed, Kaizen pointed to a long hunting gun hung behind the bear to distract the subject.

n“It’s an old fashioned firearms gun. It broke down a long time ago, so I removed the detonator inside and left only the outer shape.”

nHe never dealt with a child, but maybe this young boy would like a weapon or something.

nHe explained as hard as he could to get the child to turn his attention.

n“I’ll drop it off, so can you touch it? I can’t put a bullet inside anyway, so you can play with it.”

nThere was nothing to be dangerous even if the child played with it, which is only used as decoration.

n“……”

nBut the answer didn’t come back.

nEven though he pointed at the gun on the wall and explained this and that, Theor vaguely opened his mouth and looked at Kaizen.

nKaizen realized it belatedly.

nThis little kid does not understand what it means, whether it is a hunting gun or a bullet or anything, and has no desire to know.

nThat means that.

nThe child was still in shock, chewing over only one fact.

nThat this surprisingly large bear is dead.

nThanks to this, even if Kaizen said he would show him a rare hunting gun, he didn’t show any interest, far from being happy.

nHe just looked up at him.

nThe blue eyes that were shaking began to get faintly wet.

nNow, the child seemed to cry.

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