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nFrom the time of departure, thin rains began to wet the blades of grass, and within a few minutes, thick rains poured out like a waterfall.

nAstelle ran through heavy rain on a horse borrowed from the castle.

nThe rainwater poured out constantly, and even the front was invisible. The muddy water followed on the muddy road.

nAstelle was running along a small by-way. Dark forests were seen on both sides of the road. In the cool shade, water fog was blooming in the middle of the cold.

n“Lady Astelle? Isn’t it raining too much?”

nVellian, who was following her, shouted.

nAstelle ignored his words.

nAs if she couldn’t hear a word because of the sound of the rain, she kept running forward.

nShe ran for a long time, but she didn’t see a building, let alone a villa.

nThe muddy road caught her ankle like a bog.

nNo matter how fast she run, there was a limit to speeding up because it rained too much.

nIt was difficult to secure a view due to the pouring rain so that the front could not be seen.

nHow long did it run?

nThe whole body was soaked in the rain as if it was covered with water.

nAstelle was running fast and pulled the reins without knowing it.

nThe dark blue sky was dyed black through the constantly pouring rain.

nGradually darkness fell over the rain-soaked birch trees.

nAstelle stared in vain at the sky where she was running in the cold rain.

nA reality colder than raindrops fell into her head.

n‘Time has passed.’

n“……”

nThe medicinal effect has disappeared when the time passed.

nBy now, Theor’s eyes will have returned to their original color.

nAstelle was vacant and she stopped on the road.

nVellian, who had run past her, turned his horse and came to her side.

n“Lady Astelle? Why did you do that?”

nAstelle managed to come to her senses.

n“…No. I’m dizzy for a while.”

n“Are you okay? Would you like to rest under that tree?”

nVellian pointed to the leafy tree and suggested, but Astelle shook her head.

n“No, it would be better to go to the hunting lodge and take a rest.”

nAfter running for a few more minutes along the by-way, a small mansion located in the center of the forest appeared.

nThe two went inside after passing a door surrounded by a high stone wall.

nThe knights who were guarding the door let the two people in with surprised faces.

nAstelle got off the horse and went into the mansion.

nThe whole body was wet as if entering and leaving the water.

nWith every step she took, water dripped from the wet hem.

nThe amazed attendant quickly brought a towel to the two.

nAstelle roughly wiped the water with a towel, grabbed all the shaking minds and slowly walked inside.

nShe felt like walking into the execution site.

nIn some ways, she even thought it would be better to go to the execution site.

nIf she could only turn back 30 minutes of time…

nPlease if I can only get back 30 minutes…

nAstelle followed Vellian and went into a room that looked like a den.

nA cozy warmth circulated in the room, thanks to the flame burning from the fireplace.

nKaizen, who was sitting in an armchair and looking at a book, raised his head.

n“Your Majesty.”

n“Vellian? What’s going on?”

nVellian bowed to him, but Astelle forgot to be polite and looked at the fireplace.

nTo be precise, the child who lying in front of the fireplace.

nIn front of a fireplace burning with a cozy flame, a large dog lay on his belly.

nAnd Theor closed his eyes and fell asleep quietly.

n* * *

nAstelle stood in front of the door and looked at Theor.

nThe child was asleep with his eyes closed.

nHe was crouching down on the floor covered with fluffy rugs and sleeping under a soft blanket.

nNext to it was a dog that she never seen, lying quietly as if to guard the child.

nKaizen followed Astelle’s gaze and found Theor sleeping in front of the fireplace.

n“He got wet in the rain while playing with a hound. Looks like he fell asleep while drying himself in front of the fireplace.”

nThe moment Astelle heard that, Astelle was relieved and approached Theor.

nShe wrapped the child’s body with a blanket that had been covered and carefully hugged him so as not to open his eyes.

n“Your Majesty, can I take the child to the room and sleep?”

n“… Okay.”

nKaizen gave permission while looking at Astelle with a little surprised eyes.

nHe tried to help her, but Astelle wrapped Theor herself and quickly went outside.

nFortunately, Theor fell asleep and did not wake up.

nAstelle headed to the nearest bedroom.

nIt was a small room compared to the castle.

nAs soon as Astelle went inside, she closed the door and put the child down on the bed.

nAnd she exhaled the breath she held back.

n‘Sigh…’

nAs her whole body was relieved, she felt like she was running out of power.

nShe thought she was stuck.

nAstelle slightly lifted Theor’s eyelids.

nCrimson eyes emerged between his eyelids.

n‘If the child hadn’t fallen asleep, he would have been caught.’

nIt was really bad luck.

nAstelle quickly took out the medicine bottle she had hidden in her bosom and spilled it into the child’s sleeping eyes.

nTheor, who had been sleeping quietly, frowned in his forehead and slowly opened his eyes.

nClear blue eyes looked up at Astelle and mumbled.

n“Oh… Mom…”

n“Yes, yes, it’s alright, everything is alright.”

nAstelle hugged Theor and sootheed him.

nAnyway, she was lucky enough to get past the hurdle.

nShe thought.

nAt that moment, a knock was heard outside the door and the door opened.

nThe maid who has been entrusted to keep Theor, bowed her head and went inside.

n“I’m sorry, Lady.”

nThe maid apologized to Astelle, and she told the story that she was forced to be brought here.

nShe said the explanation was detailed, but to conclude, it was just that the emperor suddenly took the child, and there was nothing to do about it.

nAstelle sighed.

n“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”

nEven if the child cried that he didn’t want to go, as a maid, she must have had to take the child away as ordered ny the emperor.

nWhy did Kaizen suddenly bring the child to this place?

nOf course, the child would have wanted to come here, but Kaizen’s behavior didn’t make sense.

nHe didn’t like children from the beginning.

nIt wasn’t even a lively personality to children.

nIt was even more so because he had no younger brothers and no younger relatives.

n‘No way, you haven’t noticed something, right?’

nAstelle looked at Theor lying on the bed.

nTheor was asleep.

nHe muttered with his eyes closed.

n“Bear… dead… puppy… good…”

nHe came far and was tired. He even played with a dog.

nAnyway, now that she put the medicine, she can rest assured until the dawn of tomorrow.

n“Let the child sleep a little longer.”

n“Yes, Lady.”

nThe maid noticed that Astelle wasn’t angry, she was grateful.

nShe bowed her head to Astelle, and she said politely.

n“I will prepare a bath and a change of clothes.”

n“So, she came all the way to see the child?”

nKaizen asked back as if absurd.

nThe rain that had been falling faded again when Astelle and Vellian arrived at the villa.

nThe timing wasn’t good for her.

nThanks to this, Vellian had to wash his body and change clothes with the water the servant prepared for him.

nHe chose the clothes that the attendant brought here, but the size of the clothes was a little big, and the small Vellian wore them, so it was loosely stretched.

nIt felt like a foolish younger brother who took over his brother’s clothes.

n“Yes, Lady Astelle asked me to give the child some medicine. The child is weak and needs to be fed nutritional supplements.”

nWhile answering that way, Vellian felt that Astelle was hiding something.

nKaizen couldn’t know what he noticed.

nKaizen also felt something strange.

n“Where does the child hurt so much?”

n“I don’t know either.”

nDoes the child really have any serious illness?

nHe wondered if the child had a chronic illness that Astelle couldn’t say.

nIf not, can you run in the rain to feed the nutritional supplements to the child?

nVellian clearly saw that Astelle stopped in surprise on her way to this place.

nObviously, too much time passed.

nAre there any diseases that shouldn’t be done if he doesn’t take medicine on time?

nThe child looked very healthy on the outside.

nHowever, a sick person was originally unknown only by looking at the appearance.

nEven people who seem intact sometimes suffer from high diseases inside.

nNo, but what disease are you hiding from?

nVellian had a feeling of steaming for some reason.

n‘No way, is it a disease that spreads…?’

nMarianne said she looked at Astelle’s medicine box, but the simple cure would not have looked suspicious.

n‘I don’t know if it would be nice to look at the medicine box once I get the chance. But don’t try to open it with my hand.’

nVellian thought so deeply when he remembered that Astelle had put medicinal juice in a medicine box.

n‘When you touches her stuff, make sure to get someone else to do it.’

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