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nTheor was asleep with his eyes closed all of a sudden.

nThe sleeping face looked comfortable.

n“The child is looking for his mother.”

nKaizen turned to Astelle who spoke to him.

nAstelle picked up an old teddy bear that was rolling near the chair.

n“Well, no matter how young you are, you will miss your mother.”

nAstelle said in a vague voice.

nKaizen turned his gaze to Theor, who was sleeping quietly.

nHe heard that this child’s mother was a maid.

nShe was Sigmund’s lover who only gave birth to Theor. Because of her low status, she left the child, and the news was cut off.

nIt was all the information he heard from Vellian.

n‘Poorly…’

nKaizen was born with the noblest blood in the empire, but he hated such customs of nobles who only received noble blood.

nSuch an inhumane behavior of separating a young child from his birth mother because of her low status.

nHe raised his hand and carefully stroked Theor’s hair when he was asleep.

nFine black hair is wrapped between his fingers.

nHe was a poor child.

nA young child has no choice but to miss his parents.

nEven if Astelle sticks to him every day and takes care of him like his own mother, there’s probably not enough.

nKaizen stroked Theor’s head and asked as if he was sorry.

n“Does the child miss his parents a lot?”

nAt that moment, Kaizen felt as if Astelle was looking at him.

nBut when he turned his head, Astelle was putting the old teddy bear down on the chair.

n“… Sometimes I wonder too because Theor never met his parents.”

nAstelle replied in a modest voice.

nIn the room, there was silence for a while.

nThe flames of a blazing fireplace drew a shadow over the dark wall.

nSomehow, there was a lonely atmosphere in the expressionless Astelle’s face like a stone statue.

n‘Why do you look like that?’

nKaizen couldn’t understand what Astelle was thinking.

nWhen he thinks about it, Astelle was in a similar situation to this child.

nWithout parents, brothers, or friends, she was living in a remote countryside dreary.

nIt may be that Astelle devotes her heart to this child because there is no one to cherish and love.

nAstelle standing in the darkroom looked exceptionally lonely.

nKaizen’s heart aches when Astelle looks lonely.

nHe carefully hugged Theor so that he did not wake up.

n“I take him to the bedroom, you rest here.”

nKaizen hugged Theor and went outside.

nAstelle glanced at the back of him holding Theor.

n* * *

nAround dawn, Astelle opened her eyes.

nShe lit a candle and looked for red spots on her wrist.

nThere was no trace on her white wrist.

nAstelle pulled out a bottle of the medicine that had been hidden by the bedside.

nShe took the bottle and went out into the hallway.

nThere was no one in the dark hallway.

nShe opened the door and entered Theor’s room.

nBlin, asleep on such a cushion, found Astelle and shook its tail.

n“Shh.”

nAstelle quieted the dog and approached Theor, who was sleeping on the bed.

nTheor was asleep buried under a blanket.

nAstelle took the medicine bottle out of her arms and spilled it into Theor’s sleeping eyes.

nTheor murmured.

n“Hmm…”

n“Theor, it’s okay.”

nTheor, who was sleeping quietly, frowned in his forehead and slowly opened his eyes, then checked Astelle’s face and fell asleep again.

nThe eyes, which were briefly exposed through the lids, were clear blue.

n* * *

nAstelle recovered and the spots disappeared cleanly.

nKaizen stayed in the castle for two more days after the spots disappeared from Astelle’s body.

nHe couldn’t leave until he became certain.

n“The Lady completely healed now, Your Majesty. There is no possibility of recurrence.”

nIt was until the doctor made such a definite answer several times, then the emperor’s party start to head back to the destination, Denz Castle.

nAfter another three days of a long journey, Denz Castle finally appeared in front of Astelle.

nThe castles that had stayed before were literally old-fashioned castles built of stone, rising in the sky.

nThere was a gorgeous garden and several separate palaces around the main palace in the middle.

nThis was the second imperial palace where the emperor stayed in the east for a long time ago.

nThe carriage carrying the emperor and his party went through the main gate and entered the main building of the castle.

nThe carriage carrying Astelle passed through the luxuriously constructed garden and headed to the east side of the castle.

n“Lady, this way.”

nThe place where Astelle was guided was a beautiful villa on the west side of the palace.

nIt was a single-story building with a large garden, and it was beautifully and tastefully decorated to match this ancient palace.

nWalking down the corridor with Theor, the young servant who was going ahead looked at Astelle and bowed his head with a difficult face.

n“I’m sorry, Lady.”

n“What are you sorry for?”

n“I… I don’t seem to have been serving the Marquis well.”

nThe young servant apologized to Astelle.

nHe said that the Marquis kept telling him to go back.

nHe wanted to take care of his illness, but he said he wanted to stay alone, so he couldn’t take care of him properly, and he rarely entered the room except when cleaning and bringing medicine.

nHe apologized with a clumsy face.

n“It seems to be my fault that the Marquis has not recovered so far. All of it is my fault. I’m sorry.”

n“……”

nAstelle remained silent for a moment.

nIt was self-evident why her grandfather kept expelling this servant.

nHe wasn’t sick, but he must have been in trouble because he needed to be provided by nursing care.

nTheor who followed holding Astelle’s hand asked in amazement when he heard the conversation between the two.

n“Aunt Astelle, is grandfather sick?”

n“No, grandfather is fine now.”

n“Really?”

n“Yes, he said he was healed.”

nAstelle quickly soothes Theor and then to the young servant.

n“It is not your fault. My grandfather doesn’t like to have people he doesn’t know by his side. It seems that he was uncomfortable with people waiting beside him.”

nHer grandfather must have a hard time acting as a patient with a healthy body for the past few days.

nAstelle said with a smile to the servant.

n“From now on, I’ll be caring for my grandfather so you don’t have to worry about it.”

n“Yes… thank you, Lady.”

nThe servant was really grateful that Astelle was not angry and said she would help him with his work.

nAfter the conversation, they arrived in front of the door.

nThe servant knocked and opened the door.

nAfter entering the room, the Marquis lying on the bed woke up.

n“Grandpa!”

nTheor ran to his grandfather’s arms.

nAstelle waited and walked up to her grandfather.

nShe is a Carlenberg, but her thin lines and neat appearance were inherited by her maternal family.

nHer cousin, Sigmund, was also a nice-looking little boy when he was young.

nLooking at her grandfather’s appearance, he was like an intelligent and friendly old gentleman.

nEven though she felt the dignified and overbearing atmosphere like a soldier aristocrat.

nAstelle has been fond of her grandfather since childhood.

nAvoiding her father’s eyes, she would secretly send the letters to her mother’s family.

nAs he rubbed his face in the arms of his grandfather, Theor raised his head and asked anxiously.

n“Grandpa, are you sick?”

n“No, my baby, this grandpa is fine.”

nThe Marquis smiled and stroked Theor’s hair.

nAstelle walked over to the bedside.

n“I’m sorry for being late… wasn’t it very difficult?”

n“It wasn’t very uncomfortable because the hospitality was good.”

n“You have a hard time just lying down, but you weren’t sick, but you pretend to be sick… I don’t know how grandfather did this.”

nHer paternal grandfather, who was the former Duke of Reston at the reign of the Empire during the days of Kaizen’s grandfather, Emperor Gilbert, was a capable man, but… his conduct was a bit cowardly.

nHe didn’t come out of the house, pretending to be sick whenever he had political instability.

n‘I wonder if my father inherited such a personality.’

nThe Marquis said with frowning his eyes.

n“I had a hard time chasing away the young servant because he kept giving me medicines.”

n“What did you do with the medicines?”

n“I poured it into the bathroom and sometimes threw it in that flower bed.”

nThe Marquis pointed to the window on one wall.

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