Side Story 4

“Madam!”

As they reached the villa, the maids rushed over with soft, fluffy towels in surprise. Lennox set Ellen down and said,

“She fell into the river. Take her inside quickly before she catches a cold.”

“Yes, understood.”

As Ellen took the towel offered by the maids, she looked back at Lennox.

“I’ll go change my clothes.”

“All right. Warm up thoroughly before coming back.”

“Yes, I will. See you soon.”

After the maids led Ellen inside, another maid approached Lennox with a shirt.

“What about Innis?”

As he threw on the shirt, Lennox asked, and the maid replied,

“The young lady woke from her nap and has been playing in her room ever since.”

“She didn’t cry or look for Ellen?”

“No, fortunately she was fine with the nanny.”

Lennox nodded and immediately headed to the room where Innis was.

“Papa.”

As Lennox entered the room, Innis, who had been playing with blocks with the nanny, jumped up and ran to him. Lennox picked up Innis, who nuzzled against him like a kitten, and gently patted her back.

“Were you having fun?”

Innis nodded her big head and looked around. Not seeing Ellen, her head tilted to one side.

“Papa, where’s Mama?”

“She went to change clothes. She’ll be back soon.”

While stroking Innis’s head, Lennox asked the nanny,

“Was everything all right after Innis woke up from her nap?”

The nanny bowed politely and replied,

“Yes. She looked for you and Madam for a bit, but played quietly otherwise.”

“All right. From now until dinner, Ellen and I will look after her. You can go rest.”

“Yes.”

For the nanny, the aura Lennox gave off when dealing with Ellen and Innis was completely different, and she felt suffocated by it. She quickly left, and Lennox put Innis down again.

“Shall we keep playing with this?”

Innis looked at the half-built blocks and shook her head.

“No.”

“Then?”

“I want to draw with Papa.”

“Shall we?”

Lennox rang a bell, and soon a maid came in.

“Bring the largest sheet of paper for Innis to play with.”

“Paper, Sir?”

“Yes. Bring the biggest one in the villa.”

Paper was a very expensive item. A single sheet cost as much as four days’ wages for a commoner. The larger the paper, the more costly it was. That’s why paper was used mainly for records or important documents in the Imperial Palace or temples. Even in a villa, large sheets were kept for records and were usually cut into smaller pieces as needed.

Moreover, even most nobles didn’t let children play with paper. Children usually drew on slate boards that could be erased. But here, Lennox was asking for the largest, most expensive paper for a child’s play.

As the maid hesitated in confusion, Lennox spoke in a cold voice.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“But, Sir, that paper is for records…”

“Bring it. And there should be colored pencils. Bring those too.”

“Yes, understood.”

At his firm command, the maid trembled and bowed.

Colored pencils, like paper, were expensive. Colored pencils cost twice as much as regular graphite. They were typically used by renowned artists for sketches, or by nobles for their art hobbies. Most were for show, not for children’s drawings.

“Sir, I’ve brought the paper and colored pencils.”

Soon, the maid returned, carrying a large sheet of paper and a wooden box full of colored pencils. She spread the paper on the floor, big enough for Innis to roll around on, and secured the corners with heavy stones, opening the box of colored pencils. Inside were many brightly colored pencils.

“Wow.”

Innis’s eyes sparkled at the big sheet of paper spread on the floor. She had often drawn with colored pencils on small sheets at the mansion, but never on something this large. As she lay on the paper laughing, the maid smiled and withdrew. Lennox handed her a yellow colored pencil.

“Here. Draw as much as you want.”

“Okay!”

Innis gripped the yellow pencil in her tiny hand and began drawing enthusiastically. The white paper quickly filled with her drawings. Lennox watched with a faint smile, occasionally handing her other colored pencils.

“What’s all this?”

By the time half the paper was covered in drawings, Ellen entered, dressed casually with a shawl over her shoulders. Innis, sitting on the paper drawing, beamed.

“Mama! Look at this!”

“Did you draw this, Innis?”

“Yes! It never ends!”

Innis chattered excitedly and resumed drawing. Sitting next to Lennox, Ellen asked,

“Isn’t paper expensive? Is it okay to let Innis use it for play?”

“We can buy more paper, but it’s rare for Innis to play like this here.”

“Still, isn’t it a bit much?”

“Unlike before, I can do anything for you and Innis now.”

Lennox recalled the days at the Valère mansion.

No matter how expensive the paper, the clothes, or even a huge jewel—if his family wanted it, he could give it.

Yes. Unlike before, Lennox could now do anything for his one and only family.

As if reading his thoughts, Ellen said nothing more. Instead, she smiled and gently leaned her head on Lennox’s shoulder.

* * *

By the time the colored pencils were nearly worn down and the paper was full of Innis’s drawings, dinner was ready. Dinner was a delight. They ate together and talked every day, but never ran out of things to say. The dining room was filled with laughter.

“Papa, Mama, I’m full. Sleepy.”

“Sleepy? Then let’s go to bed. Lennox, can you carry Innis?”

“Of course.”

After a full meal and dessert, Innis grew sleepy, so Lennox carried her to her charmingly decorated room, changed her clothes, and tucked her into bed.

“Mama, a lullaby.”

“Sure, I’ll sing for you.”

As Innis mumbled sleepily, Ellen smiled and sat in the chair by the bed. She gently patted Innis’s tummy and hummed a lullaby, just as Laura, Lennox’s mother and former nanny, used to do. Lennox quietly folded his arms and leaned by the window, closing his eyes.

His mother always stayed by her young son’s bedside, humming lullabies, and young Lennox would fall asleep to them. Later, when she became Ellen’s nanny, she sang the same lullabies for Ellen.

Ellen, who had once fallen asleep to Laura’s lullabies as a child, had now grown up to be a mother herself. Now she sang Laura’s lullaby to her own daughter, Innis.

Through faded memories, the sound of Laura’s voice and humming seemed to echo.

Laura’s traces were woven into Ellen. Ellen had learned to love a child from another mother, Laura, and gave that love to Innis, just as she had learned.

The longing for her mother, which she thought had faded, rippled quietly like waves on a lake.

The lullaby ended.

Lennox, lost in a haze of longing, slowly opened his eyes. He saw Ellen carefully covering Innis with a blanket decorated with rabbits and carrots. Shaking off his thoughts, Lennox approached Ellen and held out his hand. Ellen smiled and took it. Worried about waking Innis, Ellen whispered softly,

“She’s deeply asleep. I guess drawing wore her out.”

“So now it’s just the two of us.”

“Yes, it is.”

To avoid waking Innis, they quietly left the room and asked a maid to call the nanny. Then they returned to their room. Thanks to the maid’s tidy cleaning and the fire in the stove, the room was warm.

“Shall we go out to the terrace?”

“The terrace?”

“Yes. The canyon looks different at night.”

When Lennox opened the terrace door, the summer night breeze, carrying the scent of damp earth and leaves from the canyon, swept in. The vast night view of the canyon unfolded. But Ellen’s attention was caught not by the night scenery, but by the things arranged on the terrace.

“What’s this…?”

On the terrace, the maid had set up a large, soft beanbag chair, a cozy blanket, and a table with scented candles, cheese, and wine. Ellen looked around the prettily set table and spoke quietly.

“Did you tell them to prepare all this, Lennox?”

Lennox nodded gently.

“Sometime…”

“Yes?”

“Sometime, I told them that if the lady of the house ever came to this villa, to prepare it like this.”

“…When was that?”

“Right after I became Order Captain.”

“……”

“So you wouldn’t have to sit on that uncomfortable tree branch you climbed as a child, but could relax in a soft chair and gaze at the sky.”

Lennox seated Ellen in the beanbag chair and covered her knees with a blanket. Then, kneeling on one knee, he faced her and gently stroked her cheek. Their eyes met—his red and her black. Lennox pressed his lips together and looked at Ellen as he continued.

“So you wouldn’t have to hide from others and secretly watch the sky, but could sit proudly side by side. I prepared all this for that.”

Ellen gripped the blanket and lowered her gaze. At the end of her gaze, Lennox’s knee touched her feet. She felt overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say. After opening and closing her lips several times, she finally spoke.

“But… there was no promise. Back then, I was already…”

“We just needed a little time apart then. Yes, at that time it was like that. But you had to return to me, and I had to return to you.”

Lennox paused, then lifted Ellen’s chin with his hand so she would face him directly. Countless emotions flickered in her eyes. Lennox met those feelings and gently stroked her lower lip with his thumb. He softly bit and released her lower lip.

“Because that’s how it was meant to be.”

Ellen was silent for a moment. Every day felt unbelievably happy.

Every time she opened her eyes and saw Lennox’s face beside her, every time she saw Innis playing excitedly in a room far bigger and prettier than Baron Dermann’s mansion, Ellen felt herself melting with happiness.

‘I thought I shouldn’t be greedy anymore.’

Ellen believed she couldn’t be happier than this. If she wanted more, she feared the happiness she’d finally grasped would shatter.

She promised herself not to be greedy, wishing this moment would last forever.

But Lennox made her want even more. She wanted to be even happier.

During their time apart, Lennox had prepared everything not for himself, but for Ellen alone. Only for her.

It felt as if Lennox had given her permission to be greedy.

Ellen cupped Lennox’s cheek and kissed him lightly. With that kiss, she conveyed all her feelings more than any words.

“Lennox, I don’t think I need the blanket anymore.”

“All right.”

Understanding the meaning behind those words, Lennox removed the blanket from Ellen.