In the end, it was decided that once the child fell asleep, the butler would take him to the guest room.

I brought Lian, who had changed his clothes, to my room and laid him on the bed. Then I patted his chest gently, telling him to sleep well.

Lian stared at me with wide-awake eyes. His hands clutching the blanket up to his neck looked adorably like small circles resting there.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.”

“Shall I continue telling you old stories then?”

Since the child wanted that, I told him fairy tales I had read when I was young, one by one. This time, stories I knew the plot of without having to read from a book. Snow White and Cinderella, The Little Mermaid. The Happy Prince and Aesop’s fables.

Lian listened intently to the stories. Finding his appearance so lovable, I stroked his head several times. Then Lian would shake his head happily, slightly disheveling his dark brown hair.

He must have missed this simple warmth. Perhaps even being well-fed and staying warm like today was a rare occurrence. Winter is a harsh season, after all.

Rashid watched Lian and me quietly while leaning against the bed’s headboard. Though I told him he could rest first, he firmly refused.

“Was the prince…… really happy?”

Lian asked after hearing the story of the prince who gave away the gold that covered his body and the jewels that lit his eyes to help people.

“Even though people didn’t appreciate it?”

“Yes. The prince was happy seeing them be happy.”

“I see.”

Only after listening to stories for a long time did Lian’s eyes begin to droop. He seemed unable to fight off sleep any longer.

“I…… want to become someone like the prince too.”

The child fell asleep still holding tight to the end of the long story with his small hand. Rashid personally carried Lian and handed him to the butler waiting outside the door. It was fascinating how small the child looked in his arms compared to Rashid.

“Were you that small when you were young too?”

I asked Rashid as he returned to the bed.

“Who knows.”

He pulled up the blanket to cover me.

“You couldn’t have been this big from the start.”

“I suppose not.”

“I still can’t imagine it.”

“I can imagine small you quite well though.”

But that’s not me. The image you’re imagining is the past of a woman who’s already dead and gone.

I had nothing to say about that time. I decided to change the subject.

“You know, I was thinking earlier.”

As I lay on my side facing him, Rashid propped his chin on one arm, ready to listen to what I had to say.

“What if we opened the storehouse a bit to the people of the territory? If we have surplus food stored away, that is.”

“Do you want to do charity?”

“Yes. You were right. Some people will starve if they don’t hunt. But I wonder if it’s right to just leave them like that.”

There probably are systems and measures in place to help poor residents even now, but I thought it would be nice to find more ways to help.

“What do you think?”

“Let’s do it.”

Rashid accepted much more quickly and willingly than I had expected. I asked again with wide eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll order each region to assess the people’s living conditions and provide more help to those in need.”

“Thank you.”

I felt relieved when he explained in detail how he would handle it. I also thought about how dedicated he was to his work.

Despite rumors about the succession to the duchy and stories about him possessing the terrifying Dragon’s Strength, as a grand duke, he seemed rational and capable—there was no reason for the people not to follow him.

“About Lian.”

I closed my eyes to try to sleep, feeling more at ease. My voice directed at him was already tinged with drowsiness.

“He’s still young, he must miss his parents. It’s fortunate he at least has his uncle.”

“Right.”

“Thank you for letting him stay today. I kept worrying about him.”

“Yes.”

“Nothing bad will happen from now on, right? Since his uncle seems to care for him, he’ll be able to live well, don’t you think? What do you think?”

Unnecessary concern kept rising, making me ask repeatedly, seeking his confirmation.

Rashid reached out and gently stroked my hair. I was slowly drifting off to sleep, imagining his movements beyond my closed eyelids.

“Don’t take that child too much to heart.”

“……What?”

My eyes opened again at his sudden words. Rashid was still looking at me, just as he had been before I closed my eyes.

“That child’s parents were criminals.”

Rashid spoke of this serious matter as if it were nothing. Meanwhile, I was wide awake now.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I found out. They were caught stealing and tried to run away.”

Then earlier, did he deliberately ask the hunter and child? While knowing everything? I didn’t understand.

“If you knew everything, why did you ask them again?”

“Let’s say it was to confirm. I have a duty to know what kind of people you take interest in.”

“Is it because I invited them?”

“Because I can’t have dangerous people around you.”

I understood what he meant, but I was confused. What was all this about? I asked while trying to calm my anxious feelings.

“……What about the uncle?”

“He was fine for now. He claims he didn’t know about his sibling’s actions. Well, whether that’s believable or not…”

That’s somewhat fortunate. If not, he would have thought of some way to separate the child from his uncle.

I recalled Lian eating like a squirrel, and the hunter watching him lovingly while caring for and worrying about him.

I was so relieved that those gazes weren’t lies, that the uncle by the child’s side wasn’t a bad person. Because I didn’t want the child to become unhappy.

“The child of criminals.”

Rashid tried to remind me to be cautious as I felt relieved.

I retorted curtly.

“Yes, that’s right. So what?”

“Alisa.”

“You’re not going to argue for guilt by association, are you?”

The child’s parents were guilty.

But that was the parents’ doing. Is it right to make an innocent child atone and hate them together? Is that the right thing to do?

Of course, people who were harmed by the child’s parents might find it difficult to think this way. They might feel resentful and horrible even toward the perpetrator’s child. It’s natural for such feelings to arise. It can’t be helped.

But still.

“The child is innocent.”

“They might take after their parents.”

“Are you trying to condemn them based on predicting a negative future?”

“They might become an even worse monster than their parents. There’s such a thing as nature and bloodline.”

“Rashid!”

“No one can be free from that.”

His tone was firm. I was momentarily lost for words at his resolute attitude, as if stating an unchangeable fact like a law of nature.

“Fine. You can think that way.”

Rashid was cold. He suddenly felt like someone far away.

“But don’t judge prematurely.”

Fate determined by bloodline? A child cannot choose their parents. To use the mere fact of being born as grounds for guilt seemed excessively cruel.

“That child hasn’t done anything wrong. You saw too, how good and lovely a child he is.”

Even as I earnestly defended Lian, his face remained unchanged. It looked as solid as high castle walls.

Thoughts already set in stone that wouldn’t allow others’ interference. Noble values learned while growing up that wouldn’t easily change. Perhaps parts I would never understand in my lifetime.

“That child will grow up well with his uncle, and live helping others like the Happy Prince.”

“That might happen, or it might not.”

“True. But it could happen. There are no predetermined futures, Rashid. There’s only one thing in this world that doesn’t change. The fact that ‘everything changes.'”

I continued speaking earnestly.

“That child won’t become a monster. Because he has so many possibilities.”

Rashid drew a gentle curve with his lips as he listened to me. That smile somehow felt sad.

Ah, I see. I realized I wasn’t just protecting a child I met today. I was projecting someone onto Lian.

None other than this man before my eyes.

That’s why I felt so desperate. Because I wanted to say that you are not a monster, that you have the possibility to change and have grown up so well now.

Rashid gently pressed and caressed my forehead. My face must have been deeply furrowed.

“Don’t try so hard to protect him.”

When I looked at him reproachfully, Rashid gently stroked my cheek.

“Because it makes me jealous.”

“……What nonsense.”

Even at times like this, seriously.

I pouted and pulled the blanket over myself. I turned my back to him and curled up small like a cocoon.

Soon Rashid embraced me.

“I understand, Alisa.”

His voice resonated above my head.

“Let’s see how that child grows up. Whether he can grow up as you expect.”

I curled my body even more tightly.

“……About your mother.”

My voice sounded dull from under the blanket.