Chapter 43 – Lily, Who Knows Everything

“I’m truly sorry about yesterday.”

Without looking at Azure, Ethea lowered her gaze to the scroll card. Even to herself, her voice as she spoke to Azure sounded astonishingly cold.

“If you had explained things properly from the beginning, I wouldn’t have reacted so sharply.”

“I know. It was all my fault.”

“Why were you trying to take it without letting me know?”

“It may sound like an excuse, but I wanted to research it quietly. Your child’s……”

“You can just call him Gin.”

“Yes. Well then, I heard that Gin’s body was hurting because of abnormal growing pains. As a magician, I was curious to what extent a child’s body could be stabilized. However, I am merely a greedy magician, not a fine physician, so I lacked the confidence to say I would begin anything in earnest, and wanted to try a simple examination first. I only meant to take a strand of hair and examine it step by step…… and instead I ended up being rude. I am truly sorry.”

Azure fiddled with her clasped hands.

Perhaps Ethea trusted people too easily, but she could feel sincerity in Azure’s words. Her wariness eased a little. Was it really all right for it to?

“Doing only that kind of examination won’t harm our Gin, right?”

“Of course. I swear I will do nothing that would harm Gin. I must not do such a thing to His Majesty’s precious little friend.”

When she heard it put that way, that too made sense. If it were something that could harm Gin, if it were truly dangerous, Lyle, as Emperor, would have stopped it.

Could she really feel at ease about Azure?

“I’ll accept your apology.”

“Thank you.”

After giving her greetings, Azure left. Seeing how relieved Azure looked at Ethea’s response made Ethea feel a little more trust toward her.

That aside, to be honest, she was a little disappointed in her son. To think he would entrust his hair to someone else without even his mother’s permission.

Thinking she ought to go see the child soon, Ethea began folding the card twice, just as Lyle had explained.

＊  ＊  ＊

Ethea arrived safely at Gin’s room. In the dim bedroom, Gin and Lily were lying side by side, asleep. Both seemed to be sleeping very deeply, without the slightest movement.

Lily was hugging a large squirrel doll in one arm. Gin, meanwhile, was holding a squirrel storybook in one hand. Gin, who usually refused to read storybooks because he said they were childish, had brought one himself? It seemed he had meant to read it to Lily.

‘How adorable.’

She had to be careful in case the children woke at her presence. After pulling the blankets properly over their bodies, Ethea quietly turned the doorknob and stepped out.

But then…….

At the sight before her eyes, her mouth fell open.

A man and a woman were seated side by side at the dining table-Seisil and Solei-with their lips touching and their eyes closed. That was a kiss.

A kiss.

A…… kiss?

Ethea blinked her eyes. Then she quickly shook her head.

‘I didn’t see anything. Yes. I saw nothing.’

She was about to turn around and hurry back into the room. But then Seisil met her eyes first, and Solei too opened her eyes, saw Ethea, and hastily got to her feet.

“Oh, Mother!”

Soli. You’re the mother, so why are you the one calling for your mother?

Caught off guard, Ethea blurted out the first words that came to mind.

“Uh, well…… these days, transport cards are really convenient. If it’s the place where Gin is, then I can just appear like this, ‘ta-da,’ no matter where……. The two of you were drinking. That was something I bought to use for cooking, but well. It’s fine if you drink it. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually used it for cooking anyway. Ahh. I’m talking too much. So, um…… go on with what you were doing. Please continue.”

And then she turned away.

It seemed that voice had reached the children. The children were just waking up in bed and rubbing their eyes. How could this be.

“Mmm……”

“Huh? Mom, when did you get here?”

Ethea forced herself to smile at Gin. She had no idea why cold sweat was running down her body.

＊  ＊  ＊

The reason Seisil had been caring for Gin at Ethea’s house was because of the Emperor’s request.

While Ethea was resting at the palace after going into shock, the Emperor had asked Seisil to look after Gin for a while. Of course, Solei had readily stepped forward and said she would watch Gin, but there were things that would be difficult for her to handle alone. Since Gin might suddenly be in pain again or find himself in danger, it was reassuring to have a dependable magician friend nearby.

There was also the guilt of what his older sister Azure had done, and Seisil thought it was better if there were two people rather than one, so he watched Gin together with Solei. There was no need to worry about the Mage Tower’s affairs, since Azure had said she would handle them.

In truth, Gin was a child who could manage well enough even alone. Not to mention how spirited he was. Worried that the adults might be hungry, he made fist-bread and served it to them, and he behaved very maturely, saying he would not worry about his mother since His Majesty was taking care of her.

And that was not all. When Lily asked him to play after dinner, he even read her a storybook, saying it was already time to sleep. Truly, there was nothing for the adults to do.

Thanks to that, Seisil was able to have a comfortable, ordinary conversation with Solei. Most of their topics were either woodworking, or amusing things that had happened at the Mage Tower.

To Seisil’s great gratitude, Solei did not ask any of the difficult questions that would have been hard to answer as the Emperor’s close friend-such as why Azure had cut Gin’s hair, whether Gin had some illness, and if so, what it was, or what exactly the relationship was between the Emperor and Ethea.

Rather, the object of Solei’s curiosity was Seisil himself. She was interested in anything about Seisil or anything he said, and liked talking about it.

That was why Solei was easy to be with. Whatever he talked about, she reacted brightly and cheerfully, so that when he was with her, even Seisil found himself in a better mood. He did not know what Solei thought, but at some point he had come to like seeing her. Enough to exchange kisses when no one was around.

＊  ＊  ＊

Ethea’s heart was pounding. The children had woken up. In that case, was it fortunate that they had not seen Solei and Seisil kissing?

Fresh from sleep, Lily caught hold of both Seisil and Solei and chattered away, talking about the squirrel from her dream.

Meanwhile, Ethea sat in the room with Gin on her lap and spoke with him.

“Well, I can roughly picture it. That magician told you she’d take your hair and examine it to help make it so you wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Mhm, Mom.”

“I understand that, but I’m a little hurt.”

“Sorry. I thought a few strands would be fine. It didn’t occur to me that I had to ask permission. I just…… somehow, I didn’t want you to worry about what if I got sick again……”

Ethea pulled the child more tightly into her arms. Somehow, her chest ached.

“Next time, let’s talk it over together before doing anything. All right?”

“Okay. Is your body a little better now, Mom?”

“Yes. I slept deeply, so I feel better.”

“That’s good. It seems His Majesty lulled you to sleep very well.”

At once, Ethea’s face flared hot. Faced with words she had never expected, she did not know how to react.

Besides, what was with that expression, ‘lulled you to sleep’? At times this rascal seemed like a fully grown child, yet at moments like this he felt like a six-year-old, which only made him seem even more inscrutable. Did he really think his mother had the kind of relationship with the Emperor where he would sing her lullabies?

“Anyway, Mom, don’t overdo it either. I don’t like it if it’s because of me.”

That was another mature thing to say.

Ethea separated from Gin and sat him properly on the bed. Then, looking into his teal-colored eyes, she continued.

“What do you mean, because of you? What kind of thing is that to say?”

“Mom.”

“You’re like my everything. If you hurt, I hurt too, and if you’re sad, I’m sad too. Taking care of you is the same as taking care of myself. And……”

Because you’re all I have.

So how could I not cherish you?

Swallowing those words, Ethea hugged the child again.

Her one and only family in the world. Of course, she had Solei and Lily, kind friends to her, but that was a different meaning from Gin. To Ethea, who had been abandoned by her mother and whose father had also been false, Gin was the one precious existence she absolutely could not be without. So of course she could not help but cherish him, and wanted to cherish him.

“I love you very much, Gin.”

“Yes, Mom. Me too.”

Unable to do anything about the swell of emotion inside her, Ethea held Gin for a long time. The child softly patted his mother on the back.

But only for a moment. Soon Gin began nodding off. It was such an adorable sight that it drew a fond smile from her.

Ethea laid the child back down, turned off the light, and went outside.

Naturally, only after leaving a kiss full of love on his forehead.