Chapter 58 – Do You Like My Mom?

When Ethea arrived at the room, she shouted at Lyle in anger.  

“You didn’t have to jump down while holding me right in front of the child!”  

“Sorry. I was in a hurry.”  

“What was so urgent?”  

“You need to rest.”  

As soon as Lyle laid Ethea down on the bed, he used magic to let her rest deeply.  

Ethea was about to press him further, but under the influence of the magic, she suddenly yawned. As strong drowsiness washed over her, all the anger that had surged up just moments ago vanished.  

“Ah, why am I so sleepy.”  

Lyle smiled and pulled the blanket over her.  

“Just rest.”  

“Did you do something to me, by any chan……?”  

Ethea, who had been questioning him, closed her eyes and fell asleep just like that. No, it would be more accurate to say she had been put under a sleep spell.  

Lyle sat beside her and watched her sleeping face for a long time. She would probably wake up in an hour or two. Thanks to the magic, her cold would recover quickly as well. Even so, his chest kept tightening with worry and guilt.  

“Even when you’re only sick, my heart hurts this much.”  

Until now, Ethea had raised a child even younger than herself all alone-how much anxiety must she have lived with? The more he thought of all the hardship she must have endured, the more unbearable the guilt became.  

After becoming Emperor, Lyle had to protect himself from enemies he could not see. The same was true for those precious to him. He absolutely had to avoid drawing the eyes of his enemies, or exposing weaknesses to them.  

But even so, he should have reassured her somehow-through a letter, or by some other means at least. Lyle was angry at himself for having been so thoughtless.  

“I’m sorry, Ethea.”  

Lyle held Ethea’s small hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. He wanted to hold this hand forever.  

Then Sadea muttered as if displeased.  

【It wasn’t enough that I drove off the water demon-now you’re asking me to put your girlfriend to sleep too. I’m an evil god, not some mage working for you.】  

It was both showing off and a threat.  

【If you’re going to make me work this much, you know the compensation has to be generous too, right?】  

That ‘compensation’ meant Sadea’s food-in other words, murder or destruction. But right now, Lyle truly did not want to think about anything like that.  

【What are you going to give me?】  

‘Shut up.’  

【You’ve been telling me to shut up over and over since a while ago. Think carefully about where all that magic and power you use came from.】  

It wasn’t as if Lyle didn’t know that. As an imperial descendant of Hillus, he had been born with the power to drive away monsters, but that was only a special ability, and strictly speaking, it could not be called magic power. The reason he had been able to use all kinds of magic without any separate period of training with such a body was entirely thanks to Sadea.  

He hated to admit it, but even the healing magic and sleep magic he had just used to help Ethea recover from her cold more quickly owed a great deal to Sadea.  

So even if Sadea was an evil god, he did have to repay it.  

Should he offer the monsters of Aquarand? If he organized an investigation team, made a list of every kind of monster in Aquarand, and told Sadea to erase them, perhaps Sadea would like it, since that too counted as destruction.  

But Sadea was sitting right on top of Lyle’s head.  

【For your information, I have no interest in eating trivial monsters. So don’t waste my time.】  

‘D*mn it.’  

【What was that?】  

‘Hm? I wasn’t thinking anything at all.’  

Lyle truly did not want to think about anything, so after that he ignored Sadea.  

Fortunately, at that moment someone knocked on the door. At times like this, Sadea would go quiet again. It was probably because it hated having its opinions buried under other people’s conversation.  

“Come in.”  

The one who entered quietly, muffling his footsteps, was Gin. Dressed in pajamas, the child approached carefully and called to Lyle.  

“Um, Your Majesty.”  

“Yes, come here.”  

Lyle gently opened both arms, intending to hug Gin. Under normal circumstances, the child would have come over and thrown himself adorably into his embrace, but though Gin liked the Emperor, for some reason he only stood there awkwardly now.  

The two arms Lyle had opened to hold the child were left hanging awkwardly. Unable to handle the discomfort, Lyle lowered them.  

Looking at his mother lying in bed with worried eyes, Gin asked,  

“Where does Mom hurt?”  

“She has a cold.”  

“She’ll be okay, right?”  

“Of course. Like I said, it’s just a mild cold. She probably got it from being out in the cold wind. She’ll get better soon.”  

But apparently still not reassured, Gin went over to the bed and stared silently at Ethea for a long time. He touched her forehead to check her temperature, and pulled the blanket up over her a little more. Then he slipped only Ethea’s hand out, held it tightly in both of his, closed his eyes, and whispered softly,  

“Please make Mom get better quickly.”  

Far from sounding teary, his expression was extremely calm. Lyle had known that Gin was more mature than other children his age, but right now it felt as though he was looking at a complete adult.  

But only for a moment-soon, still holding Ethea’s hand, Gin began nodding off. Seeing that, Lyle ended up smiling.  

“Gin, go to bed now. Children should sleep early. I’ll take good care of your mom.”  

“Yes……”  

As he answered, Gin suddenly looked at Lyle. That quiet gaze somehow felt sharp. Perhaps because Lyle’s vision was overlaid with red, the child’s eyes behind the turquoise-colored lenses looked dark and a little heavy.  

It seemed as if the child had more to say. As expected, in a much more serious tone than before, Gin called to him.  

“Your Majesty.”  

“Yes?”  

“Do you like my mom?”  

At the unexpected question, Lyle was a little startled.  

But he did not want to lie. And it did not seem necessary, either. Looking straight into the child’s eyes, he answered.  

“Yes. I do.”  

At that, the child lowered his eyes for a moment. His expression made it impossible to tell whether he disliked it or liked it.  

Lyle, for some reason, grew impatient. It felt as though he were being evaluated by someone. He stressed it once more.  

“I like her. Ethea.”  

Gin asked again.  

“How much?”  

“Well. You like your mom too, don’t you?”  

“Yes.”  

“My feelings may be even bigger and deeper than that.”  

It was not that he meant to compare feelings, but to speak honestly, that was how it was. Gin naturally loved his mother, and because he believed that in this world she was his only family, his affection for her must be all the more tender-but what Lyle felt for Ethea was older than that, and more desperate.  

Had he been too honest with a child? Gin’s gaze was complicated and subtle. Jealousy, envy, relief, joy. Was it possible for a young child’s eyes to contain so many meanings?  

Lyle lightly pinched Gin’s nose and smiled.  

“Ah, no jealousy allowed.”  

Gin slowly shook his head from side to side. The child’s complicated expression gradually began, faintly at least, to turn into a smile, and only then was Lyle finally able to feel relieved.  

“I am jealous, but……”  

“But?”  

“Since it’s you, Your Majesty, and not just anyone else-our Your Majesty-I’m okay with it.”  

Lyle laughed because he found the expression ‘our Your Majesty’ rather amusing. Suddenly, Gin wrapped his arms around Lyle’s neck.  

“Because I like you, Your Majesty.”  

Lyle’s chest tightened. In the eyes that looked completely red, it felt as though a single bright ivory-colored ray of light had entered.