Chapter 59

“Gin……”  

“But will Mom like you, Your Majesty?”  

Lyle could not answer with certainty. As he hesitated, Gin drew the conclusion for him.  

“No, Mom will come to like you too. She may already like you.”  

“Thank you.”  

“Of course, she can’t like you more than she likes me, her son.”  

Those words held the little boy’s small jealousy. Lyle lightly ruffled the soft curls of the child who was clinging to his neck, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Not all the truth had yet been revealed, but at least in this moment, they felt like father and son.  

It was very late at night. It was truly time for children to sleep.  

“Go on. You should sleep early.”  

“Yes.”  

Gin kissed Ethea’s forehead once more and left the room.  

After waving to Gin as he left, Lyle turned his gaze back to Ethea once the door had closed-and in that instant, he was startled.  

“You……”  

Ethea was glaring at him with both eyes open. Even though he had used healing magic on her and it should have been a time when she absolutely could not wake up.  

The culprit was Sadea.  

【The person concerned is sleeping, so two males shouldn’t be deciding the relationship on their own. Let her properly scold you for once. Hehe.】  

At the evil god’s meddling, Lyle frowned deeply. But only for a moment. Conscious of Ethea, he forced a bright smile.  

To him, Ethea demanded,  

“What did you just say to the child?”  

“U-um. As you heard?”  

“You……!”  

“Do you hate it?”  

Ethea could not answer.  

Even while thinking that he himself was acting like a sly fox, Lyle could not stop.  

“If you don’t hate it……. may I think of the answer however I want?”  

There was no way a good reaction would come from that.  

“I’m going to sleep, so please leave.”  

Hmm, was it still too soon after all? Lyle pulled her blanket up to the tip of her neck.  

“Sleep well.”  

Then he left the room.  

But even after leaving, Lyle could not bring himself to move away from the door for a long time.  

＊  ＊  ＊

The one managing the Mage Tower in place of Seisil, who had gone to have fun in Aquarand, was Azure.  

Busy enough already researching Gin’s body, Azure had been left with work by Seisil as well, so she worked day and night. It was hard, but since it was work she liked, it was bearable. After all, she could freely use the Mage Tower’s research facilities and was paid very well. Azure cast fatigue-relief magic on herself every day as she worked, and worked, and worked again.  

“Ah, I want to play. I know how to go to Aquarand too. I know how to enjoy myself there too.”  

“Go next time.”  

“Yes. I’ll go with my lover.”  

“Do you have a lover?”  

“No.”  

“Then how will you go with your lover?”  

“Because next time, I’ll have one.”  

“Haha.”  

“Did you just laugh?”  

After exchanging such trivial talk with a colleague, Azure returned to her laboratory in the Mage Tower. It was to sleep. Although it was the hour when everyone else was waking up, she had to sleep for an hour or two and then work again.  

“Mm, when will Seisil come back.”  

She lay down to get a little sleep, when suddenly something came to mind.  

She had to check on Ethea’s and Solei’s house. Lyle and Seisil had asked her to look after their house and make sure it was safe while they were away traveling. They really were men overflowing with love.  

Actually, Azure was not that worried. She had heard that even if she did not take separate care of it, the Emperor treasured Ethea so much that he had guards protect her entire village. If something happened, the guards would report to the Emperor before Azure ever could.  

Still, work was work, so Azure decided to check Ethea’s house. But what appeared in the magic mirror was truly a spectacle.  

“This can’t be……. How could this…….”  

Azure’s face turned pale blue. A major disaster had happened. She became afraid of how in the world she was supposed to tell the Emperor-no, the homeowner Ethea and that adorable child.  

“No, still, I have to say it……”  

Overwhelmed by shock, Azure quickly contacted Seisil.  

“Seisil! Something terrible happened! Something really terrible happened!”  

＊  ＊  ＊

Ethea was surprised. Every trace of her cold had completely vanished from her body. It seemed to be thanks to the recovery magic Lyle had cast on her. Anyway, after sleeping well and waking up, she felt good.  

Now she would have to return home.  

When she came out of the room, she saw Solei. She was on her way to the room where her daughter Lily was sleeping, but somehow her clothes were strange. At this hour she should normally have been wearing pajamas, but instead she had on outdoor clothes and a robe.  

“Hm? Soli, weren’t you sleeping with Lily?”  

“Ah, I was sleeping with her. I just went out for a little dawn walk and came back. Haha.”  

Something about Solei’s laugh was odd.  

“A dawn walk? By yourself?”  

“Uuum, uum?”  

Solei only smiled as she mumbled vaguely. Then she went off to the room where Lily was, almost as if fleeing. It seemed as though she was trying to hide something.  

Ethea, quick-witted, caught on. It seemed that Solei had probably been taking a walk alone with Seisil and had been caught, and now was pretending otherwise.  

“Hmm.”  

Not long after that, they all sat around the table and ate breakfast together.  

When Ethea tried to sit beside Solei, Seisil slipped into that seat first as if cutting in line. It looked as though he wanted to guard the seat beside Solei like a child who hated the thought of losing the place next to his mother. Then, smiling brightly, he even apologized to Ethea.  

“Oh dear. Excuse me, excuse me.”  

“……”  

Ethea had no choice but to sit beside Lyle. Lyle had already pulled out the chair next to him and was waiting, tapping it.  

Watching that, Gin seemed to feel something, and from quite far away he pulled out Lily’s seat and tapped it, urging her to come sit. At that, Lily lightly lifted the hem of her skirt, gave a graceful little nod, and expressed her thanks to Gin. Gin shrugged and said,  

“Think nothing of it, Lady.”  

At that, everyone watching burst into laughter.  

The meal began in earnest. Ethea was trying to enjoy the delicious food, but the voices of Seisil and Solei never ceased.  

“Soli, you eat chicken well. Do you want mine too? I haven’t touched it yet.”  

“Oh my, is that alright? Aren’t you going to eat it, Seisil?”  

“Just watching you eat is enough to fill me up.”  

“Oh my……”  

Then Lily, who had been watching, also kept repeating, “Oh my.” Ethea saw that and laughed because it was so cute.  

Lyle absentmindedly looked at Ethea like that. Feeling his gaze, Ethea looked at Lyle too.  

‘Why is he staring all of a sudden?’  

Suddenly, he set an entire piece of chicken onto her plate with a thump. The sound was so loud that everyone’s attention turned to Ethea’s plate.  

“……”  

Keeping a smile on her face as best she could, Ethea whispered very quietly to Lyle.  

“This is burdensome.”  

“What is?”  

“Ugh, I mean…….”  

At that moment, Seisil filled Solei’s empty glass with cherry juice. Then Lyle also picked up the bottle of orange juice and began filling Ethea’s glass to the brim. As if unwilling to lose, Seisil cut the cake they were to eat for dessert in advance and put a piece onto Solei’s plate. Then Lyle too cut off a large part of the cake with the cherry on top and placed it on Ethea’s plate.  

For some reason, it looked as though a strange competition had begun between the men. Solei did not seem burdened at all and was eating well what Seisil gave her. But Ethea looked at Lyle with exasperated eyes.  

“I said it’s burdensome, Your Majesty.”  

“So what is?”  

“You keep being childish……”  

No matter that he was the Emperor, she felt she had to say what needed to be said. Ethea was about to say something, when suddenly Gin cut in.  

“Mom.”  

“Yes?”  

“Can’t you just accept it?”  

Why is this child suddenly acting like this?  

Ethea was flustered by the child’s words. Gin lowered his eyes, made a thoughtful expression, then calmly began to speak.