Melronoa shot Mel a desperate look. It had worked on Genoa just now, so he was using the same tactic on Mel. Though fully aware of his intentions, Mel pretended not to know and gave in to the child’s gaze.

“Then go get the storybook. Since Father came home early, I’ll read it to you specially.”

“Wow! Yes!”

Afraid Mel might change her mind, Melronoa rushed to get the storybook from his bedroom.

“……That child.”

Mel and Genoa looked at each other and shrugged helplessly.

“When he’s like this, he’s just like any child.”

“How fortunate that is, Mel. That he can still be like this despite taking after me.”

It meant that Genoa couldn’t be like that at that age. Mel took Genoa’s hand and nestled into his arms. This was the best comfort she could offer. Genoa filled his arms—which had just held Melronoa—with Mel and exhaled contentedly.

“Why would Melronoa have complaints about the Rosemarianne family?”

Though Melronoa had said he wanted to keep it secret a little longer, Mel sought answers from Genoa. There could be no secrets in this world that Genoa didn’t know, even if it was something their adorable five-year-old son wanted to hide.

“It seems Melronoa doesn’t like children much.”

“That’s……”

“Maybe it’s the Ivanstein blood. He might instinctively feel that siblings would be harmful.”

Mel blinked in surprise at Genoa’s bitter words.

“Genoa.”

When Mel called him in a firm voice, Genoa stroked her back with his large hand and said:

“I know. It’s just my concern.”

He moved his hand from her back to carefully place it on her belly, which hadn’t yet shown any signs, and continued:

“I’m just worried about how to tell Melronoa that he’ll soon have a sibling.”

“Melronoa will surely be happy. And he’ll love and cherish the baby.”

Mel comforted Genoa, but she glimpsed the worry he hadn’t managed to hide on his face.

For Genoa, who had stained his hands with his brother’s blood to survive, siblings were competitors, nothing more, nothing less. That’s why he couldn’t help but worry about how Melronoa, who looked exactly like him, would react to a sibling.

“Don’t worry. Because Melronoa resembles you, I seem to have forgotten that he’s my son too. He takes after me.”

“……You don’t know how much joy that fact gives me, Mel.”

“So believe in our son.”

At Mel’s confident voice, Genoa couldn’t help but smile and kiss her.

“How could I disobey what my duchess says?”

* * *

That evening.

“Tell me a story today too. The story from long, long ago!”

Melronoa lay in bed, covered with a blanket, and urged Genoa and Mel.

Having lost the storybook they were supposed to read earlier, Melronoa—afraid his busy father might leave soon—gave up on finding it and decided to play with Genoa, making accessories from flowers in the southern garden.

However, even while placing a flower crown on Mel’s head, Melronoa asked several times if he could hear the next part of the story without the book. Mel assured him that since the fairy tale was written by his father, Genoa, it would all be in his head, and only then could the child focus on playing with flowers in the garden.

“Continue from the part where the siblings were trapped in the family tower!”

Melronoa remembered exactly where he had fallen asleep the last time. Genoa gently stroked the child’s hair and began:

“That tower was the family’s testing ground to obtain a strong successor. The siblings trapped there began a fight for survival. The fight continued as the sun rose, set, and rose again. Until only one person remained—the outstanding successor with the ruthlessness the family wanted, who could make the family strong.”

“Hmm?”

Melronoa, who had been listening to Genoa’s story with great interest, tilted his head.

“You know, Father. Are the people in that family all stupid idiots?”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s good to produce a successor who can make the family strong, but isn’t it common sense that many are stronger than one?”

Genoa’s eyes widened at the child’s question. While he was choosing an appropriate answer, Melronoa couldn’t contain his curiosity and continued asking:

“Shouldn’t that family have thought about producing an outstanding successor who could lead everyone, rather than just one strong successor?”

“Oh my.”

Mel, who had been knitting beside the father and son, put down her yarn in admiration.

“Is that what you think, Melronoa?”

“Yes!”

Melronoa nodded as if it were obvious. At this, Mel smiled more happily than ever and kissed the child’s forehead and cheeks lightly.

“Our Melronoa is smarter than the people in that family.”

“Of course. If I inherit Ivanstein, I’ll never act as stupidly as those family people.”

It was a truly determined pledge. Genoa’s lips softened as he looked at Melronoa.

“Even if I handed Ivanstein to you right now, you would protect the family wisely.”

“Oh, that can’t happen. I’m not as strong or as cool as Father yet. I’m more cute than cool right now……”

“With this confidence, what couldn’t you do?”

Genoa laughed out loud. Mel stared at him with round eyes. She couldn’t remember when she had last seen Genoa laugh so freely. To capture this rare moment, Mel stared intently at Genoa.

“Melronoa.”

“Yes.”

“What would you do if your sibling turned out to be more outstanding than you, and they took over Ivanstein, which you naturally thought you would lead?”

At Genoa’s question, Melronoa’s eyes widened just as Mel’s had moments ago. The child seemed a bit flustered by the question about a future he hadn’t even imagined.

But the confusion was brief; Melronoa’s cheeks soon flushed red.

“Wouldn’t that be better? I’m already very smart, so if my sibling is even smarter, then Ivanstein will become better. It will become the best. And then they’ll be able to protect Mother and Father too.”

Melronoa continued, smiling broadly as if nothing could be better:

“And I won’t be lonely anymore when both of you are busy. If I had a sibling like the Rosemarianne brothers to play with, talk to, fight with, and make up with……”

As Melronoa excitedly rambled on, Mel and Genoa looked at each other simultaneously. In their exchanged glances, they realized they had inadvertently discovered the secret Melronoa had wanted to hide—why he caused various incidents at the Rosemarianne mansion and returned home, why he irritated all the children in that family.

“I wish I were a twin like the Rosemarianne twins. No, actually, it would be really nice if my sibling were born as twins……”

Melronoa didn’t dislike children. On the contrary, he liked them so much that he envied the Rosemarianne family’s children who had many siblings. To realize this only now. A deflated sigh escaped simultaneously from Mel and Genoa’s lips.

All this time, the two had done their best to raise Melronoa as freely as possible, unburdened by Ivanstein’s history. But it seemed that Mel and Genoa themselves were the ones most bound by that history. They failed to recognize Melronoa’s wish to be free from Ivanstein, even when it was right before their eyes.

“Then Melronoa, I think I can give you a gift you’ll truly love.”

“What? What is it, Mother?”

“Hehe. I also want to keep it secret for a little while. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“I won’t be able to sleep because I’m so curious!”

“Why are you lying when I know how soundly you sleep?”

Mel chuckled and gently stroked Melronoa’s face, closing his eyes. She noticed that the child’s eyelids were gradually growing heavier as bedtime approached.

“Sleep well, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“……”

Knowing that Mel always kept her word, Melronoa gave up on hearing the secret and tightly closed his eyes. Shortly after, it didn’t take long for steady breaths to escape between the child’s lips.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Once Melronoa fell asleep, Genoa took Mel’s hand and headed to their bedroom. Throughout the journey to their bedroom, there was no conversation between them, but their clasped hands were very warm.

“About Melronoa.”

“Yes.”

“He really is your son, Mel.”

“Hehe. That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“I thought he resembled me more. But he’s undeniably you, Mel.”

Mel looked at him with a happy smile. Looking at Genoa’s unfamiliar eyes, wet with joy and emotion he had never felt before, Mel whispered in an excited voice:

“So today, you love me even more?”

To Mel’s question, Genoa looked into her eyes and nodded.

“From the moment I saw you in Melronoa, I couldn’t help but love you.”

Genoa lifted their joined hands and pressed his lips to the back of Mel’s hand as he continued:

“Just the fact that he resembles you is enough to save me.”

Without Mel’s existence, Genoa Ivanstein would not have known such happiness by now. Even more so if the son born between him and Mel had resembled only Genoa. He might not have been able to face the child properly, wary of Ivanstein’s shadow.

But Mel was by Genoa’s side, and she had always been his light, so everything was fine now. Moreover, the child had shown just a small resemblance to Mel, yet it completely erased the shadow of Ivanstein that had remained like residue in Genoa’s soul.

“I expected you would change Ivanstein, but you’re showing me something beyond imagination.”

“That’s because I’m changing it together with you, Genoa. Aren’t you looking forward to how much more it will change when our little one in my belly is born?”

At Mel’s answer, tinged with laughter, Genoa imagined that future.

“I think our second should be a son too, Mel. If it’s a daughter, I’ll live in wariness of all the boys in the empire. Starting with the Rosemarianne mansion.”

Mel burst into clear laughter at Genoa’s serious words. Unfortunately, the child who had visited her in her dream was a lovely daughter. One who looked exactly like Mel.

—Thank you—