Raising a child without a father, it would be a lie to say I haven’t worried at all. When Alvin was first born, I even found the constantly crying child annoying. But the child grew up quickly. By the time Alvin started to speak, I had already fallen in love with him. Blair had been feeling guilty for making her child fatherless for some time.

It was a contract that would erase all her anxieties at once. If he became the head of a ducal family, who could possibly look down on Alvin?

But at the same time, she felt uneasy. Cedric’s straightforward demeanor was hard to believe.

【In the event of Cedric Fitzgerald’s death, ……】

Blair pondered over the sentences of the contract again. Why had she forgotten that he was a soldier? The battlefield is a place where one risks their life; why hadn’t she considered even the slightest possibility that he could die? Blair bit her lip.

Blair looked up at the pitch-black night sky with eyes full of deep contemplation.

…Was she seeing things because she was tired? Red dots began to appear sporadically in the black sky. Blair rubbed her eyes. The red dots spread out, forming a large circle.

Boom boom boom!

A deafening explosion sounded. Blair reflexively lowered her hands from her ears and opened the window to look outside. She saw red spreading across the black sky. The spreading red flames, screams of people, black smoke…

“……Oh my goodness.”

Blair shook her head in disbelief and then ran into the room where the child was sleeping.

“Alvin! Alvin! Wake up!”

Bang!

She kicked open the bedroom door and picked up the half-awake, drowsy child.

“Mom…?”

Alvin was held by his mother without fully waking up.

“Wait, your coat…”

It was cold at dawn. It would be terrible if the child caught a cold if they go out in his pajamas. Blair opened the wardrobe and took out her child’s coat to put on him. She wrapped herself in a shawl that was draped over a dining chair.

“……!”

Blair hesitated at the door, then turned around and took out a paper deeply tucked away in a drawer and put it in her pocket. Then she carried the child and stepped outside.

The perpetrator of tonight’s bombing was clear. It was a preemptive attack by the Litunian army.

* * *

The village hall, located on a high hill, was a place where villagers sought refuge in emergencies. It was normally quiet, but now it was crowded with people who had run here startled by the sound of bombings. Blair was also there, holding Alvin tightly. The old green blanket they received upon arrival was wrapped around the child in her arms.

“Cough, cough…”

“Alvin, are you okay?”

Blair looked around, wondering where she could get another blanket. That’s when it happened. The sound of brisk footsteps approached, and a large shadow stood before her.

“Huff…”

The man who was catching his breath heavily was Cedric. Blair looked up at the man before her with wide eyes, feeling his heated breath. Cedric glanced over both of them and then showed a sign of relief.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Blair nodded vigorously, and a faint smile appeared on the man’s lips as he rubbed her back.

“There’s a secret bunker. Follow me. It’ll be safer there.”

“…Follow you?”

“What’s wrong?”

“But everyone from the village is here; I can’t just leave…”

Blair hesitated and looked around. Cedric sighed for a moment and then removed his hand from her body.

“It seems like the child is feeling cold. The decision is yours to make.”

“……”

Blair widened her eyes. Cedric is giving me a choice? Me? These past few days have been full of surprises. Blair looked down at the child in her arms. The child was coughing with his cheeks flushed. She tightened her grip on the child she was holding.

“…I’ll follow you.”

“Theo!”

Cedric turned back and called his subordinate to ensure Blair’s safe transport.

“Follow Theo. I have places I need to be.”

“…Okay.”

Without any delay, he turned his back and briskly ran out of the hall. Since it’s an emergency situation, many would be looking for Cedric everywhere. Blair stared at the village hall door through which the tall man had disappeared for quite some time.

“…You need to move.”

“…Ah.”

Theo’s call made her snap back to reality, and Blair briefly met his gaze before looking away, feeling somewhat awkward.

…To think she would meet Theo like this.

The only gentlemanly subordinate at that hellish Cavendish mansion. Why hadn’t she thought she would meet him again? Theo was Cedric’s subordinate, and now, during an emergency situation, it was natural for all nobles of military age to be conscripted into the army.

As Theo’s gaze shifted to the child in Blair’s arms, her face turned red. The child with black hair and thick eyebrows clearly had Cedric’s bloodline.

Blair, while holding the child, sat in front of Theo who held the reins behind her on the horse. Even as Theo drove the horse quickly, he made an effort not to let their bodies touch.

“……”

The black curtain of night passed behind them as they rode. The flames seemed to have been subdued, but murmurs could be heard from afar. Perhaps today would be recorded in history as the day when Litunia opened its second battlefront.

The three arrived in front of a bunker hidden deep in the village. Its exterior looked like it’s part of the forest, but inside it was a building. The entrance was hidden with trees and reeds so that it could not be found unless someone knew it already. Blair followed Theo into the building.

“…Wow.”

Blair exclaimed in amazement upon entering the bunker.

Who would have thought such a place existed?

It was an old noble’s villa converted into a refuge in case of emergencies. It was old but still full of elegance.

“Please follow me this way.”

Blair followed Theo upstairs. On their way, Blair encountered a few notable figures from the village. They seemed puzzled about why a mere shop owner like Blair was here. It appeared to be a bunker used for a few nobles in the village. Surely, even the crown prince must have taken refuge here.

“The general’s room is this way.”

The soldiers standing in front of Cedric’s room were surprised to see that the child in Blair’s arms bore a striking resemblance to Cedric but then respectfully posed as she entered the room.

“Then rest here. Please pull the cord if you need anything.”

Theo pointed at the gold string attached to the wall and then left the room. Blair washed her hands and face in the small shower attached to the room after laying the already asleep Alvin on the bed.

“…….”

Having gone through a hectic day, her eyelids naturally began to droop.

In fact, she had been worried about the atmosphere of the bunker on their way here. Except for Theo, all of his subordinates she had encountered before were unpleasant people.

The soldiers she met today were wearing the same clothes as before but were completely different. They treated her as if she was the wife of a high-ranking officer. It was clearly because of Alvin.

「It seems like the child is feeling cold. The decision is yours to make.」

Cedric had passed the decision to her a little while ago. Whether to stay at the town hall or to come up to the bunker.

It seemed like a good decision not to stay at the town hall. This place was surely the safest in the village. There were dozens of professionally trained soldiers outside the room where she and her child were.

It would be a lie to say that she, living as a single mother, had never experienced fear or terror. But today, she felt a sense of relief as if she had entered a solid fence made of iron.

Of course, she knew this sense of relief was temporary, based on the affection of a man named Cedric. Perhaps it was because she now had something to look at the situation objectively. She had a foundation to live on even if a man’s love faded.

Blair looked at the brightly shining fireplace and the tightly stacked firewood next to it. The crimson embers flared up into the air and then disappeared. She fell asleep comfortably warmed by the heat filling the room.

* * *

“Are you awake?”

Cedric greeted her as she opened her eyes. The bed in the bunker was cozy, and he was sitting on the edge, dressed in military uniform. She remembered covering only the child with a blanket and falling asleep, but now a thick blanket was also covering her.

Blair lowered the blanket and sat up on the bed, looking at the man examining her. She wondered if it was alright for him to be here during an emergency.

“…How long did I sleep?”

“About an hour.”

She was relieved she hadn’t slept too long.

“Is it okay for you to stop by in this situation?”

She asked what she was curious about.

“I stopped by for a moment. You’re right. I don’t have much time.”

“…….”

When Blair didn’t speak, Cedric shared some brief information about the current situation.

“A civilian fishing boat was attacked. Fortunately, there weren’t many casualties. We fired a few shots too and have been watching for hours, but it seems like there won’t be any more bombings. It seems like it could be considered a minor provocation.”

“…….”

“I hadn’t anticipated an initial attack from Litunia either. Our plan will proceed as scheduled.”

Blair sighed deeply upon hearing that our side didn’t suffer much damage, unlike the splendid fireworks that lit up the sky.

“Will you stay in Little Port?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“I promise you. I’ll strengthen the defense so this village will never be harmed.”

Blair lowered her gaze and nodded slightly.

“…When you leave, when will you come back?”

“I’ll come back after the war is over.”

The crackling sound of the fireplace filled the room. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment. Blair was the first to speak.

“…About that document recognizing Alvin as your successor.”

“Yes.”

“If I decide to accept it… I just need to sign it and take it to the port when you depart?”

“That’s right.”

Cedric answered succinctly. Blair still couldn’t comprehend the content of the unbelievable document she had received.

Cedric’s voice brought her back to reality from her confusion.

“…I’ve come to a conclusion while searching for you over the past three years.”

“What is it?”

When he changed the subject, she lifted her head.

“The last three years have been harder than the three years I spent being sold into slavery and rolling through battlefields.”

“…What does that mean?”