Chapter 39

Little One’s eyes met Elena’s, and he broke into a radiant smile.

“Maah!”

In the pitch-black darkness, the sight of Little One floating in midair was eerie. His brightly smiling face was undeniably adorable, but at the same time, it was a little frightening.

Elena suppressed the urge to scream. Instead, she quickly scooped Little One into her arms and headed straight for Felix’s room.

“Felix! Come out for a moment!”

***

“He flew? This kid?”

Felix’s voice was sharp, likely because he’d been woken from a deep sleep.

Little One, seemingly unbothered by Felix’s piercing glare, stood up against the crib railing and grinned mischievously.

“Heeu.”

Felix raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed by the cheeky smile.

At that moment, Little One’s expression turned sullen. He looked up at Elena with a pout. She stroked his head and protested to Felix.

“He really flew. I’m telling you, he floated all the way to my bed.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”

“No, it wasn’t. Last night, too, I woke up to find him sleeping next to me. Isn’t that right, Little One?”

“Kyaa!”

No, stop laughing like that. This is serious.

But Little One just kept laughing and showed no sign of repeating his earlier flight.

“I’m going back to bed.”

After silently observing Little One for a while, Felix turned to leave.

“How can you just leave?”

“What else am I supposed to do? You probably just imagined it. There’s no way this kid could use magic. He’s not even two years old yet.”

Elena wanted to argue that the Grand Mage Grosvenor, whom Felix admired, had been capable of such feats, but she held her tongue.

Little One wasn’t some once-in-a-century prodigy, after all.

She watched Felix leave in silence before turning her attention back to Little One.

When their eyes met, Little One bounced up and down. Despite having woken up from sleep, he didn’t seem the least bit tired.

“You should go back to sleep. You just woke up. Aren’t you sleepy? It’s still a long time until morning.”

“Baa?”

Little One tilted his head innocently, as if he didn’t understand a thing.

Seeing him blink and reach out to her, Elena realized it would take a long time to get him to sleep again.

With a deep sigh, she picked him up. Little One giggled brightly and rubbed his face against her chest.

“Go to sleep already, Little One.”

It seemed like she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

***

Finally, the long-awaited day of Tony and Lindsey’s birthday arrived. From the crack of dawn, the Christian mansion was bustling with activity.

The kitchen was busy preparing birthday meals, and Tony and Lindsey had woken up earlier than usual to run around excitedly.

Elena, too, had her hands full—mostly because of Little One.

“Aaub!”

Little One, apparently tireless, woke up even earlier than Elena and cried out from his crib, demanding to be let out.

Standing against the crib railing, he bounced up and down, babbling incessantly. Barely able to open her eyes, Elena had no choice but to entertain him.

When she laid him down beside her bed, he finally looked content. He climbed onto her stomach, wriggled around, and even slobbered on her arm as he chewed on it.

At least he wasn’t fussing anymore, so Elena managed to get another hour or two of sleep.

When she woke up again, she began getting ready with Little One. Fortunately, the Christian mansion still had some of Tony’s old baby clothes.

Thanks to that, Little One was dressed in a proper formal outfit.

“Happy birthday!”

Dressed to the nines, Tony and Lindsey blew out the candles on a towering three-tiered cake.

That marked the start of the party, which turned out to be larger than expected, with family and relatives gathering to celebrate. The chandelier in the first-floor hall was lit, and colorful magical lights were installed throughout the space.

While Tony and Lindsey, the stars of the day, naturally garnered a lot of attention, Little One unexpectedly became quite popular as well.

“Oh my, who’s this little kid?”

“Haab.”

The adults smiled warmly as they watched Little One toddle around the hall on his short legs.

Little One, however, was shy and quickly ran to Elena whenever someone tried to greet him.

“Little One, it’s okay. They’re not scary.”

Each time, Elena held his hand and waved it for him.

After enjoying the party, they went to the emerald-green sea, a pride of the Christian estate, for a boat ride.

Swimming would have been fun, but since the weather was still chilly, they settled for the boat ride.

Madam Jane, the Earl Christian, and the twins boarded a boat together.

Elena wanted to join the boat ride as well, but she gave up because of Little One. If he acted up on the water, it could spell disaster.

So, she sat on the sandy beach with Little One in her arms.

She glanced at Felix, who was sitting beside her.

“So, why didn’t you go on the boat?”

He replied with a displeased expression.

“I’m not at the age to enjoy boat rides.”

Elena wanted to protest that she would’ve loved to go, but she kept her mouth shut, knowing he’d just retort with something like, “What are you, a kid?”

Instead, she watched Little One struggle to walk across the sandy beach. His feet sank into the sand, making it difficult to walk, and he seemed a bit frustrated.

“Aabuu, hubuu!”

After stumbling a few times, Little One gave up and began crawling across the sand.

“Is it okay for him to crawl around like that? His clothes are going to get filthy.”

“It’s fine. Tony can’t wear those clothes anymore, anyway.”

“That’s true.”

Meanwhile, Little One was crawling toward the shoreline like a baby turtle heading for the sea.

“Little One, no!”

Elena quickly ran over and scooped him up. Kids really couldn’t be left unattended, not even for a moment.

Little One, clearly annoyed at being caught, kicked his sandy legs in frustration.

Elena sat back down on the beach and brushed the sand off his hands and legs.

Still, she couldn’t get all the sand off, so she gave him a warning.

“Don’t suck your fingers.”

Whether he understood or not was unclear. But Little One smiled brightly and nodded.

When he kept trying to head for the sea, Elena decided to show him the water herself.

She took off his shoes and socks, as well as her own, and carried him to the shoreline.

“Look, Little One. Isn’t it amazing? This is the sea.”

She dipped his tiny feet into the water. The cold sensation made him flinch, but he soon started splashing around happily.

Elena gently swung him back and forth, letting him explore the sea.

“Haa-waa!”

Hearing his loud exclamation, Elena gestured to Felix.

“Come on in. It’s really refreshing.”

“No, thanks.”

“Don’t be like that. Come join us.”

Felix initially seemed indifferent but eventually rolled up his sleeves and pants and joined them. He took Little One from Elena and played with him.

“You have no idea how much trouble you’ve caused me. If I’d known, I would’ve just gone on the boat with the twins.”

“Haa-woo!”

“Yeah, it’s all because of you.”

Though Felix grumbled, Elena pretended not to notice the faint smile tugging at his lips.

By then, the sun was setting over the sea. The crimson sunset painted the sky and the water in shades of red.

Even Felix’s blue hair and Little One’s bright blonde hair were tinted red.

With their matching hair colors, the two of them looked surprisingly alike. It was almost uncanny.

‘This feels so peaceful.’

Elena smiled as she watched Felix comfort Little One, who was squirming in his arms.

It was such a serene day that she wished it would last forever.

That feeling lasted until Little One developed a fever after returning to the mansion.

***

Little One was sick. Seeing him burning up with fever, Elena was beside herself with worry.

She regretted letting him play in the water. She should’ve just stayed at the mansion with him.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Fortunately, unlike the last time, the Christian mansion was bustling with people.

Madam Jane, who had raised three children of her own, remained calm even as Elena panicked.

Well, she did seem briefly flustered but quickly regained her composure and gave orders.

“Go fetch a doctor and bring some cold water.”

She undressed Little One and wiped his body with a cold cloth.

“Hubuu.”

Little One, clearly unwell, whimpered weakly as he lay limp on the bed.

A short while later, the doctor arrived and began examining him.

“How is he?”

Madam Jane, speaking on behalf of the frantic Elena, asked in a calm voice. The doctor jotted something down in his notebook before replying.

“For now, there don’t seem to be any symptoms other than the fever. Considering he was playing in the water, I thought it might be a cold, but oddly enough, there are no other signs. His throat isn’t swollen, he doesn’t have a runny nose, and he isn’t coughing.”

“Then what is it?”

“As you know, children often develop fevers for no apparent reason. For now, I recommend giving him a fever reducer and focusing on lowering his temperature.”

They gave Little One some medicine and continued to wipe him down with a cold cloth.

However, contrary to their hopes, his fever showed no signs of subsiding. If anything, it seemed to rise even higher.

Red spots began appearing on his pale skin. Holding his hot little hand, Elena anxiously stomped her feet.

“Little One, please don’t be sick.”

But then, Madam Jane, who had been observing Little One, suddenly stood up with a serious expression.

“Wait here for a moment.”

She left the room abruptly.

“What’s going on?”

Elena couldn’t understand what was happening. But she trusted Madam Jane, knowing she was a wise woman.

Even so, the wait felt agonizingly long. Little One whimpered in pain, making Elena’s heart ache.

After about ten minutes, Madam Jane returned. She placed a bracelet adorned with a yellow gemstone on Little One’s chubby arm.

“What is that?”

“It’s an artifact.”