Though she was smiling, her eyes were not.

Sensing something ominous, Royan and Chesar flinched.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you two supposed to be in class?”

“I just stepped out briefly to use the bathroom.”

“My teacher sent word that he’d be arriving late today.”

Royan and Chesar took turns making excuses and hurried out of the room before Yvonne could stop them.

Of course, they didn’t forget to cast longing glances at Charlotte before leaving.

After the children left, Yvonne chuckled and looked at Janet.

“Janet, how often do the children visit each day?”

“Very frequently. Enough to wear down the threshold.”

“I expected it from Royan, but I didn’t think Chesar would be like that too.”

Royan had always mentioned wanting a younger sibling, but Chesar had never shown any such interest, which made this quite surprising.

Then again, Charlotte was so lovable and cute that anyone who saw her would undoubtedly fall for her at first sight.

“This is trouble. At this rate, we’ll never be able to marry her off.”

“Then don’t. I’d much prefer if the young lady stayed here with us!”

“You’re right, aren’t you? There’s no man anywhere who would be worthy of Charl.”

Hearing this, Charlotte felt bewildered.

Still, she didn’t dislike the feeling of being so cherished.

Yvonne leaned down and planted a kiss on Charlotte’s chubby cheek.

“I should order new mobiles too. She’ll surely get bored seeing just one.”

“Yes, madam.”

“And we should order toys in advance since Charl will start moving soon.”

“Leave it to me!”

Janet grinned with a confident expression.

Yvonne smiled softly as she handed Charlotte back to Janet.

Although she wanted to stay with her all day, she had work to do.

“If anything happens, call me immediately.”

“Yes, madam.”

Yvonne gave Charlotte one last kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

“Welcome, Commander!”

“Yes.”

Going to work as usual, Jackal nodded casually as he entered his office.

Vice Commander Perus followed him in to give his report.

Throughout Perus’s report, Jackal could only think about Charlotte.

‘Children grow quickly, so I should buy clothes in advance. I should go look around some shops with Yvonne.’

“…That concludes my report.”

“Good work.”

“Ah, Commander.”

“What is it?”

Jackal, who had been looking elsewhere the whole time, finally raised his head to look at Perus.

Perus smiled and said:

“Congratulations on the birth of your youngest lady.”

“You’ve already heard the news.”

Jackal smiled faintly.

Then he began speaking to Perus.

“Perus, do you know how cute Charl is? I’ve never seen such an adorable baby in all my life.”

“Is that so?”

Perus felt somewhat curious.

The usually indifferent Jackal only showed interest during training sessions.

Since this was rare, Perus listened attentively.

However, that didn’t last long.

“Her hair is light pink like Yvonne’s, just like cotton candy. Her eyes are light green, and they look just like…”

“Commander, I just remembered an urgent matter. How could I have forgotten, haha.”

Perus gave an awkward smile and said they would talk again later, bowed his head, and quickly left the office.

Once outside, he shuddered.

Jackal had been talking too much—far too much.

It was as if he was pouring out all the words he had never spoken before.

The endless daughter praising made Perus feel like his ears might start bleeding if he listened any longer.

‘So this is what it looks like to be completely smitten with one’s daughter.’

Just then, he saw Zenon, one of the knights, approaching from a distance.

“Zenon.”

“Ah, Vice Commander.”

“What brings you here?”

“I have something to report to the Commander.”

Perus simply nodded without saying anything further.

As Zenon bowed his head and was about to pass by, Perus called out to him.

“By the way, Zenon.”

“Yes?”

“Be careful of your ears.”

“My ears?”

Perus shrugged and patted Zenon’s shoulder.

Entering the office, Zenon found himself trapped, forced to listen to Jackal’s daughter praising.

Only then did he belatedly understand why Perus had said that to him.

‘I want to leave…’

Zenon nodded with lifeless eyes as he listened to Jackal.

After quite some time, when training was about to begin, he was finally released.

Shuddering, Zenon hurried outside to prepare for training.

It truly felt like his ears were bleeding—and that was no exaggeration.

He touched his ears to check, but fortunately, there was no actual blood.

“Phew…”

It was a fresh shock to see the usually taciturn Jackal being such a doting father.

Then he wondered just how cute Charlotte must be to make Jackal talk like that.

“I wonder if she’ll ever come visit us here.”

Zenon muttered quietly to himself as he headed to the training ground.

Finally, when the day’s work was over, Jackal hurried back to the mansion.

He even ordered the coachman to drive as fast as possible to arrive even a minute earlier.

Jackal, who usually moved at a leisurely pace, had become faster than anyone else since Charlotte’s birth.

He was about to go straight to Charlotte without even changing out of his uniform when Yvonne stopped him.

“Jackal.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not planning to go to Charlotte like that, are you?”

“Ah…”

At Yvonne’s words, Jackal belatedly gave an awkward smile.

He had been so eager to see Charlotte that he’d forgotten about the important matter of hygiene.

Yvonne glared at him and pointed upstairs.

“Quickly wash up and change your clothes before coming.”

“Alright.”

He obediently followed her instructions.

He returned to his room, took a thorough shower, and changed into clean clothes.

Then he hurried to Charlotte’s room.

Seeing Charlotte before going to the dining room for dinner had now become part of his routine.

“Charl, Daddy’s here.”

Charlotte, who was being held by Janet, smiled brightly when she saw Jackal.

Seeing her smile, Jackal’s face melted into a tender expression.

“Charl, did you wait for Daddy?”

Naturally, Charlotte reached out her arms toward him.

She wanted Jackal to hold her quickly.

“Yes, yes. Did you miss Daddy? Daddy missed Charl so much too.”

Janet bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

Fortunately, Jackal was so focused on Charlotte that he didn’t notice Janet’s strange expression.

“Was there anything special today?”

“No. Ah, this morning, madam recorded the young lady’s daily life with a recording stone.”

“I bet there’s not a single recording stone left at the Magic Tower.”

Jackal chuckled as he held Charlotte and patted her back.

The small life form against his chest felt so warm and lovable.

Charlotte breathed softly, leaning against his broad chest.

After holding her for a while, Jackal spoke.

“Charl, it’s time for dinner now.”

He handed Charlotte back to Janet.

“I’ll leave her in your care.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Jackal left the room and finally headed to the dining room.

He was probably the last to arrive.

As Jackal had expected, everyone else was already in the dining room.

“Where’s Charlotte?”

“She’s having her dinner.”

As soon as Jackal sat down, the food began to be served.

While cutting his steak, he spoke.

“Yvonne, would you like to go shopping for Charl’s clothes with me next week?”

“Of course! Children grow so quickly, so we need to buy them in advance.”

Royan and Chesar also sent looks indicating they wanted to go, but Yvonne firmly shook her head.

“No. You two have classes, remember?”

They ate their salad with disappointed expressions.

Yvonne smiled brightly and added:

“You can play with Charl until we return.”

Since they had been visiting so frequently, Yvonne had limited their visits, but she was making an exception for that time.

Royan and Chesar nodded enthusiastically with bright expressions.

* * *

Time flew by quickly.

Before they knew it, about two months had passed since Charlotte’s birth.

She ate well and had now started babbling.

“Young lady, did you sleep well?”

“Awu…”

“You’re energetic today too.”

She waved her arms around and occasionally tried to roll over, moving her body back and forth.

While watching Janet clean, Charlotte thought absently:

‘Who could be the child that the deity asked me to save?’

Back then, the deity had told her she would know who it was when she saw them.

Since they mentioned a child, not an adult, she had been carefully observing who came to her room, but apart from Royan and Chesar, there were no children.

“Hawung.”

Charlotte looked at the mobile spinning above her.

‘Will I meet them when I can sit, walk, and go outside?’

Unless that child entered this mansion and came directly to this room, she somehow felt that would be the case.

‘What exactly does “save them” mean?’

The deity had said someone’s fate had changed due to their mistake.

Did that mean she needed to correct that fate?

Or did it mean she needed to stay with that child?

Lost in these thoughts, she unconsciously kept moving her body.

Then suddenly, her vision flipped, and she found herself in a prone position.

Startled, Charlotte opened her eyes wide, and Janet, who happened to witness this, jumped to her feet.

“Oh my, young lady! You rolled over!”

Janet exclaimed, clapping her hands.

Since Charlotte couldn’t roll back yet, Janet quickly turned her over again.

Then she ran to Yvonne as if her feet were on fire.

“Madam, madam!”

“Janet?”

“The young lady, the young lady…!”

Yvonne’s eyes widened in surprise.

Janet’s expression was too excited for something terrible to have happened to Charlotte.

“What is it, Janet?”

“Come quickly. Hurry!”

Yvonne hurriedly followed Janet to Charlotte’s room.

Seeing Yvonne, Charlotte tried to roll over again, grunting with effort.

She knew Yvonne would be delighted if she saw her roll over.

Yvonne watched Charlotte intently, forgetting even to breathe.

After numerous attempts, Charlotte finally succeeded in rolling over again, and Yvonne gasped.