The child’s bottom was busy wiggling back and forth, perhaps because he was eager at the thought of playing with a sibling. Seeing this, Giselle smiled with a troubled expression and shook her head.

“They can’t come that quickly. Hmm…… ten months, no, a hundred nights of sleep.”

“A hundred nights?”

The child’s eyes trembled as if shocked by his mother’s words. This was because in Eddie’s standard, the longest time was ‘a hundred nights.’ The child pouted his lips in despair and clasped his hands together.

“Can’t you tell my sibling to come quickly? I want to see my sibling! I can give them all my toys!”

The child pleaded with a desperate expression. Giselle couldn’t answer hastily and opened her mouth only to close it again at the sight of the small hands clasped together like maple leaves.

‘Oh dear, I didn’t realize Eddie’s feelings.’

She hadn’t noticed that he might be lonely without siblings. She had just been thankful that he was such a bright and energetic child.

“Really, Mom! Dad!”

When his mom just kept looking at him, Eddie puffed up his cheeks and then turned to look at Lucas as if seeking help. Lucas, who had been quietly watching the child until then, frowned and then smoothed his brow before speaking.

“The baby…… is too small and weak right now, so they can’t come to see Eddie.”

“Small and weak? How much? Are they sick?”

Eddie blinked and then opened his eyes wide, asking in a worried tone. Lucas responded with a gentle smile while pointing to Giselle.

“They’re not sick, they’re growing strong in Mom’s belly right now.”

“…… in Mom’s belly?”

The child’s eyes grew as big as soup bowls, as if wondering what that meant. Giselle finally smiled softly and spoke while wrapping her hands around her belly.

“Our Eddie also grew strong in Mom’s belly before coming out.”

“……!”

Kukukung.

It was as if thunder had struck above the child’s pink head. Eddie blinked with a shocked expression and then stuttered.

“B-but Eddie is this big…… how could I have been in Mom’s belly, huaang.”

Tears began to well up in the child’s eyes as he tried to continue speaking. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t have been inside his mother’s belly.

For Eddie, who loved his mother the most in the world, it was something he couldn’t even imagine.

As the child began to sob with confusion and fear, Giselle muttered “Oh my goodness” to herself and hurriedly stood up. Lucas also rose from his seat and approached his young son.

“Mom…… huuung.”

As soon as Giselle approached, Eddie quickly stretched out his arms and hugged her. She embraced the child in her arms even more tightly and spoke in a soothing tone.

“When Eddie was in Mom’s belly, you were much smaller than you are now.”

“…… Sniff, really?”

The child buried his face in the hem of Giselle’s dress and then looked up. Perhaps slightly relieved by the mention of being small, tears no longer poured from the child’s eyes.

Giselle smiled gently as she stroked the child’s curly hair and continued.

“Yes. You were a very tiny baby.”

“How small was I?”

“Hmm…… this small?”

She showed about one segment of her finger to reassure the child and prevent him from bursting into tears again.

Lucas approached and saw this, then chuckled. But Eddie opened his eyes wide at his mother’s words and exclaimed, “Wow!”

“Was I that small?”

“Yes.”

“Are all babies that small? Then my sibling too?”

Eddie asked Giselle with curious eyes, as if he had never cried. Giselle, relieved that the child’s interest had shifted back to his sibling, nodded.

“Your sibling is even smaller than when our Eddie was in Mom’s belly.”

“Wow!”

Eddie opened his eyes wide in amazement and looked at Giselle’s belly. He wondered where exactly in his mother’s belly his sibling was. And he also thought that since his sibling was so small, it made sense that he would have to sleep a hundred nights before he could see them.

“Now do you understand, Eddie?”

At that moment, Lucas smiled and picked Eddie up. The child laughed brightly and hugged his neck tightly. He patted the child’s back and continued in a joking tone.

“So our Eddie needs to protect Mom and my sibling.”

“Yes!”

Eddie nodded vigorously at Lucas’s words and pressed his lips together firmly.

“What kind of burden are you putting on the child? No, Eddie. Our Eddie is still a baby too.”

Giselle scolded Lucas after hearing those words, but Eddie’s determination didn’t change.

“No! I’m not a baby, Mom! I’m this big. The sibling is a baby because they’re in Mom’s belly. I’m a knight!”

“A knight?”

She laughed and asked while pausing from scolding her husband.

“Yes! Mom is a princess. I’m the brave knight who saved Mom. So I’ll protect Mom and my sibling.”

The child remembered the fairy tale book his father had read to him. And he could vividly recall how his mother had kissed his cheek and thanked him that day.

Eddie’s face gradually flushed.

Finally, it was time for brave knight Eddie to make his appearance!

“I’ll protect you until I sleep a hundred nights! Promise!”

And so began the child’s “Protecting Mom and Sibling” mission. No one could have predicted how many mischievous incidents this great adventure would lead to.

* * *

“We don’t know where the monster might be. So we have to be quiet all the time.”

The back view of the child putting his index finger to his lips and whispering was adorable. Of course, Eddie himself imagined his appearance to be that of a solemn knight.

“Meow.”

“Shh! Big sister Nana, I said we need to be quiet. Sigh, I just told you. Big brother Coco, you shouldn’t do that either! We might be discovered by the monster!”

Eddie was scolding Nana who had meowed softly at him, when he was startled to see Coco who had been hanging on the curtain slide down, and hugged the cat.

Then he tucked in his neck and held his breath for a while. Only his shoulders moving up and down showed the tension the child was feeling.

Of course, Coco and Nana, the two cats, showed relaxed expressions as they wagged their tails.

“Now, so follow me quietly. Got it? Don’t cry if you’re scared. We have to defeat the monster. We already defeated the terrifying carrot monster!”

Eddie recalled the carrot monster that had been ruined and scratched all over by the toy sword he had wielded, and wore a satisfied expression. But soon the child frowned with a serious expression.

“Phew, I didn’t know there would be so many monsters in the house. Monsters everywhere.”

“Meow.”

“Shh! I said you have to be quiet.”

The child gave another warning to Nana who had responded to his words, then gently opened the bedroom door.

No one was visible in the hallway. The afternoon after lunch and before dinner was, as usual, quiet and peaceful.

At least as long as Eddie wasn’t causing mischief.

Still, Eddie turned his head left and right several times to survey the surroundings while keeping the door half open.

“Is there nobody?”

The child came out only after confirming once more that there was not a single person passing through the hallway.

“Let’s go! Big brother, big sister!”

And the place Eddie headed was grandmother’s art studio.

* * *

“I wonder if he’s playing quietly today.”

Giselle put down her teacup and muttered to herself as she glanced in the direction of Eddie’s room. Stella smiled lightly and then spoke in a gentle tone.

“Don’t scold him too harshly. He’s at an age where he naturally plays pranks and causes mischief.”

“But it’s been really severe these past few days, Mother. It was embarrassing even for the maids to see. The butler and head maid didn’t show it, but everyone had dark circles under their eyes……”

Giselle responded with a furrowed brow in a lamenting tone and shook her head. Of course, even as she said this, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.

“Indeed, Eddie’s pranks have been severe these past few days.”

Stella also held a similar smile as she picked up her teacup. The head maid who was attending them nearby added with a small laugh.

“It means the young master has grown that much more. His curiosity is becoming more active too.”

“It’s just that he’s causing trouble for others.”

If one were to list all the mischief Eddie had been up to around the house over the past few days, it might exceed his height.

Just yesterday, how much trouble had he caused?

After ruining the carrots and being banned from the food storage—which wasn’t an appropriate place for a child to play in anyway—yesterday he went to the kitchen and spilled flour everywhere.

Just like in her dream.

And that wasn’t all.

After making a mess with flour in the kitchen, the child went to the laundry room and pulled out all the laundry that had been placed in the baskets.

And because Coco and Nana, the two cats who had entered the laundry room with the child, joined in, all the clothes were ruined.

“You should have seen the laundry maid’s expression yesterday. She looked at me as if the world was ending……”