The Unemployed Prince Covets My Nephew - Chapter 18
Receiving Axel’s cold glare, Khalid turned his head away completely.
“How on earth can you give me 100,000 zenia in a year?”
“I will become the Grand Duke. I can give you that much.”
“Both Your Highness and I are penniless and unemployed. How?”
“You! Isn’t that too harsh? I’m not unemployed!”
“Then what are you?”
“…I am the prospective Grand Duke!”
At Axel’s excited voice, Khalid punched his own thigh repeatedly.
Hailey sighed.
Money wasn’t her objective in the first place. She had already received the reward by rescuing Theo through the contract, so she intended to do her best. She just wanted to confirm.
“…Your Highness saved Theo and is my benefactor, so I will do my best with this contract regardless of money. I just wanted to know our exact positions.”
Hailey shrugged her shoulders and coolly signed both copies of the contract. Axel, who had been excited, felt awkward for no reason.
“But there’s one thing you should know about Theo.”
Hailey glanced at Theo, who was playing excitedly in a pile of candies in the corner of the room. She was about to continue quietly when…
“He’s not your child?”
“H-How did you know?”
Hailey almost screamed in surprise.
Axel answered nonchalantly.
“When I looked into Lady Langston, there was hardly any information about you. Most of it was about your sister.”
“…”
“Your sister seemed to have led quite a debauched life at the academy? In contrast, you didn’t engage in social activities and had no close friends, so it’s obvious, isn’t it? Statistically, the biological mother is likely your sister.”
“…I wasn’t trying to deceive you. She’s been gone for a long time, and no matter what, Theo is my child.”
Axel looked at Hailey and spoke quietly.
“Yes. You are his mother. Now he’s our child.”
He signed both copies of the documents handed over by Hailey.
After Khalid made a final check, the two shared the contract. They also signed the remaining documents required for marriage and adoption.
Thus, they became a real couple and a one-year contract family.
* * *
Theo learned the concept of family from fairy tales.
‘Hailey. Does a family always have to include a mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa?’
‘No. Not necessarily. A family is what you think it is.’
Family was described as people who lived close together, embraced, and understood each other, but during his time at the baron’s estate, there were people he had to call grandma and grandpa, but they weren’t family. They lived close by but never embraced or understood each other.
Theo drew an X over the grandma and grandpa in the fairy tale. He also drew an X over dad and siblings.
The only one left was mom, and Theo had Hailey. It was ambiguous, but Theo thought of Hailey as his mom and circled her.
After writing it all down, something felt off. Young Theo ended up crossing out the word ‘family.’ ‘Family’ didn’t seem that important.
Next to it, he wrote in crooked letters:
Our Family Side
In fairy tales, there were villains and there was ‘our side.’ Hailey was Theo’s only ‘our side.’
For Theo, that was enough.
“Shall we take a walk?”
Even if it was just Theo, it seemed awkward for the adult Axel to be shy. Hailey suggested a walk between the two awkward men.
Hailey half-forced Theo, who was buried in the candy pile, to get up.
Both of Theo’s pants pockets were already bulging.
Theo smelled sweet, having taken so much candy.
“Is the palace comfortable to live in?”
“Yes. It’s wonderful. Really beautiful. It seems the previous occupant took good care of it.”
“The Empress will be pleased to hear that.”
“Pardon?”
“The only one who used it before you was my mother. The way it is now is just as it was when she used it.”
Hailey, walking alongside Axel in the Spring Garden, was surprised.
‘What do you mean? Didn’t you have a fiancée?’
She heard that the prince had a long-term fiancée. Given the length of their engagement, Hailey assumed the previous fiancée had used the palace.
“Excuse me, but did your… former fiancée never stay there?”
“Are you talking about Lady Brahe? No. That place is for the princess. Even a guest room would be too much for her.”
Axel’s tone sounded somewhat cynical. Despite their long engagement, he didn’t seem to have favorable feelings towards her.
Usually, a young lady destined to become a princess would stay in the princess’s palace even before officially becoming one. According to what Hailey had heard from the head maid, it was customary for the prince to arrange for his future princess to stay in the palace two or three days a week, to let her get used to the staff and manage the palace, as a form of ‘princess training.’
So Hailey naturally assumed the previous fiancée had decorated the palace.
“Have you ever met Lady Brahe?”
“No. She’s a duke’s daughter, and I don’t engage in social activities, so I’ve never met her.”
Axel suddenly stopped.
Keeping her eyes on Theo’s excited back to avoid tripping, Hailey felt a firm hand grasp her fingertips.
It was just to stop her from walking, but Hailey, focused on Theo, looked up at Axel in surprise.
“You are the princess. The duke’s daughter is beneath you. Even if the duke himself comes, he should bow to you.”
“…”
“Always be confident and true to yourself. I can handle the consequences.”
Hailey had never heard such words, even in her previous life.
‘True to myself.’
Axel might have just said it to keep Lady Brahe in check, since their relationship wasn’t good, but Hailey’s heart fluttered upon hearing those words.
Hailey had never heard such words before. Instead, she was often told she was inflexible, that she should bend when necessary, and why was she so stiff.
‘What the heck. It’s just something he can say. Calm down.’
Hailey turned her head, pretending to be unaffected.
The warmth from Axel’s hand disappeared from her fingertips right after she heard a splat.
“Teo…!”
It was Theo.
She had been worried he might fall because he was too excited. Hailey sighed deeply.
Just as Hailey was about to go and help Theo up, Axel stopped her.
“How about letting him get up on his own?”
“Theo is five years old.”
“I caught rabbits and foxes by myself when I was five. At five, he should be able to get up on his own if he falls.”
“That was Your Highness.”
Axel could manifest aura at nine years old. He couldn’t be compared, but Axel wasn’t wrong.
Hailey knew this too. But she always thought she was the only one Theo had, so whenever something happened, her body moved to protect and shield Theo before her mind could. It was an old habit.
Seeing the small Theo on the ground, Hailey felt pity and didn’t know what to do.
“Just watch for a moment. Your child is smarter than you think.”
“But…”
“I will handle this.”
Hailey knew Theo was smart. But to her, he was still a small baby.
Axel placed one hand on Hailey’s shoulder from behind. He gestured for the attendants, maids, and servants following them to step back.
Do not help. This was also a teaching from the Empress.
Axel looked at Theo’s small butt on the ground and, with a good idea in mind, walked over to him.
‘Hailey…?’
Normally, Hailey would have run over to help him up, but this time she didn’t come.
Theo tilted his head and glanced back. Hailey was watching from a distance.
Everyone was watching him, so Theo suddenly felt embarrassed about being on the ground. He grunted and got up.
His pretty clothes and pants were dirty with soil. Theo brushed the dirt off his pants with his small hands.
“My precious candy!”
Some candies had fallen out of his pocket when he fell.
Theo rummaged through his pocket to check how many candies were missing. He looked around and saw only four candies on the ground.
He picked up the four visible candies and stuffed them back into his pocket, but he continued to look around.
A large shadow loomed over Theo. The shadow was so big that Theo had to look up.
“What are you looking for?”
It was the giant man.