At that moment, Theo squeezed Hailey’s hand and whispered, “Hailey…”

“Yes, I am.”

“How old is the child?”

“Why do you ask?”

When Hailey sharply retorted, Khalid stepped forward, saying, ‘My Lady,’ but Axel stopped him with one hand. It wasn’t to prevent Khalid from being too harsh with the lady; it was because Axel didn’t care about her attitude at all.

“Lady, I can stand here all night, and you can’t leave until I say so.”

“Are you threatening me? What does the child have to do with this?”

“It’s relevant. Why not just answer? I’m quite good at drawing a crowd.”

It was relevant. The child was the most important factor.

As Axel said, more and more people gathered.

The prince’s tone grated on Hailey’s nerves. She suppressed her rising irritation and answered.

“He’s five years old.”

“Is he your son?”

“…”

Theo, experiencing the outside world for the first time, had never seen so many people at once.

But even at his young age, Theo could feel it. All these people were looking at him and Hailey the same way the baroness did.

Theo thought quietly.

He didn’t understand everything, but he sensed that the giant villain was the strongest person here, and Hailey was in trouble because of him.

Theo didn’t want to cause Hailey any trouble. He wanted to help her. Despite his fear, he mustered the courage to step forward and say, ‘No, I’m not.’

But Hailey, sensing his movement, held his hand tightly and pulled him back behind her.

“Yes, he is.”

A sigh erupted from the crowd. Theo looked up at Hailey in surprise.

“I am his mother.”

“Splendid.”

“…?”

‘A big catch. No need to look further. This is the woman.’

Axel admired his mother’s insight.

‘This is insane.’

Hearing the prince’s words, Khalid wanted to bang his head against a wall.

As everyone wondered what on earth the prince was talking about, Count Roman looked at the prince as if he were a savior and said,

“Oh, thank you, Your Highness! Thank you for revealing the truth for me!”

“That’s not it.”

“What?”

“Count, whether you were defrauded or lost your house, it has nothing to do with me.”

But, Your Highness, what do you mean by that?

Count Roman, still unable to grasp the situation, blinked stupidly up at Axel. The prince was so tall that looking up at him for a long time made his neck quite stiff.

“Lady, get in the carriage. I need to speak with you for a moment.”

“I decline.”

“Failing to register a birth is technically against the law. I could send the royal guards to bring you in. Would that be more convenient?”

Having already checked all noble houses with young children, it was certain that the unidentified child had not been registered.

The prince, with eyes that said, ‘Why not get in while I’m being nice?’ pointed to the large golden carriage.

Only then did Count Roman come to his senses and intervene.

“Your Highness! I need to settle things with this woman! Taking her away like this is…”

“Count. Do you see the palace over there? There are plenty of idle people there who would love to listen to your foolish story. Go and tell them.”

Count Roman’s face turned red and blue in an instant, but Axel didn’t care at all. He found the count, who was wasting his time, annoying.

Without waiting for Hailey’s response, Axel informed Khalid that they would be taking both the lady and the child.

“I need an apology from Count Roman. He grabbed my child roughly. If he doesn’t apologize, I’ll file a complaint.”

“What? An apology? Ha! I should be the one getting an apology. I should be the one filing a complaint!”

But Hailey had no intention of leaving without getting an apology.

She wanted an apology for Count Roman’s rough handling of Theo. She didn’t want Theo’s first outing to be marred by negative memories.

Axel quietly observed the woman who was determined to get an apology.

Few noble ladies would dare speak to a noble of higher rank like that in front of so many nobles.

If Count Roman pressed the issue, he could easily ruin the minor House of Langston. She wasn’t naive enough not to know that.

‘She’s no ordinary woman, even if she’s just a baron’s daughter.’

At that moment, the bold little boy who had been making eye contact with Axel cautiously extended one arm from behind the woman and spoke in a small voice.

“…There’s a bruise too.”

It was almost a mumble, but Axel heard the tiny voice.

There couldn’t be a bruise already, but the area was slightly red from being grabbed hard. The boy was insisting it was a bruise.

Axel chuckled softly.

“The count doesn’t seem inclined to apologize.”

“An apology is out of the question!”

“Lady Langston, would something else suffice instead of an apology?”

Something else instead of an apology?

Before the words were even finished, Axel suddenly grabbed the count’s wrist and twisted it.

“Argh!”

The count clutched his twisted wrist and rolled on the ground.

Everyone, including Khalid and the onlookers, was shocked.

Hailey’s eyes widened in surprise at the brute action, and Theo, who had come out from behind Hailey, looked down at the fat, mean man rolling on the ground and added in a small voice,

“Wow, that’s cool…”

Khalid wanted to tell the boy,

‘No, this isn’t a cool thing.’

The prince had caused a scene again.

“Count, if you feel wronged, go to the palace and complain. Tell them the mad prince broke your wrist. You can also tell them about your other grievances.”

Axel released the count’s hand and, acting the gentleman, extended a hand to Hailey.

“Lady Langston, won’t you join me in the carriage now?”

“…”

Madman.

A new madman had appeared, leaving Hailey Langston speechless.

* * *

In storybooks, all giants were villains, but today Theo decided to correct that.

Theo happily rolled the candy around in his mouth.

The moment he put it in his mouth, it melted sweetly, tasting even better than the occasional apple or peach he got to eat.

Silence filled the carriage.

Between the three adults, Theo carefully unwrapped a second piece of candy, sneaking glances at Hailey.

Hailey glared at Theo, indicating he should finish what was already in his mouth first.

Reluctantly, Theo put the candy back.

Meanwhile, Axel, sitting across from them, thought about what had just happened.

‘Wait a minute.’
‘Are you going now?’
‘…I need to buy something.’
‘What?’
‘I need to buy candy!’

What else could there be?

Axel was getting annoyed with Hailey, who was refusing to get into the carriage. But candy?

Hailey’s ears turned slightly red, perhaps out of embarrassment.

Looking straight ahead, they were in front of a candy store.

The bold little boy also kept turning his head towards the candy store, reluctant to leave.

‘Go and get it all.’
‘What?’
‘Go and get everything in that store.’
‘That’s too much…!’

Hailey’s desperate voice was ignored.

Following Axel’s orders, Khalid really did empty the store. There was so much candy that it had to be loaded into the carriage’s luggage compartment.

It was the moment when Theo’s eyes sparkled the most all day.

That giant defeated the bad man and even bought candy!

‘He wasn’t a villain…!’

Theo’s perception of giants was shattered. He wasn’t sure if the giant man was a good person, but his view of giants had changed. Moreover, this carriage was as large and plush as one would expect from a giant’s carriage.

‘Amazing.’

Theo unconsciously stomped his feet in excitement.

Hailey felt extremely uncomfortable just being in a royal carriage, but seeing Theo’s excited legs made her think it was worth it if he was happy.

“Lady. What is your name?”

“…Hailey Langston.”

“And the child’s?”

Why does he keep bringing up the child?

Hailey couldn’t help but think the prince was strange. She thought he might be a prince who liked to meddle, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

As absurd as it sounded, she wondered if the prince was interested in her, but his face didn’t show the expression of a man smitten with a woman.

‘Then why on earth?’

Why was the prince interested in a five-year-old child?

“Do you really need to know that?”

“Lady, your words about the prince have been excessive since earlier.”

Khalid, having to side with the prince, had no choice but to retort, even though he agreed with Hailey a hundred times over.

“Is that so? To me, someone who keeps showing interest in a five-year-old child rather seems…”

“…?”

“…like a pervert.”

“Lady, what are you saying!”

Khalid’s ears burned with embarrassment because her words were too accurate.