As Eliana grew older, I could feel the difficulty of child-rearing decreasing.

I thought that Eliana, Detrian, and I could live happily as a family of three like this.

…At least until a pseudo-adolescence came to Eliana at the age of seven.

“I won’t listen to Dad’s bedtime stories anymore! And I won’t take baths with him either!”

Detrian looked at Eliana with a blank face, as if in shock.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Detrian lived these days for the purpose of reading books to Eliana before bedtime.

“Pri… Princess? What is this all of a sudden……”

Lady Poluria asked in a soothing tone, flustered.

Eliana crossed her arms and replied primly,

“I’m going to be independent now!”

This time, I dropped the comb in my hand and stared at Eliana with a blank expression.

Wh… what did Eliana just say?

In… independent?

Inde… pendent?”

“Wh… what on earth happened to Eliana……”

Poluria sighed once.

“Well… Heris visited Eliana recently. With… Duke Quintro from the Eastern Empire.”

Detrian and I nodded with still blank faces.

“There… Duke Quintro gave several books as gifts to Eliana. But one of the novel characters creates an independent country and conquers the world……”

No, why would Duke Quintro give such a book to a child!

Well, of course… our daughter should conquer the world, but even so!

Detrian’s expression seemed to fluctuate as if he was thinking the same thing as me.

“After reading that, she keeps saying… she wants to be independent and establish her own empire to become an emperor……”

At this point, Detrian was startled and said to Eliana:

“Eliana…. If you just stay still, this empire… you will be the emperor of this empire……”

“I want to create my own!”

Detrian became dejected and staggered toward his office, saying he would go attend to his work.

Eliana seemed concerned about her father who had left like that and carefully sat down beside me.

“Mom. Is Dad angry?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“Dad’s not angry.”

“Hmm… then is he upset?”

I gently brushed aside the hair stuck to her cheek and said,

“I wonder? Maybe he feels hurt by Eliana?”

Eliana tilted her head.

“Why would he feel hurt?”

“Because Dad wants to spend more time with Eliana, but Eliana said she would leave?”

She puffed up her cheeks as if thinking hard.

“Then… what should I do?”

I laughed at her behavior and made a thinking sound “Hmm—” as if pondering together with her.

“Should we write a letter to Dad?”

Eliana’s eyes sparkled and she nodded.

“Shall I prepare some stationery?”

I shook my head.

“Just prepare one large piece of paper. Eliana is good at drawing, so she can draw Dad on the paper and he’ll like it, what do you think?”

“I like it!”

Mylene brought a quite large piece of paper, and Eliana excitedly began filling the drawing paper with her picture using crayons.

Now she could draw people quite recognizably and write very well too.

I helped her with parts she found difficult and peeked at her drawing and the content of her letter.

[I want to be with Dad too. When I establish my empire, I’ll make Dad my empress.]

Seeing the content of the letter, I gently patted Eliana’s head.

By the time I waited for her to finish her drawing, the time was already heading toward evening.

“We can give it to Dad when we go to eat together, right?”

Eliana nodded excitedly.

As we left the room with her completed letter to go to where we had agreed to have dinner, I saw Detrian walking toward us from far down the corridor, still with a dejected expression.

When I said to Eliana, “Dad’s coming,” she excitedly ran toward Detrian.

“Dad!”

At that, Detrian raised his head and looked at her.

He still looked dejected.

Seriously.

He may have an adult body, but he’s completely a child.

“I wrote you a letter!”

Eliana held out the letter she had spent about five hours completing.

Detrian looked surprised, alternately looking at Eliana and the letter she was handing him, then accepted the letter with a touched expression as if his earlier hurt feelings had completely disappeared.

“You wrote a letter for Dad?”

“Yes! But not now!”

Detrian tilted his head.

“Why? Dad wants to read it now.”

“No! Read it later when you’re alone, okay?”

Detrian nodded as if he had no choice.

So he tightly gripped the letter and approached me with Eliana.

“Was it your idea?”

I shook my head at his question.

“Eliana said she wanted to write it.”

Sometimes lies were more helpful in resolving situations.

Detrian looked at Eliana’s back with a touched expression.

“I’ve raised my daughter well……”

I smiled at his muttering.

We had a happy dinner, read several fairy tales about ‘How to Be a Happy Family’ with Eliana, and then prepared for bed.

Perhaps as a reward for reading books, Eliana left a deep kiss on both my and Detrian’s cheeks before going to bed.

“Well then, shall we go to bed, Your Highness?”

Led by Poluria’s hand, Eliana returned to her bedroom.

Detrian briefly left the room saying he needed to go somewhere for a moment, and I lay down on the large bed.

I felt fatigue washing over me.

As I was nodding off, the door opened and Detrian entered the room.

“Detrian…?”

When I called him, Detrian apologized for waking me, took off the robe he was wearing, and lay down beside me.

“You know, Rowenloa.”

I looked at him with surprise at his suddenly serious voice.

“Yes? Did something happen?”

Detrian turned his head slightly to look at me.

“We’re good parents to Eliana… right?”

I let out a weak laugh.

Detrian always seemed to live with such worries despite doing his best for Eliana.

Who would believe that such a timid man was the emperor of this country?

I patted his shoulder, which seemed full of concern, and said,

“I don’t know about myself, but you’re a good father. How can you say that after seeing how much Eliana loves you today?”

Rather than being reassured, Detrian’s expression hardened even more.

“I think you’re a good mother too… but it seems Eliana is feeling lonely.”

I tilted my head at this incomprehensible conclusion.

“What do you mean?”

Detrian handed me the letter he had received from Eliana, which he had placed on the bedside table.

Since I already knew the content of the letter, I read through it, but noticed an additional phrase at the very bottom that I hadn’t seen before.

[But Dad. I want a sibling. Where can I get a sibling?]

…What is this?

Eliana, when did you write this content without me seeing…

Before I could gather my thoughts while reading the letter, Detrian slowly got up from his seat and began taking off his pajamas.

Then he naturally grabbed my wrist that had been patting his shoulder.

“…Detrian? Why are you suddenly taking off your top?”

“It seems our daughter is feeling lonely.”

I shook my head in dismay.

“No, she probably just said that in the heat of the moment.”

“No. Our smart Eliana wouldn’t say something like this in the heat of the moment. So… Dad has to do his best. Right?”

Detrian’s body slowly moved toward me.

I struggled to escape from his embrace but eventually fell for his scheme.

I thought that it would be nice for Eliana to have a sibling she could rely on, seeing Grace and Delian.

So… I planned to have a second child, but I hadn’t intended to conceive so suddenly!

As a result of Detrian’s diligent efforts to meet Eliana’s expectations, a new life arrived.

Fortunately, thanks to thorough preparation beforehand, both my morning sickness and physical condition were much better than before.

Looking at my gradually swelling belly, Eliana and Detrian smiled happily, and I sighed and thought,

Well, if they’re this happy, that’s all that matters.

May God always be with this child in my womb, and with all of us.

Forever.

『The Villainess Has No Regrets in this Life』 Side Story, End