***

Knock knock-

“Miss Lora! The child has woken up!”

Around dinner time, welcome news arrived.

At Soho’s voice, I raised my body that had been lying listlessly after finishing all my work.

Click-

Walking unsteadily, I opened the door to find Soho waiting for me with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.

“The child has woken up?”

“Yes! I wanted to let you know right away, Miss Lora!”

“Let’s go to the room. The child must be very nervous surrounded by strangers.”

“Yes!”

Holding his small, warm hand, we went to the child’s door where Sion and Lionel were standing.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

“We thought we might frighten the child, so only Aria and Lady Irena went in.”

“Well done. That’s very considerate.”

As I smiled at their thoughtfulness, Sion looked at me with even more admiration.

Turning away from them, I raised my hand to knock on the door.

Knock knock-

“May I come in?”

“Yes. Please come in.”

Fling-

“Yes, how is the child… oh!”

Soho and I, entering the room, simultaneously froze.

“Waaah.”

A tiny child sitting up against the headboard was sobbing profusely.

Irena and Aria were sitting on either side, gently stroking the child’s back.

I briefly gave Aria, who had given permission to enter, a reproachful look, then quietly turned to attempt an escape.

“Sniff, who are you?”

And failed.

The child was staring at us with straw-colored eyes blurred with tears.

“This is the owner of the house. The person who saved you.”

“Sniff, than… waaah… tha-waaah… mommy.”

A voice as small as the child’s frame, with shortened pronunciation.

And at the sorrowful crying and the word “mommy,” the scene from earlier today came to mind.

Everyone present seemed to share the same thought, as we all let out deep sighs.

“Child, don’t cry.”

“Waaaah.”

As the adults fell silent at the pitiful and heartbreaking crying, Soho approached the child.

Then, sitting down on the soft bed with a plop, he gently stroked the child’s bangs with a mature expression.

The child glanced at Soho but continued to shed tiny tears.

I silently cheered in my heart, hoping that the approach of another child might make the situation better.

“I don’t even know who my mother is.”

“Sniff, huh?”

Everyone held their breath at the unexpected words.

“And until I came here, I lived in a prison.”

“Soho.”

Aria called Soho in a low voice, but Irena and I stopped her with our eyes. After hesitating briefly, Soho looked directly at the child with a steady gaze.

“But Lora, Lora is that person over there! She brought me here. So I met wonderful big brothers and found my dreams! That important person at the Grand Duke’s castle said so. This is a fortune that not everyone gets to enjoy.”

Everyone remained silent at the child’s subsequent words.

The child had seemed simply adorable, but could they really have such thoughts?

And what exactly did Ante say to Soho? Just let him appear before my eyes and see what happens.

As I was making this silent promise, Soho thrust out his chest and continued in a confident tone.

“But your mother protected you until the end.”

“Sniff.”

“So you’re even more fortunate.”

“Yes…”

“And they said that our mothers surely want us to live happily!”

“Waaah, mommy.”

“So don’t cry! Big Brother Sion said we need to be brave!”

At Soho’s words, the child nodded vigorously and wiped the corners of their eyes with both hands.

“Sniff. Sob. I won’t cry. Waaah.”

“Yes, that’s how you can become a cool big brother like me!”

Soho put his hands on his waist and stuck out his chest.

I quietly watched the two children with an expression that couldn’t decide whether to cry or laugh. Feelings of pity and affection washed over me simultaneously.

“Sniff.”

Though the child had promised not to cry, it wasn’t the kind of crying that could stop so easily.

As Irena and Aria continued to comfort the still sniffling child, Soho admonished with a deliberately stern face.

“Stop crying! I told you, that’s how you can become a cool big brother like me!”

“Waaaah!”

At Soho’s scolding, the child shed tears like rain again. The crying sound, which had been subsiding, only grew louder.

“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry. Was I too harsh?”

As Soho fidgeted anxiously, the child threw a remark at him.

“Waaah. I’m a girl named Mia! Waaaah!”

“What?!”

“Pfft.”

Ah, I laughed.

Glancing at the two children, fortunately, they seemed too absorbed in their own indignation to have heard me.

Soho’s eyes grew wider and wider, and his chubby cheeks twitched as if he couldn’t understand what was happening. When I turned my head sideways, I saw that Irena and Aria were also suffering as they tried to hold back their laughter.

“Waaaaaah- Mia is a girl…”

***

Afterward, Irena went to comfort the dejected Soho, I took charge of Mia, who continued to cry loudly for her mother, and Aria went to prepare dinner, all of us scattering in different directions.

“Hey, Mia.”

“Sniff, waaaah.”

“….”

It seems that comforting children is what I’m least skilled at.

I was breaking into a cold sweat as the child wouldn’t stop crying no matter how much I tried to soothe her.

Knock knock-

At that moment, a welcome knocking sound was heard.

“Miss Lora, may we come in?”

“Come in quickly!”

Thump-

The two men were startled to see how haggard I had become in such a short time. As I gestured for them to come closer, Lionel approached with a composed expression. Then he smiled gently at the child.

“May we approach?”

“Waaah- huh?”

Mia slightly raised her eyes and looked at Sion and Lionel. At that moment, the child’s eyes sparkled.

The child tilted her head, looking back and forth between the two men, and gradually, focus returned to her cloudy eyes.

“So handsome.”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

“Such handsome misters…”

Mia’s tears stopped with a plop. The child reached out toward Lionel.

It was a moment that made my efforts of patting, coaxing, and fussing over the child seem pathetic.

As I stared at them with empty eyes, feeling deflated, the two men flinched.

“Sion, Lionel.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

At my gloomy call, the shoulders of both men stiffened. They both spoke with tension in their voices.

“Must be nice to be handsome?”

“Haha.”

“It’s a bit like that.”

“What? Sion, you…”

Sion relaxed and made a playful expression.

He had somehow become capable of showing various expressions now, and he picked up Mia with a swift motion.

Mia doesn’t resist and allows herself to be held. I stroked the now-smiling child’s head.

“Mia, do you like handsome men?”

“Mommy said being handsome is the best.”

“Pfft.”

“Your mother certainly had… interesting… educational values.”

I didn’t see her that way.

I muttered to myself, then shouted, “Let the handsome Sion and Lionel handle it!” and walked out the door.

Then I returned to my room and flopped down on the bed.

I felt a little melancholy.

After a short nap, when I went down to the living room for dinner, a warm atmosphere had already developed.

“Hehehe-“

“Hahaha-“

“Let me join too!”

Hearing the cheerful laughter of the two children and seeing everyone looking as content as elderly people watching their grandchildren’s antics, I couldn’t help but smile warmly despite feeling somewhat bewildered.

“Miss Lora, you’re here?”

“Yes, has Mia already adjusted?”

“It seems so, probably because she’s a child.”

“Miss Lora! Thank you for saving me!”

Seeing Mia jump up and run over to greet me, the disappointment I had felt earlier because of Sion and Lionel melted away like snow.

“Yes, I’m also grateful that Mia has come to our home.”

As I stroked the child’s fine hair with a warm smile, I looked around at the others.

Just then, a man walked out from the kitchen. I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.

It was someone who shouldn’t be here.