11.

If I press the teacher too harshly in front of Aeir, his attention might shift from his own mistake to someone else’s carelessness.’
For now, preventing a recurrence was what mattered.

“I’m sure this must have been quite a shock for you as well, teacher. We will also instruct the child at home about the dangers of acting alone.”

Estelle barely steadied her still-racing emotions and continued the conversation.

“However, since we entrust our child to your care, I would appreciate it if you could pay closer attention to the facility’s safety so this doesn’t happen again. The backyard connects straight to the forest once the fence is crossed, and children are prone to sudden impulses.”

“Yes, we will have it fixed by tomorrow and conduct an additional inspection as well! Thank you for your understanding, ma’am!”

Perhaps relieved by the unexpectedly moderate response, Teacher Anne finally looked at ease.

After confirming that, Estelle spoke to Aeir in a calm voice and began to discipline him.

“Aeir, Mommy told you that you must listen carefully to your teacher at kindergarten, right?”

“Yes, Mommy……”

“Then was it the right thing to leave the kindergarten without the teacher’s permission?”

“No……”

“What should you do when you make a mistake?”

“You said I have to apologize. Sincerely.”

“Then you should apologize to the teacher, correct?”

“Yes.”

Nodding his head, Aeir slipped out of Estelle’s arms and walked over to Teacher Anne. His steps were filled with obvious remorse.

Even though it was a moment that required strictness, his small back looked far too adorable. Estelle watched the child while holding back the laughter threatening to escape.

“Aeir, I’m sorry. I did wrong.”

Though a little slower than usual, Aeir spoke clearly and offered a polite apology.

Teacher Anne, who had been watching him with gentle eyes, accepted it, and Aeir immediately began hopping around again with a bright smile.

“And teacher, thank you for informing us right away instead of hiding it when Aeir went missing.”

“Not at all. That’s something we must do, ma’am. I’ll do better. Please head home safely! Aeir, see you tomorrow~.”

“Goodbye, teacher!”

Just then, the carriage following behind arrived, driven by the coachman.
Peter, who had been inside, stepped down while the mother and son were saying their farewells and mounted Estelle’s horse. Soon after, Estelle and Aeir climbed into the carriage.

If Estelle had been alone, she would have simply ridden back on horseback, but she had no intention of placing young Aeir on a warhorse.

“Aeir, even if it’s a forest without ferocious beasts, it would still be dangerous alone. Why did you leave?”

Left alone with him inside the carriage, Estelle asked why he had wandered out of the kindergarten on his own.

“A pretty bird told me to follow it. It had a color Mommy likes.”

“A bird?”

Come to think of it, the child had mentioned a bird earlier as well.

“You know the pink jewel Mommy always treasures! The bird’s feathers were exactly that color, so I thought if I became friends with it, Mommy would like it too……. Aeir is still little so I can’t buy jewels, but I can make friends—”

‘Ah. I thought he was asleep at night, but he had seen everything.’

On nights when she was especially exhausted, Estelle would secretly take out the necklace hidden in her drawer and look at it.

The pink sapphire necklace, whose hue resembled the eyes of the late Imperial Consort Serena, was a keepsake she had left to Estelle without anyone knowing. From it, Estelle sought the warm traces of Serena’s presence.

‘Even though I’m the one who drove her to death.’

She felt pathetic, yet the heart could not be controlled at will.

“I wanted Mommy to be happy!”

To think the dangerous outing had been for her sake—Estelle’s throat grew hot.

“My happiness is seeing Aeir grow up healthy and cheerful. So next time, you must not do anything dangerous.”

“Yes!”

Aeir answered energetically.

He was not even four yet, but perhaps having inherited Estelle’s calm and mature disposition from a young age, communicating with him was relatively easy. Even Peter, who had cared for many younger siblings, was surprised.

Estelle was always grateful that Aeir was growing up well even outside the Imperial Palace.

“Oh, but Mommy! I met a handsome pwince in the forest! He was really riding a white horse!”

“A prince?”

“Yes! More handsome than the pwince in the fairy tale you read to me! And there was a knight with him too!”

‘He must have met the well-born son of some noble family who looked rather impressive. I wonder why he was in a forest with no real game to hunt.’

Children truly had vivid imaginations.

Estelle gazed fondly at the child as he chattered excitedly. In such a brief moment, he alone could make her pass between heaven and h*ll.

Of course, in the past, Kaian had been that person—but not anymore. No, he must not be. Estelle steadied her heart once more.

“I got lost and was scared, but the pwince took me back to the kindergarten!”

“Is that so? Then he was a kind person. Mommy should have thanked him.”

“Yes! If I meet him again, Aeir will introduce you!”

The child’s eyes sparkled brightly. It seemed he had taken quite a liking to that so-called prince.

‘Well… a noble personally helping a common child he didn’t even know. He must be a person of good character. The chances are slim, but if we meet again, I should properly repay him—perhaps with a goblet from Master Deutche.’

It was an afternoon when warm sunlight fell upon the mother and son, deepening Estelle’s gratitude toward the prince whose name she did not even know.

***

“Waaah!”

“N-No! Chase! You must show proper manners before His Majesty the Emperor—!”

In the Imperial Palace banquet hall, where the Founding Anniversary celebration was in full swing, yet another young child of a noble family burst into tears before the Emperor.

The child was the five-year-old eldest son of the young Viscount Wagon.

Ordinarily, children were not brought to most palace banquets.
However, the banquet on the day of the Founding Festival was special. Legitimate heirs of high noble families who would one day inherit their titles often attended hand in hand with their parents. It was a custom that began as a gesture of welcoming the Empire’s future.

Moreover, today marked the first properly held Founding Festival banquet in four years since the death of Imperial Consort Estelle. Most heirs of the highest noble families had gathered at the palace.

While parents busied themselves introducing and boasting about their successors, they were equally anxious lest their children offend the Emperor.

“S-S-Sorry, Your Majesty! The child is still young—.”

The young Viscount Wagon and his wife, trying to soothe the child, broke into cold sweat as they watched the Emperor’s reaction. It was a day when the Emperor—already famous for his ruthlessness—became particularly sensitive.

After all, four years ago today was the day Imperial Consort Estelle had disappeared.

It was an open secret that the Emperor harbored hostility toward the Duchy of Astria and toward Imperial Consort Estelle.
Thus, the nobles had assumed he would welcome her death.

But after Estelle’s death, the Emperor had instead grown excessively sensitive and colder than ever.

In some circles, rumors even spread that the ghost of the late Imperial Consort visited and tormented the Emperor every night.

‘Ha… I should have just left Chase at home. I only tried to make an impression, and now it looks like my family will be marked instead.’

Viscount Wagon regretted his own greed, cursing the decision he had made four hours earlier.

“Viscount Wagon.”

‘I’m dead! Will I be expelled? No—being expelled would be fortunate. What if my family gets demoted—’

At the Emperor’s call, the viscount’s face turned even paler.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“How old is the child?”

“Pardon?”

Caught completely off guard by the unexpected question, the viscount asked back. Meeting the Emperor’s dry gaze, he finally realized how foolish he must look.

“H-He is five years old, Your Majesty.”

“I see. You may leave. The child seems to fear me.”

“Th-Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Seizing the once-in-a-lifetime chance, the viscount hurried out of the banquet hall with the child in his arms. The crying gradually faded and then disappeared.

‘If a boy about that size is five… then that one must be around three or four.’

Kaian found himself, without realizing it, thinking of Aeir.

What an audacious little child he had been. Ever since their encounter in the forest not long ago, the boy kept coming to Kaian’s mind at odd moments. Especially today, with so many children accompanying their parents, the thought returned even more often.

He had merely approached a child who seemed about the same age, yet the viscount’s son burst into hysterical tears the moment he saw him.

‘That one was much smaller, yet composed. Perhaps he truly wasn’t ordinary.’

Kaian recalled that day.

The small child had asked for help boldly, as if it were only natural. Dumbfounded, Kaian had decided to escort him only as far as the forest entrance. No matter how quiet the woods were, he could not leave a young child alone.

“Cedric, put him on your horse.”

“I wanna ride the white horse with the pwince!”

Despite being the one receiving help, the child demanded what he wanted without hesitation.

To dare climb onto the Emperor’s horse—if the capital’s nobles had seen it, they would have been horrified. Yet the child, having no idea who the man before him truly was, remained bright and carefree.