18.

“Did the teacher say you mustn’t hit your friends, or not?”

Yet the children still seemed unable to calm down, their small shoulders heaving as they huffed.

“But Aeir lied first! Teacher said lying is bad! Right?!”

“No! I didn’t lie!”

Aeir’s eyes burned with rising tears. He forced them wide open, because it felt like they would spill any moment.

‘I can’t cry. If I cry now, I lose!’

I’m not jealous of dads at all! My mom is better than all the other moms and dads put together! Way—way better!

Aeir tried desperately to hold the tears back, but the harder he tried, the sadder he felt.

Just as a droplet finally threatened to fall from the corner of his eye—

Clop. Clop.

A strangely familiar sound reached him.

‘Prince…?’

Turning toward the sound of hooves, he saw the familiar prince slowly approaching on a pure white horse.

For some reason, the prince was dressed even more splendidly than he had been that morning.

Along the forest path where green leaves were beginning to bud on the branches, the sunlight filtering down seemed to have come solely for the prince.

“Waaah!”

“He looks like an angel!”

The children who had just been calling Aeir a liar all exclaimed in admiration.

The tears clinging to Aeir’s eyes vanished as if they had never been there.

“So cool……”

“See? I told you! Look! Aeir’s not a liar!”

Aeir puffed out his chest and shouted proudly. The aching feeling that had been poking at his heart was long gone.

Meanwhile, the prince stopped a few steps away and dismounted. Then he strode toward Aeir with long legs—much longer than Jamie’s dad’s.

“Prince!”

“Aeir, were you playing well?”

The prince lifted Aeir high into the air.

‘Wow! This is way higher than when Mom hugs me!’

Suddenly suspended in midair, Aeir happily kicked his feet.

“Yes! But this is way, way more fun!”

“Is that so?”

‘Wow! The prince smiled!’

It was only a faint smile, but unmistakable.

Come to think of it, the prince seemed somehow gentler than when he first saw him.

“Waaah! Is he really a prince?”

“Oh dear… I’m not actually a prince.”

“But in fairy tales, anyone cool is a prince!”

“That’s right!”

“Wait! Are you secretly a prince hiding your identity while defeating bad villains?!”

“Eek! Then we’ll pretend not to know!”

“Me too!”

“Me too! Me too!”

As the children accepted the prince with sparkling eyes, Aeir became extremely excited.
And the prince was the only one holding him! It felt as if he were floating on a cloud.

While savoring the feeling of being a special main character, Aeir noticed Jamie’s sulky face.

‘Hmph! See! I’m not jealous of Jamie’s dad at all!’

Without realizing it, Aeir wore a triumphant expression.

‘Wait! If the prince really becomes Aeir’s dad, I can do this every day!’

How do you make a dad?
Does he become one if he marries Mom?

“Hello, you’re the one who brought Aeir back last time, right? Thank you so much. You saved us.”

At that moment, Teacher Anne carefully approached and spoke to the prince.

‘Huh?’

Her eyes looked different than usual—similar to the way Jamie secretly looked at their classmate Bianca.

‘Jamie keeps saying no, but he likes Bianca… Wait, does that mean Teacher Anne likes the prince too? No!’

Aeir liked Teacher Anne very, very much, but he couldn’t give up the prince.

‘If the prince is going to be Aeir’s dad, he has to marry Mom!’

There’s no time! Mom, come quickly! Teacher Anne is trying to steal my dad!

***

Fore Kindergarten dismissal time.

Estelle arrived in front of the kindergarten, dragging a body several times more exhausted than usual.

As if unexpectedly encountering Kaian that morning hadn’t been enough, she had persuaded Soradan around noon to participate in the Black Sea Plague cure research, and in the afternoon she spent unplanned time with Zephion.

Work that would have been exhausting even if spread across three days had all been handled in a single day, leaving both body and mind completely drained.

‘Though with Zephion we only drank tea and talked about ordinary things.’

Since she still wasn’t certain whether he belonged to the Duke’s side or not, staying cautious had consumed much of her energy. Fortunately, she managed to endure by replenishing her sugar with the desserts Zephion brought.

‘When we get home, I’ll just prepare Aeir’s dinner and rest.’

Still, just thinking about seeing Aeir’s face washed away the fatigue of the day.

With that lighter mood, she stepped through the kindergarten gate—when she suddenly heard Aeir’s delighted giggling.

‘He must be playing something really fun.’

It was a sound rarely heard unless he was in exceptionally high spirits.

What kind of play could make him this happy?
Curious, Estelle followed the direction of Aeir’s voice—

—and froze in shock the moment she saw what was happening.

“Waaah! Prince, like this?”

“Yes. Don’t bend your wrist any further. For a first try, you’re doing well.”

In a corner of the kindergarten yard, a broad-shouldered blond man—Kaian—was kneeling on the ground, swinging a sword toward the wall.

Not a wooden practice sword, but a real blade.

And the small figure wriggling in his arms was unmistakably Aeir.

Kaian had placed the sword in Aeir’s hands and was guiding the motion together with him.

‘Why is he still here! No—more importantly, how can he hand a real sword to a child who isn’t even four years old?!’

Turning pale, Estelle hurried toward them to stop the absurd scene.

“What do you think you’re doing? Put that sword away right now!”

“Aeir’s mother!”

Teacher Anne, who had been anxiously hovering a few steps behind them, called out urgently the moment she spotted Estelle—like she had found someone to help her.

“Ma’am, I’m so sorry! I tried to stop them, but both Aeir and that gentleman insisted it was fine—”

“Mom!”

Hearing her voice, Aeir slipped out of Kaian’s arms and ran straight to Estelle.

“You’ve come, Libeta.”

Kaian followed after Aeir. His calm expression, as if nothing had happened, showed no awareness of how outrageous his actions had been.

‘Didn’t he lose interest? I thought so when he let me go this morning. And how can he call me by that name so casually again? What exactly are you planning?’

Kaian’s unexpected behavior left Estelle tense.

“Mom! Why did you come so late! Aeir really, really wanted to see you!”

Unaware of her turmoil, Aeir hugged her legs with a bright smile.

“The prince taught Aeir something cool! Want me to show you?”

“The child has talent with the sword. He’ll become a fine swordsman.”

To say such things to a little child whose tiny hands could barely hold a sword—just what was he trying to put into the boy’s head?

Estelle looked up at Kaian in disbelief.

“How can you put a real sword — not even a wooden practice one — into the hands of such a young child? That’s dangerous!”

“Is it not allowed?”

“Of course it isn’t! Aeir hasn’t even handled a wooden sword yet—”

“I hadn’t either.”

“What?”

She was dumbfounded.

‘You were still around nine years old when you first started!’

It was a vivid memory for Estelle — from not long after the two first met.

At the time, the princes born of concubines were targets of the late Empress Spica’s restraint, so they faced limitations in learning swordsmanship and scholarship alike. Even so, Kaian’s passion for the sword had been exceptional.

Perhaps it was to protect his mother, who was neglected within the palace.
Now, Estelle could only assume as much.

‘Without any proper teacher, without even knowing the theory, you secretly hid a guard knight’s sword and swung it alone — your hands covered in calluses and blisters.’

That was why she had begged Zephion, then an apprentice knight of the House of Astria, and learned swordsmanship herself behind the Duke’s back.

Not only that — she had even sneaked into the ducal library and memorized entire theoretical manuals on swordsmanship overnight. Then, whenever she met Kaian, she taught him everything she had learned.

As those days repeated, Kaian, who had once been wary of her, gradually began to open his heart.

“You don’t have to teach me anymore. I’ll try it on my own.”

A little less than a year later, Kaian no longer needed Estelle’s help — at least when it came to the sword. His monstrous talent had advanced too quickly for her to keep up.