Like his older sister Shana, Lewin was the pride of the Sentorens.
Together with the employees of the mansion, the couple were busy cheering for Lewin’s first outing.
“Young Master, be strong!”
“Go for it! Walk bravely!”
Despite their support, Lewin was busy looking around him.
“This way, Young Master!”
Lewin tilted his head as he watched the servants beckoning to him.
When the child hardly moved, Riv took his hand.
“Let’s go this way, Lewin.”
Riv bent over, took the child’s hand in hers, and led him to the lawn. Lewin gripped his mother’s hand and waddled along slowly.
Perhaps it was because stepping on the grass and dirt felt strange, but the child would often stop, eventually clinging to Riv’s skirt.
“Hmm.”
Riv was upset.
She scolded Lewin while she tried to snatch her skirt from him. He wanted to hide in it, as if playing hide and seek.
Riv thought for a moment, then asked Claudel.
“Claudel, should I take off his shoes?”
“The Young Master might get hurt.”
“Lewin is not that weak.”
“He is.”
Claudel had a habit of overprotecting Lewin. Lionel shook his head too.
It wasn’t only Claudel.
The Young Master was visiting the garden as his first excursion, so the servants groomed the lawn and checked countless times for dangerous insects and snakes.
Lewin was like a porcelain plate wrapped tightly in layers upon layers of blankets.
Lionel knelt down and clapped, two or three meters away from the stubborn boy who refused to move.
“Lewin, come here.”
Lewin stared at his father and let go of Riv’s skirt.
He took one step, then another, with a cautious expression.
He looked around, holding his breath.
The child’s precarious steps continued. Lewin walked three meters by himself, without anyone’s help.
“Lewin, come!”
Lionel moved back a little, and Lewin walked a few more meters.
When he walked over five meters, Lionel stopped moving.
Lewin arrived in front of Lionel.
“Well done, Lewin!”
Lionel happily hugged the child.
The servants also smiled and clapped.
“The Young Master is the best! So talented!”
“Now all you have to do is run!”
Lewin smiled even though didn’t know what was happening. He was in a good mood.
With foolish expressions, the servants gathered around the child and obscured him from view.
“Sigh.”
Watching this, Riv shook her head.
The sight of Lionel holding their child and smiling like an id*ot didn’t suit him.
There was a time when he was called a cold blooded Duke, but now she couldn’t help but laugh.
It was even more bizarre because the employees who always had serious faces were smiling along with him.
When did they, along with Lionel, become her children’s fools?
As parents, it was natural to care for their children, but it was difficult to understand why the employees felt the same way.
Lewin came down from Lionel’s arms, took the servants’ hands, and began to dance around with them.
“Mama, what is Lewin doing?”
Shana was watching the scene along with Riv.
“He can walk! He hasn’t been able to walk alone until now.”
“Lewin is st*pid. He’s my little brother and he’s pretty, but he’s not good at talking and he’s too slow.”
“Don’t call him st*pid.”
“But…”
“You’re just fast. Lewin is normal.”
Riv stared at Shana whose cheeks were inflated.
Shana was more mature than her peers and exceptionally clever, but she was still young and small.
Lewin was the same.
“Shana, you’re only four.”
“I know.”
Riv laughed at Shana, who was jealous that everyone’s attention was focused on her younger brother.
Even though she was smart, Shana was still a child.
A child who wanted to be loved more than her brother because she came first.
“Shana, Lewin is your younger brother.”
“I know.”
“Mama and Papa love Lewin, but you come first. You know that right?”
Shana’s expression relaxed a bit.
Riv pinned a ribbon in Shana’s pretty blonde hair. It was prepared for this occasion.
“…?”
Shana fumbled through her hair and opened her mouth as she touched the large ribbon.
“Shana is wearing a new dress today right? It matches.”
“Is it pink?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
Claudel chimed in.
“Shana, you are so pretty.”
In an instant, Shana forgot that she was jealous of her brother.
“M-Mama, give me a mirror!”
Riv gave her the hand mirror she was carrying. Shana couldn’t take her eyes off herself in the mirror. She seemed to like her new dress and ribbon set.
“Mama, am I pretty?”
“Definitely.”
Shana glanced at Lewin, who was being held by Lionel.
“Now that I think about it, I feel sorry for Lewin. Brother can’t wear pretty dresses like me. He doesn’t even have a ribbon in his hair.”
“…..”
Shana was genuinely sad. Riv could barely hold back her laughter.
Shana, like a good older sister, was determined to take care of her younger brother, who couldn’t wear a dress or put bows in his hair.
“I’m smart, so I have to take care of my baby brother.”
“I see.”
Shana walked over to Lionel and hugged him.
Confused, Lionel held Lewin and Shana tightly in his arms. Shana looked up at her father and smiled bashfully.
“Papa, am I pretty?”
“Of course.”
“I want to be a good daughter and a good sister. Because I am pretty.”
Everyone burst into laughter at Shana’s words.
Lionel, who was able to hold both of his children at once, seemed to be quite pleased with the way they clung onto him with their little hands.
Lionel walked around the garden holding the children.
They screamed with joy.
“Aaaaah!”
“Aaaah!”
Shana smiled as she spotted a flower blooming on the tree above her.
“Papa! The flower over there! Show me the flower!”
The children were excited to see the flowers blooming again. Magnolias and other wildflowers had begun to bloom.
Chewy, the dog who had now become the children’s pet, was barking and running around excitedly with them.
Butler Karl and Claudel brought a basket full of the children’s favorite sweets and drinks.
“Mama! Come on! Mama can eat too.”
“Papa!”
It was a pleasant morning. Everyone was laughing and giggling. The clear sunlight warmed them up.
Riv smiled and held the children in her arms.
She hugged them tightly, confirming that this was reality, not a dream.
“Mama, too tight.”
Shana and Lewin flailed around in her arms.
Riv realized that she had hugged the children too tightly and laughed again.
“I’m sorry. Mama just loves you so much.”
Riv peppered kisses onto the children’s cheeks alternately.
Lionel smiled at Riv, and he, too, was given a kiss. He seemed extremely satisfied.
“Riv, do you love me more than the children?”
“Sigh.”
Riv shook her head, thinking that she had three children, including her husband.
***
In the afternoon, Riv and the children sat by the window, where the sunlight was warmest.
It was nap time. She was going to tell the children a fairy tale to put them to sleep.
Riv improvised fairy tales instead of reading storybooks.
“The earth told the children, ‘If you run too fast, you might trip over a stone. The wind said to the children, ‘I am formless, so I cannot take care of fallen children.’”
The children quickly fell asleep to the sound of her voice.
Riv opened the window. A pleasant breeze blew in.
As if in response to that, the sound of the cheerful mountain birds could be heard close by.
Riv sometimes felt as though nature spoke to her.
She loved its whispers.
She lost her memories, but found stability and comfort in the beings of the forest.
“Madame, can I get you some tea?”
When Claudel and Anna appeared, her quiet time of meditation ended.
The birds near the window flew away and the breeze stopped. But Riv knew that those gentle times would come again.
“I would like tea with dried flowers today.”
“Of course. I’ll prepare it, Madame.”
The Sentorens came to Elon to help Riv recuperate and ended up settling there completely.
She got pregnant and gave birth to Shana, after which she became pregnant again. After she had Lewin, her body got better.
Lionel and Riv spent their days peacefully, never returning to the Royal Capital. The same was true of the servants who came down with them.
Riv drank tea quietly while she watched their children, then she exited the children’s room.
The two siblings were angels only when they slept.
Shana, who teased her younger brother and was often jealous, would only nap when her brother was beside her.
After a while, Lionel returned to their room and asked.
“Are the children asleep?”
“Yes.”
“The Earl of Murden is coming tomorrow. Did you remember?”
“That’s tomorrow? Their children must have grown up a lot.”
Riv was delighted that she remembered Sophia and André.
The last time she saw them was half a year ago.
At that time, Sophia and André were at Sophia’s childhood home, and they were the only ones they saw. It had been a long time since Riv had seen their children.
“The guest room has been cleaned. Oh, we should get them presents too.”
Riv was excited to see them after such a long time.
The guests were coming tomorrow, so the children had to go to bed early, and pick out nice clothes.
***
That night, Riv had a dream.
She seemed to see Sophia’s future.
In front of the happy and old Murden couple, Lionel and Riv were together.
***
Riv woke up the next morning and stared at Lionel, who was sleeping next to her.
There seemed to be something moving around Lionel…
“Huh?”
Shana had woken up early in the morning, dragged Lewin along, and crawled onto their bed.
“Mama, help me.”
“What?”
Riv pulled Shana and Lewin onto the bed.
“You woke up early.”
The two children climbed onto their father’s reliable body with proud expressions on their faces.
“Mama, Papa, did you sleep well?”
“Ma-ma, Pa-pa.”
Lewin still mumbled with slurred pronunciation.
Lionel slowly opened his eyes to the weight of the children and pulled them all into a hug.
“Riv, kids.”
The people Riv loved, her family, were here.
Riv proudly embraced her husband and children.
A dazzlingly happy world seemed to open in front of her.
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Riv was happy.
*End of the Main Story*