Chapter 05
After hearing my answer, Belkas stayed silent for a moment and then mumbled softly.
“…I’ll try to like you a little bit too, Witch Lady.”
At that moment, I felt my heart tighten.
Children really have such big hearts.
Even though I could understand why he would hate me, he was slowly forgiving me and opening his heart.
I felt so thankful that my eyes became slightly wet without me noticing.
“Thank you for trying.”
I gently patted Belkas’ head, who was still buried in my shoulder.
His shoulder felt a little wet again.
***
After some time, the rain stopped.
I quietly looked at Belkas, who had fallen asleep in my arms, and smiled faintly.
“Belkas… he looks like both his mother and father.”
While staying here, I had once seen a portrait of Isiana Glade, the mother of the three siblings.
I could clearly see that Belkas took after her in his nose and lips.
But I couldn’t tell who he got his playful eyes from.
“So this child grows up to become a 9th-circle mage…”
Belkas, the youngest of the genius siblings, would become the first 9th-circle mage in the Hellerium Empire.
The problem was… he would grow up with a very twisted personality.
No—more like very twisted.
Hot-tempered and emotional, Belkas always prioritized his feelings in everything.
He clearly liked and disliked things, and as his mana increased, his sense of empathy for others decreased.
If something displeased him, he would kill without hesitation.
Because of that, he never became a candidate for the Mage Tower Master.
But since he was the only 9th-circle mage in history, no one could touch him.
Even the future emperor would beg him to take on requests.
However, Belkas was gentle only with his siblings.
It seemed like all three Glade siblings were like that.
Maybe it was because they all had such a dark childhood because of Sierra.
Anyway, the future Mage Tower candidate and 9th-circle mage was sleeping peacefully in my arms.
I didn’t want to wake him, so I carefully held him and left the greenhouse.
The main building wasn’t far from here, so I planned to take Belkas there and then return to my separate residence.
But I had missed one important thing.
Both of us were completely soaked and covered in mud like stray mice.
“L-Lady…? Your clothes…? And is that young Master Belkas? Why are you two together like that?”
Aiden, the butler, saw us near the main building and rushed over in shock.
He kept looking between my face and Belkas’ sleeping face.
“Shh, Aiden. He’s asleep. I met him by chance… then it started raining. Ah, he injured his knee. Please treat that first.”
“Understood, my lady. Jason, take the young master. And please, my lady, go inside and change your clothes.”
After handing Belkas over to Jason, I shook my head.
“No, it’s fine. My clothes are in the annex anyway. Please take care of Belkas first. Then I’ll go.”
As I turned to leave, I suddenly remembered something and looked back.
I smiled slightly at Aiden.
“Ah, please tell Belkas when he wakes up… that it was nice meeting him.”
“I understand, my lady. But please take this shawl so you don’t catch a cold.”
Aiden’s expression changed slightly, but he handed me a shawl.
I accepted it gratefully, since I was already cold.
Before leaving, I looked at the main building.
It was far more luxurious and neat compared to my annex.
The silver deer wrapped around a laurel tree in the center symbolized the Glade family.
After watching Belkas be taken inside, I walked back to the annex for about twenty minutes.
And there, I met someone I had forgotten.
“Jane? What happened to your face?”
As expected, Jane’s face was a mess of tears and snot, and she immediately grabbed me and started lecturing me.
“Lady! Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I was?! And what happened to your clothes?!”
She brushed the mud off my dress while complaining.
I looked at her and let out a small laugh.
She was the only one in this place who worried about me.
“So you’re laughing? I thought something happened to you!”
“I’m sorry. I followed a cute little rabbit. Let’s go inside. It’s cold.”
“A rabbit? My lady hates animals… Anyway, please take a warm bath. And you must be hungry. I’ll bring you soup.”
“Okay. Thank you, Jane.”
Jane just smiled softly and closed the door behind her.
After she left, I soaked in a warm bath.
“Ahh… this feels good.”
The warm water relaxed my body, and all tension slowly melted away.
“Belkas… he was so cute.”
I never thought I would even see a single strand of the children’s hair in this place.
Meeting Belkas today might have been luck.
Thinking of his cute face again made something warm rise in my chest.
“I should treat him better from now on.”
What about the other children?
What kind of wounds did Sierra give them?
Could I heal those wounds?
Could I really become a good… mother?
“Mother… me?”
I had never even raised a child in my past life.
Could I really become a good mother to them?
Or would they even accept this changed version of me?
Even if I can’t be their mother… maybe I can at least be a good adult.
To avoid the route where I get killed by them, I needed to treat them well.
But more than that, I wanted to guide them properly as an adult.
After finishing my bath and eating the soup Jane brought, I said:
“Jane, let’s go to the shopping street tomorrow.”
“What? You got caught in the rain today. You might catch a cold. Please rest tomorrow.”
“No, I need to buy something.”
“Then I can run errands—”
“I’ll do it myself. It’s for gifts for the children.”
At the word children, Jane stared at me blankly again.
“Do… for the young masters and young lady? Gifts? My lady, are you sick? I’ll call a doctor.”
I calmed her down, saying I was fine.
She seemed shocked that I suddenly cared about children.
After she calmed down, she asked:
“What are you going to make?”
“I don’t know… something useful and something they can keep. Maybe dolls?”
Jane shook her head.
“The young master would probably just play with it. The older ones are past that age. Ah! How about accessories? It’s trendy these days to give items with blessings or magic.”
“I can’t do metalwork… but accessories are good. I’ll think about it.”
We talked late into the night about what to make.
But all that planning became useless.
Because I ended up catching a high fever and couldn’t wake up.
***
Cough, cough.
Maybe because of yesterday’s rain, I kept coughing.
Jane looked at me worriedly and placed a cold wet towel on my forehead.
“I should have known… you’re not strong. I should’ve stopped you from going out in the rain. It’s my fault.”
“It’s not your fault… cough.”
I wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault, but I couldn’t speak properly.
So this body really was a weak, sickly beauty type.
Just one rain and I get a fever like this.
Wait… if I caught a cold, didn’t Belkas also catch one?
That thought suddenly made me sit up, but Jane quickly pushed me back down.
“Why are you getting up? You need complete rest!”
“Jane… can you send someone to the main building and ask something? About the youngest young master…”
“Belkas? Why suddenly him?”
“I met him yesterday… I think he might’ve caught a cold too.”
“Oh? So the ‘rabbit’ you mentioned was the young master?”
I nodded because I couldn’t speak much.
Jane nodded and left.
Then suddenly, noises came from outside the door.
“Let gooo!!! Put me doooown!!!”
“Young master! No! You cannot see the lady right now!”
A child’s shouting voice.
I immediately forced myself up.
And then—
The door opened.
Silver-gray hair entered my view.
“Bel…kas?”
Why are you here?
