Chapter 6…
“I want to live with both Auntie and Uncle!”
Not Aunt or Uncle—
Both of them?! That wasn’t even one of the options!
“That’s not possib—”
“Why can’t the three of us live together? Uwaaaah! I like both of you! Hiccup…”
Tears that had been brimming in her big eyes finally spilled over, rolling down her cheeks.
Her sorrowful crying didn’t stop for quite a while.
And then, after crying herself out, Artea suddenly fell asleep—almost as if she’d fainted.
A total bombshell.
“……”
“……”
When Erios came to tell me he couldn’t send the child back, I’d thought I’d answer coldly or try to persuade him.
But this? I hadn’t expected Artea to blow up like this.
Blankly, I found myself looking at Erios.
And then—our eyes met.
What do you think Artea’s feeling right now?
Luckily, I didn’t actually say that out loud.
You have to think for yourself and draw your own conclusions, Bellona Sortis.
Why did I even look at Erios just now?
I quickly turned my head away.
The fact that I’d instinctively looked to him—as if to rely on him, of all people—was humiliating.
Especially when I’d promised myself I’d never see him again.
Anyway… what am I supposed to do now?
I felt more agitated than when I’d failed to turn the last page of the Tower exam.
Damn it.
In the meantime, Erios and I laid Artea down on the bed to rest.
Watching her cry and waver between choices—say she didn’t want to part from either of us—was utterly exhausting.
“……”
“……”
We both sank down to the floor on either side of the bed.
I brushed my hair back repeatedly, feeling like I’d aged ten years in an hour.
“Artea must be confused,” Erios murmured beside me.
The quiet of the room—thanks to the child’s hoarse throat—made his calm voice all the clearer.
“There’s one thing I really want to make clear,” he said. “It’s not true that I didn’t care about Artea. I did. I really did.”
“…Yeah.”
Thinking about it, his gaze and tone when he spoke about Artea didn’t seem like an act.
Sure, he’d always had a shameless streak, and maybe his acting skills had improved since I last saw him—but Erios wasn’t that kind of man.
No—he was that kind of capable man, which was exactly why it didn’t make sense.
He was already good at too many things; having that kind of emotional deceit on top of it would’ve been unnatural.
“Then why did Artea say she wanted to live with her aunt? She told me herself she left on her own. Said she ran away.”
“I only heard that she’d disappeared… and that she was here.”
“So you have no idea why?”
“I’m saying I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”
He paused as if searching for words, then finally sighed.
“I really don’t know. When I last saw her before the subjugation campaign, she didn’t want to part, but she seemed otherwise normal.”
We talked over possible reasons for a while, but nothing made sense.
I’d only seen Artea a few days ago, and if Erios had known the reason, she wouldn’t have run away to begin with.
“Are you sure she actually said ‘ran away’?”
“Do you think I’d lie about that right now?”
All we could do was guess.
“Maybe she read a fairy tale about running away and thought it sounded fun. Or maybe she thought running away was something cool—or maybe she just thought it meant going on a trip.”
“You always interpret things however you like.”
“If I were being less charitable, I could say you kidnapped her and filled her head with bad things about me.”
“Oh? Go on, say one more word.”
“I didn’t say that’s what I think.”
Even if I had a reputation as a master artificer, standing against the Duke Killiet household would be suicidal.
If Erios had wanted to play dirty, he easily could have.
‘Guess he’s restraining himself because I’m Artea’s aunt.’
Just like I didn’t want to believe Erios wanted to get rid of Artea out of annoyance,
he—despite everything—still had some sense and decency left in him.
“Since my brother and sister-in-law died, Artea’s been anxious all the time.”
I remembered what I’d found out in my own inquiries—that she was emotionally unstable.
And I could see plainly now that it was true.
“A-Auntie!”
“Uncle!”
“Where are you?”
Artea, who’d cried so hard I’d worried she’d dehydrate, couldn’t stay asleep for long.
Even half-asleep, she kept waking up and calling for us.
Her expression would crumple like she might start crying again.
In the end, Erios and I both stayed by her side.
“I’m right here, Artea.”
“Uncle’s here too, right next to you.”
One of her little hands gripped mine, the other Erios’s.
She held on tight, as if afraid one of us might disappear while she slept.
Only after we both reassured her that we’d stay did she finally drift off again.
“Ugh…”
Erios gently patted her stomach as she whimpered in her sleep, probably having a nightmare.
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “But I’ll have to stay here for a bit.”
Even if it was for his niece’s sake, the idea of my ex-boyfriend staying over at my house was… awkward.
But I couldn’t protest, not after seeing Artea’s condition.
“Sir Knight of Dawn, you’ve got quite the gloomy face,” I said. “Why didn’t you stay by her side like this before?”
“I couldn’t. I was on a subjugation campaign. I only managed to come now because things are finally winding down.”
His brother—my brother-in-law—had died on that very campaign, taking Erios’s place while he was ill.
Maybe he was throwing himself into work, raising Artea, doing everything he could…
not just out of duty, but as a desperate attempt to fill that void.
“You could’ve come to visit her sooner,” I said softly.
Night deepened.
I’d sent the servants waiting outside the room away.
Artea was asleep. It was just the two of us now.
“Even if I am her aunt, you think I like showing up at my ex-boyfriend’s mansion?” I muttered.
Maybe that’s why I found myself being unusually honest.
“What if the future duchess ends up resenting Artea for this? Thinking I dragged her ex back into our lives? She might already be jealous, thinking her own child will have to compete with Artea for your affection.”
“I wouldn’t marry someone who’d hate Artea.”
“I know. But people change. Even if she loves Artea at first, once she has her own child, her heart might shift.”
I didn’t say the rest out loud—that maybe your own heart will change too.
Back when we were together, I thought we’d last forever, too.
It wasn’t that I was criticizing some imaginary future duchess.
It’s just—people change.
Back then, when people told me it’d be awkward if we broke up, that it’d be complicated between our families, I actually thought it’d be nice—closer ties between the houses and all.
Erios looked deep in thought.
Not wanting to sound like I was blaming him, I added playfully,
“Anyway, that’s not the only reason. I’ve got to think about my own situation too. Who’d like it if I went to my ex’s house, even for my niece?”
Truth be told, I had no intention of getting married anytime soon.
“I see. Then I suppose me staying here isn’t ideal either,” he said.
“Can’t be helped.”
“I’ll leave as soon as it’s light, then.”
Would it really be okay to let him go?
Artea hated being apart from her uncle so much.
But I couldn’t just send her back with him either.
‘I understand the problem… but not the solution.’
At least Erios said he understood why I couldn’t let Artea go back yet.
“For now, I think it’s best if she stays with you,” he said. “Like you said, we don’t know what’s going on back at the duchy. And she seems calmer with you around.”
I hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.
But truthfully, I was relieved he did.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I can see you really care about her.”
I’d thought his pride would never let him back down.
But he genuinely cherished her.
“When you have time,” I added, “come visit Artea again.”
He smiled faintly. “I will. Thank you.”
Calm, composed, mature—
That was the Erios Killiet everyone knew.
But I knew another side of him.
Always pretending he’s the only adult in the room. It’s so irritating.
Sure, I’d told him to get lost—that it was awkward living under the same roof as my ex—but for some reason, it still annoyed me that he accepted it so meekly.
Since when were you ever that gentle?
Hiding behind the mask of the Knight of Dawn…
Was he just bottling up all his own pain?
…Well, we broke up years ago. Not my problem anymore.
Even though I knew him better than anyone,
I couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe I didn’t know him at all.
The Erios I remembered wasn’t someone who’d just quietly step back.
And I found out just how quickly he intended to “visit” again—the very next day.
“Young Lady! The Duke Killiet has moved in next door!”
“…What did you just say?”
I ran out to the terrace still in my pajamas.
And there he was—
“Good morning.”
Erios Killiet, sitting leisurely in the neighboring garden, enjoying tea time.
Was he out of his mind?!
