Chapter 12
Erkina urgently pointed at Mernelia with her fingers.
It wasn’t wrong to have turned back time, but it was better not to get caught by anyone. Knowing the future was the ultimate secret weapon.
“Mom always said, ‘Don’t create regrets!’ Hehehe.”
Erkina forced the brightest, most innocent smile she could manage.
It was awkward to smile like a child when her soul was older than her body. Acting was even harder.
She wiped away the grin and turned her head slightly—but her eyes met Caligo’s.
There was a strange look in them.
Was it pity? Mockery?
She didn’t have time to think about it. The Marquis suddenly rose and approached Mernelia.
“You have truly a cute and wise daughter,” he said.
“She does have her stubborn moments. She doesn’t need to be so mature yet…”
Mernelia looked genuinely disappointed.
The Marquis held her hand, bowed slightly, and kissed the back of it. Mernelia’s eyes widened, and she smiled like a blooming flower.
“You’ve raised the Princess splendidly, even alone.”
‘Oh no, this is bad.’
Erkina realized her earlier impression hadn’t been wrong. A polite knight and a graceful princess looked like a perfect painting.
But she hadn’t meant for her mother to be praised just to see this.
“Erkina, I came to pick up the child…”
And why, of all times, did Jerthermion return now?
Erkina noticed the corner of Jerthermion’s mouth under his beard stiffen.
‘No, maybe it’s for the best?’
She quietly clenched her fists, silently cheering her adoptive father.
Burn, jealousy, burn!
After Jerthermion appeared, the adults were tense in a way the children couldn’t fully understand.
But with the kids present, they couldn’t show their true feelings.
“Let’s speak separately for a moment,” suggested the Marquis of Verden, and the adults disappeared.
Left with the boys, Erkina paced around the table with a worried expression.
Yesterday, Jerthermion had recommended Mernelia’s husband as a marquis to the emperor. Something about that didn’t feel right.
He wouldn’t foolishly try to pair them together, pretending it was for her mother’s sake, would he?
“Please… be jealous…”
Erkina clasped her hands together and begged quietly.
Suddenly, someone tugged at her clothes from behind.
“Caligo? Why?”
Caligo pointed with a finger. There, sitting in front of a tree, was Ilyas.
Perhaps he was still sulking from her rejection of his knightly oath.
Feeling guilty, Erkina carefully approached him from behind.
“Um… Ilyas?”
“….”
So timid. Somehow he felt even more troublesome than before her regression.
“Are you upset because I said no?”
“….”
He didn’t speak or even turn his head—just slumped his shoulders and kept his head down.
Beside him, Caligo quietly snickered, clearly amused.
Ilyas noticed and clenched his fists, glaring at him.
Watching their childish antics, Erkina sighed.
They weren’t at fault—they were just children unaware of what the future might hold. It was up to the more mature her to endure.
First, she would gently teach these disobedient boys.
“Both of you, stop this immediately if you don’t want to be kicked out.”
The boys flinched at her fierce voice.
A gray leopard and a brown wolf—just moments ago, they had been predators. But a single word from this small girl turned them into hamsters and squirrels.
“Sit down and eat your snacks quietly.”
She wouldn’t allow rebellion.
The boys, cowed by her big-sister-like authority, obediently returned to their seats.
They nibbled at their snacks under the table, attacking each other’s feet when they thought Erkina wasn’t looking.
‘These kids…’
Erkina’s sharp glance brought them back in line.
She found the scene both absurd and cute, and she chuckled softly before sitting across from them.
For a short while, leaning her chin on her hand, she enjoyed a moment of peace.
“But Caligo…”
Even as he picked candy, Caligo lifted his head.
“Why did you do that earlier?”
She hadn’t had time to ask properly but needed to know.
“Ilyas said it was his first time seeing you. How did you know him?”
Caligo chewed his candy loudly, then picked up a quill and paper to write. His hands shook as he held the inked quill.
“Caligo?”
He glared at his own hand, then sighed deeply and scribbled something quickly and carelessly:
『I mistook him for my enemy. Sorry.』
She didn’t ask their ages, but Caligo was likely around her age or slightly younger.
Ilyas was eleven, so ‘enemy’ wasn’t meant grandly—it was just for minor quarrels, like stealing cookies.
“Stop it!”
Ilyas tried to grab the cookie Caligo was going for, nearly sparking another fight.
Erkina shook her head at these childish boys. When would they ever grow up?
“Caligo, there’s plenty to eat. No need to be so angry.”
She called a servant to refill the snacks.
Ilyas seemed full after a bit, but Caligo still looked unsatisfied, even with several refills.
It hadn’t even been long since lunch.
During lunch, he had stared at Erkina while managing to eat five plates of steak. No wonder Jerthermion said the food bill would triple.
“Caligo, I know the magic tower doesn’t have much tasty food, but if you eat like this now, you’ll get a stomachache.”
Erkina tried to warn him gently.
“You’ll come again tomorrow anyway. You can eat anytime.”
“This kid… really comes tomorrow too?”
Ilyas interjected, eyes wide in shock.
“Ah, yes. We study magic together.”
“Friends…”
Ilyas’ face turned a mix of red and blue.
Erkina noticed his unusual mood and was suddenly reminded of the old memories she had erased.
Her heart froze; it felt as if her thoughts stopped entirely.
—If you touch my daughter one more time, I won’t stay quiet.—
—Do you know whose daughter this is, Tower Master?—
It had been Ilyas who revealed the identity of Erkina’s mother, the daughter of a deceased royal, forcing her to hide her lineage.
She had thought she was driven out because of him.
The people of the tower also believed he had expelled her, and they disliked him for it.
Yet out of guilt, she had never blamed him directly.
It was painful, and the sting still lingered inside her. Her stomach churned, her heart raced ominously.
She rubbed her neck lightly, remembering the past.
He would never try to strangle her again.
‘I’m glad I didn’t accept a knightly oath.’
It would have been an unnecessary burden.
Of course, he had yet to wrong her, and neither had she him. There was no need for distance or avoidance.
If she handled things well now, the nightmare wouldn’t repeat.
“Would you like to be friends with us too, Ilyas?”
So she extended her hand first—for the sake of those she cherished.
