/
Cheshire opened his eyes only after Lilith, who lay next to him, fell asleep.
He was never asleep in the first place.
He can’t sleep comfortably on a bed that doesn’t seem to be his place.
‘As expected, she’s a weird kid.’
Cheshire, who was looking at the face of a colorful sleeping Lilith, moved carefully and lay face to face.
‘Really weird.’
What happened in just one day today?
The first meeting, in the alley of the Capital.
Cheshire thought Lilith’s concern for him was the hypocrisy of nobles.
And today, the second meeting.
It was only for a moment that he was surprised to see Lilith, who came to the Marquis’s house.
He thought that the reason why she had saved him without any connection was just a whim of the nobles who briefly showed interest in commoners.
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
He saw many commoners who were caught in the eyes of the nobles and then being kicked out, just like toys that were thrown out when they got sick of them.
Still, he is glad he has a place to lie down without starving for the time being.
If he doesn’t want to die at the hands of his own father or die somewhere, he’ll have to take advantage of this young noble Lady’s brief interest.
That’s what he thought.
“I will definitely be your family.”
‘Why are you saying that?’
Cheshire frowned as he looked at the sleeping Lilith’s face.
‘Strange.’
Talking about toys or anything else, he wasn’t stupid enough not to know that Lilith was trying to take care of him.
Because he has been living his whole life unwelcomely.
He kept saying blunt things because it was burdensome.
“I don’t believe you.”
He whispers as if promising to himself.
He was already very tired and didn’t want to trust anyone anymore.
His mother, who raised her hand every day saying that her life was ruined because of him, apologized the next day, and he believed it like a fool—.
He expected the father, who didn’t hug him warmly but didn’t hit him, would think he was his son.
However, the price of that belief was harsh.
He was abandoned by his mother and almost killed by his father.
Even bloody families betray his faith, much less other people—.
“If you’re going to throw me away, don’t be nice to me.”
“
.”
Lilith, who was fast asleep, only smiled as if she had a good dream.
‘Cause I don’t want to get hurt anymore.’
In just one day, he felt like a fool, as if a friendly warmth had intoxicated him.
Cheshire removed the quilt that Lilith had covered him with.
*****
‘No, let’s cover it together
 Why is my princess covering herself with the blanket alone?’
Enoch, who arrived in Lilith’s room, smiled at the two children sleeping on the bed.
Ten jellyfish paintings were placed under Cheshire’s head, who gave Lilith a blanket and fell asleep.
‘This guy, he’s good.’
The painting that seemed to come to life at any moment was to the point of bewilderment.
By comparison, Lilith—.
‘Is this a jellyfish?’
Is it a jellyfish with a strong personality?
Silver and gray were mixed together, and two blue dots were stamped like pupils.
‘Isn’t it me, not jellyfish?’
Indeed. Enoch has a sharp eye.
Enoch, who was covering the two children’s bodies with blankets, found a crooked daughter’s handwriting.
Daddy. (Not Jellyfish.)
A smile broke out of itself.
Enoch whispered, kissing his sleeping daughter’s cheek.
“Have a good dream. My princess.”
*****
The next day.
I glanced out of the study room window, solving the problem hard.
Cheshire sat idly in the springy garden.
‘You must be bored. I wish I could hang out with you during class.’
I haven’t seen the twins’ noses since Leon ran out like that yesterday.
“Phew.”
“Hoam.”
Then there was a yawn next to me.
Looking back, Oscar, who leaned back in his chair, grimaced with a bored look.
“It’s not fun.”
“Then you shouldn’t have come—”
“I promised to give you a special class once a week. I can’t just do nothing.”
Today was the day I had a math tutor with the Lord of the Wizard Tower Oscar as scheduled.
I’m solving the quadratic equation right now, but Oscar seems bored because there are no questions.
I pointed out a question with kindness.
“I don’t know this. Let me know.”
“Lies. What don’t you know?”
Oscar laughed and cleared the questionnaire.
“It’s meaningless. You’re bored because you know everything, right?’
“I don’t know everything
”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just say that.”
Oscar lay face down and looked at me. Long gold earrings glistened through the flabby gray hair.
Oscar sat down and looked at me. A pair of long gold earrings shimmered through his disheveled gray hair.
“You’re going to the training center soon, right? It’s compulsory at age nine—but everyone can enter from age seven. When is your birthday?”
“May 19th.”
“It’s less than a month away. So you’re going to see your mother’s face?”
“Yes?”
I was surprised by the sudden remark.
“What do you mean mother?”
“What? Didn’t your father tell you?”
Oscar squinted his eyes and grinned as if he had caught something funny.
“Do you think he has children alone? Didn’t you know you had a mother?”
“N, no. It’s not just that—”
I hadn’t really thought about it deeply. Dad never talked about Mom in the first place.
When I lived in Xenon, I asked, “Why don’t I have a mother?” James Brown said—.
“S, she left home when you were a baby—”
—That’s all he said.
‘Well. I’m sure I have a mother, too. She probably lives in the Capital.’
In the original story, only the fact that he lost his daughter is mentioned.
There wasn’t a single mention of Enoch Rubinstein’s wife.
‘Wow, I really didn’t think about anything a while ago
.’
The moment I heard about my mother’s existence from Oscar, my heart started pounding.
“D, did the Lord of the Wizard Tower know about my mother?”
“Of course, she’s famous.”
“What kind of person is she?”
“Do you want to know? I think it’s your first time hearing about your mother from your reaction. Your father and family—. Isn’t there a reason why they didn’t tell you?”
I swallowed my saliva.
“I, I, I’m curious. Tell me.”
“Then I’ll let you know. Marchioness Selena Rudendorf. She was a recognizable wizard, but she retired five years ago and is now a researcher at a talent training center.”
Marchioness?
As I tilted my head, Oscar added with a chuckle.
“After your father disappeared, she didn’t even look back and remarried to the Marquis of Rudendorf. And she has a son.”
“Ah. I, I see
.”
“Why? Are you shocked? She doesn’t seem to care if you’re alive or dead. Seeing that she remarried another man right away, had children, and lived happily.”
I shook my head at Oscar’s cheeky expression of wanting to be shocked rather than worried about being shocked.
“No, I’m not shocked.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Mom has her life too. She’s young and has the ability, she has to live doing what she wants to do.”
“Well, that’s right. She was young, she was a powerful wizard, and she had a good family. That’s why she married your father, who was the best at the time. I wonder if there was love in the marriage business of nobles—”
Oscar muttered as he leaned back in his chair.
“But don’t you think it’s too much? Even if we don’t know about her husband, you, you’re her own child who she gave birth to, right?”
“Dad took me and ran away as soon as I was born, right? She wouldn’t have known where I was, but what can I do?”
“Pfft. How naive.”
Oscar, who pulled up a chair, tapped the tip of my nose.
“Your mother is Dos, too. She’s a young woman who’s not even 30 years old. But how is she already retired and working at a training center?”
“
.”
“She’s the one who tells the Emperor everything, about where you and your father are hiding.”
“
Yes?”
“In return, she was able to retire. Also, she was promised by the Emperor that her son wouldn’t be recruited as a child soldier. Do you know what this means?”
“
.”
“She sold you, her own daughter. For her son.”
Thump.
At that moment, I felt my heart drop at Oscar’s words.