After all the lights in the room had gone out, I quickly put my ear to my motherâs chest.
The sound of my motherâs heart was unusually loud, like a jumping fish.
âMom! Youâre okay!â
âYes, sheâll be fine for a while.â
I nodded animatedly and fell into my motherâs arms.
How long has it been? Just as I snuggled in my motherâs arms, Kayle opened his mouth.
âMore than that, I think itâs just rumors.â
âRumors?â
âThereâs a rumor about the Grand Dukeâs feelings for the new Grand Duchess.â
âHow dare anyone spread the rumor about the Grand Duke so boldly?â
As expected, the Grand Duke showed his temper as if he had been waiting. I lifted my head slightly from my motherâs arms and looked at them.
âItâs not a bad rumor. Itâs just a rumor that Your Highness really cares about the woman who came in after a long time.â
âWhether itâs a good or bad rumor, itâs a rumor about me somehow. How dare you say such a thing to meâŠ!â
For a moment, the Grand Dukeâs eyes, who were looking at Kayle, met mine. To be exact, I was going to look at my mom, but my dad unintentionally looked at me.
Then, he hurriedly cleared his throat with a suspicious look.
âAnyway, why is there such a rumor all of a sudden?â
âOf course. Thereâs a new Grand Duchess here, and I canât help but hear the news because youâre hiding her, so rumors are bound to spread.â
The Grand Duke nodded his head as if in agreement with his words and took a deep breath.
âCome to think of it⊠thatâs possible.â
âYes, of course.â
ââŠAnyway, you should stop talking nonsense and bring me a cure.â
Kayle then nodded and took a step back.
âAll right.â
But the Grand Duke didnât even pay attention to him as he went out.
He just looked at my mother and I without saying a word.
âWhatâs wrong?â
âWhat?â
âYou were staring at me so much.â
âNo, itâs just⊠I think⊠I thought it was bigger than I thought.â
He sat down and nodded his head.
âYeah! Mom is precious. Sheâs the only one who loves Bebe!â
ââŠIt doesnât matter what lies your mom told you?â
âUm⊠maybe!â
Perhaps that was the answer he wanted. He patted my head with his big hand. His touch was friendly, but somehow it trembled a little.
âIâm glad you think so. Keep that in mind.â
âOkay!â
âI told them to make medicine from today, so make sure you take it.â
âIâm not sickâŠâ
âYouâre too small. Go ahead and grow up.â
I usually took medicine when I was sick. However, I could not refuse any more because of his sad eyes today.
âAll right. Iâll do that!â
âYes, good.â
And maybe that was all he had to say, but he sighed deeply and went out like that.
I laid down next to my mother while looking at her.
âMom⊠donât worry too much. If it doesnât work⊠we can do it again. Itâll just be a bit painful for me.â
I patted my momâs arm, determined it would not happen.
âThen⊠weâll make sure we donât make any mistakes⊠so donât worry. We can definitely be happy.â
But Mom, Iâm so happy right now. I enjoy waking up every morning for the first time. So Mom⊠hang in there until my dad finds a way.
âLetâs live this time.â
Like my mother who patted me on the back when I couldnât sleep at night, I fell asleep after patting her for so long.
***
A few more days had passed.
I stuck my mouth in front of Cecilia every morning.
âCecilia, do I have to eat this?â
The medicine that the Grand Duke said was worse than I thought. It was sticky, as if it had been brewing for 30 hours while grazing, and the color was also dark green.
âOf course.â
âI saw it somewhere⊠Childrensâ medicine is sweet and tasty⊠Whatâs wrong with mine?â
Cecilia looked more determined than ever when I asked her sincerely.
âI put in a lot of things because I hope you get better soon.â
âHah.â
âIf you donât want to eat this, you have to be healthy.â
ââŠâ
I shouldnât have said that much, but Cecilia smiled and pushed the medicine towards me.
ââŠAre you really eating it?â
âYes, I ate it well yesterday.â
Yet as the days went by, I felt like it got tastier.
âCome on, eat. You are going out today.â
âOut?â
âYes, today is the day to check if Harris is part of the Grand Dukeâs bloodline.â
âAh!â
âIt seems that the organization that can confirm it has just arrived. I think the Imperial family suffered quite a bit because they didnât let them go.â