CH 155

Episode 155

Side Story 9. Between Spring and Summer (1)

Seeing a silver-haired man and a child in his arms, we couldn’t keep our mouths shut.

“Yerine, didn’t Eugene say that he adopted a child?”

Cassius whispered to me with a confused face.

“It seems to me that he didn’t adopt a child but gave birth to a child alone.”

“I know………”

Actually, I heard that they are related by blood, but how can they look so similar?

At the time of confusion, Eugene talked to the child in his arms in a gentle voice.

“Aster, say hi.”

The child in Eugene’s arms bowed slightly and spoke clearly.

“Hello, Your Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress.”

The child who dyed his cheeks red looked really like Eugene, but on the other hand, he had a cute and sweet face like an angel.

“He speaks really well. Didn’t you say that he was the same age as Chaerine?”

“That’s right.”

“And I think he’s very mature…….”

When I looked at the child with a smile, Eugene gently patted the child on his back.

“Yeah. So that’s why I always tell him that it’s okay to be a little childish.”

Eugene, who had previously didn’t know what to do when he faced Yssius and Chaerine, was holding the child fairly stably.

Cassius glanced at Eugene, blinking his golden eyes, wondering about Eugene’s appearance.

“But it’s amazing.”

Eugene looked up at Cassius’s words.

“What?”

“He looks just like you, so how can he look like such a demure baby angel?”

Eugene frowned at Cassius’s words.

Cassius, however, did not care.

“I can’t believe Eugene Ace’s face can look so good.”

“Why are you arguing with me as soon as you see me again?”

Eugene grunted and hugged the child.

He used to use honorifics to Cassius in front of others, but he sometimes used informal speech when we were alone.

Cassius didn’t make a big deal of this, and Eugene’s retort in an informal speech meant that Cassius’s prank worked well, so he was satisfied when he heard Eugene’s informal speech.

“Come on, let’s not fight, let’s go in. Everyone’s waiting.”

Astra, Rachel, and Erica welcomed Eugene as I took them to the backyard where tea parties were held frequently.

“Oh, is that him? He’s so cute! Hi, I’m Aunt Rachel.”

“Hello.”

Seeing Aster bowing his head, Astra and Rachel’s eyes lit up.

Erica looked at Eugene and Aster alternately, with a confused look on her face, just like Cassius did when he first saw Aster.

“Eugene Ace, how did your face look so angelic…….”

“You’re noisy, Blothea.”

When Eugene sat down, the tea party began. We had a blast of tea and chatted, as we always did.

“Yerine, where are the kids? I can’t see them today.”

Astra, who was looking around the table, said.

“Oh, they’re taking a nap. I felt sorry to wake them up, so I didn’t bring the, here.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Maybe both of them will come this way when they wake up. I told the nanny to bring them over if they wake up and look for us.”

Rachel nodded and laughed at my words.

“Yes, they’re both stuck in your gum, so of course they want to come.”

Cassius, who naturally put snacks in front of me, replied back.

“Yeah, and Yssi misses you all so he must want to come. Kael is still young so she’s not in that state.”

“Oh, really?”

Cassius nodded when Rachel asked back with a surprising look.

“He said it was fun talking to you guys last time.”

“Oh, I’m proud. I can’t believe I’m recognized by the prince.”

Astra stirred black tea with a teaspoon, raising the corners of her mouth happily.

Then she sat across from her previous seat and looked at Aster wriggling his hands.

“Aster, is it good?”

In front of him was a glass of milk and cookies cut into bite-sized pieces.

“Yes.”

Aster answered with a nod.

Aster has rarely changed his face since the first time we met him.

I thought he was a child whose emotions were not well expressed on his face, but now I see that the corners of his lips covered with cookie powder are slightly raised.

“Thank God.”

I said, looking at Aster quietly reaching for a piece of cookies.

“Aster, I’ll pack that cookie for you later, so eat it at home.”

Aster’s eyes, which looked blank at my words, began to sparkle.

“Really…..…?”

“Yes, I’ll pack you a lot.”

“Thank you, Her Majesty……….”

Everyone burst into laughter at Aster’s expression of gratitude by holding the cookies tightly in one hand.

Eugene, not like his usual characteristic, looked down at Aster with his warm smile.

“He really became a father.’

I smiled at Eugene’s eyes, which are softer than before.

Just then, Eugene, who was wiping the cookie powder around Aster’s mouth, raised his head and looked straight at me.

“Thank you.”

“No, it’s nothing. Looking at how well Aster eats reminds me of my kids. They like it a lot too.”

“I didn’t know but it seems like the kids have similar taste.”

“That might be the case.”

While talking to Eugene, Cassius who was sitting quietly next to me, pointed to Aster and shouted.

“Eugene, Aster…….!”

“Yeah?”

Kwang! Aster’s glass fell sideways.

When the glass fell over, milk spilt on Aster’s clothes, who hardened because of the surprise.

“Ah……”

Aster stared blankly down at the clothes that had been ruined by milk.

‘Oh, I think he’s going to cry.’

I stood up with a handkerchief, looking at Aster’s small hand floating in the air.

But already Eugene was taking out his handkerchief and wiping the child’s clothes.

“Dad……”

“It’s okay.”

After wiping the child’s clothes in a surprisingly calm voice, he roughly wiped off the table and stood up holding the child.

“Sorry. I think I need to change Aster’s clothes. I’ll clean up the rest when I get back.”

I shook my head and waved my hands.

“No. Leave it to us and change his clothes first.”

Cassius, who approached me before I knew it, also told Eugene.

“Yeah, do you have any clothes for him? Let me know if you need one. I still have Ysshi’s clothes when he’s four years old.”

“Oh, no. The clothes are fine. I brought extra.”

“Yes, of course. Clayton, will you show Duke Ace to an empty room?”

Erica opened her mouth as she watched Eugene walk toward the main palace with Clayton.

“Eugene has really changed. He used to say he didn’t like kids, but now he’s a father.”

“Yeah.”

Rachel nodded, putting her finger to her mouth.

“Honestly, I was a little worried at first, but now that I see it, I guess I shouldn’t have.”

So did I.

The cause was the former Duke of Ace, Eugene’s predecessor.

I heard that the former Duke of Ace usually lives separately in the annexe after Eugene became a Householder but there was no way he could have stepped aside from the issue about Eugene’s successor.

It was clearly depicted in front of my eyes how much interference he would have attempted since Eugene decided to not have a direct heir but adopt a child as his successor.

‘I’m sure he’s bothered to talk about it because it’s a family-related topic.’

And I was sure Eugene’s father certainly will meddle in the education of the adopted child.

Then another child might be walking on the same path as Eugene.

For the family, for the father.

The path of a child who had to give up everything but be perfect.

“I saw earlier that the child called Eugene ‘Daddy’ and was slanderous, looking at it a little………”

Astra paused and moistened her lips.

“…….touching.”

I made eye contact with her azure eyes.

I understood how she felt.

The predecessor Duke of Ace would never have allowed Eugene to speak informally to him or call him Dad.

He tried to ban everything that anyone else could identify as a ‘flaw’.

‘If Eugene had spilt milk in front of him, the house would have been almost turned upside down…….’

I thought inside and laughed silently.

“Yerine, what’s wrong?”

Cassius lowered his voice and asked.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Looking at Aster and Eugene’s vacancy, I answered in a calm voice.

Eugene apparently chose a completely different way from his father.

He chose to be a parent whose child can lean on comfortably without pressing for mistakes.

‘You must have really hated it, Eugene.’

I felt good because I felt like I had punched the person who still had some sediment.

* * *

Ysshius had long since woken up.

Lying next to his sister, his eyes wide open, he slowly raised his upper body and looked around.

Then the nanny who was sitting in the corner watching the children said hello.

Waving quietly at his nanny to prevent Chaerine from waking up, he decided to lie on his belly and look at his sleeping sister.

Yssius loved to see his sleeping sister’s angelic face.

‘Cute!’

He insisted that when Chaerine wakes up, he’ll see Aunt Erica, other aunts, and the Dukes to brag about Chaerine’s cuteness.

“Ugh…..”

Then, the closed eyelids opened and sleepy golden eyes appeared.

“Kael, are you awake?”

“Yes……”

Seeing that she could only open her eyes halfway, Chaerine still seems sleepy.

“Sleep more if you’re still sleepy.”

Although Yssius talked, stroking his violet soft hair, Caelin shook her head with her sleepy eyes.

“I want to see mommy.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Yssius squatted in front of Chaerine and put his back in front of Chaerine, and Chaerine rested on his back.

“Nanny, are they in the backyard?”

“Yes, you can come with me, Prince.”

“Yeah, I got it!”

Yssius, who carried his sister on his back, replied in a lively voice.

Walking slowly, but at his own powerful pace with the nanny, Yssius found a silver-haired man entering a room at the far end of the hall with Clayton at a distance.

“Uh, that’s the Duke’s uncle.”

Yssius, who was about to say hello, stopped right there.

Blinking his jewel-like purple eyes as if it were hard to believe the sight in front of him.

“Huh?”