Her maternal uncle, Jeremy Dish, was a man of his word. If he said that, then he would do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Remembering her uncle’s words, Rowena took a deep breath of the soft scent that she would forever be unable to smell after the next six months.

Before he knew it, four months had passed since he had been brought to the enormous castle without even knowing the reason why. At first, Damian was frustrated and angry at the whole situation, but slowly, he accepted the reality. His mother’s friend, the master of this house, clearly did not like him. Also, he doesn’t know why, but his mother has to stay in this castle.

He didn’t know what the reason was, but every time he asked his mother about it, a shadow appeared on her face. The only thing that kept Damian from drowning in the darkness was the hope that if he could just endure it for six months, it would be over.

“Young master.”

“Yes?”

Damian, who had been locked in his room reading a book, raised his head. He tilted his head toward the familiar face and smiled back; she was the maid that his mother had introduced him to. He was told that she was the maid who would be taking care of his mother.

“Melissa?”

“What were you doing, young master?”

“I was reading a book.”

“I see. May I know what you’ve been reading?”

“Sure, it’s Mr. Jeremy’s manuscript.”

Damian’s eyes lit up as he happily handed over the book he was reading.

“He said it hasn’t been published yet, and he’s going to publish it soon. The main character’s name is the same as mine!”

“Really?”

Melissa tilted her head at the unexpected words and glanced at the book Damian was holding.

“That’s true. I didn’t think he would write a fairy tale book like this.”

“The most interesting part is the ending, where Damian is grabbed by the evil demon king….”

As the excited Damian continued his explanation, someone interrupted him.

“Kiddo. It’s an undisclosed manuscript, don’t just show it to anyone.”

“Oh my God! Je-.. Jeremy!”

Melissa, startled by the man who approached without making any sound and fell to her knee. Damian, who burst into laughter at the sight, threw himself into Jeremy’s arms.

“Teacher!”

“Did you sleep well? You little troublemaker.”

Without hesitation, Jeremy ruffled his student’s hair and sneakily took the book from Melissa’s hand.

“Melissa, why are you here?”

“Oh, I just came to check on the young master.”

Laughing awkwardly, Melissa rose from the ground and left. As soon as the door was shut, Damian corrected his way of addressing Jeremy.

“Grandpa! What about mother?”

“I told you just to call me Uncle.”

“But mother clearly told me to address you properly….”

“When it’s just you and me, you can just call me Jeremy or teacher?”

“Then… I’ll call you teacher.”

“In this respect, you look just like your mom.”

It was much better to resemble his mother, who was polite, even if she was a bit on the shy side, than his bastard father, with a lousy personality. Smiling, Jeremy went straight to the point.

“Rowena is going to the capital today. You’re supposed to follow her in two days.”

She is his mother! Not only that, he could only see her briefly in the evening, and now she must go far away from him. Damian’s face darkened, even more, when he heard Jeremy’s words. Realizing the boy’s feelings, Jeremy placed his hand on the shoulders of his niece’s son.

“You remember what I said, don’t you?”

“…If I want to get out of here, I must be neither seen nor heard of within this castle.”

Damian’s gaze dropped to the ground as he replied. Those were the words that his mother’s uncle said when he had met him for the first time; the same ones he was told that would help him and his mother.

Jeremy let out a soft sigh as he looked down at Damian’s disappointed face.

“The situation with the adults is a lot more complicated than you think. But you should know, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I know.”

“…”

Although he didn’t know the details, Damian was a quick-witted kid. The nannies and servants were kind, but they were all somewhat distant. The only people here who were close to him were his mother, his mother’s uncle who is also his tutor, Jeremy, and the maid Melissa.

But Jeremy was not very fond of Melissa. Damian was certain that Jeremy didn’t like the fact that she was holding his manuscript in her hand just now. 

On that note, Jeremy, who wanted to find out if Melissa managed to read anything at all, hurriedly asked a question.