“Did you not get enough sleep?”

Kael frowned slightly as he asked, noticing the dark circles under Lecier’s eyes that seemed to reach down to her chin.

“You need to eat well and sleep well for you to grow taller, yet what have you been doing that you didn’t even sleep properly?”

“Oh, I just had some things to take care of.”

Leciel couldn’t honestly say that she hadn’t been sleeping to keep an eye on Kael wandering the halls in the middle of the night, so she mumbled a vague answer.

“A kid like you, what could you possibly have to do?”

“Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I don’t have things to do!”

“Is that so? Now I’m curious. What exactly were you doing that you couldn’t sleep properly?”

“Well… eating and playing well?”

Leciel said that; unable to think of a better excuse.

At that, Kael chuckled.

“Well, that is a child’s main job, indeed.”

“Playing and eating is a child’s daily routine, after all.”

But after saying that, she felt a bit guilty, as if she really had been just playing and eating too well.

After all, she had come here as a member of the vassal, and she wondered if it was okay to be doing nothing but resting like this.

Although they said they wouldn’t ask her to do vassal work unless it was urgent until she became an adult, she couldn’t help but feel concerned.

Meanwhile, Kael nodded as if agreeing with Leciel’s words and added.

“And sleeping well too.”

“I usually sleep well.”

She just hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days.

“Then that’s a relief.”

Kael looked at Leciel, who was trying her best to explain herself with a sleepy but indignant expression and found her adorable.

“For your information, it will take quite a while to reach the capital.”

“Really?”

“It must be your first-time riding in a carriage for so long, so it would be good to get some sleep.”

Riding in the carriage itself must be tiring for Leciel.

“I was thinking about that, too.”

Having stayed up late two nights in a row, she was so sleepy that it was hard to keep her eyes open.

“If you want, I can lend you my lap as a pillow.”

“… no, I’ll decline.”

“Let me know if you’re uncomfortable.”

Kael hadn’t expected Leciel to accept his offer from the start, so he remained unbothered by her refusal.

Leciel then tried to lie down on the seat to sleep.

If it were an adult man, the space would be too cramped to lie down, but for the small-framed Leciel, it was just enough space.

But before that, Carren stopped her.

“Brother?”

Ignoring Leciel’s puzzled look, Carren quietly did what he had to do.

He took off his cloak, folded it neatly to use as a pillow, and placed it at Leciel’s head.

“Whoa, thank you!”

Leciel quickly laid down on the cloak and gave a thumbs up, indicating she liked it very much.

Though it wasn’t as comfortable as a bed, the seat was soft, and the carriage ride was smooth, so it seemed good enough for sleeping.

The only thing she felt was missing was a blanket.

At that moment, noticing Leciel’s disappointed expression, Carren looked at Kael, who was sitting next to him, and spoke bluntly.

“Father, you must be hot, why don’t you take off that cumbersome jacket?”

“… I didn’t expect you to care about me like this.”

“So, are you going to take it off or not?”

Carren’s subtle coercion suggested that the real purpose lay in the latter part of his sentence.

“That might be difficult. No matter how young she is, how can I undress in front of a little girl?”

“……”

Carren looked at Kael with a dumbfounded expression.

Anyone would think he was trying to make Kael strip completely.

All he wanted was for Kael to take off his jacket.

“Just kidding.”

Seeing Carren’s cold look, Kael said calmly.

Come to think of it, his son seemed to have a remarkable talent.

The talent of scolding with his eyes.

Even without saying a word, it felt as if Carren’s words were echoing in his mind.

Eventually, Kael took off his jacket. He then draped it over the reclining Leciel.

He had understood from the start that Carren had asked him to take off the jacket for this purpose.

Thanks to their combined effort, Leciel quickly fell asleep.

“It’s surprising.”

Kael, looking at the sleeping baby-like Leciel with a loving gaze, glanced at Carren strangely and spoke.

“What is?”

“I thought you were entirely indifferent to others.”

“What answer are you expecting from me?”

“Feigning ignorance even though you know.”

Carren had many cunning traits, yet to Kael, he was just endearing. It must be the blessing and gift his wife had left him with.

“Well, Father, it seems you need to learn to feign ignorance as well.”

Carren spoke with a pout to Kael, who was pretending not to know even though he already guessed everything.

“I was going to, but it’s hard to pretend I don’t know when it keeps bothering me.”

Seeing Carren openly taking care of Leciel without hiding it in front of him now, Kael felt both admirable and amusing.

“You sure have an interest in unnecessary things.”

Why was he so interested in the relationship between him and Leciel?

It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand since his father had always been interested in Leciel, but it wasn’t particularly welcome.

“It’s not that unnecessary to me, but since you seem to find my concern bothersome, I’ll try to be subtle about it.”

“Have you ever thought about not being concerned at all?”

“How could I not care about the child I brought here?”

At Kael’s words, Carren almost said, “I’ll take care of Leciel, so you don’t need to worry,” but managed to hold it back.

Wouldn’t that make it sound like he had some sort of possessive interest in Leciel?

They weren’t even that close yet, nor had he given her his heart to that extent.

He just liked her a little now and wanted to keep her by his side.

With Carren closing his mouth, silence flowed inside the carriage.

Kael was never a talkative person. Recently, spending time with Leciel, he found fun in teasing her, which made him talk more.

And now, Leciel, who had been the target of Kael’s teasing, was asleep, and Carren was deliberately looking out the window with an expression that said he didn’t want to be talked to, ignoring Kael.

How long did the silence last? A small presence was felt.

Mimi, who had been hiding in Leciel’s arms, couldn’t stand the confinement and sneakily revealed herself.

Both Kael’s and Carren’s gazes naturally fell on Mimi.

Mimi flapped her ears and tail in annoyance towards the two.

Because Leciel liked them both, she wouldn’t attack them first, but Mimi personally didn’t like them.

She wished Leciel would only pay attention to her, but every day, she played with those two and didn’t spend much time with Mimi.

Moreover, the energy that emanated from those two was so strong that Leciel’s body was always imbued with their scent.

To Mimi, it wasn’t a pleasant smell at all.

And… wasn’t that big guy the one who lured Leciel out of the forest?

Even though she knew the forest wasn’t a good place for humans to live, Mimi wanted Leciel to stay in the forest with her forever.

As long as Leciel was there, even the unfamiliar and dangerous forest felt comfortable and cozy to Mimi.

Carren smirked at the sight of the little creature trying to look fierce by flapping its ears.

For a moment, Kael, noticing Carren’s gaze, spoke lightly as if it was no big deal.

“A pet monster.”

“Yes, that’s… what?”

Carren, who had naturally assumed it was a pet and was about to nod without thinking, frowned at the word <monster>.

Seeing that it was still in Leciel’s room where she had claimed it was a doll a few days ago, it must have had his father’s permission.

Indeed, his father hadn’t been surprised when he saw it.

But… a monster?

And his father had allowed a monster to stay with them?

“What on earth are you thinking…?”

Carren’s face showed confusion, unable to understand his father’s decision.

“The child is tame.”

“It does seem tame for a monster.”

Normally, a monster would have attacked them as soon as it saw humans.

However, the small monster in front of them remained calm, albeit with a hint of dissatisfaction.

It even snuggled onto Leciel’s stomach like a cat despite looking like a rabbit.

“And doesn’t it look just like a pet at a glance?”

Until his father explicitly called it a monster, Carren himself wasn’t certain it was one.

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a monster.”

“That’s true.”

Kael agreed indifferently.

“This time, no matter what father’s decision is, I cannot easily follow it.”

No matter how small and tame, a monster was still a monster.

His father must have known the risk of keeping such a creature around.

If word of this reached anyone else, especially the Emperor who was always looking for a chance to undermine their family, they could be falsely accused.

“No one will realize it’s a monster.”

Even he couldn’t be sure when he saw her current appearance.

And if he couldn’t be sure, then no one else in the empire would either.

“There are no eternal secrets.”

“As long as you and I keep our mouths shut.”

“Even so, there’s no guarantee it won’t be discovered.”

If it attacked someone, no matter how much they tried to hide it, it would be exposed.

“There’s no need to worry. Nothing has happened so far, has it?”

“That doesn’t guarantee nothing will happen in the future.”

To Leciel, that creature must be precious, seeing as it was brought to the Grand Duke’s residence despite being a monster.

But no matter how much Leciel liked it, Carren couldn’t let a monster stay openly in the Grand Duchy.

If it were a wild animal, no matter how fierce, he could understand. Nobles often kept such animals as pets.

But the monsters were different.

Keeping a monster was illegal in the empire.

While some nobles secretly kept them, their situation was different from that of the Grand Duchy.

Because their family had the important duty of subjugating monsters.

“At least it won’t harm others.”

“How can you be so sure? Just because it doesn’t attack us doesn’t mean it won’t attack others.”

“Well, at least as long as the kid is around, it won’t.”

Kael spoke with a certain confidence.