At that moment, Sarah rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had seen something wrong. But even when she rubbed her eyes and blinked, what she saw once didn’t change.

“Nanny, that kid must be very sad. He’s just crying.”

Even from a distance, one could tell that the child in the hood was crying profusely. The hood, which was much bigger than the child’s body, kept falling down because he was rubbing his eyes without even thinking about it. Even from afar, the sleeves could be seen soaking wet. Claude urged her to go see the child as he was concerned about a crying child who was left alone in the midst of happy people everywhere. But Sarah was not willing to take a step.

‘The pattern engraved on that hood is definitely the same as the one I described in the Flower of Darkness……’

No one at the market recognized it, but Sarah did. A pattern engraved with the moon shining more brilliantly than the sun behind the pattern depicted the sun. It was a pattern representing the male protagonist, Claude, and the sub-male protagonist, Elexa de Crombell, who competed for the female protagonist in ‘Flower of Darkness’.

‘He’s our dear Young Master Claude’s rival in love, right?’

A child who did not exist in the future Park Hyeyeon saw, but did exist in ‘Flower of Darkness’. The Third Prince Eleon de Crombell’s hidden illegitimate son, Elexa de Crombell, was now in front of Sarah and Claude.

“Let’s go see him just one time, okay?”

Claude urged her once again, perhaps feeling an unknown attraction to the child.

“……Yes, let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Sarah was eventually led by Claude’s hand as if she couldn’t win.

‘In the end, this is how the relationship will be.’

Elexa de Crombell appeared very late in ‘Flower of Darkness’. When the male protagonist, Claude Ambrosia, was saved by the female protagonist while driving the Empire to the brink of destruction. The Imperial family also died and appeared like a comet to raise the crumbling Crombell Empire. And once again, he was at odds with Claude, who was helping the heroine who was trying to rebuild the Empire.

“……”

Every time she saw the characters who did not exist in the future that Park Hyeyeon saw, but only existed in the ‘Flower of Darkness’, her heart was dropped. Sarah took Claude’s hand and looked at his round head as he walked ahead.

‘Claude shouldn’t have been born originally.’

Feeling complicated, Sarah gave strength to the hand that was holding Claude’s. She ruined Dieline’s life by writing ‘Flower of Darkness’. No, she might have ruined Dieline’s life as well as the lives of many others. She always regretted and regretted knowing that. But what if she didn’t write ‘Flower of Darkness’ and she hadn’t met Claude where she was now. Would she choose not to write the novel if she went back to the past?

“Nanny, Nanny. What should I say to him?”

“Ah?”

While she was lost in thought, Claude, who reached the front of the alley where the child was crying, looked up at Sarah and asked. Earlier, he was crying in a place that could be seen from the outside, but while Claude and Sarah approached, the child seemed to hide deeper into the alley. When she glanced, she saw a small foot sticking out behind a large box inside the alley.

“Hic hic, hiic……”

It was a noisy market alley, but the sad cry leaked clearly through the gap.

“What should I do? He must be so sad.”

Claude stomped his feet, not knowing what to do. Although she was pleased with Claude’s warm heart, who knew how to think of others, she was already worried about whether it would be the right thing to establish a relationship with Elexa de Crombell. However, she couldn’t turn a blind eye to the child here and just let him go. Because she decided to show Claude only the good things and tell him only the good things. Because she vowed not to raise him into a villain that would destroy the world.

“Young Master Claude, what would you like to say to that child?”

“Um, I want to tell you not to cry, but can I say that?”

“Of course, if that’s what Young Master Claude really means, the best way would be to convey it as it is.”

“Okay.”

Claude bravely let go of Sarah’s hand and entered the alley where the child was crying.

‘He’s cute, too.’

Claude, who was able to afford to be considerate of others, was really lovely. She realized why they said that small children grew up fast. She couldn’t believe that Claude, who cried at first when he saw her, thought that he should comfort another child who was crying. She was so proud of him. Although her mind was complicated because of ‘Flower of darkness’, Sarah wanted to fully enjoy the moment Claude grew up like this.

“What’s your name? Why are you crying?”

“…….!”

When Claude approached and talked, Elexa, who was crying, raised his head in surprise. At the same time, the hood, which had been roughly placed on his head, came off, revealing the child’s face. Thin blonde hair sticking to the forehead in sweat, golden eyes that shone brightly like his hair color. Teary plump cheeks and red swollen lips. After growing up, he was as cute as Claude, who was boasted to have a fantastic appearance.

‘Our dear Young Master Claude is a hundred times and a thousand times cuter!’

Sarah swallowed her thoughts of Claude inwardly and looked at Elexa.

“Hiiic!”

Elexa put the hood back on and cried harder because Claude and Sarah were so unfamiliar. Claude’s eyes widened as if embarrassed by Elexa’s refusal to speak without answering. Sarah smiled without saying anything to Claude, who looked at her with eyes that wanted to say that he didn’t know what to do.

“……Umm, what to do.”

Claude pondered for a moment in front of Elexa. Even when he looked around, there seemed to be no adult who came with Elexa. It was even more worrisome because Claude didn’t know how to deal with children of the same age. At that time, the first lesson Sarah had taught passed through Claude’s head.

“…….!”

If you didn’t tell others, no one would know how you felt. If you didn’t express it, no one would know.

Claude remembered it and looked at Sarah. His sparkling eyes were full of trust in Sarah, so she knew what he was trying to do without Claude talking. Claude sank to the ground to make eye contact with the crying child.

“I’m Claude. I’m 6 years old, and I’m out to look around the market with my nanny.”

“……Hic..”

“My nanny said that if you didn’t say anything, no one would know why you were so sad. And it would be sadder if no one knew about it.”

“……”

“So can you tell me why you’re crying?”

Elexa’s cries, which had been sniffling at Claude’s resounding voice, stopped slowly.

“…….Elexa.”

“Huh?”

“Hic. My name is Elexa……”

Claude, who finally succeeded in making Elexa open his mouth, looked at Sarah with sparkling eyes and a face that seemed to have ‘I did it!’ written on his forehead. It was so cute that Sarah put her hand on Claude’s head and stroked it. Sarah happily looked at the child who understood her lesson well and knew how to tell others. He was like a smart and bold kitten. Claude grinned as he felt Sarah’s touch under her hat.

“Hello! Elexa. So why are you crying here?”

“·······Hic, My dad, I want to see my dad.”

“Your dad?”

“He said he’d come to see me after five nights, but he didn’t……, hic.”

“That’s why you cried!”

“Hic, hiic, hic……”

When he finally talked to Claude, Elexa seemed even sadder that he cried and sniffed. Sarah vaguely knew why the child was doing this while listening to Elexa.

‘The Third Prince must be very busy. He’ll have to protect the throne that looks like it’s going to be handed over to the Second Prince somehow.’

The Third Prince had a very weak personality. Originally, he would have lived without being greedy, giving up the throne to one of his two older brothers. However, it was different in ‘Flower of Darkness’. This was because the Third Prince fell in love with a woman of humble status and held Elexa in their arms. No one in the Imperial family knew this fact. Even the Emperor. The lover of the Third Prince was a slave from the east. She did not even have Imperial citizenship because she fled to Crombell Empire, where slavery was illegal. Elexa, the son of such a woman, could not receive a legitimate title. It was because it was not a noble marriage.

‘The Third Prince will do anything to protect that child. To do that, he needs the Emperor’s position.’

If he became the Emperor, he would give Elexa’s mother an appropriate status and position to hold a national marriage. Just like in ‘Flower of Darkness’.

‘……Even so, Claude would take it all away.’

Sarah looked at Claude, who patted Elexa on the shoulder with complicated eyes. If she didn’t change the Flower of Darkness, the one before her eyes would be a poor child, who would lose everything at the hands of Claude.

“Don’t cry!”

“Huu……”

If. Really if. What would happen to ‘Flower of Darkness’ if the two of them got along well?