Every time his mother appeared in this dream, she screamed and shouted horribly. The power of Ambrosia killed me. That curse made me like this. I cursed that if anyone stayed by your side, they would die like me.

‘Pretty, bright, wise, and lovely. Wasn’t she too much for a person like you? How dare you hold such a precious person in your heart?’

The image of Sarah, who collapsed and vomited blood with words like her mother’s curse, came to mind.

‘You will also kill that woman in the end! Because of your dirty blood!’

Ethan woke up from his dream after his mother’s scream.

“……Ha.”

He saw his mother’s face in a dream that he had forgotten in a very long time. Even that new voice was a useless and vivid dream. He muttered in a low, sinking voice, sweeping up his sweaty hair.

“Just a little bit…… Shut up, Mother. Your son finally started learning about love. You have to cheer for me.”

* * *

Sarah, relying on a single candle, leaned against the wall, and slowly moved.

“I should’ve slept after dinner……”

Grasping her hungry stomach, Sarah regretted her devastating defeat to the looming sleepiness. Today, she had a great time running around with Claude and Ethan, and in her botany class, she joked around with Claude and ran around again. Young Claude had very good stamina, so he was cheerful even after playing like that, but Sarah was different. She was an adult who had to take a break after playing like that.

“Parenting is not easy……”

Shaking her head, she passed the dining room and found the kitchen a little further back. She was going to take some simple snacks or something here. She wanted to eat cooked food, but it was not easy to use a kitchen in the Crombell Empire, unlike in Korea. It was an unknown world to Sarah, who was a well-bred noblewoman and even a magician here.

‘I’ll have to learn how to use the kitchen later.’

As she stayed with Claude, there were many things she wanted to make for him. In the next playtime, it would be nice to bake briefly with Ethan. Learning the process of making bread that you normally eat as if it were taken for granted would raise awareness and be good for children’s education.

“Fufu.”

Sarah grinned slightly, realizing herself full of Claude’s thoughts as she robbed the kitchen because of hunger. Thinking of the disciples sleeping somewhere in the secret room of Ambrosia’s mansion made her confused, but it was still a normal and happy day in its own way. Just like she always dreamed of.

“I’m almost there. There must be some leftover bread……”

Arriving in the kitchen, Sarah left the candlestick on the counter and opened the top and bottom drawers to find something to eat. However, it was very difficult to find something to eat through the darkness with a single candlestick. It was embarrassing to come down at this dawn to find something to eat, but Sarah decided to turn on the light for a while and snapped her fingers. Snap, bright white spheres began to float around her one by one. The spheres’ sprinkling light circled around Sarah and brightened the surroundings. Sarah, who could now see clearly, was in a hurry to look through the drawers again, but a low voice could be heard behind her.

“……Sarah?”

“Ack!”

Sarah screamed in astonishment. As she hurriedly turned her back, she saw Ethan, who was crouching on the floor, looking up at her.

“Duke?”

Even if she blinked and rubbed her eyes, it was definitely Ethan. For some reason, Ethan sat leaning against the wall with a pale complexion without even thinking of drying his wet hair. With an incredible face, he was blinking slowly and blankly.

“What are you doing here?”

Sarah hurriedly approached Ethan. Somehow he didn’t look good. As the spheres surrounding her approached Ethan, his sculptural face reflected by the light became clearer.

“Do you hurt anywhere? Why here……”

Startled by Ethan’s pale complexion, she placed her palm on his cheek. His complexion was very pale, and his body temperature had dropped to a cool level.

“Are you cold? Should I bring a blanket? No, go up to your room. Don’t stay here.”

“……Sarah.”

Ethan blinked as he watched Sarah pour out her frantic words, and placed his hand on Sarah’s hand that covered his cheek. Then he closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled a long breath, as if he was feeling her body temperature. Sarah asked in a cautious voice because Ethanlooked precarious, which was unlike his usual tall-and-firm self.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, I just had a bad dream. If I stay like this for a while…….”

“May I ask what your dream was?”

“……I was dreaming about my mother.”

Sara’s eyes widened at Ethan’s answer. She had never heard of his mother. Even in ‘Flower of Darkness’ or ‘future’. He smiled slightly as he looked at Sarah, whose eyes were somehow shining.

“Are you curious?”

“To be honest, yes…… I’m curious.”

Sarah squatted next to him and settled down. Looking at Sarah, who was ready to hear the story, Ethan leaned his head against the wall and pondered where and how to begin.

“My mother hated me.”

Sarah’s face hardened at the first sentence that came out of Ethan’s mouth. He could see her eyes fluttering violently as if she didn’t know such a story would come out. It was so funny that Ethan smiled helplessly.

“The power of Ambrosia has taken away a lot of my mother’s precious things. So she didn’t want to believe that the power was in me.”

“……You don’t have to tell me anything if it’s too hard.”

“It’s okay. It’s all in the past.”

Ethan started talking as if nothing had happened. The story of how his mother, who was pregnant with Hugel and exhibited extreme anxiety, gradually pushed him away. The fear of Ambrosia’s power contained in the words of hatred and sharp eyes that were poured out every day. Not accepting him as her son and everything until the very end of her death.

“……”

The more she listened to Ethan’s story, the more Sarah could see why Ethan initially kept away from Claude. That was the most expression of love he could ever make. Watching from afar without approaching. Just as he did to his mother. Sarah seemed to be able to grasp the pain he was going through.

“You had a nightmare of your mother like that, so why are you here? You should rest in your room.”

At Sarah’s question, Ethan raised his head and slowly looked at the empty kitchen. Then he said in a low voice as if whispering his secret.

“I came here because I had a nightmare.”

At Ethan’s words, Sarah tilted her head as if puzzled. What did the kitchen have to do with having nightmares? Knowing her question, Ethan smiled faintly and continued.

“One day, there was a day when my father’s power fluctuated. At that time, my mother lost her eyesight for a while, and somehow she came out of her room and went to the kitchen.”

He smiled faintly as he remembered that time. He headed to the kitchen to get rid of the servants his father had hired for the purpose of surveillance, but he just ran into his mother who was walking in with her hand against the wall. At that time, he couldn’t even move because whenever she looked at Ethan, she foamed at her mouth, fell backward, passed out, and convulsed.

“At that time, my mother called me Hugel.”

“She mistook the Duke for Baron Hugel.”

“Yes. Mistaking me, she came over and touched my cheek, took my hand, stroked my head, and said.”

Ethan still remembered his mother’s kind and gentle touch back then. He grabbed Sarah’s hand and brought it to his cheek, just as his mother had done to him at the time.

“Sleep well, my dear son. Have a nice dream.”

Ethan never forgot his mother’s voice that day. At least back then, he was also his mother’s son.