Ethan, who had lost sight of Sarah in front of him, helplessly retracted his outstretched hand and touched his trembling forehead. It was largely his fault for pushing hard even though he knew that dissatisfaction was creeping up on Sarah, who was always at ease. Ronda came up to him with an ashamed expression on her face.

“Master, it seems we have put too much pressure on Countess Millen.”

Ethan nodded and sighed quietly. He was afraid Sarah was going to get hurt again if he was a little careless, and she was going to sacrifice herself again. Being extremely careful as she became precious seemed to have given Sarah a prison without bars.

“I knew she wouldn’t be caught if I held her, but…… It’s so easy for her to get out of my grasp.”

He didn’t feel very good about being confirmed what he already knew. He turned away, suppressing his nervousness. Sarah had an oath with Claude, and many promises she had made remained. Nevertheless, it was all because of his greed that he became anxious and wanted more. It was because of the fact that his love became irreversible as it gradually increased its volume.

“……”

Ethan clenched his fists as he recalled her hair that seemed to curl through his fingertips. It was so easy for Sarah to seep into his and Claude’s lives, but it was so difficult to hold her down. He now had to think of another way.

“Let’s try it another way.”

He never thought of giving up.

* * *

In an instant, the landscape in front of them changed. Only when Sarah comforted Claude and hugged him did the child look around. A small mansion could be seen under their feet, and a vast blue sky stretched out before their eyes.

“Wow!”

Claude rolled his feet with a bright face and clapped in Sarah’s arms. This was the second time he went out like this. It was fun to see the demented faces of the people in the mansion, and it was exciting to be able to get out of the mansion where he had lived his whole life so easily. When he was with his nanny, a lot of strange and exciting things unfolded before his eyes.

“Where are we?”

“This is the mansion where Young Master Elexa lives!”

“……!”

In an instant, Claude’s face brightened, and blushes appeared on both cheeks. He was happy to think that he could finally see his friend, who had long been begging him to meet him.

“Then can I meet Elexa then?”

“Of course!”

“But……”

After a moment of being happy with Sarah’s answer, Claude bowed his head sullenly again and murmured.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m not supposed to see Elexa, am I?”

“Oh my, why do you think so?”

“Father and Uncle Jade said they’d let me see Elexa soon, but they said it would be delayed due to circumstances.”

It was an adult’s situation. The Third Prince and Ethan agreed to let Claude and Elexa make friends, but the details of the terms were not yet well discussed between them. The opinions between the Third Prince, who was desperate to hide his illegitimate child, and Ethan, who was wary of rumors that the gaze that would follow Claude, could not be narrowed down. The heart, which had been inflated with anticipation, slowly faded away, leaving only the traces of the swelling that had shrunk. The complicated circumstances of adults taught Claude how to gradually resign.

“……”

It was not something that could be said by a 6-year-old child. That was why Sarah’s heart ached.

“Young Master Claude is right. In order to meet Young Master Elexa, we have to deal with the complicated circumstances of adults.”

“Right?”

At Sarah’s words, Claude looked even more sullen and lowered his head. Sarah said with a smile, hugging the child again.

“But wouldn’t it be okay to meet secretly?”

“……!”

“We are going to avoid the eyes of adults and just look at Young Master Elexa!”

“But, but is it okay to do that?”

“Has Young Master Claude forgotten who your nanny is?”

Claude’s face brightened in an instant. The same was true of Sarah’s face, who met the eyes of a child which were shining like a clear and transparent jewel.

“Let me see……”

Sarah drew the mana from her fingertips like a thread and sent it down to the secret mansion of the Third Prince, which seemed to be under her feet. Then the images of the people moving from the mansion were vividly depicted in her head. More than twice as many knights as when they last visited were guarding the door to each room thoroughly, and people disguised as ordinary citizens roamed around the mansion. The only space for children was a playroom and a garden. Elexa was sitting crouching in a corner of the garden, hiding himself.

“Oh, no. It’s not going to be easy.”

Elexa’s nanny she saw last time was having tea time in her room. In the mansion, the person who had the most important mission of taking care of Elexa was letting him be alone in the garden while she was having tea time in her room. When she saw her before, she felt that the nanny of Elexa was not taking good care of the child due to her dissatisfaction with the current situation. Had the Third Prince known about it, he would never have stayed still. Nevertheless, that would probably mean that she would be a good nanny to Elexa only in front of the Third Prince.

“Young Master Elexa looks very depressed. Don’t you want to hurry up and comfort him?”

“Is Elexa depressed?”

“It looks like it. He’s sitting alone in the garden crying.”

“Let’s go! Let’s hurry up and tell him not to cry!”

Claude nodded heavily and stamped his feet. A look of concern crept into the innocent face of the child when he heard that Elexa looked depressed. With such pure and clear good intentions, Sarah smiled brightly and gathered mana in her hands and made it into a small lump. Then she shoved it into the brooch that hung on Claude’s collar so that it could seep through.

“What’s this, Nanny?”

“It’s to make your appearance and presence invisible in the eyes of others. So, you have to be careful not to drop this brooch, okay?”

“Eung, I know!”

Claude, having carefully engraved Sarah’s words in his head, stomped his feet. Sarah laughed and snapped her fingers as the child urged her.

“……!”

Then, once again, it changed in an instant. His feet, floating in the air, touched the ground and felt the soft touch of the lawn. Rustling, he could hear the leaves of a large tree growing above his head swaying in the wind. This place, full of grassy smell, was in the middle of the garden of the mansion where Elexa lived.

“Wow, Nanny, it’s so big here!”

Unlike when viewed from above, the garden of the mansion was larger than expected. She heard that the garden, which was intertwined like a maze around a large tree in the middle, was a place where the Third Prince paid special attention for Elexa, who liked to play hide-and-seek.

“It’s certainly less guarded here.”

Sarah, who looked around and around, put Claude down from her arms with peace of mind. There were a total of three entrances to the garden, each of which was guarded by knights, but there were no people inside the garden.

“Young Master Elexa is this way.”

Sarah reached out to Claude, and the child held her hand with an excited face. The place where Elexa was located was the farthest corner of the garden among the three entrances. Sarah hummed as she moved along with the flow of mana she felt at the tip of her fingertips.

“I can’t wait to meet Elexa! Right, Nanny?”

“I know. I can’t wait to meet him too.”

Sarah rummaged through her arms with her other hand, which Claude had not grasped, and pulled out another small brooch. It was originally meant to be a gift for Claude, but it seemed to be a good fit for Elexa as well. With a magic spell in her hand, she inflicted it with her mana as she had done with Claude earlier, Sarah now moved on with a more joyful face. In addition to giving the children free play time, she had someone to meet here.

‘Penelois de Crombell.’

The hidden lover of the Third Prince, who would become the Empress of the Crombell Empire in the Flower of Darkness. She had to meet her, who was holding her breath in this mansion.