“My Lord.”

Behind Duke Ambrosia, who leaned back on his chair, Jade, his aide, came up to him and whispered something. The nobles pricked up their ears to see if it was news.

“Um.”

The nobles focused on Ethan Ambrosia’s face, who was listening to the story. Because they knew that the outcome of this meeting would depend on how he looked.

“…….Let’s take a look at the homing pigeon.”

At the same time as Ethan said, a homing pigeon flew into the window of the Imperial Palace conference room. Ethan slowly got up from his seat and unfolded the letter tied to the leg of the homing pigeon and read it, looking very slow to the nobles.

“Ha!”

A laugh escaped Ethan Ambrosia’s lips as he read the letter. The nobles widened their eyes and looked at his back. And as he slowly turned around, the nobles had no choice but to swallow their saliva.

“……I think it will be a very enjoyable meeting.”

It was because Ethan Ambrosia, who had crumpled the paper in his hand with a quiver, was smiling so beautifully that he could not be considered a human.

***

“Wow!”

When he closed his eyes and opened them, Claude realized he was flying in the sky. The blue sky stretched out endlessly, and when he stretched out his hand, the clouds were so close that he could touch it. And beneath his feet, it seemed very small to see many buildings and many people moving between them.

“You are not scared?”

“Yes! Because Nanny is holding me!”

Claude opened his eyes wide and was busy looking around. Sarah said with a small smile at that bustling gaze.

“Would you like to visit the market?”

“Market?”

“Yes, it’s a place  where a lot of people are gathered! They buy and sell things there, play fun games, and the storytellers come and go diligently.”

“I saw it in a book! I want to go see it!”

When he heard the word ‘market’, Claude glistened and nodded. Seeing that he liked it so much more than expected, Sarah smiled and clapped her hand again!

Flicked.

“Wow!”

At the same time, Sarah and Claude teleported to an alley in the corner of the market. Once again, when his eyes changed in an instant, Claude exclaimed and looked at Sarah.

“How is it? I’m pretty good, right?”

“Yes, yes! Nanny is really a magician!”

“Fufu, of course.”

None of the magicians in the magic tower could use space movement magic so easily. Sarah, who had done this wonderful thing casually, smiled proudly as if she had the world at the praise of Claude, who was only 6 years old.

“Then shall we change clothes first?”

“Why change clothes?”

“Young Master Claude’s clothes are so luxurious that others will immediately recognize you as a nobleman.”

“Can’t they do that?”

“Well, there are good people in the world, but there are also bad people. There may be people who want to do bad things to young and cute nobles like Young Master Claude.”

“I see, I understand now!”

Claude’s innocent nod was so cute that Sarah grabbed her heart for a moment.

‘Young Master Claude, who likes me, is the best.’

Today, for the first time, she realized how thrilling it was to receive eyes full of trust. Not long ago, Claude was on alert and kept sending a wary gaze, so the emotion was doubled. Then, she suddenly remembered the face of Ethan Ambrosia, who had a face that resembled Claude and had completely different eyes.

‘I think the Duke is slowly trusting me too.……’

Sarah smiled slightly, remembering Ethan, who had smiled sincerely at her not long ago. If Claude was a wounded kitten, Ethan Ambrosia was already like a lion with a long scar. A predator whose wounds had already faded over the years, leaving scars. As he was the Duke of Ambrosia, he stood at the center of power, and beside him, there would be a line of people armed with pretense, pouring out all kinds of sweet words. Gaining the trust of such a man was no different from picking a star in the sky or climbing a magic tower without mana.

‘I hope to see his smile just one more time.’

When Ethan smiled genuinely at her, it felt like her heart was pounding. She was as happy as when Claude said he liked her. He sometimes smiled like a noble, but she knew that there was no sincerity even as small as an ant in that smile.

“Nanny, Nanny, so how do we change our clothes?”

At that time, at Claude’s voice, Sarah suddenly escaped from her thoughts. Claude glanced at the busy passer-by through the alleys, and hurriedly stomped his feet.

“Ah, that’s right. I’ll transform you quickly!”

With a cheerful sound, Sarah’s azure mana wrapped around Claude from head to toe. And once again, when Sarah tingled her finger, the child was dressed in achromatic clothes that an ordinary commoner boy would wear.

“Um, our dear Young Master Claude is so lovely and cute that he stands out even when he wears such clothes.”

Sarah pondered for a moment, putting her hand on her chin. No matter how ordinary the clothes were worn, she couldn’t cover his brilliant platinum blonde hair, milky and plump skin, and green jewel-like eyes.

“Maybe this is good.”

“Nannyyy, I want to go and have a look……”

As Sarah pondered for a long time with her thin eyes, Claude pulled her skirt and whined. It was revealed that he wanted to run around and play while looking around the market as soon as possible. Sarah said with a smile as if she couldn’t beat it.

“Okay, okay. Then let’s put on a big hat and go out.”

Sarah tingled her finger to make a beige beret and put it on Claude’s head.

“It’s too big!

“Please bear with me this much. It’s all because Young Master Claude is so cute.”

“Child……”

Claude pouted his lips when his vision became uncomfortable due to the hat covering just above his eyes. Still, he diligently adjusted his hat to a more comfortable position. He was like a good kitten who listened well.

“Then shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Claude took Sarah’s hand fiercely and took the lead, leaving the alley.

“Woah!”

And at the same time, he burst out a short exclamation and looked around. Claude, who had seen only the servants in the mansion, was seeing so many people with different ages and outfits bustling for the first time.

“A potion to lose weight just by eating it for just 10 shillings!”

“Orun Grandpa’s Special Recipe Soup 2 shillings for a bowl!”

“Roasted chicken wings 1 shilling! Eat and enjoy on the go!”

The merchants came out in front of the stores and raised their voices to solicit. Claude opened his eyes wide and covered his ears, as he hadn’t heard such loud shouts in the mansion often.

“Nanny, there are so many people!”

“Right? It’s called a market. You have to hold my hand tightly so you won’t get lost, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Claude quietly took Sarah’s hand and looked around frantically.

“Kyah!”

“Let’s go together!”

“Ahaha!”

In the market, children of Claude’s age were running around excitedly, and they had large lollipops in their hands. A wandering troupe surpassed their talents and captured people’s attention amidst the laughter of children who smiled with their blushing cheeks. At that time, a mother, who was holding her child’s hand tightly, handed him a coin, telling him to throw money at the troupe. The child laughed aloud as he threw the coin into the mat spread out by the troupe. The mother looked at him with warm eyes.

“……”

Claude held the scene in his eyes for a long time. Then he looked up at Sarah, who was holding his hand tightly. The warm affection in her eyes was poured out on Claude when their eyes met.

“……Same.”

“What?”

“Just…… It’s just the same.”

Claude smiled and took the lead while holding Sarah’s hand.

“Oh my?”

Looking at Claude, who looked particularly happy, Sarah decided to be led by the child. 

‘Children tend to focus on what they want for a long time, but Young Master Claude……’

Claude’s gaze stayed longer on people who looked happy and joyful than amazing products that caught the eye. Maybe that was what the child really wanted. To the point where he wondered.

“Young Master Claude.”

“Yeah?”

“Ta-da!”

Sarah also gave Claude a large lollipop just like the ones carried by the children. In the distance, a merchant running a candy store was struck by a coin that had fallen from the air and looked around puzzledly. Upon receiving the candy, Claude looked at Sarah with her eyes wide open.

“Can I eat this?”

“Of course, I’m buying it for you.”

“……Hihihi.”

Claude smiled happily and licked the candy. A sweet taste lingered in his mouth to the point where his tongue tingled.

“Delicious!”

“Right?”

Even with just one candy, Claude laughed like he was the happiest child in the world. He looked incredibly happy that it was hard to believe that he had always fallen asleep with a hurtful and tearful face. It was the moment Sarah clicked her tongue in pity.

“Nanny, look over there.”

“Huh? Where?”

“There! There’s a kid crying over there .”

“Let’s see……”

Claude pulled Sarah’s hand and pointed to a corner of an alley. The child crouching down in a large hood looked just like Claude’s age.

“Are there no guardians? That child seems a little too young to be alone……”

Sarah looked around and looked for the child’s guardian, but suddenly she looked closely at the child wearing the hood again.

“Uh. That’s……?”