***

“Are you done crying?”

“Ye, yeah……”

Elexa cried for a long time, blinking his puffy eyes, and nodded his head. Claude sat next to him and waited patiently for Elexa to cry enough. Perhaps he had opened the door to his heart at that sight, Elexa was already clasping the hem of Claude’s robe.

“How did you get here? Did you come alone?”

“Yeah…… I didn’t want to stay at home, so I sneaked out. My dad won’t come anyway.”

“Can’t you just say that you want to see your father?”

“I can’t. Everyone said I shouldn’t disturb my dad because he’s busy.”

“Right, that’s right. You can’t disturb your father.”

Claude nodded his head as if sympathizing with Elexa’s words. The children’s conversations continued constantly to see if there were any common interests.

“I’m scared to tell my father that I miss him, too.”

“Why are you?”

“What if he doesn’t like me then?”

“Umm…… My dad doesn’t like me? How can he do that?”

Elexa was bewildered because he had never thought of a father hating his children. Elexa was loved by his father so much that the Third Prince, who was not greedy for power, jumped into a fight for the throne for his child. Elexa shook his head as if he did not understand Claude’s words.

“It’s just that. I guess that’s what happens in my house.”

“I see. It must be hard for you, Claude. Are you okay?”

Even with Claude’s simple explanation, Elexa nodded as if he was convinced, and consoled Claude this time. The situation in which they comfort each other was very refreshing and heartwarming, but on the other hand, she became bitter, wondering if that would be the right conversation for 6-year-old children. As they had a strange connection with each other, she thought that they might be able to be friends. Unlike the ‘Flower of Darkness’.

“Yes, I’m fine! Because I have my nanny!”

“Claude seems to be on good terms with your nanny! I’m afraid of my nanny. She scolds me every day.”

Elexa looked at Claude and Sarah alternately with a look of genuine envy. Claude raised his chin as if he was incredibly proud.

“Ah, right! This is Sarah, my nanny!”

“Hi, Sarah……”

At Claude’s introduction, Elexa greets her without erasing his weak boundaries. Elexa, who had previously said that he was afraid of his nanny, seemed to have gotten a little scared by hearing that she was a nanny.

“Hello. Young Master Elexa. I’m Sarah, Young Master Claude’s nanny.”

Sarah squatted down on the floor, made eye contact with Elexa, and smiled kindly. She wanted to make a good impression because he’d probably be Claude’s first friend.

“When I’m in a bad mood, I feel a little better when I eat something sweet. Do you like candy?”

“Can, candy……?”

“Yes. I have one more candy that is identical to the candy Young Master Claude is holding!”

“……”

Elexa looked at the candy in Claude’s hand. Sarah was scary, but he wanted to eat candy. That thought was reflected on his face.

“Fufu.”

Thinking it was cute, Sarah made a candy with a pop in her hand. Of course, the owner of the candy vendor had to be hit with another coin falling from the air.

“Wow!”

“Ta-da, doesn’t it look delicious?”

Sarah put a large candy in Elexa’s small hand without letting him have time to refuse.

“…….Thank you, Sarah.”

When he ate the sweet candy, Elexa’ eyes widened and soon relaxed. No matter how vigilant he was, he was a child who quickly relaxed his mood and liked something delicious.

“Hihi.”

Claude also smiled when Elexa looked happy. He seemed excited because it was his first time talking to a friend of his age for such a long time and eating candy together. Unlike someone like Ruth Naven, whom she met today, Elexa was perfect for Claude’s friend, as he was oozing with innocence. And above all else, it was even more so that the two children were implicitly attracted to each other.

‘……I wonder if he is a suitable playmate for Young Master Claude.’

Sarah, who looked at the children smiling at each other without knowing anything, fell into agony for a moment. Even if the content of ‘Flower of Darkness’ was true, this was the time when the rivalry between the Second Prince and the Third Prince was ignited due to the rapid dismissal of the First Prince. Claude and Elexa befriending would be an undesirable meeting for both the Second Prince and the Third Prince.

‘From the perspective of the Third Prince, it would be burdensome to expose the child he had kept secret as the Second Prince doesn’t have mercy in his hands. From the perspective of the Second Prince, he wouldn’t be happy that there was a connection between the Third Prince and Ambrosia.’

It was very bittersweet for an adult to intervene in the friendship of children, but there was nothing Sarah could do about it. The same was true of Ethan, the current Duke of Ambrosia. He wasn’t the man who would spark Claude’s struggle for the throne.

‘……They can’t get any closer..’

It was very clear to Sarah that Claude and Elexa were secretly attracted to each other. Like Claude, who grew up lonely without any friends, Elexa must have grown up lonely under the strict protection of the Third Prince.

‘I didn’t want to be like a nanny who forcibly separates children after meeting a friend to who they were attracted.’

An ordinary life was the best. Sarah had always thought that way. And she struggled with all kinds of things to live like that. But she couldn’t. Because of the power she had, because of the existence that she called the magic tower, and because of her other self that might be sleeping in Korea. So she wanted to teach Claude a normal life of making friends and playing.

“……”

Before she knew it, seeing the two of them chatting together again, she felt something clogging her chest. Somehow, she felt like she had to play a villain in Claude’s life.

“Ugh……”

Sarah eventually buried her face in her hands in agony.

“Nanny? What’s wrong? Where do you hurt?”

“……Hurt?”

The two kittens looked at Sarah with their eyes wide open. When that cute scene unfolded before her eyes, Sarah was a goner and she soon decided to stop thinking.

“Young Master Elexa, would you like to come over to Young Master Claude’s house?”

“Huh?”

At the sudden invitation, Elexa stared blankly at Sarah’s face. On the contrary, Claude’s face was lit up, and his cheeks were dyed in an even more reddish color.

“That’s right! Let’s play together at my house!”

“B, but……”

“Sarah said that there are good people in the world, but there are also bad people! If you’re alone, bad people will do bad things to you!”

“Really”

“Yes, Sarah said she didn’t lie. Right. Sarah?”

Sarah proudly put both hands on her waist, facing the round eyes looking at her.

“Of course!”

Her voice was full of confidence. With that confident voice and bright face, Elexa nodded his head involuntarily.

***

Recently, the Second Prince was in a very good mood. It was because he had driven the damn First Prince who was like a thorn in his eyes to the Alton Estate far away. This time, the party hosted in the hope that the First Prince would finish his studies safely will be his victory party. He thought that he had gotten rid of everything that bothered him on his way to the throne. Until one of his faithful henchmen tried to ruin everything.

“I sent them to make a connection, but it was not enough that they cut the line and destroy it, they even burned it so vigorously.”

There was no high or low in the Second Prince’s voice, which flowed softly. But for Viscount Nathan, who had been with the Second Prince for a long time, it was enough for him to understand that he was overflowing with anger. Viscount Nathan hurriedly made an excuse with a face that had lost its composure.

“Second, Second Prince…… It’s really unfair. It doesn’t make sense to do this because of the small quarrels of children!”

“Small quarrels…… Does Viscount Nathan really think so?”

“Of course, it is clear that our Ruth did something wrong! But they’re still young children!”

At Viscount Nathan’s words, who regarded this incident as a minor quarrel between children, the Second Prince sighed, swallowing his frustration. He heard that he had a detailed conversation with the young master, who had returned to the mansion, but it seemed that he had only listened to his son’s complaints.

“Didn’t you say your son was going to enter the social world soon? You think he was more mature than children of his age and boasted that he was no different from a grown-up adult.”

“Th, that!”

As Viscount Nathan couldn’t say anything in embarrassment, the Second Prince looked and threw a thick report at his feet.

“How blatantly your son tormented Young Lord Ambrosia is described in great detail here in this report.”

“……!”

“What did Young Master Nathan do to a six-year-old child that he hated so much? It’s because Viscount taught him wrong.”

Viscount Nathan’s face, who had picked up the report, withered bitterly. The weight of the paper in his palm seemed to weigh him down.

“No matter how hard I try, things like what happened between the children in that mansion weren’t leaked out even a little bit. But do you know what it means to have this report in my hands now, Viscount?”

“……”

“Duke Ambrosia spilled it on purpose. Do you know what that means?”