Chapter 33

“His, His Grace singing a lullaby…!”

“Right? That is a lullaby, isn’t it?”

Though she had never heard the song before, it was clearly a comfortable and warm tune, enough to be recognized as a lullaby.

Chavel blinked rapidly at Enria’s question, looking confused, unsure if Enria was asking because she didn’t know the lullaby that even imperial children memorized, or if she was confirming whether the song coming from Caldeon’s lips was truly a lullaby.

However, the song coming from Caldeon seemed more shocking, as Chavel muttered to herself with an absent look, her hands placed on her chest, instead of answering.

“I’ve never seen His Grace sing before. He, he sings really well.”

Chavel continued, saying it as if she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to hear the song, then turned her head to Enria and said, “My ears feel like they’re melting.”

“…Yes, don’t they?”

Enria nodded in agreement.

Not only Caldeon’s voice, but the lullaby itself was a very pleasant song to listen to.

Enria kept nodding as she watched Chavel repeatedly express her admiration, saying she had never seen anyone sing the lullaby, which anyone born in the empire could sing, so sweetly.

Although the Imperial Lullaby was foreign to her, she thought that if it was such a pleasant song, she should learn it and sing it to Hayden. She wondered if she should learn it now.

After all, the lullaby she used to sing to Hayden was only the familiar opening part of a song from her original world, which she repeated.

She felt she could easily pick up this place’s lullaby just by listening to it repeatedly, without having to formally sit down and learn it. That was how simple the melody and lyrics were.

Enria decided she would ask Caldeon to keep singing the lullaby so she could learn it too.

***

Enria, who had finished bathing and getting ready for bed, entered the bedroom.

Caldeon, who was lying next to Hayden, who was sound asleep in the middle of the bed, lovingly gazing at the child with his face propped on his hand, looked at Enria with a bright expression as she entered.

“Did he fall asleep quickly?”

“He started snoring right after the third verse of the lullaby, this one.”

Because Caldeon was speaking in a whisper so as not to wake Hayden, Enria also spoke in a whisper.

“Your Grace’s lullaby must be very conducive to sleep.”

“Nonsense. A lullaby sung in your voice would be much more pleasant to hear than mine.”

“Ah, I’ve never sung the lullaby you sang even once.”

Caldeon’s eyes widened slightly at her words, and Enria shrugged and continued.

“I did sing a different lullaby, but I barely ever sang the chorus properly because I didn’t know the lyrics at all.”

Enria carefully climbed onto the bed and sat down next to Hayden. Then, looking at Caldeon, she continued.

“Speaking of which, could you sing it to me again? If I keep listening, I think I’ll memorize it too.”

“…Hmm?”

“The lullaby. I’m asking you to sing it to me.”

As Enria lay down next to Hayden, Caldeon slightly raised his upper body and looked at her.

“Come over here.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said, come next to me. You said you wanted to hear the lullaby?”

“What? No, not right now…”

“I don’t sing unless it’s to put someone to sleep who I want to put to sleep.”

In other words, if she wanted to hear the lullaby, she should come over and sleep next to him.

Enria, accurately grasping his meaning, hesitated for a moment, then whispered to him.

“What if Hayden falls off the bed if I move over there?”

If Hayden were sleeping in the middle, it would be fine, but if he was sleeping on one side, there would surely be a risk of him rolling off.

Of course, since Hayden wasn’t the type to thrash around wildly, he was unlikely to fall off such a large bed. He was a child who slept quietly in the same position until he woke up.

Caldeon, who had been sleeping with Hayden continuously, knew this and firmly told Enria not to worry.

“There’s absolutely no chance Hayden will fall off the bed. But if you’re worried, I’ll have guards installed on both sides of the bed, so come next to me.”

If guards were installed, he might ask her to come to his side every night, or he might come to sleep next to her, so she quickly stopped him from calling the servants immediately.

Since they would continue to sleep as a trio with Hayden for the time being, she wasn’t confident in resisting every time he made such an enticing suggestion.

“J-Just for tonight.”

Enria got up and carefully crept over to Caldeon’s side.

Caldeon wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close to his side, and gave her a pillow with his arm. He lightly kissed her forehead and said, “You only want to listen to my lullaby tonight?”

Pressed tightly against his side, Enria’s face flushed crimson.

“You’re, You’re too close.”

“I won’t do anything next to Hayden, so relax.”

He simply wrapped his arm around Enria’s back and gently patted her back, just as he had done with Hayden.

Enclosed in his large, solid arm and receiving his gentle patting, she felt somehow comfortable and relieved.

The sound of Caldeon’s heartbeat close by and his warm breath on her head all brought a sense of security to Enria.

Then, she suddenly recalled that Roseanne was still the acting Grand Duchess, and due to the anxiety from the original story, she hadn’t taken direct action to stop Caldeon’s mana rampage.

‘Should I start calming his mana rampage myself again now?’

Enria reached out her hand, wrapped it around his waist, and closed her eyes.

“Sing the lullaby.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a pleasant lullaby began to flow from Caldeon’s lips.

It was a sweet and tender lullaby that truly made her feel like her ears were melting away.

***

When she woke up, it was morning.

In the spot where Caldeon had been, having left the bed at an unknown time, Hayden was lying asleep, his arms stretched out wide.

Caldeon had probably gotten up and moved Hayden toward Enria.

So that they could see each other right away upon waking up.

Enria felt her heart warm at Caldeon’s consideration and carefully kissed Hayden’s forehead. Then, she slowly got up.

She unconsciously smiled at the soft breathing sounds coming from Hayden’s slightly parted lips and turned her head to look out the window.

Perhaps because it was still morning, the snowy outer scenery felt cold.

‘I hope it doesn’t snow.’

Since today was the first day the family of three would go out for a walk, she hoped it wouldn’t snow, even though the cold was unavoidable.

Of course, a walk on a snowy day wouldn’t be too bad, but she wished their first walk would be on a clear and bright day.

Enria carefully got out of bed and walked toward the window.

She rubbed her barely opened eyes with the back of her hand, a result of having just woken up, and gazed at the snow-covered scenery filling her view.

The blue sky and the pure white snow outside somehow seemed to match perfectly.

A faint humming sound escaped Enria’s lips.

It was Caldeon’s lullaby, which she had listened to all night while sleeping.

The lyrics were not yet familiar, but the melody felt as familiar as if she had heard it a long time ago.

As she softly hummed the familiar lullaby, she was inexplicably filled with a sense of happiness.

She wasn’t entirely sure what kind of happiness it was, but she wondered if it was okay to be this happy, and her lips curled into a smile involuntarily.

It was enough to make her forget about the magic tower, Panz, and the black mage who wanted to kill her and Hayden.

Enria somehow felt like she could overcome anything with Caldeon by her side.

Just like Roseanne and Caldeon had in the original story.

“Mommy?”

Just then, Hayden woke up and moved his lips, looking at Enria standing by the window.

Instinctively turning around at the sound of the child’s voice, Enria quickly approached Hayden.

She picked up Hayden, who was rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, and lightly kissed his forehead.

“Did you sleep well, Hayden?”

“Mommy.”

“Yes, I did. Mommy slept well too.”

Enria, rubbing her lips against Hayden’s cheek, came out of the bedroom and asked Chavel, who was already waiting, to prepare the child’s baby food.

“Yes, Lady Enria. His Grace the Grand Duke hasn’t eaten breakfast yet, as he said he would dine with you.”

“What? Really? He didn’t have to…”

A surprised Enria handed Hayden to Chavel and said, “Please prepare the meal while I wash and get ready. Prepare the baby food too, as Hayden will be eating with us.”

“Yes, Lady Enria.”

Chavel bowed her head once and walked toward the stairs with Hayden.

Enria quickly turned in the opposite direction to go and wash.

Even though it was just breakfast, she cared much more about her appearance than before.

It took time to choose an outfit after washing, but styling her hair took more than twice as long.

Wanting to look prettier for Caldeon, Enria repeatedly let her hair down and put it up in front of the mirror. Finally, thinking she couldn’t delay any longer, she let down the hair she had tied up and quickly headed down to the dining room.

Caldeon, who had arrived first and was waiting, was personally feeding Hayden his baby food.

“I’m sorry, did you wait long?”

Enria apologized to Caldeon and quickly sat down in the chair across from him.

Normally, Caldeon would sit at the head of the table, and she and Hayden would sit diagonally across from him, but since Caldeon was feeding Hayden his baby food from his seat, she had no choice but to sit opposite him.

Caldeon spooned baby food into Hayden’s mouth once, then looked at Enria.

“You are always beautiful, but today you are particularly more so.”

At his seemingly nonchalant yet sincere remark, Enria’s face immediately turned red.

She thought it was a good thing she had taken the time to do her makeup this morning, but then she worried that he might find it ridiculous that she was late for breakfast because she was fussing over her appearance.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she picked up her fork and knife, cut the steak on the plate in front of her, and said,

“I-I put my hair up, but then I was worried my ears would get cold when we go for a walk in the garden later, so I put my hair down again, and that’s why I was a bit late.”

“Yes, you look beautiful.”

Caldeon nodded at Enria’s unnecessary explanation and fed Hayden another spoonful of baby food.

Enria stabbed a piece of neatly cut meat with her fork and got up.

The wide table prevented her from reaching Caldeon’s mouth by just extending her arm, so she leaned forward, held the fork closer to him, and said, “Since you’re feeding Hayden, I’ll feed you, Caldeon.”

Caldeon’s eyes widened slightly at her words.