Chapter 42

“Wow, it’s really beautifully made.”

Enria couldn’t help but exclaim as she visited the floor converted into Hayden’s walking space.

The area, created by revamping the guest lounge on the 6th floor, felt more like a baby playground for Hayden than just a walking space, as she had imagined before coming up.

The wooden swing, slide, and seesaw that Enria and Roseanne had chosen together while selecting Hayden’s crib were brightly colored and placed throughout the space. The floor was covered with a thick, soft, elastic material so he wouldn’t get hurt even if he fell.

The clear effort put into the construction made Enria feel grateful to Caldeon, who had ordered the creation of the space, and Roseanne, who had directly designed the structure.

Just as Enria was touched, Hayden also seemed to love the place very much.

“Come to big sister, Hayden.”

Eva, who had transformed into a human form, knelt down and opened her arms toward Hayden, while Windel, who had also transformed into a handsome young man, stood with his arms crossed and twitched his eyebrows at Eva, asking who was the ‘big sister’.

“Aren’t you ‘auntie’, auntie?”

“Does my appearance warrant being called ‘auntie’?”

“If we’re only talking about appearance, then ‘middle-aged woman’… Ouch! That hurts!”

Eva, who pinched Windel’s thigh, looked at Hayden and opened her arms again.

Hayden, in turn, raised both arms high to the sky and waddled towards her.

Roseanne, who was following behind Hayden with her arms lowered, had a face full of worry.

Although the floor was soft enough not to cause injury from a fall, she was still concerned about him falling backward, so she bent her upper body low and followed closely behind Hayden.

Hayden seemed to think Roseanne was playing a game of tag, and he quickly ran away from her and rushed into Eva’s arms.

“Hehe!”

Hayden, nestled warmly in Eva’s embrace, smiled brightly at Roseanne, who was following behind, and Roseanne, Eva, and Windel also smiled brightly back at Hayden.

A smile also spread across Enria’s lips as she stood next to Caldeon, watching them.

She felt incredibly happy in that moment.

A question briefly crossed her mind—if it was right to be this happy—and then the sudden memory of Panz’s threat wiped the smile from her face.

However, as if sensing her feelings, Caldeon naturally pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her waist, and her anxiety quickly vanished.

“Are you feeling down?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

When Caldeon said this, his expression showing that he could tell Enria’s mood just by looking at her, Enria smiled faintly and leaned her head against his chest.

“I just suddenly wondered if it was right for me to be this happy.”

The original Enria, whom she had transmigrated into, was not meant to become the Grand Duchess in this way.

Far from being the Grand Duchess, she was fated to be executed by the heroine Roseanne’s brother after committing evil deeds against Roseanne.

As she transmigrated into this body, the original plot and situations changed little by little, eventually leading to a development that was not in the original: the appearance of Endelie Village and the Spirit Village, and having Caldeon’s child.

Thinking about it, the situation was completely different from the original, so perhaps she didn’t need to dwell on the original plot anymore.

However, thinking about the love that was originally supposed to bloom between Roseanne and Caldeon, or the final villain they were supposed to defeat together, made her question whether the current situation was flowing correctly.

“You don’t have to worry about anything. As long as I’m alive, no, even if I die and only my soul remains, I will protect you and Hayden.”

Enria’s nose tingled at Caldeon’s words, who whispered as he gently embraced her shoulder.

She didn’t know how much more this man intended to move her, but knowing that his words were not empty promises, she felt like everything would be alright.

Strangely, she felt like everything was okay just because he said it was.

Whether it was her trust in Caldeon or his ability to truly make everything okay, she was thankful that he was there, no matter what.

Enria leaned against Caldeon’s solid, broad chest and smiled happily as she watched Hayden waddle towards Eva and nestle in her arms.

“My brother will be arriving at the castle soon. We might as well call his spirits too while we’re at it.”

Roseanne, who had briefly left to take a call from Rahar, returned and said to Caldeon.

At the mention of Rahar’s spirits, Caldeon’s eyebrows twitched with displeasure, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask if there was a need to call ‘those fellows,’ because Enria said she missed Silri, Undy, and Lonn, as she hadn’t seen them in quite a while.

He also remembered Enria saying she wanted Hayden’s current appearance to remain in many people’s memories, and Hayden seemed to enjoy being around people, so he figured having the playground floor a bit bustling wouldn’t hurt.

When Caldeon nodded instead of replying, Roseanne’s eyes lit up and she said,

“Then let’s invite Lord Tearen too. He even said he made an illusion gem as a gift for Hayden.”

“An illusion gem?”

When Enria asked quizzically, Roseanne immediately explained the illusion gem to her.

“It’s a necklace that projects an illusion in case of an emergency if you carry it on your body. It’s made by carving a Fallon raw stone, which only grows in the Monster Forest, and embedding illusion magic inside it…”

Roseanne explained tirelessly, emphasizing Tearen’s genius by saying that very few illusionists could embed their illusion magic inside a Fallon raw stone.

Enria nodded repeatedly, listening attentively to her explanation, while Caldeon twitched his eyebrows with a displeased expression.

“He’ll probably bring it if you invite him.”

Roseanne finished her sentence looking at Enria, then turned her gaze to Caldeon.

At her expression asking if he still wouldn’t call him, Caldeon’s brow slightly furrowed.

“I really hope he comes. He couldn’t make it to the walking celebration party last time.”

But at Enria’s words, his shoulder twitched, and the thought that she would be disappointed if he didn’t allow ‘that fellow’ into the Grand Duke’s castle ultimately made him relent.

“I will contact him.”

“No! I will! I’ll do it!”

Roseanne immediately raised her hand and shouted at Caldeon’s words.

She smiled brightly at Enria and quickly turned and started running.

As Caldeon looked at her with a puzzled expression, Enria stood on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear.

“Rose is eager to see Lord Tearen.”

Caldeon, who had slightly leaned his body toward Enria as soon as she stood on her tiptoes, twitched his eyebrows.

“Lady Kaznaren is interested in Tearen?”

Caldeon’s face was full of confusion as he asked, “Why?”

Enria sighed subtly at him, then stood on her tiptoes again, bringing her lips close to his ear.

“Of course it’s because she likes him. So, Lord Caldeon, please help them a little.”

“Help them… what do you mean…”

Caldeon, who was still looking at Enria with a confused expression, slowly widened his eyes, and then his pupils began to flicker uneasily.

“Lady Kaznaren has feelings for Tearen?”

“…Yes. Why?”

Enria asked back with a stiff face, surprised by his overly shocked expression.

Anxiety that Caldeon might still have some feelings for Roseanne due to the original fate crept up on her.

Her heart pounded, and a chill ran down her spine, making Enria swallow hard before asking again.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I’m not surprised, I’m taken aback.”

“So, why?”

“Because I never even considered the combination of Lady Kaznaren and Tearen. And…”

Caldeon trailed off, showing a serious expression.

“If Rahar finds out about this, he’ll try to kill Tearen.”

At that, Enria’s eyes widened.

She had noticed this before, but Caldeon and Rahar seemed to particularly dislike Tearen.

No, rather than dislike, perhaps they considered him a person of caution in some respects.

In any case, when she first met Tearen, both of them had a wary look in their eyes toward him.

Enria, now more curious about the story she had heard about Tearen’s dating life back then, cautiously asked Caldeon, “Does Lord Tearen have anyone he’s seeing right now?”

At the question, Caldeon’s eyes immediately became fierce.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“Excuse me? No, Rose likes…”

“Let me tell you this in advance: you should not take the slightest interest in that fellow.”

Caldeon cut off Enria and said menacingly.

Enria’s interest in Tearen had only arisen because Roseanne, who liked Caldeon in the original story, liked Tearen in this world, but Caldeon seemed to be misunderstanding it as a different kind of interest.

‘Well, since the male lead of this novel has jealousy, possessiveness, and monopolistic desire as his key traits, I suppose I should consider this level of jealousy cute…’

“I don’t think this will do. Tearen must continue to be banned from the Grand Duke’s castle…”

“No! Absolutely not! I’m not curious at all! So you can invite him! I won’t even make eye contact!”

She quickly waved her hands, afraid that she might once again disrupt the time Roseanne and Tearen could spend together.

Caldeon’s expression at Enria’s words was somewhat ambiguous, but then his head turned at the sound of Hayden calling out to Enria and Caldeon.

“Mommy! Daddy!”

Caldeon took long strides toward Hayden and picked him up.

Supporting the child’s bottom with one hand, Caldeon turned and walked toward Enria, saying, “You promised not to make eye contact.”

As Enria nodded vigorously, Caldeon offered the embraced Hayden to her and continued,

“If I see you making eye contact, I will kill him.”

Enria slightly frowned at that, and Caldeon, with chilling eyes, lifted his chin toward her and added, “That bastard Tearen.”