Chapter 59

“Baby!”

I’ll do it. Whatever it is, I have to.

Washing and drying off our princess was my duty as a mother, as well as my reward.

There was no way working was always and only tiring.

After all, another work that would strike a chord in my heart would always be waiting for me, like this.

“Are you feeling alright now? Do you think you can talk a little?

[Ye, yesh. Ngaa. Miz Bwack Swan come and do, do dis and, and lwike diiis.]

“Ohh.”

What did that mean.

As much as I loved Haniel, there were things that were and weren’t possible even with motherly love.

When I obviously didn’t know what to do with this child who had started gulping and spilling out words as soon as she unfroze, Selene confidently pushed me aside.

[Please come to the side. So you mean, you wanted to be the best at swimming and show that to Madam….]

[Y-yeash! But tweeee, brother go boom. Bro-brother do lwike dis, pyuuuu. Uwaah, huu.]

[But then from behind the tree, His Majesty the Emperor came out? And from then on, you were so surprised your wings just stopped working on their own, and you gurgled down into the water?]

[Yeeaash!]

“…..”

I had to give it to Selene on this point, at least.

After she went through all the spots of interest like a Haniel-exclusive expert translator, she pulled up her shoulders proudly.

[You heard her too, right Madam? As soon as the princess saw His Majesty the Emperor, she must have gone into shock. Young children do tend to freeze when they’re surprised.]

“…..it’s not only young children.”

I freeze the same way when I see the Emperor, you know.

Keenly understanding how she felt, I embraced her again. Her wing joints were still frozen, not completely loosened yet. When I pulled her wings and her legs in a massage, her thinner-than-fingers feet began to flap.

[Mi-Miz Bwack Swan.]

“It’s mom now. We’re home, so you can call me mom.”

[Mooom. Sniffle.]

Only after I heard her calling me clearly was I able to breathe normally again.

It felt like only now the anxiety, which had been stuck in me somewhere even when I knew that Haniel was fine, completely disappeared.

“Thank goodness. Oh, thank goodness.”

[Madam, I already conveyed everything the princess said to you. Why were you worrying?]

Selene once again put on airs and stiffened her neck. She was gesturing to me to brush down her neck, too, but I only glanced at her sideways.

They say there is no tree that bears no fruit—while I am surprised that even you have a side like this, if we’re talking about unexpectedness, it was that tyrant guy that truly saved us…

“A-anyways, you can’t judge a person by their appearance.”

[I have no idea how you came to that conclusion, but you’re not wrong.]

“…..just hold out your neck already.”

As she wanted, I scratched down Selene’s neck nicely after she spoke the truth for the first time in a while. Maybe because that was a spot her wings didn’t reach, she shook off her body afterwards, refreshed.

[Moom! Haniel too! Haniel too, do scratch scratch!]

“Okay okay, you too.”

As the two birds came closer trying to be the one caressed, my two hands both became busy. I also brought the still-shaking Haniel closer to me and whispered into her ear again.

“…..he might not be as scary as you think, Haniel.”

***

“Sister, how long are you going to stay like this!”

“…..”

“Ugh, sis-ter!”

In the deepermost main room of the Dukedom, where Lania sat straight with her two hands together, her two eyes snapped open.

Even though she had been shaking her elder sister until a while ago in order to get her to listen to what she had to say, as soon as she was met with her sister’s glare, Rebecca was frightened out of her wits and backed away.

“….wh-what. Why so suddenly.”

“Where’s Ronin?”

“Why do you keep calling on him? No matter how much I think about it, it’s just so…. And why should I, a lady, have to do that?”

“Then should I?”

“……”