Chapter 17

“……”

At the same time, my eyes met Rupert’s eyes. My pupils trembled.

‘Should I use a title like ‘Honey’ for him only in front of Leah?’

To be honest, I felt reluctant to use such a title for him, who I was not very close to.

Besides, Rupert is sure to hate it too.

“All right.”

But the words that came out of his mouth were quite unexpected.

Now it was my turn to be troubled.

Rupert glanced at me in embarrassment and said sarcastically.

“You can call me by my first name without having to be polite.”

‘Did Rupert also fall for Leah’s cuteness?’

So you thought you’d get along with me?

“Ah!”

Then, Rupert carried Leah.

He looked at me as he held Leah tightly, ignoring his daughter’s bewildered expression.

“Stop now and let’s get breakfast.”

He was a man who didn’t seem to know how to hold a child at all, but his posture was more stable than I expected.

I smiled softly.

“It’s good.”

Then I muttered only in the shape of my mouth.

‘Thank you.’

“……”

Rupert made eye contact with me but didn’t say anything. But I was sure he understood my thanks.

The start of the relationship between the couple went better than expected.

After struggling with the nightmare I had in the morning, I walked leisurely next to Rupert carrying Leah.

***

For a few days, I had a surprisingly peaceful life.

Of course, Leah was cute every day- no, every second.

Leah recently had fun learning the letters. That’s why she liked to bring anything to read it.

Of course, there is a very small problem in that happy daily life.

“Leah, do you really like reading this?”

I looked at the newspaper Leah brought.

‘Do kids of this age like to read newspapers?’

“Yeah! I like this!”

Leah liked to play ball and draw, but she sometimes showed such an extraordinary side.

‘Maybe my daughter is a genius.’

When I looked at the newspaper, there was quite a bit of gossip in the article, such as a noble’s inappropriate affair.

I naturally skipped the gossip section and read the whole thing.

“A new saintess appears from the Yuren Kingdom.”

Not surprisingly, the question came to me right away.

“Saintess?”

“It means that a person who has been blessed by God, that has special powers has appeared.”

Well, in this world, the existence of God was confirmed to some extent.

The saintess was one of them.

“What is a special ability?”

“It is complicated magic like you can heal a person with just a touch… well, sometimes people with such great abilities are born.”

Saints are born every few decades or as long as several hundred years. At the same time, only 4 or 5 saints have ever appeared.

Naturally, regardless of their origin, they were treated with great respect. And the country where the saints were born rejoices that they have been blessed by God.

“Is saintess from another country?”

“Yeah, this time is from Robstraw Empire.”

In this situation, a new saintess appeared in the neighboring country of Yuren, and many people would be surprised.

Leah’s eyes widened in wonder.

“Then how about Mom? Mom is a saintess too because you also treated my wound and Sir Aren’s.”

I smiled and stroked Leah’s cheek.

“Of course not. Saintess is a person with power that can really heal a wound in the blink of an eye.”

“It’s amazing. I want to see the saintess.”

In fact, even high ranking nobles were not easy to meet the saintess.

“Well, I would like to see the saintess too.”

After saying that, I turned the newspaper over. At that moment, a colorful piece of paper fell down.

“Huh? What is this?”

Leah picked up the paper that fell under my feet and began to read.

“Festival, uhm… this is a city… market?”

Then, the maid, Jenna, who was quietly waiting by Leah’s side, approached with her eyes wide open.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Madam, Miss!”

I looked at her curiously. What do you have to apologize for here?

“Why?”

Jenna bowed her head.

“Well, that’s probably the festival flyer that maids saw. It seems to have been mixed when classifying earlier.”

Only then did I understand the situation. It seems that the promotional flyers for the festival, which the maids were looking at, were mistakenly mixed with newspaper.

“Okay. Be careful next time.”

“I will be careful, Madam.”

In the meantime, Leah was reading the sentences of the promotional paper slowly but fluently.

“Draw… game.”

At the same time, Leah turned her head and looked up at me with her twinkling eyes.

“Mom, let’s go here too!”

“At the festival?”

“Yeah!”

Leah looked up at me with eager eyes.

“Can’t you? I’m so curious.”

It was rare for Leah to ask for something.

“Well…”

I pondered for a moment.

Leah had never left the mansion until now. I didn’t know if it would be okay to take a look around once in a while.

‘The security of Ainel’s estate is good.’

It’s not bad to take Leah.

“Leah, there must be a lot of people there. Whatever happens, you must always be with Mom, do you understand?

Leah nodded vigorously.

“I promise!”

She was a curious but docile child, so I didn’t worry too much about it.

“Okay then, let’s go take a look before dinner. Jenna, can you prepare me to go out?”

“Yes, Madam.”

***

After a while, I saw a neat knight in front of me.

I never thought he would come.

“Sir Aren, what’s going on here…?”

Aren politely bowed his head.

“I have been ordered by the Master to escort the Marchioness.”

I knew very well that Leah and I couldn’t go out alone. I thought a maid and an ordinary knight are enough.

“I didn’t expect a Knight of the Raven to come to escort me.”

The Knights of the Raven who were under Rupert’s direct command were the main knights of the Ainel’s estate.

For that reason, the knights were usually used for important tasks such as war and the subjugation of monsters.

‘I thought it was too much for Aren, the Knight of the Raven to do private things like escorting me.’

Not even going to a dangerous place. At best, it is just going to the market in front of the mansion.

Without knowing what I was thinking, Aren answered calmly.

“Probably, Master is very worried about you, Marchioness.”

‘Is he worried about me or is he trying to spy on me?’

“No way…”

“It really was. Besides, Gargoyles have been discovered recently. There is nothing wrong with being careful.”

If it was a Gargoyle, it was one of the monsters that humans could create.

“Really? Have Gargoyles entered the city?

“No, it never happened. The sightings were outside the city.”

Then it was good.

“……”

“It must have been the work of a third-class black magician. The person who made the gargoyles is also being searched, so they will be caught soon.”

“… hopefully the problem will be resolved soon.”

I nodded and took Leah’s hand.

After all, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be friends with Aren if at all possible.

“Then, take good care of me today, Sir Aren.”

Anyway, I felt reassured when I was by Aren’s side.

“Yes, Madam. It’s an honor for me.”

Aren answered seriously, as always.

***

The streets were full of people.

Leah, who had seen the large crowd for the first time, became enthusiastic.

“There are so many people!”

“That’s why you always have to hold Mom’s hand so you don’t get lost, okay?”

“Yeah!”

I also looked around the street slowly. It was the downtown area I saw for the first time in almost several years.

‘In the past, if I needed something, I just had to call the maids.’

Fortunately, the appearance of us with the maid and escort was not very noticeable. This is because there were surprisingly many girls from wealthy families or noble families who came to see the festival.

“There are a lot of tourists and travelers.”

Aren, who was beside me, answered.

“Yes, the Ainel estate is well-developed in commerce. There are usually a lot of merchants from all over the world.”

The details are unknown. In the past, I really wasn’t interested in things like this even the slightest bit.

‘I am the wife of the landlord, but I didn’t do my job and lived a luxurious life.’

Well, it was understandable that Rupert was furious with me when I thought about this.

Fortunately, Rupert seems to be a very capable lord.

“Mom, this way!”

“Okay.”

As soon as I started to look around the estate, my curiosity arose as well.

While moving as Leah dragged me, I occasionally asked Aren various questions.