If it was him in the past, he wouldn’t have cared about it, but I thought he could be sad enough now. Because we get along better now.

Leah seems to think he must be disappointed, she then immediately stretched out her other hand.

“Father, then let’s go hand in hand!”

He gently took her hand.

“Thank you.”

So Leah is in the middle, holding hands with us on both sides.

“Come to think of it, Leah. I’ve been wondering for a while, why do you call Noel ‘Mom’ and me ‘Father’?”

Oh, finally, my husband is starting to pay attention to his title as well.

My daughter looks puzzled.

“Because you are my father!”

“Dad.”

“Father.”

“Dad.”

Leah smiled. “My father is my father.”

“.. .. .”

You’re so determined, my daughter.

I looked at her with a proud look.

How do you feel Rupert, I’ve been called ‘Mom’ for a long time, don’t you envy me?

Naturally, he recognized the childish meaning of my gaze.

Rupert grumbled, shaking his head as if giving up. “That’s right, I’m the only one being left out.”

***

As we entered the venue, many people were surprised at how friendly the atmosphere was between the three of us.

A buzzing murmur was heard in my ears.

“I can’t believe I saw them together before I died.. .. .”

“Is that girl Young Lady Ainel? It’s my first time seeing her.”

I’ve never been embarrassed by this kind of excessive attention

“They’re not pretending to be friendly, are they? Are they both crazy at last.. .. sigh.”

Hey, who was the last one to sigh? Come out right now!

I looked around and sighed. I didn’t expect it to be this much.

“I shouldn’t have brought Leah here.”

“She will get used to it on her own.”

It’s going to be amazing. I don’t think it’d be bad to imitate his attitude.

“Leah, if anyone bothers you, tell me right away.”

“Are you going to scold them?”

“Yeah, I’ll make them so they can’t bother you anymore.”

As I listened, I shook my head.

‘You sound like you’re going to bury them in the backyard.. .’

Of course, Leah, who could not understand his bloody inner meaning, brightly nodded her head.

“Alright!”

Then he glanced at those approaching him and gave them an annoyed look.

“Noel, you should give Leah a tour of the venue.”

It means that the people who are approaching are not very good people. Neither Rupert nor I want to put them in touch with Leah.

I understood what he said and nodded. “Okay, see you later.”

I held Leah’s hand and went to the food court.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“No, I’m okay!”

Then, someone spoke from behind.

“―Marchioness Ainel, long time no see.”

I’m not a friendly enough person to receive a warm greeting first.

I turned around.

She is a lady of my age, with her fine auburn hair giving off a neat look.

I know who she is. She’s someone I’ve been interacting with before I got married.

Well, it didn’t go well.

Still, I smiled friendly.

“Carla, it’s been a long time.”

Carla Hoffen. She is famous in the social world for reasons different than mine.

Hearing my greeting, she paused.

“Why are you suddenly calling me by name.. ?”

‘Cause I thought you came here to be sarcastic?’

I think she approached me for a fight, but when she was friendly, I was embarrassed.

Carla and I have had a bad relationship ever since. Now that I think about it, my fault was greater than hers.

‘So, let’s be nice first.’

This is the prom I’m attending after a long time in the midst of my bad reputation, so I can’t show myself fighting Carla from the start.

I said in a sad tone. “I’m sorry, Carla. We used to call each other like this before we got married, didn’t we?”

This was real. Although we didn’t call each other in a friendly tone.

“.. .. .”

While she paused in shock at my remarks, I took the initiative.

“Now, Leah, she is Countess Carla Hoffen, a friend of mine. Say hello.”

Leah grabbed the hem of her skirt and bowed politely.

“Hello, Countess. My name is Leah Ainel!”

‘She can’t pick a fight in this situation.’

It was her image that would be ruined when she, who I introduced as my friend and was even greeted by a five-year-old kid, messed with me.

In the end, Carla replied uncomfortably.

“..yes, nice to meet you.”

Then she looked at me and said, “Lady Ainel, you’ve changed a lot since I haven’t seen you in a long time. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

She must be disappointed that she couldn’t ask ‘Why did your personality change so much?’ directly.

I laughed briefly. “Please forget the past, now that I have a cute daughter, I must act like an adult.”

“I see, really.. .. .”

Carla muffled her voice with an ‘I had no idea what to say’ expression.

“Motherhood really is great. You’ve changed so much that I thought I was talking to someone else.”

Yeah, we can’t be more sarcastic in this heartwarming situation.

“Yeah, it looks like you will find out soon.”

I glanced at her stomach. She’s wearing a rich skirt, but enough to know that she’s pregnant.

‘Are you near full term?’

Attending the prom in that body condition...

“I think you’d better sit down, Carla, isn’t it hard?” I asked anxiously.

She looks shocked. As if thinking, ‘Are you someone who can care about others?’

“..it’s not to the point where I can’t move. There are about two months left until the estimated due date.”

I laughed. “I see, I hope you have a healthy baby.”

“..th- thank you.”

She was so shocked that she stuttered and eventually walked away.

I looked at her back and thought, ‘Looks like I accidentally shocked a pregnant woman.’

Anyway, the first crisis passed safely.

It’s difficult for ordinary adults to talk sarcastically or fight with a mother in front of her child.

‘If she ignores such a situation and picks a fight with me, she is a broken character.’

Usually, you can’t do that even if you have social dignity.

‘And Carla has that dignity.’

She’s objectively proud of herself, but she still has common sense.

I recalled more about Carla. In fact, she’s one of the characters in the novel. But in the novel, she had already lost her child.

‘Is that the child in her womb now?’

Did something go wrong during the birth process? If so, there may be a limit to what I can do to help.

In the case of natural childbirth, there are quite a few variables that are difficult to predict even with modern medicine.

‘But I’ll help her if she ever needs help.’

She said there are still two months left, so I should focus on my own problem for now.

At that time, Leah lightly waved her hand that was still holding mine.

“Mom, is that person your friend too?”

I looked in the direction she was pointing. A man is striding towards us.

Seeing his face, I frowned.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

A man in his late twenties with dark gold hair. He is my older brother, Goth Opion.

“Noel, I’m finally seeing your face.”

“Goth, what are you doing?” I responded by hiding Leah behind me.

“Don’t stare at me like that, I’m your older brother you haven’t seen in a long time. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Not really.”

Goth is a typical example of a bad human being.

From a young age, he was bigger and stronger than his peers. He knew it well, so he used to beat young servants and maids in the mansion.

Of course, I, too, was often beaten. There were many times when I was slapped in the cheek and had a nosebleed.

‘Perhaps the reason why my personality was twisted before I found my past memories was because of such a family environment.’

My parents didn’t scold Goth because he was the eldest son who would make the family successful. Instead, they protected him with the nonsensical excuse that ‘it is manly to use violence.’

As a result of growing up in such an environment, Goth has become a man who enjoys gambling, all kinds of entertainment, and even has a violent disposition.

“You ignored the letters from our parents. After becoming the marquis’ wife, you are so arrogant.”

Then he glanced at Leah hiding behind me.

“Oh, is she my niece?”

“What do you mean, my daughter is Young Lady of Ainel, and you’d better be polite because my status is higher than yours,” I said sharply.

I don’t know anything else, but I don’t want to see him do anything reckless to my daughter.

Goth frowned. “You are quite arrogant after giving birth to a girl from a half marquis, and now you even talk to your older brother as if you are above the sky?”

I warned in a low voice, “You’d better watch your language, Goth. To my husband and to my daughter. Both of them are a hundred times better than you.”

“Ha, you’re still rude.” He grinned furiously. “If you weren’t the Marchioness, I would have made that pretty face of yours swollen like before.”

Goth then reached out his hand to Leah behind me.

“Why are you hiding your daughter’s face so much? What’s wrong with an uncle seeing his niece?”

He’s a man who doesn’t know how to control his power. Leah grimaced in pain as his arm pulled hard against her face.