Saved by Crazy Stepfather!

After all the lights in the room had gone out, I quickly put my ear to my mother’s chest.

The sound of my mother’s heart was unusually loud, like a jumping fish.

“Mom! You’re okay!”

“Yes, she’ll be fine for a while.”

I nodded animatedly and fell into my mother’s arms.

How long has it been? Just as I snuggled in my mother’s arms, Kayle opened his mouth.

“More than that, I think it’s just rumors.”

“Rumors?”

“There’s a rumor about the Grand Duke’s feelings for the new Grand Duchess.”

“How dare anyone spread the rumor about the Grand Duke so boldly?”

As expected, the Grand Duke showed his temper as if he had been waiting.
I lifted my head slightly from my mother’s arms and looked at them.

“It’s not a bad rumor.
It’s just a rumor that Your Highness really cares about the woman who came in after a long time.”

“Whether it’s a good or bad rumor, it’s a rumor about me somehow.
How dare you say such a thing to me…!”

For a moment, the Grand Duke’s eyes, who were looking at Kayle, met mine.
To be exact, I was going to look at my mom, but my dad unintentionally looked at me.

Then, he hurriedly cleared his throat with a suspicious look.

“Anyway, why is there such a rumor all of a sudden?”

“Of course.
There’s a new Grand Duchess here, and I can’t help but hear the news because you’re hiding her, so rumors are bound to spread.”

The Grand Duke nodded his head as if in agreement with his words and took a deep breath.

“Come to think of it… that’s possible.”

“Yes, of course.”

“…Anyway, you should stop talking nonsense and bring me a cure.”

Kayle then nodded and took a step back.

“All right.”

But the Grand Duke didn’t even pay attention to him as he went out.

He just looked at my mother and I without saying a word.

“What’s wrong?”

“What?”

“You were staring at me so much.”

“No, it’s just… I think… I thought it was bigger than I thought.”

He sat down and nodded his head.

“Yeah! Mom is precious.
She’s the only one who loves Bebe!”

“…It doesn’t matter what lies your mom told you?”

“Um… maybe!”

Perhaps that was the answer he wanted.
He patted my head with his big hand.
His touch was friendly, but somehow it trembled a little.

“I’m glad you think so.
Keep that in mind.”

“Okay!”

“I told them to make medicine from today, so make sure you take it.”

“I’m not sick…”

“You’re too small.
Go ahead and grow up.”

I usually took medicine when I was sick.
However, I could not refuse any more because of his sad eyes today.

“All right.
I’ll do that!”

“Yes, good.”

And maybe that was all he had to say, but he sighed deeply and went out like that.

I laid down next to my mother while looking at her.

“Mom… don’t worry too much.
If it doesn’t work… we can do it again.
It’ll just be a bit painful for me.”

I patted my mom’s arm, determined it would not happen.

“Then… we’ll make sure we don’t make any mistakes… so don’t worry.
We can definitely be happy.”

But Mom, I’m so happy right now.
I enjoy waking up every morning for the first time.
So Mom… hang in there until my dad finds a way.

“Let’s live this time.”

Like my mother who patted me on the back when I couldn’t sleep at night, I fell asleep after patting her for so long.

***

A few more days had passed.

I stuck my mouth in front of Cecilia every morning.

“Cecilia, do I have to eat this?”

The medicine that the Grand Duke said was worse than I thought.
It was sticky, as if it had been brewing for 30 hours while grazing, and the color was also dark green.

“Of course.”

“I saw it somewhere… Childrens’ medicine is sweet and tasty… What’s wrong with mine?”

Cecilia looked more determined than ever when I asked her sincerely.

“I put in a lot of things because I hope you get better soon.”

“Hah.”

“If you don’t want to eat this, you have to be healthy.”

“…”

I shouldn’t have said that much, but Cecilia smiled and pushed the medicine towards me.

“…Are you really eating it?”

“Yes, I ate it well yesterday.”

Yet as the days went by, I felt like it got tastier.

“Come on, eat.
You are going out today.”

“Out?”

“Yes, today is the day to check if Harris is part of the Grand Duke’s bloodline.”

“Ah!”

“It seems that the organization that can confirm it has just arrived.
I think the Imperial family suffered quite a bit because they didn’t let them go.”