I think Isabella is a bit oblivious, doesn't listen, and has frustrating sides.
I don't think her personality is bad.
I don't want to use the word loser, but… if I had to say, uh.
I think she fits that category.
And as if to prove it…
Beside the door Dolores opened, a pile of mysterious boxes was stacked up.
It was night outside so I couldn't see clearly, but they seemed to be wrapped like presents.
Did she bring all that? Really, it's not easy to get scolded even after bringing gifts.
Just as I shook my head at her unfathomable behavior.
"…Dol, Dolores?"
Isabella relaxed the arm that was hugging me.
Her voice was trembling too.
She looked out the window, then at the already darkened outside, and made an expression of realization.
Perhaps sensing something unusual, she flinched and began taking off her gloves.
"You, you're here?"
I quietly looked at Dolores's face.
'Wow…'
She's really scary.
It makes what she was saying about Abyss just now seem colorless.
Taking advantage of the loosened arm, I quickly escaped her embrace and moved toward the hearth.
It seemed the two definitely had things to talk about. It would be right to step out.
Probably, given the flow, since it's an adults' conversation, there's a high chance she'll tell me to return to the mansion.
Usually adults don't want to let children hear them fighting.
Just as I was about to step away.
"…Lionel? Come here."
Flinch.
Dolores turned her head and called me.
She beckoned me with the freshest, most affectionate smile in the world.
"…Yes."
With the instinct of a herbivore, I trotted over to her side.
I was about to obediently take her silently offered hand, but…
"My hands are cold, so hold my leg."
"……?"
Her ungloved hand was frozen.
No, but even so, how am I supposed to hold her leg?
It's fine, but it's a bit awkward.
In the end, I awkwardly grabbed her clothes.
Only then did Dolores's head slowly turn back to Isabella.
It seems she doesn't intend to send me out.
Isabella averted her gaze and shrank as if obediently waiting for Dolores's decree.
If she was going to be like that, why did she act so overbearingly?
Maybe she tried to run away before coming and lost track of time.
"…Isabella."
"Uh, yeah."
"This is the second time you've come without contact, breaking through my Boundary Magic."
A considerably low voice.
"I told you, didn't I? Not to approach Lionel."
"…So, sorry."
"…No."
Dolores smiled faintly.
"I know you're not sorry, so forcing an apology is ridiculous for both of us."
"……!"
Isabella's mouth began to open and close.
"El, Elysia…"
Whether it hit the mark, or whether it was the first time she spoke so sharply.
Isabella reached out with clouded eyes.
The problem was that this was only the beginning.
"Isabella, when we were young, it was simply fun to be informal with each other. I don't intend to deny that."
Dolores's eyes groped for something.
"But… much time has passed since then. It's time to respect each other's positions and places."
"……."
"The reason I overlooked your rudeness each time you acted informally and impolitely wasn't because there was no problem with your behavior…"
"……."
"It's just that I was tired of you not listening no matter how many times I said it, so I let it slide."
Ugh.
Without realizing it, my grip on her clothes tightened.
It's someone else's business so I can't interfere, but I felt Dolores had a lot pent up too.
"Because I like you, as a friend."
"Dolores…"
"But when the one you're doing that to isn't me, but my child… hugging a child who says no…! Acting so clingy and putting your own desires first…"
Dolores paused for a moment, then finally spoke quietly.
I could feel her emotions surging.
"Isabella, please grow up now… I'm begging you."
Silence hung in the workshop.
Isabella couldn't say anything.
She looked as if she'd been struck by something, as if in shock.
"I'm really sorry…"
"……."
Dolores shook her head.
Isabella suddenly turned her head to me too.
"Lionel, I'm… sorry. I really didn't mean it like that."
I thought she'd only apologize to Dolores since she was scolded by her.
She's apologizing to me too.
Though if you go by principle, this is correct.
"Yes, it's okay."
Hearing her usually frivolous laughter turn into a daunted voice didn't feel good.
When I nodded.
Dolores's expression beside me visibly relaxed.
Isabella carefully folded Dolores's gloves and held them out to her.
"…I sincerely apologize."
"…Yeah."
When Dolores quietly accepted the apology.
Step, step.
Isabella turned around with a gloomy face.
Just as she moved her feet toward the door.
"I'll make good use of the gifts."
I didn't know what they were, but since I'd received them, I gave my thanks.
Because it felt a bit wrong to send her off so sullenly.
Pause.
Isabella's footsteps paused for a moment.
"Yeah…"
With a bitter faint smile, she hurried away into the darkness.
…And a few minutes later.
"…Phew."
Dolores let out a long sigh.
The tension that had been in her body drained away.
I looked up at her and asked.
It's always like this anywhere, but personally, the one who says harsh words has it harder than the one who hears them.
The military is like that too, in my opinion.
So I thought Dolores must have felt the same.
"Are you okay, Lady Dolores?"
At my question, Dolores lowered her head to meet my eyes.
Whoosh.
"…Huh."
Without a word, she lifted me up and wrapped me in her arms.
"Lionel, I'm the one who's curious about that."
"What?"
"Were you okay?"
"Yes, I was okay."
"……."
Dolores ruffled my hair wildly, then.
Squeeze.
She pulled me into her arms.
"Ah, and."
There was something I wanted to tell her.
That the gloves, the gloves had gained Potential Ability.
"Would you like to try these gloves on quickly?"
When I squirmed in her arms, Dolores smirked and set me down.
She slowly put on the gloves she was handed.
Rustle.
At that moment.
"…Huh?"
Dolores's eyes widened slightly.
"I feel a mysterious… energy…"
She tilted her head and quietly looked down at her gloved hand.
Then.
The engraved gray mark dyed red.
"……."
And.
Whir.
The energy blooming from the gloves gently wrapped around me and Dolores.
"Wow."
I wondered how to use it, but.
It seems someone of Dolores's caliber just gets it immediately.
"How is it?"
I'll get a lot of praise again.
I looked up at her face with excitement.
However.
"…………What is this?"
As if dumbfounded, as if amazed, and yet as if pleased.
With a complex expression where those three emotions tangled.
She opened her mouth.
***
Deep dawn.
Only a single lamp was lit in Dolores's office.
Rustle.
She read through the books she had taken from the bookshelf, one by one.
She was chewing over what had happened that night.
The gloves Lionel had made were laid neatly before her eyes.
And these gloves.
Had manifested 'Magic' a few hours ago.
It's not uncommon for certain equipment to assist the manifestation of magic or accelerate its circuits.
However.
But it was never common for magic itself to be embedded in equipment.
Absolutely, never.
5-star. And among those, Unique Equipment.
Even among the peak items called 'Artifacts'.
Such a thing rarely happens.
Of course, compared to such items, the level and strength of this magic are still insignificant, but.
"How is this possible…"
Lionel said it just happened while he was Enchanting.
At first, I almost fainted when I heard he had Enchanted these one-of-a-kind Unique Equipment gloves.
"That child, really…"
What would he have done if they had been destroyed…
Thankfully, they weren't destroyed.
I learned that Enchanting Unique Equipment produces this kind of result.
Rustle.
Dolores brushed the gloves with her fingertips.
At first, it was simply.
She thought that luck had finally come to her, who had this cursed body.
Her improving body, the Cold Energy receding.
Perhaps thanks to this child, she might be able to shake off the tiresome Family Curse.
And beyond that, she might be able to enjoy the ordinary life she dreamed of, the life others enjoy so normally.
However, as time passed.
In a corner of that overwhelming heart, another feeling began to cast a shadow.
"…I."
Dolores's blue eyes wavered in the darkness.
'What can I do for Lionel?'
Is this child really one I can keep in my arms?
He is not a child who can be hidden just by hiding or covering him.
A gold nugget buried in sand eventually catches the eye.
Just as Isabella instantly recognized Lionel's true worth.
Lionel will surely catch the world's eye someday.
'That many hands gather to something shining…'
Is only natural.
But.
Dolores asked herself.
"…Am I right now."
Using the plausible name of protection as an excuse.
Am I not imprisoning, binding, and holding this child in my arms?
Not letting him take a single step from my arms, tying down his potential.
Rustle.
Then her gaze.
Landed on a note placed on one side of the desk.
It was written by Sebas, organizing the items inside the boxes Isabella had brought.
What was inside.
Magical Devices said to be extremely useful for spinning thread.
A spinning wheel, a spinning machine, and various cloths.
In the end, this too was a gift for Lionel. Isabella had precisely pinpointed what Lionel needed in her own way.
Even things she herself hadn't thought of.
Like this.
There will surely be people in the world who can give Lionel things she couldn't even imagine.
"……."
Clench…
Her hand clenched tight.
The aftertaste was bitter.
However.
This too was the guardian's role.
Rustle.
Dolores shifted her gaze to the documents in her hand.
In a few days, the birthday banquet of the twin Prince and Princess would be held at the Imperial Palace.
It was the invitation to that banquet.
As a Duchess in name, she couldn't avoid such occasions.
Originally, she had planned to attend with only Ruby, the heir, but…
Her gaze touched the gloves.
Yes.
If she couldn't keep this child in her arms forever.
'Rather…'
At least the moment he takes his first step into the world.
"From my arms."
By my side, bearing the name of Dolores.
Wouldn't it be better to let him step where I can watch over him?
That way, she could make it more solid to the world whose child he is.
Once her thoughts were settled, a smile spread across her lips.
"…Lionel."
You come along too.
Outside the window, the thick darkness of dawn.
Was already being dyed a pale blue.
"It's about time he woke up."
Dolores rose from her seat and walked to Lionel's bedroom.
Creak.
When she carefully opened the door.
"…Hm?"
Dolores paused for a moment.
Lionel was sleeping with his mouth open, looking adorable.
Ruby was staring intently at Lionel's face.
With her chin resting on her hand, staring.
"…Ruby?"
"……!"
Ruby, seemingly not expecting it at all, looked greatly flustered.
As she hurriedly shifted her body.
Thwack.
"Ugh!"
Ruby's foot kicked Lionel.
Thud.
Lionel, who had been sleeping soundly, rolled off the bed.
"…What, what the."
Lionel, sprawled on the floor, opened his eyes.
Dolores carefully approached Lionel and crouched down.
And.
"Lionel?"
"Yes, ah. Yes… good morning…"
Bow.
Lionel bowed his head.
But even while greeting, Lionel's gaze.
Kept drifting to her legs, glancing repeatedly.
Not that he was openly staring, just a feeling of his gaze moving and brushing past.
This child had seemed to especially like these overshoes for a while.
'Well, it is something he made with his own hands.'
Is he that proud of it?
Dolores unknowingly smiled faintly.
She crouched a little lower so Lionel could see comfortably.
"…Ruby, Lionel?"
Dolores called the two children side by side.
"Yes, Master."
"Yeah."
"The day after tomorrow, we're leaving for the Imperial Palace."
"Imperial Palace… Huh? Me too?"
Lionel's eyes went round.
"…Yes, you come along too, Lionel."
Now that her heart was settled, she wasn't afraid to reveal him to the world.
Hiding him away isn't the only way.
Dolores stretched out her arms and pulled Lionel tightly to her chest.
"Huh…"
At the incomprehensible hug, Lionel blinked in confusion.
Whether he did or not.
'Because he's my child.'
She hugged Lionel even tighter.