Lucy. Do you know how worried I’ve been?
Lucy, who had burrowed into bed to sleep, pulled the blanket up to her head out of guilt. Reidox looked at her and realized the time had finally come.
“Lucy. I intended to tell you when you were a bit older, but it seems the time is now.”
Lucy, who had been hiding under the blanket up to her head, lowered it slightly and peeked out. Since her father always spoke kindly to her, Lucy simply wore her usual bright, cheerful expression.
“What do you mean, Dad?”
‘How many times have I hesitated because of that bright smile.’
But he couldn’t delay any longer. For his daughter’s sake, he had to tell her the truth now.
“Lucy.”
“Yes, Dad. Go ahead.”
Young Lucy, despite seeing Reidox’s solemn expression, couldn’t sense anything unusual. She simply waited eagerly, her bright eyes full of anticipation for what her father would say.
That made Reidox’s heart ache even more. He swallowed hard, feeling as if his own heart were being gnawed away.
“Your mother is no longer in the land of fairies.”
To Lucy, those words sounded unexpectedly joyful. She burst into a wide smile and sat bolt upright.
“Then? Is Mom coming now?”
“No. Mom can never come back here again.”
Lucy’s large eyes began to tremble, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Why?”
“Because Mom has become a star in the sky.”
“A star? Then I can’t see Mom anymore?”
Lucy knew that when people died, they became stars in the sky—and once they became stars, you could never see them again.
So tears slowly began to gather at the corners of Lucy’s eyes. But she seemed determined to hold them back, breathing in ragged, shaky gasps.
“You’ll be able to see Mom again when you become a grandmother.”
“When will I become a grandmother?”
Reidox felt both proud and heartbroken watching Lucy struggle to hold back her tears. He gently wiped away the tears gathering at her eyes with his thumb and said,
“Not for a very long time.”
“Oh, Mom, why, why. Hic. She’s not in the fairy land?”
Seeing Lucy force her way through choked sobs to finish her sentence, Reidox felt tears welling up in his own eyes.
“Mom was such a radiant person that the heavens took her away too soon.”
From that moment, Lucy’s floodgates opened. She began to wail uncontrollably. Pearlescent tears streamed down from her large, glistening eyes.
“Waaaaah…! Mom! Mom! Mooooom…! Hoooeeng…!”
Lucy cried as if the whole world were ending. Reidox, unable to hold back his own tears any longer, held her tightly and patted her back.
He had braced himself for this moment, but his heart hurt far more than he had expected.
It was obvious Lucy would burst into tears at the slightest provocation for a while—but he couldn’t let her keep wandering outside during this bitter winter.
“Mom is always watching over our Lucy from the sky. But if Lucy cries like this, how sad do you think Mom will be? Lucy, you need to stop now.”
But those words didn’t reach Lucy’s ears. Her heart was filled only with the sorrow of never seeing her mother again. Her tears refused to stop.
Reidox gently patted her back until she cried herself into exhaustion and finally fell asleep.
Though his heart ached terribly as he wiped away the last tears clinging to Lucy’s sleeping face, there was nothing else he could do. As he sighed and stood up, his eyes fell upon Lady Blake’s shawl draped over the chair.
Blake, the Duke, had seemed poised to manipulate the kingdom after installing the king as a mere puppet. No—clearly, at first, his actions had suggested this kingdom belonged to Blake, not Recador. But now, his path had taken an utterly unexpected, bizarre turn.
Everyone had assumed the Duke would marry into the royal family—perhaps the fiancée’s kin, or even the younger sister of King’s trusted advisor, Pallium Nominat—to expand his influence.
Instead, he abruptly married a foreign woman whose background no one knew. At the time, everyone assumed he must have had some hidden agenda.
Yet the Blake couple seen today didn’t resemble a pair united by political marriage at all.
Though they appeared stiff on the surface, their subtle bickering suggested a relationship that had blossomed from lovers into spouses.
To Reidox, the Duke Blake he knew was not a man capable of loving a woman—so seeing it with his own eyes felt unbelievable.
Moreover, Lady Blake was no ordinary noblewoman. The way she gulped down cold water and slammed the cup down roughly was something Reidox had never witnessed in any other noble lady.
To think that beside a Duke who regarded even the king beneath his feet stood a mistress of such unpretentious character—if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Fortunately, we managed to return to the Duke’s manor before nightfall.
But the moment we stepped inside, we saw Kian carrying water across the courtyard. Even Sikar, who rarely showed any expression, frowned this time.
Sikar stomped over and lifted the water bucket Kian was carrying.
“Who told you to do this kind of work?!”
Before Kian could even calm his startled heart, Sikar’s thunderous voice made him flinch. He lowered his head with a sullen expression.
I wanted to shield Kian, but Sikar’s face looked so furious that I couldn’t easily intervene.
“No one told me to.”
“Then why are you doing work no one assigned you?”
Watching Kian silently bow his head without a word, Sikar spoke dismissively.
“Go up to your room.”
Kian’s shoulders slumped as he walked into the mansion. Sikar, watching his retreating back, called a servant over with an angry expression.
“Why was Kian carrying water?”
One servant rushed over and bowed deeply before Sikar.
“We told him not to, sir, but the child insisted he must do something like this to be allowed to stay in the manor…”
Ah, Kian…
I recalled the episode where Kian, while staying at Reidox’s house, had drawn water out of fear he might be cast out. Sikar seemed to recall it too—he glanced at me and nodded. It meant things were returning to the original plot.
“Listen well. Kian will become my child from now on. So if any of you are ever caught letting him do menial chores again, you will all face severe punishment.”
All the servants bowed tensely and chorused,
“Yes! Your Grace!”
The manor’s atmosphere turned icy under Sikar’s fierce shout. I whispered softly, eager to escape that frosty ground.
“I’ll go see Kian.”
Sikar nodded as if he understood.
First, I instructed Andrea that when Kian’s clothes arrived, they shouldn’t be sent directly to his room but left outside his door. Then I went to find Kian’s room.
Hesitating whether to knock, I carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Kian, sitting dejectedly on the bed, tried to stand up when he saw me.
“No. I’ll come to you. Stay seated on the bed.”
“I’m sorry, Madam. I wanted to be useful… but because of me, others got scolded… I think the Duke will probably expel me now?”
Ah, so he was slumped like this because he thought he’d be kicked out.
“Kian. You’re a child. Children don’t need to work to become ‘useful’ right away. Leave the servants’ duties to the servants.”
Kian wore a confused expression.
His father, Valije, had taught him that if he ever ended up alone after Valije’s death, he must become useful so no one would reject him anywhere.
So he likely had no idea how else to live except by becoming “useful.”
“Your job is simply to eat well, sleep well, and grow up healthy—just like any other child.”
“My job is to grow up well?”
“Yes. And Kian, there’s something I want to tell you.”
Perhaps because he’d just been scolded, Kian looked terrified, as if I might expel him at any moment.
And I kept hesitating—opening my mouth to speak, then stopping, again and again.
Because of Sikar’s threats, I was supposed to tell Kian I was his birth mother—but the words wouldn’t come out.
I, a kindergarten teacher who taught children that lying makes you a bad kid, was now supposed to lie to a child in defiance of natural bonds. Of course, such a lie wouldn’t come easily.
Of course, I wanted to comfort Kian’s heart and pull him out of his nightmares by becoming his real mother—but lying to this child still felt impossible.
‘Fine. I won’t lie to Kian, at least.’
I can just tell others he’s my biological son.
I took Kian’s hand—he was trembling, afraid of what I might say—and looked at him with solemn eyes.
“Kian. We want to adopt you.”
He probably never expected this. Kian looked so startled that his large eyes widened even further as he asked,
“A… adoption?”
“If you’re okay with it, we’d love to raise you properly.”
“Ha… but… I… I’m not an orphan… I… I have a mother.”
Indeed, Kian both resented and longed for his mother. Thinking of Kian, who had always carried the image of a mother he’d never even seen in his heart, made me feel even more sorry for him.
Yes, I couldn’t deceive such an angelic child by pretending to be his birth mother. I squeezed Kian’s hand firmly.
“Until your birth mother—who gave you life—appears, could I become your mother?”
“You’ll become my mother? Why, why?”
“How could anyone not want to adopt a beautiful child like you? And we truly want to protect you.”
This wasn’t just because of Sikar’s threats. Wanting to protect Kian was genuinely my own wish. Even though Lucy was my favorite character in this novel, I also deeply cared for the protagonists Kian and Luid.
“Really?”
“Yes. But make me one promise, okay? Think of me as your birth mother.”
“What?”
“If anyone asks, you must say I’m your birth mother. That way, people won’t look down on you. I can’t bear to see my son disrespected.”
“I… I’ll become Madam’s biological son?”
“Even though we don’t share blood, I believe we can become even closer than that.”
After all, becoming the mother of this world’s protagonist is an honor for me too.
“Of course, if you say no, we won’t adopt you.”
But I already knew—Kian, starved for adult affection, would never reject this offer.
I remembered how much Kian envied the twins in the original story. How desperately he longed for a family.
Kian carefully folded his hands and asked timidly, glancing at me.
“Th… then, Madam… will you really become my… m… mother?”
“Yes. So from now on, call me ‘Mom.’”
His eyes, which had drooped at the corners just a moment ago, suddenly widened again.
“Mo… Mom?”
Kian had only ever called for “Mom” in nightmares or when he was sick. Could he easily say that name he’d never spoken aloud before?
“Kian. If it feels uncomfortable, you don’t have to call me th—”
“Mo… Mother…!”
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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