"Mom!"
When she returned after stepping out for a moment, Duren enthusiastically welcomed Estelle.
The old woman and Duren, who had been outside, came running and threw themselves into her arms.
He hugged her so tightly that Estelle staggered for a moment from the strength.
"Mom! Grandma! Look at this!"
Duren held out a flower. It looked like he had picked it while wandering around the field.
"Such a pretty flower."
"I'll give it to you!"
But Duren froze mid-gesture. He had only picked one flower, but there were two people he wanted to give it to.
Not knowing who to hand it to, he just stood there, looking flustered.
Finding his expression adorable, Estelle smiled and pointed toward the old woman.
"Why don't you give this flower to Grandma, and then, when you find another one later, you can give that one to Mom?"
"Okay! I like that!"
Watching Duren hand the flower to the old woman, Estelle decided to first find out what Duren thought.
"Hey, Duren."
"Mm!"
"Do you like Grandma more, or Uncle more?"
Not Mom versus Grandma, but Grandma versus Uncle?
Then there wasn't even anything to think about.
"Dudu likes…!"
Just as he was about to shout it—
"Wait."
Lennox approached them.
"Let's have a word."
"We already talked earlier."
Estelle's face turned cold, as if she had never been warm to him at all.
"I have nothing more to say."
The atmosphere instantly grew tense and chilly.
Lennox sensed right away that there was no way he could easily change Estelle's mind.
"Then I'll make sure it changes."
So he went straight to the point.
"I was wrong. It's all my fault, so I'll do as you said."
"So I'd like you to talk with me once more."
"…Very well. Let's move somewhere else first."
He was so humble now that it was hard to believe he was the same man who had just acted so dismissive.
Wondering what could have caused such a sudden change of heart, Estelle nodded.
"Mom, where are you going?"
Duren clung to her.
"I'm just going to have a short talk with Uncle."
Hearing himself called Uncle for the very first time, Lennox pointed at himself in disbelief, as if to confirm whether that title was really meant for him.
"Yeah! Uncle!"
Duren reinforced it firmly while looking straight at Lennox.
If you wanted to be called Dad, you should have acted like it.
Turning away from Lennox, Estelle asked the old woman to stay with Duren for a while.
Once the old woman and Duren had left, the two of them naturally found themselves alone.
"All right then, how exactly are you going to change things?"
For a moment, Lennox was struck speechless.
As if she had expected nothing less, Estelle narrowed her brows.
"Don't tell me you said you'd change without any kind of plan?"
"I wanted to first apologize for letting my words go too far when we spoke earlier. I thought it was right to ask for forgiveness before anything else."
"Which words exactly?"
Estelle wanted to make him spell it out clearly.
She fixed her gaze on Lennox, determined to turn straight back to Duren if his answer was vague. Hesitating under her stare, Lennox finally opened his mouth.
"…For calling you a meddler."
"And?"
And?
He suddenly felt at a loss for words.
But calmly retracing their earlier conversation, it didn't take him long to find the answer.
"For saying that spending time with family was pointless and bothersome."
"That's accurate."
Even though Lennox stated exactly what he had done wrong, Estelle's expression didn't brighten.
"Pipin must have told you to say that, right?"
A jolt.
"…He did say something to me."
"I thought so."
Still, Estelle's heart softened a little.
It was because she realized Lennox wasn't just parroting what Pipin had told him.
He's not that kind of man anyway.
"I'll accept your apology. But my belief hasn't changed—that if Duren wishes it, he must be allowed to spend plenty of time with Grandma."
"...."
"Even if Your Grace says you'll change the way you treat Duren, this is one thing I cannot yield on."
Estelle tensed slightly.
This had been the very issue that sparked their conflict.
No matter how Pipin had persuaded him to come this far, there was no guarantee that the great Lennox would completely back down.
Gulp.
Just as Estelle swallowed nervously—
"So be it."
The easy agreement made her earlier tension seem foolish.
"Will a week be enough?"
"What? Ah—yes."
Estelle nodded almost automatically, then quickly collected herself.
"But if a week passes and he still refuses to come back…"
"Then we'll persuade him together. You won't just stand by and leave Duren's problem unattended anymore, will you?"
"...That's true."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like Lennox was only saying he would change.
As if she had been waiting for this moment, Estelle finally spoke the words she'd been holding in.
"You said earlier you would listen to me, right? From now on, refrain from long absences and spend as much time with Duren as possible. For now, I'd like it to be at least an hour a day."
"Will that alone be enough?"
"You have to start there and gradually increase it."
"I'll make the effort."
By yielding where he should and admitting what needed to be admitted, their conversation proceeded smoothly.
Then, a sudden question crossed Estelle's mind.
"Your Grace, why did you decide to adopt Duren in the first place? Adoption wasn't the only way to avoid an engagement with Her Highness."
"Because the Winterren line had to be continued."
There was an unusual firmness in his tone.
Just as Estelle was about to question whether it really meant anything to carry on the line with a child not of his blood—
"Mom!"
"…Duren?"
At the familiar voice, Estelle turned her head and gasped in surprise.
In the brief moment her eyes had been elsewhere, Duren was toddling toward them, hugging a rock almost as big as his own body.
"I should have stopped him. I'm sorry. But he insisted he had to bring it, no matter what…"
The old woman looked flustered and at a loss.
Telling him it was all right, Estelle walked over to Duren.
"Why did you bring this rock?"
Maybe he thought she was about to scold him.
Seeing his eyes dart nervously, Estelle softened her voice.
"It must've been hard carrying a rock as big as you are. You must have wanted to set it down halfway, right?"
"But I'm curious why you still carried it all the way here. Why did you bring the rock?"
"A present!"
A present?
"For Mom!"
Duren's eyes sparkled brightly as he looked up at her.
"A present for me? Thank you so much."
It was just an ordinary stone, large but not otherwise special. Yet Estelle was genuinely touched.
"And Dudu likes Mom best!"
"And Mom likes Duren…"
Like.
Estelle, about to say it, realized a beat too late.
[Duren, do you like Grandma more, or Uncle more?]
It was the answer to that question from earlier.
"But there's Grandma too."
"I like Grandma too!"
"..."
"I like everyone!"
Duren cried out, his eyes crinkling like little crescent moons.
"I like you as much as this rock!"
The rock he had struggled so hard to carry.
This was the largest unit of measure a child could imagine.
Love was an emotion without shape.
But today, Estelle felt the weight of an invisible love.
The rock Duren brought was heavier than any other stone. Even lifting an entire mountain would feel lighter than this rock.
"Mom loves Duren as much as the sky and the earth."
"Me too! I love Mom this much!"
Duren stretched his arms high to show how big it was.
As he threw his arms up in triumph, Estelle noticed his clothes, now caked with dirt.
It was because he had carried the rock pressed tightly against himself.
Unfortunately, he was wearing white clothes, and the blotchy stains stood out all the more—but no one pointed it out.
I'll have to tell him now that he can only stay with Grandma for a week.
In one sense, it was just a single week.
But somehow, she already felt that a week without Duren by her side would seem unbearably long.
As Estelle hesitated for no reason—
"Excuse me…"
The old woman carefully spoke up.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]