**Chapter 75**

“Your belly is big, sister.”

At that moment, Leon, who had washed his hands first and was waiting for the two, poked Elisa’s belly with his tiny finger and asked,

“Do you have to poop?”

Elisa burst into laughter at Leon’s playful question. She then gently pinched Leon’s cheek.

“If the baby hears you, they’ll be upset and cry.”

“Baby?”

“Yes, a baby. There’s a baby in your sister’s belly.”

Leon shook his head, recalling the newborn he had seen a few days earlier when they went to the temple for baptism.

“That’s not a baby. Babies look like Leon.”

“That’s right; babies look like Leon. But right now, the baby is growing in your sister’s belly. After sleeping for about a hundred nights, they will suddenly appear like Leon.”

Technically, they would have to wait more than a hundred days, but Elisa explained it in a way that was easy for Leon to understand.

“Oh. I want a baby too.”

“What will you do when you have a baby?”

“I’ll play with them all the time.”

It was a childlike thought.

Smiling at the cute idea, Elisa stopped laughing at Leon’s next question.

“How do you get a baby?”

At the child’s innocent question, Elisa’s face flushed bright red. At the same time, Richard’s ears turned red as well.

The two, taken aback and at a loss for words, were stared at curiously by Leon.

“Sister?”

They couldn’t ignore those innocent eyes.

“Well, um, you get a baby by… kissing someone you love.”

“What is love?”

“Love is when you like someone more than you like bread, like you do with your favorite bread.”

Leon thought carefully, alternating his gaze between Elisa and Richard, then asked Elisa again.

“So, does the sister love the uncle?”

“Huh?”

Elisa blinked in surprise at the unexpected question.

Richard, who had been avoiding her gaze with a red face, looked back at Elisa upon hearing Leon’s question.

Elisa, who was embarrassed by Leon’s question, answered with an awkward smile.

“Oh, even if you don’t love someone, if you kiss them, a baby can be made.”

“Oh.”

“So, you can’t just kiss anyone, okay?”

Taking the opportunity, Elisa warned him from a sex education perspective.

Now that the presence of the child was precious and joyful, it had been scary and daunting when the child had unexpectedly come into existence at first.

Richard must have felt the same way.

Elisa hoped that Leon and the people he loved would not have to go through that experience.

“Hmm, I understand.”

Leon nodded, as if he grasped the meaning that he shouldn’t kiss anyone.

Richard’s expression darkened as he listened to their conversation, but Elisa, unaware, affectionately patted Leon’s head, thinking he was cute. She then took his hand and led him to the flower bed.

“Come here, Leon. I’ll show you what a weed is.”

“Okay!”

Elisa squatted down in the flower bed with Leon. Then, suddenly thinking of Richard, she turned to him.

“Richard, will you come and help us pick the weeds?”

“…I’m good.”

Elisa tilted her head in confusion at his cold response.

Normally, he would have come and sat beside her without complaint, but today was different.

“Is this a weed?”

At Leon’s voice, Elisa turned her attention back to him.

“This is a flower. Look, see how the sprout looks like this? This shape is a flower, so you shouldn’t pull it out.”

Richard squatted in front of the flower bed, silently watching Elisa as she talked to Leon.

To avoid pressing on her belly, she bent her knees down and raised her heels to support herself, a posture that looked precarious.

Watching her like that, Richard finally sighed and moved closer to sit beside her. He then wrapped his arms around her waist for support.

“I’m going to fall backward.”

“Ah… Thank you, Richard.”

Elisa turned to Richard with a bright smile.

At her smile, Richard instinctively relaxed his expression but soon averted his gaze from her. Yet, he did not loosen the arm that was embracing Elisa.

Elisa began to teach Leon again how to distinguish between weeds and flowers.

Just as Leon had barely started to differentiate the weeds, he felt a presence behind him.

“What are you doing in front of the flowerbed?”

It was Aiden’s voice.

Elisa was startled and turned to look at him.

“Oh, Your Highness.”

“We’re pulling weeds! Look how many I’ve pulled.”

Leon proudly held up a bunch of weeds he had gathered.

However, Aiden’s eyes narrowed as he saw the flowerbed in a complete mess, with even healthy flowers uprooted behind Leon.

Noticing this, Elisa felt tense, wondering if Leon would get scolded.

But Aiden, as always, smiled softly.

“Right, everything requires trial and error.”

“Trial and error?”

“Good job, Leon. Thanks to your efforts, the remaining flowers will grow strong.”

Leon, feeling good from Aiden’s praise, smiled broadly. Elisa, who was beside him, also smiled as if she had received praise.

“Has His Highness the Crown Prince returned?”

“Yes, I just escorted him on my way back.”

Elisa stood up with Richard’s support. Her legs felt stiff from sitting for quite a while.

“We should be heading back as well.”

“You can stay a little longer. It seems Leon would like that.”

“No. The shrine is the busiest during the Founding Day preparations, and I can’t stay any longer. Besides, I initially came just to make a donation.”

“The grace bestowed by the lady will reach those who need it most first.”

“Yes. Please do your best to ensure that.”

After giving a slight bow to Aiden, Elisa waved her hand at Leon.

“I’ll come again, Leon.”

Richard also gave a slight nod to Aiden.

“Goodbye, sister. Goodbye, uncle.”

Leon waved his small hands at the two people as they walked away. As he did, dirt on his hands flew in all directions.

Seeing this, Aiden let out a sigh mixed with laughter and grabbed Leon’s small hand.

“We need to wash your hands first.”

Aiden wrapped Leon’s two hands with his own. Then, water began to fill his palm, washing away the dirt from Leon’s hands.

Leon, staring blankly at the scene, suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“Water came out from my sister’s hand earlier too.”

“Water?”

Aiden looked at Leon with a puzzled expression, but then recalled that the grass next to the well was wet and understood Leon’s words.

It seemed Elisa had played with water while washing her hands with Leon.

“That must have been fascinating. Next time, ask her how she did it.”

“Okay.”

Leon nodded and shook his freshly cleaned hands.

Aiden took Leon with him and headed towards the annex.

That night, after finishing her day’s work and returning to her bedroom, Elisa was nestled against Richard as usual, listening to him read a fairy tale.

His soft, low voice was as sweet as ever, but Elisa’s nerves were on edge.

Because Richard was strangely different from usual.

Elisa scrutinized Richard with her slim eyes.

*‘He seems upset.’*

For instance, he was speaking less than usual—still, he answered her without any signs of displeasure when she spoke to him first. There was also the way he had been avoiding her gaze since dinner.

Moreover, instead of reading the fairy tale with his usual animated storytelling, he was now reading it without any spirit.

And most decisively, even though she was looking at him, he had yet to glance her way even once.

At dinner, she had been uncertain, but after observing him until now, she was sure.

He was sulking.

So much so that he was avoiding her gaze entirely.

*‘What on earth is wrong?’*

He had been like this since returning from the shrine, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had upset him.

As Elisa stared intently at Richard, who was deliberately ignoring her gaze, she finally called out to him.

“Richard, are you upset?”

After hesitating for a moment, his gaze finally returned to her. Then, he answered a beat too late.

“…No.”

Though he said no, his eyes conveyed a look of hurt.

Elisa grabbed his cheek to redirect his gaze back to her as he tried to turn his eyes back to the fairy tale.

“Your face says ‘I’m sulking’ loud and clear.”

“…”

“Did I do something to upset you?”

At her question, Richard stared at Elisa intently.

Elisa tilted her head in confusion, silently waiting for his answer.

In that moment, Richard’s hand wrapped around her hand that was holding his cheek.

At the same time, his lips suddenly came closer and engulfed hers.

Startled by the sudden kiss, Elisa instinctively pulled back, and Richard withdrew his lips.

However, he remained close enough that their breaths mingled as he whispered softly.

“I don’t do this with just anyone.”

His gaze was filled with a heat that seemed ready to engulf her once more.