CHAPTER 41

Upon hearing the child’s words, the older brother and sister burst into laughter.

“Co, Colin, that’s funny… Puhuhu!”

“Ugh, how do we explain this?”

The older brother and sister, who needed to quickly explain the situation, were too busy laughing among themselves and couldn’t focus. 

In the meantime, Colin approached me, bouncing up and down.

Colin, with his sparkling blue eyes, looked down at me and smiled brightly.

“Hello, I’m Colin. you’re so cute. Call me older brother.”

“I don’t want to.”

Kids have sharp eyes. I wonder where he learned that line.

In response to his sudden suggestion, I tilted my head in bewilderment. Knowing who his parents were, I couldn’t bring myself to curse, so I bit my tongue inwardly.

“Why? You don’t want to call me older brother? Even though I’m older than you. Next time, we’ll get married, but you still don’t want to?”

For someone only a year older than me, he spoke quite eloquently. No, it seemed like this young boy was already getting caught up in the taste of power.

Was he trying to make me call him older brother because he was going to become a duke? He looked cute, but this young boy seemed to be savoring the taste of power too early.

But what could I do in this situation? My father, grandfather, and brother-in-law were all dukes.

Did he hear that?

The super adorable talk of the dukes!

I couldn’t just let myself be swayed by such a young child’s provocation.

“I won’t marry you because I’m going to marry my Father.”

Don’t children usually say that they’ll marry their Mother or Father when they grow up? So, to seem like a child, I said I was going to marry my Father.

In fact, even before coming here, I made a pinky promise to marry my Father. I thought my Father would send me off nicely if I did. 

When we made the pinky promise, I caught a glimpse of a slight change in my Father’s expression. I pretended not to see the corner of his lips curling up.

Colin put his hands on his hips and confidently pushed out his small lips.

“No, don’t! You don’t marry family members. So, you have to marry me.”

The child who still didn’t have all his baby teeth was already talking about marriage. Seeing that, I sighed and shook my head helplessly.

“You don’t marry family members? Then you should not marry me.”

“Why?”

“Well, because I’m your aunt.”

“But I don’t have an aunt.”

As soon as Colin heard the word “aunt,” he immediately looked at my sister. Then my sister, who had been laughing for a while, nodded her head.

“Yeah, Rafi is your aunt. She’s my younger sister.”

“I don’t believe it. Aunts are supposed to be older. Did your father secretly have a baby with someone else?”

Seeing Colin, who spoke so cleverly for a child, my brother-in-law burst into laughter and said with a smirk,

“Our sister fell from the sky and stuck to Father’s chest like a chewy roasted rice cake.”

“Fell from the sky? Are all babies made in the sky and then fall?”

Colin, even though he spoke so smartly for a child, tilted his head in confusion, not knowing how babies are made.

Seeing Colin like that, I felt envious. I didn’t have my bloodline here, and on top of that, Colin not only resembled his Father but also had parents.

Suddenly, feeling a little down, I inwardly let out a sigh. When Colin asked his question, my older brother, with a sly smile, evaded the answer.

“Our sister was given by the gods in the sky.”

“But doesn’t Father believe in the gods?”

Colin’s pupils narrowed slightly as he looked at my atheist older brother.

“No, you’re right. That’s why our sister Rafi could fall from the sky and stick to Father’s chest.”

It would have been more believable to say that a stork brought me. But from the beginning, my older brother, who buttoned his clothes wrongly, broke out in a cold sweat at Colin’s persistent questions.

“The nanny told me. She said my mom’s stomach hurt, so she saved me.”

“That’s why the gods in the sky planted you in Erica’s belly.”

“Then whose belly did the baby come from? Your stepmom gave birth, right?”

“Uh, well… that’s right.”

My older brother, who couldn’t give a proper answer, looked at my sister for help. However, my sister also couldn’t provide a proper response and pretended not to see my older brother’s pleading gaze. Seeing that, I let out a deep sigh and shook my head.

“Don’t you know how babies are made yet?”

“No, I don’t. Who would believe that seeds are planted by gods?”

Seeing Colin completely dismiss my older brother’s thoughts, I smiled.

“Well, let me explain. The ‘seeds’ are not from the gods but from the fathers.”

“Oh, Father has the baby seeds?”

“The gods take the seed and use it, and the gods give it to your father.”

If my older brother’s theory is correct, then the gods are Colin’s Father, and he will be the stepfather of the child. Our sister also has great abilities. Her main husband is a god, and her second husband is a duke.

Colin’s head turned slightly toward his Father. My older brother, who met his innocent gaze, awkwardly formed a smile but couldn’t affirm or deny it.

“When Mother and Father hold hands, a baby is made.”

“So, a baby is made just by holding hands between Father and Mother?”

With so many questions from four-year-old Colin, I shook my head anxiously and let out a sigh.

“What do you know anyway? Just by holding hands, can a baby be made?”

“Then how are babies made?”

“Mother and Father hold hands and rub against each other and… um, uh!”

Even though he was still a young child, he should know at least that much. I wanted to give Colin a little early sex education. But in the middle of it, my sister’s hand covered my mouth.

“I don’t know how Rafi found out about it, but Colin can learn a little later. Hoho, by the way, who told you?”

“No one.”

“Was there a book like that in Duke Panteur’s library? There isn’t… I checked… ahem, ahem.”

My sister, who seemed to have already rummaged through Duke Panteur’s library at the curious age of sexuality, blushed for a moment. From her appearance, it seemed like she hadn’t just checked the library once or twice.

“Anyway, I’m your aunt, and you’re my nephew. Got it?”

“Aunts aren’t younger than me, though, right?”

It would be true under normal circumstances, but it wasn’t a rare case for a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to give birth at the same time.

“No, that’s not it. By the way, I have other nephews who are older than me. Ah, my goodness.”

Even though I am only three years old, my older nephews had become three in number. Having already experienced Aiden and Jaden, who was always causing trouble, I shook my head at Colin.

The older nephews always caused trouble to the point where it was ridiculous. As an example, this little older nephew was a step ahead of Aiden and Jaden.

“Whatever the reason, you are my wife.”

Ah, this is really… That’s why being popular is so difficult.

Although my nephew insisted on the marriage, my older brother and sister could only laugh and find it amusing. Even the servants around us all laughed.

“Our young miss is so popular. Even the aides are talking about their sons.”

With lips puckered, Kai’s words made my older brother come to me and hugged me tightly.

“Rather than the aides’ sons, it’s better to be with our son…”

“Jerome! That’s a bit much. You said you wanted to adopt her as a daughter… I won’t allow you to do that.”

At my sister’s firm words, my older brother let out a deep sigh. Then he looked at Colin.

“Colin, I’m sorry. Instead of your aunt, your father will find you a great bride.”

“No, I don’t want that. I like my aunt.”

Colin, bouncing up and down, reached out his hand to me, who was in my older brother’s arms. I couldn’t resist his alluring eyes, so I reluctantly held only the tip of Colin’s hand.

“We won’t marry, but we can meet each other.”

“We’ll marry and sleep together like my parents.”

The four-year-old child was far ahead. His adorable appearance made me want to pet his hair. 

As I did, Colin came closer to me and planted a loud kiss on my cheek. I blinked my eyes in surprise.

“Well, well, according to what I heard, love is something that makes your heart flutter.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hehe, not right now, but later, when Aunt loves me, so I’m gonna stamp it.”

What on earth did Aquila teach the child? Is the required reading not about economics, society, or history, but a romance novel?

Caught off guard by Colin’s words that completely exposed my embarrassment, I looked at my sister and older brother. Instead of scolding Colin, they were too busy laughing and seemed absent-minded.

“Our son is too adorable, what should we do? If Aunt can’t marry him later, it will be a mess.”

“Erika, never say that to Father. Otherwise, we might not even be allowed into Duke Panteur’s residence.”

While my older brother and sister were talking, the meal was brought in. Today, it seemed like we would be having the meal in my brother’s room instead of the dining hall.

“Count Gabriel will also join us for the meal. As a thank you for yesterday.”

“Thanks to that, I feel much better. Ahem!”

Yesterday, my brother assigned his knights to Kai, and it seemed like there were some results. As I was about to sit down and start eating, my brother placed a napkin on my neck and laid it on my lap. He took care of me first, rather than Colin.

Usually, children would feel jealous in these situations, but Colin just giggled whenever our eyes met. 

Seeing Colin laughing without even realizing that there was sauce in his mouth, I shook my head in disbelief.

“Colin, there’s a pretty young lady in front of you. What will happen if you get sauce on your mouth?”

My sister wiped the sauce off Colin’s mouth and laughed. Then Colin, with a puzzled expression, said:

“Oh, I won’t! If we both get sauce on our mouths while eating like this, we wipe each other’s mouths…”

So he intentionally got sauce on his mouth because he wanted me to wipe it off. I was speechless and couldn’t even laugh.

“Why on earth is a child picking on me when he doesn’t even have a sister?”

When there are many sisters, boys tend to imitate them like girls. 

I knew that some people called their sisters and brothers “older sister” and “older brother.” But as a child, he wouldn’t have learned anything from his sisters. 

How does he know and say things like that?

“By any chance, you didn’t read him romance novels when you were giving birth or when he was put to sleep, did you?”

Seeing my sister flinch, I shook my head in disbelief. 

Wasn’t it common to read fairy tales when putting a child to sleep? Who reads romance novels to their child before putting them to sleep?

“Maybe you wanted to read romance novels but didn’t have time, so you did it then?”

At that moment, my sister’s head turned slightly.